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List of Doctor Who novelisations
Doctor Who novels based on television, radio, and other stories
Doctor Who novels based on television, radio, and other stories
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. Hundreds of novelisations of the series have been published by various publishers, the majority based on the original 1963–1989 run of the series.
History
Frederick Muller Ltd.
Frederick Muller Ltd. commissioned David Whitaker to novelise the first Dalek serial 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 to be transmitted. The 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. Sales of these books did not live up to the first and so the short range was brought to an end.
Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks was reissued in paperback October 1965 by Armada Books, an imprint of May Fair Books, with new illustrations. Doctor Who and the Crusaders was reissued in paperback in 1967 by Green Dragon, an imprint of Atlantic Books, again with new illustrations. All 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.
Target Books
In 1972 Universal-Tandem Publishing was looking to create a children's book imprint, Target Books. In 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. This call to the BBC met with enthusiastic support from the current script editor, Terrance Dicks. The Doctor Who novelisations quickly became a backbone of the imprint, surviving corporate acquisitions and novelising almost every Doctor Who television story. New 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). Reprints under the Target imprint continued through 1994.
A short series entitled The Companions of Doctor Who comprised the novelisation of K-9 and Company along with the original works Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma and Harry Sullivan's War. In addition to the television serials, three scripts from the cancelled Season 23—The Nightmare Fair, The Ultimate Evil and Mission to Magnus—were novelised. The former sold less well than the usual novelisations, while the latter sold as well. Target also novelised two additional non-televised stories: the radio play Slipback and the audio story The Pescatons.
Doctor Who Books
Virgin Books created a new imprint, Doctor Who Books, for their Doctor Who novels and non-fiction books. This imprint published the last three books in the Doctor Who Library established by Target. (The Power of the Daleks, The Evil of the Daleks, and the radio play The Paradise of Death.
Further novelisations were published as part of their monthly novel lines. Barry Letts's radio drama, The Ghosts of N-Space was published as part of the Virgin Missing Adventures range in 1995, as was the novelisation of the independent spin-off Downtime in 1996. The Virgin New Adventures range published a novelisation of Shakedown: The Return of the Sontarans in 1995.
BBC Books
In 1996 the BBC chose not to renew Virgin's license for publishing Doctor Who fiction, preferring to bring the novels back in house. BBC Books published a novelisation of the 1996 Doctor Who television movie. They also published a novelisation of the webcast Scream of the Shalka as part of the Past Doctor Adventures range in 2004. From 2012 to 2019, BBC Books published novelisations of the 1970s and 1980s serials Target was unable to publish (The Pirate Planet, City of Death, Shada, Resurrection of the Daleks, and Revelation of the Daleks). Novelisations of the unproduced scripts Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen and Doctor Who Meets Scratchman were published in 2018 and 2019 respectively. A new adaptation of The Evil of the Daleks written by Frazer Hines was released in 2023.
BBC Books began reprinting selected Target novelisations starting in July 2011.
''The Target Collection''
Starting 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. Paperback 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. (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. The Target Collection was subsequently divided into two series: the Classic Era, comprising books based on stories from the original television series and the revived series through 2022, and the New Era, comprising books based on television stories broadcast since 2023, starting with the three 2023 specials.
Audiobooks
In 2005, BBC Audio released unabridged audiobook versions of the first three Frederick Muller novelisations, read by actor William Russell (who played Ian Chesterton). Beginning in September 2007, they began releasing further unabridged audiobooks of the Target novelisations at a regular rate.
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. The audiobook was originally scheduled to be released November 2013, but the release was cancelled due to AudioGo's bankruptcy in the same month. Rights issues are currently preventing its release.
Pearson Education
Pearson Education published adaptations of four Eleventh Doctor stories in 2011 (two of which were photonovelisations) and six Twelfth Doctor stories in 2018 for use in schools.
Publication details
Writing
Although Target endeavoured to commission the original scriptwriters to novelise their own stories, this was not always possible. As a result, many books in the Target line were written by Terrance Dicks. During the late 1970s to early 1980s, Target, which classified the novelisations as children's fiction, imposed a page limit of 128 pages. Some books (particularly several by Dicks) even fell short of this limit. By 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 into two volumes because the manuscript was too long.
