Creatures And Demons

Review: Monster hit, or simply beastly?

Just before the summer holidays, we sent copies of this year's Doctor Who monster book, Creatures and Demons, to the pupils of Barnwell School, Stevenage, to evaluate. Back for a new term, here's what Adam, Annaleigh, Joe and Ellie had to say about it:

Adam

The book explained all about the different monsters from the programme that I didn't know about, like how the monster masks and costumes were made.

The best bit for me was seeing the drawings of the original monsters, seeing what they were imagined as and how they turned out differently on TV.

I liked the bits about the old monsters too and the information fact files about when they appeared on TV. I didn't know some of the facts about some monsters old and new especially the ones I didn't know about, like the Krynoids and the Wirrn.

My favourite monsters from the series are the Autons, but they weren't in this book.

I think that this book has as much in it as the TARDIS, but I really enjoyed reading it.

Overall, I think that this book is outstanding. I hope they go on making books like this with the monsters from the series that's just finished. They need The Master and the Toclafane!

Annaleigh

I thought it was good, but it could get boring at times when there was lots about the same monster.

My favourite part of the book was the bit about the Isolus because [Fear Her] was one of my favourite episodes. I loved the scribble monster too which was Chloe's discarded drawing.

What was good about the book were the bits where I found out how the programme was made and even tells you about who wrote the story. That was really interesting.

I liked the bits that told you who starred in the stories and when they were shown. The bits that tell you the story were good too.

It's a good book for people my age or a bit younger.

Joe

This book is interesting because it tells you details about the characters and what they want to do to the human race.

My favourite is the Abzorbaloff because of the way he kills people. He sucks them into him while they're still alive and you can see their faces - it's gross but cool!

The book also gives lots of information about the Doctor and his companions Rose and Martha, like how and where they travel in the TARDIS, finding creatures like the Judoon.

This book is excellent for people who love Doctor Who. It has lots of detailed drawings of the characters and monsters and really good fact files about them giving you everything you need to know (and more) about them.

This is a great book for children my age.

Ellie

I found this book very interesting, if quite factual. It tells you all the facts you need to know about the creatures and demons and who (and what) appeared in each episode.

I though the layout was really appealing and it is clear, neat and understandable.

It also contains lots of information about the writers and directors. It also gives you episode titles which reminded me of stories I had already seen and sometimes gave me an idea of things that happened in episodes from the old series.

I like the way the book treats old and new Doctor Who as one continuing series and I liked finding out about the older doctors from the 1960s.

The diagrams are good and show where the monsters might conceal their weapons. The book is really well illustrated but the pictures are all appropriate. They are very well laid out and colourful. I found the detailed descriptions and drawings fascinating.

One thing I didn't like was the random order that the monsters and demons appeared in. It might have been better if the new and old monsters appeared in the order the appeared on TV. But I really enjoyed reading this book and for me it showed how all the ingenious people who work on Doctor Who create the TV programme.

It really is a fantastic factual book.

Big thanks to teacher Lee Wells for arranging the reviews.