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 Tenth Doctor Sourcebook 256 pages. Color photos. David Tennant as the Doctor

If one actor can be given credit for the renewed popularity of Doctor Who then it has to belong to David Tennant in his run as the 10th Doctor, though Matt Smith should get a lot of credit as well.

This book is a must have for any fan of the Tenth Doctor and/or this particular RPG. Great detail is gone into all the Tenth Doctor's episodes and nearly everyone one and everything he encounters. We get the various new Traits here, but also new Alien Traits and new Gadget Traits as well.

Honestly quite a lot of detail is given over to all this Doctor's episodes. Rightly so too since these are the episodes that have set the tone for the new series and for this RPG. If you want to know how the Cubicle 7 RPG is to be run, then this is your place to start. After the core books of course.

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.

Charting the adventures and background to the Tenth Doctor (played by David Tennant), this book provides loads of resources and ideas for anyone wanting to run their game in this era of the show's history. It also includes material on Torchwood which - as it did on TV - could prove an interesting 'spin off' if you do not want to run a Doctor-based campaign.

Chapter 1: The Children of Time discusses a very mercurial and almost manic Doctor, filled with a sense of justice and pride and, still, remorse for the Time War although he's getting over that a bit. There's a character sheet for him, and also copious details and character sheets for his companions and some important allies - Rose Tyler (a carry-over from the last regeneration), Mickey Smith (Rose's boyfriend and rather neglected), Martha Jones (a doctor of the medical variety and very determined with it), Captain Jack Harkness, Donna Noble (who brought some of the actor's other abrasive comic characteristics to this role), Sarah Jane Smith (a true blast from the past, who was a companion to the Third and Fourth Doctors before being reunited with this regeneration), Wilfrid Mott (Donna's grandfather), Astrid Peth (a companion who might have been but never was), Sally Sparrow ... and many more. This Doctor certainly had a lot of friends, even if many only participated in one or two adventures with him. There's also a wealth of detail about the Ood, a gentle and peaceful alien race, and of course a TARDIS update.

Next, Chapter 2: Playing in the Doctor's Era gets down to actually running your game in the Tenth Doctor's time. Key to this is breakneck, almost frantic, speed. There's also change - the Doctor has an indelible effect on everyone who associates with him, however briefly. There's advice on creating and running story arcs and much, much more. Alien and gadget traits round off the chapter.

Then, Chapter 3: Torchwood explores this fascinating organisation, dedicated to protecting the British Empire from alien influences since 1879. It's a ready-made setting for alternative adventures, and there are plenty of ideas here (who knows, maybe there will be a complete Torchwood supplement one day!). You can find out how to create a Torchwood operative, read the organisation's history and contemplate a handful of adventure ideas. There are also two character sheets, for two of the individuals from the spin-off Torchwood TV series (Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones) although neither are discussed in the text and even their Torchwood base (the one in Cardiff) only gets a passing mention.

Chapter 4: The Doctor's Enemies gives details of Cybermen, Daleks, the Master and... oddly enough... the Time Lords themselves, who end up in opposition to the Doctor. Plenty of detail, background material and character sheets enable you to run any of them with confidence.

The final chapter contains all 44 of the Tenth Doctor's adventures. Each comes with a synopsis of the adventure, notes on running it (including ideas for taking that plotline and running it in a different Doctor's era), follow up adventures and material about any monsters, NPCs or gadgets that have not already been discussed earlier in the book. All fertile ground for the imagination, however you choose to use it!