By David J. Howe

Telos Publishing, out now

The history of the New Adventures

A lot has been written about the New Adventures, the series of Doctor Who novels that Virgin Publishing brought out mainly during the hiatus between the seventh Doctor’s final BBC 1 adventure, Survival and the TV Movie featuring Paul McGann. They were a way of keeping the Doctor’s adventures alive, with a number of new writers learning their craft in public, and ideas that were “too broad” for the small screen often at their heart. For those of us who bought them month in and month out, they were proof that the ideas behind the Doctor could carry on in many different forms; for those who’ve come later, they’re often seen as an essential link between Survival and Rose in 2005. (This isn’t the place for that discussion, but I think their place is not as strong as hindsight has made it out.)

David J. Howe, who was chronicling the non-fiction history of Doctor Who for Virgin at the same time as these were coming out, has put together a glorious celebration of the novels (as well as honourable mentions for the Missing Adventures, the Benny NAs that followed and the various adaptations and reprints over the years). This isn’t an analysis of the story content or the themes – that’s amply covered elsewhere – but the history of how they came to be, from the earliest “original” Virgin output (the Companions novels) to the only 8th Doctor tale, The Dying Days. Some of the myths are finally exploded publicly, and there’s a plethora of illustrations showing alternate versions of the artwork, as well as collecting Phil Bevan’s DWM material between hard covers.

Howe has included some – although thankfully not all – of the contemporary reviews, and it’s quite disconcerting to read your own words from nearly 30 years ago… although I stand by every piece quoted. There’s plenty of input from the key creatives at Virgin, as well as box outs on writers, artists and other key personnel.

Verdict: Come for the beautifully reproduced artwork, stay for the historical insights – one of Telos’ best books of recent times. 9/10

Paul Simpson