BBC Books have sent DWO some further information and covers for their new Doctor Who: Time Trips series.

Jake Arnott, Cecelia Ahern and Joanne Harris have today been confirmed to write for BBC Books' Doctor Who: Time Trips. They join award-winning writers AL Kennedy, Jenny Colgan, Nick Harkaway and Trudi Canavan for new Doctor Who digital shorts series.

The series will launch on 5th December with The Death Pit, a Fourth Doctor adventure by AL Kennedy. It then publishes monthly throughout 2014: the spring’s selections include Jenny Colgan’s Eleventh Doctor adventure, Into the Nowhere (Jan); Nick Harkaway’s take on the Tenth Doctor, Keeping Up with the Joneses (Feb); Trudi Canavan’s tribute to the Third Doctor, Salt of the Earth (Mar); and Jake Arnott’s Sixth Doctor adventure in April. Cecelia Ahern’s and Joanne Harris’s stories will publish later in the year.

Cecelia Aherne said:

"I’m so excited to have written a story for the Time Trips series and I enjoyed writing every word. Doctor Who is an institution and to be involved in the 50th anniversary is beyond a dream – it is an honour’"

Jake Arnott adds:

"Writing for the Time Trips series really was a trip – the chance to jump around in time, space and genre, to play around with a classic of popular culture and try to find a place in its vast universe – but most of all it was an opportunity to travel back all those light years ago when I was a kid, full of wonder, watching Doctor Who for the first time"

Joanne Harris says:

"I remember watching Doctor Who from a very early age, from a cushion fort behind the sofa. As I grew older I began to really understand and appreciate the show. When the series was revived I was thrilled to watch its transition into the 21st Century, just as I’m thrilled now to be contributing to this series of stories. Fifty is no great age (I tell myself this as my own fiftieth approaches!) and you’re never too old for stories. Happy Birthday Doctor Who. May your candles never go out"

AL Kennedy said:

"I was first introduced to Doctor Who when I was three or four and he has been a happy part of my life ever since. I am delighted to become in any way a part of his stories"

Jenny Colgan, also a lifelong Doctor Who fan, said:

"It is such an honour to be part of the prestigous Time Trips line-up, with so many excitingly fresh perspectives on the Doctor's life and adventures"

Nick Harkaway added:

"There is a list of calls you want and know you’ll never get. Joel Rubichon invites you to eat any time; Penelope Cruz needs a tango partner…and then someone calls and asks you if you want to write a story for a new BBC Books’ Doctor Who digital series. And that is the real thing and it feels every bit as fantastic as you would imagine. I’m sure the tango would be good too, mind you."

Publishing Schedule:

Doctor Who: The Death Pit
A.L. Kennedy
Published: 5th December 2013
+  PREORDER from Amazon.co.uk for £1.37! 

Doctor Who: Into the Nowhere
Published: 9th January 2014
Jenny T. Colgan
+  PREORDER from Amazon.co.uk for £1.37! 

Doctor Who: Keeping Up with the Joneses 
Nick Harkaway
Published: 6th February 2014
+  PREORDER from Amazon.co.uk for £1.37!

Doctor Who: Salt of the Earth
Trudi Canavan
Published: 6th March 2014
+  PREORDER from Amazon.co.uk for £1.37!

Doctor Who: A Handful of Stardust
by Jake Arnott
Published: 3rd April 2014

+  Time Trips launches from 5th December 2013 from BBC Digital and publishes monthly throughout 2014, priced £1.99 each.

[Source: BBC Books]

BBC Books has today announced Time Trips, an exciting addition to their hugely popular Doctor Who digital list.

Following the success of the three digital-only e-shorts published last Autumn and earlier this year (The Angel’s Kiss, Devil in the Smoke and Summer Falls, each of which tied into a particular episode),  as well as Doctor Who novels with Michael Moorcock, Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Jenny Colgan and the estate of Douglas Adams. Time Trips is set to build on that success and expand the Doctor Who readership even further.

A new, long-term digital strand for the Doctor Who list, Time Trips will feature an exciting mix of high-profile commercial and literary writers, each of whom will write a 10,000 word adventure for their favourite Doctor. Authors confirmed so far include Nick Harkaway, AL Kennedy, Jenny Colgan and Trudi Canavan, with more to be announced shortly. From romantic fiction to high fantasy to high thrillers, there are a lot of Doctor Who fans in the literary world!

BBC Books Senior Editorial Director Albert De-Petrillo bought world rights in each of the stories. De-Petrillo said:

"Time Trips is a project I have long wanted to do. There’s a unique affection for Doctor Who amongst writers and readers across genres and I can’t believe our good luck to have Nick Harkaway, AL Kennedy, Jenny Colgan and Trudi Canavan on the launch list.  It’s a truly formidable line-up, with more to come. This series really is taking Doctor Who fiction to a new level and I can’t wait for people to read these brilliant stories"

AL Kennedy said:

"I was first introduced to Doctor Who when I was three or four and he has been a happy part of my life ever since. I am delighted to become in any way a part of his stories."

Jenny Colgan, also a lifelong Doctor Who fan, said:

"It is such an honour to be part of the prestigious Time Trips line-up, with so many excitingly fresh perspectives on the Doctor's life and adventures".

Nick Harkaway added:

"There is a list of calls you want and know you’ll never get. Joel Rubichon invites you to eat any time; Penelope Cruz needs a tango partner…and then someone calls and asks you if you want to write a story for a new BBC Books’ Doctor Who digital series. And that is the real thing and it feels every bit as fantastic as you would imagine. I’m sure the tango would be good too, mind you"

BBC Books plan to release the first in the Time Trips series at the end of the year, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, with further stories to be published throughout 2014. Each story will be priced at £1.99. A print collection is due for release next year. Additional authors will be announced in the coming months.

[Source: BBC Books]