Doctor Who Literature

It's late April 2024, but Doctor Who Literature takes us back to mid-February, and to the Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles, where Mark from the Trap One Podcast joined me over dinner for a My Dinner With Andre-style conversation about the 1969 Doctor Who serial The Seeds of Death, and its 1986 novelization by Terrance Dicks. You can view My Dinner With Andre in full here. The Proclaimers appeared on Late Night With David Letterman in March 1989. Big Blue Marble was a long-running 1970s/'80s PBS series produced in part by Rick Berman (yes, that Rick Berman). You can view an episode here. The opening theme (sampled in this episode) features lyrics by Berman, music by Paul Baillargeon, and vocals by Whitney Kershaw. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Seeds of Death" features cover art by Tony Masero. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

This week Doctor Who Literature is NOT covering a Target book. 1986 was a bumper year for Doctor Who fiction, and, in the States, Ballantine Books got in on the action with both the man in the blue box, AND the still going-strong Choose Your Own Adventure craze, with a series of six books in the Find Your Fate series. Joining me to read through -- and play -- this book is my old friend Tony Whitt of the Doctor Who Target Book Club Podcast, without which this show might not exist. Tony never holds back on his opinions, and we both have a lot to say. And not just about Doctor Who. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us!! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels] "Find Your Fate... Doctor Who: Mission to Venus" features cover art by Romas Kukalis. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Welcome to the first of two planned episodes about the 1966 Doctor Who serial The Celestial Toymaker. The episode eventually spawned a TV sequel ... in 2023, The Giggle. The novelizations of both stories were released in 1986 and 2024 respectively. Joining me this week is James Goss, author of the Giggle novelization, and we spend about 90 joyous minutes talking about both books. Links to other podcasts or posts or websites discussed today: --James Goss recently appeared on Trap One. --Shannon Patrick Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel). --James Cooray Smith's Psychic Paper looks at Trial of a Time Lord. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Celestial Toymaker" features cover art by Graham Potts. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

