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Doctor Who - The Novelisations

By Paul Scoones

This is the second instalment of a guide to the novelisations, each part covering a complete Doctor's era. The guide has been revised and updated for this online version, incorporating additional information on all known Target editions. This instalment covers the Third Doctor books as at the time of publication the Second Doctor set of novelisations was not yet complete.

This guide concerns itself primarily with the editions published under the Target imprint and also the associated hardbacks. Other versions - mostly those produced by publishers outside the UK - are not covered. The exception to this is that the 'pre-Target' history of the first three novelisations is detailed in this instalment. The paperbacks were published under the Target imprint of Universal-Tandem (1973-75), Tandem (1975-77), Wyndham (1976-77), W H Allen (1977-89), and Virgin (1990-94). The Hardbacks were published by Allan Wingate (1973-77), Longbow/W H Allen (1978) and W H Allen (1978-88). W H Allen also reprinted some of the novelisations under their Star paperback imprint, and these are also covered in this guide.

I am indebted to David J Howe's sterling work in Howe's Transcendental Toybox and his series of articles The Changing Face of Target in DWM, and also Tim Neal for his fabulously detailed On Target website, which is highly recommended for any readers wanting to know even more about the novelisations than is featured here. The sources for the original version of this article included DWM, DWB, Time Screen and The Frame, with thanks to Jon Preddle for additional research.

THE THIRD DOCTOR NOVELISATIONS

The first six Third Doctor novelisations were all published in 1974: The Auton Invasion, The Cave-Monsters, Day of the Daleks, The Doomsday Weapon, The Daemons and The Sea-Devils. Five more Third Doctor books were issued in 1975: The Curse of Peladon, Terror of the Autons, The Green Death, Planet of the Spiders and The Three Doctors, followed by an additional three in 1976: The Dinosaur Invasion, The Space War and Planet of the Daleks. 1977 saw the publication of another three Third Doctor books: Carnival of Monsters, The Claws of Axos and The Mutants, and just two in 1978: The Time Warrior and Death to the Daleks. There were no Third Doctor novelisations published in 1979 and just one, The Monster of Peladon, in 1980. Several years passed without any new Third Doctor novelisations, even though there were still four stories remaining to be novelised. Inferno was finally published in 1984, followed by The Mind of Evil in 1985, The Time Monster in 1986 and The Ambassadors of Death, completing the set, in 1987.

The entire Third Doctor era was novelized by just four authors. Terrance Dicks novelised a full two thirds of the set, 16 of a total of 24. Of the remaining eight, six were novelised by Malcolm Hulke and Barry Letts and Brian Hayles each wrote one book.

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DOCTOR WHO AND THE AUTON INVASION by Terrance Dicks

[The Auton Invasion: cover version 1] [The Auton Invasion: cover version 2] [The Auton Invasion: cover version 3] [The Auton Invasion: cover version 4]
Covers: Chris Achilleos (1974-76; 1978-82); Andrew Skilleter (1981-84); Alister Pearson (1991)
This was the first Third Doctor book published, the first original Target book and also the very first of Terrance Dicks' many Doctor Who novelisations. Following the success of the three reprinted 1960s titles (Doctor Who and the Daleks, Doctor Who and the Zarbi, Doctor Who and the Crusaders), Target editor Richard Henwood visited the BBC Doctor Who production office in 1973 looking to commission further titles. Henwood was met with enthusiasm by Terrance Dicks was at the time script editor of Doctor Who and keen to get into writing books. Dicks agreed straight away to novelise Doctor Who stories, and it was Dicks who persuaded other writers to do the same. Henwood wanted books from the then-current Doctor's era, so Dicks elected to start with the first Third Doctor story, Spearhead from Space by Robert Holmes, incorporating a prologue which adapted part of the last episode of The War Games. Dicks thought the story title lacked impact and renamed it to more accurately reflect what the story was about. This was the fourth novelisation in the series, and was released simultaneously with Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters. Chris Achilleos painted the cover artwork and also drew eleven interior illustrations. The cover design featured a black 'block' logo and a brown spine and back cover. The original printing featured the line 'Based on the popular BBC Television Serial' on the front cover. The book was simultaneously published in both hardback and paperback 17 January 1974. The hardback was priced £1.75 and the paperback was priced 25p. The paperback was reprinted October 1974 (30p, second impression), 1975 (40p) and January 1976 (40p). The cover was modified to feature a green curve logo and a white spine and back cover, using the same Achilleos cover artwork The book was reprinted with this cover design 17 August 1978 (60p, second impression, print run 10,000 copies), 21 February 1980 (75p, third impression, print run 12,000) and 1982 (£1.50). 19 November 1981 saw a new hardback edition, featuring a cover painting by Andrew Skilleter with a blue neon logo and a blue spine and back cover, priced £4.95. The paperbacks subsequently adopted this cover design, in 1982, 8 December 1983 (£1.50, print run 20,000 copies), 1984 (£1.50, twice). From 1984 the book was numbered 6 in the Doctor Who library. The book was re-issued 21 March 1991, retitled Doctor Who - The Auton Invasion, priced £2.50 with a new cover painting by Alister Pearson, the McCoy logo and a blue spine. Unlike the other reprints in this new format, this book did not use the title of the TV story on which it was based.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE CAVE-MONSTERS by Malcolm Hulke

