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Philip Hincliffe seems a lot more at home within his "own" era (his foray into the Hartnell era with "The Keys of Marinus" sadly failed to impress). The gothic horror direction he took the show during his time as producer comes across in this book and I actually enjoyed revisiting this story. Possibly the best written sequences involve the opening scenes in the TARDIS (love the boot cupboard) and the Mandragora Helix.
| What: | The Dominators (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: |   3 |
Sorry. Not even Ian Marter can save this one. I can't seem to work up much excitement for this rather bland and pedestrian offering. The Dulcians come across as a rather apathetic bunch, undeserving of any attention or sympathy. I almost wish the Dominators had won...
I'm not sure exactly why the TV version of this fails to impress me much - I suspect it's the writer's apparent lack of interest in the project. I say this because Nigel Robinson manages to take a mediocre story and inject new life into it. Perhaps it's the extra attention paid to Zaroff's backstory that helps him succeed in portraying a sympathetic character rather than the cliched stereotype Joseph Furst played on-screen. The written version also seem a lot more claustrophobic and tense too and even the most irritating characters (the two sailors) come over as more credible on the page.
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 | Lucarotti does it again... |
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| What: | The Massacre (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
This is superbly crafted tale and probably the first "Doctor-lite" story that works. For once the Doctor plays second fiddle to one of his more interesting companions and the story is all the better for it.
John Lucarotti really proves to us what a great charcter Steven is as he finds himself alone in sixteenth century France - and quite a brutal period of history it is too. Lucarotti's knowledge and passion for history is, perhaps, more obvious here than in his other two historical tales and his writing proves that in this book. One can almost smell the atmosphere in this one and sympathises well with the persecuted Hugenots.
The treatment of the Abbot of Amboise (who, for all intents and purposes, seems to be the Doctor himself) seems less-successful than on the TV version but one can forgive this as it is apparent that this one is obviously meant to be told visually. Still, a great tale well-told.
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| Too much, too little, too late |
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I was never particularly enthused by this one. It has too much going on in one storyline, too many locations and little time to fully explore any of them. The only enjoyable bit for me was the rendering of the, frankly superb, fifth episode. Unfortunately this is the only bit that grips this reader and the whole thing ends on rather an anti-climactic note. Neither Nation's nor Hinchcliffe's best work.
Something of a departure for "Dr Who" this is one of Ian Marter's best novelisations. His penchant for gritty realism and violent action sequences really shines in this one. Shame it's more of a Bond story than a Dr Who...
| What: | The Mind Robber (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Peter Ling's contribution, faithfully adapted by himself, really pushes the boundaries of "Dr Who" and takes the TARDIS somewhere truly new. Dark and creepy with the main characters taken to, literally, nowhere the Land of Ficton where they eventually end up is, if anything, even darker than the limbo they'd just escaped. In a place where the greatest threat is one's imagination even the most innocent happenstance can harbour great menace. And what a clever piece of writing discipline Ling sets himself by limiting Gulliver's dialogue to only that provided by Dean Swift! A great opportunity seized passionately with both hands. It's a shame he didn't write more. Superb.
| What: | The Myth Makers (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
This story seems to be undergoing something of a renaissance - and it's long overdue. Pushed aside and forgotten for years by fandom it's nice to see it garner a new appreciation. I loved it when I first read it and still do. Cotton's rather tongue-in-cheek writing style and the liberties he takes with Virgil's original tale is, admittedly, not to everyone's taste but I enjoy the new spin he puts on the tale and the way he attempts to break with the established style of "Dr Who". Vastly underrated.
| What: | The Rescue (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
Sadly this was Ian Marter's last contribution to the Target range as he died not long after. I'd always enjoyed his adaptations and hoped he'd go out on a high note. I wasn't disappointed. Filling 120-odd pages with a long-forgotten two-parter from the sixties couldn't have been easy but Marter did it with pinache. I'd gladly read this one again...
| What: | The Wheel in Space (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I really must dig my copy of this title out one day - apparently it's rare and worth a fair bit.
Just for once it's nice to be surprised and this book is no exception. Adapted by Terrance Dicks I was dreading reading it when it came out and I'd heard it was one of least exciting Cyber-stories. However, I really enjoyed this one and found it well-paced and interesting - particularly concerning Dicks' treatment of Jarvis Bennett (which nearly came close to Pemberton's Robson from "Fury from the Deep").
I've since seen the surviving installments of the TV version and fail to work up the same interest - so well done on this one, Tel.
| What: | The Smugglers (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Toward the end of his Target novelising days Terrance Dicks seemed to be bashing the TV adaptations out at such a rate of knots that left him little time (or, one suspects, interest) in adding anything further to the original screenplay. In this one, however, he fails to rob the original of it's charm and it still comes across as a rather good adventure yarn that makes one wish there were more First Doctor/Ben/Polly tales - even with Dicks writing their colourful dynamic still shines...
| What: | The Faceless Ones (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Thursday 27 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
I knew almost nothing of this one until the book came out (the first Troughton one I owned). Very little information was available on it and it seems (still) to be one of the "forgotten". And what a shame that is too - notwithstanding it being a late Dicks novelisation it's still an enjoyable romp with many chilling notions involved proving how great Mac Hulke's original storylines were...
Not the best one but here Dicks reinstates a lost scene from the TV version that makes sense of a an earlier one featuring the Doctor and Jo meeting their future selves. An enjoyable read that comes across rather better than it did on TV...
This one has long been a favourite of mine and is an example of the book adding further value to the TV story.
It's a great shame that David Whitaker didn't novelise more of these - his writing in this (and "The Daleks") really brings the piece to life. Unlike others who came after he takes the opportunity to present the material as a novel rather than adding a bit of action to the camera scripts.
Had this one for some years - long since disappeared now, though...
Not the best of the bunch but nostalgia ups the value for me...
Picking up from where volume one left off, Peel's effort begins to sag a little in this second volume. Mind you, it does suffer from having to include the rather tedious Christmas episode...
I know a lot of people seem to slate John Peel's writing but here he does us a service - mind you the original scripts are great too. This one bears up rather better than the second volume. Great stuff.
| What: | The Savages (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Tuesday 25 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 5 |
Not the worst by a long shot but seems a little pedestrian in delivery - I suspect the TV version (if we stil had it) would bear up rather better than the book. Such a shame as Ian Stuart Black would go on to do a fantastic job with "The Macra Terror".
| What: | Fury from the Deep (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Tuesday 25 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This is definitely the best of the bunch. I haven't read this for years - it's been in storage for many years - but I still remember it vividly.
Victor Pemberton writes expertly, using repetition and aural description to paint the pictures that, sadly, no longer exist at the BBC. However, with Pemberton's book one is left feeing satisfied with the book and not lamenting the loss of the TV version (though it is still a great shame).
If there was a fire and I could only save one book from my collection - it'd be this one!
| What: | Marco Polo (Target novelisations) |
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| By: | Quist, NZ |
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| Date: | Tuesday 25 September 2007 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
It's not hard to see why the absence of this one is so lamented. In the early days of Dr Who the producers had an idea that the series could be semi-educational when discussing history or things scientific. Here we have explanations for why water takes longer to boil at higher altitudes, how cooler temperatures produce condensation and other historical minutae concerning the historical Marco Polo and Asia in general.
One of the better ones.
