The Target Book

[Dirk Gently]

It's out on the 1st October as far as I know.

From 1973 until 1994, the Target Doctor Who paperbacks were a mainstay of the publishing world. From humble beginnings, they grew into a list running to 156 individual titles and selling over 13 million copies world-wide.
This is the story of Target Books. Noted researcher and historian David J Howe chronicles the origins of the imprint, speaking to all the major players in its development, from editors to art directors, managing directors to artists and authors, and charts the books' critical reception as well as the fortunes and failings of the many publishing houses involved in their production.

Profusely illustrated with all the covers, plus rare and unseen sketches and unused concepts and ideas, The Target Book is the definitive guide to a range of books which shaped the reading habits of a generation.

Author David J Howe introduction by writer Terrance Dicks
Publisher Telos Publishing
Year 2007
ISBN 9781845830212
Format PAPERBACK - 172 Pages

[Nathan]

Is the cover a composite or is it new art 'in the style of...'? Hartnell looks like he's been taken from "The Zarbi" and Pertwee from AP's reprint of "Spearhead from Space" but where's Troughton from?

Fury from the Deep I think - they've surgically removed his woolly hat!

At least none of them looks too old, too evil, or - heaven forbid! - too Welsh!!

"too bad" wasn't it? I always took it as a comment on the art, and not the characters morality

[Andrew Curnow]

I always thought it was "too evil" but I'm sure somebody will be able to settle it - Jonno probably!

As for Troughton - I think the photo reference is Fury, yes, but he didn't make it onto the cover of the Target version. Although I think I've read somewhere since posting that, that it is new cover art.

So, has anybody got it yet?

[Phillip Culley]

Unfortunately I heard tell it's been put back a month and is now due out on November 5th.

[Joe Meredith]

I received my copy of the Target Book today and its great - its beatifully laid out in full colour and features all of the covers plus numerous unused sketches as well - interesting to see some early 'State of Decay' ideas, done before the neon logo came about for example. But it is more of a history of the range and there are only brief extracts of reviews from fanzines within the text, so it's really nothing like Ian's comprehensive reviews.
Recommended!

[SiHart]

I gave in. The book is a thing of wonder. It's something rather special from Telos books, having not thought a great deal of their output before, I found this to be wonderfully laid out, full of colour and full of wonderful things for a Target Books fan like me! Unused covers, sketches, trivia, all the articles were and much more.

I also got to meet Jeff Cummins today and tell him how wonderful I thought his covers were! That made me for one of the few times in the very sorry Stamp Centre Signing.

This book is Highly Recommended!

Si xx

[Zbigniev Hamson]

I wouldn't normally want to say something as "inflamatory" as this, but...

I have to say that Ian's repeated comments about "better being available for free" to be rather big headed, particularly considering he hadn't even laid eyes on this book at the time. And I have to say that, although I've enjoyed reading some of his reviews (which I recently discovered), what is essentially an interweb blog giving a few personal views in not particularly in-depth reviews (which also don't yet cover the entire range) hardly compares to a nice, well-illustrated book covering the entire range and featuring interviews with actual writers, illustrators etc.

I admit the book covers the behind-the-scenes stuff, and Ian's reviews are about the actual content of the books, so they aren't really comparable anyway. But to just claim "what I've written is better than that book" without even looking at the book seems enormously big-headed to me.

[Pip Madeley]

Ian said he posted a knee-jerk reaction under the influence of alcohol, and apologised. In any case, he's not posted to this thread since April, so why bring it up now, eight months later?

I guess he's just a little miffed as he's put a lot of work into his project & now someone's got there first, so to speak. Anyone would feel the same.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Well the bits I were referring to were posted after he said that. As for why I said it now... well the book was only published last month, and it's 3 days after Christmas. Guess what book I might have got for Christmas

[Pip Madeley]

The Taming Of The Shrew?

[Captain Tancredi]

I have to say that Ian's repeated comments about "better being available for free" to be rather big headed, particularly considering he hadn't even laid eyes on this book at the time.

OK, have you ever heard the phrases "to take something with a pinch of salt" or "tongue in cheek"?

And I have to say that, although I've enjoyed reading some of his reviews (which I recently discovered), what is essentially an interweb blog

A whattie? Did such things exist in 2004 when I started the project?

giving a few personal views in not particularly in-depth reviews (which also don't yet cover the entire range)

A couple of points occur in no particular order- (i) the reviews usually come out at between 600 and 750 words, (ii) it's actually quite difficult to review adaptations of television scripts in their own right without reviewing the televised story- I try to keep the two separate, which is why there's often less to say than I could put in there, (iii) if you're offering to pay my salary for the next couple of months I'll gladly take a career break and get them finished more quickly, otherwise I'll be sticking to one a week subject to other commitments.

I admit the book covers the behind-the-scenes stuff, and Ian's reviews are about the actual content of the books, so they aren't really comparable anyway. But to just claim "what I've written is better than that book" without even looking at the book seems enormously big-headed to me.

Well, I think that's the first time I've been described as enormous for a while. But this is getting under my skin- I do what I do as a bit of fun for a few regulars, and from what I've been told a few people have enjoyed seeing the project grow over time. I don't have the resources or contacts that the Telos people do, and I wouldn't want to use them if I did- as D.H. Lawrence said, never trust the teller, trust the tale- because I like being able to draw my own conclusions. I really don't know what I've done to justify this argument being reheated nine months down the line, but I don't need this kind of cheap shot at the moment- I'm about three months away from finishing and I will finish, because otherwise three and a half years' worth of weekends have been wasted.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Well firstly the only reason I re-heated this as it were, is because I only just got the Target Book and discovered and read through this thread. I apologise if this is all ancient history to you, but from my point of view I was just replying to something I'd just read. That's the trouble with message boards. As for taking your comments "tongue in cheek"... well that's another problem with message boards, it's not always apparent.

I wasn't actually having a go at your reviews (having enjoyed the ones I've read), I was just having a go at the (apparent) attitude of self-trumpet-blowing and knocking someone else's book for treading on your toes. And obviously I know you don't have the resources, or salary, to compete with a book publication, but then I wasn't the one who appeared to be claiming that your reviews were better than the book even despite all this, and dspite being incomplete. If this was all tongue in cheek though, then I suppose that doesn't really matter anyway.

[Wayne]

Dunno if this has been mentioned anywhere, but on Radio 4 tomorrow:

On the Outside it Looked Like an Old Fashioned Police Box

Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who writer and fanatic, explores the hugely popular Doctor Who novelisations of the 1970s and 80s, published by Target books. Featuring some of the best excerpts from the books and interviews with publishers, house writers, illustrators and the actors whose adventures the books tirelessly depicted.

In an age before DVD and video, the Target book series of Doctor Who fiction was conceived as the chance for children to 'keep' and revisit classic Doctor Who. They were marketed as such, written in a highly visual house style. Descriptive passages did the work of the TV camera and the scripts were more or less faithfully reproduced as dialogue.

The books were as close to the experience of watching as possible, and were adored by a generation of children who grew up transfixed by the classic BBC series. Target Doctor Who books became a children's publishing phenomenon - they sold over 13 million copies worldwide. From 1973 until 1994, the Target Doctor Who paperbacks were a mainstay of the publishing world.