Who's Next: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who: An Unofficial & Unauthorised Guide to Dr Who

For the nuts and bolts of this fine and very amusing work I would point you to the "Crazy Fox" review. One caveat to the reader: Don't be fooled by the alleged "2010" publication date listed on Amazon. This is a 2005 book, and only contains a very general (but good) intro to the "revived" series. There are no episode reviews for New Who. That being said, it is a wonderfully comprehensive work on Old Who (1963-1989) and its subsequent audio spinoffs. Clearly written by fans of the show, it is very opinionated, and your opinions may differ from theirs. They loved Tom Baker's "Pyramids of Mars" and suggest this as a good introductory first episode for those new to Who; I felt the episode was ponderous and not nearly as interesting as "City of Death" (which I have actually used as an entree for new viewers); they had a much higher opinion of the plodding and disappointing "The Five Doctors" than I did. But, à chacun son goût. It is the over-the-top opinionatedness of "Who's Next" that makes the book such a delight to read, and the authors are never better than when they are gleefully savaging, with English understatement, some flaw in the original series. Such as their verdict on the William Hartnell 'classic' "The Edge of Destruction": "It doesn't make any sense. Not even vaguely. It starts to look as if it might make sense in the second episode, but then it doesn't." "The Web Planet" is "tragically unaware of its own ludicrousness," and they let loose their loathing, quite deservedly, as the series careens into the unwatchable ineptitude of the Colin Baker years. "One feels desperately sorry for Colin Baker" in "Attack of the Cybermen", an episode which they sum up as follows: "A ghastly, awful, dreadful mess and a strong contender for the worst ever Doctor Who serial (it's visibly rather expensive and few others have _that_ advantage extended to them), this is absolutely dire." And "The Twin Dilemma" is "Glaring, loud and pointless... garish, tacky, unfunny rubbish." Inexplicably, they then, in spite of their own pointed and accurate criticisms, lavish praise on "Revelation of the Daleks", which was awful. I felt they slighted "Paradise Towers", which is silly but fun. I could go on, but the point is the book lets you revel in the opinions of a good group of writers who have immersed themselves deeply in one of television's most magical exploits.