Coming Soon, the Doctor Who Production Guide: William Hartnell

By John Freeman on March 21, 2024

On its way soon is Doctor Who Production Guide: William Hartnell by David Brunt, to be published by Telos Publishing.

This long-planned mammoth tome, expected to possibly clock in at around 600-700 pages, is stuffed full of details about the early development and days of Doctor Who, and is presented in a day by day format, explaining how everything was done and interlocked together to bring us the show we love!

“Along the way there are new facts and misunderstandings and misapprehensions corrected,” say Telos. “… it’s a blinder of a book!”

With publication now planned for April/ May 2024 (the scope and editing required far more than expected, hence the uncertainty about the publication date), the 300,000 word manuscript has already earned praise from Who experts such as Andrew Pixley and Paul Scoones.

“This will be a superb book,” Paul enthuses. “I’m fortunate to have read this, having checked the manuscript for David. Impeccably researched and loaded with detail about the day to day production history of the early years of Doctor Who, including new facts and debunked myths. Highly recommended!”

David Brunt has been a participant in Doctor Who fandom since time began, including as historian of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society for eleven years, for which he is still apologising.

He was writer of several BBC Doctor Who DVD and blu-ray production notes for a decade, which seemed to go down well at the time, even though all the best jokes were edited out.

He’s also advisor and contributor to far too many TV-related magazines and books to remember.

• Doctor Who Production Guide: William Hartnell is currently available to pre-order now at a reduced price from Telos here

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.