Doctor Who Literature

1986 saw the release of the first two Companions of Doctor Who novels, original full-length books rather than novelizations of Doctor Who TV serials. There would only be one more after this one. Harry Sullivan's War was written by Ian Marter, who died tragically young, on his own 42nd birthday, just a couple of weeks after the book's release. Jim Sangster rejoins me as the guest for this w...

Returning to Doctor Who Literature this week is Conrad Westmaas, one of the great friends of this show, who brings news from Big Finish and the convention circuit. After catching up, Conrad and Jason dive into this week's Doctor Who episode and novelization, Fury From the Deep , which may well be one of the 60 greatest Doctor Who stories of the past 60 years. A link to the choose-your-own-adve...

Very happy to have on the show this week Nathan Skreslet from PixelWho , an innovative Doctor Who online store , which has supplied the bookmark Jason uses while reading the novelizations -- among other art. Michael Storm from our Mark of the Rani episode has blogged about his appearance and about the book/TV episode. Shout out to the recent Gallifrey's Most Wanted episode covering The King&#3...

Jim Sangster is back on Doctor Who Literature , not only with a new song (and, as usual, a banger), but with a new video as well Jim is here to discuss Doctor Who 's Season 20 classic The King's Demons . Recent Jason podcast appearances discussed in the episode include: Trap One: The Underwater Menace Trap One: Gally Report Trap One: The Daleks -- In Colour Who & Company: Jason & D...

Doctor Who fans may love Pip & Jane Baker. Doctor Who may hate Pip & Jane Baker. But Doctor Who fans cannot ignore Pip & Jane Baker, and what unique voice they brought to their scripts and especially their four novelizations in between Seasons 22 and 24 of Classic Who. And now in publication order we reach the first of their books: The Mark of the Rani . And please give a warm Doctor W...

Here on Doctor Who Literature we take a brief scheduled break from the novelizations. It's still May 1986, and not only did we get the Doctor Who novelization of Timelash, but now we get the debut of the short-lived Companions of Doctor Who line. First up, Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma . Which doubles as the first original Doctor Who novel. Many more would follow. Joining me to break this...

Recorded live at Gallifrey One in Los Angeles last week, Simon Guerrier -- author of the magisterial new biography of David Whitaker -- sits down with me, and Mark from Trap One -- to discuss one of Doctor Who 's more controversial episodes... Timelash . Plus, a brief recap of Gally. Mark and I also collaborated on a Trap One Gally Field Report . If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, sub...

Live from Los Angeles, it's Saturday night... or rather, Sunday morning at Gallifrey One. Welcome to the first of three live interviews recorded at the con, with another to follow next week and the third to follow in a couple of months. The accomplished and well-traveled and glamorous Stacey Smith? rejoins me to discuss one of Doctor Who 's less remembered, but possible underrated, 1960s e...

This week's Doctor Who novelization is The Twin Dilemma . Which, when you rank Doctor Who's TV stories from best to worst, is almost always at the bottom of the list. And our Doctor Who Literature guest this week is Graeme Burk, from one of Jason's favorite Doctor Who podcasts, Reality Bomb. Please listen to the two Doctor Who Essentials episodes of Reality Bomb, here and here . If you...

After two weeks celebrating "The Gunfighters", we now spend a week tolerating, or at least giving a curt head nod to, "The Time Monster". Why was this one of the last Pertwee stories to be novelized? If the TV scripts were co-written by Barry Letts, why does Terrance Dicks appear to have so little patience for it? Check out Si's Library of Impossible Things podcast. If you...

Jim Sangster rejoins me this week -- this time in the interviewer's seat -- as we continue our deep dive into The Gunfighters . Why was a particular 1983 Doctor Who hardcover reference book so hard on the story? Did the story effectively kill the historical genre in '60s Who ? Was this the lowest-rated story of all time? Is the inclusion of the ballad a betrayal of the Western genre? Jim a...

Jason loves The Gunfighters . Unreservedly and without irony. It ranked as #13 on his Top 60 of-all-time Doctor Who stories as announced in November 2023. So this episode about the novelization needs to be big, epic, as widescreen as Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas (and Deforest Kelley!) in John Sturges' Gunfight at the OK Corral . This week, Jim Sangster and I focus primarily on the behind-th...

Target Book 100 was a special event for Doctor Who fans. A milestone novel, with a special introduction written by show producer John Nathan-Turner -- his only direct contribution to the Target books -- and with a gold-stamped foil logo and a unique flash above the logo. Is The Two Doctors -- Patrick Troughton's final live contribution to Doctor Who , filmed about two and a half years before h...