[The Cave-Monsters: cover version 1] [The Cave-Monsters: cover version 2] [The Cave-Monsters: cover version 3]
Covers: Chris Achilleos (1974-78; 1979-84); Alister Pearson (1992)
Malcolm Hulke was encouraged to write this, his first Doctor Who book and based on his own television story, Doctor Who and the Silurians, by his long-time friend and co-writer Terrance Dicks. Hulke had decided that the titular creatures were mis-named so he renamed the book and referred to them throughout as reptile men, not Silurians, although the name is acknowledged in the password the Doctor and Liz use to enter the establishment near the beginning. Oddly though, the creatures are still called Silurians on the back cover. The book rates as one of the most rewritten from the original story in the entire range of novelisations. In addition, the Silurians/reptile men, unnamed on screen, are given names, and Major Baker becomes Barker. This was the fifth novelisation published, and was released simultaneously with Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion. Chris Achilleos painted the cover artwork, which curiously features a volcano even though one doesn't appear in the story. Achilleos also drew eleven interior illustrations, including a horizontal section diagram of Wenley Moor. The cover design featured a black 'block' logo and a green spine and back cover. The original printing featured the line 'Based on the popular BBC Television Serial' on the front cover. The book was simultaneously published in both hardback and paperback 17 January 1974. The hardback was priced £1.75 and was the last hardback novelisation published for nearly two years. The paperback was priced 25p. The paperback was reprinted February 1975 (35p, second impression), 1975 (40p, second impression), March 1976 (40p), and 1978 (40p, print run 4,000 copies). The cover was modified to feature a green curve logo and a white spine and back cover, using the same Achilleos cover artwork The book was reprinted with this cover design in 1979 (70p, second impression, print run 15,000), 1980 (75p, print run 12,000), 1982 (£1.35), 1983 (£1.50, print run 13,000), and 1984 (£1.50). From 1984 the book was numbered 9 in the Doctor Who library. The book was re-issued 20 August 1992, retitled Doctor Who - The Silurians, priced £2.99 with a new cover painting by Alister Pearson, the McCoy logo and a blue spine. The cover of this reprint erroneously states that the story was first broadcast in 1974, rather than 1970, a mistake likely to have been made by confusing the year of transmission with that of the book's first publication.

DOCTOR WHO - THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH by Terrance Dicks

[The Ambassadors of Death: cover version 1] [The Ambassadors of Death: cover version 2]
Cover: Tony Masero (1987)
This was the last Third Doctor novelisation and also completed the Seventh Season. The Third Doctor era was also the first to have a complete set of novelisations. Terrance Dicks turned out a faithful adaptation of David Whitaker and Malcolm Hulke's scripts. The cover was painted by Tony Masero, and was the first time in ten years that the Third Doctor's likeness had appeared on a novelisation cover. The cover featured a blue neon logo and a purple spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 21 May 1987, priced £7.50. The paperback was first published 1 October 1987, priced £1.95, with a print run of 27,500 copies. The book was number 121 in the Doctor Who Library. The novelisation was reissued 21 March 1991 with a new cover painting by Alister Pearson with the McCoy logo and a blue spine, priced £2.50, with a print run of 5,000 copies.