Titles
For 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. This practice was dropped in the mid-1970s. Another tradition established by the books was to prepend the words "Doctor Who and ..." to the titles, except in a few cases where impractical. This practice continued until the early 1980s. From 1990 onwards reprints of the books generally dropped "Doctor Who and..." from the title and changed titles back to the original television story, although some of the reprints merely rejacketed earlier stock.
Illustrators
The first of the Target reissues featured new cover artwork by Chris Achilleos, who went on to illustrate over 30 of the novelisations throughout the 1970s. British artist Andrew Skilleter created much of the cover art from 1979 to 1994, along with video covers and other merchandise. His work on Doctor Who was showcased in his 1995 volume Blacklight: The Art of Andrew Skilleter.
Numbering
Target began numbering its novelisations from 1983, with almost all of the first seventy-three books being numbered as reprints came out. The first new book to be numbered was Time-Flight. Target'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 was numbered "1". Due to print delays and last-minute reordering of publication schedules, some of the later books were released out of numeric order. The revived "Target Collection" from BBC Books is not numbered on the covers. However, the Penguin website lists the books based on stories prior to 2023 as Doctor Who Target Novels – Classic Era and numbers them 1-20, but this list omits "Twice Upon a Time" and the Doctor Who Magazine exclusive Target of Frazer Hines's The Evil of the Daleks. The website also groups the books based on stories since 2023 as Doctor Who Target Novels – New Era, but does not number them.
Novelisations of television stories
First Doctor
Featuring William Hartnell's First Doctor
| Season | Story no. | Library no. | Novelisation title | Author | Hardcover | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| release date | Paperback | ||||||
| release date | Audiobook | ||||||
| release date | |||||||
| 001 | 68 | Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child | Terrance Dicks | 15 October 1981 | |||
| 002 | Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks | David Whitaker | 12 November 1964 | 4 October 1965 | |||
| 16 | Doctor Who and the Daleks | 2 May 1973 | 7 March 2005 | ||||
| 003 | 132 | The Edge of Destruction | Nigel Robinson | 19 May 1988 | 20 October 1988 | 31 August 2010 | |
| 004 | 94 | Marco Polo | John Lucarotti | 13 December 1984 | 11 April 1985 | 6 December 2018 | |
| 005 | 38 | Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus | Philip Hinchcliffe | 21 August 1980 | 1 September 2022 | ||
| 006 | 88 | The Aztecs | John Lucarotti | 21 June 1984 | 20 September 1984 | 2 August 2012 | |
| 007 | 118 | The Sensorites | Nigel Robinson | 19 February 1987 | 16 July 1987 | 3 May 2012 | |
| 008 | 119 | The Reign of Terror | Ian Marter | 19 March 1987 | 20 August 1987 | 2 June 2022 | |
| 009 | 145 | Planet of Giants | Terrance Dicks | 18 January 1990 | 4 May 2017 | ||
| 010 | 17 | Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth | 24 March 1977 | 5 November 2009 | |||
| 011 | 124 | The Rescue | Ian Marter | 20 August 1987 | 21 January 1988 | 4 April 2013 | |
| 012 | 120 | The Romans | Donald Cotton | 16 April 1987 | 17 September 1987 | 5 January 2023 | |
| 013 | 73 | Doctor Who and the Zarbi | Bill Strutton | 16 September 1965 | 2 May 1973 | 7 November 2005 | |
| 014 | 12 | Doctor Who and the Crusaders | David Whitaker | 24 February 1966 | 1967 | 7 November 2005 | |
| 015 | 117 | The Space Museum | Glyn Jones | 15 January 1987 | 18 June 1987 | 4 February 2016 | |
| 016 | 140 | The Chase | John Peel | 20 July 1989 | 4 August 2011 | ||
