Between 1964 and 1966, three books based onFirst Doctor serials were published in hardcover by Frederick Muller Ltd.
Between 1973 and 1991,Target Books published 156 books, covering almost everyDoctor Who television story that was originally broadcast from 1963 to 1989. The Target Books imprint was also used for five books in 2018 and seven books published in 2021.
In 1996, BBC Books published a novelization of the1996 TV movie. From 2012 to 2019, BBC Books published novelisations of the 1970s and 1980s serials Target was unable to publish. Most of these books were republished starting in 2018 as part ofThe Target Collection, which also included adaptations of select episodes of the revived series.
One range of novelisations, the companion range, focused on telling new stories centred around the companions. 2 novels were published in this series.
In 1989, a series of novelisations of unproduced TV stories began. There are 7 books in this series.
Virgin New Adventures: Published from 1991 to 1999, these continued the story of the Doctor from the point at which the television programme went into hiatus from television in 1989. They featured the Seventh Doctor from 1991 to 1997, plus one book with the Eighth Doctor. From 1997 to 1999, they focused onBernice Summerfield and the Doctor did not appear. 84 books were published in this series.
Virgin Missing Adventures: Published from 1994 to 1997, these featured theFirst throughSixth Doctors with stories set between televised episodes of the programme. They complemented theVirgin New Adventures range. 33 books were published in this series.
Virgin Decalog: Published from 1994 to 1997, these contained multiple short stories published in one book.[1]
Past Doctor Adventures: Published from 1997 to 2005, these featuredFirst throughSeventh Doctors, following the lead set byVirgin Missing Adventures series. 76 books were published in this series.
BBC Short Trips: Published from 1998 to 2000, these were short story anthologies, following a pattern established by theVirgin Decalog series. Three volumes were published in this series.
New Series Adventures: Published from 2005 (and still active), these feature theNinth Doctor onwards. The featured Doctor aligns with the active TV series. As of February 2025, 78 standard-length novels, 8+ larger "supersize" novels, 38 original audiobooks and various other books have been published.
The Doctor Who Monsters Books are a series of guide books related to Doctor Who. The first three books, released from 2005 to 2007, dealt with the monstrous foes faced bythe Doctor in the television series. The fourth book, released in 2008, focused on spaceships rather than monsters, similar to the fifth book,Companions and Allies by Steve Tribe, which dealt with The Doctor's companions.The Ultimate Monster Guide is the sixth, and contains completely revised and updated entries from the first three books.
Shortly after they acquired the license to produce Doctor Who audios they also started to produceDoctor Who Books.
Big Finish Short Trips: Published from 2001 to 2009 byBig Finish Productions, these are short story anthologies. The name was inherited theBBC Short Trips series, which was discontinued by BBC Books for cost reasons. Big Finish Productions negotiated a licence to continue producing these collections, publishing them in hardback to allow for a higher cover price. 28 volumes were published in this series.
Bernice Summerfield: a series of 31 books starringVirgin New Adventures character: Bernice Summerfield.
Iris Wildthyme: a series of 23 books starringEighth Doctor Adventures character: Iris Wildthyme.
New Worlds: a series of 2 unrelated books which were released under this imprint and don't fit into another category.
Since being formed, Telos Publishing Ltd. has published a wide variety of works, fromoriginal novellas based onDoctor Who to original horror and fantasy novels. They also produce a variety of unofficial guide books to popular television and film series, as well as theTime Hunter series of novellas.Starburst magazine called them "perhaps the UK's best-known independent publishers of Doctor Who books".[2]
A series focused on "time sensitive" Honoré Lechasseur and "time channeler" Emily Blandish, characters first introduced in Telos'Doctor Who novellaThe Cabinet of Light.
Make Your Own Adventure/Find Your Fate: In 1986, a series of sixmultiple-plot concept books by several authors was published in parallel bySevern House asMake Your Own Adventure With Dr Who andBallantine Books asFind Your Fate: Dr Who. Each volume allows for different progressions based on the readers decisions and dice rolls:Search for the Doctor,Crisis in Space,[3]Garden of Evil,[4]Mission to Venus,Invasion of the Ormazoids andRace Against Time.
Faction Paradox: A series of books about the story of faction paradox and the associated "War in Heaven" released by various publishers. 31 books were published in this series.
Over the years two now rather rare charity books have been published: Time's Champion and Seasons of War: Gallifrey
Erimem: a series of books about fifth doctor companion Ermimem by Thebes publishing. There are 16 books in this series.
^Weinberg Jeffman, Tauana Mariana; Smidt Mainardi, Marina (2016). "Literatura Whovian e Cultura de Fã: Uma análise sobre consumo de livros por fãs da série Doctor Who".Vozes & Diálogo.15 (2).
^Bunnell, John C. (November 1986). "The Role of Books".Dragon magazine. No. 115.TSR, Inc. pp. 71–72.The only safe generalization to be made about this newest twist on the multiple-plot concept is that the idea is certifiably weird.
^Bunnell, John C. (January 1987). "The Role of Books".Dragon magazine. No. 117.TSR, Inc. p. 83.David Martin returns with a solid story that again transcends the multiple-plot form to compete favorably with the full-length novels.
