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Covers: Andrew Skilleter (1984 HB; 1984 PB); Alister Pearson (1991)
This was the first of a new wave of 1960s era serials to be novelised. Prior to
this book the last new Second Doctor book was The Enemy of the World (also
adapted by Ian Marter), published three years earlier. Ian Marter's adaptation
is faithful to the TV version, even to the extent that he even kept the cliff-hanger
lead-in to the following story intact. The original cover painting was by
Andrew Skilleter. The book was first published in hardback, with a red neon
logo and a blue spine and back cover, 19 April 1984, priced £5.95, with a
print run of 3,000 copies, and in paperback, with a purple neon logo and a blue
spine and back cover, 19 July 1984, priced £1.50, with a print run of 50,000
copies. There were two printings in 1984, distinguishable by a change in Target
logo between the two versions. The book was number 86 in the Doctor Who
Library, and introduced the practice of printing the library number on the
front cover. The novelisation was reissued paired with Terrance Dicks'
adaptation of The Krotons, as the third volume of the Doctor Who Classics
series, published by Star Books 15 September 1988, priced £2.95. This
edition reused Andrew Skilleter's cover artwork on the front cover. The
novelisation was reissued 21 February 1991 with a cover painting by Alister
Pearson, reused from the BBC video release (in September 1990), with the McCoy
logo and a blue spine, priced £2.50 (print run: 8,000 copies).
Covers: David McAllister (1987); Alister Pearson (1990)
Peter Ling was contacted by Target and asked if he'd like to adapt his one and
only Doctor Who serial. Ling worked from both a video recording of the
episodes and his original scripts, taking elements from both and also adding in
new material which included a scene set in an underground lake, and the white
rabbit. Ling decided to relate the events of the entire first episode as a
flashback as he believed that it was more dramatically striking to open with
the Doctor already lost and confused in the Land of Fiction. The volcanic
eruption which was the cliffhanger at the end of The Dominators is
relocated in the book from the planet Dulkis to Mount Vesuvius. Ling offered to
change the name of the story's villain, called the Master, but Nigel Robinson
told him to leave it as it was and inserted a line into the novelisation so
that readers would not confuse the character with the other, better-known
Doctor Who villain called the Master. The original cover artwork was
painted by David McAllister. The cover featured a yellow neon logo and a red
spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback, 20 November
1986, priced £7.25. The paperback first edition was published 16 April
1987, priced £1.75, with a print run of 32,500 copies. The book was number
115 in the Doctor Who Library. The novelisation was reissued August 1990
as a rejacketed version of the 1987 edition with a cover painting by Alister
Pearson, reused from the BBC video release (in May 1990), with the McCoy logo
and a blue spine, priced £2.50.
Covers: Andrew Skilleter (1985); Alister Pearson (1993)
Script writer Derrick Sherwin originally planned to the write the novelisation
of The Invasion himself, but the task instead went to Ian Marter, who
had to resist his usual tendency to expand and elaborate on the story in order
to compress the eight-part story into a standard length novelisation. The book
is a mostly accurate but abridged retelling and disregards the TV version's
link with the previous story. Notably the book also renames 'International
Electromatics as 'International Electromatix'. Nicholas Courtney assisted
Marter by showing him a video recording of the surviving episodes and Marter
named a Russian base 'Nykortney' in the book after his friend. The original
cover artwork was painted by Andrew Skilleter. The cover featured an orange
neon logo and a black spine and back cover. The book was first published in
hardback 16 May 1985, priced £6.25, and in paperback 10 October 1985,
£1.50, with a print run of 55,000 copies. The book was number 98 in the
Doctor Who Library, and was directly followed by its TV successor, The
Krotons, in the publication schedule. The novelisation was reissued 16
September 1993 with a cover painting by Alister Pearson, with the McCoy logo
and a blue spine, priced £3.50.
