Initially, the novels were not linked to Virgin Books' previous Doctor WhoNew Adventures line (though the accompanying Missing Adventures line was referenced in the very first instalment, as well as throughout the Past Doctor Adventures from The Murder Game onwards), but as the series progressed, the barriers began to come down; as a result, many EDAs contain characters and references to events in the Virgin series.
While the EDA novels did not contain sexual or "adult" content as explicit as the Virgin series, they gained a focus, occasionally more overt than subtle, on representative themes, implications, and even blatant statements that gave major characters a degree of sexual or gender ambiguity and expression outside of heterosexuality and cisgender identity, including Sam Jones, Fitz Kreiner, and most notably the Doctor himself.
The EDA novels were marked by complex and lengthy story arcs, some lasting over many books, in particular a series of stories relating to a great Time War. The novels also spearheaded the "Post-War universe" utilised by the Faction Paradox series. Elements of and references to various accounts of future incarnations of the Doctor were implemented into the series' lore, most notably The Curse of Fatal Death and Scream of the Shalka.
With more than seventy novels published, the Eighth Doctor Adventures is the longest-running series of novels featuring any single incarnation of the Doctor to date.
In 2005 BBC Books retired its EDA and PDA lines, preferring to focus its publishing efforts on novels based upon the revived TV series. Although there was speculation that the Eighth Doctor's adventures might continue in a revived PDA line of books, this did not occur. The literary adventures of the Eighth Doctor continued in the Short Trips short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions (many of which were written by veterans of the EDA and PDA ranges), until that series was also retired in the spring of 2009. BBC Books and Puffin have included the Eighth Doctor in various short story series and collections since.