BBC Books has announced seven new titles in the Doctor Who Target range, all publishing on 11th March 2021, each with newly commissioned cover artwork by Anthony Dry.
For Doctor Who fans, the range of novelisations published by Target Books in the 1970s and 1980s holds a special place. There was a novel published for almost every Doctor Who serial between 1963 and 1989, with just five notable exceptions.
Since 2012, BBC Books has been successfully reissuing these classic paperbacks and expanding the Target range to include all-new novelisations of modern-era Doctor Who episodes.
These latest novelisations, almost all by the original writers of the TV episodes, will help Target fans finally complete their classic-era collection, and take the Target range into its next incarnation.
They include the long-awaited Target editions of Eric Saward’s Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks; The Pirate Planet by James Goss which is based on the scripts by Douglas Adams; as well as a reissue of Gary Russell’s novelisation of The TV Movie starring Paul McGann.
To complete the set are three new-era novelisations: The Crimson Horror by Mark Gatiss, Dalek by Robert Shearman, and The Witchfinders by Joy Wilkinson.
The Witchfinders is the first Thirteenth Doctor adventure to be published on the Target list, and the first to carry the new-look Target branding, with the current Doctor Who logo, that will appear on all future Target releases.
Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet
Douglas Adams and James Goss
The Fourth Doctor and Romana arrive at the right place to find the wrong planet.
Douglas Adams is best known as the creator of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life as a BBC Radio 4 series. The book went on to be a No. 1 bestseller. He followed this success with The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980); Life, The Universe and Everything (1982); So Long and Thanks for all the Fish (1984); Mostly Harmless (1992) and many more. He sold over 15 million books in the UK, the US and Australia. Douglas died unexpectedly in May 2001 at the age of 49.
James Goss is the author of the novelisation of Douglas Adams’ City of Death, as well as several other Doctor Who books. While at the BBC James produced an adaptation of Shada, an unfinished Douglas Adams Doctor Who story, and Dirk is his award-winning stage adaptation of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. He won Best Audiobook 2010 for Dead Air and his books Dead of Winter and First Born were both nominated for the 2012 British Fantasy Society Awards.
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Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
Eric Saward
The TARDIS is ensnared in a time corridor, catapulting it into derelict docklands on 20th century Earth. The Fifth Doctor and his companions, Tegan and Turlough, stumble on a warehouse harbouring fugitives from the future at the far end of the corridor – and are soon under attack from a Dalek assault force.
Eric Saward has written for both radio and television, script edited Doctor Who for five years and also written four original stories for the show. During this time, he also novelised four scripts and wrote the first-ever Doctor Who radio serial. Recently he has completed a graphic novel based around the adventures of Lytton.
Amazon Link
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Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks
Eric Saward
The Sixth Doctor and Peri land on the planet Necros to visit Tranquil Repose – a funerary home where the dead are interred and the near-dead placed in suspended animation until such time as their conditions can be cured.
Amazon Link
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Doctor Who: The TV Movie
Gary Russell
The Eighth Doctor confronts the Master in modern-day San Francisco.
Gary Russell, previous Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures script editor, has written books on subjects such as Doctor Who, Frasier, The Simpsons and The Lord of the Rings movies. He is currently overseeing animated reimaginings of old 1960s missing Doctor Who stories for BBC Studios.
Amazon Link
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Doctor Who: Dalek
Robert Sheaman
The Ninth Doctor and Rose discover an unexpected survivor of The Time War.
Robert Shearman is an award-winning writer for television, radio and the stage, as well as several acclaimed short story collections, the first of which won him a World Fantasy Award, and Doctor Who audio scripts for Big Finish Productions.
Amazon Link
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Doctor Who: The Crimson Horror
Mark Gatiss
The Eleventh Doctor and Clara investigate something ghastly afoot in Victorian Yorkshire.
Mark Gatiss is one of The League of Gentlemen from the award-winning television show, and the author of the novels The Vesuvius Club and The Devil in Amber. He has also written acclaimed radio and television scripts, including episodes of Doctor Who. He co created and writes for the hit TV series Sherlock with Doctor Who show-runner Steven Moffat.
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Doctor Who: The Witchfinders
Joy Wilkinson
The Thirteenth Doctor and companions battle an evil presence in 17th century Lincolnshire.
Joy Wilkinson is an award-winning writer working across film, television, theatre and radio. As well as Doctor Who her TV credits include Nick Nickleby and The Watch. Her directing debut – the film Ma’am – is released in 2020.
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