New Book Explores Who's Locations

Freelance author Nick Griffiths has released a follow-up to his first Doctor Who-themed book Dalek I Loved You.

Who Goes There is a travel book of sorts that take the reader to the strange and off-the-beaten-path locations used in the television series.

Mr Griffiths got the idea for the book after watching old Doctor Who stories starring Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee and noticing the strange qualities of some of the locations.

"There was an old railway station in an episode I was watching and I suddenly thought 'I'd really like to go there, that looks really strange and unusual'," he said.

"I had a quite a lot of fun trying to find the place anyway and when I got there it was fantastic being able to stand in the spot where the Doctor had stood."

As the idea grew, Griffiths settled on a list of Doctor Who stories that he wanted to investigate. Beginning in London, he then spent four weeks on the road, not only visiting locations around England and Wales, but researching the particular history of each place, unearthing stories as strange and original as the episodes in which they appeared.

"As well as the places themselves being the most fabulous, evocative areas, getting to them took us through some of the most beautiful countryside."

In Wales Mr Griffiths visited Southerndown beach in the Vale of Glamorgan, Howells department store and Queens Arcade in Cardiff, Fields House and St Woolas Cemetery in Newport for the book.

Southerndown appeared in the 2006 episode Doomsday and the 2008 show Journey's End where it doubled for Bad Wolf Bay in Norway. The beach and the geology of the cliffs captivated Mr Griffiths.

"I did love Southerndown. The strata are incredible," he said.

"There was no one else there when we visited and as we wandered around you got totally taken in by it all.

"Doctor Who had been filmed there only about six months previously so there was a real "sense of Who" there."

While this book has a Doctor Who theme to it, it isn't intended to be read only by Doctor Who fans. "What I would love is for people to get in their cars and go out and visit these places," Griffiths said.

There is also a companion website that offers photographs from the trip, a Google map of the locations and details of the nearest pub. In this innovative way, readers are invited to follow in his footsteps.

Who Goes There is published by Legend Press and is available on Amazon and other online services.