| 017 | 126 | The Time Meddler | Nigel Robinson | 15 October 1987 | 17 March 1988 | 6 October 2016 | |
| 018 | 104 | Galaxy Four | William Emms | 14 November 1985 | 10 April 1986 | 6 July 2017 | |
| 019, 021 | 141 | The Daleks' Master Plan Part I: Mission to the Unknown | John Peel | 21 September 1989 | 6 May 2010 | ||
| 020 | 97 | The Myth Makers | Donald Cotton | 11 April 1985 | 12 September 1985 | 7 April 2008 | |
| 021 | 142 | The Daleks' Master Plan Part II: The Mutation of Time | John Peel | 19 October 1989 | 3 June 2010 | ||
| 022 | 122 | The Massacre | John Lucarotti | 18 June 1987 | 19 November 1987 | 11 June 2015 | |
| 023 | 114 | The Ark | Paul Erickson | 16 October 1986 | 19 March 1987 | 1 March 2018 | |
| 024 | 111 | The Celestial Toymaker | Gerry Davis and Alison Bingeman | 19 June 1986 | 20 November 1986 | 3 April 2025 | |
| 025 | 101 | The Gunfighters | Donald Cotton | 11 July 1985 | 9 January 1986 | 7 February 2013 | |
| 026 | 109 | The Savages | Ian Stuart Black | 20 March 1986 | 11 September 1986 | 4 February 2021 | |
| 027 | 136 | The War Machines | 16 February 1989 | 7 March 2019 | |||
| 029 | 62 | Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet | Gerry Davis | 19 February 1976 | 7 December 2017 |
! style="width:29%;"| Novelisation title ! style="width:10%;"| Author ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date
| - |
|---|
| 031 |
| - |
| 032 |
| - |
| 033 |
| - |
| 034 |
| - |
| 035 |
| - |
| - |
| (with Mike Tucker and Steve Cole) |
| - |
| The Evil of the Daleks (abridged) |
| - |
| - |
| 038 |
| - |
| 039 |
| - |
| 040 |
| - |
| 041 |
| - |
| 042 |
| - |
| 043 |
| - |
| - |
| 045 |
| - |
| 046 |
| - |
| 047 |
| - |
| 048 |
| - |
| 049 |
| - |
| 050 |
| } |
! style="width:29%;"| Novelisation title ! style="width:10%;"| Author ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date
| - |
|---|
| 052 |
| - |
| 053 |
| - |
| 054 |
| - |
| - |
| 056 |
| - |
| 057 |
| - |
| 058 |
| - |
| 059 |
| - |
| - |
| 061 |
| 2 May 2013 (unabridged) |
| - |
| 062 |
| - |
| 063 |
| - |
| 064 |
| - |
| 7 April 2010 |
| - |
| 066 |
| 13 November 2014 |
| - |
| 067 |
| - |
| 068 |
| 6 June 2013 (unabridged) |
| - |
| 069 |
| - |
| - |
| 071 |
| - |
| 072 |
| - |
| 073 |
| - |
| 074 |
| - |
| } |
! style="width:29%;"| Novelisation title ! style="width:10%;"| Author ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date
| - |
|---|
| - |
| 076 |
| - |
| 077 |
| - |
| 078 |
| 5 October 2017 |
| - |
| 079 |
| - |
| 16 October 2025 |
| - |
| 081 |
| - |
| 082 |
| - |
| 083 |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| 085 |
| - |
| - |
| 087 |
| - |
| 088 |
| - |
| 089 |
| 7 April 2022 |
| - |
| 090 |
| - |
| 091 |
| - |
| - |
| 093 |
| - |
| 094 |
| - |
| 095 |
| - |
| 096 |
| - |
| 097 |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet (abridged) |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| 102 |
| - |
| 103 |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| City of Death (abridged) |
| - |
| 106 |
| - |
| 107 |
| - |
| 108 |
| - |
| 108.5 |
| - |
| - |
| 110 |
| - |
| 111 |
| - |
| - |
| 58 |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| 114 |
| - |
| 115 |
| - |
| } |
! style="width:29%;"| Novelisation title ! style="width:10%;"| Author ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date
| - |
|---|
| 117 |
| - |
| 118 |
| 6 June 2024 (unabridged) |
| - |
| 119 |
| - |
| 120 |
| - |
| 121 |
| - |
| 122 |
| - |
| - |
| 124 |
| - |
| 125 |
| - |
| 126 |
| - |
| 127 |
| - |
| 128 |
| - |
| 129 |
| - |
| 4 May 2023 (unabridged) |
| - |
| 131 |
| - |
| 132 |
| 16 April 2015 |
| - |
| 133 |
| - |
| 134 |
| - |
| 135 |
| - |
| } |
