Virgin Missing Adventures

The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and featured the First through Sixth Doctors. (The Seventh Doctor also appeared in one novel). The Missing Adventures complemented the Virgin New Adventures range, which had proved successful.

Publication history

Virgin had purchased the successful children's imprint Target Books in 1989, with Virgin's new fiction editor Peter Darvill-Evans taking over the range. Target's major output was novelisations of televised Doctor Who stories, and Darvill-Evans realised that there were few stories left to be novelised. He approached the BBC for permission to commission original stories written directly for print, but such a licence was initially refused. However, after the television series was cancelled at the end of 1989, Virgin were granted the licence to produce full-length original novels continuing the story from the point at which the series had concluded.

The first range covered only the continuing adventures of the Seventh Doctor, but when that proved successful, Virgin also created this range covering the previous Doctors, with new stories that fit in between the televised serials.

In addition to original novels, the Missing Adventures series also incorporated two novelisations: The Ghosts of N-Space, based upon a mid-1990s BBC audio play, and Downtime, which was based upon an independent video production featuring several characters from the Doctor Who series (the novelisation is one of the few Doctor Who novels in which the Doctor does not appear as a central character).

When the BBC decided in 1996 to do their own line of novels with the Eighth Doctor, they withdrew the license from Virgin to publish the Eighth Doctor Adventures. The adventures of the previous Doctors were taken up by the BBC in the Past Doctor Adventures line of books.

Reprints

In 2014, both The Scales of Injustice and The Sands of Time were reprinted as part of BBC Books' The Monster Collection. These were followed with The English Way of Death, a part of The History Collection (2015).

List of Virgin Missing Adventures

Including books featuring two of the Doctors, the total tallies are: First Doctor, 5 books; Second, 5 books; Third, 6 books; Fourth, 9 books; Fifth, 5 books; Sixth, 5 books; and Seventh, 1 book.

# Title Author Doctor Featuring Published
1 Goth OperaPaul Cornell5thTegan, NyssaJuly 1994
2 EvolutionJohn Peel4thSarah JaneSeptember 1994
3 Venusian LullabyPaul Leonard1stIan, BarbaraOctober 1994
4 The Crystal BucephalusCraig Hinton5thTegan, Turlough, KamelionNovember 1994
5 State of ChangeChristopher Bulis6thPeriDecember 1994
6 The Romance of CrimeGareth Roberts4thRomana II, K-9January 1995
7 The Ghosts of N-SpaceBarry Letts3rdSarah Jane, the BrigadierFebruary 1995
8 Time of Your LifeSteve Lyons6thGrant MarkhamMarch 1995
9 Dancing the CodePaul Leonard3rdJo, UNITApril 1995
10 The MenagerieMartin Day2ndJamie, ZoeMay 1995
11 System ShockJustin Richards4thSarah, HarryJune 1995
12 The Sorcerer's ApprenticeChristopher Bulis1stIan, Barbara, SusanJuly 1995
13 Invasion of the Cat-PeopleGary Russell2ndBen, PollyAugust 1995
14 ManagraStephen Marley4thSarah JaneSeptember 1995
15 Millennial RitesCraig Hinton6thMelOctober 1995
16 The Empire of GlassAndy Lane1stSteven, Vicki; plus Irving BraxiatelNovember 1995
17 Lords of the StormDavid A. McIntee5thTurloughDecember 1995
18 DowntimeMarc Plattnonethe Brigadier, Sarah Jane, VictoriaJanuary 1996
19 The Man in the Velvet MaskDaniel O'Mahony1stDodoFebruary 1996
20 The English Way of DeathGareth Roberts4thRomana II, K-9March 1996
21 The Eye of the GiantChristopher Bulis3rdLiz Shaw, UNITApril 1996
22 The Sands of TimeJustin Richards5thTegan, NyssaMay 1996
23 Killing GroundSteve Lyons6thGrant MarkhamJune 1996
24 The Scales of InjusticeGary Russell3rdLiz Shaw, UNITJuly 1996
25 The Shadow of Weng-ChiangDavid A. McIntee4thRomana I, K-9August 1996
26 Twilight of the GodsChristopher Bulis2ndJamie, VictoriaSeptember 1996
27 Speed of FlightPaul Leonard3rdJo, Mike YatesOctober 1996
28 The PlottersGareth Roberts1stIan, Barbara, VickiNovember 1996
29 Cold FusionLance Parkin5th and 7thAdric, Nyssa, Tegan; Roz, ChrisDecember 1996
30 Burning HeartDave Stone6thPeriJanuary 1997
31 A Device of DeathChristopher Bulis4thHarry, Sarah JaneFebruary 1997
32 The Dark PathDavid A. McIntee2ndJamie, VictoriaMarch 1997
33 The Well-Mannered WarGareth Roberts4thRomana II, K-9April 1997

Continuity

Three of the Missing Adventures were sequels to televised serials, they were:

Two of the Missing Adventures were novelisations:

Many Missing Adventures featured old foes, including:

Who Killed Kennedy

Main article - Who Killed Kennedy

In 1996, Virgin Books published Who Killed Kennedy, a Doctor Who novel by David Bishop. Although set during the time of the Third Doctor, Virgin published this book as a standalone work, and not as part of the Missing Adventures series.

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