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 Ninth Doctor Sourcebook 160 pages. Color photos. Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor

Sadly, the Fantastic Ninth Doctor only go one season and really just one full-time companion, though Captain Jack Harkness did travel with them for the last half.

"You know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek homeworld? The Oncoming Storm." That is who the Ninth Doctor is. This particular book is great because just like the in the series you get the feeling that the Ninth Doctor has been forgotten by the RPG. The first set focused on the Tenth, then the Eleventh. The hardcovers focus on all of the Doctors, with Nine getting lost in the shuffle, and then Twelve and Thirteen. So it is good to see this Doctor again.

This book also handily fixes the old "When did the Doctor work with UNIT" debate. While the FASA Who game moved everything to the 1980s this game takes the route that the Last Great Time War sent ripples of causality in Time and Space. Changing how and when things happened. The Doctor (and the viewers) remember it one way, but the rest of the universe another. Why? Their histories were changed and they never knew it. Some of this is explored with some very detailed history of the various Dalek invasions of Earth. That is how can the Battle of Canary Wharf (10th doctor) be forgotten in the future in Dalek (9th Doctor)?

We also get some more explanation of human psychic ability here. 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.

The Ninth Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston) was particularly exciting to old hands and new, as this was the beginning of the 'reboot' of the show in 2005. This new regeneration was a ruthless, edgy fellow, forged by his experiences in the Great Time War and believing himself to be the last Time Lord in existence. Emotionally-scarred, he mellowed over time due mostly to his interactions with his companion Rose, a London shop assistant. Eventually he realised that, whatever he might have had to do, he was a good guy, a force for good in the universe once more.

Chapter 1: The Ninth Doctor and Companions looks at both the Doctor and those who travelled with him, starting of course with a very psychological analysis of the Doctor himself, complete with character sheet. He started alone, but soon met up with Rose Tyler, and her effect on him is charted here. There's also Adam Mitchell, who last but for one adventure, and Captain Jack Harkness - not a companion, more of a kindred spirit. Rose's boyfriend, Mikey Smith, and her mother Jackie also feature here. Each gets a description, backstory and character sheet. Finally there are some notes on the current TARDIS, markedly different in appearance - at least inside - than previous ones, even if it is still a battered police call box on the outside.

Next, Chapter 2: Playing in the Ninth Doctor's Era provides a lot of information to support running adventures in this time, if not with these characters as well. Earth has gone the better part of 15 years without seeing much of the Doctor - things were quite different for him and Earth was unaccustomed to him as well! The universe as a whole, meanwhile, is still reeling from the Great Time War whose ripples affect memory and what actually happened, which make various discrepancies arise. Have fun with those! A lot of the discussion assumes that you will be using the adventures discussed later in your own game, but even if you are not, there's plenty of use here.

The remainder of the book presents the adventures the Ninth Doctor had, thirteen of them (including a couple of double episodes). This set of adventures is the first of the Doctor's adventures to have a distinct series arc, called Bad Wolf, over and above recurring individuals, situations or even villains. In each case, there's an adventure synopsis, notes on running the adventure as is, details of notable enemies and allies (and tech), and ideas for adventures spawned by whatever was going on. Plenty to get your teeth into here, however you intend to use this material. Wider concepts are discussed as well, so it is well worth reading through the lot at least once, whatever your intended use. Definitely worth adding to your bookshelf!

This review appears in full at http://armchairgamer.blogspot.com/

I approached the review of this sourcebook with some trepidation. After all, the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space (DWAITAS) series of sourcebooks had been solid entries every time – with the Doctor series churning out astoundingly consistent source material in the tone and spirit of each of the eras, despite the volume (or paucity thereof) of actual episodes during that Doctor’s era.

However, this one was the incarnation of the Doctor that revived the franchise on TV -- and one that had eight sourcebooks preceding it. Was it going to live up to expectations? Or might it lapse into a boring re-tread of what had gone before?

A SOLID FRAMEWORK

Dedicated collectors and followers of this particular series of sourcebooks would, I’m sure, agree that some aspects of repetition are actually the strength of this series.

I’m very fond of the presence of the initial chapter of each of these books that give an overview of the peculiarities and strengths of this particular Doctor’s personality, and the character of the adventures during this era.

The roll call of protagonists and antagonists (statted out, with descriptions and explorations of their role during this era, of course) is also a given. But it’s unarguably essential to a sourcebook like this. It’s also very well done: character sheets for each with a great selection of iconic imagery for each. As always, I love that the TARDIS always has its own writeup.

UNIQUE CHALLENGES

This era only saw one Season / Series, meaning a quite a bit less source material in terms of episodes (we’ll come back to the Eight Doctor’s sourcebook as soon as I pick it up), but these episodes – in conjunction with the section tackling handling adventures in this era in greater detail – really give players a lot of options in running Doctor-y or Doctorless campaigns with the mix of personal drama, neo-pulpish adventure, and witty banter.

I really have to say that these synopses are well-written – and have been over this series of because. Concise, but filled with easy-to-follow details (useful for the GM who hasn’t quite reviewed every single episode in the given era, and may not have the time to do so). They also always raise concerns regarding continuity (that some sharp-minded GMs and Players will likely tackle in or out of play.

There’s also great notes on running your players through the episode as an adventure – fantastic I’m sure for the fans who’ve always wanted a chance to be a real companion of The Doctor.

Furthermore, the smaller pool of adventures does give the writing team an opportunity to really go in-depth and all-out in mining and milking these episodes for (a) adventures; (b) spin-off adventures; (c) motifs and leitmotifs of the Doctor’s adventures to reinforce the feel; (d) ideas on using location and enemies in different or expanded ways.

FOR THE FANS

There is some added benefit here for me as a fan – some of my favorite episodes can be found here (“The End of the World, Dalek, Father’s Day, and The Parting of Ways), along with the first appearances of some enigmatic continuing characters. Much of the analysis and extrapolation here helps feed that fan prediliction for speculation, and is a rich source for both theories, and possible adventuring in the continuum of Time & Space that the Doctor inhabits.

Highly recommended.