Virgin New Adventures

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New Adventures
Publisher:	Virgin Books
Type:	Novel series
Release date:	20 June 1991 - 2 December 1999

The New Adventures, often called the Virgin New Adventures in fan parlance, were a Doctor Who novel series published by the eponymous imprint of Virgin Books in the aftermath of the TV series' cancellation, continuing the adventures of the Seventh Doctor — hence the name.

The first book, published in 1991, picked up the Doctor and Ace where the television story Survival had left off; later instalments introduced new companions like Bernice Summerfield, who became the range's main protagonist in 1997 when Virgin lost the licence for Doctor Who fiction. As the New Adventures were geared for an older audience than the TV show, they included mature themes, strong language, violence, and sexual elements.

Virgin Books launched two spin-off lines following the initial success of the New Adventures: the Decalogs, a series of short story collections; and the Missing Adventures, a novel range that told new stories with the first six Doctors.

The New Adventures concluded with Twilight of the Gods in December 1999, but Big Finish Productions obtained the licence for the later New Adventures characters and continued telling stories with Bernice Summerfield, Jason Kane, and Irving Braxiatel in their own line of audios, novels, and short stories.

From 1999 onward, Big Finish adapted several novels for audio, either directly or altered to omit the Doctor and focus on Summerfield. In 2007, the New Adventures novel Human Nature was adapted into the television episodes Human Nature and The Family of Blood.

Although several authors initially attempted to separate the Virgin Books and BBC Books continuities, the separation was eventually relaxed, and references to New and Missing Adventures began to appear in the Eighth Doctor and Past Doctor Adventures. In DWM 482, Steven Moffat said that he considered the New Adventures to be "a separate (and equally valid) continuity" to the BBC Wales television series.

Stories

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Published
1	Timewyrm: Genesys	John Peel	7th	Ace, Third Doctor, Timewyrm, Gilgamesh	20 June 1991
2	Timewyrm: Exodus	Terrance Dicks		Ace, the War Chief, Timewyrm, Hitler	15 August 1991
3	Timewyrm: Apocalypse	Nigel Robinson		Ace, Second Doctor, Ben, Polly, Timewyrm	17 October 1991
4	Timewyrm: Revelation	Paul Cornell		Ace, Timewyrm, First Doctor, Third Doctor, Fourth Doctor, Fifth Doctor, Death, the Hermit, Adric, Katarina, Sara, Daleks	5 December 1991
5	Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible	Marc Platt		Ace, Rassilon	20 February 1992
6	Cat's Cradle: Warhead	Andrew Cartmel		Ace, Justine, Vincent	16 April 1992
7	Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark	Andrew Hunt		Ace	18 June 1992
8	Nightshade	Mark Gatiss			20 August 1992
9	Love and War	Paul Cornell		Ace, Benny, Paul Magrs, Death	15 October 1992
10	Transit	Ben Aaronovitch		Benny, Kadiatu, the Brig	3 December 1992
11	The Highest Science	Gareth Roberts		Benny, Chelonians	18 February 1993
12	The Pit	Neil Penswick		Benny	18 March 1993
13	Deceit	Peter Darvill-Evans		Ace, Benny	15 April 1993
14	Lucifer Rising	Jim Mortimore, Andy Lane			20 May 1993
15	White Darkness	David A. McIntee			17 June 1993
16	Shadowmind	Christopher Bulis			15 July 1993
17	Birthright	Nigel Robinson			19 August 1993
18	Iceberg	David Banks		Cybermen, Cyber-Controller	16 September 1993
19	Blood Heat	Jim Mortimore		Ace, Benny, Silurians, Sea Devils	21 October 1993
20	The Dimension Riders	Daniel Blythe		Ace, Benny	18 November 1993
21	The Left-Handed Hummingbird	Kate Orman			2 December 1993
22	Conundrum	Steve Lyons			20 January 1994
23	No Future	Paul Cornell		Ace, Benny, the Monk, Vardans	17 February 1994
24	Tragedy Day	Gareth Roberts		Ace, Benny	17 March 1994
25	Legacy	Gary Russell			21 April 1994
26	Theatre of War	Justin Richards			19 May 1994
27	All-Consuming Fire	Andy Lane			16 June 1994
28	Blood Harvest	Terrance Dicks		Ace, Benny, Great Vampires	21 July 1994
29	Strange England	Simon Messingham		Ace, Benny	18 August 1994
30	First Frontier	David A. McIntee		Ace, Benny, the Master	15 September 1994
31	St Anthony's Fire	Mark Gatiss		Ace, Benny	20 October 1994
32	Falls the Shadow	Daniel O'Mahony			17 November 1994
33	Parasite	Jim Mortimore			1 December 1994
34	Warlock	Andrew Cartmel			19 January 1995
35	Set Piece	Kate Orman		Ace, Benny, Death	16 February 1995
36	Infinite Requiem	Daniel Blythe		Benny	16 March 1995
37	Sanctuary	David A. McIntee			20 April 1995
38	Human Nature	Paul Cornell			18 May 1995
39	Original Sin	Andy Lane		Benny, Chris, Roz, Tobias Vaughn	15 June 1995
40	Sky Pirates!	Dave Stone		Benny, Chris, Roz	20 July 1995
41	Zamper	Gareth Roberts		Benny, Chris, Roz, Chelonians	17 August 1995
42	Toy Soldiers	Paul Leonard		Benny, Chris, Roz, Ogrons	21 September 1995
43	Head Games	Steve Lyons		Benny, Chris, Roz	19 October 1995
44	The Also People	Ben Aaronovitch			16 November 1995
45	Shakedown	Terrance Dicks		Benny, Chris, Roz, Sontarans, Rutans	7 December 1995
46	Just War	Lance Parkin		Benny, Chris, Roz	18 January 1996
47	Warchild	Andrew Cartmel			16 February 1996
48	SLEEPY	Kate Orman			21 March 1996
49	Death and Diplomacy	Dave Stone		Benny, Chris, Roz, Jason	18 April 1996
50	Happy Endings	Paul Cornell		Benny, Chris, Roz, Jason	16 May 1996
51	GodEngine	Craig Hinton		Chris, Roz, Daleks	20 June 1996
52	Christmas on a Rational Planet	Lawrence Miles		Chris, Roz	18 July 1996
53	Return of the Living Dad	Kate Orman		Benny, Chris, Roz, Jason	15 August 1996
54	The Death of Art	Simon Bucher-Jones		Chris, Roz	19 September 1996
55	Damaged Goods	Russell T Davies			24 October 1996
56	So Vile a Sin	Ben Aaronovitch, Kate Orman			May 1997
57	Bad Therapy	Matthew Jones		Chris, Peri	5 December 1996
58	Eternity Weeps	Jim Mortimore		Benny, Chris, Jason	16 January 1997
59	The Room With No Doors	Kate Orman		Chris	20 February 1997
60	Lungbarrow	Marc Platt		Chris, Romana II, Leela, Ace, K9 Mark I, K9 Mark II	20 March 1997
61	The Dying Days	Lance Parkin	8th	Benny, the Brigadier, UNIT, Ice Warriors	18 April 1997

