The Doctor Who Thread

[trebor8273]

For those who have seen it how are the Sarah Jane adventure's?

[hivemind]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

For those who have seen it how are the Sarah Jane adventure's?

The stories are much more mature and well thought out than more recent Doctor Who. Enemy of the Bane was rather enjoyable with Sarah and the Brig back. Then you have another enjoyable story, The Last Sontaran. There's many that hit the mark, and not so many that don't. Great series, just sad that Elizabeth Sladen died. But at least it's a fitting testament to the character of Sarah Jane. One of the finest companions.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by hivemind

The stories are much more mature and well thought out than more recent Doctor Who. Enemy of the Bane was rather enjoyable with Sarah and the Brig back. Then you have another enjoyable story, The Last Sontaran. There's many that hit the mark, and not so many that don't. Great series, just sad that Elizabeth Sladen died. But at least it's a fitting testament to the character of Sarah Jane. One of the finest companions.

Good because i ordered it as part of the Amazon £10 off offer last Friday.

[Susan Foreman]

TARGET Book releases #1 - The Daleks

Originally published in 1964 as 'Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks' by David Whitaker, this was the first Doctor Who novel of any kind



Back cover summation (original 1964 edition)

"The story from the beginning! Here is the exciting adventure of Dr. Who, Susan, Barbara, Ian, from the moment they meet one foggy autumn night on a lonely common beside a Police Box (Ah, but what a curious Police Box!) to the time they encounter the weird Daleks.

It is a thrilling story, and we know this book will be one of the most popular published in the Armada series. Can you wait any longer? Start reading!"

When the book was republished by Target Books in 1973, the title had been changed to 'Doctor Who And The Daleks'



Back cover summation (1973 Target version)

"This is DOCTOR WHO's first exciting adventure – with the DALEKS! Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright travel with the mysterious DOCTOR WHO and his grand-daughter, Susan, to the planet of Skaro in the space-time machine, Tardis. There they strive to save the peace-loving Thals from the evil intentions of the hideous DALEKS. Can they succeed? And what is more important, will they ever again see their native Earth?"

Chapter titles

1. A Meeting on the Common
2. Prisoners in Space
3. The Dead Planet
4. The Power of the Daleks
5. Escape into Danger
6. The Will to Survive
7. The Lake of Mutations
8. The Last Despairing Try
9. The End of the Power
10. A New Life

Differences from the televised story

• The book is told in first person by Ian.
• The opening deviates greatly in that Ian and Barbara have never met each other. Ian has never met the Doctor or Susan prior to the events of the story, thereby ignoring the events of An Unearthly Child. The novelisation of An Unearthly Child would not be published until 1981.
• The first two chapters are a brief account of An Unearthly Child.
• The meeting in the junkyard changes to a car crash on Barnes Common.
• Ian is on his way home to Paddington, having just come back from trying to get a job as an assistant research scientist at Donneby's in Reigate.
• Susan was being personally tutored by Barbara.
• Susan says the Doctor is very rich, as he paid twenty pounds a week for Susan's tutor lessons.
• Susan wrote a thirty page essay on Robespierre.
• The yearometer in the TARDIS was damaged on a previous trip, and the Doctor has been meaning to fix it.
• A Dalek is described as having some emotion in its voice.
• Susan Foreman is referred to by the name "Susan English".
• The circles on the TARDIS walls can be used to store things.
• Ian is not trapped inside the Dalek casing, and escapes with ease long before the Daleks can cut through the door to the lift.
• A Dalek leader inside a transparent casing appears. An actual Glass Dalek appeared in the television story Revelation of the Daleks.
• Gurna is Alydon's cousin. He accompanied the Doctor's group into the Dalek city. Salthyana is a female who says Kristas will propose to her the next day.
• Ratanda is a drink made by the Thals

Story notes

• This novel established the practice, later followed for a time by Target Books, of assigning titles to novelisations that differed from the broadcast teleplays. (The title subsequently assigned to this story, The Daleks, is included as part of the book's original title; its use on editions from 1973 onwards led to it being subsequently used for the television story.)
• Internal illustrations were by Arnold Schwartzman.
• The 1965 paperback edition by Armada was the first Doctor Who paperback release. This edition uses the variant title Dr. Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks and is one of the only Doctor Who book releases to use the technically incorrect "Dr. Who" name abbreviation.
• The 1967 edition by Avon Books was the first American edition of a Doctor Who book, predating a later series of American novelisation editions by nearly a decade.
• For the first time in nearly twenty years, the book was re-released by BBC Books in 2011. An introduction by Neil Gaiman (the writer of television stories The Doctor's Wife and Nightmare in Silver) was included and the title of the book reverted to Doctor Who and the Daleks

