BBC Books

From the 1980s until 2006, BBC Books served as the book publishing division of BBC Enterprises/Worldwide before being acquired by the Ebury Publishing division of Random House.

Its Doctor Who series, launched in 1997, mirrored the format of Virgin’s New Adventures and Missing Adventures, releasing monthly novels featuring the Eighth Doctor and previous incarnations, categorized as Eighth Doctor Adventures and Past Doctor Adventures.

Between 1997 and 2005, BBC Books published over 100 original novels in the Doctor Who range, along with novelisations of the McGann TV movie and the webcast Scream of the Shalka. It also delved into non-fiction, releasing script collections from the Tom Baker era.

The advent of the new series in 2005 prompted BBC Books to retire the Eighth Doctor and Past Doctor Adventures, ushering in the New Series Adventures featuring the Ninth Doctor in shorter hardcover formats. This line expanded to include the Tenth Doctor in 2006, alongside annual paperback novellas, Quick Reads, and Torchwood novels.

Collaborating with BBC Audio in 2008, BBC Books has also released original audio stories.

In 2010, novels based on the Eleventh Doctor and Torchwood were introduced, with a shift from exclusive hardcovers to paperbacks. Standalone novels for older readers also commenced in 2010, featuring notable authors such as Michael Moorcock, Dan Abnett, Jenny Colgan, and George Mann.