BBC New Series Adventures
The BBC New Series Adventures is a banner under which the novels published by BBC Books (and, from 2013, Broadway Books in North America) featuring the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors have been collected since 2005. This line is the successor to BBC Books' earlier Doctor Who fiction lines, the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures and BBC Past Doctor Adventures.
Ninth Doctor
Launched in mid-2005, the New Series Adventures introduced a new format for Doctor Who fiction - paperback-sized hardcovers with smaller word count than the previous EDA and PDA lines. For a few months the "NSA" line coexisted with the EDA and PDA lines until they were retired at the end of 2005.
With this series of books, BBC Books also established a release pattern it has continued ever since, releasing the books in batches of three at least twice a year. The books are considered standalone and, thus, may be read in any order (at least among a particular set of three).
Unlike past fiction lines, there was some effort to tie the books more closely to television continuity. Notably the first-ever direct reference to a novel occurred in the episode Boom Town, in which Rose Tyler referenced a location she and the Doctor had visited in the novel The Monsters Inside. Supporting characters Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler also appeared in the novel Winner Takes All.
The novels tended to reflect changes in the cast. The first three books featured the Ninth Doctor travelling with Rose, while the second set feature Rose and Jack Harkness as companions. The first three novels probably take place between World War Three and The Empty Child, and the latter three between The Doctor Dances and Boom Town.
This line of novels continued to be issued following Christopher Eccleston's departure from the series until the end of 2005, after which the series continued, featuring the Tenth Doctor in 2006.
A number of the books have been reprinted in paperback editions, including in North America by Broadway Books. The covers of these reprint editions omit the image of Billie Piper.
Novels
Title | Author | Audio book narrator | ISBN | Batch | Image |
The Clockwise Man | Justin Richards | Glen McCready (CD) Nicholas Briggs (AudioGo) |
ISBN 0-563-48628-7 | 1 | |
The Monsters Inside | Stephen Cole | David Thorpe (CD) Camille Coduri (AudioGo) |
ISBN 0-563-48629-5 | 1 | |
Winner Takes All | Jacqueline Rayner | David Thorpe (CD) Camille Coduri (AudioGo) |
ISBN 0-563-48627-9 | 1 | |
The Deviant Strain | Justin Richards | Stuart Milligan | ISBN 0-563-48637-6 | 2 | |
Only Human | Gareth Roberts | Anthony Head | ISBN 0-563-48639-2 | 2 | |
The Stealers of Dreams | Steve Lyons | Camille Coduri | ISBN 0-563-48638-4 | 2 |
Cancelled novel
- Rain of Terror by Mike Tucker was originally listed in the second batch of three novels, but was replaced by The Stealers of Dreams without explanation. The story was later released in Alien Adventures, and instead featured the Eleventh Doctor.
Tenth Doctor
With the coming of the Tenth Doctor era, BBC Books continued its New Series Adventures line in 2006, featuring the new incarnation. Again, the books were published more-or-less in connection with a particular cast line-up in the series, with the first six books featuring Rose Tyler, after which Martha Jones was featured in twelve consecutive novels, the most of any companion to date. Donna Noble was then featured in only four books, with most of the books released during her era actually featuring Martha. Wilfred Mott appears in the final novel featuring Donna, Beautiful Chaos.
Following the events of Journey's End, the books changed format somewhat. Beginning with The Eyeless, published in late 2008, the books featured the Doctor travelling alone, with no ongoing companions (in keeping with the format of the 2008-2010 specials). Also published was The Story of Martha, a short story collection that returned Martha Jones to the NSA line for one book. This was the first NSA book to be a direct tie-in with a televised episode (it takes place during the events of The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords). All NSA novels issued during 2009 featured returning alien races and villains from the TV series.
The final three Tenth Doctor novels were published in September 2009.
Two new spin-off lines were introduced during the 2006-2009 period. Quick Reads, an annual series of paperback novellas intended to promote literacy, was launched in 2006 with the novel I am a Dalek. This spin-off line featured the return of longtime Doctor Who novelist and scriptwriter Terrance Dicks to the world of Doctor Who fiction. A total of five Tenth Doctor novellas were published in this line, with the last issued in March 2010; the line continued with the Eleventh Doctor.
Also launched during this period, in conjunction with BBC Audio, was a series of original, made-for-audio stories performed by cast members of the series. The first of these, Pest Control, was issued in 2008, . A total of seven Tenth Doctor stories were published until 2010. David Tennant performed most of these, with Catherine Tate reading two and Michelle Ryan performing one. Again, the audios continued after the change of Doctor.
In 2009, the Tenth Doctor was featured in a year-long series of interconnected paperback novellas that formed a series called The Darksmith Legacy; the books tied in with online content. A series of "choose-your-own-adventure"-style novellas called Decide Your Destiny was also released.
