New Doctor Who Target novels coming from Mark Gatiss, Robert Shearman and Joy Wilkinson

The Target series of books has been running since 1973, each one adapting an episode of the sci-fi show into literary form, with all but five instalments of the original series receiving their own edition.

After ceasing publication in the early '90s as Doctor Who's popularity began to wane, the series was revived by the BBC last year and now seven more entries are on the way, each one featuring a different generation of The Doctor.

Three of these novels will be adaptations from the new era of Doctor Who, which began in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston's debut as the ninth Doctor.

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Robert Shearman will once again handle the iconic return of the Doctor's most fearsome foe in a novelisation of his 2005 episode Dalek. Mark Gatiss will write an adaptation of his 11th Doctor adventure The Crimson Horror, while Joy Wilkinson will bring Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor into the Target line for the first time, with a novelised version of The Witchfinders.

Gatiss said: "Novelisations of the ‘new’ series are the final piece of this whole wonderful puzzle for me and to become a Target author after all this years is a complete delight! It’s been lovely to revisit one of my favourite scripts and flesh out the lurid residents of Sweetville in all their crimson finery."

Wilkinson added: "I'm thrilled to become part of the illustrious tradition of Target novels. It was so much fun dipping my toe back into prose with the Target Storybook so I'm now relishing the chance to return to the world of The Witchfinders and get fully immersed."

Shearman teased: "It feels like a real honour now to go back in time and relive my script... and maybe reveal a few surprises that never made it to the screen..."

The remaining four novels will be of episodes from Doctor Who's original run: paperback editions and re-issues of Eric Saward's prose take on both Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks, James Goss's The Pirate Planet and Gary Russell's novelisation of the 1996 TV movie.

All seven books will be released on Thursday 23rd July 2020.