DECEMBER 2007

Having already bought the first edition of this book, I was dead set against shell-

ing out for another copy. It’s actually the fourth version altogether, after an early fanzine and

a 1990s Virgin book. AHistory itself, Mad Norwegian’s hugely updated version, was a sell-out, prompting republication. As Lance Parkin said himself, a gap of just a few months now results in dozens of new Doctor Who stories, and so an update seemed the best course of action. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to go wasting my pennies on a slightly different version. Then I discovered that, as well as the previous edition’s quota of television, novel and audio adventures, this one would cover the comics as well; then I was tempted.

The problem is, I talk to both Lance and Lars fairly frequently on the Doctor Who forum. We discuss their various books, and the finer points of geeky continuity trouble. When you’ve

got both authors talking you into buying their book, you really don’t stand a chance. I’m glad they talked me into it though - AHistory (2nd Edition) is an absolute must-have for any self-respecting Who fan.

Parkin has set himself the unenviable task of chronicling every aspect of Doctor Who into a single, sequential chronology. Being a sensible sort of chap, he got fellow continuity sleuth Lars Pearson in to help him out. It’s a stunning piece of work – it covers all the episodes of televised Doctor Who, up to and including Last of the Time Lords; all of Big Finish’s main range up to Frozen Time; all of the Virgin novels and classic series BBC Books; the first

four batches of new series novels; the Telos novellas; the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips; and even Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space, an obscure 1960s novella by World Distributors. If that weren’t enough, Parkin has extended his remit to certain spin-offs – the first series of Torchwood; the pilot of The Sarah-Jane Adventures; K-9 & Company; and the TV Comic Dalek strips. He draws the line at the various Benny/Kaldor City/Faction Paradox et al – realising that the book would end up like the Encyclopædia Britannica; however, he does reference them if it will aid the placement of another, included story.

It’s an exhaustive task, yet he pulls it off. The book is very nicely set out – the main text foll-ows the chronology, with the extensive footnotes discussing the placements of the various stories and cross-referencing. The chronology is split into Prehistory (the beginning of the Universe through to 100,000BC); History (through to 1962); Present Day (covering the era

of the TV show’s broadcast, 1963 to 2008); and Future History (taking it right up to the end of time itself). Following this, we get A Brief History of the Daleks (taking all the previous timeline’s references to them and repeating them in a single narrative), and, finally, a section on Gallifrey, from the Dark Times to the Last Great Time War.

Some of the placements I don’t totally agree with, but Parkin always shows his working, and often offers an alternative. Incorporating the comics has allowed placement of certain TV stories that were otherwise dateless, although others have been altered (Genesis of the Daleks has been shifted several thousand years forward since the first edition). Most impressive are the aforementioned Dalek timeline, which ingeniously reconciles the Dalek creation stories seen in the Dalek comics, The Daleks and Genesis, and, even more astoundingly, the Cybermen’s creation, which correlates the bizarre tales of DWM’s The World-Shapers; the Cybermen back-up comic; and Big Finish’s Spare Parts... and actually makes sense!

Probably the most fun are the ‘Footnote Features,’ discussion on various tricky continuity points that have plagued fans for years. Some personal favourites being:

“When Did the Silurians Rule the Earth?”

“Cybermen…Fashion Victims?”

“Which “Shada”, if any, is canon?”

“Whatever Happened to Travelmat?”

“The Davros Era”

and “Only One Destruction of Gallifrey?”

The Gallifrey section is particularly intriguing, with such section headings as ‘The Doctor’s Marriage,’ ‘The Morbius Crisis,’ and ‘The Eve of War’ (lovely woman). Sticky wickets such as the Doctor’s parentage, Susan’s origins and the Doctor’s past lives from The Brain of Morbius are all given attention. However, Parkin keeps his tongue in his cheek, never losing sight of how essentially silly and futile this exercise is. It’s a bit of fun, and he knows it.

With an exhaustive index, a list of unplaceable stories, and cross-references for important characters, AHistory is the essential work on Doctor Who’s torturous continuity.

Copyright © Daniel Tessier 2008

Daniel Tessier has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

Unless otherwise stated, all images on this site are copyrighted to the BBC and are used solely for promotional purposes.

‘Doctor Who’ is copyright © by the BBC. No copyright infringement is intended.