For the first – and hopefully not last – time the Target novelisations have reached the modern era as both Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat adapt their own scripts in a selection of new novelisations out today.
The pair will be joined by Paul Cornell who has adapted Twice Upon a Time, Jenny T. Colgan who adapted The Christmas Invasion and James Goss who has brought to life the first Douglas Adams Target novelisation: City of Death.
Rose by Russell T. Davies
In a lair somewhere beneath central London, a malevolent alien intelligence is plotting the end of humanity. Shop window dummies that can move – and kill – are taking up key positions, ready to strike. Rose Tyler, an ordinary Londoner, is working her shift in a department store, unaware that this is the most important day of her life. She’s about to meet the only man who understands the true nature of the threat facing Earth, a stranger who will open her eyes to all the wonder and terror of the universe – a traveller in time and space known as the Doctor.
Russell T Davies is one of the UK’s foremost writers of television drama, creating ground breaking shows such as Queer as Folk, Bob & Rose, Casanova, Cucumber, The Second Coming, and in 2018, A Very English Scandal for BBC One. He was Head Writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who when it returned to the BBC in 2005 and has written many of the new series’ most memorable episodes. He was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to drama. He divides his time between Cardiff and Manchester.
The Day of the Doctor by Steven Moffat
The Tenth Doctor is hunting shape-shifting Zygons in Elizabethan England. The Eleventh is investigating a rift in space-time in the present day. And one other – the man they used to be but never speak of – is fighting the Daleks in the darkest days of the Time War. Driven by demons and despair, this battle-scarred Doctor is set to take a devastating decision that will threaten the survival of the entire universe … a decision that not even a Time Lord can take alone. On this day, the Doctor’s different incarnations will come together to save the Earth … to save the universe … and to save his soul.
Steven Moffat is best known for Press Gang, Coupling, Steven Spielberg’s movie Tintin, and for the last few years being lead writer and executive producer on Doctor Who and for co-creating, co-writing (with Mark Gatiss) and executive producing Sherlock. He has 5 BAFTAs, 2 Emmys and in 2015 was awarded an OBE for services to drama.
The Christmas Invasion by Jenny T. Colgan
When a British space probe is intercepted by a sinister alien vessel on the eve of Christmas, it marks the beginning of an audacious invasion of the Earth by the Sycorax – horrifying marauders from beyond the stars. Within hours, a third of humanity stands on the brink of death with not a single shot fired. Our planet needs a champion – but the Doctor is not fit for service. He’s just regenerated, delirious in a new body and a dressing gown. Forced into his battered shoes is his friend, Rose Tyler, a girl from a London council estate. Will she save the world from this nightmare before Christmas – or see it destroyed?
Jenny T Colgan has written 16 bestselling novels as Jenny Colgan, which have sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, been translated into 25 languages, and won both the Melissa Nathan Award and Romantic Novel of the Year 2013. Aged 11, she won a national fan competition to meet the Doctor and was mistaken for a boy by Peter Davison.
Twice Upon A Time by Paul Cornell
Still reeling from his encounter with the Cybermen, the First Doctor stumbles through the bitter Antarctic wind, resisting the approaching regeneration with all his strength. But as he fights his way through the snowdrifts, he comes across the familiar shape of a blue police box, and a mysterious figure who introduces himself as the Doctor … Thrown together at their most vulnerable moments, the two Doctors must discover why the snowflakes are suspended in the sky, why a First World War Captain has been lifted from his time stream moments before his death, and who is the mysterious Glass Woman who knows their true name. The Doctor is reunited with Bill, but is she all she seems? And can he hold out against the coming regeneration?
Paul Cornell has written some of Doctor Who‘s best-loved TV episodes, books and comics. He’s also worked on many other TV shows. His other comics projects include his creator-owned series Saucer State and This Damned Band, and runs on Action Comics, Batman and Robin and Wolverine. He’s also the author of the Lychford series of fantasy novellas and the Shadow Police novels. He’s won the British Science Fiction Association Award for his short fiction and the Eagle Award for his comics.
City of Death by James Goss
Visiting Paris in 1979, the Doctor and Romana’s hopes for a holiday are soon shattered by armed thugs, a suave and dangerous Count, a plot to steal the Mona Lisa and a world-threatening experiment with time. Teaming up with a British detective, the Time Lords discover that a ruthless alien plot hatched in Earth’s pre-history has reached its final stage. If Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth, cannot be stopped then the human race is history, along with all life on Earth…
James Goss has adapted three Doctor Who stories by Douglas Adams for BBC Books (City of Death, The Pirate Planet, and The Krikkitmen) and has also written several original Doctor Who and Torchwood books. His novel #Haterz is in development as a motion picture. He’s also written for the stage and the radio.
