Editing Virgin New Adventures

{{Short description|Novels based on Doctor Who, 1991 to 1999}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Doctor Who New Adventures logo.jpg|200px|right]]
The '''''Virgin New Adventures''''' (NA series,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/lungbarrow/notes/page9.shtml |title= Lungbarrow Authors Notes Chapter 8 |author= Marc Platt |access-date=16 November 2010}}</ref> or NAs<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/dyingdays/notes/page19.shtml |title= Dying Days Authors Notes Chapter 14 continued |author= Lance Parkin |access-date=16 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2004/01/01/13699.shtml |title= Interview: Lance Parkin |date= 1 January 2004 |access-date=17 November 2010}}</ref>) are a series of novels from [[Virgin Publishing]] based on the British [[Science fiction on television|science-fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''.  They continued the story of the Doctor from the point at which the television programme went into hiatus from television in 1989.<ref name="Bookwyrm">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Anthony |last2=Smith? |first2=Robert |title=Bookwyrm: An Unauthorized & Unconventional Guide to the Doctor Who Novels |date=2019 |publisher=ATB Publishing |location=Maryland |isbn=978-0-9882210-6-2 |page=10}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=June 2020}}

From 1991 to 1997, all the books except the final one involved the [[Seventh Doctor]], who was portrayed on television by [[Sylvester McCoy]]; the final book, ''[[The Dying Days]]'', involved the [[Eighth Doctor]], who was portrayed in [[Doctor Who (film)|the 1996 television film]] by [[Paul McGann]]. In further books published between 1997 and 1999, the New Adventures series focused on the character [[Bernice Summerfield]] and the Doctor did not appear.

==Publication history==

===''Doctor Who''===
Virgin had purchased the successful children's imprint [[Target Books]] in 1989, with Virgin's new fiction editor [[Peter Darvill-Evans]] taking over the range. Target's major output was novelisations of televised ''Doctor Who'' stories, and Darvill-Evans realised that there were few stories left to be novelised. He approached the [[BBC]] for permission to commission original stories written directly for print, but such a licence was initially refused. However, after the television series ended at the end of 1989, Virgin were granted the licence to produce full-length original novels continuing the story from the point at which the series had concluded.<ref name="Bookwyrm"/>

The range, titled the ''New Adventures'', was launched in 1991 with a series of four linked novels, beginning with ''[[Timewyrm: Genesys]]'' by [[John Peel (writer)|John Peel]], who had previously contributed to Target's successful range of novelisations. Of the other three initial authors, [[Terrance Dicks]] had been both a regular contributor to the television series itself and the major contributor to Target's book range; Nigel Robinson had been Darvill-Evans' predecessor as editor of the Target books; and [[Paul Cornell]], although new to professional publishing, had been an active contributor to the ''Doctor Who'' [[fanzine]] scene and was beginning a career as a television scriptwriter.

The initial four ''Timewyrm'' books were successful,<ref>"According to [Peter] Darvill-Evans, 25,000 copies of each book were printed, and all of them were sold" (Skeratt. https://blog.lovarzi.co.uk/doctor-who-the-virgin-new-adventures/ ).</ref> and the range quickly became a regular bi-monthly series. Starting with book #11, ''[[The Highest Science]]'', in February 1993, Virgin switched to a monthly publication schedule. In July 1994, Virgin began a companion range of novels, the [[Virgin Missing Adventures|Missing Adventures]], which told stories of previous incarnations of the Doctor.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.5204/mcj.1474 | title="Too Broad and Deep for the Small Screen": ''Doctor Who'''s New Adventures in the 1990s | date=2018 | last1=Novitz | first1=Julian | journal=M/C Journal | volume=21 | issue=5 }}</ref>

Following the ''Doctor Who'' [[Doctor Who (film)|television movie]] in 1996 the BBC chose not to renew Virgin's licence to produce ''Doctor Who'' novels, choosing instead to publish their own line of original ''Doctor Who'' fiction. After 61 New Adventures and 33 Missing Adventures, ''Doctor Who'' fiction came to an end at Virgin with ''[[The Dying Days]]'', their only [[Eighth Doctor]] novel. However, the final ''Doctor Who'' book actually published by Virgin was ''[[So Vile a Sin]]'', featuring the Seventh Doctor; it had been scheduled for release several months before ''The Dying Days'' but was delayed due to difficulties with the manuscript.

===Bernice Summerfield===
The New Adventures series continued with [[Bernice Summerfield]], one of the new [[Companion (Doctor Who)|companions]] introduced for the New Adventures, as the lead character, starting with her taking up a job as professor of archaeology at the St Oscar's University on the planet of Dellah.

A meeting was held at Virgin in mid-July 1996 with the New Adventures editorial team, Peter Darvill-Evans, Rebecca Levene and Simon Winstone, and several regular writers for the series: Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts, Andy Lane, Lance Parkin and Justin Richards. This was to plan the basics of the Benny books. Parkin's [[The Dying Days]] as then tasked with getting the character of Benny to 2593.<ref>''The Who Adventures'' by David J Howe, Canterbury: Telos Publishing Ltd., {{ISBN|978-1-84583-185-1}}, p. 274</ref>

The new line was written by many of the writers that had written for the New Adventures and continued to feature elements of both the ''Doctor Who'' New Adventures and, to a lesser extent, television continuity. Indeed, its concluding arc – the so-called "Gods arc", which sees an alien race with god-like powers devastating Dellah – ties in with concurrent events in the BBC Eighth Doctor line. The links between the NA ''[[Dead Romance]]'' (a standalone volume in which Bernice Summerfield does not actually appear) and the two-volume Eighth Doctor novel ''[[Interference: Book One|Interference]]'' (all written by Lawrence Miles) are particularly close.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

