{"history":[],"article":{"id":"9af62e8b-d977-4397-ac63-4affe14bb1a2","title":"List of Doctor Who novelisations","slug":"list-of-doctor-who-novelisations","content":":::summary\n:::\n\n# \n[Doctor Who](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who) is a British [science fiction television](https://bliptext.com/articles/science-fiction-television) programme produced by the [BBC](https://bliptext.com/articles/bbc) since 1963.\nHundreds of [novelisations](https://bliptext.com/articles/novelisation) of the series have been published by various publishers, the majority based on the original 1963–1989 run of the series.\n\n# History\n\n## Frederick Muller Ltd.\nFrederick Muller Ltd. commissioned David Whitaker to novelise the [first Dalek serial](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-daleks) under the title Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks, which was published November 1964 in hardcover just in time for the second Dalek serial, [The Dalek Invasion of Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-dalek-invasion-of-earth) to be transmitted.\nThe success of this book warranted two reprintings by 1965 and led Frederick Muller to commission two further novelisations, Doctor Who and the Zarbi and Doctor Who and the Crusaders, which were published in 1965 and 1966 respectively.\nSales of these books did not live up to the first and so the short range was brought to an end.\nDoctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks was reissued in paperback October 1965 by [Armada Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/armada-books), an imprint of May Fair Books, with new illustrations.\nDoctor Who and the Crusaders was reissued in paperback in 1967 by Green Dragon, an imprint of Atlantic Books, again with new illustrations.\nAll three books with reissued in hardcover in 1975 by White Lion, all featuring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor on the cover while retaining the First Doctor illustrations inside.\n\n## Target Books\nIn 1972 [Universal-Tandem Publishing](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-tandem-publishing) was looking to create a children's book imprint, [Target Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/target-books).\nIn a visit to Frederick Muller's offices, the three 1960s Doctor Who books were optioned, and then the BBC was contacted with a view to publish new books.\nThis call to the BBC met with enthusiastic support from the current script editor, [Terrance Dicks](https://bliptext.com/articles/terrance-dicks).\nThe Doctor Who novelisations quickly became a backbone of the imprint, surviving corporate acquisitions and novelising almost every Doctor Who television story.\nNew novelisations under the Target imprint came to an end in 1991 (although three more were published under their parent company's new Doctor Who Books imprint).\nReprints under the Target imprint continued through 1994.\nA short series entitled The Companions of Doctor Who comprised the novelisation of [K-9 and Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-9-and-company) along with the original works Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma and Harry Sullivan's War.\nIn addition to the television serials, three scripts from the cancelled Season 23—The Nightmare Fair, The Ultimate Evil and Mission to Magnus—were novelised.\nThe former sold less well than the usual novelisations, while the latter sold as well.\nTarget also novelised two additional non-televised stories: the radio play [Slipback](https://bliptext.com/articles/slipback) and the audio story [The Pescatons](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-pescatons).\n\n## Doctor Who Books\n[Virgin Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-books) created a new imprint, Doctor Who Books, for their Doctor Who novels and non-fiction books.\nThis imprint published the last three books in the \"Doctor Who Library\" established by Target.\n(The Power of the Daleks, The Evil of the Daleks, and the radio play The Paradise of Death)\nFurther novelisations were published as part of their monthly novel lines.\n[Barry Letts](https://bliptext.com/articles/barry-letts)'s radio drama, [The Ghosts of N-Space](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-ghosts-of-n-space) was published as part of the [Virgin Missing Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-missing-adventures) range in 1995, as was the novelisation of the independent spin-off [Downtime](https://bliptext.com/articles/downtime-doctor-who) in 1996.\nThe [Virgin New Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-new-adventures) range published a novelisation of [Shakedown: The Return of the Sontarans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shakedown-the-return-of-the-sontarans) in 1995.\n\n## BBC Books\nIn 1996 the BBC chose not to renew Virgin's license for publishing Doctor Who fiction, preferring to bring the novels back in house.