May 10th, 2018 4 comments

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BBC Books 13th Doctor Novels Update New Titles

Penguin Random House Children’s and BBC Books to publish Naomi Alderman and Juno Dawson on their Doctor Who list

About the books:

Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories will publish on 1 November in paperback, priced £12.99 (BBC Children’s Books acquired world rights)

Borrowed Time and The Triple Knife will publish on 19 July in paperback and ebook, priced £7.99 (BBC Books acquired world rights)

The Good Doctor, The Molten Heart, and Combat Magicks will publish on 25 October in b-format hardback, priced £6.99 (BBC Books acquired world rights)

New work by Naomi Alderman and Juno Dawson are amongst some of the 2018 offerings for the Doctor Who list, publishing to celebrate the debut of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor this autumn.

Penguin Random House Children’s imprint BBC Children’s Books today announces its acquisition of a brand-new Doctor Who short story from Alderman, author of The Power and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2017. Ruth Knowles and Tom Rawlinson of Penguin Random House Children’s acquired World Rights to the story from Veronique Baxter. Alderman’s tale features Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor battling to save the universe alongside her close and trusted friends.

The story will add to the existing 12 Doctors, 12 Stories anthology, which recounts tales for each of the previous twelve Doctors as they adventure through time and space. The new collection will publish on 1 November 2018 as Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories, and will also include existing stories by Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott, Marcus Sedgwick, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Richelle Mead, Malorie Blackman, Alex Scarrow, Charlie Higson, Derek Landy, Neil Gaiman and Holly Black.

Thirteen Doctors, 13 Stories marks Alderman’s return to the Doctor Who universe, after her 2011 novel, Borrowed Time, published by BBC Books. On 19 July, to celebrate the opening of this year’s San Diego ComicCon, BBC Books will reissue a new paperback edition of this novel, along with a new edition of collected Doctor Who stories by Jenny T. Colgan, The Triple Knife. Both will have new cover designs by artist David Wardle.

Multi-award winning author and activist Juno Dawson’s novel will mark her debut on the Doctor Who list. Entitled The Good Doctor, it will be one of the first novels on the BBC Books list to feature the Thirteenth Doctor, as played by Jodie Whittaker, and her friends Yasmin, Ryan and Graham. The book will publish in October along with two other Thirteenth Doctor adventures, The Molten Heart, by New York Times bestselling author Una McCormack and Combat Magicks, by bestselling Young Bond author Steve Cole.

Naomi Alderman says “I’m thrilled beyond words to be writing the first short story for the Thirteenth Doctor. Believe it or not, my first ever rejection letter, dated 1992, was from Doctor Who Magazine for a story I wrote as a teenager obsessed with the Doctor; I’ve loved Doctor Who since I was a child, so it’s particularly meaningful and exciting for me to be adding my name to this anthology.”

Juno Dawson says “My earliest memory is Bonnie Langford being spun off into space in a killer bubble in 1987, so you can only imagine how excited I was when I was asked to write for the Doctor Who range. And, as a Bradford girl, it’s an even bigger thrill to be among the first writers in the world to write for Jodie Whittaker, the first Doctor from Yorkshire. This feels like a bold new era for Doctor Who and I’m beyond delighted to be a part of it. This is a dream come true.”

Ruth Knowles, Publisher at Penguin Random House Children’s, says “Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor deserves ground-breaking writing from a ground-breaking author, and we are thrilled to have someone so perfect in Naomi to bring the first female Doctor to the page. She has stunned the world with her characters, writing and ideas, and as a huge Doctor Who fan (and previous Doctor Who book writer) she was our first choice to write the Thirteenth Doctor story for this collection. This story will be, we are sure, brilliant, and the prefect addition to this stellar collection by the very best of authors.”

Albert DePetrillo, BBC Books Publishing Director, says “The excitement that’s building around the new series of Doctor Who is remarkable, and Jodie Whittaker is helping usher in a whole new era of vibrant, inclusive storytelling. We’re thrilled to be a part of that with our publishing, and authors like Naomi and Juno, Jenny, Una and Steve are the perfect ambassadors for this next chapter in the Doctor Who story. We can’t wait for them to introduce a whole new generation of fans to the wonders of the Whoniverse.”

Naomi Alderman

Naomi Alderman is a novelist, broadcaster and video-game designer. Her novels include Disobedience (2006), The Liars’ Gospel (2012) and the bestselling The Power (2016), which won her the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and was named by Barack Obama as one of his twelve books of the year. Her work has been published in twenty-three languages. She was mentored by Margaret Atwood as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, was one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2013 and is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, UK. She presents Science Stories on BBC Radio 4, and is the co-creator and lead writer of the smartphone audio adventure Zombies, Run! She is currently working on the TV adaptation of The Power.

Jenny T. Colgan

Jenny T. Colgan has written numerous bestselling novels as Jenny Colgan, which have sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, been translated into 25 languages, and won both the Melissa Nathan Award and Romantic Novel of the Year 2013. Aged 11, she won a national fan competition to meet the Doctor and was mistaken for a boy by Peter Davison.

Juno Dawson

Juno Dawson is the international bestselling author of ten titles for young adults. She is a columnist at Glamour UK, Attitude Magazine and a key LGBTQ activist with Stonewall.

Una McCormack

Una McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written two Doctor Who novels featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory: The King’s Dragon and The Way through the Woods, as well as several audio dramas for Big Finish. She lives in Cambridge with her partner, Matthew, and their daughter, Verity.

Steve Cole

Steve Cole is a best-selling children’s author whose sales exceed three million copies. His hugely successful Astrosaurs young fiction series has been a UK top-ten children’s bestseller and been published widely internationally. His several original Doctor Who novels have also been bestsellers.

Doctor Who

Doctor Who has been enthralling families for over five decades on BBC One, as the Doctor and their many companions do battle with a myriad of alien foes. On BBC One in autumn 2018, the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) will be joined by friends Graham, Ryan and Yasmin as they travel the universe, embarking on new and exciting adventures across space and time.

BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide is a principal commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Its vision is to build the BBC’s brands, audiences, commercial returns and reputation across the world. This is achieved through investing in, commercializing and showcasing content from the BBC around the world, in a way that is consistent with BBC standards and values. The business also champions British creativity globally.

Penguin Random House

Penguin Random House is the world’s number-one publisher. We champion authors, shaping and sharing writing that sparks thoughts, dreams, conversations and learning.

We are a vibrant community of publishing houses, representing distinguished publishing histories marked by unparalleled success. We are a home to all kinds of authors. From the best new fiction or picture-book writers, to political commentators, trailblazing entrepreneurs, health experts and bold illustrators, we enable talented people from all walks of life to tell their stories – and we make sure they are heard. We sell and license books in over 120 countries, connecting great books with a growing and global audience.

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