In a couple of months, BBC Books is releasing a new novel featuring the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) — written by the same novelist who adapted Ncuti’s first adventure for the Target range!

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson previously wrote the novelisation of The Church on Ruby Road, and, in November, gives us The Moon Cruise. It’s the third original Fifteenth Doctor and Belinda novel of the year, after Fear Death by Water by Emily Cook and Spectral Scream by Hannah Fergesen, both released in May.

Here’s the blurb for The Moon Cruise:

Step right up for the most sensational cruise in the galaxy!

The TARDIS lands on board a luxury space liner owned by the interstellar shipping magnate, Marilyn Moon. The Moon Cruise offers its wealthy passengers up-close views of astounding cosmic wonders and the Doctor and Belinda are soon high rolling it on the top deck.

But there is a sinister side to life on board. What is the secret of the smiling, blonde-haired mannequins? What happens to the cruise ship workers when they go off shift? The Doctor soon learns that not all prisons come with bars on the windows, while Belinda faces one of the greatest cruelties in the universe – a zero-pay contract in retail and hospitality that can never be broken…

It’s good to see the novel range still going ahead, although it’s sad that it’s a far cry from the glory days of the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) era, during which sets of three books were published every few months.

Otherwise, we do have Target novels of stories like Lux and The Well, but as for original fiction, it appears that BBC Books is slowing down somewhat.

Still, Jikiemi-Pearson’s book looks decent, and we’re always looking for new stories for the Fifteenth Doctor, an incarnation whose life was cut shockingly short on TV.

The Moon Cruise is released on 13th November 2025, and is available to pre-order now.