\n[BBC Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/bbc-books) published a novelisation of the 1996 Doctor Who television movie.\nThey also published a novelisation of the webcast Scream of the Shalka as part of the [Past Doctor Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/past-doctor-adventures) range in 2004.\nFrom 2012 to 2019, BBC Books published novelisations of the 1970s and 1980s serials Target was unable to publish ([The Pirate Planet](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-pirate-planet), [City of Death](https://bliptext.com/articles/city-of-death), [Shada](https://bliptext.com/articles/shada-doctor-who), [Resurrection of the Daleks](https://bliptext.com/articles/resurrection-of-the-daleks), and [Revelation of the Daleks](https://bliptext.com/articles/revelation-of-the-daleks)).\nNovelisations of the unproduced scripts [Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-and-the-krikkitmen) and [Doctor Who Meets Scratchman](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-meets-scratchman) were published in 2018 and 2019 respectively.\nA new adaptation of [The Evil of the Daleks](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-evil-of-the-daleks) written by [Frazer Hines](https://bliptext.com/articles/frazer-hines) was released in 2023.\nBBC Books began reprinting selected Target novelisations starting in July 2011.\n\n### The Target Collection\nStarting in 2018, BBC Books published novelisations of selected episodes of the revived series as part of a range dubbed The Target Collection featuring the Target logo.\nPaperback editions of City of Death, The Pirate Planet, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks, and the 1996 television movie were also added to the revived Target range.\n(City of Death and The Pirate Planet were abridged from their previous BBC Books editions.) In 2022, print versions of the previously audiobook-only adaptations by David Fisher of The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara were also added to the range, as was a print edition of the expanded audiobook version of Warriors Gate in 2023.\n\n### Audiobooks\nIn 2005, BBC Audio released unabridged [audiobook](https://bliptext.com/articles/audiobook) versions of the first three Frederick Muller novelisations, read by actor [William Russell](https://bliptext.com/articles/william-russell-english-actor) (who played [Ian Chesterton](https://bliptext.com/articles/ian-chesterton)).\nBeginning in September 2007, they began releasing further unabridged audiobooks of the Target novelisations at a regular rate.\n[An Unearthly Child](https://bliptext.com/articles/an-unearthly-child) was set to receive a new novelisation exclusive to audio, read by William Russell, written by Nigel Robinson, and released by [AudioGo](https://bliptext.com/articles/audiogo).\nThe audiobook was originally scheduled to be released November 2013, but the release was cancelled due to AudioGo's bankruptcy in the same month.\nRights issues are currently preventing its release.\n\n## Pearson Education\n[Pearson Education](https://bliptext.com/articles/pearson-education) published adaptations of four [Eleventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/eleventh-doctor) stories in 2011 (two of which were [photonovelisations](https://bliptext.com/articles/photonovel)) and six [Twelfth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/twelfth-doctor) stories in 2018 for use in schools.\n\n# Publication details\n\n## Writing\nAlthough Target endeavoured to commission the original scriptwriters to novelise their own stories, this was not always possible.\nAs a result, many books in the Target line were written by [Terrance Dicks](https://bliptext.com/articles/terrance-dicks).\nDuring the late 1970s to early 1980s, Target, which classified the novelisations as children's fiction, imposed a page limit of 128 pages.\nSome books (particularly several by Dicks) even fell short of this limit.\nBy the late 1980s, however, the page cap had been lifted, although John Peel was still required to split his novelisation of the epic 12-episode [The Daleks' Master Plan](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-daleks-master-plan) into two volumes because the manuscript was too long.\n\n## Titles\nFor the first few years of the Target line, it was common practice for the novels to have titles that differed from the adapted serials: for example, Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, which was based upon the serial [Spearhead from Space](https://bliptext.com/articles/spearhead-from-space).\nThis practice was dropped in the mid-1970s.\nAnother tradition established by the books was to prepend the words \"Doctor Who and ...\"\nto the titles, except in a few cases where impractical.\nThis practice continued until the early 1980s.\nFrom 1990 onwards reprints of the books generally dropped \"Doctor Who and...\"\nfrom the title and changed titles back to the original television story, although some of the reprints merely rejacketed earlier stock.