Writing and publishing notes

• Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks came out before any Doctor Who-based book, fiction or nonfiction. It was first published in hardback by Frederick Muller Ltd on 12 November 1964 at a price of 12s 6d. It quickly sold out of the first 20,000 copies and was reprinted in December 1964. The name Doctor Who appeared very prominently on the first printing, with the rest of the title more of an afterthought.
• Since there was no conception that there would be so many more Doctor Who stories adapted, this first book has no continuity with An Unearthly Child (which would be adapted into novel form years later as Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child); the 1973 Target Books edition directly refers to it as the Doctor's first adventure. Even after An Unearthly Child was adapted, future editions of Whitaker's book made no attempt to explain the discrepancy.
• A paperback edition was issued on 4 October 1965 by May Fair Books Ltd, under the "Armada Paperbacks for Boys & Girls" imprint (priced 2s 6d). This version did not use Schwartzman's artwork, instead having a cover and six illustrations by Peter Archer. This was the first Doctor Who novel to be published in paperback.
• It was reprinted as the first title in the new range of Doctor Who novelisations planned by Target Books. It was published 2 May 1973 as Doctor Who and the Daleks with the subtitle "Based on the popular BBC television serial".
• The hardback edition illustrations were retained.
• Chris Achilleos reused Ron Turner's Dalek artwork on his cover. The Daleks were from COMIC: The Rogue Planet and the title graphic of The Dalek Chronicles from COMIC: Legacy of Yesteryear onward
• Several different colour variants were used for the cover of the original Muller edition.

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Good because i ordered it as part of the Amazon £10 off offer last Friday.

has it not turned up yet. seems pretty slow for amazon

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

has it not turned up yet. seems pretty slow for amazon

Out for delivery today apparently. I refuse to have Prime.

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Out for delivery today apparently. I refuse to have Prime.

us someone else's like i do !

[Susan Foreman]

TARGET Book releases #2 - The Zarbi

'Doctor Who and the Zarbi' was the second Doctor Who novelisation. It was based on the 1965 television serial 'The Web Planet'. The book was written by Bill Strutton, who also wrote the original teleplay. As the second Doctor Who novelisation, this book established the title format 'Doctor Who and the ...' which would be followed by the Target Books novelisations into the early 1980s.



The Target reprint was released in 1973



Back cover summation (1973 Target version)

"DOCTOR WHO lands his space-time machine Tardis on the cold, craggy planet of Vortis. The Doctor and his companions, Ian and Vicki, are soon captured by the ZARBI, huge ant-like creatures with metallic bodies and pincer claws; meanwhile Barbara falls into the hands of the friendly MENOPTERA who have come to rid Vortis of the malevolent power of the ZARBI..."

Chapter titles

1. The Web Planet
2. The Zarbi
3. Escape to Danger
4. The Crater of Needles
5. Invasion
6. Centre of Terror

Differences from the televised story

• The First Doctor is mostly referred to as "Doctor Who" throughout the book, one of the few occasions where the standard naming protocol is broken.
• The Menoptera Vrestin is male. The character was female in the televised story.
• The character of Hrhoonda is replaced by Challis. A fourth Menoptera named Zota is also present in the cave scenes. Zota, along with Challis, is killed by a larvae gun.
• The Menoperta radio is described as having flashing lights and an antenna. On-screen, the radio unit is crystalline.
• The larvae guns are called venom grubs.
• The Zarbi throw nets over the Doctor and Ian when they first capture them. On-screen, no such event happens.
• There is a reference made to the events of TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, concerning the Doctor and Ian's imprisonment on the Dalek saucer.
• The scene in which the Doctor tries to give Vicki a choclate bar to calm her is removed.
• The Menoptera slaves do not have their wings entirely cut off, merely "short-clipped".
• The Optera Nemini is male. The character was female on-screen.
• The Animus plans "to pluck from the earth its myriad techniques... in its hundredth Christian millennium... !", possibly indicating the time this story takes place.

