Comic writers part of Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Signing at Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is to host the first of what probably won't be the last of its events to mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who on Saturday 9th March, with a special signing of the 50th Anniversary Collection from BBC Books.

Eleven classic novels, one for each Doctor – are being released, repackaged with new introductions, and guests include former Doctor Who Magazine editor and comics writer Gary Russell and comics writer Dan Abnett.

PLAYERS (TERRANCE DICKS) Arriving on the sun-baked veldt in the middle of the Boer War, the Sixth Doctor is soon involved in the adventures of struggling politician and war correspondent Winston Churchill. Of course, he knows Churchill is destined for great things, but unseen forces seem to be interfering with Winston's historic career. The Doctor suspects the hidden hand of the Players, mysterious beings who regard human history as little more than a game. With time running out, can the Doctor find the right moves to defeat them?

REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS (BEN AARONOVITCH) With unfinished business to attend to, the Seventh Doctor returns to where it all began: Coal Hill School in London in 1963. Last time he was here, the Doctor left something behind - a powerful Time Lord artefact that could unlock the secrets of time travel. Can the Doctor retrieve it before two rival factions of Daleks track it down? And even if he can, how will the Doctor prevent the whole of London becoming a war zone as the Daleks meet in explosive confrontation?

BEAUTIFUL CHAOS (GARY RUSSELL) Wilfred Mott is very happy: his granddaughter, Donna, is back home, catching up with family and gossiping about her journeys, and he has just discovered a new star and had it named after him. He takes the Tenth Doctor with him to the naming ceremony. But the Doctor soon discovers something else new, and worryingly bright, in the heavens - something that is heading for Earth. It's an ancient force from the Dark Times. And it is very, very angry.

THE SILENT STARS GO BY (DAN ABNETT) The winter festival is approaching for the hardy colony of Morphans, but no one is in the mood to celebrate. They're trying to build a new life on a cold new world, but each year gets harder and harder. It's almost as if some dark force is working against them. Then three mysterious travelers arrive out of the midwinter night, one of them claiming to be a doctor. Are they bringing the gift of salvation or doom? And what else might be lurking out there, about to wake up?

• Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Signing Saturday 9th March 2013 1.00 - 2.00pm Forbidden Planet London Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR. More information here on the Forbidden Planet web site

Famous Five to ape Doctor Who (or is that Timeslip?)

The cast of The Famous Five
1978 production, scripted by
Richard Carpenter

London-based Kindle Entertainment, makers of the critically acclaimed CBBC show Leonardo are to turn Enid Blyton's The Famous Five into a time travel show.

The company recently announced it has has entered into a co-production pact with Hachette UK, which recently acquired a majority of the estate of author Enid Blyton from Chorion, to create a new TV series based on Blyton's beloved kid's book series.

Kindle Entertainment will pitch the TV series to broadcasters and distributors to secure funding to produce the series and says it plans to maintain the core values of the original stories (first published in 1942), while designing a programme that is appealing to kid's today.

The new series will include an element of time travel that follows the protagonist George, a modern girl, and her dog Timmy as they are transported back through the decades to Kirrin Bay in 1954.

There, she meets characters Julian, Dick and Anne, who are spending the summer with Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny. The 'Famous Five' will embark on numerous adventures based on Blyton 's original plots.

Through each episode George will gradually learn more about Uncle Quentin's mysterious experiments before all is revealed in a final twist.

The concept would seem to echo, albeit slightly, the 1970s time travel series Timeslip, which was also a popular strip in Look-In, drawn by Mike Noble; while appealing, perhaps to fans of Doctor Who.

There have of course been several TV adaptations of The Famous Five, one of which starred Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures Gary Russell in his earlier career as a child actor. Produced in 1978, it was scripted by Richard Carpenter, who also created Catweazle, Black Beauty, Dick Turpin and Robin of Sherwood.

Kindle Entertainment's shows include Leonardo, a 13-part series following the awesome and audacious adventures of a teenage Leonardo da Vinci, which was shot in South Africa where an incredible set of Renaissance Florence was built. The series airs on CBBC in the UK.

Owned by Hatchette Livre, Hachette UK is the most diversified book publishing group in the UK, with a unique policy of encouraging its publishing houses to operate autonomously. Among its houses and imprints are Hachette Children’s Books, Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder Education, John Murray, Little, Brown Book Group, Octopus Publishing Group and Orion Publishing.

Starkings, Salmon Unleash Cold Blooded War

IDW has just published standalone Doctor Who story, Cold Blooded War, written by former Doctor Who Magazine comic strip editor Richard Starkings and former Doctor Who Magazine editor Gary Russell.

Drawn by Adrian Salmon, the story is set in the 26th Century first visited by the Third Doctor. The Tenth Doctor and Donna attempt to broker a peace plan between two very hierarchical and pompous alien races, the Draconians and Ice Warriors, but their best efforts are derailed by someone who stands to gain from the continued conflict.

Although Richard's lettering company, Comicraft, has been busy behind the scenes working on IDW's Doctor Who range, this is his first foray back into writing Doctor Who comic strip for some years, while Gary Russell's well known love of the Ice Warriors - they featured heavily in his Radio Times Doctor Who comic - is given fine treatment by Adrian.

• You can view a preview of the new comic, which is only licensed for sale in North America but still makes it to the UK as a 'grey' import, here.

• For more official information and to buy the comic in North America visit the Cold Blooded War page on the IDW web site