All of the Tenth Doctor novels (except for the Quick Reads and Darksmith Legacy series) have been released as audio books. The first three were read by David Tennant. After that, other actors from the series replaced Tennant, who did not reappear as narrator until the made-for-audio stories. The other actors include Freema Agyeman, Georgia Moffett, Anthony Head and Adjoa Andoh. Most of these audio books are abridged, but some of the most recent novels have been released as unabridged audio books that are only available for download.
The Tenth Doctor also appeared in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, a release in the BBC The Sarah Jane Adventures novelisations line. Although the cover art matches the format of the NSA line, the book, published by Penguin Character Books, is not considered part of the New Series Adventures.
As with the Ninth Doctor, a number of Tenth Doctor novels have been reissued in paperback by BBC Books and Broadway Books. New editions of novels featuring Rose Tyler, however, omit the image of Billie Piper from the cover art.
Novels
Decide Your Destiny
Title | Author | ISBN | Image |
The Spaceship Graveyard | Colin Brake | ISBN 978-1-4059-0376-9 | |
Alien Arena | Richard Dungworth | ISBN 978-1-4059-0352-3 | |
The Time Crocodile | Colin Brake | ISBN 978-1-4059-0350-9 | |
The Corinthian Project | Davey Moore | ISBN 978-1-4059-0345-5 | |
The Crystal Snare | Richard Dungworth | ISBN 978-1-4059-0381-3 | File:DYD 5 The Crystal Snare.jpg |
War of the Robots | Trevor Baxendale | ISBN 978-1-4059-0382-0 | |
Dark Planet | Davey Moore | ISBN 978-1-4059-0379-0 | |
The Haunted Wagon Train | Colin Brake | ISBN 978-1-4059-0380-6 | |
Lost Luggage | Colin Brake | ISBN 978-1-4059-0401-8 | |
Second Skin | Richard Dungworth | ISBN 978-1-4059-0402-5 | |
The Dragon King | Trevor Baxendale | ISBN 978-1-4059-0402-5 | |
The Horror of Howling Hill | Jonathan Green | ISBN 978-1-4059-0404-9 |
The Darksmith Legacy
Title | Author | ISBN | Image |
The Dust of Ages | Justin Richards | ISBN 978-1-4059-0513-8 | |
The Graves of Mordane | Colin Brake | ISBN 978-1-4059-0514-5 | |
The Colour of Darkness | Richard Dungworth | ISBN 978-1-4059-0514-2 | |
The Depths of Despair | Justin Richards | ISBN 978-1-4059-0516-9 | |
The Vampire of Paris | Stephen Cole | ISBN 9781 40590 5176 | |
The Game of Death | Trevor Baxendale | ISBN 978-1-4059-0518-3 | |
The Planet of Oblivion | Justin Richards | ISBN 978-1-4059-0519-0 | |
The Pictures of Emptiness | Jacqueline Rayner | ISBN 1-4059-0520-4 | |
The Art of War | Mike Tucker | ISBN 978-1-4059-0521-3 | |
The End of Time | Justin Richards | ISBN 978-1-4059-0522-0 |
Audiobooks
Title | Author | Narrator | ISBN | Image |
Pest Control | Peter Anghelides | David Tennant | ISBN 978-1-4056-7819-3 | |
The Forever Trap | Dan Abnett | Catherine Tate | ISBN 978-1-4084-0678-6 | |
The Nemonite Invasion | David Roden | Catherine Tate | ISBN 978-1-4084-0679-3 |
|
The Rising Night | Scott Handcock | Michelle Ryan | ISBN 978-1-4084-0938-1 | |
The Day of the Troll | Simon Messingham | David Tennant | ISBN 978-1-4084-0939-8 | |
The Last Voyage | Dan Abnett | David Tennant | ISBN 978-1-408-40940-2 | |
Dead Air | James Goss | David Tennant | ISBN 978-1-4084-2680-7 |
Eleventh Doctor
The New Series Adventures line continued with novels featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams. The first set of three were released in April 2010, with more novels released later in the year.
The books had some design changes from past releases to incorporate the new Doctor Who logo introduced for the new era. The most noticeable change is that the books are taller than those published for the Ninth and Tenth Doctors (closer in height to the Torchwood novels). They also no longer included the Gallifreyan numerical symbols on the spines of the NSA books as seen during the Eccleston and Tennant eras.
In October 2010 a special, standalone New Series Adventures release occurred with The Coming of the Terraphiles by noted fantasy author Michael Moorcock. The series resumed in 2011, with the release of three books in April and another three in June. As well as this, a new concept of 2 in 1 books was put into action. The stories in these books were shorter than those in normal books but there were two of them per book, set at some point after Series 5, written by two different authors. They are published in the tête-bêche format.
