Colin Baker
Sixth Doctor
1984 - 1986

BBC Past Doctor Adventures

BBC Books Doctor Who logo From 1997 until 2005 BBC Books produced a range of full length novels termed the Past Doctor Adventures. These were adventures set between television adventures featuring past Doctors and companions.

I am the Lord President of Gallifrey. You can't put me on trial.

Grave Matter by Justin Richards

Published: 2000 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 246
ISBN: 0 563 55598 X

Dorsill: a group of islands shrouded in fog, the community facing economic ruin and struggling to survive.

When Christopher Shedon buys the islands outright, the locals owe him a debt of thanks. They don't ask too many questions about what Sheldon and his friends are up to; they don't care that he seldom ventures into the one small village; they don't ask why he saw fit to spend such a large amount of money - or where he got it from...

Even when the first few people die, there's an assumption that it's down to natural causes; allergic reactions, an especially virulent strain of flu, a tragic fishing accident... And if the sheep and chickens are behaving oddly, that's hardly a worry.

No, if there's anything to arouse suspicion, it's the arrival of retired civil servant Sir Edward Baddesley. But generally life goes on, with its little triumphs and upsetting tragedies.

Until two strangers arrive...

Players by Terrance Dicks

Published: 1999 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 249
ISBN: 0 563 55573 X

Promising his companion, Peri, high society elegance in fin-de-siecle London, the Doctor manages to hit the right time, but the wrong place...

The TARDIS has landed on the sun-baked veldt in the middle of a Boer War skirmish. And soon the Doctor and Peri are involved in the adventures of a struggling politician and war correspondent who they know is destined for greater things - a certain Winston Churchill. But mysterious forces seem to be interfering in his potentially great career...

Arriving in London, the Doctor and Peri enter high society but find themselves in a world of intrigue populated by notorious figures from Wallis Simpson to Joachim von Ribbentrop. And behind everything, the Doctor senses the hidden hand of the Players - mysterious beings who regard human history as no more than a chessboard. Can the Doctor and Peri find the right moves to defeat them - before it's too late?

Palace Of The Red Sun by Christopher Bulis

Published: 2002 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 284
ISBN: 0 563 53849 X

Glavis Judd: Protector of the galaxy or interstellar tyrant? Unscrupulous reporter Dexel Dynes doesn't care. He's only after a sensational story - the more violent the better.

Meanwhile, the TARDIS has landed Peri and the Doctor on a strangely isolated little world, whose immaculate gardens basking under a timeless sun seem the very model of tranquillity. Of course, it's too good to be true.

With the threat of invasion looming, the Doctor and Peri set out to confront the lofty Lords of Esselven. The Doctor must pass safely through the vast gardens of the royal estates while evading the clutches of their fanatical gardeners. Peri has escaped from all that, only to face the dangers of the dark and mysterious wild woods, which hold their own ancient secrets.

It is a race to save the people of Esselven from the clutches of Glavis Judd. But amongst the garden world's strange inhabitants can they trust, when nobody is quite what they seem? As time runs out, will Peri and the Doctor discover who really rules inside the Palace of the Red Sub?

Blue Box by Kate Orman

Published: 2003 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 269
ISBN: 0 563 53859 7

WHAT LURKS IN THE ELECTRONIC LABYRINTH?

'A timely look at a vital issue of today . . . you will never look at a computer in the same way.' - Phreakphest.

A DRAMATIC TRUE STORY OF HI-TECH CRIME

The Nineteen-Eighties; as we enter the Age of the Computer, the newborn 'Internet' spreads across America, and the computer invasion enters our homes. Across the technological frontier, an incredible was begins between the data criminals and their savvy opponents.

A brilliant young programmer, a beautiful college student, and a mysterious hacker known as only as 'The Doctor' join forces to combat an electronic threat that has fallen into the hands of a notorious computer outlaw.

Respected computer journalist Charles 'Chick' Peters was an eye witness as these unlikely heroes fought their hi-tech skirmishes across the nation's vulnerable capital - and inside the world of the computer. BLUE BOX is the compelling true story of a secret computer project that could literally change the way you think.

Synthespians by Craig Hinton

Published: 2004 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 276
ISBN: 0 563 48617 1

'We've been colonising other planets for a thousand million years,' she said, turning to the camera and giving her trademark smile. 'All right, Mr. Matheson - I'm ready for my close-up.'

In the 101st century, nostalgia is everything. Television from the 20th century is the new obsession, and Reef Station One is receiving broadcasts from a distant Earth of the past, transmitting them to a waiting audience.

When the Doctor and Peri arrive on Reef Station One, they find a fractured society, totally dependent on film and television. They also discover that the Republic's greatest entrepreneur is in league with one of the Doctor's oldest enemies.

As alien influence spreads its tentacles throughout the Republic, the Doctor and Peri must unravel the link between Walter J. Matheson's business empire and the invaders. Because, if they don't, they'll end up in the deadliest soap opera of all time.

