Target Books

The most common Target logo

Target Books publications by year

Target Books were by far the dominant publisher of Doctor Who prose fiction and non-fiction from the 1970s to the early 1990s. They were most famous for their line of novelisations of Doctor Who serials, in part because the novelisations were the principle route by which some fans could experience missing episodes. Technically an imprint, and not an independent publisher, they were owned by several houses. However, the Doctor Who line is most associated with W.H. Allen & Co, who owned Target from 1977–1989, and Virgin Books, who bought them in 1990 and extended and reprinted the line until 1994.

Overview

Target Books was a publishing imprint set up in 1972 as a range of paperback fiction for readers of approximately 14 years of age. It was for its long lived and highly successful range of Doctor Who novelisations that Target became best known. Target almost exclusively published paperbacks, but their novelisations did occasionally get first printings in hardback by related publishers Allan Wingate and W.H. Allen & Co. Many of the hardcovers are considered rare, given that they received far smaller distribution than the paperbacks (especially outside the UK).

The Target imprint changed hands many times over its history but up until the end, when it adopted a more modern monochrome version, retained its distinctive, brightly-coloured logo. By the end of the series, they had novelised almost every Doctor Who television story and adapted every one of the First, Second, Third and Seventh Doctors' on-screen adventures.

The importance of the Doctor Who novelisations to maintaining interest and knowledge in the franchise cannot be overestimated. Prior to the 1980s, it was usually impossible to obtain recordings of previously aired stories. Reruns were rare and sporadic, and many episodes from the 1960s were destroyed and believed lost forever. The novelisations were (and in some cases remain) the only venues for reliving past stories, or catching up on stories never seen before by fans. They also provided opportunities for many stories to be presented in a form unhampered by TV budgets and special effects technology limitations.

• See also

Target Books novelisations covers (for a televised ordered gallery)

Doctor Who novelisation covers

The 1970s

Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks and Doctor Who and the Crusaders, adapted by David Whitaker and Doctor Who and the Zarbi, adapted by Bill Strutton, saw publication as hardbacks by Frederick Muller in the mid-1960s. In 1973, Target began its run of Doctor Who novelisations by reprinting these three titles. For the Target edition, the Daleks novel had its title shortened to Doctor Who and the Daleks. All had new covers by Chris Achilleos, who would illustrate the first wave of Target Doctor Who books.

An original publication, Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion by Terrance Dicks would follow in 1974. Over the years, "Uncle Terry", as fans would nickname him, would write more Target Books and have a closer association with them in the minds of fans, than any other writer. He would also write a short-lived series of simplified Junior Doctor Who novelisations for younger readers.

Linking some early Target novelisations to their television counterparts was a challenge at times, as for the first few years Target occasionally published novelisations under titles that differed from the TV originals. This practice actually pre-dated Target, with Doctor Who and the Zarbi having been based upon The Web Planet. Under Target, for example, Spearhead from Space became Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion. When the decision was made to keep the original title, the prefix Doctor Who and... was usually added. There were a few exceptions, such as the release of Doctor Who: The Three Doctors. Also there were occasional exceptions for first-edition hardcover publications, such as the novelisation of Revenge of the Cybermen which was first published as Doctor Who: The Revenge of the Cybermen in hardcover, and Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen in paperback.

An even greater challenge is posed for those reading the books in televised order. When the Target line (and, indeed, the earlier Muller) were launched, the publishers had no inkling of the comprehensive nature the book series would take over the next 20 years. As a result, several novelisations ignore the events of previous stories, creating continuity issues. For example, PROSE: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon, based upon the Season 8 story TV: Colony in Space, includes introductions for Jo Grant and the Master, with Grant meeting the Doctor for the first time. In reality both characters were introduced in TV: Terror of the Autons which wasn't novelised until some time later, and that book once again introduced the two characters. Similarly, Doctor Who and the Daleks ignores the events of TV: An Unearthly Child and thus creates a continuity hiccup for those who first read the novelisation of An Unearthly Child which wasn't published until the early 1980s. (This situation is not confined to 1970s issues; in the 1980s the novelisation of TV: Mindwarp contained an epilogue that contradicted the ending of a later novelisation, TV: The Ultimate Foe.)

