After writing about the background on Doctor Who, the stories, and the Monsters, what could be better than a book totally devoted to the companions, written by two-thirds of the Howe-Stammers-Walker team? It's a must-have for any Who fan, I'll tell you.

Be it for muscle for the elderly Doctors or lovely babes for all of them, the companions played a huge part in the sci-fi series. Fans of the series could discuss who was their favourite companion in addition to favourite Doctor, season, story, etc.

Here's my take on some aspects of companions that readers of this review who already have this book may have formulated for themselves. The long-time companions are the ones who'll be remembered the most, and they are normally associated with a single Doctor. These are Ian and Barbara (1st Doctor), Jamie (2nd Doctor), The Brigadier and Jo Grant (3rd Doctor), Sarah Jane (4th Doctor), Tegan (5th Doctor), Peri (6th Doctor), and Ace (7th Doctor). The Brigadier is a remarkable exception in that he later became a recurring companion from Mawdryn Undead.

Some of them served as transition companions, spanning Doctors, or serving for a short time. As a result, their tenure was either short or insignificant in terms of the series. Dodo and Steven (1st Doctor), Harry (4th Doctor), Liz (3rd Doctor), and Mel (6th and 7th Doctors) were examples. Others had very short fates or in the case of the third one on this list, due to a quirk of fate: Katarina and Sarah Kingdom (1st Doctor), and Kamelion (5th Doctor).

The other thing one learns about the book was how the BBC dispensed with companions. Jackie Lane (Dodo), Peter Purves (Steven), and Michael Craze (Ben), for example, were just told, "We don't need you anymore. This will be your last episode," and they had no say in the matter. That's one of the things I hate about the BBC--they seem to treat their actors callously, like disposable razors. After a few shaves, toss them in a waste basket. It seems that the best way to leave is to plan to leave and tell the Beeb so it won't be such a big deal. William Russell (Ian), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara), Anneke Wills (Polly), and Katy Manning (Jo) did this.

Many suffered because their characters didn't develop overtime, which is too bad, because they were likable and could've been kept on. Nyssa is the prime example of this, but maybe it's because I'm biased in her favour. This may also be because three in the TARDIS may have resulted in one of them not getting a fair share of lines. One or two is an ideal number of companions per TARDIS.

The colour pictures of the ladies are quite a pleasure, especially Katy Manning (Jo) with the Dalek, Deborah Watling (Victoria) and Nicola Bryant (Peri) in their bikinis.

Another feature is the TARDIS log statistics for each companion, listing their origin, likes, dislikes, reasons for joining the Doctor, and for the women, scream factor. Victoria, Jo, and Sarah Jane scored high on that last.

So, who are my all-time favorite companions? Jo Grant, the Brigadier, Nyssa, Romana I, Sergeant Benton, Ian, Barbara, Liz, Melanie, and Ace, in that order. In presenting this compendium on the Doctor's companions, Howe and Stammers do a job that's bang-on.

P.S. I wonder if the clumsy schmerd who gave the Australian Tegan a last name that was a Yugoslavian first name is still doing his penance.

These two books were extremely helpful in getting me through the two A+ exams. they were recommended to me by my tutor when I did the A+ course. I am now a tutor at the school where I learned A+ and so have gotten back the money that I spent to buy the books and a lot more. Now that I am a tutor I am in turn recommending them to my students and have no hesitation in recommending them to anybody who doing or thinking of doing the A+ exams. The practice exams that come on the CD are almost identical to the Sylvan Prometric Format so you will be comfortable when you sit the exams

An Atlas can have many functions. A simple tool to find where some place is. A tool to go to that place. Or a tool to dream about that place, the real reason why some people actually do read atlases. Equally an art book can educate you, or make you try to go and see this art. Here we have a very happy combination of a good historical atlas with plenty of well chosen art illustration from Renaissance Italy. And architecture, urban design and all sorts of creative endeavors of these times. The result is superb as you can embark again and again to the places where so much of our present world comes from. Or you can use it as a particularly pleasant reference book.

Dating 911 is a (fictional) radio program with John, Mark, and Big Wave Dave speaking with youth about how to make their dates more fun, while still keeping them inexpensive, and in tune with the Lord's standards. The best parts are when Big Wave Dave goes to the scene of bad dates, and fixes them so they become fun and exciting.

This book is excellent for those wanting to know how to create Windows 95 online Help. It describes the different types of topics to create and how to structure the system of topics. Excellent chapter on choosing an online Help tool such as RoboHelp or Doc To Help.

This is absolutely a "must-have" for any Detroit Tigers fan! Not just a book of statistics, "Detroit Tigers Lists and More" is about every fascinating and obscure trivia you ever wanted to know about the Tigers. Everything from Tigers in other Halls of Fame to player nicknames to fantasy teams to miscellaneous info too good to pass up (like notable fights, forfeits and family relations) - it's here, all neatly cataloged and indexed for easy reference. Pick one up for your favorite sports fan!

Tom Baker, for being the most popular actor ever to portray Dr. Who, has also stayed out of the sportlight. This book combines episode guides with collected interviews to form a facinating look at Baker's era as the Doctor. Really THE essential book on Tom's era as the Doctor

The book is simply marvelous. Packed with information and some never before seen footage, the book is a valuable source, reflecting on a decade that witnessed the show's birth. Just as important as 'The Seventies' and 'The Eighties.'

I went to Columbia, with the most prominent 'great books' curriculum still in existence. 25 years later, I'm finding myself re-reading and discussing many of the titles. The Penn Greek Drama series is a handsome library of new translations that give fresh takes on the classics. It's useful to have Euripides on the shelf when you return home from the recent bravura performance by Fiona Shaw as Medea--it settled an argument too on how it 'originally' ended.