==Storytelling==
The New Adventures were self-described as being "stories too broad and deep for the small screen," and purported to take ''Doctor Who'' into "previously unexplored realms of time and space". What this meant, in practice, was a shift towards more adult-oriented science fiction writing, and use of the literary form to play around with the standard conventions of the series. From the beginning, the novels were controversial for their use of sex, violence and bad language, although this was never as frequent or as extreme as many people seemed to believe. As the series found its audience over time a greater share of fandom began to accept the new direction.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

Among the developments were a "hardening" of [[Ace (Doctor Who)|Ace]], with a story arc that had her leave the Doctor for three years (from her perspective) and returning as an older and more cynical character, more morally ambiguous endings and the introduction of new companions, such as Bernice and the Adjudicators [[Chris Cwej]] and Roz Forrester. Bernice, in particular, proved so popular{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} that in addition to appearing in her own novels, she has gone on to star in her own [[radio drama|audio plays]] as well.

The novels were guided by the so-called [[Cartmel Masterplan]], which was the backstory that ''Doctor Who'' story editor [[Andrew Cartmel]] had constructed for the television series<ref name="scriptdoctor">{{cite book |title=Script Doctor: The Inside Story of ''Doctor Who'' 1986–89 |last=Cartmel |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Cartmel |year=2005 |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn |location=London |isbn=1-903111-89-7 |pages=134–135}}</ref> when it was cancelled and never brought to fruition. Hints were therefore dropped about the "true" nature of the Seventh Doctor, which culminated in the penultimate novel in the Virgin series, ''[[Lungbarrow]]'', written by [[Marc Platt (writer)|Marc Platt]]. That said, neither of the main editors of the line, [[Peter Darvill-Evans]] or [[Rebecca Levene]] took the Masterplan as an absolute, preferring to develop those themes by tone rather than plot. Only a handful of books in the line are heavily based around the Masterplan.

One novel in the series, ''[[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans#Novelisation|Shakedown]]'', was in fact a novelisation of an [[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans|independent video production]] that had featured the [[Sontaran]]s. The production team had licensed the use of the Sontarans and Rutans, but had not included the Doctor due to lack of copyright.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}  The novelisation of ''Shakedown'', however, was expanded to include the Doctor. (Similarly, the NA's sister series, the Missing Adventures, included novelisations of the spin-off production, ''[[Downtime (Doctor Who)|Downtime]]'' and the BBC Radio drama ''[[The Ghosts of N-Space]]''.)

One novel in the series, ''All-Consuming Fire'', written by [[Andy Lane]], featured a crossover with [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s characters [[Sherlock Holmes]] and [[Dr. Watson]], and also with [[H. P. Lovecraft]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. Editor [[Peter Darvill-Evans]] initially told Lane that Holmes and Watson were to become the Doctor's new companions, but this did not happen.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Matthew|date=May 1997|title=Licence to Kill|magazine=Doctor Who Magazine|issue=252|page=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/22-cases-of-sherlock-holmes-in-science-fiction-5178945|title=22 Cases of Sherlock Holmes in Science Fiction|last=Wilkins|first=Alasdair|date=22 March 2009|access-date=26 January 2023|website=Gizmodo}}</ref>

==Writers==
As well as introducing new characters, the range also provided a showcase for new writing talent. Notable was [[Paul Cornell]] who wrote five of the novels, including the single most popular one (according to a ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' poll), ''[[Human Nature (novel)|Human Nature]]''. Cornell went on to write for the 2005 revival of the television series: "[[Father's Day (Doctor Who)|Father's Day]]" and "[[Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)|Human Nature]]"/"[[The Family of Blood]]", the latter a two-part adaptation of the 38th New Adventure. Others who later worked on the revived television series include [[Mark Gatiss]], [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]], [[Matt Jones (writer)|Matt Jones]], [[Simon Winstone]] and [[Gary Russell]]. Even [[Russell T Davies]] contributed to the range with his novel ''[[Damaged Goods (Davies novel)|Damaged Goods]]''. Gatiss and Roberts both did their first ever professional fiction writing for the line, as did others who later found success elsewhere, including [[Daniel Blythe]], [[Justin Richards]], [[Andy Lane]] and [[Lance Parkin]].

Several writers from the classic television series also got their chance to contribute – one of the best received novels was ''[[The Also People]]'' by [[Ben Aaronovitch]]. [[Terrance Dicks]], the author of many [[List of Doctor Who novelisations#List of novelisations published by Target|Target episode novelizations]] and a writer and [[script editor]] for the TV series going back to the 1960s, contributed a number of novels. [[Barry Letts]], former producer of the series during the [[Jon Pertwee]] era, contributed to the [[Virgin Missing Adventures]] line.

Despite moving to the BBC line of novels, the writers (many who cut their teeth with the Virgin series) attempted to maintain continuity with the Virgin range{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} and many elements from this series appeared in later ''Doctor Who'' stories. With [[Big Finish Productions]] acquiring the licence to produce both ''Doctor Who'' and Bernice Summerfield audio plays and short fiction, they have been able to set audio plays within the universe of the Virgin novel line, as is the case with ''[[The Shadow of the Scourge]]'' and ''[[The Dark Flame]]'', for example. Although the continuity of the audio plays and the BBC's [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] diverge sharply from each other, they both broadly appear to maintain continuity with the Virgin series;{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} Big Finish's early Bernice Summerfield works did not.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

==Legacy==
===Adaptations===
Paul Cornell's 1995 novel, ''Human Nature'', as noted above, formed the basis of a two-part episode of the television series broadcast in 2007. This was the first time a full-length original ''Doctor Who'' novel had been adapted for television, although Cornell (who also wrote the teleplay) had to make substantial changes to transform his Seventh Doctor novel into a story featuring the Tenth Doctor.