With 2012 the frequency of regular NSA releases was decreased, with the line focusing more on the standalone hardcover editions, which saw two additional releases, The Silent Stars Go By in 2011 and Dark Horizons in 2012. No "set of three" releases occurred in 2012; the next releases, scheduled for the spring of 2013, will see the format of the novels change to paperback-only releases.
Continuing on from the Tenth Doctor era, BBC Audio/AudioGO continued to release original-to-audio stories read by various cast members including Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill. The Decide Your Destiny series also continued, as did the Quick Reads novellas after a year's hiatus.
Beginning in 2011, and for the first time since 2005, the NSA line found itself competing with BBC Books releases featuring past Doctors, beginning with the start of a reprint series featuring Target novelisations, followed by the 2012 publication of the novelisation of Shada and the launch of a new series of standalone hardcover novels featuring past Doctors.
The final trio of Eleventh Doctor novels published in 2013 marked a major change in how the books were marketed and formatted outside the United Kingdom. Broadway Books took over the North American publishing of the books, which were now exclusively to be published in trade paperback editions, with the BBC Books hardcovers officially no longer circulated. Broadway also began republishing older NSAs from the Eleventh Doctor and earlier eras in new standard paperback editions.
Novels
2 in 1 Books
Decide Your Destiny
Title | Author | ISBN | Image |
The Coldest War | Colin Brake | ISBN 978-1-4059-0686-9 | |
Claws of the Macra | Trevor Baxendale | ISBN 978-1-4059-0685-2 | |
Judoon Monsoon | Oli Smith | ISBN 978-1-4059-0697-5 | |
Empire of the Wolf | Neil Corry | ISBN 978-1-4059-0715-6 |
Audiobooks
Title | Author | Narrator | ISBN | Image |
The Ring of Steel | Stephen Cole | Arthur Darvill | ISBN 978-1-4084-2761-3 | |
The Runaway Train | Oli Smith | Matt Smith | ISBN 978-1-408-42747-8 |
|
The Jade Pyramid | Martin Day | Matt Smith | ISBN 978-1-4084-2749-1 |
|
The Hounds of Artemis | James Goss | Matt Smith Clare Corbett |
ISBN 978-1-4084-2746-0 |
|
The Gemini Contagion | Jason Arnopp | Meera Syal | ISBN 978-1-4084-6816-6 | |
The Eye of the Jungle | Darren Jones | David Troughton | ISBN 978-1-4084-6815-9 | |
Blackout | Oli Smith | Stuart Milligan | ISBN 978-1-4084-6878-4 | |
The Art of Death | James Goss | Raquel Cassidy | ISBN 978-1-4084-6881-4 | |
Darkstar Academy | Mark Morris | Alexander Armstrong | ISBN 978-1-4084-6879-1 | |
Day of the Cockroach | Steve Lyons | Arthur Darvill | ISBN 978-1-4084-6880-7 | |
The Nu-Humans | Cavan Scott and Mark Wright | Raquel Cassidy | ISBN 978-1-4458-6762-5 | |
The Empty House | Simon Guerrier | Raquel Cassidy | ISBN 978-1-4084-6882-1 | |
Sleepers in the Dust | Darren Jones | Arthur Darvill | ISBN 978-1-4458-9173-6 | |
Snake Bite | Scott Handcock | Frances Barber | ISBN 978-1-4084-6836-4 |
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Notes
- Although announced for retail release in October 2010, The Runaway Train was released as a special promotion with copies of The Daily Telegraph on 24 April 2010.
Twelfth Doctor
The New Series Adventures line returned in 2014 with new novels featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald. As with the final Eleventh Doctor novels, UK editions are published in hardcover by BBC Books, but in North America the novels are published in trade paperback editions only by Broadway Books.
In the fall of 2013, AudioGO went out of business and Random House Audio took over the licence for producing original audio stories. The first Random House audio releases - which included readings of the first three Twelfth Doctor novels - occurred in 2015.
Novels
Author | Audio book narrator | ISBN | Image | |
Silhouette | Justin Richards | Dan Starkey | ISBN 978-1-84990-772-9 | |
The Crawling Terror | Mike Tucker | Neve McIntosh | ISBN 978-1-84990-773-6 | |
The Blood Cell | James Goss | Colin McFarlane | ISBN 978-1-84990-774-3 |
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The Glamour Chronicles
Author | Audio book narrator | ISBN | Image | |
Royal Blood | Una McCormack | TBA | ISBN 978-1-84990-992-1 | |
Big Bang Generation | Gary Russell | TBA | ISBN 978-1-84990-991-4 | |
Deep Time | Trevor Baxendale | TBA | ISBN 978-1-84990-990-7 |
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Audiobooks
The Gods of Winter | James Goss | Clare Higgins | ISBN 978-1-7852-9138-8 |
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External links
- Doctor Who Online - Merchandise Guide - BBC New Series Books
- http://www.timelash.com/tardis/ A database of Doctor Who books, DVDs and Audios
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