The Muller reprints were not the last books by another publisher to be reissued by Target, as the company also published a new edition of The Making of Doctor Who, a book previously issued by Piccolo Books.

Beginning in the second half of the 1970s, W.H. Allen and/or related publishers began issuing hardcover editions of the novels. In some cases these predated the paperback editions by months. Often they were published simultaneously, and in the case of a few of the 1974–75 books hardcover editions weren't published for nearly a decade.

The 1980s

During the 1980's, experimentally, Target published two original novels featuring further adventures of the Doctor's companions, Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma by Tony Attwood and Harry Sullivan's War by Ian Marter, who had played Harry Sullivan on television. Target also took up three scripts from the 'lost' version of Season 23 which, due to the delay and re-thinking of Season 23 by the then-current production team of Doctor Who, never made their way onto screen. Target also began to look beyond the televised series for source material by novelising the radio play Slipback and the spin-off special K9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend.

Beginning in 1981, Target began making a concerted effort to enlist the original script-writers in writing the novelisations based upon their stories (a practice actually dating back to Strutton's Zarbi novel, but only occasionally employed during the 1970s). They were successful in commissioning novelisations even from writers who had last worked on the series in the 1960s. Where the original author was unavailable, unwilling, or deceased, the range turned to one of its staff writers, such as Marter or Terrance Dicks. The practice of having the original scriptwriters write the books when possible would continue for the remainder of the line. The two most significant writers whom Target was unable to commission for novelisations were Terry Nation and Douglas Adams. Marter had the unique distinction of adapting several stories in which he himself had performed as Harry Sullivan; he died in 1986 and several of his novelisations were published posthumously. One of Marter's books, Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World, was controversial for incorporating adult concepts and language — issues that would later resurface when original Doctor Who novels began to appear in the 1990s.

Towards the late 1980s and into the 1990s, however, Target loosened the policy of only commissioning writers with past connection to Doctor Who on TV, beginning with the novelisation of The Celestial Toymaker, which was co-authored by Gerry Davis and Alison Bingeman, a writer with no Doctor Who connection. Later, Nigel Robinson, the line's editor, who otherwise had no Doctor Who TV connection, wrote four books. In the 1990s, John Peel would write the final five Daleks novelisations.

In 1982, Target phased out the practice of adding Doctor Who and... to its novelisation titles. In 1988, the practice of publishing hardcover editions was abandoned following publication of The Smugglers.

The Virgin years

During the 1990's the company was acquired by Virgin Publishing. The only titles still held by Target were the Doctor Who stories. Many of the titles were reissued with new covers, but to many readers they were still affectionately regarded as Target Books. Indeed Virgin itself referred to the later titles as part of "the Target Library"!

The end of Target Books

In the later years of the run, Target was successful in negotiating with Terry Nation's estate the rights to adapt four of his Daleks storylines, most notably The Chase and The Daleks' Master Plan; the latter had to be published in two volumes.

Target eventually outlasted the original run of Doctor Who itself, which ended with Season 26 in 1989. The Target line continued in the "short paperback" form until the release of Doctor Who - The Pescatons in 1991 — an adaptation of an audio play, as virtually all available televised stories had been adapted by this time. Between 1990 and 1994 Target republished many of its older releases with new cover art; a subsidiary, Star Books, also published omnibus paperback editions combining two books at a time. The 1990–1994 reissues and the Star Books editions were straight reprints, rather than new editions that corrected typographical and other errors.

After 1991, several additional releases were published in longer-format paperbacks by the owner of Target, Virgin Publishing, beginning with the adaptations of The Evil of the Daleks and The Power of the Daleks, the last two remaining Terry Nation scripts. The 1994 release The Paradise of Death, based upon a radio play, was the 156th and last release in the Target series.

