In Space Helmet for a Cow, award-winning writer Paul Kirkley (SFX magazine) provides a sweeping, wry and warm look at the behind-the-scenes story of Doctor Who – not just the greatest TV show ever made, but frequently the most insane TV show ever made. Which other program, for example, would attempt to sink Atlantis, wage inter-planetary war and crash Concorde – all in BBC Television Centre, on a budget that would barely cover a sitcom?
This is the story of how, over 50 years, a bunch of very clever, very dedicated and sometimes plain crazy people made Doctor Who happen, often against seemingly insuperable odds; a story of triumph and tragedy, tears and tantrums, and an awful lot of men called Donald.
Space Helmet for a Cow also answers the burning questions few have dared tackle before. Questions like: How does a talking cabbage get an Equity card? What would have been in William Hartnell’s Glastonbury set? And if you meet a Yeti coming out of a loo in Tooting Bec, how long should you give it?
