David Howe was born on 24 August 1961 and established himself (in the early 1980s) as an authoritative media historian through writing articles forfanzines (notablyThe Frame) and other publications. In the early 1990s, he began to write the first in-depth critical texts of the British television seriesDoctor Who, and, as a result, has become closely associated with the show's history.[1][2] He has written or co-written over thirty titles about the show, and continues to be involved with a variety of publications, often acting as consultant or reviewer.
In particular, Howe collaborated on some of the key texts inVirgin Publishing's range ofDoctor Who reference works, including the threeDecades books (withStephen James Walker andMark Stammers), considered to be some of the most in-depth works about the production history of the show.[1][2][3] The same authors followed these with guide books which covered the individual tenures of each Doctor in turn.[2]
Howe and Stephen James Walker set up the publishing houseTelos Publishing in 2000. The first publication under the Telos name was the first edition ofHowe's Transcendental Toybox, written by Howe and Arnold T. Blumberg.[4] (A later edition was described by the BBC'sDoctor Who website as a "definitive collector's guide to Doctor Who merchandise".)[5] Telos' second publication was a collection of tie-in fiction to theChannel 5 horror seriesUrban Gothic. Telos publishedDoctor Whonovellas from 2001 to 2004, whenBBC Worldwide declined to renew its license.[1][6] Telos continues to publish non-Doctor Who works and unofficial Doctor Who reference works, includingThe Handbook, collecting the previously written Virgin Publishing guide booksDoctor Who The Handbook in one volume in 2005, and the 2003 bookThe Television Companion (by Howe and Walker, and previously released asDoctor Who: The Television Companion in 1998 by BBC Publishing; the BBCDoctor Who website described it as the "definitive guide toDoctor Who").[7] In 2007–2008, Howe also served as the editor forTime's Champion, an independentDoctor Who novel based onCraig Hinton's final unpublished novel and completed by his friend Chris McKeon, which features theSixth Doctor and theValeyard.
Howe also wroteDæmos Rising, an original film directed by Keith Barnfarther.[1] He also wrote a story for the firstVirgin Decalog short story collection, his only piece of licensedDoctor Who fiction to be published. He continues to work as co-director of Telos Publishing, which has expanded to publish a wide range of classic and new science fiction stories. In 2011 Howe publishedtalespinning, a collection of short fiction, including several horror stories,Doctor Who fiction anddrabbles.[8][9]
Aside from hisDoctor Who work, Howe was the reviews' editor for thehorror film magazineShivers from 1994 to 2008 when it ceased publication. He was also a contributing editor toStarburst magazine from 1984 to 2001, and edited the book reviews column for that magazine for sixteen years. Howe has also contributed reviews, articles and interviews to publications includingFear,Dreamwatch,Infinity,The Stage,The Dark Side,Doctor Who Magazine,The Guardian,Film Review,SFX,Sci-Fi Entertainment,Collectors' Gazette,Death Ray,Doctor Who Insider and theOxford Dictionary of National Biography. Howe edited theBritish Fantasy Society's bi-monthly newsletter from 1992 to 1995, and was the chair of that organisation from September 2010 to October 2011.[8][11]
Doctor Who The Sixties (hardback, co-written with Stephen James Walker & Mark Stammers, 1992, Virgin Publishing. Paperback published 1993)
Doctor Who The Seventies (hardback, co-written with Walker and Stammers, 1994, Virgin Publishing. Paperback published 1995)
Doctor Who The Eighties (hardback, co-written with Walker and Stammers, 1996, Virgin Publishing. Paperback published 1997)
Doctor Who The Handbook: The Fourth Doctor (paperback, co-written with Walker & Stammers, 1992, Virgin Publishing)
Doctor Who The Handbook: The Sixth Doctor (paperback, co-written with Walker & Stammers, 1993, Virgin Publishing)
Doctor Who The Handbook: The First Doctor (paperback, co-written with Walker & Stammers, 1994, Virgin Publishing)
Doctor Who The Handbook: The Fifth Doctor (paperback, co-written with Walker, 1995, Virgin Publishing)
Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor (paperback, co-written with Walker, 1996, Virgin Publishing)
Doctor Who The Handbook: The Second Doctor (paperback, co-written with Walker & Stammers, 1997 Virgin Publishing)
Doctor Who The Handbook: The Seventh Doctor (paperback, co-written with Walker, 1998 Virgin Publishing)
Doctor Who: Drabble Who (hardback, co-edited with David Wake, 1993, Beccon Publications – collection of 100 short pieces of Doctor Who-related fiction and verse published for charity)
Doctor Who: Timeframe – The Illustrated History (hardback, 1993, Virgin Publishing – The official 30th anniversary of Doctor Who book. Paperback published 1994)
Doctor Who: Companions (hardback, co-written with Stammers, 1995, Virgin Publishing. Paperback published 1996)
Text and photograph co-ordination for Doctor Who 1996 Diary (hardback, 1995 Mallon Publishing, Australia)
Reflections: The Fantasy Art of Stephen Bradbury (text, limp-back, 1996, Paper Tiger). See,Stephen Bradbury (artist)
Doctor Who TX File (text for filofax insert book, 1996, BBC Publishing)
Doctor Who: I Am The Doctor (hardback, co-written with Jon Pertwee, 1996, Virgin Publishing – Jon Pertwee’s Doctor Who autobiography)
Doctor Who: A Book of Monsters (hardback, 1997, BBC Publishing)
Doctor Who: The Television Companion (paperback, co-written with Walker, 1998, BBC Publishing)
Howe’s Transcendental Toybox: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who Collectibles (paperback, co-written with Arnold T Blumberg, 2000, Telos Publishing)
The Television Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who (paperback/hardback, co-written with Walker, 2003, Telos Publishing)
Howe’s Transcendental Toybox: Second Edition: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who Collectibles (paperback, co-written with Arnold T Blumberg, 2003, Telos Publishing)
Howe’s Transcendental Toybox: 2003 Update Edition (paperback, co-written with Arnold T Blumberg, 2004, Telos Publishing)
The Handbook: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Production of Doctor Who (paperback/hardback, co-written with Walker & Stammers, 2005, Telos Publishing)
The Target Book: A History of the Target Doctor Who Books (co-written with Tim Neal, paperback, 2007, Telos Publishing)