! style="width:29%;"| Novelisation title ! style="width:10%;"| Author ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date |- | || 136 ||103||The Twin Dilemma || rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Saward, Eric"|Eric Saward|| 10 October 1985 || 13 March 1986 || 5 January 2012 |- 1 February 2024 (unabridged) |- |138 ||106||Vengeance on Varos || data-sort-value="Martin, Philip"|Philip Martin || 21 January 1988 || 16 June 1988|| data-sort-value="3 November 1997" | 3 November 1997 (abridged) 7 November 2019 (unabridged) |- |139 ||107||The Mark of the Rani || data-sort-value="Baker, Pip and Jane"|Pip and Jane Baker || 16 January 1986 || 12 June 1986 || 5 April 2018 |- | 140 ||100||The Two Doctors || data-sort-value="Holmes, Robert"|Robert Holmes || 15 August 1985 || 5 December 1985 || 3 September 2015 |- |141 ||105||Timelash || data-sort-value="McCoy, Glen"|Glen McCoy || 12 December 1985 || 15 May 1986 || 3 March 2022 |- |142 || ||Revelation of the Daleks|| data-sort-value="Saward, Eric"|Eric Saward ||14 November 2019 ||11 March 2021 || 14 November 2019
| - |
|---|
| 139 |
| - |
| 125 |
| - |
| 131 |
| - |
| } |
! style="width:29%;"| Novelisation title ! style="width:10%;"| Author ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date
| - |
|---|
| 145 |
| - |
| 146 |
| - |
| 147 |
| - |
| - |
| 149 |
| - |
| 150 |
| - |
| 151 |
| - |
| - |
| 153 |
| - |
| 154 |
| - |
| 155 |
| } |
| - |
|---|
| The TV Movie |
| } |
! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date
| - |
|---|
| 160 |
| - |
| 161 |
| } |
| - |
|---|
| 174 |
| - |
| - |
| 191 |
| - |
| - |
| } |
| - |
|---|
| 205 |
| - |
| - |
| The Time of Angels |
| - |
| 211 |
| - |
| - |
| } |
| - |
|---|
| 249 |
| - |
| 250 |
| - |
| - |
| 257 |
| - |
| 258 |
| - |
| 260 |
| - |
| - |
| } |
| - |
|---|
| - |
| } |
! style="width:14%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:14%;" | Paperback release date ! style="width:14%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date
| - |
|---|
| 301 |
| - |
| - |
| - |
| } |
Fifteenth Doctor
Featuring Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor.
| Series | Story no. | Novelisation title | Author | Hardcover | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| release date | Paperback | |||||
| release date | Audiobook | |||||
| release date | ||||||
| 304 | The Church on Ruby Road | Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson | 25 January 2024 | 8 August 2024 | 25 January 2024 | |
| 305 | Space Babies | Alison Rumfitt | rowspan="74" | 8 August 2024 | ||
| 308 | 73 Yards | Scott Handcock | 8 August 2024 | |||
| 310 | Rogue | Kate Herron and Briony Redman | 8 August 2024 | |||
| 311 | Empire of Death | Scott Handcock | 10 July 2025 | |||
| 313 | The Robot Revolution | Una McCormack | 10 July 2025 | |||
| 314 | Lux | James Goss | 10 July 2025 | |||
| 315 | The Well | Gareth L. Powell | 10 July 2025 |
! style="width:28%;"| Novelisation title ! style="width:6%;"| Doctor ! style="width:15%;"| Author ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Hardcover release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Paperback release date ! style="width:15%;" data-sort-type=date | Audiobook release date |- | || Slipback|| 6th || data-sort-value="Saward, Eric"|Eric Saward || 14 August 1986 || 15 January 1987 || 2 April 2026 |- | 153||The Pescatons || 4th || data-sort-value="Pemberton, Victor"|Victor Pemberton || rowspan="3" ||15 September 1991 || 1 January 2026 |- | 156||The Paradise of Death || rowspan="2"|3rd || rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Letts, Barry"|Barry Letts ||21 April 1994 || rowspan="2"|2026 |- | ||The Ghosts of N-Space || 16 February 1995 |- | ||Jubilee || 6th || rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Shearman, Robert"|Robert Shearman || 9 October 2025 || 14 May 2026 || rowspan="2" |- | ||The Chimes of Midnight || 8th || 9 October 2025 || 14 May 2026 |}
Novelisations of unproduced stories
Novelisations of stories written, but not produced, for television or film. Novelisations of the originally planned season 23
