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January 20th, 2023 24 comments

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Doctor Who 2023 Target Collection

BBC Books to publish new Doctor Who Target collection in July 2023

BBC Books is delighted to announce that it will be expanding the Doctor Who Target range with five new titles in Summer 2023, all publishing on 13th July, each with newly commissioned cover artwork by Anthony Dry. The new titles celebrate Target publishing Doctor Who books for half a century.

The 2023 collection celebrates the dramatic return of David Tennant and showrunner Russell T Davies to the programme. Both The Waters of Mars by Phil Ford and The Planet of Ood by Keith Temple are iconic Doctor Who episodes from the Tenth Doctor era. Fans will also be able to add a Twelfth Doctor adventure, as played by Peter Capaldi, to their collection with The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness and a Thirteenth Doctor novelisation with Kerblam! by Peter McTighe. Stephen Gallagher’s Warriors’ Gate and Other Stories will feature the Fourth Doctor.

Launched in 1973, Target Books published novelisations of almost every Doctor Who serial aired between 1963 and 1989, with only a few notable exceptions. To the delight of fans, BBC Books began reissuing these classic paperbacks in 2012, and in 2018 expanded the Target range to include all-new novelisations of modern-era Doctor Who episodes.

This year, the expansion continues with:

Kerblam! by Peter McTighe

Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk

Kerblam! is the biggest online retailer in the galaxy – but how did it become so big? When the Doctor’s Kerblam! package includes a mysterious request for help, she heads straight to the company’s warehouse moon to investigate…

Pete McTighe is a British screenwriter, producer, and lifetime Doctor Who fan. As well as writing episodes of Doctor Who, he has written two series of hit BBC drama The Pact, alongside writer and showrunner duties on A Discovery Of Witches, The Rising, and Wentworth for which he received five Australian Writers Guild nominations. He also writes and directs the acclaimed short films to promote Doctor Who – The Collection Blu-ray releases.

The Planet of Ood by Keith Temple

Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk

The Doctor and Donna learn that the planet of the Ood holds cruel and awesome secrets. As they battle for justice and survival, the fate of the entire Ood race hangs in the balance. Will the outcome be salvation – or extinction?

Keith Temple is a British screenwriter whose credits include Doctor Who, Doc Martin and original BBC comedy drama, Angel Cake starring Sarah Lancashire. He has also written extensively for Continuing Drama including EastEnders, Emmerdale, River City and Casualty. Most recently, he wrote the screenplay for the horror feature film, Wyvern Hill. He has also written for the stage and lectures widely on screenwriting and filmmaking.

The Waters of Mars by Phil Ford

Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk

The first human colony on Mars is destined for destruction in a nuclear explosion. This tragedy is a fixed point in history. The laws of time dictate that it cannot – must never – be changed. But as the Doctor’s darkest hour comes calling, he resolves to break the rules as he never has before…

Phil Ford has written scripts for Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures for BBC Television. He also wrote animated Doctor Who adventure Dreamland, and four Doctor Who Adventure Games. His extensive screenwriting credits include episodes of Taggart, Bad Girls, New Captain Scarlet and Coronation Street. He co-created Wizards vs Aliens with Russell T Davies.

The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness

Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk

It took three Doctors to broker a fragile peace between Zygons and Humans. Now the Twelfth Doctor must face the fallout alone. With his allies compromised and his companion believed dead, can he stop the world from plunging into war?

Peter Harness is an English playwright, screenwriter and actor. He has contributed to programmes such as McMafia, City of Vice and Case Histories and wrote a new miniseries adaptation of The War of the Worlds for BBC One.

Warriors’ Gate and Other Stories by Stephen Gallagher

Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk

A new-to-print, expanded novelisation of the classic 1981 adventure. With the TARDIS caught in the collapsing void between two different universes, the Fourth Doctor is drawn into a dangerous alliance with a race of enslaved, time-sensitive aliens. The consequences are explored in two further short stories, one exclusive to this volume!

Stephen Gallagher is an English screenwriter and novelist from Manchester. He wrote two serials for Doctor Who, as well as writing for Rosemary & Thyme and Bugs. He also created and wrote Eleventh Hour, a science-based series for ITV.

Each of the authors for the 2023 Target books are the original screenwriters of the TV episodes. Target fans can expand their collections with these new, iconic novelisations.

 


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24 comments

  • dave

    January 28th, 2023 - 9:04pm

    is there any signed editions of these this time ?

    Reply
  • Ian Cotterill

    January 21st, 2023 - 9:24pm

    I like the sound of these latest Target Novelisations, particularly the two Tenth Doctor stories.

    Regarding the future of these novelisations, what would people next? My choices, per Doctor, would be:

    • Bad Wolf / The Parting Of The Ways
    • Blink
    • The Doctor’s Wife
    • Under The Lake / Before The Flood
    • Eve Of The Daleks

    Reply
    • Ian Cotterill

      January 21st, 2023 - 10:11pm

      Sorry, that’s supposed to be ‘what would people like next’.