\n\n## Illustrators\nThe first of the Target reissues featured new cover artwork by [Chris Achilleos](https://bliptext.com/articles/chris-achilleos), who went on to illustrate over 30 of the novelisations throughout the 1970s.\nBritish artist Andrew Skilleter created much of the cover art from 1979 to 1994, along with video covers and other merchandise.\nHis work on Doctor Who was showcased in his 1995 volume Blacklight: The Art of Andrew Skilleter.\n\n## Numbering\nTarget began numbering its novelisations from 1983, with almost all of the first seventy-three books being numbered as reprints came out.\nThe first new book to be numbered was [Time-Flight](https://bliptext.com/articles/time-flight).\nTarget's numbering did not initially reflect original publication order (which would have placed David Whitaker's Doctor Who and the Daleks book first) or the production or broadcast order of the original stories, but rather was conducted in alphabetical order, so that the novelisation of [The Abominable Snowmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-abominable-snowmen) was numbered \"1\".\nDue to print delays and last-minute reordering of publication schedules, some of the later books were released out of numeric order.\nThe revived \"Target Collection\" from BBC Books is not numbered.\n\n# Novelisations of television stories\n\n## First Doctor\nFeaturing [William Hartnell](https://bliptext.com/articles/william-hartnell)'s [First Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-doctor)\n

\n\n## Second Doctor\nFeaturing [Patrick Troughton](https://bliptext.com/articles/patrick-troughton)'s [Second Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-doctor)\n

\n\n## Third Doctor\nFeaturing [Jon Pertwee](https://bliptext.com/articles/jon-pertwee)'s [Third Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-doctor).\n

\n\n## Fourth Doctor\nFeaturing [Tom Baker](https://bliptext.com/articles/tom-baker)'s [Fourth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fourth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Fifth Doctor\nFeaturing [Peter Davison](https://bliptext.com/articles/peter-davison)'s [Fifth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Sixth Doctor\nFeaturing [Colin Baker](https://bliptext.com/articles/colin-baker)'s [Sixth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/sixth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Seventh Doctor\nFeaturing [Sylvester McCoy](https://bliptext.com/articles/sylvester-mccoy)'s [Seventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/seventh-doctor).\n

\n\n## Eighth Doctor\nFeaturing [Paul McGann](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-mcgann)'s [Eighth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/eighth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Ninth Doctor\nFeaturing [Christopher Eccleston](https://bliptext.com/articles/christopher-eccleston)'s [Ninth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/ninth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Tenth Doctor\nFeaturing [David Tennant](https://bliptext.com/articles/david-tennant)'s [Tenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Eleventh Doctor\nFeaturing [Matt Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/matt-smith)'s [Eleventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/eleventh-doctor).\n

\n\n## Twelfth Doctor\nFeaturing [Peter Capaldi](https://bliptext.com/articles/peter-capaldi)'s [Twelfth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/twelfth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Thirteenth Doctor\nFeaturing [Jodie Whittaker](https://bliptext.com/articles/jodie-whittaker)'s [Thirteenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/thirteenth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Fourteenth Doctor\nFeaturing [David Tennant](https://bliptext.com/articles/david-tennant)'s [Fourteenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fourteenth-doctor).\n

\n\n## Fifteenth Doctor\nFeaturing [Ncuti Gatwa](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncuti-gatwa)'s [Fifteenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifteenth-doctor).\n

\n\n# Novelisations of audio dramas\nNovelisations of audio dramas broadcast on radio or released on home audio.\n\n# Novelisations of unproduced stories\nNovelisations of stories written, but not produced, for television or film.\n

**Novelisations of the originally planned season 23**\n

\n\n# Novelisations of webcasts\nNovelisations of stories released via the web.\n\n# Novelisations of comic strips\n\n# Unofficial novelisations\nA number of fan-run publications have published unofficial novelisations of stories Target was not able to secure rights to.\n[Obverse Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/obverse-books) has also published unofficial novelisations to raise money for charity.\nAs well as novelisations of the two 1960s Dalek films, Obverse also published original novels presented as novelisations of further films based on other television stories featuring [Peter Cushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/peter-cushing)'s portrayal of [Dr. Who](https://bliptext.com/articles/dr-who-dalek-films) and short story collections presented as novelisations of hypothetical episodes of the proposed 1960s radio adaptions, also featuring Cushing's [Dr. Who](https://bliptext.com/articles/dr-who-dalek-films).\n\n# Omnibus and two in one releases\nA number of novelisations were released in omnibus editions, mostly by book clubs.\nIn 1988–1989, W. H. Allen's Star imprint published a number of the Target novelisations in a format of two novelisations in one book in a range titled Doctor Who Classics.\nThese were produced by fixing together two Target books with a new front page and outer cover.\nThe pairings were:\n\n# Spin-off novelisations\n\n## The Companions of Doctor Who\nThe Companions of Doctor Who was a series of original full-length novels, the first original novels based on Doctor Who.\nThe books were based on characters who had appeared in the television series as the Doctor's [companions](https://bliptext.com/articles/companion-doctor-who), and explored their lives after leaving the Doctor's company.\nThe first two books were [Turlough](https://bliptext.com/articles/vislor-turlough) and the Earthlink Dilemma by [Tony Attwood](https://bliptext.com/articles/tony-attwood-writer), based upon the character played by [Mark Strickson](https://bliptext.com/articles/mark-strickson) in the early 1980s, and [Harry Sullivan](https://bliptext.com/articles/harry-sullivan-doctor-who)'s War, written by [Ian Marter](https://bliptext.com/articles/ian-marter), who had played [Harry Sullivan](https://bliptext.com/articles/harry-sullivan-doctor-who) in the series a decade earlier.\nThese books sold well, but after a third attempt (a novelisation of the 1981 Doctor Who spin-off, [K-9 and Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-9-and-company)) the series ended due sale not matching the same level as Doctor Who novelisations.\nOther novels would have featured [Tegan](https://bliptext.com/articles/tegan-jovanka), [Sarah Jane Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/sarah-jane-smith), [Victoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/victoria-waterfield), [Jamie McCrimmon](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamie-mccrimmon), [UNIT](https://bliptext.com/articles/unit), and a sequel to Harry Sullivan's War.\n\n## The Sarah Jane Adventures\nBeginning in 2007, [Penguin Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/penguin-books) under its Penguin Character Books imprint began publishing novelisations based upon the spinoff series [The Sarah Jane Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-sarah-jane-adventures).\n\n## Direct to video spinoffs\nNovelisations of spin off productions that were released [direct to video](https://bliptext.com/articles/direct-to-video).\n\n## Audio spinoffs\n\n# Adaptations\nGenerally, Doctor Who stories that have been broadcast will be adapted into print, rather than vice versa.\nThere have been three occasions where print media has been adapted for the screen or formed inspiration for television episodes.\nThe 1995 [New Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-new-adventures) novel [Human Nature](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-nature-novel), written by [Paul Cornell](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-cornell) and featuring the [Seventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/seventh-doctor), was adapted by the same author for the [2007 series](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-series-3) of Doctor Who as a two part story with the episode titles \"[Human Nature](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-nature-novel)\" and \"[The Family of Blood](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-family-of-blood)\", with [David Tennant](https://bliptext.com/articles/david-tennant) as the [Tenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenth-doctor).\n[Steven Moffat](https://bliptext.com/articles/steven-moffat) based his 2007 episode \"[Blink](https://bliptext.com/articles/blink-doctor-who)\" upon his 2005 short story, \"What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow\", originally published in Doctor Who Annual 2006.\n[Gareth Roberts](https://bliptext.com/articles/gareth-roberts-writer) reused his concept from a 2006 [Doctor Who Magazine](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-magazine) comic strip story as the basis for an episode of the same name \"[The Lodger](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-lodger-doctor-who)\", which was transmitted as part of Series 5 (2010), featuring [Matt Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/matt-smith-actor).","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T07:23:13.674Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T07:23:13.674Z","search_vector":"'doctor':3 'list':1 'novelis':5","search_content":" \n \n\n# \n[Doctor Who](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who) is a British [science fiction television](https://bliptext.com/articles/science-fiction-television) programme produced by the [BBC](https://bliptext.com/articles/bbc) since 1963.