Doctor Who Literature

And, incidentally, a Happy Halloween, to all of you at home. Welcome to the first episode of Doctor Who Literature made after the airing of "The Power of the Doctor", the BBC centenary episode, and the last hurrah for Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall. I appeared on Trap One earlier this week to discuss the episode. And be sure to check out DWLit vets Conrad, Mark, and Pete, discussing the Disney...

This episode is being released the same day that "The Power of the Doctor" -- the Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall finale -- is set to air. One day ago, we received this gorgeous new trailer. How excited are you for this episode? We are, and we'll talk about it a lot today. My guest this week is a returning guest, Daniel Knight (@DanielKnight73). We'll be talking "The Robots of Death", TV and bo...

For the third straight week on Doctor Who Literature, we are examining the novelization of a Bob Baker & Dave Martin TV episode. Made at the very beginning of the Graham Williams era, the first story produced as part of Season 15, this proves to be a somewhat rocky maiden voyage for Doctor Who's incoming producer, and the scripts that Williams was handed... probably did not help matters. There...

Doctor Who Literature is now a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network . This week we are joined by Dale Smith, a prolific writer of both Doctor Who fiction and non-fiction. Dale talks about two of his Doctor Who novels and his recent Black Archives volume on "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". You can find Dale's masterful website detailing his writing career here , and can purchase his...

Several program notes this week. We're a big hit in France. The fabulous novelization cover by Roy Knipe generates much talk on Twitter. A major change to the show coming next week -- tune in and find out -- -- but before you do that, stick around this week. The always funny and ever-unpredictable Bill Evenson (of The Frankenstein Minute Podcast and Reality Bomb!) is back. We discuss Frankenstein,...

There comes a time in every Doctor Who podcast's life -- and I'm sure I'll have plenty of them -- where the episode under discussion just isn't that good. This is one of those weeks, but it's a tribute to Doctor Who in general that it took 44 weeks' worth of books to get to this point. Jason opens up with several anecdotes meant to delay the inevitable. Talking about dorm room decorations, Brookly...

This week in September 2022 saw the announcement of the title of the next Doctor Who episode ("The Power of the Doctor"), although not the release date. This week also saw "Cobra Kai" Season 5 drop on Netflix, though that's of slightly less importance to fandom. My guest this week is Paul Simpson ( @scifibulletin ), who has several terrific stories to tell about the early years of the Target Books...

It's been a busy week in world news, especially in England, with the selection of a new Prime Minister, the passing of the Queen, and the accession of a new King. Here on Doctor Who Literature, we tackle the novelization of "The Time Warrior", a book with sole writing credit to Terrance Dicks, but actually the work of two men: Terrance, and Robert Holmes. We spend some considerable time on the boo...

Steven B. ( @steedstylin ) from the excellent New To Who podcast is a first-time guest this week. We have much to discuss about "Tomb of the Cybermen", which premiered 55 years ago this week. We take a look at some of the TV story's more questionable choices on race and ethnicity, and discuss what it was like to watch this story in 1967 when it first aired, versus 1992 when it was recovered after...

Jason is on vacation this week, so here is a pre-recorded episode. We did not discuss the book cover, but this is one of the all-time great Target covers, so take an extra minute to drink that in. Jeff Cummins, everyone. Such a haunting, moody painting. Jason is joined this week by Steve Alexander ( @stealexanderuk ), a very familiar voice to listeners of the Trap One and the "Hamster with a Blunt...

In 2022, it may be mid-August, traditionally a slow season for media, but there's been a lot going on this week. Jason takes a look at the series finale of "Better Call Saul" -- is it the greatest US TV series finale ever? And there's a new trailer out for the Doctor Who Blu-ray Collection -- it's Season 2, and Maureen O'Brien is back on screen as Vicki! We also have listener mail, and a plug for...

Jason pauses the read-through in between the 1977 and 1978 books, and gives the episode over to Jim Sangster, a long-time Doctor Who fan who you know from pretty much everywhere, but most recently from his pandemic-inspired read-through of the Target novelizations in publication order (does that project sound familiar?), the wonderful Escape to Danger blog . You can also find Jim on Twitter and I...

We close out the 1977 Target novelizations with the longest-ever episode of Doctor Who Literature. This is largely because we have two interviews this week. First, former Doctor Who producer Philip Hinchcliffe rejoins Jason to discuss his work on 1970s Doctor Who, specifically the TV production and the novelization of "The Masque of Mandragora". We take a moment to reflect on the passing of Nichel...

