One can't help but respect Valerie Estelle Frankel's encyclopedic knowledge of the Doctor Who series in all its TV incarnations -- to say nothing of the novels, audiobooks, comics and spin-off series -- and the place that women (major and minor appearances alike) played in each.

Still, Frankel seemingly expects her readers to share her powerful memory, as she introduces myriad characters with such haste and brevity, I often had no idea what she was talking about (even in episodes of New Who, most of which I've seen more than once). It doesn't help that Frankel dances unpredictably around in the Doctor's timeline, apparently considering a linear progression too mundane in a book with a Tardis on its cover.

Even so, fans of the series should enjoy Women in Doctor Who: Damsels, Feminists & Monsters, the latest in a series of pop-culture books (at least four of which have focused on the man from Gallifrey) by Frankel.

If there was a female character who interacted at any point with the Doctor, Frankel knows about it, and she'll tell you about it. And, more than likely, she'll explain how it was an example of sexist writing.

It's an entertaining romp through decades of Doctor Who.

Sometimes, though, I feel like she dings the series for sexist attitudes every time the Doctor knows something his companion doesn't or accomplishes something his companion can't. In some instances, that could be less about gender and more about him being the titular hero, who comes from another planet and has centuries of experience at his fingertips. The companion often serves the plot by being the person who requires an explanation from the Doctor -- which means we, the audience, get filled in as well. This is usually the case whether the companion is male or female. (And, let's face it, the Doctor sounds condescending whether he's explaining what seems perfectly obvious to him to a bewildered Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, an out-of-his-depth Mickey Smith or whichever female companion is close at hand.)

Take, as an example, this passage from the chapter on River Song and other "trickster-seductress" characters from the series:

Condemning River's thinking with her heart in "The Wedding of River Song," the Doctor reveals that, by trying to avoid murdering him, she has foolishly destroyed all of space and time. Now he, the man, must put it right.

Or, as I see it, he, the Doctor, must put it right. That's his job. It comes with being the star of the show.

In another instance, she takes a swing at Captain Jack Harkness, who is stripped (and very nearly killed) in an android-run game show on future Earth.

As they attack, the sweet hostesses are reenvisioned as murderous, soulless robots. ... Jack responds by blasting their robotic heads off, emphasizing his manly power.

Well, they are murderous, soulless robots, as the episode makes plain, and it's not so much his "manly power" he demonstrates as his swift and capable survival instincts.

It's true, the women in Classic Who days were often used to play dumb, scream and in some cases dress in revealing outfits. They were, of course, a product of their times, and we'd like to think the modern women of New Who come off a little better.

Not so much, as Frankel sees it. From Rose to Clara, Frankel doesn't seem very impressed. (She does like Bill, the 12th Doctor's second companion, I'll give her that.)

I found myself agreeing with some of Frankel's positions, disagreeing with others. But, from start to finish, it was thought-provoking stuff, and I enjoyed the journey.

I think she and I are both eager to see how the 13th Doctor -- the first female Doctor in the long-running series -- fares in the years to come.