\nHundreds of [novelisations](https://bliptext.com/articles/novelisation) of the series have been published by various publishers, the majority based on the original 1963–1989 run of the series.\n\n# History\n\n## Frederick Muller Ltd.\nFrederick Muller Ltd. commissioned David Whitaker to novelise the [first Dalek serial](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-daleks) under the title Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks, which was published November 1964 in hardcover just in time for the second Dalek serial, [The Dalek Invasion of Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-dalek-invasion-of-earth) to be transmitted.\nThe success of this book warranted two reprintings by 1965 and led Frederick Muller to commission two further novelisations, Doctor Who and the Zarbi and Doctor Who and the Crusaders, which were published in 1965 and 1966 respectively.\nSales of these books did not live up to the first and so the short range was brought to an end.\nDoctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks was reissued in paperback October 1965 by [Armada Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/armada-books), an imprint of May Fair Books, with new illustrations.\nDoctor Who and the Crusaders was reissued in paperback in 1967 by Green Dragon, an imprint of Atlantic Books, again with new illustrations.\nAll three books with reissued in hardcover in 1975 by White Lion, all featuring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor on the cover while retaining the First Doctor illustrations inside.\n\n## Target Books\nIn 1972 [Universal-Tandem Publishing](https://bliptext.com/articles/universal-tandem-publishing) was looking to create a children's book imprint, [Target Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/target-books).\nIn a visit to Frederick Muller's offices, the three 1960s Doctor Who books were optioned, and then the BBC was contacted with a view to publish new books.\nThis call to the BBC met with enthusiastic support from the current script editor, [Terrance Dicks](https://bliptext.com/articles/terrance-dicks).\nThe Doctor Who novelisations quickly became a backbone of the imprint, surviving corporate acquisitions and novelising almost every Doctor Who television story.\nNew novelisations under the Target imprint came to an end in 1991 (although three more were published under their parent company's new Doctor Who Books imprint).\nReprints under the Target imprint continued through 1994.\nA short series entitled The Companions of Doctor Who comprised the novelisation of [K-9 and Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-9-and-company) along with the original works Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma and Harry Sullivan's War.\nIn addition to the television serials, three scripts from the cancelled Season 23—The Nightmare Fair, The Ultimate Evil and Mission to Magnus—were novelised.\nThe former sold less well than the usual novelisations, while the latter sold as well.\nTarget also novelised two additional non-televised stories: the radio play [Slipback](https://bliptext.com/articles/slipback) and the audio story [The Pescatons](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-pescatons).\n\n## Doctor Who Books\n[Virgin Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-books) created a new imprint, Doctor Who Books, for their Doctor Who novels and non-fiction books.\nThis imprint published the last three books in the \"Doctor Who Library\" established by Target.\n(The Power of the Daleks, The Evil of the Daleks, and the radio play The Paradise of Death)\nFurther novelisations were published as part of their monthly novel lines.\n[Barry Letts](https://bliptext.com/articles/barry-letts)'s radio drama, [The Ghosts of N-Space](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-ghosts-of-n-space) was published as part of the [Virgin Missing Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-missing-adventures) range in 1995, as was the novelisation of the independent spin-off [Downtime](https://bliptext.com/articles/downtime-doctor-who) in 1996.\nThe [Virgin New Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-new-adventures) range published a novelisation of [Shakedown: The Return of the Sontarans](https://bliptext.com/articles/shakedown-the-return-of-the-sontarans) in 1995.\n\n## BBC Books\nIn 1996 the BBC chose not to renew Virgin's license for publishing Doctor Who fiction, preferring to bring the novels back in house.\n[BBC Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/bbc-books) published a novelisation of the 1996 Doctor Who television movie.