The tie-in books took off from the series though and there were a lot of books about Ace and the Seventh Doctor, with new companions being introduced. It was a strange time in Doctor Who history as the books were really the only viable option for Doctor Who fans. Some of the writers were quite good - Ben Aaronovitch and Paul Cornell being the most famous - and some were pretty bad.

I was more interested by the fact that the BBC pretty much let everything happen without much interference. It was only when the books became popular sellers that the BBC started taking a much stronger hand in the books with very clear rules concerning what can and cannot happen.