Doctor Who Books Updates

Last week's edition of "The Bookseller" focuses on Film and TV Ties-ins, previewing several previously announced forthcoming titles. A Teaspoon and an Open Mind: The Science of Doctor Who by Michael White is published in hardback by Penguin on 3 November, about which the trade magazine says that "This entertaining guide to the real science behind the fictional world of the cult series delves into some of the most fascinating areas of contemporary scientific enquiry in an accessible way. Topics include time travel, alien life forms, telepathy, teleportation, cybernetics, crystals, regeneration, and (naturally) eternal life." Listing it in its "Ones to Watch" section for November, The Bookseller notes that the author will be promoting the book. One of four titles selected for the Film and TV Tie-in "Big Sellers" this Christmas, Panini's Doctor Who Annual 2006 is listed alongside books by Sir David Attenborough and Alan Titchmarsh and another new edition of The Da Vinci Code. Says The Bookseller: "Doctor Who has undoubtedly been the TV success story of the year. Through the simple strategy of making the new series really good Russell T Davies and friends have turned the good Doctor from a low-budget laughing stock into essential Saturday evening family viewing. The spin-off novels have already been a huge success and there is a further slew of titles out in time for Christmas. This is the pick of them, featuring all-new stories from the show's writers, comic strip adventures and behind-the-scenes information. It's guaranteed to be the essential annual for tiny timelords throughout the galaxy." The "Top Title" in the "Children's TV" section is Justin Richards' Doctor Who: The Legend Continues û "Yet more Whoviana, this is a richly illustrated history of the series over five decades. It has features on every one of the TV stories and includes previously unseen photographs. Should appeal both to hardcore fans and more casual purchasers looking for a Who-related gift." And of Doctor Who: Only Human, the magazine says, "One of three new æDoctor Who' novels featuring all-new adventures available in time for Christmas. The first trance sold very strongly and there is no reason to suppose that these won't do just as well. The other titles are The Deviant Strain and The Stealers of Dreams." (It's worth noting that this level of coverage of and interest in Doctor Who books is unprecedented in the trade press, and it is very likely that it will be reflected in the presence and visibility of all these titles in bookshops over the next few months.) Finally, Mark Gatiss's novel, The Vesuvius Club, gets another lease of life in November, this time as a graphic novel.

The analysis of the Tie-ins market makes special mention of the sales success of the first three Ninth Doctor novels: "Undoubtedly the best new story for the BBC so far in 2005 has been æDoctor Who'. Figures published last month showed that the regenerated Time Lord series was the fourth most popular drama in the first half of the year. Only the soap operas æEmmerdale', the troubled æEastEnders' and û top of the pile as usual û æCoronation Street' attracted a greater percentage of viewers. The three tie-in novelisations of æDoctor Who', published as hardbacks and profiting from the attractions of Christopher Ecclestone [sic] and Billie Piper on their jackets, occupy numbers for to six on the fiction tie-in chart for the period with combined sales of nearly 50,000 copies." The three Doctor Who hardcover novels rank #4 (Clockwise Man), 5 (The Monsters Inside) and 6 (Winner Takes All). (Thanks to Steve Tribe)