The ''New Series Adventures'' are a series of novels relating to the long-running BBC science fiction television series, ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

''. The 'NSAs', as they are often referred to, are published by

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasti ...

, and are regularly published twice a year. Beginning with the

Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the main protagonist of the BBC science fiction television franchise ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series as well as nine specials. As with previous incarnations of ...

, a series of 'Quick Reads' have also been available, published once a year. With exception to the Quick Reads, all of the NSAs have been published in hardcover to begin with, and have been reprinted in paperback for boxed collections that are exclusive to The Book People and

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

. Some of the reprints amend pictures of the companion of the novel from the cover. Some of the hardback editions have also been reprinted to amend pictures of Rose.

Publication history

Ninth Doctor novels

With the revival of the television series,

retired its paperback

Eighth Doctor Adventures The ''Eighth Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes abbreviated as EDA or referred to as the EDAs) are a series of spin off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books impr ...

and

Past Doctor Adventures The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books imprint ...

fiction lines in 2005 in favour of a new range of hardback books featuring the Ninth Doctor and

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

. These have a reduced word count compared to the EDA and PDA lines, with an average page count of about 250. (Initially, the EDA and PDA lines overlapped with the New Series Adventures; the final EDA, '' The Gallifrey Chronicles'', was published in June 2005, followed by the final PDA, ''

Atom Bomb Blues ''Atom Bomb Blues'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Andrew Cartmel and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Published in late 2005, it features the Seventh Doctor and Ace. It is the last ...

'', a

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. W ...

adventure, being published in December 2005.) The 2005 series episode "

Boom Town A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

" makes a reference to the Doctor and Rose's trip to the Justicia system. This took place in '' The Monsters Inside'', making it the first spin-off novel to ever be explicitly referred to in the television series. All the Ninth Doctor novels except '' Only Human'' contain "Bad Wolf" references in common with the 2005 television series. '' Winner Takes All'' also features the recurring characters

Mickey Smith Mickey Smith is a fictional character portrayed by Noel Clarke in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The character is introduced as the ordinary, working class boyfriend of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), a London shopgirl ...

and

Jackie Tyler Jackie Tyler is a fictional character played by Camille Coduri in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The character, a resident of contemporary London, is introduced in the first episode of the 2005 revival as the mot ...

; Jackie also makes a cameo appearance in ''Only Human''. Unlike many of the BBC's earlier spin-off novels, no definite timeframe exists as to when each of the books take place, though the first three probably take place between "

World War Three World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...

" and "

The Empty Child "The Empty Child" is the ninth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 May 2005. It was the first episode written by Steven Moffat, who later beca ...

". Of the latter three (which feature

Captain Jack Captain Jack may refer to: People * Calico Jack (1683–1720), a pirate in the 18th century * Captain Jack (Hawaiian) (died 1831), Naihekukui, commander of Kamehameha's fleet and father of Kalama * Captain Jack (fl. 1830s on), Kaurna man in c ...

), '' Only Human'' and '' The Deviant Strain'' take place between "

The Doctor Dances "The Doctor Dances" is the tenth episode of the first series in the reboot of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 May 2005. It is the second of a two-part story, following t ...

" and "Boom Town", while '' The Stealers of Dreams'' takes place after "Boom Town" as the events of that episode are referenced, although on-screen dialogue in the episode "

Bad Wolf "Bad Wolf" is the twelfth episode of the revived first series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 June 2005. It is the first of a two-part story. The concluding episo ...

" makes it a challenge to place this novel into the show's continuity. However, it is possible that after "Boom Town", the Doctor, Rose and Jack went somewhere else before returning the egg to Raxacoricofallapatorius. The first books in the series were popular in the UK. In Canada, the books were not carried by the same distributor as the BBC Books paperbacks, and were initially available only through

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

shops and online retailers when

Diamond Comic Distributors Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics, DCD, or casually Diamond) is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other po ...

took up the contract. During 2005, the New Series Adventures featuring the Ninth Doctor were published concurrently with the paperback Eighth Doctor and Past Doctor Adventures series. However, following the publication of the Past Doctor Adventure ''

'' (featuring the

) in November 2005, no new paperback releases were announced, with BBC Books choosing to focus on the New Series Adventures exclusively as the books moved on to featuring the Tenth Doctor.

