50th Anniversary Short Stories!

[SiHart]

From The Radio Times:

J.K. Rowling writing about Doctor Who? Sounds like a match made in heaven - and it could happen...

Doctor Who celebrates a very special birthday this November, and to mark the occasion fans can look forward to a wealth of new fiction based on the sci-fi television series. To commemorate the 50th anniversary since the Doctor first appeared on BBC (then played by William Hartnell), plans to release a new series of Doctor Who short stories have been announced.

The eleven "eshorts" will each be written by a different acclaimed children's author and will feature one of the Doctor's regenerations, starting with Hartnell who appeared between 1963-1966. The author of the first book is due to be revealed on the Doctor Who Facebook page on Monday 7 January, with their story to be published on Wednesday 23 January.

Each release will also include a promotional video of the story's author which will be made available on the BBC Worldwide YouTube channel, beginning on Friday 11 January.

The stories will be priced at £1.99 and in November, once the monthly series has concluded, a full paperback collection will be published by Puffin, available for £7.99.

Penguin Children's publisher, Juliet Matthews, said: "Penguin Children's has been the proud home of children's Doctor Who publishing for eight years and to be part of the 50th anniversary is incredibly exciting.

"We are delighted to have eleven sensational children's authors involved in the series, all bringing an individual style, imagination and interpretation to their e-short tribute to the Doctor. This is a who's who of children's fiction coming together to celebrate the much-loved Doctor Who."

The announcement follows much excitement and speculation surrounding the 50th anniversary celebrations planned for 2013. Stephen Moffat has already teased fans with "tremendous surprises" before promising, "we're going to take over television", although Billie Piper today denied rumours she had been asked to return to the show. The coming year will also see a set of commemorative stamps featuring various incarnations of the Doctor as part of plans unveiled by Royal Mail over the Christmas period.

[Nyder]

Coo. Wonder who the other authors will be?

[Dirk Gently]

I wonder if they'll ask Neil Gaiman for a story?

[SiHart]

First author is...

We can reveal that Eoin Colfer (author of the bestselling 'Artemis Fowl' series) has written the very first short story in the Puffin ebook series celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who! Eoin has reimagined the First Doctor and created a brand new Doctor Who adventure called 'A Big Hand For The Doctor'.

Now available to pre-order from iTunes (http://bit.ly/13aQfR2) or Amazon (http://amzn.to/VwOjwR)

A printed Anthology of all eleven stories will also be available from 23rd November!

[Nyder]

Hope these are available on the Kindle too. I'll check later!

[Nyder]

Yep - available on Kindle from 23rd Jan!

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Hmmm - I remember I wrote an Unearthlier Child for the 45th anniversary. Could I suggest maybe we think of creating an ebook ourselves from Planet Skaro members? It would be really fun, and I know we've got the tallent within the site?

[Si Hunt]

Is this the worst cover of all time?

[SiHart]

Yes.

Sent from my LT15i using Tapatalk 2

[Nyder]

Thank goodness I won't get the cover on the Kindle!

[Stuart Wallis]

[Jon Masters]

Hmmm - I remember I wrote an Unearthlier Child for the 45th anniversary. Could I suggest maybe we think of creating an ebook ourselves from Planet Skaro members? It would be really fun, and I know we've got the tallent within the site?

I'd b up for that - do we need an overarching theme a la Short Trips , or could we do almost anything we liked ?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I'd b up for that - do we need an overarching theme a la Short Trips , or could we do almost anything we liked ?

It's a celebration of 50 years of Who - I'd say anything we'd like. Glad we've had a couple of responses.

[Andrew Curnow]

That sounds like a good idea. Just a suggestion (fly it up the flagpole, see if the dog salutes it, that sort of thing)... I like Mike's earlier title "An Unearthlier Child" - if we wanted any 'handle' for the collection, what about the sole proviso that the title must in some way reflect an existing Who story title?

Eg, a short story in which the stupid "erm, erm" Dalek from The Chase is tasked with piloting the invasion fleet to Earth in the year 2164, but because he is so dumb he misses the planet - and it would be called "The Dalek Evasion of Earth"...?

Maybe I'll get me coat!

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Sadly using that formula The Dominatrix is too adult for the timeslot. Mary Whitehouse will be up in arms...

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[Stuart Wallis]

Stuff Mary Whitehouse! (And if those three words alone don't have her spinning in her grave...)

[Si Hunt]

The title, "A Big Hand For The Doctor", could seem rude if placed in the context of William Hartnell getting "relief" from someone's sweaty palm.

Si.

[Nyder]

Well the cover might be awful, but the story contained therein is actually rather good! The First Doctor's crabbiness and also his affection for Susan is nicely demonstrated, although his leaping about buildings really suits Doctor 3 more than the first incarnation. Also I'm not sure that mentions of the Doctor having seen Blake's 7 and Harry Potter sit that well in the Whoniverse.

However, the Soul Pirates are a good idea, and I really am kicking myself for not guessing the epilogue before I read it.

So a really cutesy, clever story and a great start to the series. If you have a spare half hour, then I recommend this book!

[Rob McCow]

[IMG][/IMG]
Yeah, whatever.

[SiHart]

And number 2:

The Nameless City
Written by Michael Scott
Published 23rd February 2013 (pre-order UK / USA)

When Jamie McCrimmon brings the Second Doctor a mysterious book, little does he realise the danger contained within its pages. The book transports the TARDIS to a terrifying glass city on a distant world, where the Archons are intent on getting revenge on the Time Lord for an ancient grudge.

Eleven Doctors, eleven months, eleven stories: a year-long celebration of Doctor Who! The most exciting names in children's fiction each create their own unique adventure about the time-travelling Time Lord.


Michael Scott is the author of the Nicholas Flamel range of children's books, whose debut book in the series, The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, made the New York best sellers list in 2007. The author said of his Doctor Who assignment:
Everyone has their "own" Doctor – usually the one they first started watching. Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor, was mine and so writing this story was an opportunity to revisit a really important part of my childhood. There are elements of Patrick Troughton in every Doctor who followed – that's how influential and important he is.

A promotional video about Scott will be released by BBC Worldwide via their YouTube channel on Monday 11th February. The e-book itself will be released on Saturday 23rd February on Amazon (UK/USA) and iTunes.

[Dirk Gently]

They've really gone all out on these covers haven't they.

[Nyder]

It looks like we'd better get used to them :-) Loved Book #1, can't wait for #2!

[Stuart Wallis]

Michael Scott is the author of the Nicholas Flamel range of children's books, whose debut book in the series, The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, made the New York best sellers list in 2007.

I can recommend this series.

[Nyder]

Doctor Who: The Spear of Destiny by Marcus Sedgwick

I've really been enjoying these short E-books (yes even the 1st one that many felt was "misjudged")

This 3rd one is the best of the lot so far as Doctor 3 and Jo travel back in time to steal a spear that's not quite as it seems....

All the 3rd Doctor boxes are ticked here - Bessie, Brig, moaning about his exile etc and the style is written as if it were a very slim Target novelisation (a la Destiny!), i.e. quite simplistic but hugely enjoyable, and you wish the book was twice the length!

[Nyder]

7th Doctor - "The Ripple Effect" by Malorie Blackman.

I really am enjoying these short stories. I know they're primarily written for children, but there's something very reassuring about them - like reading a Terrance Dicks Target book!

This one sees the Daleks acting all nice and lovely - so something is obviously very wrong in the universe. But what's caused it?

Malorie clearly "nicked" the idea from Planet Skaro's epic adventure "Next Universal" by Si Hunt. Only Next Universal is far better