The Dying Days was the final New Adventures novel to feature the Doctor, although So Vile a Sin was released out-of-order and published last. The Dying Days reintroduced Bernice Summerfield and the settings that would predominate the later New Adventures; its afterword specified that the following novels belonged to a series of "new New Adventures", although they were published under the same imprint, logo, and name.

#	Title	Author	Main character	Featuring	Published
1	Oh No It Isn't!	Paul Cornell	Benny	Wolsey, Grel	1 May 1997
2	Dragons' Wrath	Justin Richards		Braxiatel	2 June 1997
3	Beyond the Sun	Matthew Jones		Jason, Emile	3 July 1997
4	Ship of Fools	Dave Stone		Braxiatel	21 August 1997
5	Down	Lawrence Miles		God	2 September 1997
6	Deadfall	Gary Russell	Jason	Benny, Chris, Braxiatel, Emile	2 October 1997
7	Ghost Devices	Simon Bucher-Jones	Benny	Clarence	3 November 1997
8	Mean Streets	Terrance Dicks		Chris	1 December 1997
9	Tempest	Christopher Bulis			2 January 1998
10	Walking to Babylon	Kate Orman		Clarence, God	3 February 1998
11	Oblivion	Dave Stone		Jason, Chris, Roz	2 March 1998
12	The Medusa Effect	Justin Richards		Braxiatel	2 April 1998
13	Dry Pilgrimage	Paul Leonard, Nick Walters			3 May 1998
14	The Sword of Forever	Jim Mortimore			2 June 1998
15	Another Girl, Another Planet	Martin Day, Len Beech		Jason, Saldaamir	20 August 1998
16	Beige Planet Mars	Lance Parkin, Mark Clapham			15 October 1998
17	Where Angels Fear	Rebecca Levene, Simon Winstone		Braxiatel, Emile, Clarence, God	2 December 1998
18	The Mary-Sue Extrusion	Dave Stone	Stratum Seven Agent	Benny, Jason, Emile, Mira	1 February 1999
19	Dead Romance	Lawrence Miles	Christine	Chris	1 March 1999
20	Tears of the Oracle	Justin Richards	Benny	Jason, Braxiatel, Clarence, God	2 June 1999
21	Return to the Fractured Planet	Dave Stone	Stratum Seven Agent	Benny, Chris, Braxiatel, Mira	2 August 1999
22	The Joy Device	Justin Richards	Benny	Jason, Chris, Braxiatel, Clarence, God	1 October 1999
23	Twilight of the Gods	Mark Clapham, Jon de Burgh Miller		Jason, Chris, Braxiatel, Emile, Clarence	2 December 1999