Tenth Doctor novels

With the departure of

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor. A two-time BAFTA Award nominee, he is best known for his television and film work, which includes his role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series '' ...

from the role of the Doctor, BBC Books subsequently announced the publication of three novels featuring the

and Rose, released on 13 April 2006. These books follow the same style and format as those featuring the Ninth Doctor, with a continuation of the spine numbering. Range consultant and commissioning editor

Justin Richards Justin Richards (born 14 September 1961) is a British writer. He has written science fiction and fantasy novels, including series set in Victorian or early-20th-century London, and also adventure stories set in the present day. He has written ...

told ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...

'' that there would be no Ninth Doctor novels in 2006, and the decision as to whether to continue to publish stories with the Ninth Doctor as a separate range has not yet been taken. Abridged

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s were released of all of the Tenth Doctor titles (except the Quick Read series). The first three are narrated by

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

(who plays the Tenth Doctor), and were released on 3 July 2006. The Nightmare of Black Island (read by

Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, w ...

The Art of Destruction ''The Art of Destruction'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Stephen Cole (writer), Stephen Cole and based on the long-running science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was published on 21 Septemb ...

(read by

Don Warrington Don Warrington MBE (born Donald Williams, 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian-born British actor. He is best known for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom ''Rising Damp'' (1974–78), and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective series ...

), and

The Price of Paradise ''The Price of Paradise'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Colin Brake and based on the long running science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was published on 21 September 2006 alongside '' The Nightmare of Black Island'' a ...

(read by

Shaun Dingwall Shaun Dingwall (born 21st February 1970) is a British actor from London. He is known for his roles as Pete Tyler in '' Doctor Who'', as Reg Trotter in ''Rock & Chips'' and as D.C. Mark Rivers in ''Touching Evil''. Early life Shaun Dingwall was ...

), were released in November 2006. Four books in the series were released exclusively as paperback novellas under the

Quick Reads ''Quick Reads'' are a series of short books by bestselling authors and celebrities. With no more than 128 pages, they are designed to encourage adults who do not read often, or find reading difficult, to discover the joy of books. Quick Reads are a ...

scheme to inspire literacy among children. One of these novellas, ''Made of Steel'', featured new companion

Martha Jones Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, ''Torchwood''. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in ''Doctor Who'', afte ...

before the character made her television debut (" Smith and Jones"). It was also the first New Series Adventure to be written by

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English people, English author and television screenwriter, script editor and Television producer, producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fictio ...

, a long-time veteran of ''Doctor Who'' and former writer for the original series, making him the only writer who has written novels for every line of ''Doctor Who'' fiction with the exception of the Telos novellas. Despite the character of Martha Jones having left the television series at the end of the 2007 season (although she subsequently appeared in several episodes of the 2008 season), the novels released in early 2008 continued to feature her as a companion, rather than the Doctor's new companion,

Donna Noble Donna Noble (later Donna Temple-Noble) is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Portrayed by British actress and comedian Catherine Tate, she is a former companion of the Tenth Docto ...

. Donna featured in all three of the novels released in late 2008. The Boxing Day 2008 release saw the series cover new ground with one book featuring Donna Noble, one book covering Martha Jones' adventures between the episodes "

The Sound of Drums "The Sound of Drums" is the twelfth episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007. It is the second of three episodes that form a linked narrati ...

" (2007) and "

Last of the Time Lords "Last of the Time Lords" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007. It is the last of three episodes that form a l ...

" (2007), and one book featuring the Doctor travelling without a companion following the events of "

Journey's End ''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry c ...

" (2008). The 2009 releases (including 6 books in the main series, 1 novella and ''The Darksmith Legacy'') all follow the mould of the Doctor travelling without a regular companion. These books also feature aliens from the New Series. Whilst this is not the first time this has happened (

The Monsters Inside ''The Monsters Inside'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Stephen Cole and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was published on 19 May 2005, alongside ''The Clockwise Man'' and '' Winner ...

), it is the first time they are on the cover, or referenced in the title. In 2020 BBC Books released two new novels featuring the Tenth Doctor to tie in with the Time Lord Victorious multi-platform storyline. The Eighth and Ninth Doctor's also appeared in both books.