[[Big Finish Productions]] produced audio drama adaptations of the novels ''Birthright'' and ''Just War'', altering them to remove the Doctor and his various companions and focus on the character of Benny Summerfield. In October 2012 a special adaptation of Benny's debut story, ''[[Love and War (Cornell novel)#Audio Adaptation|Love and War]]'' was published with [[Sylvester McCoy]] as the Seventh Doctor and [[Sophie Aldred]] as Ace, to mark the 20th anniversary of the character's début.

Due to the success of what was planned to be a one-off release, Big Finish continued the line with an adaptation of ''The Highest Science'', again featuring Sylvester McCoy and Lisa Bowerman in their respective roles, in December 2014. Also produced were [[Russell T. Davies]]' novel ''Damaged Goods'', starring [[Sylvester McCoy]], Travis Oliver and [[Yasmin Bannerman]] as the Seventh Doctor, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester respectively, released in May 2015; ''Theatre of War'' and ''All-Consuming Fire'' in December 2015; ''Nightshade'' in April 2016; and ''Original Sin'' and ''Cold Fusion'' in December 2016.

===Reprints===
The Bernice Summerfield novel ''[[Dead Romance]]'' was republished in 2004. In 2014, the novel ''Shakedown'' was republished by Penguin as part of ''The Monster Collection'', followed in 2015 by ''Human Nature'', republished as part of ''The History Collection''. BBC Audio published audiobooks of ''Human Nature'' and ''Shakedown'' in 2015 and 2016, narrated by Lisa Bowerman and Dan Starkey respectively.

===Cwej: The Series===
{{See also|Cwej: The Series}}
Along with Bernice Summerfield, Chris Cwej would also receive a spin-off of his own published by Arcbeatle Press. The series would also cross over with [[Faction Paradox]], a spin-off of the Eighth Doctor Adventures.

