Thursday 26 September 2013

In the shops today - 26th September.


There's quite a lot of new merchandise in the pipe-line for the anniversary. Two items of note today are the third of the Doctor Who figurine collection - the Cyber-Controller - and the new BBC book "The Doctor: His Lives and Times".
The latter, by James Goss and Steve Tribe, has something of the Clayton "I never blink" Hickman "Brilliant Books" about it. Each story is covered by means of (fictitious) miscellaneous peripheral written materials - letters, diaries, postcards and so forth. There's the Doctor's report card from Prydon Academy - through to Winston Churchill writing to Sydney Newman in early 1963 proposing a new TV series...
A lot of stories are covered by newspaper cuttings - such as the police calling off the search for a missing man named Rex Lupton, who lost his job thanks to Magpie Electricals, and was last seen at a Tibetan meditation centre... There are a couple of Radio Times snippets, covering David Attenborough's new series in the Amazon - with Prof. and Mrs Jones.
Each Doctor's era is also covered, factually, by a number of archive interview highlights and some short essays.
It is worth concentrating on the detail. That picture of T-Mat Temptress Gia Kelly on Page 46, for instance. Yes, it's actually CO. This will lead you to look for her other photographic intrusions throughout the Doctor's timeline...
Haven't had a chance to absorb this fully, but initial reaction is that it is a worthwhile purchase (RRP £20, but obviously to be found cheaper on-line).
(If you were planning on buying the "Essential Guide to 50 Years" book, aimed at a younger readership, this has been brought forward to 3rd October, according to Amazon UK).


I must admit I have never been a massive fan of the RTD Cyberman design. The figurine collection gives us the Controller from The Age of Steel - in the shops today, though subscribers got this about two and a half weeks ago. I suspect that, as the collection grows, this one will get pushed further and further towards the back.
Next time it will be a Weeping Angel. So far, so obvious - though they've managed to hold a Dalek (RTD bronze one) back to issue 6. I am really only looking forward to the classic series figures. The initial publicity for this collection did not say what would be released with issue 8. We now know that it will be the Tenth Doctor, from School Reunion.

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