BBC Books BBC Books was the book publishing arm of BBC Enterprises / Worldwide from the 1980s until 2006 , when it was sold to Ebury Publishing division of Random House . It published a wide range of non - fiction books based on many BBC properties , but its only long - form fictional output was related to " Doctor Who " and " Torchwood " . Though BBC Worldwide is now only a minority shareholder , its survives through its prominent logo on book covers . Origins . BBC Books ' association with " Doctor Who " began in 1996 when it obtained the rights to publish a novelisation of the 1996 TV movie . At this time , however , Virgin Publishing had the licence to publish original and adapted " Doctor Who " fiction , a licence it inherited when it took over Target Books in the 1980s . Following the publication of the telefilm novelisation , however , it was announced that Virgin ' s licence to publish " Doctor Who " fiction would end in 1997 . Thereafter , Virgin continued to publish " Doctor Who " - related works for several more years , although its writers were constrained from using characters and concepts that had originated on television . Consequently , the Virgin New Adventures range stopped featuring the Doctor and concentrated instead on exploring the Bernice Summerfield character they had created . Expansion . In 1997 , BBC Books launched its Doctor Who series of books . With few exceptions , BBC Books followed the precedent set by Virgin ' s New Adventures and Missing Adventures lines by releasing each month one book featuring the Eighth Doctor and one book featuring a prior Doctor . To parallel the branding division between the VNAs and VMAs , fans divided BBC Books ' Doctor Who series into the " Eighth Doctor Adventures " and " Past Doctor Adventures " . The first novel to be published by BBC Books was Terrance Dicks ' Eighth Doctor story " The Eight Doctors " , accompanied by Keith Topping and Martin Day ' s Third Doctor tale " The Devil Goblins from Neptune " . Many authors who had contributed to Virgin ' s novels continued to write for BBC Books . BBC Books subsequently adapted another Virgin concept when it launched " Short Trips " , a series of short story collections featuring all eight Doctors , akin to Virgin ' s Decalog line . Only three volumes of " Short Trips " were published before BBC Books ceded the line to Big Finish Productions . Between 1997 and 2005 , more than 100 original novels were published by BBC Books in their Doctor Who range . They also published two novelisations : the aforementioned adaptation of the Doctor Who , and an adaptation of the webcast " Scream of the Shalka " . BBC Books also began publishing non - fiction books based upon the franchise , such as a collection of scripts from the Tom Baker era . New Series Adventures and Torchwood . With the return of " Doctor Who " to television in 2005 , BBC Books decided to retire the EDA and PDA lines and move into a new venue of publishing : shorter , hardcover books based upon the adventures of the new Ninth Doctor . The unnamed line , which has subsequently called by fans the " New Series Adventures " , debuted several months before the EDA and PDA series ceased publication . In 2006 , the New Series Adventures began featuring the Tenth Doctor , as well as launching an annual series of paperback novellas , Quick Reads , and original novels based upon " Torchwood " . In 2008 BBC Books partnered with BBC Audio to release original stories for audio , read and performed by series cast members . The first of these was " Pest Control " and these releases have continued into 2011 . A new line of novels based upon the Eleventh Doctor launched in 2010 , and after a hiatus of two years new novels based upon " Torchwood " began to appear in 2011 . BBC Books ended its exclusivity of hardcover releases by issuing the new " Torchwood " books in paperback and also beginning to issue paperback editions of Eleventh Doctor novels . However , the Quick Reads series ended after the 2010 release . In 2010 , BBC Books began an annual series of " deluxe " standalone novel releases , aimed at an older readership and featuring " name " authors . The first of these was " The Coming of the Terraphiles " by noted fantasy writer Michael Moorcock issued in October 2010 ; a second , " The Silent Stars Go By " by Dan Abnett , was released in 2011 , and a third , " Dark Horizons " by Jenny Colgan , was released in 2012 . A fourth , and currently final , " Engines of War " , by George Mann , in 2014 , featured the War Doctor rather than the incumbent Eleventh . Return to past Doctors . The decision to no longer publish novels featuring past Doctors after 2005 was controversial , although Big Finish Productions kept stories featuring the First to Eighth Doctors in print in its Short Trips books until they were lost the license to publish print " Doctor Who " fiction in 2009 . This led to speculation that BBC Books , perhaps in relation to the upcoming 50th anniversary of the franchise , might begin publishing new works featuring past Doctors . Further speculation arose when BBC Books announced in early 2011 that in July 2011 it would be republishing new editions of six early Target novelisation s . These books featured the original Target cover art and with new introductions by the likes of Steven Moffat , Russell T Davies and Neil Gaiman . A second series of six additional titles was released in July 2012 . In March 2011 , BBC Books announced that Gareth Roberts had been commissioned to write a novelisation of the unfinished Fourth Doctor story , " Shada " for publication in 2012 , indicating that issues that had prevented the Douglas Adams story from being adapted in the 1980s had been resolved . This was followed by a novelisation of a second Adams story , " City of Death " , by James Goss , released in 2015 . In the summer of 2011 , Stephen Baxter , another noted SF writer , announced on his blog that he had been commissioned to write " The Wheel of Ice " , a 2012 release featuring the Second Doctor , marking BBC Books ' return to publishing original works featuring " Classic " Doctors . Baxter ' s announcement was followed on 21st July 2011 by BBC Books announcing that Alastair Reynolds had been commissioned to write a Third Doctor novel , " Harvest of Time " , published in 2013 . This was followed by the Fourth Doctor novel " The Drosten ' s Curse " , by A . L . Kennedy , in 2015 . These novels have followed the format of the " deluxe " New Series Adventures , with " name " authors and an extended page count , to suit older readers . Digital releases . Across the seventh series of " Doctor Who " , BBC Books released three novellas , entitled " " , " Devil in the Smoke " and " Summer Falls " , which were initially made available exclusively in digital form , but were later collected in the physical release " Summer Falls and Other Stories " . Across 2014 , a new series of short stories entitled " Time Trips " were released as e - books only , but were collected into a single volume in 2015 . As of late 2015 , BBC Books continues to make its " Doctor Who " releases available in physical print form , and has yet to release any exclusively in e - book form . Possible future releases . Following the broadcast of his well - received episode " The Doctor ' s Wife " , Neil Gaiman indicated an interest in possibly expanding the story for a novelisation . During mid - 2011 there were reports that Gaiman and BBC Books were in discussions regarding this , but it seems to have been indefinitely delayed or cancelled , as , as of late 2015 , no announcement has been made as to whether this will happen . Current non - fiction . BBC Books also publishes non - fiction and reference works based upon the series , including a collection of shooting scripts from the 2005 series and " " , a massive 512 - page collection of production - related e - mails by series executive producer Russell T Davies . An expanded paperback edition with an additional 300 pages of material was published in January 2010 .