Following the success of the first Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Competition, Candy Jar is having a second round with another competition. As with the first one, it will be open to previously unpublished writers, although this time it will be open to those both in and outside the UK.

Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell, says:
Andy adds:

The winning entry will receive a Kindle Fire and Lethbridge-Stewart or The Lucy Wilson Mysteries publishing deal. All shortlisted entries will be published in The Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Collection Vol 2.

The winner of the first short story competition was announced earlier this year as Sean Alexander from Holyhead, north Wales with his story, Boys Don’t Cry. Following the competition, Sean is now working with Andy Frankham-Allen on a new Lethbridge-Stewart novel for the 2019/2020 range.

With the opportunity to secure a publishing deal through entering the brand-new writing competition, and a much wider scope for creativity, this is an exciting opportunity for any writer or fan of the Lethbridge-Stewart world.

The entry fee is £5. To enter visit the Candy Jar website.

Please include:
Your name, age, email, address and telephone number.

Submissions can be entered until the end of November 2018.

The Good Doctor by Juno Dawson

An original novel featuring the Thirteenth Doctor as played by Jodie Whittaker, with her new friends, Yasmin, Ryan and Graham

For a Good Doctor there's only one rule: first do no harm.

Juno Dawson is the international bestselling author of ten titles for young adults. She is a columnist at Glamour UK, Attitude Magazine and a key LGBTQ activist with Stonewall.

Molten Heart by Una McCormack

An original novel featuring the Thirteenth Doctor as played by Jodie Whittaker, with her new friends, Yasmin, Ryan and Graham

You never know what you’ll find beneath the surface.

Una McCormack is a New York Times bestselling author. She has written two Doctor Who novels featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory: The King's Dragon and The Way Through the Woods.

Combat Magicks by Steve Cole

An original novel featuring the Thirteenth Doctor as played by Jodie Whittaker, with her new friends, Yasmin, Ryan and Graham

How do you win a battle when the dead fight on?

Steve Cole is a best-selling original comedy, fantasy and adventure writer, Steve’s work includes a broad range of books, most recently the Secret Agent Mummy series for younger readers, Stop Those Monsters! Much in demand for his energetic performances at events, Steve has featured at sci-fi and Doctor Who conventions from London to Los Angeles.

I was quite stunned to be asked if I would write a book as part of the upcoming 50th Anniversary series. It was both an exciting and fairly intimidating prospect, having never written a novel before, but I knew it was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up. The scenario that Andy gave me was too interesting to refuse.

Alyson’s short story needed very little work, and since then I’ve called upon her military knowledge for other books, so it was an easy call to invite her to join the line-up for The Laughing Gnome. For someone who’s done little professional prose writing, she turns in a very solid piece of work, which is every editor’s dream. As we are celebrating fifty years of the Brigadier, it was forgone conclusion that we would go back to the beginning, his first appearance in Doctor Who – The Web of Fear, as written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. Like all the authors for this range, I gave Alyson the basic premise; put Dame Anne into the missing two weeks mentioned in The Web of Fear – during a small briefing scene between Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, Captain Knight and the Doctor – and finally show just what did happen when the mist started spreading across London, and add to that the idea that Dame Anne will be faced with the notion that she could, theoretically, changed things to ensure her father is never possessed by the Great Intelligence! Alyson jumped at the chance, and soon had an outline ready to go.

The London Event, indeed The Web of Fear, was the making of Lethbridge-Stewart, but was never just his story. There’s an awful lot that goes on off camera there; the slow advance of the mist and Web, the escalation of the crisis, and the total evacuation of London – no mean feat! Introducing an older, experienced Anne who has known both joy and loss over the years into that scenario presented some interesting questions. After everything she’s been through with HAVOC, you would think Anne would know better than to try and change the past; but when faced with the chance to save a loved one from a truly horrible fate, who’s to say to what lengths she might go? It also presented a chance to explore a little further the relationship between the Travers family and the Silversteins. I always felt bad for Mr Silverstein, getting bumped off simply for being unlucky enough to own the Yeti, and revisiting this point in time allowed me to touch on the repercussions that his death would have on those closest to him.

The Web of Fear is rightly regarded one of the gems of Doctor Who in the ’60s. It’s brilliantly written and well directed and has aged very well. When Candy Jar asked me to illustrate a cover depicting another story set during the same period I was really thrilled, especially when they asked me to show London deserted and covered in web (which was not seen in the original story but mentioned). It took a number of roughs to do justice to the idea, but when I saw some images of London in smog I knew the direction to take.

Lethbridge-Stewart: Scary Monsters
Written by Simon A Forward
Cover by Richard Young


1981: London, a bomb detonates in a London pub and Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart is among the injured. Moscow, a hijacked plane sits on the airport runway and Major Grigoriy Bugayev leads the assault against the six gunmen holding the passengers hostage.

These are the triggers that set the two military men on an international manhunt. Their investigations converge and uncover a group of terrorists whose roots reach back to sinister Cold War experiments, and something that was unearthed in ancient ruins in the New Mexico desert by one Sophia Montilla… and Anne Travers.

Terror is a contagion. It means to spread. And humanity is set on doing everything in its power to help it...

Andy (Frankham-Allen, range editor) and I have been discussing rebranding the books for some time now, and it seemed the anniversary range was the perfect time. New cover design, new logo, and I knew just the man for the job. We had worked with Will previously. His covers for Philip Martin’s Gangsters and Peter George’s Pattern of Death were outstanding, and we knew he would create the right look for us. And he didn’t disappoint!

