Doctor Who Target Book Reprints

An initial package of six classic Target book titles are to be republished this summer, all complete with their original and iconic Chris Achilleos covers. Currently long since deleted and much sought after, these reprinted Doctor Who novelisations will appeal to old and new readers alike.

Released by BBC Books in July and priced at £4.99 each, the titles are as follows: 

• The Daleks by David Whitaker was the first TV serial to be adapted as a novel, and was published in hardback in November 1964, less than a year after the story was shown. Paperback editions were then issued in 1965 (Armada) and 1973 (Target).
• The Crusaders (based on serial P) also by Whitaker was first published in 1966.
• The Cybermen (based on The Moonbase) by Gerry Davis, 1975.
• The Abominable Snowmen (based on serial NN) by Terrance Dicks, 1974.
• The Auton Invasion (based on Spearhead from Space) also by Dicks, 1974.
• The Cave Monsters (based on The Silurians) by Malcolm Hulke, 1974.

The novels include new forewords from writers Neil Gaiman, Charlie Higson, Gareth Roberts, Stephen Baxter, Russell T Davies, and Dicks, respectively.

Doctor Who: Ripper's Curse #3 Preview

Story - Tony Lee

Artwork - R P Rayner

Cover - T L Edwards

Issued - April 2011

Part 3 of Ripper's Curse (Vol. 2, Issue 4): The future itself is now in a state of flux, but Mary Kelly is still dead. The Doctor realises that his actions have led to more canonical Ripper victims than history recorded, and Amy is remembered as next to be murdered. Can they find her before this future becomes real?

There are further similarities to Matrix here: altered timelines, and the Doctor's companion portrayed as a potential Ripper victim.

Doctor Who: Ripper's Curse #2 Preview

Story - Tony Lee

Artwork - R P Rayner

Covers - T L Edwards (left) and Chris Samnee (right, courtesy of deviantart.com http://www.chrissamnee.com/2011/01/doctor-who-vol2-3-variant-cover.html)

Issued - March 2011

Part 2 of Ripper's Curse (Vol. 2, Issue 3): Jack the Ripper has been captured! The Doctor is in custody accused of the Whitechapel Murders, whilst the real killer is following Amy. What connects her to Mary Kelly, and how has Rory become chief of police?

The alternative, unused version of Samnee's cover was dropped by IDW because of the BBC's strict "no knives" policy (despite a story that centres around the grisly murder of prostitutes).

My favourite Doctor Who novel, Matrix, by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry, also presents the Doctor as a Ripper suspect.

Doctor Who: Ripper's Curse #1 Preview

Story - Tony Lee

Artwork - Richard Piers Rayner

Cover - Tommy Lee Edwards

Issued - February 2011

Published - IDW (Idea and Design Works), USA

(http://uk.io9.com/5781994/its-jack-the-ripper-vs-the-11th-doctor-in-this-exclusive-preview-of-the-doctor-who-comic)

The ongoing Doctor Who comic-book series from IDW presents part 1 of Ripper's Curse (Vol. 2, Issue 2): The TARDIS lands in the East End of London in 1888. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory soon become embroiled in the hunt for history's most infamous murderer, Jack the Ripper!

The Doctor has investigated the Whitechapel Murders before, in Matrix (BBC Books, 1998). Here, the Valeyard travels to Victorian London and assumes the identity of Jack. He uses the killings to power the Dark Matrix (a computer store of the TimeLords' evil impulses), and plans to unleash it's contents into the universe and gain himself a true body. The Seventh Doctor escapes the Valeyard's influence by sealing his conscious mind in the telepathic circuit of the TARDIS, and regains control in time to prevent Ace from becoming the Ripper's sixth victim.