NOTE: This episode run time should be 92 minutes. A 66-minute truncated version was erroneously sourced first. We have now updated the stream. And, incidentally, a happy 2024 to all of you at home. We are no longer on Twitter, but can be found on YouTube, BlueSky, and all your favorite podcast apps of choice. Jim Sangster rejoins me this week with a specially recorded "Direction Point" i...

And, incidentally, a happy 2024 to all of you at home! Mark from Trap One is my guest this week. We discuss the coming changes to Doctor Who Literature as Jason is deleting Twitter. You can find this show on BlueSky and YouTube going forward, as well as your favorite podcast apps of choice. Jason and Mark watch Doctor Who 's first New Year's Day special -- Volcano, Episode 8 of The Daleks&...

We are up to one of Doctor Who's all-time greats -- The Invasion , Number 19 on Jason's recent Top 60 list for the 60th anniversary. Rejoining me after a too-long hiatus is Pete Lambert ( @Prof_Quiteamess ). And joining us for her first guest reading on Doctor Who Literature is Lucy McCaul ( @LucyMcCaul ). Interested in The Golden Land ? A trailer from the theatrical staging in NYC a few y...

Please welcome back to the show Mr. Si Hart ( @Si_Hart ) as we travel back into antiquity and explore The Myth Makers . But first, in a conversation recorded two days before the premiere of The Giggle , we predict what might happen in Doctor Who 's latest episode. Spoiler alert, one of us is very, very right, and the other one of us (me) is very, very wrong. Check out Si's new solo podcast...

After taking a month to observe Doctor Who 's 60th anniversary with a wide range of guest interviews, we're back -- like RTD back with David Tennant and Catherine Tate to ring in the TV show's newest era -- to look at the Target novelizations, picking up with the July 1985 paperback release of The Mind of Evil . Jim Sangster ( @Monster_Maker ), who brings so much behind-the-scenes valu...

Happy Doctor Who Day, everybody! Except this episode is not narrated by Paul McGann . My first guest this week is a great one, Mr. Paul Hayes ( @the_questmaster ), covering his new non-fiction volume Pull to Open , available from Ten Acre Films , publisher of so much excellent Doctor Who and other BBC-related volumes. You can find Paul's blog here . So soon after discussing the making of Docto...

As we continue on with our monthlong celebration of Doctor Who 's 60th anniversary, please give a warm welcome to Shaun Lyon ( @shaunlyon ), the Program Director and programming head at the annual Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles each February. Shaun and I will be presenting our "60 for 60" lists -- our personal top 60 Who TV stories from the past 60 years. A supercut of Kevin...

We continue on with our 60th anniversary month hiatus from our weekly review of the Doctor Who Target novelizations, with recordings of two interviews that Jason conducted at L.I. Who 2023 this past August, with two Doctor Who novelists, Gary Russell (@twilightstreets) and Mickey Lewis. Two great writers and two great guys. We hope you enjoy. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe,...

My guest this week has already given me dozens of hours of enjoyment as a science fiction and mystery writer. Please welcome Adam Christopher ( @ghostfinder ) to the show. Adam and I discussed many topics, starting with his Doctor Who fandom in New Zealand in the 1980s, and moving on to his wide-ranging professional career. The infamous 1977 blackout can be heard on this newly-unearthed Mets radio...

Andrew Smith ( @Andr3wSmith ) rejoins the show this week to discuss the 1984 TV story The Awakening and its 1985 novelization. Jason and Andrew are coming from very different places with regard to the story, but are more than happy to meet in the middle... and each brings a diabolical game for the other to play. Shannon Patrick Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel) brings us some data on...

After a run of pre-recorded episodes, Jason is back with a (somewhat) live episode full of current events, Doctor Who news, and tons of feelings. Ross Aitken ( @traitken ) from Gallifrey's Most Wanted is our guest this week. The conversation is fast and furious and might not have much to do with Marco Polo , but it's typically intense and wide-ranging. Please consider ordering in Outside I...

A perennial consensus choice for one of the Greatest Of All Time Doctor Who episodes, The Caves of Androzani features an intense script by Robert Holmes, one of Peter Davison's most well-rounded and Doctor-ish performances, groundbreaking direction by Graeme Harper, Roger Limb's best-ever score, and... well, so much else to praise. My guest this week is truly one of the foremost experts on...