Hasslein Books Launches New Doctor Who Essay Anthology

Hasslein Books has announced "Who Beyond 50: Celebrating Five Decades of Doctor Who," written by Brian J. Robb and Paul Simpson. "Who Beyond 50" (hassleinbooks.com/pages/book_who50.php) is now available at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and CreateSpace.com, and will soon also be available to consumers at BarnesandNoble.com, and to resellers via Ingram, NACSCORP and CreateSpace Direct Resellers.

BBC's immensely popular Doctor Who series, featuring an extraterrestrial Time Lord exploring the universe aboard a time machine resembling a police call box, is a significant part of British pop culture and a cult favorite worldwide. The series has changed radically over the years, with thirteen actors portraying the Doctor to date, and with more than 50 companions joining him on his adventures. Few television series have remained in production for decades. Fewer have come back from cancellation to spawn multiple spinoffs. And even fewer have thrived following the loss of their lead actor. Amazingly, Doctor Who can proudly boast all three claims.

Brian J Robb and Paul Simpson have assembled 50 thematic, chronological essays covering a wide variety of Who icons over the past five decades. The long-time collaborators posted preliminary versions of some of these essays at Sci-Fi Bulletin, but have delved into far greater detail for this collected edition, examining not only the show itself, but the background of each actor to play the role of the Doctor and each showrunner who helped keep the series alive, as well as the novels, audios, monsters, companions, music, effects, fandom, and much more. But Who Beyond 50 is more than just another TV retrospectiveit's a celebration of Who's surprises and successes, and an honest account of its faults and failures.

Brian J. Robb is a New York Times and Sunday Times best-selling author whose works include Timeless Adventures: How Doctor Who Conquered TV, A Brief History of Star Trek, A Brief History of Star Wars, Counterfeit Worlds: Philip K. Dick on Film and Screams and Nightmares: The Films of Wes Craven. Paul Simpson has written official guides for Farscape, Smallville, The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, as well as unofficial books about subjects as diverse as James Bond, Nicole Kidman, The O.C., the Oz mythos and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The two authors recently collaborated on Middle-earth Envisioned: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: On Screen, On Stage, and Beyond.

"Who Beyond 50," a softcover volume spanning 330 pages, is now available for purchase. Beautifully designed, the book features an introduction by Nicholas Briggs, a British actor, writer, director and composer closely associated with Doctor Who and its various spinoffs, particularly as the voices of the Doctor's nemesis, the Daleks and the Cybermen. For more information, visit hassleinbooks.com/pages/book_who50.php.

For review copies or author interviews, please contact info@hassleinbooks.com. We would also welcome being included in year-end gift guides, and are open to contest giveaways. To learn about Hasslein's other titles, visit the company's website (hassleinbooks.com), Twitter feed (twitter.com/hassleinbooks), Facebook page (facebook.com/hassleinbooks) or blog (hassleinbooks.blogspot.com), or e-mail info@hassleinbooks.com.

About Hasslein Publishing, LLC
Hasslein Publishing (hassleinbooks.com), a New York-based publisher of reference guides by geeks, for geeks, is named after Doctor Otto Hasslein, a time-travel expert portrayed by actor Eric Braeden in the film Escape from the Planet of the Apes. In addition to Who Beyond 50, the company's lineup of genre-based reference books includes Timeline of the Planet of the Apes, Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes, The Back to the Future Lexicon, The Back to the Future Chronology, The Red Dwarf Encyclopedia and Lost in Time and Space: An Unofficial Guide to the Uncharted Journeys of Doctor Who, with future volumes to feature James Bond, G.I. Joe, Alien vs. Predator, Battlestar Galactica, Ghostbusters, Universal Monsters, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and more. Doctor Who and all related characters and stories are copyright © BBC, with no infringement intended.

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