Target Books/1981

Target Books was the main publishing imprint of Doctor Who titles from 1973 until the early 1990’s.

Publishing History

 * REISSUE: Doctor Who and the Cybermen   (Issued with a new cover by Bill Donohoe)

January April October December
 * Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit Writer: David Fisher Cover Artist: David Dennington
 * Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World Writer: Ian Marter Cover Artist: Bill Donohoe
 * Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child Writer: Terrance Dicks Cover Artist: Andrew Skilleter
 * The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volume 1 Writer: Jean-Marc Lofficier Cover Artist: Bill Donohoe
 * The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volume 2 Writer: Jean-Marc Lofficier Cover Artist: Bill Donohoe
 * Doctor Who Quiz Book

Publishing Notes

 * Beginning with the 1981 releases, there was a noticeable change in the format of the Target Book series. Up until this point, with a few exceptions (such as Brian Hayles and Gerry Davis), Target Books usually commissioned one of its staff writers to write the novelisations (more often than not, Terrance Dicks, but also Malcolm Hulke and several Doctor Who TV producers). The release of Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit marked the start of a concerted effort by Target to, whenever possible, commission the original teleplay writer to also write the novelisation; in this initial case, David Fisher. This practise soon extended to include script writers from the 1960s as well; if the original writer was not available or not willing, Target would commission a staff writer such as Dicks or Ian Marter to take on the job (due to the smaller-than-usual number of releases in 1981, this means scriptwriter-penned novelisations would not begin to appear in force until 1982. This practice continued through to the tend of the Target novelisations series.