Continuing almost immediately after the events of the televised episode Survival, Virgin Publishing's New Adventures of Doctor Who became a serialized, self-referent saga with strong eyes on continuity, yet taking the series in new directions. The books originally featured the Doctor and Ace, then came the introductions of Bernice "Benny" Summerfield, the 25th century archaeologist; and adjudicators Christopher Rodonante (Chris) Cwej and Roslyn (Roz) Forrester. Virgin also published a Missing Adventures series of novels with previous Doctors.

BBC Books took over the reigns of publishing Doctor Who original fiction in June 1997 with the Eighth Doctor Adventures. Since then, they have steadily published novels featuring the continuing adventures of the Eighth Doctor and his companions: Samantha "Sam" Jones, Fitz Kreiner, Compassion, Anji Kapoor and Beatrice "Trix" MacMillan. A new era for the Time Lord, he has faced new alien monsters, alternate timelines and eddies, enemies from his own future... and now faces the greatest challenge to his existence: the end of his adventures (at least as an organized series) with the publication of "The Gallifrey Chronicles" in 2005. BBC also publishes the Past Doctor Adventures series featuring the first seven Doctors, a series that will continue with the addition of the Eighth Doctor in the summer of 2005.

In 2001, Telos Publishing acquired the rights to print limited edition hardcover Doctor Who novellas. Focusing less on traditional aspects of the show and its subsequent book and audio versions, and more on telling stories that couldn't otherwise be told (in a different format than was previously available) by utilizing both current DW authors and established professionals in other genres (horror and fantasy, mainly), the Telos novellas have been very successful in their first two years. Unfortunately, Telos learned in late 2002 that its license had not been renewed and will be terminated in 2004.

During its successful publishing of Doctor Who fiction from 1991-1997, Virgin Publishing produced five Doctor Who short fiction anthologies. Called Decalogs, the first three were straightforward short story books. When Virgin lost its license, they subsequently produced two additional anthologies, the fourth featuring the family history of then-companion Roz Forrester, the fifth tied around "the wonders of the Universe". BBC Books then published three successful collections called Short Trips, the third going completely outside continuity. Most recently, Big Finish has taken up the reigns of short story collections, for both its Doctor Who and Bernice Summerfield lines.

Virgin New Adventures:  Ace eventually departed in "Love and War," the book that also introduced Benny, only to have Ace reappear three books later in "Deceit," hardened by serving three years in Spacefleet fighting Daleks. Ace and Benny served as the Doctor's companions until early 1995, when Ace departed in "Set Piece" (her departure into turn-of-the-century France in the book was prefaced all the way back in Ian Briggs "Curse of Fenric" novelization). Bernice departed the Doctor's company after marrying Jason Kane in "Happy Endings", although she occasionally popped back in. The Doctor was joined by Christopher Rodonante (Chris) Cwej and Roslyn (Roz) Forrester in "Original Sin" as well as his cat, Wolsey, in "Human Nature", and they continued with the Doctor until "So Vile a Sin," where Roz makes her untimely departure. The final lineup in the TARDIS was the Doctor and Chris, which ended in "Lungbarrow," the final adventure of the Seventh Doctor, which ended just before the time period of the FOX movie. The final Virgin book, "The Dying Days," was an independent Eighth Doctor book which saw the return of Bernice as well as the Brigadier.

Virgin Missing Adventures:  The series began with a crossover into the New Adventures" "Blood Harvest," while several other books have also crossed with the New Adventures. The Seventh Doctor even made his own foray into the Missing Adventures with "Cold Fusion". A new companion was even introduced for the Sixth Doctor, young Grant Markham. Meanwhile, some of the developments of the series included adaptations of the BBC radio drama "The Ghosts of N-Space" and the independent video "Downtime"; sequels to the televised stories "Pyramids of Mars" (in "The Sands of Time"), "The Web Planet" (in "Twilight of the Gods") and "The Talons of Weng-Chiang (in "The Shadow of Weng-Chiang") and to the DW New Adventure book "Blood Harvest" (in the debut novel, "Goth Opera"); and mapped out the course of some of the series' regulars including the departure of Liz Shaw (in "The Scales of Injustice") and the origins of the Master (in "The Dark Path"). The series also posited some of the developments of the Sixth Doctor before and after his trial (in "Time of Your Life" and "Millenial Rites," the latter of which also develops the Valeyard storyline). In addition, while not officially a part of the Missing Adventures line, the independent novel Who Killed Kennedy was also published by Virgin at the time; it's told from the point of view of bystander James Stevens (as "translated" by sole actual author David Bishop), who interacts with Dodo and the era of the Third Doctor. One other interesting fact: Leela is the only regular series companion (other than the transitional companions Katarina and Sara Kingdom) who does not feature in one of these books, and Leela, Sergeant Benton and Ian Chesterton are the only regular companions as such not featured on a novel cover. However, the Brigadier, the Master, Yates, Kamelion and Grant Markham are displayed on the covers.

BBC Books:  Very few changes have been made since Virgin ran their Missing Adventures series, though it is interesting to note that two companions from other genres have appeared: Frobisher, the shape-changing Whifferdill (yes, the penguin) from the DWM comic strips, features in David McIntee's "Mission: Impractical"; and Evelyn Smythe from the Big Finish audio adventures features in Gary Russell's "Instruments of Darkness".

Telos Publishing:  In the meanwhile, one of their last books introduces a brand new companion, Catherine, who assists the Seventh Doctor; and also, Daniel O'Mahony's "The Cabinet of Light" introduces Honore LeChasseur and Emily Blandish, characters that are soon to spin off into their own series, called "Time Hunters".