This is my ninth cover for the Lethbridge-Stewart books, but the first one I've done as the lead book, so the stakes were raised for this. It's also the first cover to feature the Brig. I'd been pushing to feature him on a cover for years, and with this being the fiftieth anniversary of the character it felt like the time was right.

We took our cue from Life on Mars and its sequel series, Ashes to Ashes, and opted for another David Bowie title for our very first time travel series of books. But we didn’t want it just be a title – we decided that we’d make the Laughing Gnome an integral part of the story, the catalyst for our heroes’ adventures in time. I don’t wish to give away the conceit of the series, but the basic premise is thus: Sir Alistair is nearing the end of his life and has just buried another old friend. Feeling out of sorts, he is somewhat surprised to find himself in 1981. Some mysterious force has pulled him backwards in time, into his own past, an adventure he has only vague memories of! As the series progresses we discover that both Anne Travers and her husband, and popular series regular, Bill Bishop, have also been dragged through time. But why? What, or who, is behind it?”

To be asked once to write for the Lethbridge-Stewart range is fortunate. To be asked twice seems like - what are they thinking? Letting me loose to play with these favourite characters again. Madness. Initially, I thought, well okay, but only if the right idea struck. And the next day the right idea struck me. To make life more challenging, this time it was more than merely contributing to a range. For the Brigadier's big anniversary year, Candy Jar outlined an ambitious arc to frame these adventures.

This is more than your average jaunt down memory lane and it's about much more than introspection and reflection. My book sees the Brigadier and friends confronting terrorism in an international thriller that, while rooted in the past - and in the Doctor Who universe - should carry some resonance in the 21st century. And not just for the Brigadier.

We thought long and hard about which book would start our publishing programme for Jodie Whittaker’s first series of Doctor Who – and Christel and Simon’s book is the perfect choice. It’s bold and fresh in its approach, it makes a strong statement, it’s beautifully written, and stunning in its design. It represents everything we love about Doctor Who, and we couldn’t be happier to be publishing The Women Who Lived on the BBC Books list.

With Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor arriving this autumn, we thought this would be the perfect time to reflect upon the wealth of incredible female characters from Doctor Who’s 55 year history – because there are so many! We hope the stories in this book will inspire a whole new generation of fans and existing fans too.

We hope this offers a fresh perspective on the history of Doctor Who, a chance to celebrate the richness of past episodes as well as looking forward to the series’ exciting future. I thought I knew Doctor Who backwards, but we discovered loads of new things in our research for the book.

Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce the winner of the Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Competition. The winning story, Boys Don’t Cry, is written by Sean Alexander from Holyhead, north Wales.

Shaun Russell, head of publishing at Candy Jar, says:

Andy Frankham-Allen, range editor of the Lethbridge-Stewart series of books, agrees:

Sean Alexander says:


The book also features eight other exclusive short stories featuring Lethbridge-Stewart at various stages in his life. This is a chance for fans to see the Brigadier like they’ve never seen him before!

The eight stories are:

• The Stranger Paradox by Thomas Firth
• Soldier in Time by Martin Gregory
• Burning Daylight by Paul Chase
• The Brigadier Rides Again by Ross Hastings
• In Machina Exspiravit by Anthony Robertson
• Special Responsibility by Gary Tinnams
• Shadows in the Glen by Richard Brewer
• The Man with the Red Case by Matthew Ball

The idea for the Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Competition came from the company’s commitment to shedding light on fresh writing talent. Since 2015 the Lethbridge-Stewart novels have championed previously unknown authors such as Jonathan Macho and Gareth Madgwick, alongside famous writing names in the Doctor Who universe including John Peel, Nick Walters, Simon A Forward and David A McIntee.

All royalties from each book will be donated the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff. Shaun, who received chemotherapy treatment at the centre, says:

Since acquiring the rights to the character of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in 2014, as well as other iconic Doctor Who figures such as the Great Intelligence, Candy Jar has published over twenty works of fiction in the Lethbridge-Stewart series, with more titles already in the works. Given the enthusiastic response of Doctor Who fans the world over, it would be fair to say that the series has met a long unfulfilled demand.

Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell, says:
But as all fans of Doctor Who know, the story is just the start of the appeal; the legions of fan forums, Meet-up Groups, or a brief glance at social media in the wake of new episodes, attest to the fact that unpicking storylines – why did this character do that? What are the implications of this? How does X relate to Y? – is half the fun.

Andy Frankham-Allen, range editor of the Lethbridge-Stewart range, says:

Accordingly one of the centrepieces of the book is a collation of the Brig’s television adventures over the years, establishing the definitive chronology of the character for the first time. Put together by Simon A Forward, a Doctor Who writer for over two decades, the piece takes its place alongside a raft of pieces by established Doctor Who names, not least an exclusive interview with John Levene, who played the Brig’s long-time sidekick John Benton, giving a rare behind the scenes look at the experience of shooting Doctor Who’s golden era.

Other contributors include Darran Jordan, Philip Clarke, and a host of names still to be announced. Between them, they explore topics including the Doctor’s relationship with the Brig (and vice versa), the life of Nicholas Courtney (through thirteen objects of personal significance), as well as tackling the thorny question of whether or not the Brigadier counts as an official companion. With a comprehensive approach encompassing all BBC, Big Finish and Candy Jar media, the book looks set to become the definitive reference for this staple of the Doctor Who universe for years to come.