Annuals! Every year, there comes a time where chain newsagents all across the UK are filled to the absolute brim with annuals. These hardbacked, oversized editions of children’s magazines are a classic stocking stuffer. Cheap, yet dense, the annual exists to fill in the long, dull gaps on Christmas and Boxing Day. As the range of what is considered annual worthy extends from Pokemon to One Direction, it is no surprise that Doctor Who has an offering on the shelf when the season comes around.
The tradition of the Doctor Who Annual extends almost as far back as the show itself. With An Unearthly Child broadcasting too late in the year for the show to receive anything in 1963, the following year saw the release of The Dalek Book. A year after that, and the very first dedicated Doctor Who Annual arrived, starring William Hartnell’s first Doctor. With short text stories, comic stories, and a handful of games, the contents of that first Annual is not too dissimilar to what we see over fifty years later.
The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Annual, as the name implies, was the Annual released in 2013. As a result of the anniversary, the book’s contents provided a greater focus than usual on the show’s history. Introductory paragraphs on each of the eleven Doctors, and a rogue’s gallery extending all the way back to the Zarbi, form a taster for children who may have no idea of how old their favourite show is. Sadly, the emphasis on history can only go so far. The central focus ultimately remains with the current season, and besides those aforementioned paragraphs, any mention of the show’s first 42 years never goes further than merely stating that it exists.
The eleventh Doctor and Clara are the true stars of the show here. Not only are they the TARDIS team to feature in the handful of comic and text stories, they also receive far more attention as part of the latter half of season 7. Clara herself receives a multiple page feature detailing her character, and the Impossible Girl arc, while the rest of the show’s companions are relegated to a small timeline. While it is understandable to focus on the current show’s line-up, the lack of any real content featuring past companions is still sorely felt.
Where the book’s real interest in history lies, however, is in the monsters. The aforementioned rogue’s gallery serves as a decent introduction to the various villains of Doctor Who past, ranging from the Daleks and the Weeping Angels, to famous classics like Sutekh. More noteworthy foes earn themselves full features, detailing their multiple clashes with the Doctor. Though the Cybermen and the Ice Warriors are almost obligatory, special attention is made toward the Great Intelligence. While the Intelligence’s appearances in the current season take up the bulk of the space, the classic Yeti serials are not only mentioned, but relevant. The same can be said for the Ice Warrior feature, although to a lesser degree. Easy as it may be to poke fun at the older episodes, everything is treated with the utmost respect, suggesting that the only reason for the lack of history represented here is that there isn’t enough to connect to the modern era.
It is the modern era that clearly forms the book’s comfort zone. Multiple recaps of the season’s events are strewn throughout its pages. These take the form of the aforementioned feature on Clara, as well as little in-character pieces of the Doctor’s diary. It isn’t very complex, although it isn’t supposed to be. The fiction stories, likewise, are simple bits of fun. A common thread between the two comic strips, and the lone text story, is the fifty year anniversary. Several connections in time pop up between 1963 and 2013, and while the resolutions are never much to write home about, all three stories are brief bits of fun.
In many ways, The 50th Anniversary Annual reflects the 50th Anniversary itself. There is clearly history here, so much of it that it’s difficult to ignore. Yet for every mention of what came before, for every throwaway mention of the Scaroth or the Nimon, there are entire pages centred around “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.” This is more forgivable here, of course. The Annuals are specifically designed for a younger audience, and it serves its purpose as a way of capping off the year. There is certainly more room for a look back at the past fifty years, though the absence is less glaring. While the Annuals remain little more than a curiosity for teenage fans and older, they serve as a reminder that Doctor Who is wider than even the most dedicated fans give it credit for.
Will Martin
Latest posts by Will Martin (see all)
- Doctor Who Novel Reviews - Stranger Tales of the City - April 2, 2018
- Doctor Who Anniversary - The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Annual - November 23, 2017
- Doctor Who Novel Reviews – Grave Matter - October 30, 2017