The world of Doctor Who has a fine tradition of anniversary publications. Given the level scrutiny the show has enjoyed in recent years, the trick is to find a unique angle to approach the material with. Wonderfully, BBC Books have achieved just that with The Doctor – His Lives and Times.
After his incredibly in-depth 2009 book The Making of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Charles Helfenstein has once again done a staggering amount of research into the world of James Bond, this time into the production of Timothy Dalton’s 007 debut, The Living Daylights.
After the 1996 TV Movie, and with no prospect of further onscreen adventures, BBC Books began a series of novels featuring the Eighth Doctor. These adventures took off into new worlds with fresh companions, creating their own continuity.
‘Night of the Whisper’ is a rare thing indeed, a non-televised adventure for the Ninth Doctor.
Other than the half a dozen novels and handful of comic strip appearances that appeared at the time, Christopher Eccleston’s short stint as the Time Lord has not seen much expansion. AudioGO tend to make audio adventures for the incumbent Doctor and Big Finish’ license precludes anything pre-2005.
Modern Doctor Who loves its literary spin-offs. Sometimes in-universe and sometimes not quite, we have had an adventure for Melody Malone (aka River Song) and a Christmas curtain raiser starring Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax.
Neverwhere began life as a six-part BBC Two series in 1996. Sadly, a limited budget restrained its potential and it was in prose that the story truly came alive. Neil Gaiman, then known primarily for his comic work, is now a world-renowned author whose work straddles the worlds of prose, film and television. Neverwhere has never gone away though, with a comic version, stage adaptations and attempts at a movie in the intervening years.
If Season 25 experimented with the tone of Doctor Who, ‘The Greatest Show in the Galaxy’ counts as one of the more offbeat offerings, with ‘Paradise Towers’ writer Stephen Wyatt returning to provide a tale of sinister clowns, a Psychic Circus and an audience with an insatiable appetite.
August brings the ‘Destiny of the Doctor’ series to the Eighth Doctor. While there have been various companions to draw on for other eras of the show, choices are rather limited here with Paul McGann’s single television outing. Luckily the job can fall to one of his audio companions.
The inclusion of a Target Books novelisation in BBC Books’ 50th anniversary collection seems most appropriate. With the scarcity of repeats during the show’s original run, before the advent of home video, many fans will have experienced older stories and earlier Doctors through the pages of just such a book.
For the Sixth Doctor adventure in Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary collection, BBC Books have chosen to reprint a novel by the biggest name in Who prose, Terrance Dicks. A writer and script editor of the show, Dicks went on to pen over 60 novelisations as well as a host of novels and spin off books.