==List of ''Virgin New Adventures''==

===Featuring the Doctor===

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! #
! Title
! Author
! Featuring
! class=unsortable| Published
|-
|1 || ''[[Timewyrm: Genesys]]'' || [[John Peel (writer)|John Peel]] || Ace || June 1991
|-
|2 || ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus]]'' ||[[Terrance Dicks]] || Ace, [[The War Games|The War Chief, War Lords]] || August 1991
|-
|3 || ''[[Timewyrm: Apocalypse]]'' ||[[Nigel Robinson]] || Ace || October 1991
|-
|4 || ''[[Timewyrm: Revelation]]'' ||[[Paul Cornell]] || Ace || December 1991
|-
|5 || ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'' ||[[Marc Platt (writer)|Marc Platt]] || Ace || February 1992
|-
|6 || ''[[Cat's Cradle: Warhead]]'' ||[[Andrew Cartmel]] || Ace || April 1992
|-
|7 || ''[[Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark]]'' ||Andrew Hunt || Ace || June 1992
|-
|8 || ''[[Nightshade (Gatiss novel)|Nightshade]]'' ||[[Mark Gatiss]] || Ace || August 1992
|-
|9 || ''[[Love and War (Cornell novel)|Love and War]]'' ||Paul Cornell || Ace, [[Bernice Summerfield|Bernice]], [[Draconian (Doctor Who)|Draconians]] || October 1992
|-
|10 ||''[[Transit (Aaronovitch novel)|Transit]]'' ||[[Ben Aaronovitch]] || Bernice, Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart || December 1992
|-
|11 || ''[[The Highest Science]]'' ||[[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]] || Bernice || February 1993
|-
|12 || ''[[The Pit (Penswick novel)|The Pit]]'' ||[[Neil Penswick]] || Bernice || March 1993
|-
|13 || ''[[Deceit (Darvill-Evans novel)|Deceit]]'' ||[[Peter Darvill-Evans]] || Ace, Bernice || April 1993
|-
|14 || ''[[Lucifer Rising (novel)|Lucifer Rising]]'' ||[[Jim Mortimore]] & [[Andy Lane]] || Ace, Bernice || May 1993
|-
|15 || ''[[White Darkness (novel)|White Darkness]]'' ||[[David A. McIntee]] || Ace, Bernice || June 1993
|-
|16 || ''[[Shadowmind]]'' ||[[Christopher Bulis]] || Ace, Bernice || July 1993
|-
|17 || ''[[Birthright (Robinson novel)|Birthright]]'' ||Nigel Robinson || Ace, Bernice || August 1993
|-
|18 || ''[[Iceberg (Banks novel)|Iceberg]]'' ||[[David Banks (actor)|David Banks]] || Ruby, [[Cyberman|Cybermen]] || September 1993
|-
|19 || ''[[Blood Heat]]'' ||Jim Mortimore || Ace, Bernice, [[Silurian (Doctor Who)|Silurians]], [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]], [[Liz Shaw]], [[Sergeant Benton|John Benton]], [[Jo Grant]] || October 1993
|-
|20 || ''[[The Dimension Riders]]'' ||[[Daniel Blythe]] || Ace, Bernice || November 1993
|-
|21 || ''[[The Left-Handed Hummingbird]]'' ||[[Kate Orman]] || Ace, Bernice || December 1993
|-
|22 || ''[[Conundrum (Lyons novel)|Conundrum]]'' ||[[Steve Lyons (writer)|Steve Lyons]] || Ace, Bernice || January 1994
|-
|23 || ''[[No Future (novel)|No Future]]'' ||Paul Cornell || Ace, Bernice, [[UNIT]], [[The Monk (Doctor Who)|The Meddling Monk]], [[The Invasion of Time|Vardans]], || February 1994
|-
|24 || ''[[Tragedy Day]]'' ||Gareth Roberts || Ace, Bernice || March 1994
|-
|25 || ''[[Legacy (Russell novel)|Legacy]]'' ||[[Gary Russell]] || Ace, Bernice, [[Ice Warrior]]s, [[Alpha Centauri (Doctor Who)|Alpha Centurai]], [[The Curse of Peladon|Peladonians]] || April 1994
|-
|26 || ''Theatre of War'' ||[[Justin Richards]] || Ace, Bernice, [[Irving Braxiatel|Braxiatel]] || May 1994
|-
|27 || ''All-Consuming Fire'' ||Andy Lane || Ace, Bernice, [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[Dr. Watson|John Watson]] || June 1994
|-
|28 || ''[[Blood Harvest (Dicks novel)|Blood Harvest]]'' ||Terrance Dicks || Ace, Bernice, [[Romana II|Romana]], [[List of Doctor Who universe creatures and aliens (Q–Z)#V|Great Vampires]] || July 1994
|-
|29 || ''[[Strange England]]'' ||Simon Messingham || Ace, Bernice || August 1994
|-
|30 || ''First Frontier'' ||David A. McIntee || Ace, Bernice, [[The Master (Doctor Who)|The Master]] || September 1994
|-
|31 || ''[[St Anthony's Fire (novel)|St Anthony's Fire]]'' ||Mark Gatiss || Ace, Bernice || October 1994
|-
|32 || ''[[Falls the Shadow (novel)|Falls the Shadow]]'' ||[[Daniel O'Mahony]] || Ace, Bernice || November 1994
|-
|33 || ''[[Parasite (Mortimore novel)|Parasite]]'' ||Jim Mortimore || Ace, Bernice || December 1994
|-
|34 || ''[[Warlock (Cartmel novel)|Warlock]]'' ||Andrew Cartmel || Ace, Bernice || January 1995
|-
|35 || ''Set Piece'' ||Kate Orman || Ace, Bernice, Kadiatu || February 1995
|-
|36 || ''[[Infinite Requiem]]'' ||[[Daniel Blythe]]|| Bernice || March 1995
|-
|37 || ''[[Sanctuary (McIntee novel)|Sanctuary]]'' ||David A. McIntee || Bernice || April 1995
|-
|38 || ''[[Human Nature (novel)|Human Nature]]'' ||Paul Cornell || Bernice || May 1995
|-
|39 || ''[[Original Sin (Lane novel)|Original Sin]]'' ||Andy Lane || Bernice, [[Chris Cwej|Chris]], Roz, [[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|Tobias Vaughan]] || June 1995
|-
|40 || ''Sky Pirates!'' ||[[Dave Stone]] || Bernice, Chris, Roz || July 1995
|-
|41 || ''[[Zamper]]'' ||Gareth Roberts || Bernice, Chris, Roz || August 1995
|-
|42 || ''[[Toy Soldiers (novel)|Toy Soldiers]]'' ||[[Paul Leonard (writer)|Paul Leonard]] || Bernice, Chris, Roz, [[Ogron]]s || September 1995
|-
|43 || ''[[Head Games (novel)|Head Games]]'' ||Steve Lyons || Bernice, Chris, Roz, Ace, [[Melanie Bush|Mel]], [[Sabalom Glitz|Glitz]] || October 1995
|-
|44 || ''[[The Also People]]'' ||Ben Aaronovitch || Bernice, Chris, Roz, Kadiatu || November 1995
|-
|45 || ''[[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans#Novelisation|Shakedown]]'' ||Terrance Dicks || Bernice, Chris, Roz, [[Sontarans]], [[Rutan (Doctor Who)|Rutans]], Ogrons || December 1995
|-
|46 || ''[[Just War (novel)|Just War]]'' ||[[Lance Parkin]] || Bernice, Chris, Roz, Mel || January 1996
|-
|47 || ''[[Warchild (Cartmel novel)|Warchild]]'' ||Andrew Cartmel || Bernice, Chris, Roz || February 1996
|-
|48 || ''[[Sleepy (novel)|Sleepy]]'' ||Kate Orman || Bernice, Chris, Roz || March 1996
|-
|49 || ''[[Death and Diplomacy]]'' ||Dave Stone || Bernice, Chris, Roz, [[Jason Kane (Doctor Who)|Jason Kane]] || April 1996
|-
|50 || ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]'' ||Paul Cornell || Bernice, Chris, Roz, Jason, Ace, <br>[[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]], Romana II, Kadiatu, [[Irving Braxiatel|Braxiatel]], Ruby || May 1996
|-
|51 || ''[[GodEngine]]'' ||[[Craig Hinton]] || Chris, Roz, Ice Warriors, [[Dalek]]s || June 1996
|-
|52 || ''[[Christmas on a Rational Planet]]'' ||[[Lawrence Miles]] || Chris, Roz || July 1996
|-
|53 || ''[[Return of the Living Dad]]'' ||Kate Orman || Chris, Roz, Bernice, Jason || August 1996
|-
|54 || ''[[The Death of Art]]'' ||[[Simon Bucher-Jones]] || Chris, Roz, Ace || September 1996
|-
|55 || ''[[Damaged Goods (Davies novel)|Damaged Goods]]'' ||[[Russell T Davies]] || Chris, Roz || October 1996
|-
|56 || ''[[So Vile a Sin]]'' ||Ben Aaronovitch & Kate Orman || Chris, Roz, Bernice, Jason, Kadiatu || May 1997{{efn|name=fn1|Difficulties arose in the publication of this novel due to Aaronovitch suffering a major computer failure, leading to its being delayed and Kate Orman stepping in to help finish it. The book was eventually published after ''The Dying Days,'' but is listed here in the position it occupies in the series' ongoing narrative continuity.}}
|-
|57 || ''[[Bad Therapy]]'' ||[[Matt Jones (writer)|Matthew Jones]] || Chris, [[Peri Brown|Peri]] || December 1996
|-
|58 || ''[[Eternity Weeps]]'' ||Jim Mortimore || Chris, Bernice, Jason, Liz Shaw || January 1997
|-
|59 || ''[[The Room with No Doors]]'' ||Kate Orman || Chris || February 1997
|-
|60 || ''[[Lungbarrow]]'' ||Marc Platt || Chris, Romana, Ace, [[Leela (Doctor Who)|Leela]], [[K-9 (Doctor Who)|K-9]] || March 1997
|-
|61 || ''[[The Dying Days]]'' ||Lance Parkin || Bernice, the Brigadier, Ice Warriors || April 1997
|}

