Lethbridge-Stewart (series)

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Lethbridge-Stewart was a spin-off series of Doctor Who comprised of novels, novellas, anthologies, and short stories published by Candy Jar Books beginning in 2015, adjacent to the later UNIT and Counter Measures series. It was created by Andy Frankham-Allen, with input from Shaun Russell. They starred recurring Doctor Who character Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart and co-starred Anne Travers.

On 4 January 2022, Candy Jar announced the range would end later in 2022 with six remaining books.[1] This did not end up coming true, as the final two books of the ongoing 11th series ended up being pushed to 2023.

The Lethbridge-Stewart series also spawned spin-off series of its own, with The Lucy Wilson Mysteries, Travers & Wells and The Analysis Bureau.

Background[[edit] | [edit source]]

Andy Frankham-Allen served as the head writer and range editor, with Shaun Russell, Hayley Cox, Will Rees, Lauren Thomas and Keren Williams serving as co-editors on various books.

The stories initially bridged the gap between The Web of Fear and The Invasion, but with sixth series, The Laughing Gnome (which debuted in August 2018), as well as the rest of Phase Two, the range began to take place throughout Doctor Who's history. They were not licensed by the BBC but by the Haisman Literary Estate, the copyright holders for the character. They included various elements of other Doctor Who stories, by agreement/license of the original authors, such as Terrance Dicks, who wrote Horror of Fang Rock, and Gary Russell, who created the Vault in The Scales of Injustice.

The series built up a new team around Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers, including William Bishop, Samson Ware, and Walter Douglas. It also featured recurring characters, both Harold Chorley and Private Evans come from The Web of Fear, while new characters were added to the roster; of note are Sally Wright, Lethbridge-Stewart's fiancee, Owain Vine, Lethbridge-Stewart's nephew, and Oliver Hamilton.

The series particularly delved deeper into the history and character of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, creating a whole family for him not previously seen on television. Family members included; Mary Gore, his mother, James Lethbridge-Stewart, his older brother who died in 1938, and Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, his father, a commander in the RAF who was declared "Missing In Action" at the end of World War II. It also debuted his children and grandchildren with Doris Lethbridge-Stewart, the Wilsons (son, Albert, daughter-in-law Tamara, and grandchildren Conall, Nick and Lucy). Lucy would later head her own series of spin-off novels, with guest appearances from various members of her family.

Along the way the series also delved into the Brigadier's ancestors and extended family, including cousins, uncle, and grandparents. Most notably in the short story anthology, Lineage.

The series also developed an extended family for Anne Travers and her father, Professor Travers. These included; Alun Travers, Anne's brother. Lyndon Travers, Anne's grandfather and Professor Travers' father. Margaret Travers, Anne's mother and Traver's wife, and Travers' twin, Vincent and his children. Ben Travers, from Horror of Fang Rock, was revealed to be the uncle of Professor Travers.

In addition to the novels, which initially followed an ongoing narrative, the short stories occasionally dipped into different periods of Lethbridge-Stewart's past and future. For instance, Ashes of the Inferno was set directly after the TV story, Inferno, and The Lock-In was set around the time of his death, with Of the Future exploring the divide between the Brigadier and his daughter, Kate, and the birth of his grandson, Gordy. The Enfolded Time brought focus on the UNIT dating controversy and could be said to finally solve the longstanding dating issues once and for all, though the regularity with which spin-off media attempts to "fix" the controversy makes it one of many.

From late 2018, with The Laughing Gnome series of books, the range moved from the ongoing narrative that featured in the first sixteen novels, and began to dip into various periods of Lethbridge-Stewart's past, present and future. This would be the beginning of Phase Two, and The Laughing Gnome would later be followed on with Bloodlines, as well as several Special Editions of previous novels and anthologies, including previously unpublished material.

It was announced that a sequel to the 1995 home-video release Downtime was in development, in conjunction with Reeltime Pictures.

Novels[[edit] | [edit source]]

Phase One[[edit] | [edit source]]

Series 1[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 1 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
The Forgotten Son Andy Frankham-Allen 26 February 2015
The Schizoid Earth David A. McIntee 25 September 2015
Beast of Fang Rock Andy Frankham-Allen 29 October 2015
Mutually Assured Domination Nick Walters 20 November 2015

Series 2[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 2 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
Moon Blink Sadie Miller 17 May 2016
The Showstoppers Jonathan Cooper 25 June 2016
The Grandfather Infestation John Peel 29 July 2016

Series 3[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 3 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
Times Squared Rick Cross 30 October 2016
Blood of Atlantis Simon A. Forward 1 December 2016
Mind of Stone Iain McLaughlin 16 December 2016

