Author Mark Campbell ("Pocket Essentials: Doctor Who") has penned An Almost Complete Guide to Doctor Who, to be published this fall by SciFiCollector. The book will feature "an in-depth episode guide to all the television episodes - each entry includes full transmission dates (including repeats), BBC archive holdings, novelization details, video, DVD or CD availability, music and sound effects releases, cast and crew, a DWM index, recording dates, locations, selected factoids and an informed, no-nonsense summary. The second half of the book documents the Doctor's appearances in a variety of other media - namely TV spin-offs, cinema films, radio plays, comic strips, Big Finish audio plays, stage plays, books and webcasts." Tom Baker has written the foreword for the book. More details and a cover illustration available soon. (Thanks to Mark Campbell)

BBC Books has informed us that Paul Cornell's adaptation of his serial The Scream of the Shalka, based on the animated serial starring Richard E. Grant debuting online in November, will be released in February 2004. BBC Books was hoping to do Shalka as an 'extra' book, "but sadly that's not possible at such short notice without upsetting the distribution and making things difficult all round," says range consultant Justin Richards. All of the previously confirmed novels will therefore slip back one month, with David Bishop's "Empire of Death" in March, Mark Michalowski's "Half-Life" in April, David McIntee's "The Eleventh Tiger" in May, Jonathan Morris' "The Tomorrow Windows" in June and Craig Hinton's "Synthespians(TM)" in July. (Thanks to Justin Richards)

BBCi have published the September edition of their Telepress continuing monthly column on the Doctor Who novels. Featured in this installment are interviews with Jonathan Blum ("Fallen Gods") and Daniel O'Mahony ("The Cabinet of Light") as well as the provisional cover and blurb for Deadly Reunion, the November novel by Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, and extracts from "Wolfsbane" by Jacqueline Rayner and "Short Trips: The Muses". The details on "Deadly Reunion" are as follows (click the thumbnail at right for a larger version of the cover):

BBC Worldwide has issued a press release for the forthcoming book Doctor Who: The Legend by Justin Richards, due out November 13. We've covered this book's release in the past, but this provides some interesting details about the book and its contents. Of note is the comment "special celebration planned on air during the anniversary weekend" on UK Gold. We'll keep you posted. (Thanks to Stuart Ian Burns and BBC Worldwide)

Updated July 25: BBCi has revealed more details about another forthcoming Doctor Who novel,Emotional Chemistry by Simon A. Forward, due out in October. At right is the cover illustration; click for a larger version. Also, the recent interview on BBCi with author Stephen Cole reveals some important details about his forthcoming novel "Timeless," expected to be a lynchpin in the ongoing Eighth Doctor series. Highlight the following spoiler information to read it: Says Cole, "An awful lot happens in Timeless - the TARDIS comes back to Real Earth, Trix is revealed, Sabbath's plan is discovered at last, Anji departs - it was good fun to be moving things along into the last, definite stages of the arc." Apparently, therefore, this marks the onset of actual companion status for Beatrix "Trix" MacMillan, and the departure from the series of Anji Kapoor. The cover blurb for "Emotional Chemistry" is as follows. (Thanks, as always, to BBCi... and by the way, readers: this information isn't in the new Telepress, but it is in the BBCi book release schedule in the "Eighth Doctor" section. Enjoy!)

The final Doctor Who novella from Telos Publishing has been announced by the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine. The Dalek Factor by award-winning horror and dark fantasy author Simon Clark is due in February 2004, and it features the Daleks as you've never seen them before. "We wanted to end Telos' range of DOCTOR WHO Novellas with a real bang," said Telos' David J Howe, "and what better way than to feature one of the most iconic images from the twentieth century. The last time the Daleks were featured in print was back in 1998, and after five years away, we felt it was about time they were brought back into the spotlight." Simon Clark, described by SFX magazine as "one of the most exciting British horror writers around", is the author of numerous horror novels, including THE FALL, DARKER and BLOOD CRAZY. His short story 'Goblin City Lights' won the British Fantasy Award, as did his novel, NIGHT OF THE TRIFFIDS, which continued where John Wyndham's original novel left off. His new novel, VAMPYRRHIC RITES, is released in July by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK. "I grew up watching DOCTOR WHO," says Clark. "I never missed DOCTOR WHO. Not even on my wedding day. DOCTOR WHO fuelled my imagination and my appetite for the fantastic as a child. To get the opportunity to work on a DOCTOR WHO story is a dream come true. The Telos range of books are just beautiful. I'm proud to be part of that stable." Being able to work with the Daleks is also a large part of the appeal. "Like total eclipses, the chance to write a Dalek story only happens once in a blue moon. There was no way I could turn down something like that. But, darn it, I knew if I was going to tackle THE DALEK FACTOR, it would be my mission to make the Daleks frightening again. I want them to be menacing. I want them to be the essence of evil. No more 'stairs' jokes. I'm determined to write a dark, disturbing story where even to catch a glimpse of a Dalek makes the palms sweat, and triggers waves of revulsion and fear. Think back to the time when you were last frightened by a DOCTOR WHO episode. My personal quest in writing this novella is to pull that fear trigger again. THE DALEK FACTOR is going to be a journey into the heart of darkness. Not everyone on that journey's going to come back in one piece." For more details on Telos novellas visit www.telos.co.uk. (Thanks to David Howe and DWM)

The newest issue of Doctor Who Magazine features some new details about forthcoming novels from BBC Books in 2004. In May 2004, Jonathan Morris ("Anachrophobia") returns with The Tomorrow Windows, an Eighth Doctor novel set on Earth and in another world's present and past. Craig Hinton's previously announced Sixth Doctor & Peri novelSynthespians(TM) is confirmed for June 2004; it features an adventure aboard a space station where everyone is entertained by soap operas, and the Doctor battles an old foe. While details for later in 2004 haven't been announced yet, the October 2004 book will be Match of the Day by Chris Boucher ("Psience Fiction"), with the Fourth Doctor and Leela's visit to a planet inhabited by organized vigilantes. All dates are of course tentative. (Thanks to DWM)

Justin Richards, BBC Books range consultant and author of the forthcoming Doctor Who: The Legend wrote Outpost Gallifrey to let us know a few things regarding the publication of the anniversary hardcover book, due in November. "The cover on the brochure about the book (repordeuced on OG, and elsewhere) isn't actually going to be the cover of the book, which is still being designed and won't have an artwork Dalek half on it! It will have the Who logo though. Also, the page count has crept up from 368 to 392 and the number of photos will be considerably over the 500 advertised. Despite this, the price remains unchanged." (Thanks to Justin Richards)

The BBC Worldwide press release for the 40th anniversary details additional developments in forthcoming books. The press info confirms the release of Doctor Who: The Legend on November 13, including a much larger version of the cover (at right; click the thumbnail for a larger version). Meanwhile, here are the press blurbs for forthcoming 2003 novels as issued by BBC Worldwide (skipping ahead to books where the cover blurbs haven't been made available yet):

Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier's The Doctor Who Programme Guide, long a staple of Doctor Who collections worldwide, has finally been reprinted by iUniverse. Says the press release: "The Programme Guide first appeared in 1981, and immediately established itself as the single, most important reference work about Doctor Who, and was reissued / updated twice in 1989 and 1994. This fourth, revised edition was again updated to include the television movie starring Paul McGann. This new edition also restores the original foreword written by Barry Letts in 1981." Click on the cover illustration at right for a larger version. (Thanks to Jean-Marc Lofficier)