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Doctor Who - The Novelisations

By Paul Scoones

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DOCTOR WHO AND THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN by Gerry Davis

[Tomb of the Cybermen: cover version 1] [Tomb of the Cybermen: cover version 2]
Covers: Jeff Cummins (1978-87); Alister Pearson (1992)
This was Gerry Davis's third Doctor Who novelisation and the last he wrote before he returned to write The Highlanders six years later. The book was originally scheduled for publication in July 1977, but Davis failed to deliver the manuscript on time and it had to be put back by nearly a year, leaving a gap in Target's the otherwise full monthly schedule for 1977. The adaptation was closely based on the scripts Davis had co-written with Kit Pedler. As with The Cybermen, The Tenth Planet and Revenge of the Cybermen novelisations, the book begins with a section entitled 'The Creation of the Cybermen', in which it is claimed that the Cybermen originated on Telos, not Mondas, contradicting the established onscreen history. The original cover artwork was painted by Jeff Cummins and was most likely this long-serving artist's first commission for the Target series. Cummins' original cover design sketch featured the Second Doctor and a Tomb-style Cyberman but the Doctor was removed in line with a policy to only feature the current Doctor, and the Cyberman was changed to the updated look seen in The Invasion. The book featured an orange curve logo and had a white spine and back cover. The book was published in hardback in 1978 (most likely simultaneously with the paperback), priced and was priced £2.95, with a print run of 4,000 copies. The paperback was first published 18 May 1978, priced 60p, with a print run of 25,000 copies. The paperback was reprinted 25 October 1979 (75p, second impression, print run: 12,000); 1981 (95p, 15,000 copies); 1982 (£1.25), 1983 (20,000 copies), twice in 1984 (£1.35 and £1.95) and in 1987 (£1.95, 8,000 copies, rejacketed 1984 edition). Later editions were numbered 66 in the Doctor Who Library. The novelisation was reissued 15 October 1992, retitled Doctor Who - The Tomb of the Cybermen with a cover painting by Alister Pearson, reused from the BBC video release (in May 1992), with the McCoy logo and a blue spine, priced £2.99.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN by Terrance Dicks

[The Abominable Snowmen: cover version 1] [The Abominable Snowmen: cover version 2] [The Abominable Snowmen: cover version 3]
Covers: Chris Achilleos (1974-76, 1978-79); Andrew Skilleter (1983-85)
This was the first of the Second Doctor era novelisations, Terrance Dicks' third adaptation and the first of the Target-originated Doctor Who books from outside the Third Doctor era. The book was originally going to have been titled Doctor Who and the Yeti, but the title was changed to follow the TV serial before publication. The book is a close adaptation of the TV story but condensed in places, and features six full-page illustrations by Alan Willow. These illustrations appeared in all paperback and hardback printings. The original cover artwork was painted by Chris Achilleos. The cover featured the block logo and a blue spine and back cover. The book was first published as a paperback 21 November 1974, priced 30p; this was reprinted in March 1976, priced 40p. The cover was then altered to feature a blue curve logo, a white spine and back cover, and a cropped version of Chris Achilleos's artwork. This version was first printed 30 March 1978 (60p, 'second impression', print run: 10,000 copies) and reprinted 1979 (70p, 'third impression', print run: 12,000) and 1982 (£1.35). Andrew Skilleter then painted a new cover which first appeared on the 1983 edition (£1.35), which featured an orange neon logo and a blue spine and back cover. The paperback was last reprinted in 1984 (£1.35). The 1983 and 1984 editions were numbered 1 in the Doctor Who library. A hardback edition was finally published 17 January 1985, featuring Andrew Skilleter's cover artwork, an orange neon logo and a brown spine and back cover, priced £5.95.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE ICE WARRIORS by Brian Hayles

