Game Books
These were a series of six gamebooks featuring the Sixth Doctor, released during the 1985–86 hiatus. The books were published by Severn House in the United Kingdom and by Ballantine in the United States; at least three were also published by the ABC in Australia, using the British titles. The stories also feature many familiar old companions and enemies including K-9, Peri, Turlough, the Rani and Omega. With the exception of Michael Holt, all the books in the series were written by scriptwriters for the television series, and at least one book, Mission to Venus, was a reworking of unused scripts, in this case Emms' unmade Second Doctor serial The Imps. Despite this, some of the books broke from the continuity of the series, particularly Crisis in Space which features Vislor Turlough, even though he did not travel with the Sixth Doctor. The six books were:
| Title | Author | ISBN UK | ISBN US | TV companions featured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search for the Doctor | Dave Martin | ISBN 0-7278-2087-7 | ISBN 0-345-33224-5 | K-9 |
| Crisis in Space | Michael Holt | ISBN 0-7278-2093-1 | ISBN 0-345-33225-3 | Peri Brown, Vislor Turlough |
| The Garden of Evil | Dave Martin | ISBN 0-7278-2113-X | n/a | None |
| Mission to Venus | William Emms | ISBN 0-7278-2122-9 | unknown | Peri Brown |
| Invasion of the Ormazoids | Philip Martin | ISBN 0-7278-2100-8 | ISBN 0-345-33231-8 | None |
| Race Against Time | Pip and Jane Baker | ISBN 0-7278-2116-4 | ISBN 0-345-33228-8 | Peri Brown |
FASA also published two books similar in format to the "Make Your Own Adventure" books listed above, the first ('The Vortex Crystal by William H. Keith, Jr.) featuring the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, and the second (The Rebel's Gamble also by William Keith, ISBN 0-931787-68-8), set during the American Civil War featuring the Sixth Doctor, Peri and also Harry Sullivan, even though Sullivan was not a companion during the Sixth Doctor's era, although there is a brief reference to Sullivan having rejoined the Doctor. A further gamebook, entitled Time Lord, was written by Ian Marsh and Peter Darvill-Evans and published by Virgin Books. The game is totally unrelated to the previously released Doctor Who RPG by FASA. It has different, simpler, mechanics and is considered faithful to the original television show. However, it was marketed with other Doctor Who books and not other role-playing games. In addition, Virgin was unknown in the gaming market. As a result, it did not sell well and aside from a few articles in Doctor Who Magazine, no supplements were published. Since 1996, it has been made available for free on the Internet by the authors.
Read more about this topic: Doctor Who Games, Classic Series Merchandise
Famous quotes containing the words game and/or books:
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—For the State of West Virginia, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Like dreaming, reading performs the prodigious task of carrying us off to other worlds. But reading is not dreaming because books, unlike dreams, are subject to our will: they envelop us in alternative realities only because we give them explicit permission to do so. Books are the dreams we would most like to have, and, like dreams, they have the power to change consciousness, turning sadness to laughter and anxious introspection to the relaxed contemplation of some other time and place.”
—Victor Null, South African educator, psychologist. Lost in a Book: The Psychology of Reading for Pleasure, introduction, Yale University Press (1988)