You on Target
How the Target books influenced me
If The Horns of Nimon was your first Target novelisation, if The Monster of Peladon was that elusive title you had trouble tracking down, if Four to Doomsday was a birthday present from your granny or if Galaxy Four was the book that taught you how to love reading, then this is the volume for you.
Carrying on from where You and Who: Contact Has Been Made left off, You On Target is the history of the Doctor Who adapted novelisations - from the very first one back in 1964 to the latest releases in 2019 - as told by the people who read them.
It's the definitive story of how we have enjoyed Doctor Who's television canon in print fiction, and of how those titles changed and developed as we changed and developed alongside them.
WITH A FOREWORD BY MATTHEW WATERHOUSE
The second edition includes a full index of the contents.
Notes:
The Target books are the main reason I read so much and they're probably why I'm a writer. They started long before we had VHS or DVDs, so these were the only way we could enjoy old Doctor Who stories were these Target novelisations. There's a style to them from which I learned a lot - keep it simple, keep it quick, keep it enjoyable. I wonder how many writers in and around Doctor Who owe a huge debt to these books? My guess is that a whole heap of us owe a lot to Malcolm Hulke, Ian Marter, Gerry Davis and most of all the legendary Terrance Dicks for the entertainment and for the inspiration.