Unproduced stories

Title	Author	Main character	Featuring
Bizarre Love Triangle	Matthew Jones	Emile Mars-Smith
The Spectacular Afterlife of Bernice Summerfield	Lawrence Miles	Benny

Notes

Continuity

• The New Adventures introduced a few new companions into the life of the Doctor: Bernice Summerfield (debuting in Love and War), Wolsey the cat (debuting in Human Nature), and Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej (debuting in Original Sin).
• Ace was written out in Love and War and left the Doctor before reuniting with him in Deceit. During the intervening three years, she changed considerably. Ace left a second time, permanently, in Set Piece. Ace's character development and departure were contradicted by later media.
• Apart from the novels, some Doctor Who Magazine comics take place specifically in the New Adventures continuity. These feature the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, and the older version of Ace; their places in the New Adventures timeline were described in the 1993 article "Interweaving with the New Adventures".
• Eternity Weeps portrays the future death of Liz Shaw.
• The novels Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible, Transit, The Pit, Iceberg, and Lungbarrow were adapted from rejected episodes for either the Sixth or Seventh Doctor.
• Several novels of the New Adventures featured old foes from the TV series, including:
  • Timewyrm: Exodus – The War Chief
  • Iceberg – Cybermen and the Cyber-Controller
  • Blood Heat – Silurians and Sea Devils
  • No Future – The Monk and the Vardans
  • Legacy - Ice Warriors
  • Blood Harvest – Great Vampires
  • First Frontier – The Master
  • Original Sin - Tobias Vaughn
  • Toy Soldiers – Ogrons (cameo only)
  • Head Games – Valeyard (illusion only)
  • Shakedown – Sontarans and the Rutan Host
  • GodEngine – Ice Warriors and Daleks (cameo only)
  • The Dying Days – Ice Warriors
  • Dead Romance – Daleks (cameo only)
• The New Adventures were majorly linked to Virgin's Missing Adventures and Decalog lines.
  • A story strand which originated in Blood Harvest continued into the first Missing Adventures novel Goth Opera in an effort to get readers to buy both books.
  • Shakedown and Lords of the Storm both featured the Sontarans in the same month.
  • The Missing Adventures novel Cold Fusion featured both the Fifth Doctor and the Seventh Doctor alongside Roz, Chris Cwej, and the Fifth Doctor's companions.
  • Decalog 4: Re:Generations tells stories about the family of Roz Forrester, introduced in a New Adventures novel. The short story collection Decalog 5: Wonders includes the first Bernice Summerfield short story, The Judgement of Solomon by Lawrence Miles.

Adaptations

• The novel Shakedown was itself an adaptation of the Reeltime Pictures production Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans, greatly expanded to include the Doctor.
• In Big Finish Productions' Bernice Summerfield series, six New Adventures were adapted into audio: Oh No It Isn't!, Beyond the Sun, Walking to Babylon, Birthright, Just War, and Dragons' Wrath. Birthright and Just War were modified to remove Doctor Who elements to which Big Finish did not yet have the rights.
• The novel Human Nature was adapted into the two-part story Human Nature/The Family of Blood in Series 3 of BBC Wales' Doctor Who.
• Love and War was directly adapted by Big Finish into an audio drama in 2012. This was followed by The Highest Science, Damaged Goods, Theatre of War, All-Consuming Fire, Original Sin, Cold Fusion, and Goth Opera.

Production notes

• While no novel in particular served as an anniversary special, the 30th anniversary logo was included on the back cover of Lucifer Rising, Birthright, Iceberg, Blood Heat, The Dimension Riders, The Left-Handed Hummingbird, Conundrum, and No Future.
  • The logo was absent on White Darkness and Shadowmind despite being published between Lucifer Rising and Birthright.
• So Vile a Sin was the final New Adventures novel to be published featuring the Doctor, but it was published out of narrative sequence due to delays preventing its completion. The death of a major character in that book was meant to be a surprise, but because of the production delay this was no longer possible, and the novel was adapted accordingly: its prologue began with the funeral for the character, and the event was made an intrinsic part of the narrative, rather than a shock conclusion.
• Following the broadcast of the 1996 TV movie, BBC Books took over the license for publishing original Doctor Who fiction, but there was an overlap of more than a year to allow Virgin to publish its contracted novels. As a result, the book line changed its branding, the Doctor Who logo on the front cover and spine removed beginning with the publication of Eternity Weeps.
• The cover design changed again with Another Girl, Another Planet, which removed the "New Adventures" identifier from the front cover and introduced a new title-lettering style.

External links

• The Doctor Who Online Merchandise Guide - Virgin Books - The New Adventures