\nThey also published a novelisation of the webcast Scream of the Shalka as part of the [Past Doctor Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/past-doctor-adventures) range in 2004.\nFrom 2012 to 2019, BBC Books published novelisations of the 1970s and 1980s serials Target was unable to publish ([The Pirate Planet](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-pirate-planet), [City of Death](https://bliptext.com/articles/city-of-death), [Shada](https://bliptext.com/articles/shada-doctor-who), [Resurrection of the Daleks](https://bliptext.com/articles/resurrection-of-the-daleks), and [Revelation of the Daleks](https://bliptext.com/articles/revelation-of-the-daleks)).\nNovelisations of the unproduced scripts [Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-and-the-krikkitmen) and [Doctor Who Meets Scratchman](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-meets-scratchman) were published in 2018 and 2019 respectively.\nA new adaptation of [The Evil of the Daleks](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-evil-of-the-daleks) written by [Frazer Hines](https://bliptext.com/articles/frazer-hines) was released in 2023.\nBBC Books began reprinting selected Target novelisations starting in July 2011.\n\n### The Target Collection\nStarting in 2018, BBC Books published novelisations of selected episodes of the revived series as part of a range dubbed The Target Collection featuring the Target logo.\nPaperback editions of City of Death, The Pirate Planet, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks, and the 1996 television movie were also added to the revived Target range.\n(City of Death and The Pirate Planet were abridged from their previous BBC Books editions.) In 2022, print versions of the previously audiobook-only adaptations by David Fisher of The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara were also added to the range, as was a print edition of the expanded audiobook version of Warriors Gate in 2023.\n\n### Audiobooks\nIn 2005, BBC Audio released unabridged [audiobook](https://bliptext.com/articles/audiobook) versions of the first three Frederick Muller novelisations, read by actor [William Russell](https://bliptext.com/articles/william-russell-english-actor) (who played [Ian Chesterton](https://bliptext.com/articles/ian-chesterton)).\nBeginning in September 2007, they began releasing further unabridged audiobooks of the Target novelisations at a regular rate.\n[An Unearthly Child](https://bliptext.com/articles/an-unearthly-child) was set to receive a new novelisation exclusive to audio, read by William Russell, written by Nigel Robinson, and released by [AudioGo](https://bliptext.com/articles/audiogo).\nThe audiobook was originally scheduled to be released November 2013, but the release was cancelled due to AudioGo's bankruptcy in the same month.\nRights issues are currently preventing its release.\n\n## Pearson Education\n[Pearson Education](https://bliptext.com/articles/pearson-education) published adaptations of four [Eleventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/eleventh-doctor) stories in 2011 (two of which were [photonovelisations](https://bliptext.com/articles/photonovel)) and six [Twelfth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/twelfth-doctor) stories in 2018 for use in schools.\n\n# Publication details\n\n## Writing\nAlthough Target endeavoured to commission the original scriptwriters to novelise their own stories, this was not always possible.\nAs a result, many books in the Target line were written by [Terrance Dicks](https://bliptext.com/articles/terrance-dicks).\nDuring the late 1970s to early 1980s, Target, which classified the novelisations as children's fiction, imposed a page limit of 128 pages.\nSome books (particularly several by Dicks) even fell short of this limit.\nBy the late 1980s, however, the page cap had been lifted, although John Peel was still required to split his novelisation of the epic 12-episode [The Daleks' Master Plan](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-daleks-master-plan) into two volumes because the manuscript was too long.\n\n## Titles\nFor the first few years of the Target line, it was common practice for the novels to have titles that differed from the adapted serials: for example, Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, which was based upon the serial [Spearhead from Space](https://bliptext.com/articles/spearhead-from-space).\nThis practice was dropped in the mid-1970s.\nAnother tradition established by the books was to prepend the words \"Doctor Who and ...\"\nto the titles, except in a few cases where impractical.\nThis practice continued until the early 1980s.\nFrom 1990 onwards reprints of the books generally dropped \"Doctor Who and...\"\nfrom the title and changed titles back to the original television story, although some of the reprints merely rejacketed earlier stock.