Last week we reported plans to release a series of eleven new Doctor Who short stories to celebrate the 50th anniverary of the BBC sci-fi series. Anyone taking on the Whovian oeuvre needs a necessary skillset - most importantly a vivid imagination to chart the Doctor's adventures. So who better to write the first "eshort" than the author of Artemis Fowl?

Eoin Colfer - best known for writing the sci-fi fantasy series of children's books about a teenage criminal mastermind - has penned a tale set in London in 1900 featuring the very first incarnation of the Doctor, played by William Hartnell between 1963-1966. 

A brief, tantalising description of the story has been made available ahead of its release on 23 January:

"The First Doctor is missing his hand and his granddaughter, Susan. Faced with the search for Susan, a strange beam of soporific light and a host of marauding Soul Pirates, the Doctor is promised a dangerous journey into a land he may never forge." 

Colfer added, "As a boy I had been reading the Doctor Who books for years before I ever saw a single episode and I found that the on-screen version of the First Doctor was almost identical to the version in my imagination." 

The story is the first of eleven expected from the monthly series - each featuring a different Doctor, culminating in a final tale about Matt Smith to be released in November. Every release will be priced at £1.99 and once the series has concluded, the entire collection is set to be released by Puffin in paperback for £7.99.