Three new Target Books will adapt the 60th Anniversary specials, and we might be getting them sooner than you’d think…
As if this year’s Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials weren’t exciting enough, you’ll be almost immediately be able to relive the action as much as you want. And, no, Blogtor don’t mean via iPlayer or Disney+. You can do it old school with their very own Target Books novelisations. All three episodes, The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle, will each receive their own novelisation. And they’ll be in fans’ hands mere weeks after the credits roll on the television version. Or perhaps even sooner…
We know what you’re thinking. Yes, following the Doctor Who Weekly original, the Marvel Comics colourised re-edit, the Big Finish audio adaptation starring Tom Baker, and the BBC TV adaptation starring David Tennant, this will be the fifth version of The Star Beast. With the likely audiobook version potentially becoming the sixth. It’s enough to make Shada fear for its trophy for Most Versions. But perhaps you really can’t ever have enough Beep the Meep.
The three authors tackling the new novelisations have been responsible for some of the Doctor and Donna’s greatest adventures
The Star Beast is adapted by Gary Russell, author of no less than 20 novels set in the Doctor Who universe. These include novelisations of the 1996 TV Movie, and of four stories from The Sarah Jane Adventures. He also wrote Beautiful Chaos, featuring the Tenth Doctor, Donna and Wilf which is regarded by many as a high point of the New Series Adventures novel range.
Mark Morris adapts Wild Blue Yonder, having previously written five Doctor Who novels, including Tenth Doctor and Donna book Ghosts of India. The Fourteenth Doctor’s final adventure, The Giggle, will be the twelfth Doctor Who novel by James Goss. He’s particularly celebrated for his Target Books novelisations of Douglas Adams’ TV stories City of Death and The Pirate Planet. The two have been some of most warmly received Targets of modern times. Meanwhile, among his countless scripts for Big Finish, he also wrote the Tenth Doctor Adventures Death and the Queen and No Place, starring David Tennant, Catherine Tate, and Bernard Cribbins.
The ebook editions originally had release dates that possibly teased the broadcast of the episodes themselves
All three books currently have a publication date of the 11th of January. However, the Penguin website previous listed the eBook editions with release dates of
- 27th of November: The Star Beast
- 4th of December: Wild Blue Yonder
- 11th of December: The Giggle
While that has been changed since, it might represent a nice surprise for fans after each episode with the eBook editions, unlike the paperbacks, not running the risk of copies accidentally arriving early. If so, it would also give us a potential hint as to when the episodes themselves will air. The three consecutive Mondays could suggest that the specials will air each previous weekend. But we’ll have to wait and see.
Doctor Who returns in November with three 60th Anniversary specials on BBC One in the UK and Ireland, and Disney+ worldwide
