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 Fifth Doctor Sourcebook 160 pages. Color photos. Peter Davidson as the Doctor

The 80s began with a new Doctor, a new title sequence and a new direction for the Doctor (and the show) under the helm of John Nathan-Turner. The 6th Doctor Sourcebook has us all covered.

Again we have all the Doctor's Companions, Adric, Nyssa, and Teegan, and later on Turlogh, Kamleion, and Peri. Updates to the Doctor's sheet and the TARDIS.

Again we get the episodes from the Fifth Doctor's adventures including all his adversaries. We get the Anothony Ainely Master (introduced at the end of the Tom Baker era) and quite a lot more.

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.

Covering the exploits of the Fifth Doctor (played by Peter Davison), this book begins with his regeneration - caused by the near-demise of the preceding regeneration at the hands of the Master - and covers his turbulent adventures where saving the universe features several times along with moments of high drama, athleticism, and intense emotion.

Chapter 1: Playing in the Fifth Doctor's Era contains a wealth of information to help get the right feel for this part of the Doctor's adventures, as well as a lot of detail to help you make it all come alive for your players. It starts by describing the nature of this version of the Doctor, who was curious and delighted in travelling space and time to see the sights and help the people that he encountered. He wasn't so good at navigating through time and space and often didn't end up remotely near where he wanted to be. This section ends with a character sheet.

Then we move on to companions. He tended to gather multiple companions, as opposed to other regenerations who generally had but one or two at a time. Sounds a bit more like a conventional role-playing group, doesn't it? Starting with Nyssa of Traken, we learn about Adric, Tegan Jovanka, and Vislor Turlough. Interestingly, they're nearly all aliens (apart from Tegan, who does come from Earth). Background notes and character sheets are provided. We also get character sheets (but no notes) for the metamorphic robot Kamelion and Peri Brown.

The remainder of the chapter concerns itself with the TARDIS and with the nuts and bolts of running games in this era - when the 'present day' was the 1980s. The universe seems to be a darker, colder place with more than one companion death during the course of the adventures, and some outright hostility with Adric tending to the argumentative, Tegan convinced she was the Doctor's equal and Turlough actually trying to kill him - albeit at the command of the Black Guardian (he eventually rebelled and refused the mission).

The remainder of the book, one giant chapter, consists of the adventures from the show, some twenty of them. Each is presented in the same way beginning with a synopsis of the adventure as it played out on TV. Then there's a section on 'Continuity' which puts the adventure in context, then notes on running the adventure 'as is' for your group. Here you will also find details on races or individuals that are encountered, notes on interesting technology and so on. Finally, there are suggestions for further adventures based on matters arising in the original. This provides a wealth of material which you can weave into your game in any way you like, a splendid resource.

Along with other books in this series, this book provides a delightful insight into one of the Doctor's regenerations, complete with detailed episode guides that should enthrall fans of the show as well as provide plenty of material for role-playing. It also shares the lack of photo captions common to all of Cubicle 7's Doctor Who books, as well as no indication of who any of the actors are - now I'm always more interested in characters than the actors playing them, but a lot of people are interested in actors so it's probably worth mentioning! Overall, however, another worthy resource to add to your collection!

With the release of the Fifth Doctor's Sourcebook for the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG, we have the opportunity to run our own version of the classic episode The Five Doctors, for gaming groups that have really wanted to all play not just Time Lords, but The Doctor!

Again, like the other sourcebooks in the series, this one provides the predictable crunch (new traits, character sheets for the Doctor / Companions / acquaintances / enemies) and fluff (series and episode synposes), and provides some thematic explorations and comparisons to the episodes and themes from prior incarnations.

Of note are the plot motifs that keep repeating in this season: betrayals, surrogate parenthood, (relatively) large adventuring groups in the TARDIS, and so on.

By this fifth book, it's great to compare the growth of the Doctor and the selection of Companions throughout his career. I also noticed how often the Master figured into this season's adventures.

For a hard-core canon fan, there are many adventure seeds suggested that deal with inconsistencies or contradictions found in the season as compared to prior episodes or seasons. That alone may be enough to start an entire campaign. Clara's Commandos, anyone? She can't save the Doctor all alone, you know...

(this review originally appeared on http://armchairgamer.blogspot.com/)