DOCTOR WHO - INFERNO by Terrance Dicks

[Inferno cover]
Cover: Nick Spender (1984)
This was the first of four Third Doctor novelisations Terrance Dicks wrote in the mid-1980s to complete the set of Third Doctor books, two of which, including this one, were adaptations of scripts by Don Houghton. Inferno was the first new Third Doctor novelisation published in three and a half years. Terrance Dicks' produced an outstanding adaptation of the story but the book overran its word count so the text size was reduced to fit the page count. The cover featured Nick Spender's second cover painting for the range. The cover featured a red neon logo and an orange spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 19 July 1984, priced £5.95, with a print run of 3,000 copies. The only paperback edition was published 18 October 1985, priced £1.50, with a print run of 60,000 copies. This was the earliest Doctor Who novelisation published that only ever had one paperback printing. The book was number 89 in the Doctor Who Library.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE TERROR OF THE AUTONS by Terrance Dicks

[The Terror of the Autons: cover version 1] [The Terror of the Autons: cover version 2]
Covers: Peter Brookes (1975-79); Alun Hood (1979-87)
Based on Robert Holmes' serial this was the fifth of Terrance Dicks' novelisations. The first four editions of this book featured the second of four cover paintings Peter Brookes produced for the series. The book was only the second to use the curve logo design. The previous book (Doctor Who and the Giant Robot) had imposed an illustration of the Fourth Doctor's face over the 'O' in the word 'Who' and the original cover design for this book featured the Third Doctor's face in the same position. This had been dropped by the time of publication and the cover instead featured a plain blue logo and a white spine and back cover. Peter Brookes also produced a small back cover painting which appeared on the first four editions. The book featured a set of six interior illustrations which were drawn by Alan Willow. The paperback was first published 15 May 1975, priced 35p. It was reprinted March 1976 (40p), 24 March 1977 (40p), and 29 March 1979 (40p, print run 12,000 copies). A new cover illustration was subsequently introduced painted by Alun Hood (the last of three cover paintings Hood produced, all for Third Doctor reprint editions). featured with an orange curve logo, white spine and back cover. This version was first published 1979 (60p, 'second impression'). It was reprinted 1980, priced 75p, print run 12,000. A hardback edition was finally produced in 1981, featuring the Alun Hood cover artwork with an orange curve logo, orange spine and back cover, published 19 February 1981, priced £4.25, with a print run of 2,500 copies. Further paperback editions were printed in 1982 (£1.25), 1984 (£1.35), and 1987 (£1.95, re-jacketed 1984 printings, print run 5,000). The 1984 and 1987 editions were numbered 63 in the Doctor Who library.

DOCTOR WHO - THE MIND OF EVIL by Terrance Dicks

[The Mind of Evil cover]
Cover: Andrew Skilleter (1985)
This was the second of four Third Doctor novelisations Terrance Dicks wrote in the mid-1980s to complete the set of Third Doctor books, two of which, including this one, were adaptations of scripts by Don Houghton. The Mind of Evil completed the set of Eighth Season novelisations. This was one of only two Third Doctor first editions featuring a Andrew Skilleter painting on the cover. The cover featured a red neon logo and an orange spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 21 March 1985, priced £5.95. The first paperback edition was published 11 July 1985, priced £1.50, with a print run of 40,000 copies. The book was number 96 in the Doctor Who Library. The paperback was reprinted later the same year with the same price. The novelisation was also reissued paired with Terrance Dicks' adaptation of The Claws of Axos, in the fifth volume of the Doctor Who Classics series, published by Star Books 16 March 1988, priced £2.95. This edition used Andrew Skilleter's cover artwork on the front cover.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE CLAWS OF AXOS by Terrance Dicks

[The Claws of Axos: cover version 1] [The Claws of Axos: cover version 2]
Cover: Chris Achilleos (1977); John Geary (1979-85)
Terrance Dicks' novelisation was adapted from the scripts by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, adding extra dialogue and scenes, especially at both ends of the book. The adaptation of this story had originally been scheduled to be novelised by May 1974. The first edition cover was Chris Achilleos' penultimate cover painting for the novelisations and was the last time the Third Doctor's likeness appeared on a cover until 1987. The cover featured a blue curve logo and a white spine and back cover. The book was simultaneously published in hardback and paperback 21 March 1977. The paperback was priced 50p with a print run of 30,000 copies; the hardback was priced £2.50 with a print run of 3,000 copies. The book was reissued in 1979 with a new cover painting - without the Doctor's face - by John Geary, inaccurately featuring green rather than orange Axons. For the Geary cover version the curve logo was red. The reprinted editions included 1979 (60p, second impression), 28 June 1979 (75p, third impression, print run 12,000), 1980 (75p, third impression, print run 12,000), 1982 (£1.35, some of which were re-jacketed 1979 printings), 1984 (£1.35, print run 20,000), 1985 (£1.50, some of which were re-jacketed from the 1984 printing), 1985 (£1.50). The 1985 editions were numbered 10 in the I library. The novelisation was also reissued paired with Terrance Dicks' adaptation of The Mind of Evil, in the fifth volume of the Doctor Who Classics series, published by Star Books 16 March 1988, priced £2.95. This edition used Chris Achilleos' cover artwork - rather than John Geary's - on the backcover.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE DOOMSDAY WEAPON by Malcolm Hulke

