Six novels for six decades: BBC Books celebrates Doctor Who’s Diamond Anniversary with a range of original fiction
Doctor Who’s Diamond Anniversary is being marked by BBC Books with a series of novels inspired by each decade in the show’s history. The books arrive on shelves and letterboxes on the 26th of October. So just in time to read in the run up to the big date itself on the 23rd of November. Six books have been confirmed so far, devoted to eras from the 1960s to the 2010s, though it’s possible a seventh, 2020s one may yet be added to the list. Intriguingly, for the moment, each novel is going by a simple description such as “Doctor Who 60s Book.”
BBC Books have yet to reveal their actual names. However, we do have a sense of the plot of each one, as well as the names of the authors. They include writers both familiar to Who fans such as Jac Rayner and Dave Rudden. But also ones new to the Doctor’s world but celebrated in their field, such as Kalynn Bayron, Nikita Gill, Tash Suri and Mark Griffiths.
The range takes the Doctors and their friends to each decade for six new adventures as diverse as Doctor Who itself. Each book in the series is approximately 240 pages long, and a recommended retail price of £9.99. You can pre-order all six books now from all the usual retailers.
1960s by Jacqueline Rayner
It’s Christmas, 1963, when six-year-old Gerald starts playing a new game: ‘Daleks’.
It’s a game full of dangers and daring and terrible, mutated monsters. Gerald’s parents think it’s harmless at first. But then things start getting out of hand, as Gerald insists there are yetis in the basement, and Cybermen invading London.
Desperate for help, what Gerald’s family really need, right now, is a Doctor.
1970s by Natasha Suri
It is London, 1978, and tensions are high. Seema and her family are struggling, but she has learnt to keep her head down, not create trouble.
That is until she and her two friends, Terrence and Inderjit, decide to join an anti-National Front protest in the East End. And when trouble does inevitably find them, the friends are saved by the appearance of a mysterious, seemingly broken-down bus. But inside this bus it is like nothing any of them have ever seen. It is a journey through the most wonderful landscapes, where visions of hopes and dreams envelope the lost group.
Who – or what – is this strange place? The tall, grumpy man with white hair might know the answers, but then he seems just as scared as they are . . .
1980s by Mark Griffiths
Midnight, 1984.
In a sprawling, run-down housing estate in south London, a man returning from a night out in the West End finds himself pursued by a strange hooded figure. So naturally when the Doctor and Romana arrive in the TARDIS the next day, they find themselves in the middle of a crime scene.
But when child genius Matthew Pickles – inventor of a hugely popular handheld videogame – arrives to help them crack the case, they discover there is more to this than meets the eye. Someone has been messing with technology that’s not of this earth, blurring the lines between human . . . and cyber. And it looks like they’re out for revenge.
In a world on the brink of gadgets and gismos and dangerous tech, the pair must uncover the killer, before they strike again.
1990s by Dave Rudden
It’s Dublin in 1994, and the Doctor and Donna have arrived at the tiny nightclub known as Headlong.
Headlong is famous for precisely one thing – holding the karaoke night where four young women came together to make the biggest girl band of the 90s: the Honeybloods. Donna has convinced the Doctor to visit their first ever concert (she reckons she could have been a Honeyblood if the timelines were different) – and he has begrudgingly agreed. Naturally the band is kidnapped by a deadly pack of siren-like creatures who feed off human adulation, usually harvested by taking the form of cultural icons.
With Dublin and the world to save, Donna may get her chance to perform on the world’s biggest stage.
2000s by Kalynn Bayron
When the Doctor and Rose stumble across thirteen-year-old Lily, they both agree she needs their help.
Lily thinks there are monsters in the closet, hiding under the bed. And that they’ve taken her mother and brother – who went missing months ago. When asked about the monster, Lily can only say it’s made of immense light and power. Rose and the Doctor must find out who and what the creature is, and where it’s taken Lily’s family.
It is a search that will take them from the Cardiff Rift right back to the childhood of Lily’s grandmother, and another disappearance all those years ago . . .
2010s by Nikita Gill
A poem of tragedy and beauty . . .
The Weeping Angels are an ancient race of terrible power. With the ability to propel their victims backwards in time, their true form is a mystery – they turn to stone on sight. So they wander the universe, cursed never to see one another. But they see everything else: the whole course of time and space – even the journey of their deadliest enemy, the Doctor.
In this extraordinary, epic poem, the Weeping Angels sing the story of the years they’ve battled the Doctor, and everything in between, as – like a Greek Chorus – they tell the world with their tragic tale.
Cool article but it’s Mark Griffiths rather than Griffith.
Apologies! That typo’s now been corrected and Polyphase Avatron dispatched to deal with those responsible.
Thank you!
Great way to celebrate 60 years, by missing out significant incarnations. Well done, BBC.