Why I Love the Target Books

The Target Books are one of the most beloved aspects of the wider Doctor Who franchise. In this look-back, I'm going to explain how they continue to appeal to new and old fans, nearly 50 years later...

A compilation of various Target covers, designed by the likes of Chris Achilleos, Jeff Cummings and a variety of others.

Back in the days before home media, before VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, Twitch and Britbox, there were only two ways to enjoy a Doctor Who adventure again after its transmission. If you were lucky, you might be able to catch a repeat: these were often infrequent (in the whole of the black-and-white era of the programme, only 8 individual episodes were repeated), and often only one or two stories at a time. The other way was to read a Target Book. These were novelisations of the TV episodes, taking the scripts and adapting them into prose. Over 160 books were published between 1973 and 1994, adapting pretty much every story from the classic series into books of about 200 pages in length, and, in doing so, allowed fans the chance to relieve their favourite stories, or discover adventures that they had missed, or had not been old enough to watch at the time. As such, they developed a following very much of their own, and, for fans of the 1970's and 1980's, they are as much a part of their enjoyment of the show as the TV series, or the World Distributors annuals were. But even for new fans, there's a certain pleasure to be derived from the novelisations, as they bring the TV adventures to life in a different way, and make for an experience all their own, which has now even lead to the line being revived by BBC Books in recent years. For so many Doctor Who fans, these form the bedrock of their literary heritage, and often have been the direct inspiration to pursue their own literary careers.

The cover artwork for "The Three
Doctors" novelisation, designed by
Chris Achilleos, was inspired by the
cover of an issue of the Fantastic
Four Marvel comic.

Unlike the TV show, the Target Books can be said to have had one defining authorial voice across their lifetime: Terrance Dicks. The script editor for the end of Patrick Troughton's run, and the whole of the Jon Pertwee era, Dicks was approach in 1974 to novelise the Third Doctor's first story "Spearhead From Space". Because he knew the show incredibly well, Dicks was the natural choice for these novels, and he ended up novelising over 60 stories for the line, making him, far and away the most prolific contributor. Not just taking on stories he was directly involved with like "Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion", "Death to the Daleks" and "The Three Doctors", he also novelised tales like "Destiny of the Daleks", "The Wheel  in Space" and "The Mysterious Planet", and brought a style all of his own. His sharp prose and his stock style of descriptions has become infamous among Doctor Who fans, and have been used in novels ever since. The infamous 'wheezing, groaning sound', used to describe the TARDIS' materialisation effect even ended up being used to describe the sound in the 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", showing the reach of these books on the show's history. Dicks set the stall for how all Doctor Who fiction books would be written in the future. In that regard then, they are an interesting read for that alone, but it also helps that these are wonderfully written books, with a real flair for bringing the world of the stories to life in prose. Take the opening line of "Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth", for example - 'Through the ruin of a city stalked the ruin of a man'. It's a line that manages to say an awful lot without saying very much at all, and it sets the scene beautifully for the adventure to come. The wonderful thing about these books is how they offer new insights into old stories, particularly in recent books like Steven Moffat's novelisation of "The Day of the Doctor". Here, we get a whole new perspective on the events of this landmark story, and Moffat delves into the character of the Doctor more than perhaps any other piece of the show's history. This also amounts to altering the story to better fit the world of prose: the early Target Books would adapt the history of the show as they saw fit. "Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon" introduced Jo Grant for the first time, despite "Terror of the Autons" being her introductory story on television. Of course, the most infamous example is the very first novelisation, "Doctor Who and the Daleks", which completely ignores the very first Doctor Who story, and introduces the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan all over again. Later novels would also take much the same approach: John Peel's Dalek novelisations tie all the stories together into a loose narrative arc, and even reference the events of "Genesis of the Daleks", despite the fact these adaptations occur chronologically before "Genesis"! It may seem like defeating the object of these books, but, often, these changes deepen and enhance the story being told, as well as occasionally being used to clear up plot inconsistencies or holes that, on TV, the show simply didn't have time to look at. All of these broaden our understanding of the stories, and allow us to go deeper into character's motivations and perspectives than ever before, as well as the worlds and times the Doctor visits. And, particularly regarding the classic series stories, all the effects are in your head. There's no dodgy explosions, no wobbly sets, no over-the-top acting. Everything is how you want it to be, as all you have is the prose to guide you. You can create stories that the TV series would never have been able to afford at the time, something that has inspired generations of children, and continues to do so to this day.

