The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') were a series of
spin-off
Spin-off may refer to:
*Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity
* Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
novels based on the long running
BBC science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...
''
Doctor Who'' and published under the
BBC Books imprint. For most of their existence, they were published side-by-side with the ''
Eighth Doctor Adventures''. The novels regularly featured the
First through
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 ...
s. ''
The Infinity Doctors
''The Infinity Doctors'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. The book was released to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the series, a ...
'' had an ambiguous place in continuity and featured an unidentified incarnation of the Doctor. The
Eighth Doctor co-starred with the
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the ...
in one novel (''
Wolfsbane'') and, after the Eighth Doctor Adventures had ceased publication, a novel (''
Fear Itself'') featuring the Eighth Doctor and set between two earlier Eighth Doctor Adventures (''
EarthWorld'' and ''
Vanishing Point
A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpen ...
'') was published within the Past Doctor series.
Publication history
Between 1991 and 1997,
Virgin Publishing produced successful spin-off novels under the
New Adventures and
Missing Adventures ranges. However, following the ''Doctor Who''
television movie in 1996, the
BBC did not renew
Virgin Publishing's license to continue publishing ''Doctor Who'' material. Instead, they opted to publish their own range beginning in 1997 with ''
The Devil Goblins from Neptune'' by
Martin Day Martin Day may refer to:
* Martin Day (writer), British screenwriter and novelist
* Martin Day (fighter), Japanese-born American mixed martial artist
* Martin Day (architect), Irish architect and builder
See also
* ''Martin's Day
''Martin's Day' ...
and
Keith Topping. The range continued to be published through to 2005.
Virgin had distinguished the New and Missing Adventures with different
cover designs. BBC Books, however, did not differentiate their novels featuring the current and past Doctors in this way, although they were listed separately within the books. Fans, however, continued to distinguish the
ongoing story of the Eighth Doctor from the more stand-alone adventures of past Doctors.
Despite moving to the BBC, the writers (many of whom wrote for the Virgin series) have broadly attempted to maintain continuity with the New and Missing Adventures and many elements from these series have appeared in the Past Doctor Adventures (which replaced the Missing Adventures). Indeed, one of the novels — ''
Millennium Shock'' by
Justin Richards — was a direct sequel to ''
System Shock'', a Missing Adventure published by Virgin. Another notable release was ''
Scream of the Shalka'', a novelisation of the webcast of the same title and the only release in the Past Doctor range that did not feature an "official" incarnation of the Doctor. ''
The Infinity Doctors
''The Infinity Doctors'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. The book was released to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the series, a ...
'', written by
Lance Parkin, featured an unidentified Doctor.
In addition to the Past Doctor Adventures and the Eighth Doctor Adventures, the BBC also published three short story collections under the title of
Short Trips, which feature all eight (at the time of publication) Doctors. These were also inherited from Virgin, a version of their
Decalog short story collections, and when the BBC ceased publishing them, a licence to continue was sought by
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
, who continued to publish their own range of
Short Trips collections until 2009.
The range has ceased publication. In the spring of 2005, BBC Books began publishing a series of hardcover books, the ''
New Series Adventures''. The BBC Past Doctor paperback series continued for the remainder of 2005, but no titles were announced after
Andrew Cartmel
Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television seri ...
's ''
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 pu ...
'', which was released in November 2005. In a talk in July 2006,
commissioning editor
In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether to contract a book is taken by a senior m ...
Justin Richards said that BBC Books have plans for the future of the Past Doctor Adventures, but that decisions had not yet been taken.
Beginning in 2012, hardback books featuring past Doctors are being published, though at a much reduced rate compared with the pre-2005 output. The books are longer, in a larger format, and written by (or in once case, adapted from earlier work by) prominent science fiction authors. As of the mid-2014, the titles published are ''
Shada'' by
Gareth Roberts (a novelisation of the unbroadcast television story by
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...
), ''
The Wheel of Ice
''The Wheel of Ice'' is a 2012 original novel written by Stephen Baxter and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. It was released both as a standard ed ...
'' by
Stephen Baxter and ''
Harvest of Time'' by Alastair Reynolds.
List of ''Past Doctor Adventures''
Including books featuring two of the Doctors, the numbers of books each appears in are as follows:
* First Doctor, 8 books
* Second Doctor, 12 books
* Third Doctor, 12 books
* Fourth Doctor, 13 books
* Fifth Doctor, 10 books
* Sixth Doctor, 11 books
* Seventh Doctor, 13 books
* Eighth Doctor, 2 books
Notes
# Via the TARDIS thought scanner, the Sixth Doctor shows Peri a six-chapter flashback to his second incarnation's encounter with Winston Churchill and the Players.
# Although both Doctors play crucial roles in the plot, and are even briefly simultaneously present in the TARDIS console room, the Second is unaware of the Fourth's presence; the Second Doctor unintentionally materializes in a dimensional anomaly while tinkering with the TARDIS, his presence causing the anomaly to become more unstable and the TARDIS losing its link to the interior dimensions, and the Time Lords are forced to make arrangements for the Fourth Doctor to travel to his past self's ship and restore its connection to the exterior, the Fourth Doctor and Romana hiding under the console at the opposite side from the younger Doctor and his companions after bringing interior and exterior back into alignment.
# The Second Doctor and Jamie appear briefly at the beginning of the novel visiting the planet Mendeb Two, but do not interact with the Seventh Doctor or Ace; their actions during this visit prompt the Seventh Doctor to return.
# The Seventh Doctor and Ace appear at the beginning and the conclusion of the novel, but Ace never meets the past Doctor and companions, and the Seventh's only contact with his other self occurs in an artificial reality simulation when the Second Doctor is attempting to access a ship's computer, the future Doctor providing his younger self with some discreet advice on how to deal with the current situation.
# Although both Doctors play important roles in solving the crisis, their involvement takes place a month apart, with the Eighth Doctor and Harry Sullivan tackling the problem in November while the Fourth Doctor and Sarah deal with the aftermath in December. Also, Harry is the only person to interact with both Doctors (although the Fourth Doctor and Sarah learn of the Eighth's presence, neither of them appear to realise that he is ''the'' Doctor) to be fully aware of the Doctor's nature as an alien time traveller, and the Eighth's current state of amnesia — in the aftermath of ''
The Ancestor Cell'' — prevents either the Eighth Doctor or Harry from recognising each other.
See also
*
List of Doctor Who novelists
References
External links
''The TARDIS Librarys listing of BBC Past Doctor books
{{Past Doctor Adventures
Book series introduced in 1997