The Novel of the Film (novelisation)

Doctor Who - The Novel of the Film by Gary Russell is a novelisation of the 1996 telefilm, Doctor Who which was published in conjunction with the film's broadcast in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. (A script book was also published simultaneously).

This release is significant for a number of reasons. It was the premiere release of a Doctor Who novel by BBC Books and marked their pending takeover of the license for publishing Doctor Who related fiction. Virgin Publishing, the success to Target Books (which had published Doctor Who novelisations since 1973 and original fiction from 1996) subsequently lost its license to public Doctor Who novels, although its New Adventures line featuring the Seventh Doctor and Missing Adventures line featuring past Doctors would continue to be published for the next year (the NA line would ultimately also publish a single Eighth Doctor novel). In mid-1997, BBC Books launched its Eighth Doctor Adventures and Past Doctor Adventures.

Russell's novelisation of the telefilm, the first-ever novelisation published by a company not related to Virgin or Target, is considered a standalone work and not part of the EDA line.

The book carries two titles. On the front cover, the book is titled simply Doctor Who -- reflecting the title of the telefilm. The spine, however, carries the longer title.

Publisher’s Summary
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Deviations from the film

 * According to the introduction of the book, Russell wrote the adaptation based upon the screenplay, without having seen the finiahed product. As a result the novel contains a number of differences from the movie.

Author, Writing and Publishing Notes
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Associated Images
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Publishing History (UK)

 * BBC Books, paperback, 1996.

International Editions

 * To date, no international editions of this book are known.