| Novelisation title | Doctor | Author | Paperback | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| release date | Audiobook | |||
| release date | ||||
| The Nightmare Fair | 6th | Graham Williams | rowspan="3" | 18 May 1989 |
| The Ultimate Evil | Wally K. Daly | 17 August 1989 | 2 March 2010 | |
| 2026 | ||||
| Mission to Magnus | Philip Martin | 19 July 1990 | 6 November 2025 | |
| Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen | 4th | James Goss | 18 January 2018 | 14 February 2019 |
| Scratchman | Tom Baker | |||
| (with James Goss) | 24 January 2019 | 9 April 2020 | 24 January 2019 |
|}
Novelisations of comic strips
| Novelisation title | Doctor | Author | Original publisher | Hardcover | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| release date | Audiobook | ||||
| release date | |||||
| Dead on Arrival & Other Stories | 3rd | ||||
| 4th | Paul Magrs | BBC Audio | 1 December 2022 | ||
| "The Psychic Jungle" | |||||
| "Neuronic Nightmare" | 4th | BBC Audio | 20 April 2023 | ||
| "Into Control" | 14th | Steve Cole | BBC Children's Books | 12 October 2023 | 12 October 2023 |
| The Vampire Plants & Other Stories | 2nd | ||||
| 3rd | |||||
| 4th | Paul Magrs | BBC Audio | 4 December 2025 |
Unofficial novelisations
A number of fan-run publications have published unofficial novelisations of stories Target was not able to secure rights to. Obverse Books has also published unofficial novelisations to raise money for charity. As 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's portrayal of Dr. Who and short story collections presented as novelisations of hypothetical episodes of the proposed 1960s radio adaptions, also featuring Cushing's Dr. Who.
| TV | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Doctor | Author | Published | Publisher | Notes | |
| 019, 021 | The Daleks' Master Plan | 1st | Rosemary Howe | Zerinza | Unlicensed Australian fanzine publication - issues 14-16. Later reprinted as single volume. | ||
| Doctor Who and Shada | 4th | Paul Scoones | TSV | Unlicensed fan club publication. | |||
| 099 | Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet | 4th | David Bishop | TSV | Unlicensed fan club publication. | ||
| 142 | Revelation of the Daleks | 6th | Jon Preddle | TSV | Unlicensed fan club publication. | ||
| 105 | Doctor Who and the City of Death | 4th | David Lawrence | TSV | Unlicensed fan club publication. | ||
| Shada | 4th | Jonathan Way | Doctor Who Appreciation Society | Unlicensed fan club publication published across six issues of Cosmic Masque, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society's fan fiction publication. | |||
| 133 | Resurrection of the Daleks | 5th | Paul Scoones | TSV | Unlicensed fan club publication. | ||
| 167 | Doctor Who and the Invasion of Christmas | 10th | The Midnight Folk | Obverse Books | Unlicensed novelisation strictly limited to 40 copies. "The Midnight Folk" is a pseudonym for Paul Magrs, Andrew Hickey, Stuart Douglas, Nick Campbell, James Gent, Ira Lightman, Ian Potter, Phil Craggs, and Matthew Bright. Proceeds went to aid the Cystic Foundation Trust. | ||
| Dr. Who and the Daleks | Dr. Who | data-sort-value"Smithee, Alan" | Alan Smithee | Obverse Books | Unlicensed novelisation of the 1965 film | ||
| Daleks Invasion Earth 2150AD | Dr. Who | data-sort-value"Smithee, Alan" | Alan Smithee | Obverse Books | Unlicensed novelisation of the 1966 film | ||
| Journey into Time | Dr. Who | data-sort-value"Agnew, David" | David Agnew (editor) | Obverse Books | Includes an unlicensed novelisation of the late 1960s radio pilot as well as original stories written as if the radio series had been produced. |
Omnibus and two in one releases
A number of novelisations were released in omnibus editions, mostly by book clubs.