1986 saw the release of the first two Companions of Doctor Who novels, original full-length books rather than novelizations of Doctor Who TV serials. There would only be one more after this one. Harry Sullivan's War was written by Ian Marter, who died tragically young, on his own 42nd birthday, just a couple of weeks after the book's release. Jim Sangster rejoins me as the guest for this week's book -- and also wrote this week's theme song! A video for Jim's son is found here. Song written by Jim Sangster and sung by Antony Owen. The first 8 minutes are an audio essay about the 1986 baseball season. If you're not a baseball fan, you will be after hearing this essay (or not). Recent guest Dale Smith recently penned an essay about Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma, the first Companions of Doctor Who novel, covered on this show (by Dale Smith!) just last month. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels] "The Companions of Doctor Who – Harry Sullivan’s War" features cover art by David McAllister. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Returning to Doctor Who Literature this week is Conrad Westmaas, one of the great friends of this show, who brings news from Big Finish and the convention circuit. After catching up, Conrad and Jason dive into this week's Doctor Who episode and novelization, Fury From the Deep, which may well be one of the 60 greatest Doctor Who stories of the past 60 years. A link to the choose-your-own-adventure book by Eric Grissom referenced by Conrad during today's interview. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – Fury From the Deep" features cover art by David McAllister. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Very happy to have on the show this week Nathan Skreslet from PixelWho, an innovative Doctor Who online store, which has supplied the bookmark Jason uses while reading the novelizations -- among other art. Michael Storm from our Mark of the Rani episode has blogged about his appearance and about the book/TV episode. Shout out to the recent Gallifrey's Most Wanted episode covering The King's Demons, which we covered on Doctor Who Literature last week. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels] "Doctor Who – The Savages" features cover art by David McAllister. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Jim Sangster is back on Doctor Who Literature, not only with a new song (and, as usual, a banger), but with a new video as well Jim is here to discuss Doctor Who's Season 20 classic The King's Demons. Recent Jason podcast appearances discussed in the episode include: Trap One: The Underwater Menace Trap One: Gally Report Trap One: The Daleks -- In Colour Who & Company: Jason & Dark Shadows Gallifrey's Most Wanted: Timewyrm: Genesys Jim's video adaptation of his song for this episode can be found up on our YouTube channel! If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who–The King’s Demons" features cover art by David McAllister. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Doctor Who fans may love Pip & Jane Baker. Doctor Who may hate Pip & Jane Baker. But Doctor Who fans cannot ignore Pip & Jane Baker, and what unique voice they brought to their scripts and especially their four novelizations in between Seasons 22 and 24 of Classic Who. And now in publication order we reach the first of their books: The Mark of the Rani. And please give a warm Doctor Who Literature welcome to Michael Storm, who makes a very memorable DWLit debut. We've got a lot to discuss. Join DWLit Nation and get your Ghastly Woke Zombie T-shirt here. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Mark of the Rani" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Here on Doctor Who Literature we take a brief scheduled break from the novelizations. It's still May 1986, and not only did we get the Doctor Who novelization of Timelash, but now we get the debut of the short-lived Companions of Doctor Who line. First up, Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma. Which doubles as the first original Doctor Who novel. Many more would follow. Joining me to break this one down is Doctor Who novelist Dale Smith. We'll also discuss Dale's recent Black Archive volume on The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "The Companions of Doctor Who–Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma" features cover art by David McAllister. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Recorded live at Gallifrey One in Los Angeles last week, Simon Guerrier -- author of the magisterial new biography of David Whitaker -- sits down with me, and Mark from Trap One -- to discuss one of Doctor Who's more controversial episodes... Timelash. Plus, a brief recap of Gally. Mark and I also collaborated on a Trap One Gally Field Report. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who– Timelash" features cover art by David McAllister. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Live from Los Angeles, it's Saturday night... or rather, Sunday morning at Gallifrey One. Welcome to the first of three live interviews recorded at the con, with another to follow next week and the third to follow in a couple of months. The accomplished and well-traveled and glamorous Stacey Smith? rejoins me to discuss one of Doctor Who's less remembered, but possible underrated, 1960s episodes. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – Galaxy Four" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

This week's Doctor Who novelization is The Twin Dilemma. Which, when you rank Doctor Who's TV stories from best to worst, is almost always at the bottom of the list. And our Doctor Who Literature guest this week is Graeme Burk, from one of Jason's favorite Doctor Who podcasts, Reality Bomb. Please listen to the two Doctor Who Essentials episodes of Reality Bomb, here and here. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Twin Dilemma" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

After two weeks celebrating "The Gunfighters", we now spend a week tolerating, or at least giving a curt head nod to, "The Time Monster". Why was this one of the last Pertwee stories to be novelized? If the TV scripts were co-written by Barry Letts, why does Terrance Dicks appear to have so little patience for it? Check out Si's Library of Impossible Things podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Time Monster" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Jim Sangster rejoins me this week -- this time in the interviewer's seat -- as we continue our deep dive into The Gunfighters. Why was a particular 1983 Doctor Who hardcover reference book so hard on the story? Did the story effectively kill the historical genre in '60s Who? Was this the lowest-rated story of all time? Is the inclusion of the ballad a betrayal of the Western genre? Jim and I both love this story to bits. Which is why we spent two weeks on it and not just one. Sampled or narrated this week: --The final pitch of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. --The theme to US TV's The Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp. --Frankie Laine sings the theme to Gunfight at O.K. Corral. --The theme to Gerry Anderson's Four Feather Falls. --The Doctor Who discussion in U.S. sportswriter Allen Barra's now out-of-print Inventing Wyatt Earp. In short, Jim and I had a delightful two weeks in Tombstone. Next week a new guest and I will be off to Atlantis... will that be as much fun? If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Gunfighters" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit] --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Jason loves The Gunfighters. Unreservedly and without irony. It ranked as #13 on his Top 60 of-all-time Doctor Who stories as announced in November 2023. So this episode about the novelization needs to be big, epic, as widescreen as Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas (and Deforest Kelley!) in John Sturges' Gunfight at the OK Corral. This week, Jim Sangster and I focus primarily on the behind-the-scenes production chaos behind the making of Doctor Who's third production season, which informs a lot about why Gunfighters is one of the show's last pure historicals. Jason also touches briefly on the context of the novelization, and then next week, both Jim and I are back for more rootin' tootin' Gunfighters. The Harvey Keitel interview referenced in this episode can be viewed here. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Gunfighters" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Target Book 100 was a special event for Doctor Who fans. A milestone novel, with a special introduction written by show producer John Nathan-Turner -- his only direct contribution to the Target books -- and with a gold-stamped foil logo and a unique flash above the logo. Is The Two Doctors -- Patrick Troughton's final live contribution to Doctor Who, filmed about two and a half years before his untimely passing -- as special a story as the novelization? We need three guests to break it down for us this week. Conrad, Frazer, and Jason Davis, all back for repeat appearances. Conrad co-stars in a brand-new Big Finish release with the Sontarans (and TV Sontaran Dan Starkey!). Buy it here! Musical inspiration for this episode comes from The Sundays. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Two Doctors" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

