BBC Books

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BBC Books is the book publishing division of BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It has been active since the 1980s.

They publish a range of books connected to BBC radio and television programming, including tie-in cookery books, programme guides, lifestyle manuals, children's books and behind the scenes "making-of" books. They have also published non-programme related biographies and autobiographies of various well-known personalities.

Amongst their best known books are the series of cookery books by former TV chef Delia Smith and wildlife titles by David Attenborough.

The Clockwise Man was the first volume in the New Series Adventures range.

Since 1996, the company has also produced a range of tie-in novels connected to the television science-fiction series Doctor Who, the only full-length fiction to be printed by the company. Their first release related to the series was a novelisation of the 1996 Doctor Who telemovie published in the spring of 1996. Then, in 1997, BBC Books launched two concurrent series of books, the Eighth Doctor Adventures (EDA) (featuring the then-current incarnation of the Doctor), and the Past Doctor Adventures (PDA), featuring the seven previous incarnations. Between 1997 and 2005 approximately 150 original novels were published for both lines, combined. BBC Books also launched a short-lived line of Doctor Who-related short story collections called Short Trips; Big Finish Productions later obtained the rights to publish these books and that series continues as of 2006.

In 2005, BBC Books began to phase out the EDA and PDA lines as it launched a new series of books (informally dubbed the New Series Adventures) based upon the newly-revived television series. Featuring the Ninth Doctor, the new books were published in hardback (as opposed to the EDA, PDA and Short Trips lines that were exclusively paperback releases). The Eighth Doctor line was discontinued during the summer of 2005, followed by the final Past Doctor Adventure in November. Beginning in 2006, BBC Books continued the New Series Adventures, now featuring the Tenth Doctor, with no word (as of February 2007) whether any more Past Doctor Adventures are planned. The books continue to be published in hardback, with the exception of two novellas, I Am a Dalek, and Made of Steel, which are paperback releases under a series called Quick Reads.

In January 2007, BBC Books launched a new line of original novels based upon the Doctor Who spin-off series, Torchwood. These books are also being published exclusively in hardcover and, like the TV series itself, are aimed at an older audience.

In 2006, Random House acquired a majority shareholding in BBC Books.[1]