BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Consumer Publishing and BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...

through its

Ebury Publishing Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Cent ...

division. The minority shareholder is

BBC Studios BBC Studios Limited is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Wor ...

, the commercial subsidiary of the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

. The imprint has been active since the 1980s. BBC Books publishes a range of books connected to BBC

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

programming, including cookery, natural history, lifestyle, and behind the scenes "making-of" books. There are also some non-programme related biographies and autobiographies of various well-known personalities in its list. Amongst BBC Books' best known titles are cookery books by former TV cook

Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a direct style. One of the best-known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to bec ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

titles by Sir

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

and gardening titles by

Alan Titchmarsh Alan Fred Titchmarsh (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener, broadcaster and writer. After working as a professional gardener and a horticultural journalist, he became a radio and television presenter and a novelist. Early career Alan Fred T ...

. In the BBC Publishing days, it turned down ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

'', a book which has now sold over 14,000,000 copies worldwide.

''Doctor Who''

Since 1996, BBC Books has also produced a range of tie-in novels connected to the

television science-fiction Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', the only full-length fiction to be printed by the company. Their first release related to the series was a

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

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 The ''Eighth Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes abbreviated as EDA or referred to as the EDAs) are a series of spin off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books impri ...

(EDA) (featuring the then-current incarnation of

the Doctor The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called th ...

), and the

Past Doctor Adventures The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books imprint. ...

(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 Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

later obtained the rights to publish the ''Short Trips'' books and that series continues as of 2010. 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 The ''New Series Adventures'' are a series of novels relating to the long-running BBC science fiction television series, ''Doctor Who''. The 'NSAs', as they are often referred to, are published by BBC Books, and are regularly published twice a y ...

) based upon the newly revived television series. Featuring the

Ninth Doctor The Ninth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005. Within the serie ...

, 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 The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series and nine specials. The character has also appeared in other ''Docto ...

, with no word (as of September 2009) whether any more Past Doctor Adventures are planned. The books continue to be published in hardback, with the exception of four

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

s, '' I Am a Dalek'', '' Made of Steel'', ''

Revenge of the Judoon Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', working as a ...

'' and ''

Code of the Krillitanes ''Code of the Krillitanes'' is a BBC Books original novella written by Justin Richards and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Tenth Doctor as played by David Tennant. This paperba ...

'', which are paperback releases under a series called

Quick Reads '' Quick Reads'' is a series of short books by bestselling authors and celebrities. With no more than 200 pages, they are designed to encourage adults who do not read often or find reading difficult to discover the joy of books. Quick Reads are a c ...

. The 4th novella still featured the tenth doctor

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

, even though the eleventh has made his TV appearance. In January 2007, BBC Books launched a new line of original novels based upon the ''Doctor Who'' spin-off series, ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British-American science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect i ...

''. These books are also being published exclusively in hardcover and, like the TV series itself, are aimed at an older audience. In May 2008, BBC Books issued its first original made-for-audio ''Doctor Who'' adventure, ''Pest Control'', which was released as part of the Tenth Doctor Adventures line and read by

. The Audiobook of the Year 2010 was a Tenth Doctor adventure called Dead Air by James Goss and read by

''Being Human''

In 2010, a series of three ''Being Human'' novels were published by BBC Books. These novels describe the adventures of the three main characters

Annie Sawyer Anna Clare "Annie" Sawyer is a fictional character in the comedy-drama television series '' Being Human'', portrayed by Lenora Crichlow. The female lead for the duration of the show's first four series, Crichlow appears as Annie in thirty-one epi ...

George Sands George Sands is a fictional werewolf in the comedy-drama television series '' Being Human'', portrayed by Russell Tovey. The male lead for the duration of the show's first three series appeared in 24 episodes of the drama, as well as in three ...

and John Mitchell of the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

television series Being Human and are written by

Simon Guerrier Simon Guerrier (born June 1976) is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of ''Doctor Who'' and its Doctor Who spin-offs, spinoffs. Although he has written three ''Doctor Who'' novels, fo ...

Mark Michalowski Mark Michalowski (born 1963 in Chesterfield) is the editor of ''Shout!'', "Yorkshire's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender paper", as well as being an author best known for his work writing spin-offs based on the BBC Television series ''Docto ...

and James Goss. All novels were also released as audiobooks. ''The Road'' was read by

Lenora Crichlow Lenora Isabella Crichlow (born 4 January 1985) is a British actress. She became known for her starring roles as Maria "Sugar" Sweet in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Sugar Rush'', Annie Sawyer in the BBC Three supernatural drama series ' ...

, ''Chasers'' by

Russell Tovey Russell George Tovey (born 14 November 1981) is a British actor. He is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural comedy-drama '' Being Human'', Rudge in both the stage and film versions of '' The History ...

and ''Bad Blood'' by

Lucy Gaskell Lucy Gaskell (born 10 July 1980) is a British actress. She studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 1998. Career Gaskell made her professional stage debut in the Oxford Stage Company's production of ''The Cherry Orchard'' whic ...

New ownership

In 2006, the

division of

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

acquired a majority shareholding in BBC Books.

Sherlock Holmes

In 2011, BBC Books launched a publishing programme around BAFTA-winning TV series, Sherlock, which was inspired by the adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle's Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes. The titles will each feature the show's branding and introductions by key members of the Sherlock team, including co-founders Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. The first title,

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

''Sherlock:

A Study in Scarlet ''A Study in Scarlet'' is an 1887 Detective fiction, detective novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would go on to become one of the most well-known detective ...

'', with an introduction by

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the second showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi television ser ...

was released on 15 September 2011.

''Sherlock:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, which h ...

'', with an introduction by

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

, followed on 27 October 2011. Three books ''Sherlock: Sign of Four, Sherlock:

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ''The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published late in 1893 with 1894 date. It was first published in the UK by G. Newnes Ltd., and was published in the US by Harper ...

'' and ''Sherlock:

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...

'' with introductions by

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won two Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most ...

, Steve Thompson and

Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Benedict Cumberbatch, various accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurenc ...

were released on 29 March 2012. In autumn 2012, BBC Books published ''Sherlock: The Casebook'' as a hardback gift guide, revisiting all the mysteries solved throughout the TV series.

References

External links

About BBC Books
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2018 * Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom