2009 Storybook (for kiddies and fanboys)

[Pip Madeley]

"Join the Doctor and Martha in a collection of brand-new stories, featuring writers of the multi-award-winning BBC One adventure series. These eight original adventures in Time and Space are beautifully illustrated in full colour by some of the UK's top artists. This sumptuous hardback storybook, with painted dustjacket, is the perfect gift for Doctor Who fans of all ages."

Panini's 2008 Doctor Who Storybook is due in August.

[Captain Tancredi]

Only 99p in all good bookshops on December 27th...

[Andrew Curnow]

That's a photo cover isn't it - if not, it's v-e-r-y good artwork this year!

[Pip Madeley]

It's a bit uninspired, I thought.

[Rob McCow]

It looks a bit like a mock-up to me.

[Pip Madeley]

More details announced:

Authors for this 80-page hardback summer release include...

Gareth Roberts (The Body Bank)
Tom MacRae (Cats and Dogs)
Robert Shearman (The Box Under the Tree)
Justin Richards (Kiss of Life)
Nicholas Briggs (The Iron Circle)
Nicholas Pegg (Deep Water)
Paul Magrs (Zombie Motel).

The comic strip for the book is Sunscreen, written by Jonathan Morris and with art by Martin Geraghty. Other artists for the book include Brian Williamson, Andy Walker, Adrian Salmon, Ben Willsher, and with Alister Pearson doing the cover.

So it must be a mock up if Pearson's doing the cover.

[Andrew Curnow]

Paul Magrs again - interesting.

[SiHart]

Here's the actual, and lovely artwork cover:



and what's inside:

The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Martha to previously unexplored corners of the universe in this new selection of adventures, full of danger, excitement and fun and all lavishly illustrated in full colour!
You can join them as they dodge bionic tortoises on a futuristic planet, help an ordinary boy save Christmas by bringing his imagination to life, battle shadowy creatures aboard a giant space station, explore a beautiful undersea paradise with a dark secret, and travel back in time to save a motel from rampaging zombies! Sometimes silly, sometimes scary, always thrilling, these new adventures in time and space will delight fans of all ages!
Containing eight action-packed stories, including writers from the TV series itself:

Cats and Dogs by Tom MacRae (writer of TV episodes Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel)

The Body Bank by Gareth Roberts (The Shakespeare Code and Attack of the Graske)

The Box Under the Tree by Robert Shearman (Dalek)

Zombie Motel by Paul Magrs (acclaimed fantasy author)

The Iron Circle by Nicholas Briggs (voice of the Daleks and the Cybermen)

Kiss of Life by Justin Richards (editor of BBC Books Doctor Who range)

Deep Water by Nicholas Pegg (Dalek operator)

Plus a new comic strip, Sunscreen by Jonathan Morris, and A Letter from the Doctor as told to showrunner Russell T Davies!

Featuring new illustrations from Brian Williamson, Andy Walker, Martin Geraghty, Adrian Salmon, Ben Willsher, Daniel McDaid and David A Roach, and a new cover painting from Alister Pearson.

The Doctor Who Storybook 2008 is released in August 2007.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

"bionic tortoises" - does that mean that Gareth Roberts is bringing back the Chelonians, do we think? And "Zombie Motel" - do I sense a Crossroads/Who crossover in the offing?

Questions, questions...

[Andrew Curnow]

Not the storybook, but I didn't want to start a thread just for this - apparently the 2008 Annual (ie, the BBC version) has been mysteriously recalled from all shops, to be pulped. And there doesn't seem to be any real confirmation that a reprint is lined up. It's all rather mysterious, according to OG.

[Pip Madeley]

Did anyone buy the annual before it was recalled?

Could be an eBay goldmine

[Stuart Wallis]

Ebenezer Wallis knows nothing...

[SiHart]

From OG:

THOUSANDS of Doctor Who books have been pulped because of a spelling mistake on the front cover.

Publishers Penguin had sent the 2008 annual featuring current Doctor David Tennant to shops before the error was spotted.

But a red-faced insider, who refused to reveal the gaffe, said: Its embarrassing. The books are cherished so the publishers decided to recall them.

Apparently the book's cover proclaimed Doctor Hwo.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

Which moron was proof-reading it?

[Andrew Curnow]

Is that really true? If so, then it ought to be funny, but it's really not. How many people must have seen it at the proof-stage before letting it go through?

[Andrew Curnow]

Apparently it's not the cover - the only mistake spotted so far seems to be on the spine, where it refers to the OFFICAL (rather than OFFICIAL) annual. The thick plottens...

[Pip Madeley]

2009 Storybook cover?

[Dirk Gently]

I wonder if I can work out where you got that image from just by looking at it?

[SiHart]

Since Chickman said it was going to have an Alister Pearson painted cover fo theDoctor and Donna, I'm guessing it's a mock up.

However I could be wrong.

I am sometimes.

It's true.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

You're right this time...



Nice and bright. Although he's not got Tate quite right.

[Si Hunt]

There's always something not quite right about Wallbank's paintings (for I'm assuming it is he). His characatures always wind up looking like slightly in-bred versions of the originals.

Si.

[SiHart]

That's the work of Alister Pearson, not Pete Wallbank.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Potayto Potarto!

Si.

[SiHart]

Well I think it looks great anyway, but then I'm a big fan of AP.

Here's the details of what's inside:

The Doctor and Donna travel to previously unseen times and places in this new collection of adventures, full of monsters, thrills and scares, and all illustrated in full colour. The time travellers face mythical beasts on a desert island in the company of Jason and his Argonauts, square up to a terrifying Ice Warrior in the wastes of the Arctic Circle, battle the cute-but-deadly denizens of a theme park gone mad, get tangled up in the mystery of the Bayeux Tapestry, and try to prevent an entire planet from being kidnapped.

The book contains seven brand new short stories, featuring writers from the TV series itself.



Hello Children, Everywhere, written by Paul Magrs, illustrated by Brian Williamson.

Grand Theft Planet! written by James Moran (The Fires of Pompeii), illustrated by Daryl Joyce.

Cold written by Mark Gatiss (The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot's Lantern), illustrated by Ben Willsher.

Bing Bong written by Gareth Roberts (The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp) & Clayton Hickman, illustrated by Dan McDaid.

Island of the Sirens written by Keith Temple (Planet of the Ood), illustrated by Adrian Salmon.

The Puplet written by Gary Russell, illustrated by Andy Walker.

Hold Your Horses written by Nicholas Pegg, illustrated by Jon Haward & Nigel Dobbyn.


Plus there's a comic strip, The Immortal Emperor written by Jonathan Morris with art by Rob Davis, and A Letter from the Doctor as told to new showrunner Steven Moffat (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead).


Si xx

[SiHart]

Well, bad news for this fan of the Storybooks. Sounds like they've been cancelled, and there's not going to be one this year. Sad really, as thye're so much better than the Annuals. Hey-ho.

It's a somewhat worrying time really, as the Panini Graphic Novel range have been cancelled too. I wonder if the BBC are finally pulling everything they can in-house?

Si xx