[The Ice Warriors: cover version 1] [The Ice Warriors: cover version 2] [The Ice Warriors: cover version 3]
Covers: Chris Achilleos (1976-77, 1978, 1979-87)
This was Brian Hayles' second and last contribution to the Target books Doctor Who series, (following on from The Curse of Peladon). Hayles made various minor changes in adapting his TV scripts, including giving the base computer a name, 'ECCO' and a personality. The novelisation closely follows the first two episodes but the remainder of the story is condensed to fit the page length. The original cover artwork was painted by Chris Achilleos, and notably was the first time that the Doctor's face did not appear on either the front or the back cover. The Ice Warriors was also the earliest published book that was never reprinted with different cover artwork. The cover featured a green curve logo and a white spine and back cover. The book was first published simultaneously in hardback and paperback 18 March 1976. The hardback was priced £2.25, with a print run of 3,000 copies. The paperback was priced 40p. The hardback was reprinted 20 July 1978, with a print run of 1,500 copies. The paperback was first reprinted in 1977. The paperback was next reprinted in 1978, this time with a red curve logo, as a 'second impression', priced 60p. The 1979 reprinting saw the introduction of a blue curve logo and the artwork altered to remove the black border. This cover version was used on all subsequent reprintings. The 1979 'second impression' edition was priced 70p, with a print run of 12,000 copies. The book was reprinted in 1980 (85p, 'third impression'); 1981 (85p, 'third impression', print run: 13,000); 1982 (£1.35); 1984 (£1.35) and 1987 (£1.95, re-jacketed 1984 edition, print run: 10,000 copies). The 1984 and 1987 editions were numbered 33 in the Doctor Who library.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD by Ian Marter

[The Enemy of the World: cover version 1] [The Enemy of the World: cover version 2]
Cover: Bill Donohoe (1981-84); Alister Pearson (1993)
In October 1979 David Whitaker submitted an outline for a novelisation of this story to Target. Whitaker's notes indicate that his book would have differed quite considerably from his televised scripts. He had cut out some of the sub-plots and dispensed with what he saw as less essential characters, including Victoria. Whitaker never completed this version of the story as he passed away a few months later in February 1980. Soon afterwards, the task of adapting this story was passed to Ian Marter, who had previously written three Fourth Doctor era novelisations for Target. Marter did not refer to Whitaker's notes and instead worked from the scripts. He produced a reasonably faithful adaptation which had to be cut down to fit Target's required page length. Marter felt that these cuts left the book incomplete. The book pushed the boundaries of what could appear in a Doctor Who novelisation, by including swearing ('bastard') and fairly graphic violence. Marter felt that both were appropriate for the book's audience. The cover artwork was to have been a painting by Steve Kyte, featuring Astrid Ferrier with a helicopter; however this was rejected in favour of artwork by Bill Donohoe. The book was published simultaneously in hardback and paperback 16 April 1981. The hardback had a red curve logo and a red spine and back cover, and was priced £4.25, with a print run of 3,250 copies. The paperback had a red curve logo and a white spine and back cover, and was priced 95p, with a print run of 30,000 copies. The paperback was reprinted in 1982 (£1.25); twice in 1983 (£1.35 and £1.50, the latter having a print run of 30,000), and in 1984 (£1.50). From the first 1983 printing onwards the book was numbered 24 in the Doctor Who Library. The novelisation was reissued 20 May 1993, retitled Doctor Who - The Enemy of the World as a rejacketed version of the 1984 edition with a cover painting by Alister Pearson, with the McCoy logo and a blue spine, priced £3.50. The Enemy of the World was the last new Target novelisation published with the curve logo. Following the release of this book in April 1981 there were no new Doctor Who novelisations published for six months, due to a contract disagreement between the publishers and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. Terrance Dicks was a Guild member and was directed not to work on any Doctor Who books until the dispute was resolved.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE WEB OF FEAR by Terrance Dicks

