Cover illustration by Geoff Hunt.
We promised you dinosaurs! And here are some – with added Doctor Who time travel stamp of approval!
Presenting, the Doctor Who Quiz Book of Dinosaurs, written by Michael Holt, published by Magnet Books, 1982.
This paperback was aimed at children, and took readers on a journey with the 5th Doctor and his companions – Nyssa and Tegan, as they travelled back and forth through time exploring prehistory. The reader is asked to solve puzzles and answer questions after each adventure is told, aided with black and white illustrations by Rowan Barnes-Murphy.
Big bad bird…
According to the Doctor, the terrifying creature pictured below is a kind of hybrid lizard-vulture-woodpecker called Archaeopteryx (say it ‘Arky-op-terricks).
It couldn’t yet fly, and instead ‘glided’ down from the tops of trees to capture its ground prey, whereupon it would “tear him to shreds with its razor-sharp toothed bill.” The creature was too heavy for flight due to having weak wing muscles and solid, heavy bones – as opposed to modern birds who have hollow bones. Its feathers were used as insulation to protect against the cold climate it inhabited.
TVTA theory: Dinosaurs became extinct not because of an asteroid or disease, but because the Archaeopteryx friggin’ ate them all!
Artisit impression of Archaeopteryx. Image: SPL/BBC.
Koringa, the crocodile-wrestling circus lady!Â
In the book, according to Nyssa she once saw a video of a lady croc-wrestler called Koringa, who worked with Bertram Mills’ Circus. The Doctor disputes that Koringa wrestled with crocodiles as they are far too deadly, and rather that it was alligators she wrestled. There follows the theory on how Koringa managed to wrestle such a beast, then a quiz about the differences between alligators and crocodiles. Regarding Koringa, I checked – and she really existed; so Nyssa was right.
Rear cover:
Doctor Who bonus book advert:
Doctor Who Best Sellers. 1984.
That’s all for now…
Thank you for avoiding Archaeopteryx with us 🙂Â
The Vintage Toy Advertiser 
Great post – not just for Dr Who fans! The Archaeopteryx IS scary – I think your theory might in due course proven to be right.
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It’s a long shot, but you never know 🙂 Thanks as always, Wibi.
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Nice review. Davidson was the 5th Doctor. Never bought that when it came out. Owned it later, for a few years.
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Oops, my bad, you’re right, Davison was the 5th not 4th. Thanks for the correction, will update. Cool you had the book too. Seems it was quite popular.
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This is pure gold! Funny how times have changed. Since Dinosaur Train, little kids who can hardly talk know the names of more dinos than I ever came across in school. I’ll have to look up the difference between crocodiles and alligators now …
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You’re right, it’s pure gold! I learned that the jaw muscles are super deadly for closing, but super weak for opening.
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What a lovely glimpse at this Doctor Who book. I’ve seen pictures of the cover before, but never nothing much else about it really. Nice to finally learn more about it. 🙂
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As I was saying to FT it’s cool because it gets into the spirit of DW adventures while functioning as a fun education book. Thanks, glad to add it here 🙂
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Hi FT. Cool you had this book. The storyline puts you straight into a fun Doctor Who adventure, with simple questions and illustrations – perfect for younglings!
Terry Dactill, eh, good friends with Iggy Wanadon if I recall?
😃
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Hi TVTA, now I had this book and I still have the Dr Who Book of Magic. Both were fantastic little publications. The dinosaur book was my Jurassic Park! (well it was the early eighties).
I don’t know about “Archie Opterricks” but I was a fan of Terry Dactill 😀
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