Covers: Andrew Skilleter (1985); Alister Pearson (1991)
The Krotons was Robert Holmes' very first Doctor Who story and
fittingly this book was published immediately preceding The Two Doctors,
which was at the time Holmes' most recent serial. Although he novelized the
latter story himself, he left the job of adapting The Krotons to his old
colleague Terrance Dicks, who had worked on this story as an assistant script
editor. The novelisation closely followed the TV version. The original cover
artwork was painted by Andrew Skilleter. The cover featured a purple neon logo
and a purple spine and back cover. The book was first published in hardback 13
June 1985, priced £6.25, and in paperback 14 November 1985, £1.50,
with a print run of 50,000 copies. The book was number 99 in the Doctor Who
Library, and directly followed its TV predecessor, The Invasion, in the
publication schedule. The novelisation was reissued paired with Ian Marter's
adaptation of The Dominators, as the third volume of the Doctor Who
Classics series, published by Star Books 15 September 1988, priced £2.95.
This edition reused Andrew Skilleter's cover artwork on the back cover. There
were plans for The Krotons to be reissued a second time in the Classics
series, paired with The Seeds of Death in 1989, but the Classics range
was cancelled before this book was produced. The novelisation was reissued 18
July 1991 as a rejacketed version of the 1985 edition with a cover painting by
Alister Pearson, reused from the BBC video release (in February 1991), with the
McCoy logo and a blue spine, priced £1.50 (print run: 9,000 copies).
Cover: Tony Masero (1986)
The story's script writer, Brian Hayles, had apparently intended to write this
book but he died before beginning work on it. The novelisation was instead
written by Terrance Dicks, who had worked on the story when he joined the
Doctor Who production team as assistant script editor in 1968. The
novelisation closely followed the TV version. The cover featured the first of
many Doctor Who cover paintings by Tony Masero. The cover had a blue
neon logo and a purple spine and back cover. The book was first published in
hardback 17 July 1986, priced £6.95, and in paperback 4 December 1986,
£1.60, with a print run of 32,500 copies. The book was number 112 in the
Doctor Who Library. There were plans in 1989 for this novelisation to be
reissued paired with The Krotons in the Doctor Who Classics
series, but this book was never published.
Cover: Tony Clark (1990)
This was Terrance Dicks 64th and last novelisation of a televised Doctor Who
story and his seventh book for the Second Doctor. An accurate retelling of the
late Robert Holmes's story, this was the last book released before the WH Allen
range was sold to Virgin Books which disrupted publishing schedules. The cover
was painted by Tony Clark and two versions were produced as the original
featured the character Caven. The actor, Dudley Foster, apparently refused
permission for his likeness to be used so Clark had to produce a second
version. The one and only edition of the book was published in paperback 15
March 1990 with the McCoy logo and a blue spine and back cover, priced £2.50,
with a print run of 24,000 copies. The book was number 147 in the Doctor Who
Library.
Covers: John Geary (1979-84); Alister Pearson (1990)
This was Malcolm Hulke's seventh and last Doctor Who novelisation and came
three years after his previous book (The Space War). He returned to the
series at Terrance Dicks' suggestion to adapt The War Games, which the
two men had co-written ten years earlier. Hulke's health was failing and
consequently found the task difficult and not particularly enjoyable. He died 6
July 1979 after completing the book but a few months before it was published.
The ten-part story had to be heavily condensed to fit within 144 pages. At the
time Target was encouraging its writers to keep their books to a 128 page
count, and The War Games was one of the last books to exceed this length
for a few years. This was the 50th Doctor Who story and also the 50th
published novelisation. The original cover artwork was painted by John Geary.
The book was first published simultaneously in hardback and paperback 25
September 1979. The hardback had a yellow curve logo and a blue spine and back
cover, and was priced £3.75, with a print run of 3,000 copies. The
paperback had a yellow curve logo and a white spine and back cover, and was
priced 75p, with a print run of 30,000 copies. The paperback was reprinted in
1980 (85p, second impression); 1982 (£1.35); 1983 (£1.35) and 1984
(£1.50, print run 12,000 copies). From the 1983 printing onwards the book
was numbered 70 in the Doctor Who Library. The novelisation was reissued
15 February 1990, retitled Doctor Who - The War Games as a rejacketed
version of the 1984 edition with a cover painting by Alister Pearson, reused
from the BBC video release (also in February 1990), with the McCoy logo and a
blue spine, priced £2.50, with a print run of 6,000 copies.
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