The Best Doctor Who Books To Read While You Wait For The Show's Return

Fortunately, Doctor Who has always been far more than just a TV show. The legendary Terrance Dicks was well-known for his Target novelizations (a tradition that continues to this day). When Doctor Who was cancelled in 1989, it didn't take long for the show to begin a revival in print with Virgin's New and Missing Adventures. Books are still published to this day (along with comics and excellent Big Finish audio-dramas). If you want to familiarize yourself with some Doctor Who classics, here are the best — albeit with an emphasis toward older ones you may not have encountered.

8 System Shock by Justin Richards

Published in 1995, System Shock is an uncomfortably prescient story in which the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith confront aliens invading a digital future. Surprisingly, the story hasn’t really dated all that much; in fact, a lot of the themes and ideas in play feel even more real in 2026. Yes, we even have rogue AIs — including one the Doctor himself winds up building.

But System Shock’s real joy lies in its character work. The Doctor and Sarah find themselves teaming up with an old ally, Harry Sullivan, who’s gone up in the world since they last crossed paths with him. Soon Sarah is stepping into her future self’s shoes as an investigative reporter, trying to deal with literal corporate snakes, and the world is rushing down the digital superhighway to hell.

You can purchase System Shock from retailers like Amazon.

7 Vanderdeken’s Children by Christopher Bulis

Time travel is normally just a convenient plot device in Doctor Who, but not in the wonderful Vanderdeken’s Children. Here, the Eighth Doctor and a novel-only companion Sam investigate a complex temporal anomaly woven around the hopes and dreams of a collapsing empire. It doesn’t take them long to figure out they’re dealing with a complex time loop, one they’ll struggle to survive due to the laws of cause and effect.

Vanderdeken’s Children is something quite rare in Doctor Who: a timey-wimey story where the temporal mechanics actually work. If you’re a fan of the Moffat era, then this is the Doctor Who story for you. It has all the temporal twists you could hope for, creepy villains, and some surprisingly deep character work too.

You can purchase Vanderdeken's Children from retailers like Amazon.

6 Illegal Alien by Robert Perry and Mike Tucker

The adventures of the Seventh Doctor and Ace originally continued in Virgin’s New Adventures after Doctor Who was cancelled in 1989. But when the publishing license reverted to the BBC in the mid-‘90s, Robert Perry and Mike Tucker presented a different vision of those ongoing adventures, Illegal Alien was the first of these, and it’s an absolute delight, capturing the character voices in a most incredible way.

There’s a reason: Mike Tucker worked on Doctor Who as part of the VFX team, and originally submitted this script under a pseudonym for season 27. The plot is a thrilling one, with the Doctor and Ace uncovering Cybermen operating in the shadows of London during World War II. They must team up with an American ex-pat private eye to defeat the alien threat, even as they discover a Nazi conspiracy too.

You can purchase Illegal Alien from retailers like Amazon.

5 Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles

There’s never really been a Doctor Who book with quite so many ideas as Alien Bodies, by Lawrence Miles. Featuring the Eighth Doctor and Sam, it told a shocking story in which the Doctor stumbled upon Gallifrey’s future - and discovered a Time War that threatened all of creation (yes, you read that right). This so-called “War in Heaven” would come to dominate the Eighth Doctor range, culminating in the destruction of Gallifrey when the Doctor chose to prevent the Time War by destroying both sides. Does all that sound eerily familiar?

Alien Bodies is where this story all begins. It’s Miles at his most creative, before behind-the-scenes drama derailed the range a little, and the idea — that the Doctor could stumble on his own race’s future - is absolutely inspired. Russell T. Davies has never credited this story as inspiring his 2005 relaunch, but the coincidences are far too numerous to ignore. So pick this up for a piece of Doctor Who history.

You can purchase Alien Bodies from retailers like Amazon.

4 Human Nature by Paul Cornell

One of Virgin’s most popular and critically acclaimed New Adventures, Human Nature was actually adapted as a two-part adventure in the David Tennant era. The original novel features the Seventh Doctor and the NA companion Bernice, and it’s easy to see why this book is so beloved; this strips the science-fiction back to its raw humanity, confronting the Doctor with what it truly means to be human.

The Doctor has always been fascinated by humanity, so in a sense this idea was so obvious; what would the Doctor be like as a human? But it takes a writer of Cornell’s caliber to make such a simple, powerful question work. The setting is smart, with the eve of war serving as a haunting image of John Smith’s own Foom as he must recognize who he truly is.

You can purchase Human Nature from retailers like Amazon.

3 Who Killed Kennedy by James Stevens and David Bishop

Probably the most inventive Doctor Who book to date, Who Killed Kennedy is a political thriller that barely features the Doctor — and that’s what makes it work. Set during the Third Doctor’s exile to earth, it reveals the true nature of UNIT and the clandestine organizations benefiting from alien technology. It also features a chilling appearance from the Master.

“James Stevens” is the supposed author of Who Killed Kennedy, and the book purports to be his in-universe account of an investigation that ultimately leads him to the truth behind the Kennedy assassination. It’s a gritty read, and set up (or built upon) many of the best tropes in Doctor Who fiction. No longer in print, it’s instead available free online.

You can read Who Killed Kennedy online, courtesty of the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club.

2 The Dark Path by David A McIntee

The Master is the Doctor’s greatest enemy, the yin to his yang, the Moriarty to his Sherlock Holmes. But how did the Master come to be? The Dark Path explores that question, introducing the man who would become the Master; Koschei, a Renegade Time Lord who’s so very like the Doctor, but just a little more flawed. This is the story of how a good man can be broken.

There’s something so very remarkable about The Dark Path. The similarities between the Doctor and Koschei mean readers are left shaken, because it would be so very easy for the Doctor to fall in the same way. That gives The Dark Path an edge seldom repeated in Doctor Who, making this essential reading.

You can purchase The Dark Path from retailers like Amazon.

1 The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin

Released in 1998 to celebrate Doctor Who’s 35th anniversary, The Infinity Doctors is one of the grandest Doctor Who stories ever written. Is it a version of the Doctor’s origin story, a what if, or a vision of a possible future? It feels like all these and more, making it a true celebration of all things Who.

The Infinity Doctors is set almost entirely on Gallifrey, and Parkin pulls off a tremendous feat in making Time Lord politics absolutely enthralling. Expect secrets of the ancient Gallifreyans — this uses the classic villain Omega so much better than recent seasons of Doctor Who — and surprising encounters with familiar alien races. Continuity may not count in The Infinity Doctors, but this really does feel like the most poignant love letter to Doctor Who that Parkin could have possibly written.

You can purchase The Infinity Doctors from retailers like Amazon.