The cover for "Doctor Who and the Web of Fear",
designed by Chris Achilleos, came to define the story
for a generation of fans, who were unable to view
the story due it being missing from the BBC
Archives.

For me, personally, I love the Target Books, as they represent one of the purest forms of preserving Doctor Who's history. The first Target Book I read, bought at the old Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool, was "Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor" in 2007. At the time, this story wasn't available on DVD, and, as such, was my first experience of this story. And immediately, I began devouring as many books as I could get hold of, including "Catrovalva", "Doctor Who and the Sun Makers" and "Warriors of the Deep". I loved the sharp, vivid prose and how they took Doctor Who stories that I was familiar with, and turned them into brand new experiences, or brought stories that hadn't been released on DVD to life. Sadly, the Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool closed in 2010, and my supply dried up (the pop-up Doctor Who museum in Manchester was also a source of some of the books, as was a 2008 edition of Doctor Who Magazine, where I acquired a copy of "Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet" - my first experience of the First Doctor's regeneration story!), bar a few books like "Survival", which I was able to get at Forbidden Planet. However, when BBC Books began reprinting titles in 2011, I was ecstatic, especially at the list of titles. They were classics like "Doctor Who and the Daleks", "Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion" and "Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters" that I had been hoping to pick up for some time, but sadly these were the titles that were much harder to find. As such, the reprints were right up my street. Honestly, "Doctor Who and the Daleks" might be my favourite ever Doctor Who book, and it is a novel I go back to regularly. I love the way it takes the story we think we know, and puts a whole new spin on it, that is fresh and exciting every time I read it. Of course, the natural next step was to start creating new novelisations: firstly to complete the set of classic series novels, and then to start creating new adaptations of new series stories. Now, of course, in this day and age, it may seem a little strange that you'd even want to turn stories into novels when they are easy to find on BBC iPlayer or Britbox or Blu-Ray. However, there's still a thrill about getting a new novelisation of a Doctor Who episode, and this new approach has allowed for the writers of these episodes to expand a story that normally is told at a break-neck pace, and give them extra depth, as well as adding in material that may have been cut from the script due to time. And, of course, for younger fans, it can instill in them a love of reading that will last for a lifetime. Many fans have accredited their love of reading to the Target Books, and even a large number of writers on Doctor Who today have put their passion for writing down to these books. For me, while I wouldn't say they fired a passion for writing, they are seminal texts in my reading history, and I've often found myself coming back to them time and time again. Books like "Doctor Who and the Crusaders", "Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion" and "Doctor Who and the Cybermen" are masterclasses in suspenseful storytelling and they bring these timeless stories to life in a timeless way. While TV does date, of course it does, prose remains constant, no matter what, I feel. And I think that, as time goes on, and TV Doctor Who moves further away from where it started, these books will once more become the way new fans get into the show's past. That's why I hope the BBC reprint the whole range at some point, so that we can have a neat, tidy collection on the shelf, as well as enjoying new titles that they will inevitably print at some point.

The iconic cover for "Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion", designed by Chris Achilleos, depicts the Doctor being attacked by a Pterodactyl, accompanied by the memorable 'Kklak!' sound. Achilleos believed that making the cover as dynamic as possible was the most important thing to do with these covers, and this comic-style effect became one of the most memorable in the history of the novels. It even spawned a variety of fan look-alikes.

The Target Books are, I feel, just as important a part of the show's history as Big Finish Productions, Doctor Who Magazine and even the TV show itself. They were the only way that a whole generation of fans could go back to old Doctor Who stories they had enjoyed previously, or to catch up a story they may have missed, and would never get the chance to see. But even today, they provide a new way for fans to enjoy their favourite stories, or even ones they may not have been enamoured with on television. I love the Target Books for these reasons, and I hope this post has displayed why I love them so much. To some, they may be mere novelisations, but, without them, the franchise would be so much less than it is today.

The new set of 7 Target Books, adapting classic TV adventures "The Pirate Planet", "Resurrection of the Daleks" and "Revelation of the Daleks", new adaptations of new episodes "Dalek", "The Crimson Horror" and "The Witchfinders", and an adaptation of the 1996 "TV Movie" are out now, and are available from Amazon, as well as all good independent bookshops and book websites.

All pictures copyright to the BBC & Chris Achilleos. Thank you very much for reading. You can subscribe by clicking the link at the top of the page to be notified of new content.