Feature by TOM SPILSBURY
Target Books authors Paul Cornell, Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat and Jenny T Colgan. Jenny T Colgan photo © Rebecca Marshall.
In the days before streaming, Blu-rays, DVDs and even VHS, there was only one ‘on-demand’ way to relive your favourite Doctor Who episodes. The first novelisations of television Doctor Who stories were a handful of books published in the 1960s. Fans had to wait until 1973 before a more regular service resumed, this time under the aegis of a new children’s imprint called Target Books. Over the next 20 years, Target published more than 150 novelisations, adapting nearly all of the Doctor Who stories that had been transmitted up to that point. By the time Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, the world had changed. Novelisations were no longer the only way to revisit your favourite TV show or movie, and it seemed very unlikely that the Target range would ever be resurrected.