By the time it had ended, almost every Doctor Who story aired on television (save for five; see below), along with several audio dramas, had appeared under the Target imprint. Within a few years of the final release, the Target Books line had fallen out of print, with many of the books, particularly the scarce hardback editions, becoming collectors items. Virgin continued to publish a few more novelisations, but under its New Adventures and Missing Adventures lines, and none based upon televised episodes of the original series.

When Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, it was announced that no novelisations would be published, in part due to the expectation that the episodes would be easily available on DVD in due course. Nonetheless, Penguin Character Books would revive the novelisation format by releasing adaptations of episodes from the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures; appropriately, the first of these books was written by Terrance Dicks. One novelisation, adapting The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, would feature the Doctor, appearing in a TV novelisation for the first time since the novelisation of the 1996 TV movie.

The "lost" novelisations

Target Books was unable to come to agreement with Douglas Adams or Eric Saward on the adaptation of several serials. As a result the Adams-written (or co-written) The Pirate Planet, City of Death and the unbroadcast Shada, and Saward's two Dalek stories, Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks, were never adapted for Target (the Saward stories were at one point announced as future releases, but were cancelled). Years later, the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club published fan-written novellas adapting these storylines. In 2012, BBC Books published a new official novelisation of Shada by Gareth Roberts, the first new Doctor Who novelisation in 16 years.

In addition, Terrance Dicks intended to novelise his stage play, Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure for Target, but the project was cancelled.

Audiobook adaptations

In the early 1980s, several audio book adaptations of Target novels were released, read by Tom Baker. In 2007 BBC Audio began a new series of complete and unabridged releases of the Target novelisations, giving new life to these old (and out of print) favourites (see Audiobooks of novelisations). In most cases, the books are read by actors who had appeared in the original stories. This series has continued into 2012.

Special distribution

In July 2008, backstock of 27 Target novelisations (and a few Target-published spin-off works) were distributed at random with copies of Doctor Who Magazine #397. These were not reprints but original copies, some dating back more than 25 years.

BBC Books reprints

In July 2011, BBC Books reprinted six Target novelisations with original cover art by Chris Achilleos and new introductions by prominent writers affiliated with Doctor Who or who are fans of the series. Six more reprints followed in May 2012.

Title	Introduction by	Release date
Doctor Who and the Daleks	Neil Gaiman	2011-07-07
Doctor Who and the Crusaders	Charlie Higson	2011-07-07
Doctor Who and the Cybermen	Gareth Roberts	2011-07-07
Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen	Stephen Baxter	2011-07-07
Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion	Russell T Davies	2011-07-07
Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters	Terrance Dicks	2011-07-07
Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks	Gary Russell	2012-05-10
Doctor Who and the Ark in Space	Steven Moffat	2012-05-10
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster	Michael Moorcock	2012-05-10
Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet	Tom MacRae	2012-05-10
Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors	Mark Gatiss	2012-05-10
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors	Alastair Reynolds	2012-05-10

List of Doctor Who-Related Target Titles

Fiction

Novelisations

NOTES: The following tables are based upon Target's numbering of the book releases and the dates of first paperback publication. Up until 1988 most books were also published in a hardcover edition that, in many cases, predated the publication of the paperback by many months and, in some cases, were not published until long after the paperback. The paperback releases are used as the baseline given they are and remain far more common than the hardcovers.

The numbering of the novelisations was introduced in 1983, with the first seventy-three books retroactively renumbered in alphabetical order (although not every book had a numbered edition). The books from #74 onwards are predominantly numbered in the order of publication, with a few notable exceptions.

No.	Title	Author	Doctor	TV Serial
1973
016	Doctor Who and the Daleks (first pub. 1964)	David Whitaker	1st	The Daleks
073	Doctor Who and the Zarbi (first pub. 1965)	Bill Strutton	1st	The Web Planet
012	Doctor Who and the Crusaders (first pub. 1965)	David Whitaker	1st	The Crusade
1974
006	Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Spearhead from Space
009	Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters	Malcolm Hulke	3rd	Doctor Who and the Silurians
023	Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon	Malcolm Hulke	3rd	Colony in Space
018	Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Day of the Daleks
015	Doctor Who and the Dæmons	Barry Letts	3rd	The Dæmons
054	Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils	Malcolm Hulke	3rd	The Sea Devils
001	Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen	Terrance Dicks	2nd	The Abominable Snowmen
1975
013	Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon	Brian Hayles	3rd	The Curse of Peladon
014	Doctor Who and the Cybermen	Gerry Davis	2nd	The Moonbase
028	Doctor Who and the Giant Robot	Terrance Dicks	4th	Robot
063	Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Terror of the Autons
029	Doctor Who and the Green Death	Malcolm Hulke	3rd	The Green Death
048	Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Planet of the Spiders
064	The Three Doctors	Terrance Dicks	3rd	The Three Doctors
1976
040	Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster	Terrance Dicks	4th	Terror of the Zygons
022	Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion	Malcolm Hulke	3rd	Invasion of the Dinosaurs
062	Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet	Gerry Davis	1st	The Tenth Planet
033	Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors	Brian Hayles	2nd	The Ice Warriors
051	The Revenge of the Cybermen	Terrance Dicks	4th	Revenge of the Cybermen
027	Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks	Terrance Dicks	4th	Genesis of the Daleks
072	Doctor Who and the Web of Fear	Terrance Dicks	2nd	The Web of Fear
057	Doctor Who and the Space War	Malcolm Hulke	3rd	Frontier in Space
046	Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Planet of the Daleks
050	Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars	Terrance Dicks	4th	Pyramids of Mars
1977
008	Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Carnival of Monsters
055	Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom	Philip Hinchcliffe	4th	The Seeds of Doom
017	Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth	Terrance Dicks	1st	The Dalek Invasion of Earth
010	Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos	Terrance Dicks	3rd	The Claws of Axos
004	Doctor Who and the Ark in Space	Ian Marter	4th	The Ark in Space
007	Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Brain of Morbius
047	The Planet of Evil	Terrance Dicks	4th	Planet of Evil
044	Doctor Who and the Mutants	Terrance Dicks	3rd	The Mutants
019	Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Deadly Assassin
061	Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Talons of Weng-Chiang
042	Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora	Philip Hinchcliffe	4th	The Masque of Mandragora
1978
025	Doctor Who and the Face of Evil	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Face of Evil
032	Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock	Terrance Dicks	4th	Horror of Fang Rock
066	Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen	Gerry Davis	2nd	The Tomb of the Cybermen
065	Doctor Who and the Time Warrior	Terrance Dicks (Prologue by Robert Holmes)	3rd	The Time Warrior
020	Death to the Daleks	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Death to the Daleks
