Virgin New Adventures

The New Adventures was a novel series published by the eponymous imprint of Virgin Books.
The first book, published in 1991, continued the adventures of the Seventh Doctor and Ace where the television story Survival left off; later instalments introduced new companions like Bernice Summerfield, who became the range's main protagonist in 1997 when Virgin lost the licence for Doctor Who fiction. As the New Adventures were geared for an older audience than the TV show, they included mature themes, strong language, violence, and sexual elements.
Virgin Books launched two spin-off lines following the initial success of the New Adventures: the Decalogs, a series of short story collections; and the Missing Adventures, a novel range that told new stories with the first six Doctors.
The New Adventures concluded with Twilight of the Gods in December 1999, but Big Finish Productions obtained the licence for the later New Adventures characters and continued telling stories with Bernice Summerfield, Jason Kane, and Irving Braxiatel in their own line of audios, novels, and short stories.
From 1999 onward, Big Finish adapted several novels for audio, either directly or altered to omit the Doctor and focus on Summerfield. In 2007, the New Adventures novel Human Nature was adapted into the television episodes Human Nature and The Family of Blood.
Although several authors initially attempted to separate the Virgin Books and BBC Books continuities, the separation was eventually relaxed, and references to New and Missing Adventures began to appear in the Eighth Doctor and Past Doctor Adventures. In DWM 482, Steven Moffat said that he considered the New Adventures to be "a separate (and equally valid) continuity" to the BBC Wales television series.
== Stories ==
# 	Title 	Author 	Doctor	Featuring 	Published
1 	Timewyrm: Genesys 	John Peel 	7th 	Ace, Third Doctor, Timewyrm, Gilgamesh 	20 June 1991
2 	Timewyrm: Exodus 	Terrance Dicks 	7th 	Ace, the War Chief, Timewyrm, Hitler 	15 August 1991
3 	Timewyrm: Apocalypse 	Nigel Robinson 	7th 	Ace, Second Doctor, Ben, Polly, Timewyrm 	17 October 1991
4 	Timewyrm: Revelation 	Paul Cornell 	7th 	Ace, Timewyrm, First Doctor, Third Doctor, Fourth Doctor, Fifth Doctor, Death, the Hermit, Adric, Katarina, Sara, Daleks	5 December 1991
5 	Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible 	Marc Platt 	7th 	Ace, Rassilon 	20 February 1992
6 	Cat's Cradle: Warhead 	Andrew Cartmel 	7th 	Ace, Justine, Vincent 	16 April 1992
7 	Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark 	Andrew Hunt 	7th 	Ace 	18 June 1992
8 	Nightshade 	Mark Gatiss 	7th 	Ace 	20 August 1992
9 	Love and War 	Paul Cornell 	7th 	Ace, Benny, Paul Magrs, Death 	15 October 1992
10	Transit 	Ben Aaronovitch 	7th 	Benny, Kadiatu, the Brig 	3 December 1992
11	The Highest Science 	Gareth Roberts 	7th 	Benny 	18 February 1993
12	The Pit 	Neil Penswick 	7th 	Benny 	18 March 1993
13	Deceit 	Peter Darvill-Evans 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	15 April 1993
14	Lucifer Rising 	Jim Mortimore, Andy Lane 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	20 May 1993
15	White Darkness 	David A. McIntee 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	17 June 1993
16	Shadowmind 	Christopher Bulis 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	15 July 1993
17	Birthright 	Nigel Robinson 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	19 August 1993
18	Iceberg 	David Banks 	7th 	Cybermen, Cyber-Controller 	16 September 1993
19	Blood Heat 	Jim Mortimore 	7th 	Ace, Benny, Silurians, Sea Devils 	21 October 1993
20	The Dimension Riders 	Daniel Blythe 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	18 November 1993
21	The Left-Handed Hummingbird 	Kate Orman 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	2 December 1993
22	Conundrum 	Steve Lyons 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	20 January 1994
23	No Future 	Paul Cornell 	7th 	Ace, Benny, the Monk, Vardans 	17 February 1994
24	Tragedy Day 	Gareth Roberts 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	17 March 1994
25	Legacy 	Gary Russell 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	21 April 1994
26	Theatre of War 	Justin Richards 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	19 May 1994
27	All-Consuming Fire 	Andy Lane 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	16 June 1994
28	Blood Harvest 	Terrance Dicks 	7th 	Ace, Benny, Great Vampires 	21 July 1994
29	Strange England 	Simon Messingham 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	18 August 1994
30	First Frontier 	David A. McIntee 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	15 September 1994
31	St Anthony's Fire 	Mark Gatiss 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	20 October 1994
32	Falls the Shadow 	Daniel O'Mahony 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	17 November 1994
33	Parasite 	Jim Mortimore 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	1 December 1994
34	Warlock 	Andrew Cartmel 	7th 	Ace, Benny 	19 January 1995
