Clayton Hickman

Okay, the cover's not as nice, but in most other ways this is an improvement upon its already-quite-good predecessor. I remember not liking the 2011 series very much as it aired, but this book got me appreciating it-- even if the plots don't hang together, surely it's one of Doctor Who's most stylish and gorgeous-looking seasons? The episode guides are still good, but there's even better features than ever before:

• notes from Amy and Rory to the Doctor during their honeymoon(s)
• cut sequences

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• from episodes (including a Fiddler on the Roof song in "The Impossible Astronaut," and all the drafts of "The Curse of the Black Spot"... including the ship-less one!)
• an explanation of the three-month gap between "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon" (complete with map)
• "The Changing Hats of Doctor Who"(!)
• a scrapbook of Madame Vastra's history (including Henry Gordon Jago reference)
• report cards for Rory, Mels, and Amy
• a Teselecta user's guide ("The Teselecta comes with a range of pre-programed dance moves for scenarios when it is required to dance convincingly.... NEVER attempt manual improvisation - IT CAN COST LIVES!")
• a TwoStreams Kindness Facility PR brochure
• The White Flag, the newspaper of the always-surrending planet of Tivoli
• Charles Dickens's twitter updates

Particularly awesome is a Neil Gaiman/Mark Buckingham comic strip prequel to "The Doctor's Wife" and the Doctor's job application for the department store in "Closing Time."

There's a real emphasis in here on how the show is made, which is both pleasing to someone like me and sure to inspire and thrill a whole new generation of younger fans. It's a shame that there don't seem to be any future Brilliant Books on the horizon-- no doubt a victim of the awful scheduling decisions that have plagued the show of later... show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1881281.html

This really is a must-have book for fans of New Who. It has shaken off some of the extra material of last year's equivalent, and settled down to being a damn good guide to the 2011 series (and 2010 Christmas episode), including interviews with the key crew and cast, very short pieces of fanfic for each episode by established authors (James Goss, as usual, scores with the adventures of madame Vastra) and some nice reflections on how some of the show more episodes fit into longer Who history. I found it very helpful in reviving my memories of watching it first time round and tying them into the wider continuity. (Apart from Night Terrors which I struggled to remember.) I recommended it sight unseen to a friend to share with his nine-year-old and I strongly repeat that now that I have actually read it, for fans of any age. show less

Okay, it's a little weird to be reading a guide to the first series of eleventh Doctor adventures just after the last one has gone out, but whatever. The Brilliant Book 2011 is a charming guide to the 2010 series, but much more besides-- it's filled with interviews, original fiction, and goofy features like a map of Amy Pond's hometown of Leadworth, instructions for dancing like the Doctor, "twitbook" and updates from Rory's stag party. I appreciate that they got Brian W. Aldiss(!) to write show more fiction for the book, but "Umwelts for Hire" didn't entirely come off, I'm afraid. The book is gorgeous overall; I love Anthony Dry's collage illustrations for each episode, and Paul Lang's visual design is top-notch. show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1771372.html

Having read all but two of the Old Who annuals, and most of the new ones as well, I can say this is one of the best large-format annual-style books to be associated with the Who franchise. The core of it is a combination of two-page reviews of the 13 episodes of 2010, plus interviews with the cast and crew; but there are lots of joyous extras as well, including a page of teasers for the 2011 stories (only two of which I recognise) and a rather joyous show more look at the past appearances of vampires and other blood-sucking horrors in Who (including a lovely reference to The Chase).

There are also two original short stories, one of them being a brief but effective retake by David Llewellyn of Malcolm Hulke's prologue to Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters, the other a story of mind-altering drugs, exploration of inner space and a corrupt political system by none other than Brian Aldiss, who I had not identified as a Who fan before I got this book. Not totally successful as a story - Amy sidelined, Doctor slightly out of character, and odd pacing - but interesting all the same. This engagement of some of the major figures of the genre has happened under Moffatt rather than Davies; to pick only the most obvious examples, while ten years ago a Who novel by Moorcock and an episode by Gaiman would of course have seemed impossible, they would not have seemed a lot more likely five years ago either. Looking forward to the Second Doctor novel by ******* ******. show less