Notes:
{{notelist}}

===Featuring Bernice Summerfield===
{{Main|Bernice Summerfield#The New Adventures}}

The adventures of Bernice Summerfield continued in a series of novels and short story anthologies published by [[Big Finish Productions]] from 2000.

==Plot overview==

===Recurring elements===

The New Adventures significantly expanded the ''Doctor Who'' [[fictional universe|universe]]. The character of the Doctor was recast as Time's Champion, which was sometimes interpreted figuratively and sometimes literally – Time, Death and Pain are occasionally seen as personified beings (possibly [[Enlightenment (Doctor Who)|Eternals]]), who were worshipped as gods in Ancient Gallifrey. The Doctor was also shown to have a link to [[The Other (Doctor Who)|the Other]], a figure from the time of [[Rassilon]] and [[Omega (Doctor Who)|Omega]]; the nature of this link was most explicitly shown in ''Lungbarrow''.

Many new parts of the TARDIS were seen in the New Adventures, including a tertiary console room made of stone. The Doctor was also seen to have a house in [[Kent]] which he used as a base of operations at different points in the 20th and 21st centuries; this "House on Allen Road" first appeared in ''[[Cat's Cradle: Warhead]]''. Also appearing in ''Warhead'' and its sequels, ''[[Warlock (Cartmel novel)|Warlock]]'' and ''[[Warchild (Cartmel novel)|Warchild]]'' (all by [[Andrew Cartmel]]) are the ecological activist Justine and psychic Vincent Wheaton.

Alien races created for the New Adventures include the [[List of Doctor Who monsters and aliens#Chelonian|Chelonians]] (who first appear in ''[[The Highest Science]]'') and the [[List of Doctor Who monsters and aliens#Pakhar|Pakhars]] (who first appear in ''[[Legacy (Russell novel)|Legacy]]''). Another group of adversaries who appear in several New and Missing Adventures are the [[Great Old One]]s, derived from [[H. P. Lovecraft]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. In the New Adventures, these beings are survivors of the universe before this one, who therefore exist in accordance with a different set of physical laws. A being calling itself Azathoth in ''[[All-Consuming Fire]]'' turns out to be an impostor, but the novel identifies several other ''Doctor Who'' monsters with Lovecraftian entities: the [[Yeti (Doctor Who)|Great Intelligence]] is [[Yog-Sothoth]], the [[List of Doctor Who villains#Animus|Animus]] is [[Lloigor]], [[List of Doctor Who villains#Fenric|Fenric]] is [[Hastur|Hastur the Unspeakable]], and an Old One encountered in ''[[White Darkness (novel)|White Darkness]]'' is [[Cthulhu]].

The early New Adventures were explicitly linked in [[story arc]]s, indicated in the books' titles. Later novels in the series were often, but not always, linked in looser story arcs, which were noted in publicity materials but not in the titles.

===Timewyrm===

[[File:Timewyrm Genesys.jpg|thumb|right|100px|The cover of the first New Adventures book, ''[[Timewyrm: Genesys]]''.]]
:During a visit to Ancient [[Mesopotamia]], the Doctor accidentally grants a cybernetically enhanced alien queen the ability to travel freely in time, thus creating the Timewyrm.<ref>''[[Timewyrm: Genesys]]''</ref> The Doctor and Ace pursue the Timewyrm through time and space, from a Nazi-occupied Britain<ref>''[[Timewyrm: Exodus]]''</ref> to the far future.<ref>''[[Timewyrm: Apocalypse]]''</ref> Eventually, after a battle within his own mind, the Doctor is able to trap the Timewyrm in the body of a mindless baby, forcing it to relinquish its power and memories but giving it a new chance at life.<ref>''[[Timewyrm: Revelation]]''</ref>

===Cat's Cradle===

:The [[TARDIS]] is damaged by a three-way collision with an alien parasite and time explorers from ancient [[Gallifrey]].<ref>''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]''</ref> While the TARDIS attempts to repair itself, the Doctor and Ace fight the sinister Butler Corporation in the early 21st century.<ref>''[[Cat's Cradle: Warhead]]''</ref> The final repairs to the TARDIS's link to the Eye of Harmony require organic material, which the Doctor eventually acquires after a visit to Wales and [[Tir na nÓg|Tír na n-Óg]], a planet inhabited by beings modelled after figures from [[Celtic mythology]] and [[English folklore]].<ref>''[[Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark]]''</ref> However, unbeknownst to the Doctor, the organic material is tainted with a demonic intelligence, which infects the TARDIS.

