NZDWFC: TSV 31: Doctor Who - The Novelisations: The First Doctor (Page 1)

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Home : Archive : TSV 31-40 : TSV 31 : Feature

Opinions are divided over the merits and worth of the Target novelisations, but the fact remains that they are highly sought after by many Doctor Who fans, and for many years represented the most collectable and widely accessible form of Doctor Who merchandise.

This is the first 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 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 First Doctor Novelisations

The Daleks, The Zarbi and The Crusaders were all published in 1973. These three books were all reprints of adaptations first published in the 1960s. The first Hartnell novelisation originated by Target was The Tenth Planet in 1976, followed by The Dalek Invasion of Earth in 1977. The Keys of Marinus was published in 1980 and then An Unearthly Child in 1981. The Hartnell era novelisations were revived after a long gap with The Aztecs in 1984, followed in 1985 by Marco Polo and The Myth Makers. 1986 saw The Gunfighters, Galaxy Four, The Savages and The Celestial Toymaker, and then no less than six Hartnell novelisations in 1987, occupying half of the year's entire schedule: The Ark, The Space Museum, The Sensorites, The Reign of Terror, The Romans and The Massacre. 1988 saw four more Hartnell novels: The Rescue, The Time Meddler, The Edge of Destruction and The Smugglers. Another four titles were published in 1989: The War Machines, The Chase and the two volumes of The Daleks' Masterplan. This just left Planet of Giants, which completed the set when it was published in 1990.

Terrance Dicks adapted four Hartnell novels - the most of any Hartnell era novelist. John Lucarotti, Donald Cotton, Nigel Robinson and John Peel each contributed three, whilst David Whitaker, Ian Stuart Black, Ian Marter and Gerry Davis each wrote two, in Davis's case sharing the writing credit on one title with co-author Alison Bingeman. Bill Strutton, Philip Hinchcliffe, William Emms, Paul Erickson and Glyn Jones each adapted just one Hartnell novelisation.

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DOCTOR WHO AND AN UNEARTHLY CHILD by Terrance Dicks

Covers: Andrew Skilleter (1981; 1982-85); Alister Pearson (1990)
The first new paperback to be released after a half-year gap caused by a Writers' Guild strike, this book was rushed out to tie in with the November 1981 BBC2 repeat of An Unearthly Child as part of the Five Faces of Doctor Who repeat season. Terrance Dicks was given just two weeks to adapt Anthony Coburn's scripts. Unlike most Hartnell novelisations Dicks retained the cliffhanger ending leading into the next story. Cover artist Andrew Skilleter had to complete his artwork from start to finish in just one weekend. The cover saw the first use of the neon logo, presented in a red foil on the first edition with a diagonal flash promoting its status as the 'First publication of the very first Doctor Who story'. The spine and back cover were also red. The first paperback edition was published 15 October 1981, priced £1.25, with a print run of 30,000 copies. A hardback version was issued in October 1981, priced £4.95 with a print run of 2,500 copies. After the first paperback edition the foil logo was replaced with a standard red neon logo. Later editions were numbered 68 in the Doctor Who Library. There were four reprints with the Skilleter artwork in 1982 (£1.25), 1983 (£1.25), 1984 (£1.35) and 1985 (£1.50). The book was re-issued 15 February 1990, priced £2.50 with a print run of 5,000 copies with a new cover design using Alister Pearson's painting for the BBC Video release, the McCoy logo and a blue spine. This was one of the first in the series of new format reprints, and was retitled Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE DALEKS by David Whitaker

