Originally posted here with full reviews of all the Doctor Who Doctor Sourcebooks: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2023/05/review-doctor-who-sourcebooks.html

Not content just to give us a great game and material we can use to make our own adventures, Cubicle 7 took a huge leap and gave us guides and sourcebooks for all Thirteen of the major versions of the Doctor that have aired since 1963.

The covers feature the Doctor with some of his (and her) enemies from their run. The Thirteenth Doctor is not pictured, played by Jodie Whittaker, only because it has not hit the stores yet. I will review the PDF here.

The logo on the cover of the first 11 is from the Jon Pertwee era (1970-1973) and for the 8th Doctor's movie in 1986. Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor uses the logo from Jodie's 13th Doctor era, and Jodie's 13th Doctor book uses the "new" logo which is the reuse of the old Tom Baker logo.

For this review, I am going to consider all the hardcover books I have, doctors 1 to 12, and the PDFs, Doctors 1 - 13.

All books differ in length but all have similar content. Each book begins with an introduction to that Doctor's era and some of the special things about it. For example, in the 3rd Doctor book we get a lot about his exile on Earth. Each book is filled with photos from that Doctor's time period, so a lot of black and white for the First and Second Doctor and of course ideas for adventures throughout.

If that is all it was, well, you need one book for that, and this is not what makes these books special.

Each book details every adventure that Doctor had on screen. While it is written from the point of view of the RPG (and this RPG in particular), the details are such that each one of these books is fascinating reading all on their own. This is great since so many of the early adventures/episodes are now lost and the old Target novelizations go for a king's ransom.

Also, each book details all the Doctor's companions and provides stats for them, the Doctor in question and most, if not all, the creatures they encounter.

Doctor Who - The Second Doctor Sourcebook 160 pages. Black & White photos. Patrick Troughton as the Doctor

Like the First Doctor book this one features a lot of black & white photos (because that was what we had then). The stats for the Doctor and the TARDIS are updated, as are any stats from returning villains like the Daleks and the new Cybermen.

There are new Traits (Good and Bad) and more story/episode/adventure seeds as well. If anything the Second Doctor travels more in Space as well as Time, so seeing humanity out among the stars is a great treat.

Likewise, this one features stats for companions and creatures encountered, and the best part is a full detail of the Second Doctor's adventures. If anything, I have seen less of his stories than I have of the First.

All of these books are absolutely fantastic. Not just in terms of episode guides but also additions to the RPG (both editions). Kudos to Cubicle 7 for these.

Born out of the necessity of changing actors came one of the iconic concepts of Doctor Who, the regeneration. This provided a convenient explanation for why it was still the Doctor even though he looked and acted quite differently. The grumpy old man played by William Hartnell became a more playful figure in the hands of Patrick Troughton.

The first chapter introduces regeneration, the second Doctor and his companions. There's an extensive analysis of the character and nature of this regeneration, showing how he brought a completely different outlook and approach to every situation... as well as a full character sheet should he happen to turn up in your game. Likewise, all the companions that travelled with him - beginning with Ben and Polly who'd been with the original Doctor as well - are presented with copious notes and character sheets. The chapter ends with a few notes on the TARDIS, which remains pretty much the same as it was.

The next chapter is Tools of the Trade, but starts off talking about companions and the various options open to you, not just whether to use ones from the show or come up with your own, but about theire different reasons for joining the Doctor, agreeing to stay and, eventually, deciding to leave the TARDIS. There are also comments about using these adventures with different Time Lords (perhaps not even the Doctor at all) or without one, although the wide-ranging nature of the adventures described in this book means that access to some kind of time-travel device is virtually essential. Some new Traits and Gadgets are also provided here, many will have more general application than the reason that they are included.

Chapter 3: Enemies provides details of some major recurring enemies starting with the Cybermen - of which there are several different versions, not to mention Cybermats, Cyber Controllers and Partial Cybermen (who are, of course, mentioned!). There is a similarly in-depth look at Daleks, as well as the Great Intelligence, Yetis and Ice Warriors.

Then, Chapter 4 looks at designing adventures, with an eye to creating ones with the right look and feel for the Second Doctor era. Even if you intend to use the adventures from the show, it's worth reading - particularly as many episodes have been lost so you cannot study up by watching them! This, of course, makes it a bit easier to re-use adventures as unless your players are as old as I am they probably haven't seen them either. There's a lot of material here, of general use even if you don't want to use much Second Doctor material.

We then launch into the actual Second Doctor adventures, some twenty-one of them. For each, there's a synopsis of the adventure itself, notes on how to run it in your game 'as is', material on notable creatures (including NPCs) and artefacts encountered (which you may wish to use elsewhere, of course) and ideas for further adventures based on it. This gives an impressive array of options for how to use some or all of the material in creating your game.

Whether it inspiration or complete adventures - or just an exploration of one of the lesser-known Doctors - that you are after, you should find plenty to amuse you here.

Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space -- The Second Doctor Sourcebook is a must-have for Doctor Who completists. But it is also a wonderful resource for any DWAITAS campaign, because of the detailed stats for different Cybermen incarnations, Daleks from this era, and the Ice Warriors of Mars -- this is, after all, when The Doctor began leading the charge as a hero, instead of being a more manipulative mastermind (as in his prior incarnation).

BOOK BREAKDOWN

Once again, a lot of black & white pictures from the series to help give a visual grasp of this era of The Doctor. The Doctor and his Companions are statted out, along with his villains in the era:

• Cybermen (Marks 2 through 4, Cybermat, Cyber-Controller, Partial Cyberman, etc.)
• Daleks (Black, Humanised, Emperor, etc.)
• The Great Intelligence (Robotic Servents, Yetis Mark I and II)
• Ice Warriors

Lots of tips and tricks to capture the feel and themes of this era as well.

And of course, synopses and adventure hooks for the episodes of The Second Doctor. It's a great look into the resonant themes of this era in British Science Fiction -- and a great source of RPG ideas for our modern times.