Eleventh Doctor novels

The series of

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As with previous incarnations of the Docto ...

novels began in April 2010, with a new cover design, amending the Gallifreyan numbering system on the spine. The titles quickly reached sales numbers of the previous Tenth Doctor novels, and a further batches of three books have been released on a regular basis since July 2010. In October 2009

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

confirmed that he would be writing a one-off, supersize novel, combining prose with hand-drawn sketches, images and exclusive artwork. The title was confirmed as ''

The Coming of the Terraphiles ''The Coming of the Terraphiles'' is a ''Doctor Who'' novel written by Michael Moorcock, featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond. It was the first special release of a ''Doctor Who'' novel by BBC Books in a lengthier hardback format to that o ...

'', and it was released in November 2010. It did not form part of the usual range of novels, and featured characters from Michael Moorcock's Second Ether books. Two further books followed in the hardback range, '' The Silent Stars Go By'', released in September 2011, and ''Dark Horizons'', the only novel released that year, in July 2012. In April 2011 BBC Books launched a new range of "chapter books" that offer readers aged 8–12 two stories in one publication (or "2in1", which appears on the books' covers). The first two releases had flippable covers and a divided spine design. In late August 2011 the second batch of releases was published with a surtitle applied to the two stories and a shared cover with a more traditional blurb for each of the two stories on the back of the books. The next batch of 2in1 stories was released in February 2012.

Twelfth Doctor novels

In May 2014, it was revealed that New Series Adventures would release books starring the

Twelfth Doctor The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi in three series as well as four specials. As with previous incar ...

and

Clara Oswald Clara Oswald is a fictional character in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Steven Moffat and portrayed by Jenna Coleman. Clara was introduced in the Doc ...

, which were released in September 2014. The titles of the released books are ''

Silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

'', '' The Crawling Terror'', and ''

The Blood Cell ''The Blood Cell'' is a BBC Books original novel written by James Goss (producer), James Goss and based on the long-running British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Twelfth Doctor an ...

''. The next wave was released in September 2015, with each book under the name of ''the Glamour Chronicles''. The stories featured were ''

Deep Time Deep time is a term introduced and applied by John McPhee to the concept of geologic time in his book ''Basin and Range'' (1981), parts of which originally appeared in the ''New Yorker'' magazine. The philosophical concept of geological time w ...

'', ''

Royal Blood A royal descent is a genealogy, genealogical Kinship and descent, line of descent from a past or present monarch. Both geneticists and genealogists have attempted to estimate the percentage of living people with royal descent. From a genetic ...

'' and ''

Big Bang Generation ''Big Bang Generation'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Gary Russell and based on the long-running British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Twelfth Doctor and Bernice Summ ...

''; first two of these feature the Twelfth Doctor and Clara, and the latter marking first New Series Adventure appearance of

Bernice Summerfield Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length ''Doctor Who ...

, alongside the Twelfth Doctor. A new wave was released in April 2017 with the arrival of Bill Potts and Nardole making a presence to prose. The stories featuring are ''Diamond Dogs'', ''The Shining Man'' and ''Plague City''.

Thirteenth Doctor novels

In July 2017, it was revealed that

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

would publish books featuring the 13th Doctor. The Good Doctor was released on 25 October 2018. Molten Heart was released on 8 November 2018. Combat Magicks was released on 22 November 2018. In 2018, it was announced that author David Solomons would write two novels featuring the 13th Doctor to be published by BBC Children's Books with the first book, The Secret in Vault 13, set to be released on 1 November 2018. The second, The Maze of Doom, was published on 30 April 2020. In 2020, actress

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...

released a brand-new novel featuring the 13th Doctor and

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

called ''At Childhood's End''.

Audio stories

Starting with ''The Stone Rose'', all of the New Series Adventures featuring the Tenth Doctor have been released as abridged audio books, normally around three months after the print publication. The first three stories in the range were narrated by David Tennant, with subsequent stories narrated by different members of the cast. In January 2010, it was decided that the stories would be released, unabridged, as download-only exclusives, and that no further stories were to be published on CD. This affected the last five Tenth Doctor novels, and continued with the release of the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor novels. There has also been a separate range of audio-only stories. These are linked to the novels, but are available on CD and download formats. The range began in July 2008 with ''Pest Control'', and has since contained seven stories featuring the Tenth Doctor, fourteen stories about the Eleventh Doctor, and continue with the Twelfth Doctor. In August 2011, the Ninth Doctor Adventures started being released as unabridged downloadable audiobooks. The first book was released in August 2011 and the next one will be released in September. It is not known when the following books will be released as audiobooks, but they presumably will at some point.