Cover: Chris Achilleos (1973-77; 1977-84); Alister Pearson (1992)
This was the first ever Doctor Who novelisation and is a heavily altered adaptation of Terry Nation's scripts for the first Dalek story. The novelisation is unusual in that it was written entirely in the first person, through the eyes of Ian Chesterton. As Whitaker had no reason to believe that there would ever be a adaptation of the preceding story, he took the liberty of writing an additional pair of chapters to establish the characters of the Doctor and his companions, a version which differs quite considerably from An Unearthly Child and establishes different backgrounds for Ian and Barbara. The novelisation was originally titled Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks and was first published in hardback by Frederick Muller Ltd on 12 November 1964, priced 12s 6d, with a cover and twelve interior illustrations by Arnold Schwartzman. The first edition had a pink dustjacket. Such was the success of the initial release and a second edition was quickly released in December 1964, this time with a grey dustjacket. The first paperback version was published 4 October 1965 by May Fair Books Ltd, under their 'Armada Paperbacks for Boys & Girls' imprint, priced 2s 6d. The Armada edition did not use Schwartzman's artwork and instead featured a colour wraparound cover painting and six internal black and white illustrations by Peter Archer. The publication rights were bought in 1972 by Universal-Tandem who had recently set up a children's range, called Target. The editor, Richard Henwood, decided to reprint the three Doctor Who books published originally by Frederick Muller Ltd (The Daleks, The Zarbi and The Crusaders). The publisher's first choice of cover artist was Radio Times Doctor Who illustrator Frank Bellamy, but Bellamy declined and instead suggested Chris Achilleos, whose cover painting for this book featured some rather colourful and inaccurate Daleks and a pink police box. The twelve Arnold Schwartzman interior illustrations were reused. The title was abbrieviated as Doctor Who and the Daleks on the cover and spine, although at least up until the 1980 edition the full title continued to appear on the title page. The cover had a black 'block' logo and a purple spine and back cover. The first paperback edition was published 2 May 1973, priced 25p, with a code number of 10110 (which was part of the ISBN) on the spine. The first edition also featured the line 'Based on the popular BBC television serial' on the front cover. Both this line and the spine number were dropped from later editions. A hardback version was also issued 2 May 1973, with a print run of 63,000 copies. The paperback was reprinted with the block logo and purple spine and back cover in October/November 1973, January/February 1974, October 1974 (30p, 'Second Impression'), 1975 (40p, 'Second Impression'), Autumn 1975 (40p), 1975 (60p), January 1976 (40p) and 1977 (60p). The cover was then redesigned, retaining the original Chris Achilleos artwork, but featuring a blue curve logo and a white spine and back cover. With this look, the book was reprinted in 1977 (70p, 'Third Impression', print run 20,000), 1978 (85p, 'Fourth Impression', print run 6,000), 1979 (70p, 'Third Impression', print run 12,000), 1980 (85p, 'Fourth Impression', print run 15,000), 1982 (£1.50), 1983 (£1.50) and 1984 (£1. 50). Later editions were numbered 16 in the Doctor Who Library. The book was re-issued 16 January 1992, priced £2.99 with a new cover design using a painting by Alister Pearson, the McCoy logo and a blue spine. This edition was retitled Doctor Who - The Daleks.

DOCTOR WHO - THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION by Nigel Robinson

Cover: Alister Pearson (1988)
This story's original author, David Whitaker, was first commissioned to write the adaptation but did not complete it before his death in February 1980. Nigel Robinson, who was the Target Doctor Who book editor from 1984 to 1987, eventually undertook the task as the last of his four novelisations for the series, and successfully expanded the two-part story, adding an introduction and several sequences new to the book including scenes set in the TARDIS engine rooms and laboratory, and a hallucinatory experience. The cover for the 128 page book was painted by Alister Pearson, which at the time only his third cover for the series. The cover featured the McCoy logo and a pale orange spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 19 May 1988, priced £7. 95. The single paperback edition was published 20 October 1988, priced £1.99, with a print run of 23,000 copies. The book was number 132 in the Doctor Who Library.

DOCTOR WHO - MARCO POLO by John Lucarotti

Cover: David McAllister (1985)
Due to the word count imposed by Target at the time, John Lucarotti (who had written the original script over 20 years earlier), was forced to abridge his seven-part story quite considerably to only just fit within the 144 page limit. The cover was painted by David McAllister. This was the second of Lucarotti's three Doctor Who novelisations, and he dedicated the book to William Hartnell. The cover featured a pink neon logo and a pale orange spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 10 December 1984, priced £5.95, with a print run of 3,000 copies. The single paperback edition was published 11 April 1985, priced £1.50, with a print run of 65,000 copies. The book was number 94 in the Doctor Who Library.

