Target Books/1981

Target Books' Doctor Who output in 1981 was unusually low — at least in terms of novelisations. As had happened in 1973, Target only added three titles to their catalogue. Importantly, though, the adaptation of An Unearthly Child debuted this year. At the same time, editorial policy changed at Target, so as to give preference to the commissioning of the serial's original screenwriter wherever possible.
If it was a sparse year for novelisations, however, it was a reasonably eventful one for Doctor Who non-fiction. The first programme guide was published in 1981, offering many fans their initial exposure to a complete listing of Doctor Who serials. Target also launched its range of quiz and puzzle books with The Doctor Who Quiz Book, and gave fans their first look at a kind of "Doctor Who timeline" with The Terrestrial Index.
== Stories ==
No.	Title 	Author 	Doctor	Featuring 	Based on 	Released
011	Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit	David Fisher 	4th 	Romana II, K9 Mark II 	The Creature from the Pit	15 January 1981
024	Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World 	Ian Marter 	2nd 	Jamie, Victoria, Ramón Salamander	The Enemy of the World 	16 April 1981
068	Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child 	Terrance Dicks	1st 	Susan, Ian, Barbara 	An Unearthly Child 	15 October 1981
== Novelisation covers ==
Creature_from_The_Pit_novel.jpg|Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit
Enemy_of_the_World_novel.jpg|Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World
Doctor_Who_and_an_Unearthly_Child.jpg|Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child
== Other Books ==
Title 	Author 	Released
The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volume 1	Jean-Marc Lofficier	21 May 1981
The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volume 2	Jean-Marc Lofficier	21 May 1981
The Doctor Who Quiz Book 	Nigel Robinson 	10 December 1981
== Reprints and other books covers ==
Cybermen1981.jpg|Doctor Who and the Cybermen (novelisation)
DWPGcover.jpg|The Doctor Who Programme Guide (two volumes)
QuizBook1.jpg|The Doctor Who Quiz Book
== Publishing notes ==
* Beginning with the 1981 releases, there was a noticeable change in the format of the Target Book series. Up until this point, with a few exceptions (such as Brian Hayles and Gerry Davis), Target Books usually commissioned one of its staff writers to write the novelisations (more often than not, Terrance Dicks, but also Malcolm Hulke and several Doctor Who TV producers). The release of Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit marked the start of a concerted effort by Target to, whenever possible, commission the original teleplay writer to also write the novelisation; in this initial case, David Fisher. This practice soon extended to include script writers from the 1960s as well; if the original writer was not available or not willing, Target would commission a staff writer such as Dicks or Ian Marter to take on the job (due to the smaller-than-usual number of releases in 1981, this means scriptwriter-penned novelisations would not begin to appear in force until 1982). This practice continued through to the end of the Target novelisations series.
Category:Target Books by year