Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary

I'm an unabashed Doctor Who nerd, going way back from watching reruns in 1980 when Tom Baker was the rock star of Doctors (yes, he even looked like Bob Dylan). I do get it -- this visual dictionary is meant to be a celebration of the modern series, not an exhaustive encyclopedia of all things Doctor from the last 50 years. I was, therefore, not shocked to see that there was so little mention of classic Doctor trivia, but jeez -- you'd think the Eleventh Doctor spontaneously generated out of thin air, the way this book tells the tale. Well, not literally...but come on. The Ninth Doctor deserves a little more due than the single thumbnail photo with a caption. And the Tenth Doctor had Three Freakin' Seasons and Nine Specials! Sorry David Tennant, you only rate a single page of exposition according to DK. Apparently, any Doctor that is not the Holy Heartthrob Matt Smith can just lump it.Nonetheless, I liked what DK did consider worthy of inclusion. DK books are always visually excellent ways to chronicle just about any subject matter, from Dinosaurs to Lego Star Wars. Our family has enjoyed several DK visual dictionaries, spurred mostly by passing interests of the children as they have grown -- although the adults of the household have often been caught reading them on their own. This 2009 Doctor Who Visual Dictionary is no exception, continuing that legacy of great photographs, lavish spreads, and fun trivia to satisfy any fan's obsession with the modern Dr. Who series. Despite this book's focus on the Eleventh Doctor, many pages of Ninth and Tenth Doctors' characters, stories, and artifacts round out the visual feast. I loved that the Daleks, Weeping Angels, and the Cybermen each had their own multi-page sections beginning with a vertical spread (would've liked to see a progressive chart showing the evolution of the Daleks starting from the earlier series -- ah well, missed opportunities. Hopefully it will be found in a future DW visual dicitonary). There is one fantastic double extended-page spread featuring the Tardis. Each companion from the modern series is given at least an entire page devoted to a summary and a full body portrait, a few bits of trivia, and examples of how they fit into the Doctor's universe. River Song, Amy Pond, and Rory, naturally, have two-page spreads.I would suggest that even as a fanservice devotional to the Matt Smith Years, this DK Visual Dictionary was published prematurely; there were still yet four future seasons of Eleventh Doctor Who that came after 2009 (although they couldn't have known that precisely, DK also had no reason to believe Smith wouldn't continue for at least one more season). Therefore, even if you are looking for is a more complete exposition of Eleventh Doctor pictures, stories, and trivia, you will be left unsatisfied with this book. A LOT happened in 2010, '11, '12, and '13 which obviously will not be found here. This already quite-dated Visual Dictionary is delightfully done, but now falls short. True fans of the Doctor will not be disappointed in the quality of Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary, but it will quickly be put aside for the next update from DK.Not a bad part of your DW fandom library. Keep your eye out for better and more thorough Visual Dictionaries as the DW series progresses.

This book was purchased as a birthday gift for my 9 yr old. We are both HUGE Doctor Who fans, but mostly only watch the newer series. This book really is beautiful. There are pages and pages of wonderful pictures, but also with an abundance of information. I love that this includes useful, and often over looked facts about the Doctor, his different companions, and the many "bad guys" they have dealt with. As an adult I have been poring over this book for over two hours now. BUT, it is an easy read for kids too! I can't wait to see the look on my son's face when he gets this gift....... I'm gonna be the "coolest"!!9/10/11 So today was my sons bday party. He received many wonderful gifts, but this was by far his favorite. After letting him look at it, and talk about it, for over 20 minutes I finally had to take it away from him so he would rejoin the party!!! If you are a fan of the new Doctor, this book is a must have!!

This book, updated with the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, is a perfect companion to any Doctor Who fan of the new, modern series. Just a warning: if you are looking for details on the original series from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, look elsewhere. 99% of this book features the modern series... but if that's what you like, you won't be disappointed. The design is well laid out (would you expect anything else from DK books?), and both David Tennant and Matt Smith are featured prominently (with a slight edge to the new guy). The villains, aliens, and situations from the past five years are featured in full color and enjoyable descriptions. The book does not include details about the cast, crew, and "making of" highlights of the series - that is not the point here. Instead, it is an in-depth look at the world of Who from a fan's point of view... let your imagination roll.Exterminate your doubts and, if you haven't bought the first Who visual dictionary yet, get this one and relive the Doctor's adventures - until the next episode comes around.

In my personal book buying experience DK make brilliant books and this book is no different. This book has a good solid feel to it with a good weight and it's filled with lots of heavy glossy pages. The pages are colorful and highly detailed, the printing is fabulous and it's right up their with a quality coffee table book at half the price, what's not to love.The content is exactly what you would expect. Filled with all the characters from 50 years of Doctor Who including general information and extra bits and pieces thrown in. It doesn't go into immense detail on every character, monster, villain, companion or device but if you want to know what an Ice Warrior is for example it will tell you. This book should be in every Time Lord's library unless the swimming pool is currently in there.

This is a beautiful book, splendid pictures, tons of info, for the Who fan that likes things classified!Pluses are many: Great spread of TARDIS' interior, awesome portrait of the Master, Dalek flagship, Angels, Torchwood ( yes, few great pics of Captain Jack!) companions... I love the map of Leadworth ( British humor!) great profiles of Amy, Rory, and the 11th!Fans of previous Doctors will be disappointed, there is more about past series in the Guinness Book of World Records 2011 ( if you haven't seen it yet check it out, even Torchwood is featured!) than in this dictionary.I did find couple of minuses: my favorite episode Midnight is not featured, Waters of Mars and Vashta Nerada only have 1 page ( tiny profile and picture of Adelaide Brooke, which is a shame as far as great female characters go!)Overall, it's a great gift for a Who fan ( significant others out-there, take note!)

good product