New series (and longtime Doctor Who fiction) writer Mark Gatiss has penned "The Vesuvius Club," a novel due out in November in hardcover from Simon & Schuster. Says the promo: "The League of Gentlemen writer/actor with an oddball comedy about Lucifer Box, Edwardian portrait painter, dandy, serial seducer and secret agent, who frequents London's seedy underworld. The cover - emulating Strand magazine - is terrific, and this is to be the first of many Lucifer Box adventures." Apparently, the promotion for the book will include hand-outs of sample chapters on London railway stations!

According to a story at Publishing News, "Following several months' review of its activities and performance, BBC Books has decided to refocus its publishing and reduce its list by around a third to 55-60 titles a year, many of those TV tie-ins or personality-led books. 'WeÆre slimming down the business and re-engineering the process,' Chris Weller, MD of Consumer Publishing, told PN, after a day of meetings in which the books team were told that there would be 'quite significant' job losses. The announcement coincides with the start of a wider review of all the BBCÆs commercial activities which will report in November. 'They could decide to sell us off, or keep us or enhance us,' Weller continued. 'ItÆs all in the lap of the gods.'" Now, we bring this to you not to say that the Doctor Who line is in any danger; we merely bring you what's been reported in a reputable industry source. We hope to get a statement from the folks involved in the Doctor Who novels very shortly. (Thanks to Gordon Barr)

Mad Norwegian Press will be releasing a new six-volume Doctor Who reference guide. About Time by Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood, will "focus on the tenure of one the actors who portrayed the Doctor, with the eras of Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGannùdue to their relatively short stays with the programùcombined into a single volume. ... In addition to the usual concerns such as the TV showÆs continuity (alien races, the DoctorÆs abilities, etc.) and lore (anecdotal, "Did You Know?"-style material), Miles and Wood will examine each story in the context of the year/historical period it was produced, determining just how topical the stories were. Along those lines, each About Time volume will include several essays on a myriad of comprehensive Doctor Who topics such as 'When are the UNIT stories set?' 'WhatÆs the Timeline of the Earth Empire?', 'How believable is the British Space Programme?' and 'Just How Chauvinistic is Doctor Who?'" The first volume, about Jon Pertwee's era, will be published in October; subsequent volumes include Tom Baker (November), Peter Davison (December), Colin Baker/Sylvester McCoy/Paul McGann (February), William Hartnell (March) and Patrick Troughton (April). (Thanks to Lars Pearson)

To expand upon the announcement last week about the forthcoming young adult Doctor Who novels based on the new television series, Justin Richards of BBC Books has contacted us with a statement that should clear up some confusion. "The 'blurbs' are taken from the BBCW internal project management system and intended to describe each of the projects. They aren't real back cover blurbs or marketing copy, they're just placeholder text. Similarly, the titles are working titles only. The schedule is provisional - and actually has been typed in wrong anyway! The order of the novels' release has already changed, for example. And the storylines have not yet been agreed in detail, so everything in these could turn out to be wrong. For the record, the audience we are aiming for is 'family' - exactly the same as the TV show. It would be rather silly to aim the books at a different audience, after all. That basically means the books will be every bit as sophisticated as the current range of novesl, but written with an awareness that children from about age 12 (rather than about 15 as now) will likely read them - so no graphic sex scenes or over the top violence or sadism etc." (Thanks to Justin Richards)

As we previously reported, BBC Books will be issuing three (3) Doctor Who novels in March, April and July 2005 featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose. The official Doctor Who site today revealed some story information and titles on these, and confirmed that the books would be hardcover releases. However, Outpost Gallifrey has learned that the story blurbs are only brief outlines and not final drafts, and that the books will be aimed toward young adult readers ("hardcover" books that, like the Lemony Snicket series, are smaller... hence the ú6.99 quoted price). One curious bit: the third book is released in July; we don't know if that is a typo, or if the schedule has been further adjusted. The titles and these outlines are below; more details as we get them.