===Future History Cycle===

:On the planet Heaven, Ace falls in love with a Traveller named Jan. However, when Heaven is threatened by the deadly fungal Hoothi, the Doctor manipulates Jan into sacrificing himself to destroy the Hoothi. Furious, Ace leaves the Doctor's company, and he is joined by archaeologist [[Bernice Summerfield]].<ref>''[[Love and War (Cornell novel)|Love and War]]''</ref> Benny and the Doctor travel through the history of Earth and its colonies from the 22nd through 26th centuries, having adventures alongside Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart<ref>''[[Transit (Aaronovitch novel)|Transit]]''</ref> and [[William Blake]].<ref>''[[The Pit (Penswick novel)|The Pit]]''</ref> Both the TARDIS and the Doctor begin behaving more and more erratic as a result of the TARDIS's infection. As part of his plan to remove the infection, the Doctor brings Ace back on board the TARDIS, but she has spent three years fighting [[Dalek]]s in Earth's Spacefleet, and has been somewhat hardened by the experience.<ref>''[[Deceit (Darvill-Evans novel)|Deceit]]''</ref> Ace rejoins the Doctor, and turns the tables on him by manipulating him into a mission on the planet Lucifer.<ref>''[[Lucifer Rising (novel)|Lucifer Rising]]''</ref>

:The Doctor continues to stage manage events like a chess master playing on multiple boards. At one point he even deposits Benny and Ace in 1909 and the distant future, respectively, to defeat an alien invasion on their own,<ref>''[[Birthright (Robinson novel)|Birthright]]''</ref> while he uses the TARDIS's "Jade Pagoda" and defeats a [[Cyberman]] plot in 2006.<ref>''[[Iceberg (Banks novel)|Iceberg]]''</ref>

===Alternate History Cycle===

:The TARDIS lands in a tar pit in an Earth ruled by the [[Silurian (Doctor Who)|Silurians]]. This is an [[Parallel universe (fiction)|alternate universe]] in which the [[Third Doctor]] died in a Silurian prison and was not able to prevent the [[Doctor Who and the Silurians|Silurian plague]] from devastating the human race. The Doctor recognizes that this universe is draining energy from the real one, and creates a [[The Time Monster|Time Ram]] with his counterpart's TARDIS and his own, to destroy the altered reality; his own TARDIS is apparently destroyed, and he leaves in his counterpart's.<ref>''[[Blood Heat]]''</ref> The Doctor realises that someone has been altering the past, including the Doctor's own timeline. An alteration of the Doctor's encounter with the [[Matrix (Doctor Who)|Matrix]] allows an ancient Gallifreyan evil to be resurrected;<ref>''[[The Dimension Riders]]''</ref> the psychic force of a dead Aztec priest-king survives for much longer than it should;<ref>''[[The Left-Handed Hummingbird]]''</ref> and the Land of Fiction survives the Doctor's [[The Mind Robber|previous visit]], with a new Writer (a young man named [[List of Doctor Who spin-off companions#Jason|Jason]]) who traps the Doctor in a poorly constructed fictional world.<ref>''[[Conundrum (Lyons novel)|Conundrum]]''</ref> Eventually the changes are revealed as the work of the [[Meddling Monk]] here named "Mortimus" and using a captured [[The Time Monster|Chronovore]] to alter the timeline. He frees the [[The Invasion of Time|Vardans]] from the time loop the Doctor had imprisoned them in, but the Doctor and [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] are able to defeat an attempted Vardan invasion of Earth in 1976. Ace pretends to join the Monk and frees the Chronovore, who restores (most) of the altered realities to their ''status quo ante''. Her encounter with the Monk also helps Ace to forgive the Doctor for his past manipulations.<ref>''[[No Future (novel)|No Future]]''</ref>

:After a visit to Peladon,<ref>''[[Legacy (Russell novel)|Legacy]]''</ref> Benny briefly leaves the Doctor and Ace to join an [[Ice Warrior]] archaeological team on Phaester Osiris. She rejoins them in time for the trio to become involved in a complex scheme by [[Irving Braxiatel]] to defeat a civilization of theatre-obsessed conquerors who had been threatening the Braxiatel Collection.<ref>''Theatre of War''</ref> In 1887, the trio join forces with [[Sherlock Holmes]] and [[Dr. Watson]] and encounter the [[Giant Rat of Sumatra]] before eventually traveling to Bombay and the planet [[R'lyeh|Ry'leh]] to foil an alien impersonating the Great Old One [[Azathoth]].<ref>''[[All-Consuming Fire]]''</ref>

:After spending several months running a speakeasy in 1920s Chicago, the Doctor returns to E-Space to face a renewed Vampire threat, and is reunited with [[Romana (Doctor Who)|Romana]], who returns with him to [[Gallifrey]].<ref>''[[Blood Harvest (Dicks novel)|Blood Harvest]]''</ref> At an Air Force base in 1957 New Mexico, the Doctor, Benny and Ace encounter [[The Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]], who has used [[nanotechnology]] provided by a race known as the Tzun to restore and regenerate his body.<ref>''First Frontier''</ref> Later, the three travelers meet one of the oldest beings in the universe, a "grey man" who tries to weaken the good-and-evil dualism which his people had instilled in the universe's structure.<ref>''[[Falls the Shadow (novel)|Falls the Shadow]]''</ref>