[The Doomsday Weapon: cover version 1] [The Doomsday Weapon: cover version 2] [The Doomsday Weapon: cover version 3]
Covers: Chris Achilleos (1974-76); Jeff Cummins (1979-83; 1982 HB)
This, the seventh book published, was Malcolm Hulke's second novelisation, adaptated from his scripts for Colony in Space. In terms of page count it is one of the longest novelisations at 176 pages. Because at the time of publication this was the novelisation of the earliest story featuring Jo Grant, the book introduced her as the companion and stated that this was her first adventure with the Doctor. Other changes included changing main character Ashe's first name from Robert on TV to John in the book. The cover was painted by Chris Achilleos and the book featured eleven interior illustrations also by Achilleos, and this was the last of four Doctor Who books for which he provided a set of interior drawings. The cover featured a black 'block' logo and a purple spine and back cover. The first paperback edition was published April 1974, and was priced 30p. It was reprinted 1974 (30p, second impression), March 1975 (30p) and 1976 (40p, second impression). The cover was then replaced with a new painting by Jeff Cummins and featuring a black curve logo and a white spine and back cover, and first published in this format 16 August 1979 (70p, second impression, print run 12,000). It was reprinted 1980 (85p, print run 12,000). A hardback edition was first published 18 March 1982 using Jeff Cummins' cover artwork, a purple neon logo and a purple spine and back cover, priced £4.95 with a print run of 2,500. Further editions of the paperback (still with the black curve logo and a white spine and back cover), were printed 1982 (£1.35, print run 10,000) and 1983 (£1.50). The 1983 edition was numbered 23 in the Doctor Who library.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE DAEMONS by Barry Letts

[The Daemons: cover version 1] [The Daemons: cover version 2] [The Daemons: cover version 3] [The Daemons: cover version 4]
Covers: Chris Achilleos (1974-76); Andrew Skilleter (1980-84; 1982 HB); Alister Pearson (1993)
This was the eighth book published. Barry Letts adapted this story from the scripts he co-wrote with Robert Sloman under the pseudonym 'Guy Leopold'. This was Letts' only novelisation of a TV story, though he would much later novelise his radio plays and also write original Doctor Who novels. Letts made many changes to the TV version including extra scenes with the character Squire. The character Stanley was added, and Girton's name was changed to Tom Wilkins. Letts also began the book by referring to the main character as 'Doctor Who'. He wrote the book while he was still producer of Doctor Who. The cover was painted by Chris Achilleos and the book featured six interior illustrations. These illustrations were drawn by Alan Willow, and this was the first of seven Doctor Who books for which he provided a set of interior drawings. The cover featured a black 'block' logo and a purple spine and back cover. The book was first published (simultaneously with The Sea-Devils) 17 October 1974, priced 30p. It was reprinted twice in 1975 (40p), and in January 1976 (40p). The cover was then replaced with a new painting by Andrew Skilleter and featuring a green curve logo and a white spine and back cover. This version was first published 24 January 1980 (75p, second impression, print run 12,000 copies), and was reprinted 1980 (85p) and twice in 1982 (£1.50). A hardback edition was finally published 14 January 1982, featuring the Andrew Skilleter cover artwork, but with a red neon logo and a red spine and back cover, priced £4.95, with a print run of 3,000 copies. The hardback cover is unusual in that the full title appears under the logo, so the book appears to be called Doctor Who - Doctor Who and the Daemons. Further paperback editions, which continued to use the Skilleter artwork with the green curve logo, were printed in 1983 (£1.50, print run 20,000) and twice in 1984 (£1.50). The second 1984 printing was numbered 15 in the Doctor Who library. The book was re-issued 21 October 1993, retitled Doctor Who - The Daemons, priced £3.50 with a new cover painting by Alister Pearson, the McCoy logo and a blue spine. The novelisation was reissued paired with Terrance Dicks' adaptation of The Time Monster, in the fourth volume of the Doctor Who Classics series, published by Star Books 16 March 1988, priced £2.95.

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