Unofficial Doctor Who Television Companion Republished

By John Freeman on October 21, 2002

The acclaimed Doctor Who reference book The Television Companion is being reissued next year by Telos Publishing.

Rather than being a straight reprint authors David J Howe and Stephen James Walker intend to rework some of the material from the Virgin Doctor Who Handbooks into the reprint with the aim of making it the definitive guide to the TV series. It will also have some material reinstated that did not make it into the BBC Books edition.

The unofficial and unauthorised Telos edition will retail for £15 in A5 paperback, and will be available from May 2003. There will also be a limited edition hardback, numbered and signed by the authors available.

Meanwhile, Telso have also announced their licence to publish Doctor Who novellas will cease in 2004, as BBC Worldwide have declined a request to extend the license for the books beyond that date.

“We are shocked and of course deeply saddened by BBC Worldwide’s decision,” commented David Howe of Telos, “which we know will greatly disappoint the thousands of regular readers of the Doctor Who Novellas. However, having discussed this with BBC Worldwide, we are resigned to the fact that there is nothing we can do to persuade them to change their minds.”

• Telos Publishing: www.telos.co.uk

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.