Following the first batch of successful Doctor Who/Mr. Men mash-ups come four new releases featuring four new Doctors being given the inimitable Hargreaves treatment.
As with the first books, these are instantly recognisable as belonging to the Mr. Men stable; with the same subtle illustrative techniques that, whilst being simple, none-the-less, manage to capture the individual style of each Doctor perfectly. This new collection are, like the first four, a seemingly arbitrarily chosen group consisting of Doctors number Two, Seven, Eight and Nine which means that the next lot will be the remaining Three, Five, Six and Ten – a motley group indeed. It is interesting that the publishers decided to release the books in convenient groups of four because it means that when they get around to Doctor Thirteenth they can, and probably will, release their first ‘Little Miss Doctor’.
The wonderfully illustrated Doctors are far from isolated in these heavily populated and colourful books. They are joined by favourite friends and memorable foes alike – notably Patrick Troughton’s companions Jamie and Victoria and a cameo appearance by the Master (in fine mustachioed mode) halfway through a story which finds Sylvester McCoy’s doctor and his companion Ace battling cute looking Cheetah People. There are also plenty of props and gadgets to look out for including the famous sonic-screwdriver, which is wielded, to great effect, by Dr. Ninth, originally Christopher Eccleston.
What seems to be apparent is that these books follow the original Mr. Men format perfectly, including the way every title character has one book each and one book alone. That is to say – it is unlikely that we’ll see, for example, The Eighth Doctor reappearing in a number of different adventures and, given the nature of Doctor Who, you’re hardly likely to see one make an appearance in another’s story (this year’s Christmas special notwithstanding!) But fear not because the publishers have hinted at the release of special editions themselves including their own festive offering later this year.
So, here are four more fabulously fun, colourful and delightful books for the collection with the promise of plenty more to come.
DR. SECOND, DR. SEVENTH, DR. EIGHTH, DR. NINTH / AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: ADAM HARGREAVES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