"The Talons of Weng-Chiang" is still, by popular acclaim, one of the greatest "Doctor Who" stories of all time. It's still in the top-10 -- out of both Classic and New series -- in the year-2014 DWM survey, and is even top-5 among Classic stories on that list. "Talons" however also has major problems. One is the language; words that may (or may not) have been acceptable in 1977, are certainly not...

"The Deadly Assassin" is the first Season 14 story to be novelized, the first of four straight Season 14 books to come, and the start of a long consecutive run of adaptations of *many* truly excellent Doctor Who stories. Helping me break the book down this week is returning guest Mark ( @QuarkMcMalus ) from The Trap One Podcast . We have much to discuss about Time Lord mythology, the population br...

This week Denise Sutton ( @CupOfTea69 ) is our guest. We discuss what it's like watching Doctor Who overseas, what it's like when "The Dominators" is your birth story, and what links "The Mutants" has to other Bob Baker & Dave Martin scripts. Denise can also be found at her blog and on several terrific episodes of Trap One, such as discussing the Audio Annuals or "The Pirate Planet" . Denise g...

Back for a record-setting fourth appearance on Doctor Who Literature this week is Simon Hart ( @Si_Hart ). We both break down the TV version of "Planet of Evil" -- is this one of Doctor Who's most successful hours? How does the dialogue and plot logic measure up to the many other jewels in the Philip Hinchcliffe era crown? Then we get to the book -- is Terrance Dicks able to work his usual magic o...

It's June 1977, and the release of the novelization of a Doctor Who story whose influence is still being felt in the New Series even 45 years later. It's "The Brain of Morbius". My guest this week is Adam Clegg ( @AdamJClegg ) of the Real McCoy Podcast , and we both have thoughts about Morbius, and the New Adventures, and the current series, and many, many other topics. Catch Jason and Adam togeth...

Jason is joined this week by three-time Doctor Who Literature guest Stacey Smith?, to break down Ian Marter's first novelization, "The Ark in Space". Stacey, who continues to be prolific, recently edited the Outside In volume on Twin Peaks , and, of course, Stacey being Stacey, has several other books in the work. All at once. Other passionate and controversial opinions are exchanged. Jason then d...

It's April 1977, and "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" has just finished its controversial run on TV, but in the books, we are back in the height of the Pertwee era, reading the novelization of 1971's "The Claws of Axos". My conversation this week is with Jan Fennick, a New York-based Doctor Who fan and writer, and a long-time friend of Jason's. We cover lots of ground -- Long Island geography, stories...

Doctor Who Literature is delighted and overjoyed to bring you Jason's interview with Philip Hinchcliffe, the man who produced "The Seeds of Doom" for television and who then wrote the novelization. This half-hour was one of the high points of Jason's decades as a fan and we couldn't be happier to share it with you. Our guest conversation this week is with Shannon Dohar ( @SDohar ), a Doctor Who fa...

It's January 1977 and the start of another year of Target books. It's the third straight Terrance Dicks book, and the third Third Doctor book out of the past four. For a slim book, just 119 pages of text, Terrance manages to make a lot of changes from the TV serial. My guest this week is a returning guest, Pete Lambert ( @Prof_Quiteamess ). We discuss the linguistics of Polari, the evolution of Jo...

Delighted to have Sadie Miller on as my first guest this week to discuss her Big Finish audios, her Doctor Who legacy, and this week's episode, Pyramids of Mars . Joining me on the second half of the program is my good friend Mark from the Trap One Podcast as we discuss the TV story's December 1976 novelization, Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars . What's changed in the book from the TV episodes?...

Delighted to welcome to the show this week, for the first time, Conrad Westmaas . We discuss the ethics of adding illustrations to your own Target book copies, the unexpected career intersection between John Abineri and WInona Ryder, and what it's like to hear Paul McGann namecheck your own character on TV. Is Planet of the Daleks a good story? Conrad also braves a game of "Guess That Cliffhanger!...

BREAKING NEWS! Ncuti Gatwa is the new Doctor Who!! ... but this episode was recorded and edited before the announcement, so join me on Trap One later in the week for a deeper analysis. Welcome to the 25th episode of Doctor Who Literature -- this week is the 49th anniversary of Target's first Doctor Who book releases, and now we're reading their 25th published novelization, "Doctor Who and the Spac...