35	Set Piece 	Kate Orman 	7th 	Ace, Benny, Death 	16 February 1995
36	Infinite Requiem 	Daniel Blythe 	7th 	Benny 	16 March 1995
37	Sanctuary 	David A. McIntee 	7th 	Benny 	20 April 1995
38	Human Nature 	Paul Cornell 	7th 	Benny 	18 May 1995
39	Original Sin 	Andy Lane 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	15 June 1995
40	Sky Pirates! 	Dave Stone 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	20 July 1995
41	Zamper 	Gareth Roberts 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	17 August 1995
42	Toy Soldiers 	Paul Leonard 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz, Ogrons 	21 September 1995
43	Head Games 	Steve Lyons 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	19 October 1995
44	The Also People 	Ben Aaronovitch 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	16 November 1995
45	Shakedown 	Terrance Dicks 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz, Sontarans, Rutans 	7 December 1995
46	Just War 	Lance Parkin 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	18 January 1996
47	Warchild 	Andrew Cartmel 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	16 February 1996
48	SLEEPY 	Kate Orman 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz 	21 March 1996
49	Death and Diplomacy 	Dave Stone 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz, Jason 	18 April 1996
50	Happy Endings 	Paul Cornell 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz, Jason 	16 May 1996
51	GodEngine 	Craig Hinton 	7th 	Chris, Roz, Daleks 	20 June 1996
52	Christmas on a Rational Planet	Lawrence Miles 	7th 	Chris, Roz 	18 July 1996
53	Return of the Living Dad 	Kate Orman 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Roz, Jason 	15 August 1996
54	The Death of Art 	Simon Bucher-Jones 	7th 	Chris, Roz 	19 September 1996
55	Damaged Goods 	Russell T Davies 	7th 	Chris, Roz 	24 October 1996
56	So Vile a Sin 	Ben Aaronovitch, Kate Orman	7th 	Chris, Roz 	May 1997
57	Bad Therapy 	Matthew Jones 	7th 	Chris 	5 December 1996
58	Eternity Weeps 	Jim Mortimore 	7th 	Benny, Chris, Jason 	16 January 1997
59	The Room With No Doors 	Kate Orman 	7th 	Chris 	20 February 1997
60	Lungbarrow 	Marc Platt 	7th 	Chris, Romana II, Leela, Ace, K9 Mark I, K9 Mark II 	20 March 1997
61	The Dying Days 	Lance Parkin 	8th 	Benny, the Brigadier, UNIT, Ice Warriors 	18 April 1997
The Dying Days was the final New Adventures novel to feature the Doctor, although So Vile a Sin was released out-of-order and published last. The Dying Days reintroduced Bernice Summerfield and the settings that would predominate the later New Adventures; its afterword specified that the following novels belonged to a series of "new New Adventures", although they were published under the same imprint, logo, and name.
# 	Title 	Author 	Main character 	Featuring 	Published
1 	Oh No It Isn't! 	Paul Cornell 	Benny 	Wolsey, Grel 	1 May 1997
2 	Dragons' Wrath 	Justin Richards 	Benny 	Braxiatel 	2 June 1997
3 	Beyond the Sun 	Matthew Jones 	Benny 	Jason, Emile 	3 July 1997
4 	Ship of Fools 	Dave Stone 	Benny 	Braxiatel 	21 August 1997
5 	Down 	Lawrence Miles 	Benny 	God 	2 September 1997
6 	Deadfall 	Gary Russell 	Jason 	Benny, Chris, Braxiatel, Emile 	2 October 1997
7 	Ghost Devices 	Simon Bucher-Jones 	Benny 	Clarence 	3 November 1997
8 	Mean Streets 	Terrance Dicks 	Benny 	Chris 	1 December 1997
9 	Tempest 	Christopher Bulis 	Benny 	 	2 January 1998
10	Walking to Babylon 	Kate Orman 	Benny 	Clarence, God 	3 February 1998
11	Oblivion 	Dave Stone 	Benny 	Jason, Chris, Roz 	2 March 1998
12	The Medusa Effect 	Justin Richards 	Benny 	Braxiatel 	2 April 1998
13	Dry Pilgrimage 	Paul Leonard, Nick Walters 	Benny 	 	3 May 1998
14	The Sword of Forever 	Jim Mortimore 	Benny 	 	2 June 1998
15	Another Girl, Another Planet 	Martin Day, Len Beech 	Benny 	Jason, Saldaamir 	20 August 1998
16	Beige Planet Mars 	Lance Parkin, Mark Clapham 	Benny 	 	15 October 1998
17	Where Angels Fear 	Rebecca Levene, Simon Winstone 	Benny 	Braxiatel, Emile, Clarence, God 	2 December 1998
18	The Mary-Sue Extrusion 	Dave Stone 	Stratum Seven Agent	Benny, Jason, Emile, Mira 	1 February 1999
19	Dead Romance 	Lawrence Miles 	Christine 	Chris 	1 March 1999
20	Tears of the Oracle 	Justin Richards 	Benny 	Jason, Braxiatel, Clarence, God 	2 June 1999
21	Return to the Fractured Planet	Dave Stone 	Stratum Seven Agent	Benny, Chris, Braxiatel, Mira 	2 August 1999
22	The Joy Device 	Justin Richards 	Benny 	Jason, Chris, Braxiatel, Clarence, God 	1 October 1999
23	Twilight of the Gods 	Mark Clapham, Jon de Burgh Miller	Benny 	Jason, Chris, Braxiatel, Emile, Clarence	2 December 1999
=== Unproduced stories ===
Title 	Author 	Main character 	Featuring
Bizarre Love Triangle 	Matthew Jones 	Emile Mars-Smith	
The Spectacular Afterlife of Bernice Summerfield	Lawrence Miles	Benny 	
== Notes ==
=== Continuity ===
* The New Adventures introduced a few new companions into the life of the Doctor: Bernice Summerfield (debuting in Love and War), Wolsey the cat (debuting in Human Nature), and Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej (debuting in Original Sin).
* Ace was written out in Love and War and left the Doctor before reuniting with him in Deceit. During the intervening three years, she changed considerably. Ace left a second time, permanently, in Set Piece. Ace's character development and departure were contradicted by later media.
* Apart from the novels, some Doctor Who Magazine comics take place specifically in the New Adventures continuity. These feature the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, and the older version of Ace; their places in the New Adventures timeline were described in the 1993 article "Interweaving with the New Adventures".
* Eternity Weeps portrays the future death of Liz Shaw.
* The novels Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible, Transit, The Pit, Iceberg, and Lungbarrow were adapted from rejected episodes for either the Sixth or Seventh Doctor.
* Several novels of the New Adventures featured old foes from the TV series, including:
** Timewyrm: Exodus – The War Chief
** Iceberg – Cybermen and the Cyber-Controller
** Blood Heat – Silurians and Sea Devils
** No Future – The Monk and the Vardans
** Legacy - Ice Warriors
** Blood Harvest – Great Vampires
** First Frontier – The Master
** Toy Soldiers – Ogrons (cameo only)
** Head Games – Valeyard (illusion only)
** Shakedown – Sontarans and the Rutan Host
** GodEngine – Ice Warriors and Daleks (cameo only)
** The Dying Days – Ice Warriors
** Dead Romance – Daleks (cameo only)
* The New Adventures were majorly linked to Virgin's Missing Adventures and Decalog lines.
** A story strand which originated in Blood Harvest continued into the first Missing Adventures novel Goth Opera in an effort to get readers to buy both books.
** Shakedown and Lords of the Storm both featured the Sontarans in the same month.
** The Missing Adventures novel Cold Fusion featured both the Fifth Doctor and the Seventh Doctor alongside Roz, Chris Cwej, and the Fifth Doctor's companions.
** Decalog 4: Re:Generations tells stories about the family of Roz Forrester, introduced in a New Adventures novel. The short story collection Decalog 5: Wonders includes the first Bernice Summerfield short story, The Judgement of Solomon by Lawrence Miles.
=== Adaptations ===
* The novel Shakedown was itself an adaptation of the Reeltime Pictures production Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans, greatly expanded to include the Doctor.
* In Big Finish Productions' Bernice Summerfield series, six New Adventures were adapted into audio: Oh No It Isn't!, Beyond the Sun, Walking to Babylon, Birthright, Just War, and Dragons' Wrath. Birthright and Just War were modified to remove Doctor Who elements to which Big Finish did not yet have the rights.
* The novel Human Nature was adapted into the two-part story Human Nature/The Family of Blood in Series 3 of BBC Wales' Doctor Who.
* Love and War was directly adapted by Big Finish into an audio drama in 2012. This was followed by The Highest Science, Damaged Goods, Theatre of War, All-Consuming Fire, Original Sin, and Cold Fusion.
=== Production notes ===
* While no novel in particular served as an anniversary special, the 30th anniversary logo was included on the back cover of Lucifer Rising, Birthright, Iceberg, Blood Heat, The Dimension Riders, The Left-Handed Hummingbird, Conundrum, and No Future.
** The logo was absent on White Darkness and Shadowmind despite being published between Lucifer Rising and Birthright.
* So Vile a Sin was the final New Adventures novel to be published featuring the Doctor, but it was published out of narrative sequence due to delays preventing its completion. The death of a major character in that book was meant to be a surprise, but because of the production delay this was no longer possible, and the novel was adapted accordingly: its prologue began with the funeral for the character, and the event was made an intrinsic part of the narrative, rather than a shock conclusion.
* Following the broadcast of the 1996 TV movie, BBC Books took over the license for publishing original Doctor Who fiction, but there was an overlap of more than a year to allow Virgin to publish its contracted novels. As a result, the book line changed its branding, the Doctor Who logo on the front cover and spine removed beginning with the publication of Eternity Weeps.
* The cover design changed again with Another Girl, Another Planet, which removed the "New Adventures" identifier from the front cover and introduced a new title-lettering style.
== External links ==
* The Doctor Who Online Merchandise Guide - Virgin Books - The New Adventures
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