    • Phasergrim

      January 22nd, 2023 - 2:42am

      Boom Town
      Midnight
      Vincent and the Doctor
      Heaven Sent
      Haunting of Villa Diodati

    • Harrou

      January 24th, 2023 - 6:36pm

      I personally wanna see:

      9th: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
      10: Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks
      11: Amy’s Choice
      12: Heaven Sent
      13: Haunting of Villa Diodatti or Power of the Doctor

    • Bookcollector

      January 24th, 2023 - 7:43pm

      Power of the doctor would be a perfect release for November

  • Bobby Davros

    January 19th, 2023 - 11:05pm

    Fantastic to see the classic logo back where it belongs on the off white backgrounds.

    Reply
    • Ian Cotterill

      January 21st, 2023 - 9:14pm

      Indeed!

  • The original Time Lord

    January 19th, 2023 - 6:41pm

    Not a patch on the originals.

    Reply
    • Anomie

      January 19th, 2023 - 7:48pm

      New books are just like the originals and just as good

    • The Fishmonger

      January 28th, 2023 - 8:55am

      How do you know, you haven’t read them yet!!?

  • Daniel Seymour

    January 19th, 2023 - 4:21pm

    The Target range is one area of merchandise I cant the enough of and i look forward to the novel version of Kerblam! Hopefully we will get more Targets during the anniversary year.

    Reply
    • Bookcollector

      January 19th, 2023 - 5:07pm

      Hopefully we might see more later in the year, even reprints of old books would be very welcome but I would like to see an eccleston and a Smith book this year. And power of the doctor would be perfect for an anniversary year. I don’t think we will get more this year but I can hope and dream!

    • Daniel Seymour

      January 20th, 2023 - 10:32am

      We can indeed. To represent all the Doctors, as well as the ones announced I would also go for:

      First: The Chase by John Peel
      Second: The Tomb of the Cybermen by Gerry Davis
      Third: Terror of the Autons by Terrance Dicks.
      Fifth: The Caves of Androzani by Terrance Dicks
      Sixth: The Twin Dilemma by Eric Saward
      Seventh: Dragonfire by Ian Briggs
      Eighth: Will have to be The Bodysnatchers by Mark Morris in the abscence of anything to novelise.
      Ninth: The End of the World by……..(new novel)
      Eleventh: Night Terrors by………(new novel)

    • Bookcollector

      January 20th, 2023 - 11:35am

      Okay, I’d do with…
      First: The Chase by John Peel
      Second: Fury from the Deep by Victor Pemberton
      Third: Inferno by Terrance Dicks.
      Fifth: The Caves of Androzani by Terrance Dicks
      Sixth: The Two Doctors by Robert Holmes
      Seventh: Ghost Light by Marc Platt
      Eighth: Reprint of The Dying Days by Lance Parkin
      Ninth: The Unquiet Dead by mark Gatiss (for preference)
      Eleventh: Impossible Planet/Satan Pit new novel by Matthew Jones

    • Anthony G

      January 20th, 2023 - 5:11pm

      I’d happily take The Dying Days or Vampire Science for the Eighth. How about a reprint of some of the Telos novellas, but now as (short) BBC Books?

    • Jasper T.

      January 20th, 2023 - 9:12pm

      To hope in, I would go for:

      First: Mission to the Unknown/ The Mutation of Time by John Peel
      Second: The Enemy of the World by Ian Marter
      Third: The Sea Devils by Malcolm Hulke
      Fourth: The Sontaran Experiment by Ian Marter
      Fifth: Earthshock by Ian Marter
      Sixth: The Mysterious Planet by Terrence Dicks
      Seventh: The Curse of Fenric by Ian Briggs
      Eighth: Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles.
      Ninth: Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways
      Tenth: Blink
      Eleventh: The Eleventh Hour
      Twelfth: Mummy on the Orient Express
      Thirteenth: Survivors of the Flux

  • The Fishmonger

    January 19th, 2023 - 2:06pm

    Bring on the signed copies!

    Reply
  • Doug Who

    January 19th, 2023 - 1:53pm

    The ‘and Other Stories’ aspect of ‘Warrior’s Gate’ sound intriguing.

    As much as I enjoyed the television version, it’s one of those stories that would really benefit from authorial intent and the original book was (I think) curtailed by the page count policy at the time.

    Looking forward to it.

    Reply
    • Jake

      January 19th, 2023 - 3:34pm

      Maybe a silly question but will The Zygon Invasion cover the entire two parter or just that specific episode?

    • Bookcollector

      January 19th, 2023 - 3:40pm

      Full story I think Jake. Warriors gate is the extended version from the audio release. I thought it might be coming after the two David Fisher releases last year. Good set of books too.

    • Robin

      January 19th, 2023 - 8:09pm

      The “and other stories” is referring to two more stories featured within it – one of which is a novelisation of Gallagher’s BBC ‘Beyond the Doctor’ audio titled ‘The Kairos Ring’. The other story is a new one titled ‘The Little Book of Fate’.

    • Doug Who

      January 20th, 2023 - 12:17pm

      Yes I saw online Steve Gallagher has confirmed the title of the other stories and also it was the restored text of the original novel.

      Looking forward to it!

  • Judooning

    January 19th, 2023 - 12:57pm

    One of my favourite episodes, Planet of the Ood!

    Reply

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