| Title | Novelisations included | Author | Publisher | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who and the Daleks Omnibus | Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks (abridged) | Terrance Dicks | Artus Books | September 1976 |
| Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks (abridged) | ||||
| The Doctor Who Omnibus | Doctor Who and the Space War | Malcolm Hulke | Book Club Associates | 1977 |
| Doctor Who and the Web of Fear | Terrance Dicks | |||
| Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen | ||||
| The Adventures of Doctor Who | Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks | Terrance Dicks | Nelson Doubleday | October 1979 |
| Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen | ||||
| Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster | ||||
| Dalek Omnibus | The Dalek Invasion of Earth | Terrance Dicks | W. H. Allen | 23 June 1983 |
| The Planet of the Daleks | ||||
| The Day of the Daleks | ||||
| The Further Adventures of Doctor Who | Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin | Terrance Dicks | Nelson Doubleday | January 1986 |
| Doctor Who and the Face of Evil | ||||
| Doctor Who and the Robots of Death | ||||
| Remembrance of the Daleks/Prisoner of the Daleks | Remembrance of the Daleks | Ben Aaronovitch | BBC Books | 15 July 2016 |
| Prisoner of the Daleks (New Series Adventure) | Trevor Baxendale | |||
| The Essential Terrance Dicks Vol. 1 | Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth | Terrance Dicks | BBC Books | 26 August 2021 |
| Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen | ||||
| Doctor Who – The Wheel in Space | ||||
| Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion | ||||
| Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks | ||||
| The Essential Terrance Dicks Vol. 2 | Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks | Terrance Dicks | BBC Books | 26 August 2021 |
| Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars | ||||
| Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang | ||||
| Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock | ||||
| Doctor Who – The Five Doctors |
In 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. These were produced by fixing together two Target books with a new front page and outer cover. The pairings were:
| Title 1 | Author | Title 2 | Author | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dalek Invasion of Earth | Terrance Dicks | The Crusade | David Whitaker | August 1988 |
| The Gunfighters | Donald Cotton | The Myth Makers | Donald Cotton | August 1988 |
| The Dominators | Ian Marter | The Krotons | Terrance Dicks | September 1988 |
| The Mind of Evil | Terrance Dicks | The Claws of Axos | Terrance Dicks | March 1989 |
| The Dæmons | Barry Letts | The Time Monster | Terrance Dicks | March 1989 |
| The Seeds of Doom | Philip Hinchliffe | The Deadly Assassin | Terrance Dicks | May 1989 |
| The Face of Evil | Terrance Dicks | The Sun Makers | Terrance Dicks | May 1989 |
Spin-off novelisations
''The Companions of Doctor Who''
The Companions of Doctor Who was a series of original full-length novels, the first original novels based on Doctor Who. The books were based on characters who had appeared in the television series as the Doctor's companions, and explored their lives after leaving the Doctor's company.
The first two books were Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma by Tony Attwood, based upon the character played by Mark Strickson in the early 1980s, and Harry Sullivan's War, written by Ian Marter, who had played Harry Sullivan in the series a decade earlier. These books sold well, but after a third attempt (a novelisation of the 1981 Doctor Who spin-off, K-9 and Company) the series ended due sale not matching the same level as Doctor Who novelisations. Other novels would have featured Tegan, Sarah Jane Smith, Victoria, Jamie McCrimmon, UNIT, and a sequel to Harry Sullivan's War.
| Book title | Author | Paperback | |
|---|---|---|---|
| release date | Audiobook | ||
| release date | |||
| Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma | Tony Attwood | 15 May 1986 | |
| Harry Sullivan's War | Ian Marter | 16 October 1986 | 5 December 2024 |
| K-9 and Company | Terence Dudley | 15 October 1987 | 3 December 2015 |
''The Sarah Jane Adventures''
Beginning in 2007, Penguin Books under its Penguin Character Books imprint began publishing novelisations based upon the spinoff series The Sarah Jane Adventures.