DOCTOR WHO AND THE KEYS OF MARINUS by Philip Hinchcliffe

Cover: David McAllister (1980-87)
This was Doctor Who producer Philip Hinchcliffe's third and last novelisation for Target and was the only one not based on one of the stories he'd produced. Hinchcliffe did not pick this story to adapt and was instead offered it by Target. The 128 page novel is a faithful adaptation of the serial by Terry Nation. The cover painting was David McAllister's first for the Target range. The cover featured an orange 'curve' logo, spine and back cover. The book was simultaneously published in hardback and paperback 21 August 1980. The hardback version was priced £3.95, with a print run of 3,250 copies. The paperback was priced 85p, with a print run of 40,000 copies and was reprinted in 1980 (£1.25), 1984 (£1.35) and 1987 (£1.95; print run 4,700 copies). The title page of the second printing says that the story is 'Based on the BBC television serial Doctor Who and the Sea of Death, and appears to be unique to that edition. The 1984 and 1987 editions were numbered 38 in the Target Doctor Who Library. The book was scheduled to be re-issued 21 July 1994 by Virgin with new cover art, but the range was cancelled before this could occur.

DOCTOR WHO - THE AZTECS by John Lucarotti

Covers: Nick Spender (1987); Andrew Skilleter (1992)
Lucarotti was one of the first of the 1960s Doctor Who script writers contacted in the mid 1980s by Target. This was part of a move by the publishers to concentrate on the early years of the show after nearly three years of novelisations of contemporary stories. Lucarotti, like many of those contacted, seized the opportunity to adapt his scripts, and produced a faithful adaptation of The Aztecs for this book. The cover was painted by Nick Spender and the cover featured a red neon logo and a blue spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 21 June 1984, priced £5.95 with a print run of 3,000 copies. The first paperback edition was published 20 September 1984, priced £1.50 with a print run of 60,000 copies. The book was number 88 in the Doctor Who Library. The book was re-issued 17 September 1992, priced £2. 99 with a new cover design using Andrew Skilleter's painting for the BBC Video release, the McCoy logo and a blue spine.

DOCTOR WHO - THE SENSORITES by Nigel Robinson

Cover: Nick Spender (1987)
This was Nigel Robinson's first novelisation - before this he'd written The Doctor Who Crossword Book and The Doctor Who Quiz Books, and at the time was editor of the Target Doctor Who range. Robinson cut some sections and added a couple of scenes to fill plot holes in the late Peter R Newman's original scripts, but the book is more or less faithful to the TV version. The cover was painted by Nick Spender, and featured a blue neon logo and a dark red spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 19 February 1987, priced £7.50. The only paperback edition was published 16 July 1987, priced £1.95, with a print run of 32,500 copies. The book was number 118 in the Doctor Who Library.

DOCTOR WHO - THE REIGN OF TERROR by Ian Marter

Cover: Tony Masero (1987)
This was actor-turned-writer Ian Marter's eighth novelisation, and it was with this - his first Hartnell era novel - that he became the second most published Doctor Who novelist behind Terrance Dicks, a position previously held by Malcolm Hulke. Aware that Marter tended to accentuate the violence levels in his writing, editor Nigel Robinson selected this story as ideal for him, but ironically Marter delivered a comparatively restrained adaptation. Marter researched the French Revolution and added quite a few details not present in Dennis Spooner's original scripts. The book was released directly after The Sensorites in a rare instance of Target matching their schedule to story sequence. Ian Marter died in late 1986 before the book was published. The cover was painted by Tony Masero, and featured a dark blue neon logo and an orange spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 19 March 1987, priced £7.50. The only paperback edition was published 20 August 1987, priced £1.95, with a print run of 32,500 copies. The book was number 119 in the Doctor Who Library.