The Shadow In The Glass by Justin Richards and Stephen Cole

Published: 2001 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 282
ISBN: 0 563 53838 4

May 17th 1944: A squadron of Hurricanes shoots down an unidentified aircraft over the Dorset village of Turelhampton. A routine operation. So why is the village immediately evacuated?

2001: Troops still occupy Turelhampton, guarding the village's dark secret. When a television documentary crew break through the cordon looking for a story, they find they've recorded more than they bargained for.

Meanwhile, in Cornwall, a journalist is witness to a terrifying ceremony: agents of the worst evil in history plan to unleash a new, unthinkable horror on the world.

Caught up in both a deadly conspiracy and historical mystery, retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart call upon his old friend the Doctor. Half-glimpsed demons watch from the shadows as the Doctor and the Brigadier discover the last, and deadliest, secret of the Second World War.

Mission: Impractical by David A. McIntee

Published: 1998 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 280
ISBN: 0 563 40592 9

When daring criminal Jack Chance masterminds the heist of a precious national treasure from the planet Veltroch, it is the first step in a chain of events that could lead to the destruction of two civilisations...

Pursued by bounty hunter, the Doctor and his shapeshifting companion Frobisher run into old acquaintances Glitz and Dibber - notorious rogues who have become involved in something big: a covert government agency on Vandor Prime is forcing the pair to turn their criminal talents to its own ends.

The Doctor and Frobisher are soon drawn into the mysterious scheme themselves - but what game is truly being played by the authorities? How is the group of Ogron raiders involved? And who is so desperate to see the Doctor dead?

Caught in a web of deceit and pursued by ruthless killers, the Doctor's mission - should he decide to accept it - is to join Glitz's gang and pull off the crime of the century. And failure will result in interstellar was costing the lives of millions...

Business Unusual by Gary Russell

Published: 1997 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 277
ISBN: 0 563 40575 9

A security force with no official identity... a managing director with no name... a sinister creature on guard patrol resembling some kind of hellhound... SenéNet is no ordinary multinational company.

The Doctor arrives in Brighton, 1989, travelling alone. He soon discovers his old friend, the Brigadier, has gone missing investigating SenéNet, whose interactive games console is soon to be released at an absurdly reasonable price. He was last seen at their headquarters - based in the picturesque Ashdown Forest...

Investigating further, the Doctor becomes more and more entangled in a deadly web of intrigue. Together with Mel, a plucky computer programmer from Pease Pottage, the Doctor must overcome the conspiracy of silence, rescue the Brigadier and save the world once again - something that would be a lot easier if he just knew where to start...

The Quantum Archangel by Craig Hinton

Published: 2001 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 282
ISBN: 0 563 53824 4

'Hear me, Lord of Time. We are a vengeful people. Our reach is infinite and our patience eternal. For your actions, we will have vengeance. And the vengeance of the Chronovores is terror beyond imagining.'

Five thousand years ago, the Priest-Kings of Atlantis attempted to enslave Kronos, greatest of the Chronovores. They failed, with catastrophic results. Thirty years ago, the Master sought to do the same, and barely escaped with his life.

London, 2003: torn apart by tragedy, the Doctor and Mel have gone their separate ways, only to find their paths crossing once more. While the Doctor tries to stop an old friend from making a terrible mistake, Mel is horrified to learn her best friend has fallen under the influence of the Master.

As the Master desperately tries to defend himself against the power of Kronos, the Doctor and Mel must overcome their differences. If they don't, the Quantum Archangel will be triumphant. And if she is, nothing in the Universe will ever be the same again.

Instruments Of Darkness by Gary Russell

Published: 2001 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 283
ISBN: 0 563 53828 7

The leaders on planet Earth think that the Magnate is a mysterious 'shadow Government' that controls the world. It isn't. The leaders believe the Network to be a ramshackle, paranoid outfit of European anarchists who will eventually blow themselves up. They won't. The leaders believe that if there are humans who can control things with their minds - ESPnets - they're few and far between, and not worth worrying about. They're wrong. The leaders believe that one minute after midnight on 31 December 1993, a new year, full of promise, will begin. They're wrong.

The Doctor and Mel arrive on Earth just days before New Year. An old friend has been kidnapped and taken to France. And two murderous enemies are setting up a new life in the Peak District. Which of these threats should the Doctor deal with first? And why is his old travelling companion Evelyn Smythe using her knowledge of the future to make a fortune from chocolate recipes?!

Spiral Scratch by Gary Russell

Published: 2005 BBC Books
No. of Pages: 277
ISBN: 0 563 48626 0

Carsus: the largest repository of knowledge in the universe - in any universe, for there is an infinite number of potential universes; or rather, there should be. So why are there now just 117,863? And why, every so often, does another one just wink out of existence?

The Doctor and Mel arrive on Carsus to the see the Doctor's old friend Professor Rummas - but he has been murdered. Can they solve the mystery of a contracting multiverse, and expose the murderer?

With the ties that bind the Lamprey family to the past, present and future unravelling around him, only the Doctor can stop the descent into temporal chaos. But he is lost on Janus 8. And Schyllus. And a twentieth-century Earth where Rome never fell. And...