The Target novelisations are coming back!

[23skidoo]

No, there are no plans for any of the modern-era Doctor Who stories to be novelized (as far as I know!), but BBC Books - which is owned now by the same company that owns Virgin Publishing, owners of the Target Books brand - have announced it will be publishing new editions of 6 early-era Doctor Who novelizations on July 7!

http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/2011/03/classic-novels-republished.html

The books being republished include newly added introductions, the original Target-era cover art, and feature the "classic series" standard logo (which is somewhat controversial, for some reason).

Doctor Who and the Daleks (intro by Neil Gaiman)
Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowman (intro by Stephen Baxter)
Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters (intro by Terrance Dicks)
Doctor Who and the Crusaders (intro by Charlie Higson - author of the Young Bond novels)
Doctor Who and the Cybermen (intro by Gareth Roberts)
Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion (intro by Russell T Davies - which makes perfect sense if you remember who his first villain was in the revival)

As the proud owner of a collection of about 100 of the 154 Target novelisations, it's great to see these books back in print, which means they'll be back in the mainstream bookstores again and out of the back corners of used-bookstore sci-fi (or, as often the case, kiddie lit) sections - or, as is increasingly happening, collector's markets where some of the original books (if you check abebooks.com) are now fetching hundreds of dollars.

It's also significant because it means BBC Books is giving a damn about past Doctors again. Right now they're reissuing the Targets (and I can't imagine they won't publish more, especially ones featuring the Fourth Doctor). But could this also be a signal that we might see original classic-era novels again for the first time since the Past Doctor Adventures line was retired at Christmas 2005? Who knows?

Just as long as BBC Audio doesn't stop making those wonderful unabridged readings. I listened to my first one the other week (Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders, read by Lis Sladen) and greatly enjoyed it.

First Tom Baker announces he's coming back as the Fourth Doctor for Big Finish, now the Targets are coming back, and aren't there also supposed to be a pile of Eighth Doctor Adventures being reissued this spring? 2011 is turning into nostalgia central for us older fans!

Alex

 

[C.E. Evans]

I absolutely loved those Target novelizations! I've got close to a hundred of 'em myself--mostly first printings--featuring both key and personal favorite stories. In the pre-VCR days, they were pretty much it as far as owning the actual show, IMO. Even now, though, they can still provide a little extra insight to the episodes and characters.

Classic stuff...

 

[23skidoo]

There was a thread on the SF/F board not long ago where someone was questioning the value of novelizations - the general gist of the discussion being why bother, especially in the age when DVDs and downloads of episodes and films are so easy to come by. Of course in the many years before we could get videotapes (never mind DVDs) and especially in the UK where reruns were exceedingly rare, these books were the only way for people to relive early stories. And if you look at that list of the reprints, three of those involve stories that do not exist in the archives in complete form - so the novels ended up being the only way for many to experience the stories.

They were also valuable because, especially in cases where the original writer had a chance to do the novelization (they weren't all written by Terrance Dicks), it gave them a chance to improve and expand upon what the budget-limited series could do. And to go into greater detail, as well. For example the "Cave Monsters" volume established elements of Silurian culture never mentioned on TV. The novelization of "Planet of the Spiders" includes an appearance by Jo Grant, who never got a chance to make a return visit in the TV version. The writers were also somewhat freer in terms of violence and language (not much, but characters like Romana were allowed to say "damn" once in a while).

I wish I could say that was the case all the time, but of course there were some ridiculous length restrictions made in the novelizations, which resulted in the 10-part War Games being condensed to 144 pages. But some have said it made it a stronger story as a result. Fortunately by the time John Peel got to novelize the Daleks Master Plan the limits had been removed and he was actually given 2 volumes.

There we some anomalies in the books - completely different fates being given for certain companions, for example, and of course the David Whitaker Doctor Who and the Daleks novel ignores the events of An Unearthly Child and gives Susan the name Susan English - but that's what we love about them.

I hope these books succeed in reintroducing young audiences to the older Doctors. It's been said that today's kids might not have the patience to sit through, say, a War Games-length story, or even one of the more leisurely 4-parters. But the novels are a good way to get around that!

Alex

 

[Allyn Gibson]

But could this also be a signal that we might see original classic-era novels again for the first time since the Past Doctor Adventures line was retired at Christmas 2005? Who knows?

Well, Stephen Baxter knows. He's writing a second Doctor novel.

 

[WillsBabe]

I loved these as a kid. I have a great memory of lying of a blanket on holiday with the folks with my head shoved in a Target novel.

 

[Whofan]

I've read a few myself-they're pretty good. I think it was the CRUSADE novel which introduced the concept that Ian and Barbera were a couple (Which was slightly hinted in, but never really confirmed, in the TV series). Also a few of the McCoy-era novels built on those stories a great deal, and helped lead to The New Adventures.


I

 

[Samson88B]

I absolutely loved those Target novelizations! I've got close to a hundred of 'em myself--mostly first printings--featuring both key and personal favorite stories. In the pre-VCR days, they were pretty much it as far as owning the actual show, IMO. Even now, though, they can still provide a little extra insight to the episodes and characters.

Classic stuff...

LOL Its funny how many of us old frogs are on here...No offense...Im one to.... Maybe there should be a poll one day just to see what the average age of the fans on this forum are.. Anyway... I completely get the thing with the pre VCR days...I was around for that as well. I agree that all there was were the books. I was origainally introduce to Tom B when I got in Doc Who. I remember getting all of the target novelizations of my favorite episodes then started getting any book that I could get. I spent all of my money that I earned cutting grass buying those books... and I still have them...The pages are now yellow and crisp and hold lots of good memories. Its good to here that they are bringing them back. One of my favorites - not just because it was one of my favorite episodes but also because a companion novelized it was Ark in Space. The novelization was done by Ian Marter who played Harry Sullivan.

 

[Peacemaker]

...And Marter's version of Noah's transformation is absolutely horrifying. His version of The Sontaran Experiment expands on a mediocre story and makes it a real winner in the Target range of novels.

 

[Samson88B]

...And Marter's version of Noah's transformation is absolutely horrifying. His version of The Sontaran Experiment expands on a mediocre story and makes it a real winner in the Target range of novels.

Yes I had already seen the episode before I got the book.. Normally you tend to see the things in your head when you read them...But in the book it was like it was a whole different world. The description of the transformation of Noah's hand was so real ...not the bubble rap image I had seen in the episode.