Category Archives: Books

Doctor Who Annual (1984)

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Roger Pocock

“Get back, Doctor!” One step closer and I trigger the bomb!” That’s not a bad opening line for the first story in a Doctor Who annual, is it, but before we get to all that it’s worth mentioning that this … Continue reading →

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Doctor Who Annual (1983)

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Roger Pocock

The 1983 Doctor Who Annual might have the blurriest photographic cover ever, but there seems to be a genuine attempt to make it more appealing to fans of Doctor Who than previous annuals.  The big change is the effort that … Continue reading →

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Doctor Who Annual (1982)

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Roger Pocock

The 1982 Doctor Who Annual (undated, published in 1981) has a split personality.  It’s a Fourth Doctor annual, and it’s a Fifth Doctor annual.  There are six stories and one comic strip, with all but the final two stories featuring … Continue reading →

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Doctor Who Annual 1981

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Roger Pocock

The amount of stories was reduced again for the 1981 Doctor Who Annual, with just one comic strip and five short stories.  However, the child of 1980 had no reason to feel hard-done-by, because the stories are actually all of … Continue reading →

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Doctor Who Annual 1980

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Roger Pocock

The 1980 Doctor Who Annual offers slim pickings once again to fans of Doctor Who fiction, with only five stories and two comic strips.  On the plus side, it’s the first annual for many years to feature recognisable artwork for … Continue reading →

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Who Goes There (Nick Griffiths)

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Roger Pocock

I have to confess to not being a very fast reader, mainly due to laziness. I can often judge how good a book is by how long it takes before I give up and turn on the telly instead, or … Continue reading →

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The Dr Who Annual 1979

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Roger Pocock

Isn’t it strange how one of the high points of Doctor Who on television was accompanied by the low point of the annual range.  The Fourth Doctor annuals were really made to a very poor standard, and that applies to … Continue reading →

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The Book of Questions

Posted on December 29, 2018 by DrAcrossthePond

One last deviation from video games before the new year begins.  Since I’ve been reviewing books these last couple Sundays and games on Saturdays, I thought we could merge the two for one last idea for families and friends.  This … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Doctor Who, Games, Random Chatter | 2 Comments

Hogfather (Terry Pratchett)

Posted on December 26, 2018 by Roger Pocock

LET’S GO SLEIGH THEM! Terry Pratchett was truly one of the greatest authors who ever lived.  So many fantasy authors over the years have produced tedious escapism, far removed from the real world, but Pratchett took a different approach.  He … Continue reading →

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On Target: The Day of the Doctor

Posted on December 23, 2018 by DrAcrossthePond

Well, it’s time to wrap up the last of the TARGET novels, this time looking at the incredible The Day of the Doctor.  As I mentioned last week, I had to get the audio since I lost my notes on … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Random Chatter, Science Fiction | 4 Comments

On Target: Twice Upon a Time

Posted on December 16, 2018 by DrAcrossthePond

As Christmas rapidly approaches, I wanted to close the loop on the TARGET novels that came out this year.  Even though I’d rather cover this one a little closer to Christmas, I’ll cover Twice Upon a Time first.  Why is … Continue reading →

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The Dalek Book

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Roger Pocock

54 years ago some lucky children found a very exciting annual in their Christmas stockings: The Dalek Book, subtitled “astounding stories of the outer space robot people of television’s ‘Dr. Who’”.  It was published by Panther Books Ltd in association … Continue reading →

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The Many Lives of Doctor Who

Posted on December 9, 2018 by DrAcrossthePond

I have to make today’s post a quick one.  I had a tough day including a flood and far too much driving but I didn’t want to leave our Christmas list blank!  Santa is coming and there are plenty of … Continue reading →

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On Target: The Christmas Invasion

Posted on December 2, 2018 by DrAcrossthePond

The first thing you notice reading Jenny T. Colgan’s The Christmas Invasion is the table of contents.  Jenny could teach the BBC a lesson on how to use titles.  Every chapter is the title of a Christmas song.  And that’s both charming and brilliant for The Christmas … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Target Books, Tenth Doctor | Tagged | 2 Comments

A Touchdown on Thanksgiving

Posted on November 25, 2018 by DrAcrossthePond

For the month of December, I intended to look at some Christmas gift ideas, but needed to start early because of Thanksgiving.  As Americans, we celebrate Thanksgiving every November to give thanks for all we have.  The origin has to … Continue reading →

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The Dr Who Annual 1978

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Roger Pocock

I described the 1977 Annual as the lowpoint of the annual range, and in terms of the artwork that is most certainly the case.  Surprisingly, they managed to find some more downhill for the stories.  For the 1978 Annual there … Continue reading →

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The Dr Who Annual 1977

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Roger Pocock

So here we have it, the infamous 1977 annual, the low point of the annual range.  It puts you in a bad mood before you have even opened it up, towering over the other annuals and poking out from the … Continue reading →

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The Faraway Tree

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Roger Pocock

Welcome to October in the Junkyard!  Lots of blogs tend to go with some kind of a build-up to Halloween during the month of October, and last year we went big with the horror.  I won’t speak for Mike, but … Continue reading →

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The Dr Who Annual 1976

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Roger Pocock

The 1976 annual has a gorgeous frontispiece, depicting the Doctor and his companions exploring a beautiful alien landscape with monolithic ruins.  However, there is something a bit odd going on.  Who are the companions?  In particular, who is that scraggy … Continue reading →

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The Dr Who Annual 1975

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Roger Pocock

The Doctor Who annuals continued their slow decline in terms of the artwork, but the quality of the stories actually improved with the 1975 annual.  They are not quite so derivative of the television episodes, but more importantly the end … Continue reading →

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