[The Web of Fear: cover version 1] [The Web of Fear: cover version 2] [The Web of Fear: cover version 3] [The Web of Fear: cover version 4]
Covers: Chris Achilleos (1976, 1978-79); Andrew Skilleter (1983-87); Alister Pearson (1993)
This was Terrance Dicks' second adaptation of a Second Doctor era story and appropriately it formed the sequel to his first, The Abominable Snowmen. The Web of Fear had been the very first story Dicks had anything to do with when he first joined the production team as assistant script editor. The book was a slightly condensed version of the TV serial and featured slight alterations such as renaming Julius Silverstein as Emil Julius. Dicks included the Doctor's historic first meeting with Lethbridge-Stewart, which happens off-screen in the TV version, and also included a reference to the creation of UNIT at the end of the book. The original cover artwork was painted by Chris Achilleos. The book was first published simultaneously in hardback and paperback 19 August 1976. The hardback had a purple curve logo and a white spine and back cover, and was priced £2.25, with a print run of 3,000 copies. The paperback had a purple curve logo and a purple spine and back cover, and was priced 45p, with a print run of 40,000 copies. The hardback was reprinted as a 'second impression' in 1978, priced £2.95, with a print run of 1,500 copies. The paperback was reprinted 17 August 1978 as a 'second impression', priced 60p, with a blue curve logo and a white spine and back cover and a print run of 4,500 copies. This cover version was reprinted again in 1978 priced 60p with a print run of 10,000; and also 13 December 1979, priced 75p, with a print run of 12,000. In 1983 the book was reissued with a new cover painting by Andrew Skilleter, featuring an orange neon logo and a white spine and back cover. The 1983 printing was priced £1.25 with a print run of 20,000. The book was reprinted with the Skilleter cover in 1984 (£1.35, print run 20,000) and 1987 (£1.95, print run 7,500 copies, rejacketed 1984 edition). There were apparently cover variations produced for both the 1983 and 1984 printings, featuring a black spine and back cover. From 1984 onwards the book was numbered 72 in the Doctor Who Library. The novelisation was reissued 2 December 1993, retitled Doctor Who - The Web of Fear with a cover painting by Alister Pearson, with the McCoy logo and a blue spine, priced £3.50.

DOCTOR WHO - FURY FROM THE DEEP by Victor Pemberton

[Fury from the Deep]
Cover: David McAllister (1986)
Victor Pemberton was contacted by Target and asked if he would like to novelise his scripts. Pemberton agreed, and wrote this, his first ever book, from the scripts (which had to be sourced for him from the BBC) and his memory of the story. Pemberton wanted to rename the book Colony of Devils which had been his original working title for the story, but Target insisted on using the TV story title. Pemberton's book was in his own words 'very descriptive' and as a result the adaptation was roughly thirty thousand words longer than Target's upper limit of forty thousand words. Editor Nigel Robinson initially attempted to edit it down to size, but was so impressed at what Pemberton had written that he decided to make a special exception for this book, and it was published with a larger than usual page count (192 pages), a smaller typeface and a higher cover price. Fury from the Deep was the longest Doctor Who novelisation at the time of its publication (a record later surpassed by both The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks). The unusual length of the novel was promoted on the cover with the caption 'A classic adventure of the Second Doctor. Now a bumper volume!' The cover was painted by David McAllister, which featured a blue neon logo and a pale blue spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback, 22 May 1986, priced £7.95 (£1 than other hardbacks at that time). The only paperback edition was published 16 October 1986, priced £1.95 (a 35p increase on the usual Target paperback price at the time), with a print run of 32,500 copies. The book was number 110 in the Doctor Who Library. The novelisation was scheduled to be reissued in June 1994 with Pete Wallbank apparently due to paint new cover artwork, but this edition was cancelled when the Target reprint range ended in March 1994.

DOCTOR WHO - THE WHEEL IN SPACE by Terrance Dicks

[The Wheel in Space]
Cover: Ian Burgess (1988)
Terrance Dicks was apparently late in delivering the manuscript for this novelisation causing its delayed publication and probably explaining why the cover bears the neon logo - the last Target book to do so - when the two books published immediately prior to this one had the McCoy logo. As usual, Dicks produced a faithful adaptation even down to retaining the lead-in to the repeat of The Evil of the Daleks which appeared at the end of the TV version. This was the second time Dicks had written a lead-in to The Evil of the Daleks, having previously done so at the end of his novelisation of The Faceless Ones. The cover painting by Ian Burgess was this artist's sole contribution to the Target range, and depicts an earlier design of Cyberman and a space station apparently based on the one in the James Bond movie, Moonraker. In addition to the purple neon logo, the cover had a black spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback, 17 March 1988, priced £7.95. The only paperback edition was published 18 August 1988, priced £1.99, with a print run of 23,000 copies and is now considered one of the rarest Target novelisations. The book was number 130 in the Doctor Who Library.

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