\n\n## Illustrators\nThe first of the Target reissues featured new cover artwork by [Chris Achilleos](https://bliptext.com/articles/chris-achilleos), who went on to illustrate over 30 of the novelisations throughout the 1970s.\nBritish artist Andrew Skilleter created much of the cover art from 1979 to 1994, along with video covers and other merchandise.\nHis work on Doctor Who was showcased in his 1995 volume Blacklight: The Art of Andrew Skilleter.\n\n## Numbering\nTarget began numbering its novelisations from 1983, with almost all of the first seventy-three books being numbered as reprints came out.\nThe first new book to be numbered was [Time-Flight](https://bliptext.com/articles/time-flight).\nTarget's numbering did not initially reflect original publication order (which would have placed David Whitaker's Doctor Who and the Daleks book first) or the production or broadcast order of the original stories, but rather was conducted in alphabetical order, so that the novelisation of [The Abominable Snowmen](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-abominable-snowmen) was numbered \"1\".\nDue to print delays and last-minute reordering of publication schedules, some of the later books were released out of numeric order.\nThe revived \"Target Collection\" from BBC Books is not numbered.\n\n# Novelisations of television stories\n\n## First Doctor\nFeaturing [William Hartnell](https://bliptext.com/articles/william-hartnell)'s [First Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-doctor)\n \n \n\n## Second Doctor\nFeaturing [Patrick Troughton](https://bliptext.com/articles/patrick-troughton)'s [Second Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/second-doctor)\n \n \n\n## Third Doctor\nFeaturing [Jon Pertwee](https://bliptext.com/articles/jon-pertwee)'s [Third Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Fourth Doctor\nFeaturing [Tom Baker](https://bliptext.com/articles/tom-baker)'s [Fourth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fourth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Fifth Doctor\nFeaturing [Peter Davison](https://bliptext.com/articles/peter-davison)'s [Fifth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Sixth Doctor\nFeaturing [Colin Baker](https://bliptext.com/articles/colin-baker)'s [Sixth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/sixth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Seventh Doctor\nFeaturing [Sylvester McCoy](https://bliptext.com/articles/sylvester-mccoy)'s [Seventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/seventh-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Eighth Doctor\nFeaturing [Paul McGann](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-mcgann)'s [Eighth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/eighth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Ninth Doctor\nFeaturing [Christopher Eccleston](https://bliptext.com/articles/christopher-eccleston)'s [Ninth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/ninth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Tenth Doctor\nFeaturing [David Tennant](https://bliptext.com/articles/david-tennant)'s [Tenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Eleventh Doctor\nFeaturing [Matt Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/matt-smith)'s [Eleventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/eleventh-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Twelfth Doctor\nFeaturing [Peter Capaldi](https://bliptext.com/articles/peter-capaldi)'s [Twelfth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/twelfth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Thirteenth Doctor\nFeaturing [Jodie Whittaker](https://bliptext.com/articles/jodie-whittaker)'s [Thirteenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/thirteenth-doctor).\n \n \n\n## Fourteenth Doctor\nFeaturing [David Tennant](https://bliptext.com/articles/david-tennant)'s [Fourteenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fourteenth-doctor).\n \n\n## Fifteenth Doctor\nFeaturing [Ncuti Gatwa](https://bliptext.com/articles/ncuti-gatwa)'s [Fifteenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/fifteenth-doctor).\n \n\n# Novelisations of audio dramas\nNovelisations of audio dramas broadcast on radio or released on home audio.\n\n# Novelisations of unproduced stories\nNovelisations of stories written, but not produced, for television or film.\n **Novelisations of the originally planned season 23**\n \n\n# Novelisations of webcasts\nNovelisations of stories released via the web.\n\n# Novelisations of comic strips\n\n# Unofficial novelisations\nA number of fan-run publications have published unofficial novelisations of stories Target was not able to secure rights to.\n[Obverse Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/obverse-books) has also published unofficial novelisations to raise money for charity.