Series 4[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 4 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
Night of the Intelligence Andy Frankham-Allen 9 June 2017
The Daughters of Earth Sarah Groenewegen 24 July 2017
The Dreamer's Lament Benjamin Burford-Jones 10 August 2017

Series 5[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 5 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
A Very Private Haunting Sharon Bidwell January 2018
The New Unusual Adrian Sherlock, Andy Frankham-Allen May 2018
The Man from Yesterday Nick Walters March 2018

Phase Two[[edit] | [edit source]]

Series 6: The Laughing Gnome[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: The Laughing Gnome
Title Writer(s) Release date
Scary Monsters Simon A. Forward September 2018
Fear of the Web Alyson Leeds October 2018
The Danger Men Nick Walters December 2018
Rise of the Dominator Robert Mammone March 2019
Lucy Wilson and the Bledoe Cadets Tim Gambrell 18 May 2019
On His Majesty's National Service John Peel 23 December 2019

Series 7: Bloodlines[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Bloodlines
Title Writer(s) Release date
Home Fires Burn Gareth Madgwick 11 October 2019
The Shadowman Sharon Bidwell 23 November 2019
An Ordinary Man Andy Frankham-Allen, Tim Gambrell 13 March 2020
The George Kostinen Mystery Chris Lynch 28 July 2020
Foreword to the Past Baz Greenland October 2020
I, Alastair Robert Mammone 24 June 2020

Series 8[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 8 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
Domination Game Alyson Leeds & Megan Fizell 17 December 2020
Fear Frequency George Ivanoff February 2021
The Haunting of Gabriel Chase Andrew Allen June 2021

Series 9[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 9 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
Warriors of Montu Gareth Madgwick 3 September 2021
The Overseers James Middleditch 12 November 2021
Blue Blood Chris Thomas 27 January 2022

Series 10[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 10 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
A Most Haunted Man Sarah Groenewegen 7 May 2022
Legacy of the Dominator Nick Walters 8 June 2022
The Hiraeth Embrace James Middleditch 12 August 2022

Series 11[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 11 (Lethbridge-Stewart)
Title Writer(s) Release date
Spheres of Influence Violet Addison & David N. Smith 12 December 2022
It Came from the Isle of Man John Peel 29 May 2023
United Nations Jonathan Blum 17 November 2023
Intelligence Taskforce 29 June 2024

Other books[[edit] | [edit source]]

Title Writer(s) Release date
The Forgotten Son: Special Edition Andy Frankham-Allen June 2019
Mutually Assured Domination: Special Edition Nick Walters November 2019
Downtime: Child of the New World Andy Frankham-Allen 28 July 2020
Kiss of the Ice Maiden Michael Sloan 10 March 2021

Novellas[[edit] | [edit source]]

Title Writer(s) Release date
The Life of Evans John Peel May 2017
The Flaming Soldier Christopher Bryant August 2017
The Lost Skin Andy Frankham-Allen July 2018

Anthologies[[edit] | [edit source]]

Many short stories were released digitally to tie into Lethbridge-Stewart novel releases; these were later collected alongside original stories in a number of Lethbridge-Stewart anthologies.

Title Release date
Top Secret Files 5 April 2015
The HAVOC Files 12 April 2016
The HAVOC Files 2 September 2016
The XMAS Files 15 December 2016
The HAVOC Files 3 March 2017
The HAVOC Files 4 March 2018
Lineage October 2018
The HAVOC Files: The Laughing Gnome 20 September 2019
The HAVOC Files: Loose Ends 6 December 2019

"Special Editions" of The HAVOC Files 2 and The HAVOC Files 3 were also released in March 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Invalid releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

Title Release date
A Brief History of the Lethbridge-Stewarts 20 March 2015
The Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Collection August 2018
The Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Collection 2 2 September 2019
The Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Collection 3 12 November 2021

Unreleased books[[edit] | [edit source]]

Title Reason
Fear of Light Author inflexibility
Horror of Det-Sen Scheduling conflicts
Feralia Author inflexibility
Day of the Intelligence Personal reasons
The HAVOC Files: Five[2] Scheduling conflicts

Non-fiction books[[edit] | [edit source]]

Title Release date
Lethbridge-Stewart Quiz Book 26 July 2018
The Brigadier: Declassified 11 December 2019
Lethbridge-Stewart: Colouring Book 16 December 2020

Spin-offs[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. LsVerse twitter, 13:20 4th Jan 2022: "2022 is the final year of the Lethbridge-Stewart range. Titles, covers, blurbs for the remaining six titles will all be announced in due course."
  2. https://gallifreybase.com/gb/threads/coming-soon.229566/page-26#post-12127728