List of ''New Series Adventures''

Novels

Cancelled novel

# "The Rain of Terror" * Author: Mike Tucker * Due Date: 8 September 2005 * Doctor: Ninth * Companions: Rose Tyler & Captain Jack Harkness * Information: This was originally due as part of the second selection of Ninth Doctor novels; however, in ''Doctor Who Magazine'' #374, author Mike Tucker, revealed that due to a heavy workload, he was unable to make changes to the story that had been requested by the production office, and therefore they decided to drop the story in favour of Steve Lyons' ''The Stealers of Dreams''. The original storyline was later reworked into an Eleventh Doctor book with the same title, as part of the 2in1 line (see below).

Chapter books (2 in 1 series)

Quick Reads

''Decide Your Destiny''

''Choose the Future''

Original
audiobooks An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

''The Darksmith Legacy''

Anthologies

Since 2014 BBC books have published a number of anthologies featuring all The Doctors and various other characters from the TV show, unlike earlier anthology book The Story of Martha these have been put out as special releases separate from the main New Series Adventures range.

Other publications

These books are not part of the New Series Adventures but are still published by BBC Books and feature the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth Doctors. # ''The Doctor Who Stories'' (2009) #* A book containing fourteen stories, with one of each previously appearing in each fourteen volumes of the ''Doctor Who Files'' series (published by BBC Children's Books), and another, previously unpublished, story. # ''The Weeping Angels'' (2010) #* A book published by BBC Children's Books containing two new stories and several activity items (such as stickers). # ''The Angel's Kiss'' (2012) #* The story starts slightly before "

The Angels Take Manhattan "The Angels Take Manhattan" is the fifth episode of the Doctor Who (series 7), seventh series of the revived British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 29 September 2012. It is the last in th ...

", and reinvents the episode from River Song's point of view. It was released exclusively as an

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

. The story is also available to download in audio form via the BBC website AudioGO. # ''Summer Falls'' (2013) #* A book written by the character

Amy Pond Amelia "Amy" Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Amy is a companion (Doctor Who), companion of the series protagonis ...

and featured in the episode "

The Bells of Saint John "The Bells of Saint John" is the sixth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It premiered in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2013 on BBC One; the episode was the first of the second ha ...

". It was released exclusively as an

. The story is also available to download in audio form via the BBC Website AudioGO. # ''The Devil in the Smoke'' (2013) #* A book featuring the adventures of Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax, the crime-busting, alien-fighting trio. It was released exclusively as an

. The story is also available to download in audio form via the BBC website AudioGO. # ''The Official Cookbook'' (2016) # ''Whographica: An infographic guide to space and time'' (2016) # ''The Whoniverse'' (2016)

Notes

* ''

The Clockwise Man The ''New Series Adventures'' are a series of novels relating to the long-running BBC science fiction television series, '' Doctor Who''. The 'NSAs', as they are often referred to, are published by BBC Books, and are regularly published twice a ...

'': page 120, '' The Monsters Inside'': page 136, '' Winner Takes All'': page 22, '' The Deviant Strain'': page 162, '' The Stealers of Dreams'': page 113 * ''The Story of Martha'' itself was written by Dan Abnett. However the four short stories that alternate with the main plot were written by David Roden,

Steve Lockley ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

and Paul Lewis,

Robert Shearman Robert Charles Shearman, sometimes credited as Rob Shearman, is an English television, radio, stage play and short story writer. He is known for his World Fantasy Award-winning short stories, as well as his work for ''Doctor Who'', and his asso ...

, and

Simon Jowett Simon Jowett is a British author and scriptwriter. Biography His early work was in comics, as the writer of the James Bond stories ''Silent Armageddon'' (1993, drawn by John M. Burns) and ''Shattered Helix'' (1994, drawn by David Jackson, ove ...

. * Although the Doctor is not travelling with a TV series companion, the blurb of these books indicates that he has a temporary companion for that story: June in ''The Slitheen Excursion'', Nikki in ''Judgement of the Judoon'', and Emma in ''The Sontaran Games''.

References

External links

{{Doctor Who New Series Adventures Book series introduced in 2005