| No. | Title | Author | Published | Publisher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Invasion of the Bane | Terrance Dicks | Penguin Character Books | ||
| 2 | Revenge of the Slitheen | Rupert Laight | Penguin | ||
| 3 | Eye of the Gorgon | Phil Ford | Penguin | ||
| 4 | Warriors of Kudlak | Gary Russell | Penguin | ||
| 5 | Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? | Rupert Laight | Penguin | ||
| 6 | The Lost Boy | Gary Russell | Penguin | ||
| 7 | The Last Sontaran | Phil Ford | Penguin | ||
| 8 | The Day of the Clown | Phil Ford | Penguin | ||
| 9 | The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith | Gareth Roberts | Penguin | ||
| Judoon Afternoon | Trevor Baxendale | Pearson Education | |||
| The Haunted House | Trevor Baxendale | Pearson Education | |||
| Painting Peril | Trevor Baxendale | Pearson Education | |||
| Blathereen Dream | Trevor Baxendale | Pearson Education | |||
| The Nightmare Man | Joseph Lidster | ePenguin (e-book) | |||
| Death of the Doctor | Gary Russell | ePenguin (e-book) |
Direct to video spinoffs
Novelisations of spin off productions that were released direct to video.
| Novelisation title | Author | Original publisher | Paperback | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| release date | Audiobook | |||
| release date | ||||
| Shakedown | Terrance Dicks | Doctor Who Books | 5 May 2016 | |
| Downtime | Marc Platt | Doctor Who Books | ||
| The Dæmons of Devil's End | Suzanne Barbieri, Debbie Bennett, Raven Dane, Jan Edwards, David J Howe, and Sam Stone | Telos Publishing | ||
| Dæmos Rising | David J. Howe | Telos Publishing | ||
| Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor | Philip Martin | Telos Publishing | ||
| Mindgame | David J. Howe | Telos Publishing | ||
| Cyberon | James Hornby | Arcbeatle Press | 21 September 2020 | 21 September 2020 |
| Auton | David Black | BBV | 10 September 2024 | |
| Wartime | Stephen James Walker | Telos Publishing |
Audio spinoffs
| Title | Author | Published | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erimem - Return of the Queen | Claire Bartlett | Thebes Publishing | Adaptation and expansion of the episode of the same name from Imagination Theatre's Kerides the Thinker radio series featuring Erimem | |
| Republica | Micah K. Spurling | BBV | Novelisation of the BBV audio featuring "The Professor and Ace" written by Mark Gatiss. | |
| Cyber-Hunt | Callum Phillpott | BBV | Novelisation of the BBV audio featuring "Fred" and the Cyberons written by Martin Peterson. An unabridged audiobook of this novelisation was released May 2025. | |
| Cybergeddon | Lupan Evezan | BBV | Novelisation of the BBV audio featuring the Cyberons written by Paul Ebbs. | |
| The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind | Micah K. Spurling | BBV | Novelisation of the BBV audio written by Pip and Jane Baker. An unabridged audiobook of this novelisation was released 26 November 2024. | |
| The Root of All Evil | Paul Mount | BBV | Novelisation of the BBV audio featuring the Krynoids written by Lance Parkin. | |
| The Choice | James Mulholland | BBV | Novelisation of the BBV audio featuring K9 written by Nigel Fairs. In this novelisation, the character of K9 has been changed to "B.E.S.", a bionic ferret. | |
| The Minister of Chance | Dan Freeman | Arcbeatle Press | Novel of the Radio Static series. | |
| Children of the Circus | Kenton Hall | Oak Tree Books | Novelisation of the audio play that is a sequel to The Greatest Show in the Galaxy |
Adaptations
Generally, Doctor Who stories that have been broadcast will be adapted into print, rather than vice versa. There have been three occasions where print media has been adapted for the screen or formed inspiration for television episodes.
The 1995 New Adventures novel Human Nature, written by Paul Cornell and featuring the Seventh Doctor, was adapted by the same author for the 2007 series of Doctor Who as a two part story with the episode titles "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood", with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.
Steven Moffat based his 2007 episode "Blink" upon his 2005 short story, "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow", originally published in Doctor Who Annual 2006.
Gareth Roberts reused his concept from a 2006 Doctor Who Magazine comic strip story as the basis for an episode of the same name "The Lodger", which was transmitted as part of Series 5 (2010), featuring Matt Smith.
References
Bibliography
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