Well, here’s something unexpected from a company that specialises in audio adventures: Big Finish is to release deluxe hardback reissues of the Radio Times specials which celebrated Doctor Who’s 10th and 20th anniversaries!

Back in 1973 and 1983, the Radio Times put out special celebratory editions with iconic covers, and now those two magazines have been restored and will be republished as collector’s edition hardback books, released this November by Big Finish Productions.

The magazines are packed with features, including interviews with Doctor Who cast and crew. They also include original fiction by Daleks creator Terry Nation and series script editor Eric Saward.

Big Finish has released books now and then in the past, but they’re comparatively rare. And never anything like this before!

Big Finish senior producer John Ainsworth said:

“The 10th anniversary and 20th anniversary Radio Times specials were unique publications, marking Doctor Who’s first two significant anniversaries. Both offered insights into the series and its history, and became treasured, well-thumbed reference works by all who bought them.

“The original publications are now rare to find, and – due to their magazine format – even rarer to find in good condition. So, it’s particularly exciting that Big Finish now has the opportunity to publish, for the first time, exact replicas of both these specials, in hardback volumes.

“Painstaking work has been carried out to restore photographs, and to make these specials accurate in every detail, replicating the original publications. These two books will become essential works in any Doctor Who library.”

They do look pretty fab — however, they’ll hit your bank accounts like Adric and the end of the Cretaceous Period: the Radio Times Doctor Who Specials are now available to pre-order for £25 each, or £45 for a multi-buy bundle of the two books. Yowch. Still, at least they’re hardback; at least Big Finish is experimenting; and at least they should stay looking all beautiful.