This book – available on download only at http://www.wonderfulbook.co.uk/ – has one of the more peculiar disclaimers one is ever likely to read:

The contents of this book are entirely fabricated and should not be believed, not even the bits that say they are facts. All quotes by persons living or dead are not genuine and are intended for entertainment purposes only. They should not be taken as suggesting or reflecting the opinions then or since of anyone named in this book or concerned with the production of Doctor Who at any time, or even of the author of this book.

This is because the book is a combination of alternate fannish history and affectionate piss-take; what if the same creative spirit that moved Clayton Hickman and colleagues to produce last year’s Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2011 had animated the production team of 1964 to produce an annual along the same lines? In reality, of course, the first of the Doctor Who annuals came out a year later, and the production values and brand management of the time were very far removed from what we expect of any serious cult series today. But Paul Smith gets some good laughs from any reader who knows either the original first season, or the Brilliant Book, or preferably both, and also makes us think about how the way we are told what we are watching in 2011 has changed since 1963-4; and how it has stayed the same.