:On Earth in the 21st century, the Doctor, Benny and Ace investigate a new drug called "warlock" which has the power to enable the user to transfer his or her mind to another place or body; they discover that drug is actually an alien gestalt intelligence, and help it to leave the Earth.<ref>''[[Warlock (Cartmel novel)|Warlock]]''</ref> A series of rifts in time and space (created by a crude time machine used by Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart) sends Ace to Ancient Egypt, Benny to France in 1798, and the Doctor to the [[Paris Commune]] of 1871; the three are eventually reunited, but Ace decides to stay behind in Paris, keeping one of Kadiatu's time hoppers. She takes the title of Time's Vigilante.<ref>''[[Set Piece (novel)|Set Piece]]''</ref>

:After Ace's departure, Benny has a series of painful losses. First, her friend Darius Cheynor (a 24th century officer first encountered in ''The Dimension Riders'') survives an encounter with powerful Sensopaths from the end of time, only to be killed in a conflict with the cybernetic Phractons.<ref>''[[Infinite Requiem]]''</ref> Shortly thereafter, Bernice falls in love with the 13th century [[Knights Templar|Knight Templar]] [[Sanctuary (McIntee novel)|Guy de Carnac]], who apparently dies defending a [[Cathar]] village in the [[Albigensian Crusade]].<ref>''[[Sanctuary (McIntee novel)|Sanctuary]]''</ref> Unable to understand Benny's grief on a human level, the Doctor purchases a device which alters his biodata, transforming him into a human named Dr. John Smith. Smith lives as a history teacher at an English public school, and falls in love with a fellow teacher named Joan. However, when alien Aubertides, hoping to acquire Time Lord abilities, attack the school, Smith sacrifices himself and becomes the Doctor once more; as the Time Lord, he is unable to love Joan in the way the human John Smith did. Joan gives the Doctor her cat [[List of Doctor Who spin-off companions#Wolsey|Wolsey]].<ref>''[[Human Nature (novel)|Human Nature]]''</ref>

:Investigating a mysterious warning about Earth in the 30th century, the Doctor and Benny meet Adjudicators Roz Forrester and [[Chris Cwej]]. The four discover extensive corruption in the Earth Empire, and a trail which leads them to the Doctor's old enemy [[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|Tobias Vaughn]], who had survived his betrayal by the Cybermen and worked for centuries behind the scenes to ensure that Earth was victorious over alien foes. Vaughn is a driving force behind the Earth Empire, but is defeated by the Doctor. Roz and Chris cannot return to the corrupt Adjudicator force, and join the Doctor and Benny in the TARDIS.<ref>''[[Original Sin (Lane novel)|Original Sin]]''</ref>

:The four travellers have several adventures in quick succession, from a journey to the strange pocket dimension known as the System,<ref>''[[Sky Pirates!]]''</ref> to an encounter with Chelonians on a distant planet.<ref>''[[Zamper]]''</ref> They also stop the abduction of children from 1919 Earth to fight in an unending war on the planet Q'ell.<ref>''[[Toy Soldiers (novel)|Toy Soldiers]]''</ref>

:The Land of Fiction and its new Writer, Jason, trouble the Doctor again, this time creating a fictional "Dr. Who" whose two-dimensional morality contrasts with the complex manipulations of Time's Champion. In this adventure, the Doctor is temporarily reunited with both Ace and his former companion [[Melanie Bush|Mel]], who is dismayed at the changes the Doctor has undergone since she knew him.<ref>''[[Head Games (novel)|Head Games]]''</ref> The Land of Fiction's energy had escaped into the real world as a side effect of Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart's time travel, so the Doctor finds Kadiatu and takes her to the [[Dyson Sphere]] inhabited by the culture known as the People, who are so highly advanced that they have a non-aggression treaty with the Time Lords. While the Doctor, Roz and Chris investigate a possible murder, Benny helps Kadiatu overcome the programming which had turned her into a killing machine.<ref>''[[The Also People]]''</ref>

:Following this, the crews of both the TARDIS and the [[solar sail|solar yacht]] ''Tiger Moth'' become involved in the ongoing [[Sontaran]]/[[Rutan Host|Rutan]] conflict.<ref>''[[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans|Shakedown]]''</ref> In 1941, Benny spends several months incognito in Nazi-occupied [[Guernsey]], investigating a German weapon which has the potential to change the course of the Second World War – a weapon inspired by a passing remark made by the Doctor to a German scientist in 1936.<ref>''[[Just War (novel)|Just War]]''</ref>

===Psi-Powers Cycle===

:The TARDIS travellers next have several adventures involving humans with [[parapsychology|psychic abilities]]. Many of these involve a shadowy organization known as the Brotherhood. The first psi-powers encounter is a final encounter with Vincent Wheaton, who has lost his powers but is manipulating his psychic son Ricky.<ref>''[[Warchild (Cartmel novel)|Warchild]]''</ref> Next, the time travellers investigate an outbreak of psychic powers on the planet Yemaya 4 in the 23rd century, which turns out to be carrying the mind of a sentient computer.<ref>''[[Sleepy (novel)|Sleepy]]''</ref> The travellers have several other adventures before their next encounter with the Brotherhood.

