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doctor who has a long history of being the longest sci-fi shows ever, so it’s no surprise that some of that time wasn’t exactly great for the franchise. doctor who has had off-air periods in which there were no new TV episodes for consecutive years. This didn’t mean the franchise died, though, with a huge range of stories and audio dramas to keep fans afloat until New Who’s launch in 2005.
Fans refer to this period as the ‘Wilderness Years’ and fortunately most look back on it fondly. It’s a testament to all the writers involved during this period, as well as those who made the TV movie, that fans can look back positively on this period in the show’s history.
Doctor being canceled
doctor who had struggled as a show for quite a long time in the 1980s, with it beginning its descent around the time Tom Baker left in 1982. Ultimately, Doctor Who was placed under an 18-month hiatus by Michael Grade during Colin Baker’s run. It managed to fight past that and had another season with Colin’s Sixth Doctor and three seasons with Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor. However, it was eventually discontinued indefinitely in 1989. This was the only time the doctor lost with doctor who.
For fans at the time, many had seen this cancellation coming from miles away. And so the series faded into the background with a whisper instead of a bang, but it left a loyal fan base desperate for more. doctor who stories.
Books about virgin adventures
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Virgin Publishing has secured the license to write doctor who books, and from 1991 to 1996 they produced many novels through their New Adventures and Missing Adventures series. The Missing Adventures covered the first through sixth doctors, with one novel featuring the seventh doctor. These stories took place between the television series that had already aired, building on continuity while also setting up new plots and knowledge points. A total of 33 Virgin Missing Adventures books have been published.
The New Adventures continue the story from the last Classic Series series. All but one had the Seventh Doctor, introducing new characters and moving on to bigger, broader stories. The final story featured the Eighth Doctor as played by Paul McGann and completed the series of books. A total of 61 Virgin New Adventures books have been published. This line has even spawned a spin-off series of books based on Seventh Doctor companion Bernice Summerfield, a doctor who supporting character who could have her own video game.
In 1997, the Eighth Doctor had made his TV movie debut, but the possible reboot of the series wasn’t going to be (at least, not yet). The BBC chose not to renew Virgin Publishing’s license and instead started printing their own books based on: doctor who.
The BBC Doctor Who Adventures
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Considering how popular the Virgo? doctor who books, the BBC wasted no time working on their own content. They launched the Eighth Doctor Adventures and the Past Doctoral Adventures book assortments. These books were generally well received and some had the best doctor who enemies that only appeared once. The Past Doctoral Adventures essentially replaced the Virgin Missing Adventures complete, with the first through seventh physicians with a varying number of books for each physician. Between 1997-2005, 76 books were published.
The Eighth Doctor Adventures told the story of the Eighth Doctor, starting after the TV movie. During these adventures, the Eighth Doctor had many companions who had never been seen on TV before. There are 73 stories published between 1997-2005 in this book series.
2005, doctor who was rebooted on television and the first series aired with Christopher Eccleston in the title role as the Ninth Doctor. At this point, BBC Books chose to Past Doctoral Adventures and Eighth Doctor Adventures in favor of producing books related to the seated Ninth Doctor. These books are informally referred to as the New Series Adventures and are still ongoing.
Great finish audio
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Virgin Publishing and BBC Books were not the only companies to doctor who universe is alive. Big Finish regularly supplied audiobooks based on the show from 1999. During the wilderness years, Big Finish published:
- The monthly adventures (1999-2021): Consists of Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctor adventures.
- The special editions (2001-present): Featuring spin-off characters and multiple doctors.
- The Seventh Doctor’s Adventures (2001-present): Featuring the Seventh Doctor with TV and new companions.
- The Sixth Doctor’s Adventures (2002-present): Featuring the Sixth Doctor with TV and new companions, well received for doing extensive character development on the Sixth Doctor.
- The Fifth Doctor’s Adventures (2003-present): Featuring the Fifth Doctor with TV and new companions.
- untethered (2003–present): Reminiscent of Marvel’s What if…? but for Doctor who.
Fans were clearly spoiled during the Wilderness Years on doctor who content, even if there were no new episodes of TV series to enjoy. Big Finish even does audio on Blake’s 7 which is another fantastic British sci-fi series to watch doctor who fans.
Doctor who can always survive
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Even if the TV series of doctor who stops producing new content, has shown the franchise during a 16-year hiatus and even a failed restart that it can continue as a franchise, even if that means moving to books and radio plays. Fans can rest assured that the doctor who universe will live on forever, even if its popularity wanes from time to time.
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