Writers Simon Clark (Telos' "The Dalek Factor") and Mark Morris (BBC Books' "Deep Blue") have written novellas for a new anthology, Fourbodings, published in the US by Cemetary Dance. (Thanks to Stephen Couch)

As Outpost Gallifrey previously reported, the BBC Books release of Synthespians™ by Craig Hinton was delayed for several weeks as the publishers printed a new cover; the original cover photo was licensed by cover designers Black Sheep, but unfortunately the license agreement specifically stated that it could not be altered (which it was, for the Auton look on the faces). Therefore a new design had to be commissioned. Writer Hinton has provided us with the full wraparound cover illustration, which you can view by clicking on the thumbnail graphic at right; please note that the caption about it being an "Eighth Doctor" adventure has been corrected for the final release. (Thanks to Craig Hinton)

McFarland Publishing is releasing The Doctor Who Error Finder by R.H. Langley this fall, a new book about the bloopers and blunders in the series. "In Episode Four of Doctor WhoÆs 'Stones of Blood,' 14 minutes and 22 seconds into the show, a crow lands on a large 'rock,' causing it to shake. In Episode One of 'State of Decay,' at 9:37, the hole in AldricÆs pants mysteriously grows a patch. 32 minutes and 26 seconds into the first episode of 'Attack of the Cybermen,' one notices that the Cyberman in the left rear seems to be intoxicated. This work is the largest existing collection of errors appearing in Doctor Who, from every episode of the original television series, the movies, and the spin-offs. Presenting over 4000 errors, plus about 1500 other items of interest to fans, it includes transmitted bloopers such as microphones or equipment visible in a shot, obvious strings, anachronisms, unsteady sets, and actors having trouble walking. This book not only presents bloopers not previously recorded, but also corrects errors in other lists. The work is divided by Doctor (from the first to the eighth); each story begins with the title, official BBC codes, alternate titles, writer and directors, media in which the episode is available, running times, highlights including characters and actors, and questions to keep in mind. The individual episodes in each story each include date of first transmission and a list of errors and trivia, each with an approximate time in the episode. The work also includes errors from the untransmitted parts of the pilot episode and Shada; it concludes with 'the forgotten doctor,' and related programs such as K-9 and Company, Dimensions in Time, and The Curse of the Fatal Death."

Meanwhile, Hodder & Stoughton Childrens Publishing is releasing So You Think You Know Dr. Who by Clive Gifford in January 2005, a trivia paperback. "The great timelord has had many incarnations and many adventures, but can you remember them? Do you know who was the first Dr Who? Can you say what the word 'tardis' stands for? Well here's your chance to shine - with over 1,000 questions this quiz book will not only test, but also tease and torment the most ardent fan. But don't worry the answers are not to be found in the far reaches of the universe, they're in the back of the book!"

Finally, independent publisher MonkeyBrain is re-releasing (through National Book Network Distributors) The Discontinuity Guide by Paul Cornell, Keith Topping and Martin Day. The re-release is simply a reprint of the earlier version published by Virgin, with no additional material, although it bears a new cover, and is due out in October. Click on the thumbnails below for larger versions of the cover. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg, Dan O'Malley, Keith Topping)

Tenth Planet have sent us the cover illustration for the forthcoming The Complete Fourth Doctor: Volume One. Published by Doctor Who Magazine, the special is "Everything you could ever need to know about Tom Baker's record-breaking seven-year tenure as the time-travelling Doctor in the first of two bumper volumes! This edition covers Seasons Twelve to Fifteen, with brand new facts, figures and addenda for all Fourth Doctor 'Archive' features from "Robot" to "The Invasion of Time" and a full analysis of each story from some of the finest writers in Doctor Who fandom. There's also a fascinating character analysis from Philip MacDonald, heaps of rare and previously unseen photographs, and an afterword from producer Philip Hinchcliffe." It will be out the second week of July, with the second volume due in October. (Thanks to Tenth Planet)

Mad Norwegian Press has announced that their Faction Paradox comic series is being discontinued; the series, which further expands on the characters and situations originally created in the BBC Doctor Who novels, published two issues and is being halted due to changes in the comics industry and at its publisher, Image Comics. The novel series, however, which just had its second release, "Of the City of the Saved" by Philip Purser-Hallard, will continue. A full Q&A about the comic cancellation can be found here. (Thanks to Lars Pearson)