:In the distant Dagellan Cluster, while the Doctor attempts to mediate an interplanetary war between three stellar empires, a war which Roz and Chris become caught up in, Benny meets and falls in love with a displaced human drifter and con-artist named [[Jason Kane (Doctor Who)|Jason Kane]]. The two decide to get married.<ref>''[[Death and Diplomacy]]''</ref> The Doctor arranges a gala wedding in the English village of Cheldon Boniface, in the early 21st century, home of Ishtar Hutchings, the former Timewyrm. He invites and provides transportation for guests from points throughout time and space, including Ace, Kadiatu, Irving Braxiatel and Sherlock Holmes and Watson. The wedding is interrupted by the Master, who had stolen a Gallifreyan relic to build himself a new body, and had created a [[Charles Fort|Fortean]] flicker to distract the Time Lords with improbable coincidences; however, his plan had backfired when the flicker caused the Doctor to coincidentally arrive to arrange Benny's wedding. The Master's backup plans are defeated with the help of Ishtar; the temporal energy she releases also rejuvenates the aging [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]. The Fortean flicker also returns the Doctor's original TARDIS from the alternate reality where it had been seemingly destroyed. The Doctor gives Benny and Jason two time rings as wedding presents.<ref>''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]''</ref>

:On Mars shortly before the [[The Dalek Invasion of Earth|Dalek invasion of Earth]], the Doctor, Roz and Chris discover a plan by a rogue Ice Warrior faction to assemble an ancient [[Pyramids of Mars|Osirian]] weapon to wreak revenge on the human colonists who have driven them off their planet.<ref>''[[GodEngine]]''</ref> Returning to his investigations of human psi-powers, the Doctor travels to New York State in 1799, where he battles Cacophany, the Carnival Queen, representative of the irrationality banished from the universe by the earliest Time Lords.<ref>''[[Christmas on a Rational Planet]]''</ref>

:Benny then contacts the Doctor, asking for his help in discovering what happened to her father [[List of Bernice Summerfield characters#Admiral Isaac Summerfield|Isaac Summerfield]], a Spacefleet Admiral who disappeared during a crucial battle with the Daleks. The Doctor and Bernice discover that Isaac's ship was caught in a time rift and ended up on Earth in the twentieth century. They find Isaac in an English village in 1983, running an underground railroad for stranded aliens. While Chris and Roz become closer, the Doctor and Benny deal with a plot to change human history.<ref>''[[Return of the Living Dad]]''</ref>

:The Doctor recovers the trail of the mysterious Brotherhood in 1880s Paris, where several secret societies are using psychic powers to their own advantage.<ref>''[[The Death of Art]]''</ref> Investigating an unusually deadly shipment of cocaine in a London [[council estate]] in 1987, the Doctor, Roz and Chris discover that an ancient Gallifreyan weapon called an N-Form has been activated, in part by the distorted psychic bond between twins separated at birth.<ref>''[[Damaged Goods (Davies novel)|Damaged Goods]]''</ref> In the 2980s, while human nobles (including Roz's sister Leabie Forrester) fight for control of the Earth Empire, the Brotherhood (which has become a powerful player in galactic politics) hopes to use another Gallifreyan artefact, the Nexus, to induce psychic powers in all human beings. While the Doctor and Chris focus on the threat posed by the Brotherhood, Roz joins her sister in her bid to reform the corrupt Empire. Although the Doctor is able to defeat the Brotherhood utterly, he is unable to save Roz from dying in battle.  Leabie becomes Empress, and at Roz's funeral the Doctor suffers a heart attack.<ref>''[[So Vile a Sin]]''</ref>

:While recovering from Roz's death in 1958 London, the Doctor and Chris encounter Moriah, an alien king who has been creating artificial life-forms in an effort to bring back his dead wife, and the Doctor's former companion [[Peri Brown|Peri]], who has been trapped in a loveless marriage to [[Mindwarp|King Yrcanos]] since she and the Doctor parted.<ref>''[[Bad Therapy]]''</ref> In 2003, when Benny and Jason join two archaeological teams searching for [[Noah's Ark]], a ruthless Iranian soldier accidentally causes a deadly biological agent to be released in the Earth's atmosphere, killing hundreds of millions, including [[Liz Shaw]]. Benny and Jason agree to divorce.<ref>''[[Eternity Weeps]]''</ref>

:In 16th-century Japan, the Doctor meets Victorian time-traveller Penelope Gate (whom later BBC novels suggest may be his mother) and comes to terms with his recent losses and impending regeneration (of which he is aware). Chris also begins to heal and discover his own form of heroism.<ref>''[[The Room with No Doors]]''</ref> Finally, the Doctor returns to his family home on Gallifrey, where long-buried secrets are revealed. Chris decides to remain on Gallifrey and Romana, now Lady President, sends the Doctor to [[Skaro]] to retrieve the Master's remains.<ref>''[[Lungbarrow]]''</ref> This leads into the events of [[Doctor Who (1996)|the television movie]].

:The [[Eighth Doctor]] meets Benny at the house on Allen Road in 1997, and the two of them (alongside the Brigadier) defeat an Ice Warrior invasion. At the story's end, the Doctor takes Benny to her new job in the 26th century, a position at St. Oscar's University on the planet Dellah.<ref>''[[The Dying Days]]''</ref>

==References==
{{More footnotes needed|date=July 2010}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.timelash.com/tardis/list.asp?na ''The TARDIS Library'''s listing of New Adventures]

{{Doctor Who}}
{{Doctor Who books|selected=New Adventures}}

[[Category:Virgin New Adventures| ]]
[[Category:Book series introduced in 1991]]