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Friday, 21 April 2006 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Some reports on new, recent and upcoming Doctor Who related merchandise:
The BBC Shop Doctor Who Store is now listing the Complete Series Two DVD Boxed Set for Region 2 (UK) release on Monday 20 November, with a recommended retail price of 69.99 (the shop itself is offering a pre-order price of 44.99). The blurb for the five-disc set (BBCDVD2122) reads: "Can Rose trust a man with a new face? David Tennant (Casanova, Blackpool, Quatermass Experiment, Harry Potter) steps into the role of the Doctor for the second series of Doctor Who. Following on from the phenomenal success of the first series, the second installment is full of more thrills, more laughs, more heartbreak and some terrifying new aliens. The Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria, an evil race of Cat Women and the dreaded Cybermen."
Doctor Who: Battles in Time is a new collectible card game and companion magazine licenced by BBC Worldwide. Roughly styled on collectable card sets like the hugely popular "Magic: The Gathering," the first set of cards "is the Exterminator series and it covers everything from Daleks to the Moxx of Balhoon". The magazine is intended to be published over 52 issues, with "a new issue every fortnight," and there will be different card sets released periodically in conjunction with new issues of the magazine. There is also a corresponding magazine holder, card album, electronic LED dice, a TARDIS combination lock and more released separately. The website has complete details.
Amazon.co.uk is now listing three new titles in the Tenth Doctor novel range from BBC Books for publication in hardback on 21 September. These are:The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole; The Last Museum by Jacqueline Rayner; and The Nightmare of Black Island by Mike Tucker. These details are slightly different from those listed recently on Amazon.com (and reported by OG on 11 April). The details on each of the three books is in the outset box, below.
Amazon.co.uk is also listing more information about October's CD release from BBC Audio, Monsters on Earth: "This tin contains a bumper number of three brand new (to audio) "Doctor Who" soundtracks, each hailing from the Jon Pertwee era. Two of the stories also feature UNIT, the military organisation led by the Brigadier, whilst the third sees the Doctor working alongside the Royal Navy in combatting the latest menace."
Last week's release of Genesis of the Daleks on DVD helped by a significant advertising effort and some positive mainstream reviews, has charted at number 24 in the UK's DVD charts, with first-week sales - according to Steve Roberts of the Restoration Team - of 17,000. (Past 'Classic Series' releases have had first-week sales of about 5,000.)
Regarding the last batch of Doctor Who books just released, all three novels have entered this week's Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers chart (9-15 April), published in today's edition of trade magazine The Bookseller; Jacqueline Rayner'sThe Stone Rose is at number 6 (3,036), Stephen Cole's The Feast of the Drowned at number 10 (2,696), and Justin Richards' The Resurrection Casket at number 11 (2,634). These sales are substantially higher than the first-week sales of the first batch of Ninth Doctor novels eleven months ago (1,781 to 2,014 units) and the second batch last September (1,718 to 1,797). The Bookseller observes, "A new series of Doctor Who, with stellar viewing figures, propelled three tie-ins into the chart," commenting that "The new series of Dr Who got of to a flying start over the Easter weekend with widespread media attention attracting an audience of more than eight million viewers for the first episode. It was good news for Doctor Who in a month of hits and misses for shows with tie-in books."
(Thanks to Steve Tribe)
The Nightmare of Black Island, by Mike Tucker
On a lonely stretch of Welsh coastline, a fisherman is killed by a hideous creature from beneath the waves. When the Doctor and Rose arrive, they discover a village where the children are plagued by nightmares, and the nights are ruled by monsters. The villagers suspect that ancient industrialist Nathanial Morton is to blame, but the Doctor has suspicions of his own. Who are the ancient figures that sleep in the old priory? What are the monsters that prowl the woods after sunset? What is the light that glows in the disused lighthouse on Black Island? As the children's nightmares get worse, the Doctor and Rose discover an alien plot to resurrect an ancient evil...

The Art of Destruction, by Stephen Cole
The Tardis lands in 22nd century Africa in the shadow of a dormant volcano. Agri-teams are growing new foodstuffs in the baking soil to help feed the world's starving millions - but the Doctor and Rose have detected an alien signal somewhere close by. When a nightmare force starts surging along the dark volcanic tunnels, the Doctor realizes an ancient trap has been sprung. But who was it meant for? And what is the secret of the eerie statues that stand at the heart of the volcano? Dragged into a centuries-old conflict, Rose and the Doctor are soon elevating survival to an art form - as ancient, alien hands practice arts of destruction all around them...

The Last Museum, by Jacqueline Rayner
Civilizations rise and fall, time moves on - and species die out. Extinction is a fact of life in the universe. But extinction doesn't have to be for ever. The Tardis arrives in the Museum of the Last Ones - a facility dedicated to preserving the final specimens of every species in the universe. But all is not well, and before long the Doctor and Rose are in deep trouble. How will Rose react to the stasis cabinets and preservation techniques? What will happen if - and when - the stasis fields break down and the specimens escape? And how will the Curator of the Museum react to the arrival of the last surviving Time Lord?




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