Posted in: Comics | Tagged: doctor who, Gary Russell, mark gatiss, novelisations, target

Doctor Who Target Novelisations Delayed From July to March 2021

Last year we got the news that there were to be seven new novelisations of Doctor Who episodes in the format of the Target novelisations of old, and they were all scheduled to be published this month, the 23rd of July. As a result of printing, distribution and sales issues caused by the current global situation, the books have been delays – and have now been rescheduled for March 11th, 2021.

These include Robert Shearman adapting his 2005 Doctor Who episode Dalek into a novel. Of which he recently said 'Straight into the museum! I didn't write a Tardis scene, because I found it oddly intimidating. Too much like a fan living the dream! Always regretted it. So fifteen years later I made myself write one for the Target book. (Still intimidating.)'

'The entire Dalek race, wiped out in one second. I watched it happen. I made it happen!'

The Doctor and Rose arrive in an underground vault in Utah in the near future. The vault is filled with alien artefacts. Its billionaire owner, Henry van Statten, even has possession of a living alien creature, a mechanical monster in chains that he has named a Metaltron.

Seeking to help the Metaltron, the Doctor is appalled to find it is in fact a Dalek – one that has survived the horrors of the Time War just as he has. And as the Dalek breaks loose, the Doctor is brought back to the brutality and desperation of his darkest hours spent fighting the creatures of Skaro… this time with the Earth as their battlefield.

Mark Gatiss will write an adaptation of his 11th Doctor adventure The Crimson Horror,

'We must get to the bottom of this dark and queer business, no matter what the cost!'

Something ghastly is afoot in Victorian Yorkshire. Something that kills. Bodies are washing up in the canal, their skin a waxy, glowing red… But just what is this crimson horror?

Madam Vastra, Jenny and Strax are despatched to investigate the mystery. Strangely reluctant to assist their enquiries is Mrs Winifred Gillyflower, matriarch of 'Sweetville', a seemingly utopian workers' community.

Why do all roads lead to the team's old friends Clara and the Doctor?

Who is Mrs Gillyflower's mysterious silent partner Mr Sweet?

And will the motley gang be in time to defeat the mysterious power that threatens all the world with its poison?

Joy Wilkinson will write the first adaptation of her 13th Doctor episode with The Witchfinders.

'I am an expert on witchcraft, Doctor, but I wish to learn more. Before you die, I want answers.'

The TARDIS lands in the Lancashire village of Bilehurst Cragg in the 17th century, and the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz soon become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner. Fear stalks the land, and the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt.

But the Doctor soon realises there is something more sinister than paranoia and superstition at work. Tendrils of living mud stir in the ground and the dead lurch back to horrifying life as an evil alien presence begins to revive. The Doctor and her friends must save not only the people of Bilehurst Cragg from the wakening forces, but the entire world

Gary Russell will write the novelisation of the 1996 TV movie.

'Who am I…? WHO AM I?'

It's December 1999, and strange things are happening as the new millennium nears. A British police box appears from nowhere in San Francisco's Chinatown and the mysterious man inside it is shot down in the street. Despite the best efforts of Dr Grace Holloway, the man dies and another stranger appears, claiming to be the same person in a different body: a wanderer in time and space known only as the Doctor.

But the Doctor is not the only alien in San Francisco. His deadly adversary the Master is murdering his way through the city and has taken control of the TARDIS. The Master is desperate to take the Doctor's newly regenerated body for himself, and if the Doctor does not capitulate, it will literally cost him the Earth… and every last life on it.

There will also be Target paperback versions of the previous hardcover adaptations by Eric Saward of classic episodes Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks. and of the previous hardcover adaptation by James Goss of the Douglas Adams episode The Pirate Planet

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