002	Doctor Who and the Android Invasion	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Android Invasion
056	Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment	Ian Marter	4th	The Sontaran Experiment
1979
030	Doctor Who and the Hand of Fear	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Hand of Fear
036	Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Invisible Enemy
053	Doctor Who and the Robots of Death	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Robots of Death
034	Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl	Terrance Dicks	4th	Image of the Fendahl
070	Doctor Who and the War Games	Malcolm Hulke	2nd	The War Games
021	Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks	Terrance Dicks	4th	Destiny of the Daleks
052	Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation	Ian Marter	4th	The Ribos Operation
1980
067	Doctor Who and the Underworld	Terrance Dicks	4th	Underworld
035	Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Invasion of Time
059	Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Stones of Blood
003	Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Androids of Tara
049	Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Power of Kroll
005	Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Armageddon Factor
038	Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus	Philip Hinchcliffe	1st	The Keys of Marinus
045	Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden	Terrance Dicks	4th	Nightmare of Eden
031	Doctor Who and the Horns of Nimon	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Horns of Nimon
043	Doctor Who and the Monster of Peladon	Terrance Dicks	3rd	The Monster of Peladon
1981
011	Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit	David Fisher	4th	The Creature from the Pit
024	Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World	Ian Marter	2nd	The Enemy of the World
068	Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child	Terrance Dicks	1st	An Unearthly Child
1982
058	Doctor Who and the State of Decay	Terrance Dicks	4th	State of Decay
071	Doctor Who and Warriors' Gate	John Lydecker	4th	Warriors' Gate
037	Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Keeper of Traken
039	Doctor Who and the Leisure Hive	David Fisher	4th	The Leisure Hive
069	Doctor Who and the Visitation	Eric Saward	5th	The Visitation
026	Full Circle	Andrew Smith	4th	Full Circle
041	Logopolis	Christopher H. Bidmead	4th	Logopolis
060	Doctor Who and the Sunmakers	Terrance Dicks	4th	The Sun Makers
1983
074	Time-Flight	Peter Grimwade	5th	Time-Flight
075	Meglos	Terrance Dicks	4th	Meglos
076	Castrovalva	Christopher H. Bidmead	5th	Castrovalva
077	Four to Doomsday	Terrance Dicks	5th	Four to Doomsday
078	Earthshock	Ian Marter	5th	Earthshock
079	Terminus	John Lydecker	5th	Terminus
080	Arc of Infinity	Terrance Dicks	5th	Arc of Infinity
081	The Five Doctors	Terrance Dicks	5th	The Five Doctors
1984
082	Mawdryn Undead	Peter Grimwade	5th	Mawdryn Undead
084	Kinda	Terrance Dicks	5th	Kinda
083	Snakedance	Terrance Dicks	5th	Snakedance
085	Enlightenment	Barbara Clegg	5th	Enlightenment
086	The Dominators	Ian Marter	2nd	The Dominators
087	Warriors of the Deep	Terrance Dicks	5th	Warriors of the Deep
088	The Aztecs	John Lucarotti	1st	The Aztecs
089	Inferno	Terrance Dicks	3rd	Inferno
090	The Highlanders	Gerry Davis	2nd	The Highlanders
091	Frontios	Christopher H. Bidmead	5th	Frontios
1985
093	Planet of Fire	Peter Grimwade	5th	Planet of Fire
092	The Caves of Androzani	Terrance Dicks	5th	The Caves of Androzani
094	Marco Polo	John Lucarotti	1st	Marco Polo
095	The Awakening	Eric Pringle	5th	The Awakening
096	The Mind of Evil	Terrance Dicks	3rd	The Mind of Evil
097	The Myth Makers	Donald Cotton	1st	The Myth Makers