\nAs well as novelisations of the two 1960s Dalek films, Obverse also published original novels presented as novelisations of further films based on other television stories featuring [Peter Cushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/peter-cushing)'s portrayal of [Dr. Who](https://bliptext.com/articles/dr-who-dalek-films) and short story collections presented as novelisations of hypothetical episodes of the proposed 1960s radio adaptions, also featuring Cushing's [Dr. Who](https://bliptext.com/articles/dr-who-dalek-films).\n\n# Omnibus and two in one releases\nA number of novelisations were released in omnibus editions, mostly by book clubs.\nIn 1988–1989, W. H. Allen's Star imprint published a number of the Target novelisations in a format of two novelisations in one book in a range titled Doctor Who Classics.\nThese were produced by fixing together two Target books with a new front page and outer cover.\nThe pairings were:\n\n# Spin-off novelisations\n\n## The Companions of Doctor Who\nThe Companions of Doctor Who was a series of original full-length novels, the first original novels based on Doctor Who.\nThe books were based on characters who had appeared in the television series as the Doctor's [companions](https://bliptext.com/articles/companion-doctor-who), and explored their lives after leaving the Doctor's company.\nThe first two books were [Turlough](https://bliptext.com/articles/vislor-turlough) and the Earthlink Dilemma by [Tony Attwood](https://bliptext.com/articles/tony-attwood-writer), based upon the character played by [Mark Strickson](https://bliptext.com/articles/mark-strickson) in the early 1980s, and [Harry Sullivan](https://bliptext.com/articles/harry-sullivan-doctor-who)'s War, written by [Ian Marter](https://bliptext.com/articles/ian-marter), who had played [Harry Sullivan](https://bliptext.com/articles/harry-sullivan-doctor-who) in the series a decade earlier.\nThese books sold well, but after a third attempt (a novelisation of the 1981 Doctor Who spin-off, [K-9 and Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-9-and-company)) the series ended due sale not matching the same level as Doctor Who novelisations.\nOther novels would have featured [Tegan](https://bliptext.com/articles/tegan-jovanka), [Sarah Jane Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/sarah-jane-smith), [Victoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/victoria-waterfield), [Jamie McCrimmon](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamie-mccrimmon), [UNIT](https://bliptext.com/articles/unit), and a sequel to Harry Sullivan's War.\n\n## The Sarah Jane Adventures\nBeginning in 2007, [Penguin Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/penguin-books) under its Penguin Character Books imprint began publishing novelisations based upon the spinoff series [The Sarah Jane Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-sarah-jane-adventures).\n\n## Direct to video spinoffs\nNovelisations of spin off productions that were released [direct to video](https://bliptext.com/articles/direct-to-video).\n\n## Audio spinoffs\n\n# Adaptations\nGenerally, Doctor Who stories that have been broadcast will be adapted into print, rather than vice versa.\nThere have been three occasions where print media has been adapted for the screen or formed inspiration for television episodes.\nThe 1995 [New Adventures](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-new-adventures) novel [[Human Nature](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-nature-doctor-who-episode)](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-nature-novel), written by [Paul Cornell](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-cornell) and featuring the [Seventh Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/seventh-doctor), was adapted by the same author for the [2007 series](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-series-3) of Doctor Who as a two part story with the episode titles \"[[Human Nature](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-nature-doctor-who-episode)](https://bliptext.com/articles/human-nature-novel)\" and \"[The Family of Blood](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-family-of-blood)\", with [David Tennant](https://bliptext.com/articles/david-tennant) as the [Tenth Doctor](https://bliptext.com/articles/tenth-doctor).\n[Steven Moffat](https://bliptext.com/articles/steven-moffat) based his 2007 episode \"[Blink](https://bliptext.com/articles/blink-doctor-who)\" upon his 2005 short story, \"What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow\", originally published in Doctor Who Annual 2006.\n[Gareth Roberts](https://bliptext.com/articles/gareth-roberts-writer) reused his concept from a 2006 [Doctor Who Magazine](https://bliptext.com/articles/doctor-who-magazine) comic strip story as the basis for an episode of the same name \"[The Lodger](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-lodger-doctor-who)\", which was transmitted as part of Series 5 (2010), featuring [Matt Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/matt-smith-actor).","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}