NOTE: This episode run time should be 92 minutes. A 66-minute truncated version was erroneously sourced first. We have now updated the stream. And, incidentally, a happy 2024 to all of you at home. We are no longer on Twitter, but can be found on YouTube, BlueSky, and all your favorite podcast apps of choice. Jim Sangster rejoins me this week with a specially recorded "Direction Point" intro, a comedy sketch featuring the Krotons, and, of course, a lengthy conversation about Xmas movies and... the Krotons. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode and all previous episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels "Doctor Who – The Krotons" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit] --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

And, incidentally, a happy 2024 to all of you at home! Mark from Trap One is my guest this week. We discuss the coming changes to Doctor Who Literature as Jason is deleting Twitter. You can find this show on BlueSky and YouTube going forward, as well as your favorite podcast apps of choice. Jason and Mark watch Doctor Who's first New Year's Day special -- Volcano, Episode 8 of The Daleks' Master Plan, aired January 1st, 1966 -- and do a live episode commentary. Couldn't ask for a better discussion partner than Mark! We also say goodbye to Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates), and discuss our plans for the upcoming Gallifrey One convention. You can hear the late Richard's appearance on Trap One here. Jason and Mark's latest Trap One is here. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! Watch this episode on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

We are up to one of Doctor Who's all-time greats -- The Invasion, Number 19 on Jason's recent Top 60 list for the 60th anniversary. Rejoining me after a too-long hiatus is Pete Lambert (@Prof_Quiteamess). And joining us for her first guest reading on Doctor Who Literature is Lucy McCaul (@LucyMcCaul). Interested in The Golden Land? A trailer from the theatrical staging in NYC a few years back is here. This past week Jason moderated the Trap One recap of The Giggle. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us! "Doctor Who – The Invasion" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://anchor.fm/doctorwholit. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message

Please welcome back to the show Mr. Si Hart (@Si_Hart) as we travel back into antiquity and explore The Myth Makers. But first, in a conversation recorded two days before the premiere of The Giggle, we predict what might happen in Doctor Who's latest episode. Spoiler alert, one of us is very, very right, and the other one of us (me) is very, very wrong. Check out Si's new solo podcast, The Library of Impossible Things. And joining me to break down The Giggle seconds after it ended, please welcome back my teen daughter Callie, who has lots of Thoughts about Fourteen and Donna, and all our other Who pals. Last week I was back on Trap One to discuss Wild Blue Yonder. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us!] "Doctor Who – The Myth Makers" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter. Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network. Please e-mail the pod at DrWhoLiterature@gmail.com. You can catch all past episodes at https://anchor.fm/doctorwholit. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit/message