Justin Richards (born 14 September 1961) is a British writer. He has written science fiction and fantasy novels, including series set in Victorian or early-20th-century London, and also adventure stories set in the present day. He has written many spin-off novels, reference books and audio plays based on the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and he is Creative Consultant for the BBC Books range of Doctor Who novels. Life Richards was born in Epping, Essex, on 14 September 1961. After attending Dean Close School in Cheltenham he obtained a BA (Hons) in English and Theatre at the University of Warwick. As well as his literary career, Richards has worked as a technical writer, editor, programmer, and user interface designer at IBM, and as an errand boy in a hotel. Richards is married with two sons, and lives in Warwickshire. Work Richards' first published novels were based on Doctor Who, published in the Virgin New Adventures, Virgin Missing Adventures and Virgin Decalog series. He continued to write for BBC Books after they resumed publishing Doctor Who stories, and as well as producing numerous novels, audio books, activity books and reference books he is Creative Director for the BBC Books range of Doctor Who novels. In 2003, Richards began writing a series of crime novels for children (The Invisible Detective), whose parallel plots (between the 1930s and the present day) show a fascination with time and temporal paradox that is also evident in the Time Runners series that came out in 2007–08. More action-oriented books include the Agent Alfie books for younger readers, and a series of action-adventure books for young teens co-written with Jack Higgins. Other books have a more supernatural plot element, including the Department of Unclassified Artefacts novels and the School of Night books. His book The Chaos Code won the Hull Children's Book Award 2008. Demon Storm (from the School of Night series) has been shortlisted for the Southampton's Favourite Book award 2011. Richards has also written audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, original audiobooks, and has contributed to television including Five's soap opera Family Affairs. In 2011, Richards ventured into electronic publishing through his own publishing company, Braxiatek. His novel The Skeleton Clock was made available later that year in electronic formats only (for the Amazon Kindle and for other Ebook readers). Books Books based on the Doctor Who series For Virgin Books