Though Steven Moffat may be exiting as Doctor Who showrunner this Christmas, that doesn’t mean he’s done with the wonderful world of the Whoniverse.


RadioTimes.com has learned that the screenwriter is teaming up with former Who boss Russell T Davies and novelists Jenny Colgan and Paul Cornell to write a series of Doctor Who novelisations.

Based on the iconic Target novelisations that retold classic Doctor Who episodes from the 1970s to the 1990s, this new ‘Target Collection’ will be published by BBC Books and Penguin Randomhouse, and will see Davies and Moffat adapt one of their own episodes each while Colgan adapts the first full episode featuring David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and Cornell adapts Peter Capaldi’s final episode.

Davies will adapt Rose, the very first episode of the revived Doctor Who, which aired in 2005 and introduced the world to Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler and Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor. Meanwhile, frequent Who novelist Colgan is penning the novelisation for Davies’ 2005 festive special The Christmas Invasion, the first full outing for Tennant’s popular Tenth Doctor which saw the Time Lord face off against the Sycorax.

Following on from this, Moffat is set to adapt one of his own episodes – 2013 50th anniversary spectacular The Day of the Doctor, which united Tennant and Matt Smith’s Doctors with John Hurt’s previously-unseen War Doctor.

And old series hand Cornell, who wrote Doctor Who episodes Father’s Day, Human Nature and the Family of Blood (the latter two-parter based on his own 1995 tie-in novel Human Nature) as well as numerous novels and other spin-off media based on the series, will adapt upcoming Christmas episode Twice Upon a Time, which airs this December and serves as both Moffat and Peter Capaldi’s Doctor Who swansong.

All four titles will be released on the 2nd April 2018, and short summaries of each (recovered from Penguin’s Australian website and confirmed as genuine by RadioTimes.com) can be read below.

DOCTOR WHO: ROSE (TARGET COLLECTION)

By Russell T Davies

The story that relaunched Doctor Who for the 21st century, novelised by show-runner Russell T Davies from his original script.

Meet the new Doctor Who classics.

“Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!”

In a lair somewhere beneath central London, a malevolent alien intelligence is plotting the end of humanity. Shop window dummies that can move – and kill – are taking up key positions, ready to strike.

Rose Tyler, an ordinary Londoner, is working her shift in a department store, unaware that this is the most important day of her life. She’s about to meet the only man who understands the true nature of the threat facing Earth, a stranger who will open her eyes to all the wonder and terror of the universe – a traveller in time and space known as the Doctor.

DOCTOR WHO: THE CHRISTMAS INVASION (TARGET COLLECTION)

By Jenny T. Colgan

The Tenth Doctor’s first adventure, novelised by bestselling author Jenny T Colgan

Meet the new Doctor Who classics.

Earth is under attack by power-hungry aliens. This is no time for the Doctor to be out of action.

When a British space probe is intercepted by a sinister alien vessel on the eve of Christmas, it marks the beginning of an audacious invasion of the Earth by the Sycorax – horrifying marauders from beyond the stars. Within hours, a third of humanity stands on the brink of death with not a single shot fired.

Our planet needs a champion – but the Doctor is not fit for service. He’s just regenerated, delirious in a new body and a dressing gown. Forced into his battered shoes is his friend, Rose Tyler, a girl from a London council estate. Will she save the world from this nightmare before Christmas – or see it destroyed?

DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR (TARGET COLLECTION)

By Steven Moffat

The spectacular 50th anniversary episode with the iconic War Doctor, novelised by showrunner Steven Moffat from his original script

Meet the new Doctor Who classics.

When the entire universe is at stake, three different Doctors will unite to save it.

The Tenth Doctor is hunting shape-shifting Zygons in Elizabethan England. The Eleventh is investigating a rift in space-time in the present day. And one other – the man they used to be but never speak of – is fighting the Daleks in the darkest days of the Time War. Driven by demons and despair, this battle-scarred Doctor is set to take a devastating decision that will threaten the survival of the entire universe… a decision that not even a Time Lord can take alone.

On this day, the Doctor’s different incarnations will come together to save the Earth… to save the universe… and to save his soul.

DOCTOR WHO: TWICE UPON A TIME (TARGET COLLECTION)

By Paul Cornell

The Twelfth Doctor’s dramatic final adventure, novelised by Paul Cornell

Based on this exciting return, it seems that both Davies and Moffat have found it tricky to say goodbye to Doctor Who. But given the weird and wonderful universe they got to play in, can we really blame them?

Note: an earlier version of this article erroneously stated the Twice Upon a Time novelisation was being written by Steven Moffat, due to an error in information we were given. This has now been corrected.


Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this Christmas