098	The Invasion	Ian Marter	2nd	The Invasion
099	The Krotons	Terrance Dicks	2nd	The Krotons
100	The Two Doctors	Robert Holmes	6th	The Two Doctors
1986
101	The Gunfighters	Donald Cotton	1st	The Gunfighters
102	The Time Monster	Terrance Dicks	3rd	The Time Monster
103	The Twin Dilemma	Eric Saward	6th	The Twin Dilemma
104	Galaxy 4	William Emms	1st	Galaxy 4
105	Timelash	Glen McCoy	6th	Timelash
107	The Mark of the Rani	Pip and Jane Baker	6th	The Mark of the Rani
108	The King's Demons	Terence Dudley	5th	The King's Demons
*	Slipback	Eric Saward	6th	Slipback (radio play)
109	The Savages	Ian Stuart Black	1st	The Savages
110	Fury from the Deep	Victor Pemberton	2nd	Fury from the Deep
111	The Celestial Toymaker	Gerry Davis & Alison Bingeman	1st	The Celestial Toymaker
112	The Seeds of Death	Terrance Dicks	2nd	The Seeds of Death
1987
113	Black Orchid	Terence Dudley	5th	Black Orchid
114	The Ark	Paul Erickson	1st	The Ark
115	The Mind Robber	Peter Ling	2nd	The Mind Robber
116	The Faceless Ones	Terrance Dicks	2nd	The Faceless Ones
117	The Space Museum	Glyn Jones	1st	The Space Museum
118	The Sensorites	Nigel Robinson	1st	The Sensorites
119	The Reign of Terror	Ian Marter	1st	The Reign of Terror
120	The Romans	Donald Cotton	1st	The Romans
121	The Ambassadors of Death	Terrance Dicks	3rd	The Ambassadors of Death
122	The Massacre	John Lucarotti	1st	The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
123	The Macra Terror	Ian Stuart Black	2nd	The Macra Terror
*	K9 and Company	Terence Dudley	none	K9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend
1988
124	The Rescue	Ian Marter	1st	The Rescue
125	Terror of the Vervoids	Pip and Jane Baker	6th	Terror of the Vervoids
126	The Time Meddler	Nigel Robinson	1st	The Time Meddler
127	The Mysterious Planet	Terrance Dicks	6th	The Mysterious Planet
128	Time and the Rani	Pip and Jane Baker	7th	Time and the Rani
106	Vengeance on Varos	Philip Martin	6th	Vengeance on Varos
129	The Underwater Menace	Nigel Robinson	2nd	The Underwater Menace
130	The Wheel in Space	Terrance Dicks	2nd	The Wheel in Space
131	The Ultimate Foe	Pip and Jane Baker	6th	The Ultimate Foe
132	The Edge of Destruction	Nigel Robinson	1st	The Edge of Destruction
133	The Smugglers	Terrance Dicks	1st	The Smugglers
134	Paradise Towers	Stephen Wyatt	7th	Paradise Towers
1989
135	Delta and the Bannermen	Malcolm Kohll	7th	Delta and the Bannermen
136	The War Machines	Ian Stuart Black	1st	The War Machines
137	Dragonfire	Ian Briggs	7th	Dragonfire
138	Attack of the Cybermen	Eric Saward	6th	Attack of the Cybermen
139	Mindwarp	Philip Martin	6th	Mindwarp
140	The Chase	John Peel	1st	The Chase
141	The Daleks' Master Plan Part 1: Mission to the Unknown	John Peel	1st	Mission to the Unknown The Daleks' Master Plan 1-6
142	The Daleks' Master Plan Part 2: The Mutation of Time	John Peel	1st	The Daleks' Master Plan 7-12
143	Silver Nemesis	Kevin Clarke	7th	Silver Nemesis
144	The Greatest Show in the Galaxy	Stephen Wyatt	7th	The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
1990
145	Planet of Giants	Terrance Dicks	1st	Planet of Giants
146	The Happiness Patrol	Graeme Curry	7th	The Happiness Patrol
147	The Space Pirates	Terrance Dicks	2nd	The Space Pirates
148	Remembrance of the Daleks	Ben Aaronovitch	7th	Remembrance of the Daleks
149	Ghost Light	Marc Platt	7th	Ghost Light
150	Survival	Rona Munro	7th	Survival
151	The Curse of Fenric	Ian Briggs	7th	The Curse of Fenric
1991
152	Battlefield	Marc Platt	7th	Battlefield
153	The Pescatons	Victor Pemberton	4th	Doctor Who and the Pescatons (audio drama)
1993
154	The Power of the Daleks	John Peel	2nd	The Power of the Daleks
155	The Evil of the Daleks	John Peel	2nd	The Evil of the Daleks
1994
156	The Paradise of Death	Barry Letts	3rd	The Paradise of Death (radio play)

