Book #18 of 2018:

Doctor Who: A History of Humankind by Justin Richards

This is another in the line of licensed Doctor Who children’s books presented as annotated reference materials, but I like it a lot better than the earlier effort How to Be a Time Lord. Partly that’s because it has a better gimmick — a history textbook scrawled over by the Twelfth Doctor in his customary acerbic way — and partly because it’s quietly exhaustive, including details from practically every historical adventure in Doctor Who’s long history.

(It’s Doctor Who, so of course there’s room to quibble with that description, and I’m disappointed but not surprised by the lack of references to any Big Finish adventure or other spinoff materials. But I’m very impressed that author Justin Richards has managed to include elements from obscure classic serials like 1982’s Black Orchid. He even directly connects 1966’s The Smugglers with 2011’s The Curse of the Black Spot — which is more than the latter episode ever does itself, even though they concern the same pirate crew.)

At the end of the day, this is still a Doctor Who book for children, with nothing that they wouldn’t learn just by watching the referenced episodes themselves. And it’s a little frustrating that Richards hasn’t included episode titles anywhere, which could stymie readers wanting to seek out some of the older stories after first reading about them here. Nevertheless, the author has clearly gone above and beyond the call of duty in assembling this history of the Doctor’s time in Earth’s past.

★★★☆☆

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