By Steven Moffat

BBC Books, out April 5

The Tenth, Eleventh and self-proclaimed War Doctor all collide to save the universe from a destructive force and a Zygon invasion.

There’s a lovely photo of an eight-year-old Steven Moffat, deep in concentration, reading the Target paperback of Doctor Who and the Daleks, and if anyone were to wonder why the former showrunner has now taken the opportunity to novelise one of his episodes, I would just hold up that photo as justification. They say that you should write about what you know, and Moffat clearly knows his Target books. Like many of us fans in the 1970s and 1980s, this series of books was Doctor Who when new episodes weren’t on TV, serving as a gateway to not only older stories but to the idea of reading for leisure.

Moffat has wisely chosen to adapt his 50th Anniversary spectacular as his first novel, and his love for the show absolutely drips off the pages. By far the longest of the five new Target books (232 pages, while the others are all under 200, and with larger font), don’t assume that this is a children’s book. Far from it. This is a satisfying read for an adult, providing so much additional detail and context than seen on screen.

At their worst, the Target books pretty much took the scripts and added basic linking description, while the best (usually by the original author) transformed the story by adding what couldn’t be afforded on a TV budget or was cut for reasons of timing or pace. I’ve no idea if The Day of the Doctor very nearly looked like the version committed to paper, but it’s a great great read.

From the dedication – ‘In memory of Sir John Hurt, who saved the Day’ – to the closing diagram, this is a complete package. Even the Contents page isn’t standard, starting with Chapter 8 – The Time of the Doctor (see what they did there?) and then flitting to 11 – The Flight of the Doctor, before flitting forwards and backwards numerically in true trademark Moffat timey-wimey way. Chapters are divided by italicised interludes, the Doctor Papers, providing additional insight and clarification around why things happened the way they did. And that’s all I’m going to tell you – part of the pleasure in the reading is the discovery of an Easter egg.

Aesthetically, the books look handsome, using the same faux weathered off-white wash used in the re-issues of 2011, 2012 and 2016. It’s a shame that they haven’t used the same device of having a small illustration of the relevant Doctor at the top of the spine, or even gone really old school and used ‘and the’ in the title, but these are minor quibbles. The same gold-embossed logo as the recent re-issues is used – I wonder if the new 2018 logo will be used on any future ones? The cover designs by Anthony Dryer are in the same style as Chris Achilleos’ Target covers, with the Doctors’ faces in black and white, and the remainder in colour with pop-art cutout Dalek.

Verdict: What a debut novel – this man will go far! Packed with all the love, detail, wit and joy that you would expect from the series’ showrunner, this is hands down the best Target Doctor Who book, and quite possibly the best Doctor Who fiction book. If you only buy one Doctor Who book this year… you get the picture. Wonderful. I really hope he finds the time to write more. 10/10

Nick Joy

Click here to order The Day of the Doctor from Amazon.co.uk