The Missing Episodes

From 1989 through 1990, as The Missing Episodes, Target published a short series which adapted scripts which were to have aired during Season 23, before the hiatus put on Doctor Who by Michael Grade. A few scripts which the production team intended to have aired during this version of the season remained un-novelised.

• The Nightmare Fair
• The Ultimate Evil
• Mission to Magnus

For a discussion of the missing episodes of Doctor Who (i.e. aired episodes which do not exist in the BBC Film and Videotape Library), see separate article.

The Companions of Doctor Who

Although intended to showcase original fiction (see below), the Companions sub-series also included a novelisation.

• K9 and Company

Junior Doctor Who

In the early 1980s, Target published two adaptations by Terrance Dicks of earlier novelisations in abridged and illustrated form, written for younger readers.

• Junior Doctor Who and the Giant Robot
• Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius

Original Fiction

Target's Doctor Who fiction consisted exclusively of novelisations, with two exceptions.

The Companions of Doctor Who

• Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma - first full-length original Doctor Who-related novel ever published.
• Harry Sullivan's War

Non-Fiction

Target Books also published numerous reference and behind-the-scenes books based upon Doctor Who, as well as activity and general knowledge books featuring the Doctor.

General reference

• The Making of Doctor Who

Second edition only.

• The Doctor Who Monster Book
• The Second Doctor Who Monster Book
• The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volume 1
• The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volume 2
• Doctor Who: The Universal Databank

Enlarged and revised edition of Volume 2 of the orginal Programme Guide.

• Doctor Who: The Terrestial Index
• The Doctor Who Programme Guide

Enlarged and revised edition of Volume 1 of the original Programme Guide.

• Travel Without the TARDIS

Doctor Who Discovers

A non-fiction series of illustrated educational books narrated by the Fourth Doctor.

• The Doctor Who Dinosaur Book
• Doctor Who Discovers: Early Man
• Doctor Who Discovers: Prehistoric Animals
• Doctor Who Discovers: Space Travel
• Doctor Who Discovers: The Conquerors
• Doctor Who Discovers: Strange and Mysterious Creatures

Activity / Puzzle Books

• Doctor Who: Build the TARDIS
• The Doctor Who Quiz Book
• The Second Doctor Who Quiz Book
• The Third Doctor Who Quiz Book
• Doctor Who Crossword Book
• Doctor Who: Brain Teasers and Mind Benders

(See also Doctor Who quiz books)

Miscellaneous

• Terry Nation's Dalek Special
• The Adventures of K9 and Other Mechanical Creatures

Additional details

Non-Target Novelisations

The following books adapted official and unofficial Doctor Who and Doctor Who-related productions, but were not published under the Target Books banner:

Virgin New Adventures

• Shakedown (adapted independent film production Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans with new material involving the Seventh Doctor)

Virgin Missing Adventures

• The Ghosts of N-Space (adapted radio play)
• Downtime (adapted independent film of the same title)

BBC Books

• Doctor Who - The Novel of the Film (adapted the 1996 telefilm)
• Scream of the Shalka (adapted the 2003 webcast)
• Shada (2012 adaptation of the unfinished 1979 serial Shada)

Penguin Character Books

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Novella-length adaptations of episodes of the spin-off series.

• Invasion of the Bane
• Revenge of the Slitheen
• Eye of the Gorgon
• Warriors of Kudlak
• Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?
• The Lost Boy
• The Last Sontaran
• The Day of the Clown
• The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (featuring the Tenth Doctor)

Note: two additional novelisations, The Nightmare Man and Death of the Doctor were announced for publication in 2010, but subsequently cancelled.[1]. They were later announced for publication in e-book format only.

Related entries

• Target Books novelisations covers
• Target Books Doctor Who Gift Sets
• The Target Book
• Blacklight: The Art of Andrew Skilleter

Print

Periodicals

• Doctor Who Magazine articles by David Howe in Issue 291, Issue 293, Issue 295, Issue 297, Issue 299 and Issue 301).

Books

• Howe's Transcendental Toybox by David J. Howe
• The Target Book by David J. Howe

External links

• On Target A comprehensive guide to the Target novelisations. Site created and maintained by Tim Neal.
• Dr Who Gallery This gallery only site shows all TV novelisations (Armada, Dragon, Target, Virgin and BBC) in order of publication date.