Writing and publishing notes

• The book was originally published by Frederick Muller in September 1965.
• One of three titles bought by Target from Frederick Muller that were used to launch the series of Doctor Who novelisations.
• The hardback edition illustrations were retained.
• Quickly sold out of the first 20,000 copies and reprinted.
• Chris Archileos was excited by the idea of drawing giant ants but was told they had to look like those in the series.
• The Target edition title page information includes: "THE CHANGING FACE OF DOCTOR WHO The cover illustration and others contained within this book portray the first DOCTOR WHO whose physical appearance was later transformed when he discarded his worn-out body in favour of a new one."
• This title was renamed 'Doctor Who - The Web Planet' in its 1990 reprint.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Sontaran Experiment (1975)

[Susan Foreman]

TARGET Book releases #3 - The Crusaders

'Doctor Who and the Crusaders' by David Whittaker, was the third (and last) of the original trilogy of Doctor Who novelisations published in the mid-1960s, years prior to the launch of the Target novelisation range. It was based on the 1965 television serial 'The Crusade'. The 1965 first edition was the first Doctor Who novel to include an image of the TARDIS on the cover. It was also the first novelisation cover to not depict the Doctor. It would be more than a decade before this would happen again



Back cover summation (original 1965 edition)

"From unknown Space, the Tardis returns to Earth, but not to the world Ian and Barbara know. The little blue telephone box has wheeled sharply in the cosmos and cut back through the pattern of history to the struggle between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, Crusader v. Saracen.

When Barbara is captured by the Saracens and later kidnapped by the monstrous El Akir, Ian appeals to Richard for help, but despite having achieved a splendid victory over Saladin at Arsuf the English King has his own troubles and cannot assist him. So Ian sets out to rescue Barbara alone, while the Doctor becomes involved in court intrigues.

In a dramatic climax, Ian finds himself fighting for his life in the harsh, cruel world of the twelfth century, where only the cleverest and strongest survive.

Readers of Doctor Who's adventure with the Daleks and Doctor Who and the Zarbi will find here all the excitement that made those books firm favourites with youngsters of all age groups."

The book was republished by Target Books in 1973



Back cover summation (1973 Target version)

"Back on Earth again, Tardis lands DOCTOR WHO and his friends into the midst of the harsh, cruel world of the twelfth-century Crusades. Soon the adventurers are embroiled in the conflict between Richard the Lionheart and the Sultan Saladin, ruler of the warlike Saracens.

`They're well-written books-adventure stories, of course, but with some thought...the creation of the character of the Doctor had a touch of genius about it.' Westminster Press "

Chapter titles

* Prologue

1. Death in the Forest
2. The Knight of Jaffa
3. A New Scheherazade
4. The Wheel of Fortune
5. The Doctor in Discrace
6. The Triumph of El Akir
7. The Will of Allah
8. Demons and Sorcerers

Differences from the televised story

• Mention is made of a trip to Tyron.
• Barbara and Vicki play Martian Chess in the TARDIS at the start of the novel.
• The Doctor has a lengthy discussion with Ian about altering time and the rights and wrongs in the universe.
• David Campbell, whom Susan Foreman left the TARDIS in The Dalek Invasion of Earth to marry, is referred to in the opening chapter of this novelisation as "David Cameron"
• Ferrigo is killed by Saladin's soldiers while trying to flee the palace.
• The Doctor flees the court after Richard accuses him of giving away his plan to Joanna, rather than Richard realising the Doctor is innocent as in the television version.
• El Akir manages to inflict several strokes of his lash on Barbara before Ian rescues her.
• El Akir is strangled and then thrown against a wall so a blow on the head kills him, rather than stabbed, by Haroun

Writing and publishing notes

• In 1973, this novel, along with the two preceding Frederick Muller books, was reprinted by Target Books, launching its long-running line of novelisations.
• The hardback edition illustrations were retained.
• Quickly sold out of the first 20,000 copies and was reprinted.
• Title page of the Target edition includes: “THE CHANGING FACE OF DOCTOR WHO. The cover illustration and others contained within this book portray the first DOCTOR WHO whose physical appearance was later transformed when he discarded his worn-out body in favour of a new one.”
• The 2011 edition features an introduction by Charlie Higson, best known for writing the Young Bond novel series, focusing on the adventures of a teenaged James Bond. He later wrote the Ninth Doctor eshort The Beast of Babylon.