BBC Books has announced that five new Doctor Who Target novelisations will be coming to the collection this summer.
The new additions include two penned by the late David Fisher, who served as a scriptwriter on the sci-fi show in the late ’70s, with both The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara joining the range.
Meanwhile, the first Twelfth Doctor novelisations are also included, in the form of The Eaters of Light by Rona Munro and The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness, while the final new addition is The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran.
All five novels will be published on Thursday 14th July 2022 and will feature newly commissioned cover artwork by Anthony Dry, which has not yet been revealed. They are already available to pre-order on Amazon, each at a cost of £7.03, or £5.99 for the Kindle Edition.
Speaking about the news, James Moran said, “I’ve been watching Doctor Who and reading the Target books for as long as I can remember. The books were an essential part of my childhood, examining the amazing cover art, and “seeing” stories that aired before I was born. I loved learning new words from them, like ‘capacious’, and am beyond thrilled to become part of this publishing legend!’
Meanwhile, Rona Munro added, “It’s wonderful to have another chance to revisit the ideas of my last Doctor Who story, Eaters of Light, they are ideas that have been with me for a very long time and Doctor Who, as always, proved to be the largest and most exciting world in which to realise them.”
And Peter Harness said, “Like many, many others, I learnt to read and to love books by reading Target novelisations. The Saturday afternoon journey to Garland’s bookshop in Bridlington to see if any new Doctor Who stories had materialised on their shelves.
“Scouring markets and second-hand shops in hope of finding an old copy of Doctor Who and the Sea Devils. Desperately pestering my poor cousin until he finally lent me his copy of Doctor Who and The Doomsday Weapon. Making my Grandad read me The Enemy of the World when he would’ve much preferred to fall asleep with the newspaper.
“There is a sense of magic and excitement about Target books which has stayed with me my whole life. And I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it feels to be writing my own Target book of one of my own Doctor Who stories.”
!["Ingrid]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/01/the-zygon-invasion-46857d8.jpeg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413" "\"Ingrid")
A brief synopsis for each of the five new additions to the range is provided below.
The Stones of Blood by David Fisher: An ancient stone circle becomes a battleground as the Fourth Doctor must outwit the deadliest alien criminal this side of hyperspace. Pre-order on Amazon.
The Androids of Tara by David Fisher: The Fourth Doctor and Romana’s search for the fourth segment of the all-powerful Key to Time leads them to the planet Tara. Pre-order on Amazon.
The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran: It is AD 79, and the Tenth Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii on the eve of the town’s destruction. Mount Vesuvius is ready to erupt and bury its surroundings in molten lava, just as history dictates. Or is it? Pre-order on Amazon.
The Eaters of Light by Rona Munro: The Twelfth Doctor takes Bill and Nardole back to 2nd century Scotland to learn the fate of the ‘lost’ Ninth Legion of the Imperial Roman Army. 5,000 soldiers vanished without explanation – how? Pre-order on Amazon.
The Zygon Invasion by Peter Harness: It took three Doctors to broker a fragile peace between Zygons and Humans. Now the Twelfth Doctor must face the fallout alone. With his allies compromised and his companion believed dead, can he stop the world from plunging into war? Pre-order on Amazon.
The Target collection, which was first introduced in the ’70s, is made up of novelisations of classic Doctor Who serials and episodes, and BBC Book has been steadily reissuing and expanding the range since 2012.
Read more: Mark Gatiss on revisiting Doctor Who’s The Crimson Horror
Pre-order The Stones of Blood, The Androids of Tara, The Fires of Pompeii, The Eaters of Light and The Zygon Invasion now on Amazon.