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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