''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' is a book related to the long-running British
science fiction television series ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. Written by
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
, ''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' is an exploration of the fictional history of the planet
Gallifrey as revealed in the television series. It was published by
Virgin Publishing in 1991.
''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' is a guide to the history, culture and technology of the planet Gallifrey, original home of
the Doctor. It contains accounts of Gallifrey and the
Time Lords as revealed in the television programme, speculative essays on subjects such as the mechanism of regeneration and the intelligence of the
TARDIS, and ''The Black Scrolls of
Rassilon'', a fictional account of Rassilon's rise to power and the earliest days of the Time Lords.
The cover art is by
Andrew Skilleter
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...
who has illustrated several ''Doctor Who''
book covers
A book cover is any protective covering used to bind together the pages of a book. Beyond the familiar distinction between hardcovers and paperbacks, there are further alternatives and additions, such as dust jackets, ring-binding, and older f ...
.
Publisher's summary
The planet Gallifrey: cradle of the most ancient civilization in our galaxy, source of the technology that mastered both space and time, home of the people who call themselves the Time Lords — and the origin of the mysterious, quirky, itinerant time-traveller known as the Doctor. When the British Broadcasting Corporation transmitted the
first episode of ''Doctor Who'' in 1963, no one could have predicted that the programme's popularity would ensure its survival for twenty-eight record-breaking years.
In that first story we learnt only that the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan had left their home planet, under something of a cloud, in a remarkable time-travelling craft called the TARDIS that looked — at least on the outside — like a police telephone box.
The Doctor and the TARDIS have remained the constant elements in a television saga that has seen many changes over the decades. As the years passed we learnt more and more about the Doctor's background, about other Time Lords, and about Gallifrey.
John Peel has researched every ''DOCTOR WHO'' story ever shown on television to bring together all the facts about Gallifrey and the Time Lords. The result — illustrated throughout with photographs from the BBC archives — is a comprehensive guide to the foundations of the entire DOCTOR WHO Universe, and provides insight into the most comprehensive science fiction mythos that television has ever produced.
Notes
External links
''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' on the TARDIS Index File
1991 books
Novels based on Doctor Who
Works by John Peel (writer)
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