jaspie's review against another edition
5.0
Unlike many of the Doctor Who novelisations published by Target Books, this is no mere camera-script to page adaptation. David Whitaker has really created a stand-alone science-fiction novel from the bones of Terry Nation's original story. By creating an entirely new opening to the tale he gives a depth of character to the protagonists in a way the television series did not have time to do, yet he never loses the essence of Ian and Barbara's utter astonishment at what they discover beyond the police box doors and the universe that the angry old man, the Doctor, and his guileless granddaughter, Susan, exist in.
Whitaker does not stray from the plot once the travellers have arrived on Skaro; the Doctor is still conniving and deceitful, willing to risk lives even of the ones he cares for, to satisfy his own curiostity; the Thals' society remains as in the television series; the Daleks are at their ruthless best and the adventure bounds along apace, embellished by the freedoms outside the 1960s television studios and Whittakers' tweaks.
I am a fan of first person narratives in novels and here it brings us, the reader, into Ian's head and so gives the story an immediacy. We learn first-hand how he learns to accept what he's experiencing as real, for instance. We stand in his shoes as he faces up against two antagonists, namely the Doctor and the Daleks.
This novel would exist perfectly as an excellent example of its genre outside the Doctor Who universe because the story is so good, so self-contained. I would argue that it remains, even after all this time, one of the best Who books and can hold its own against more recent, original stories.
Whitaker does not stray from the plot once the travellers have arrived on Skaro; the Doctor is still conniving and deceitful, willing to risk lives even of the ones he cares for, to satisfy his own curiostity; the Thals' society remains as in the television series; the Daleks are at their ruthless best and the adventure bounds along apace, embellished by the freedoms outside the 1960s television studios and Whittakers' tweaks.
I am a fan of first person narratives in novels and here it brings us, the reader, into Ian's head and so gives the story an immediacy. We learn first-hand how he learns to accept what he's experiencing as real, for instance. We stand in his shoes as he faces up against two antagonists, namely the Doctor and the Daleks.
This novel would exist perfectly as an excellent example of its genre outside the Doctor Who universe because the story is so good, so self-contained. I would argue that it remains, even after all this time, one of the best Who books and can hold its own against more recent, original stories.
tobysutton_long's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful piece with the most gorgeous illustrations, it really tells the story you know in an interesting way. Because I'm a geek I read this whilst also watching both the TV and film versions of The Daleks. I wish the Everlasting Matches would pop up in the show!
heatherp23's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
mrcoldstream's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lokster71's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of the earliest - if not the first - Doctor Who novelisations ever published back in 1964. It also remains one of the best. And one of the most unusual.
It is narrated by Ian Chesterton, who we first meet driving on a foggy Barnes Common. There is no Unearthly Child in this alternative Whoniverse. Barbara and Ian are not colleagues at Coal Hill School but strangers who meet here and now on Barnes Common after Barbara has been involved in a car accident whilst taking Susan home. Barbara isn't a teacher, she's a tutor. Her story is pretty similar to the TV version. She's spotted certain gaps in Susan's knowledge. She's found Susan evasive about her grandfather and where she lives. The fog gave Barbara an excuse to take Susan home, but an army lorry intervened.
The whole set up is more dramatic than the first episode of An Unearthly Child in many ways, but actually less atmospheric. However it plays out to its end the same way. Ian and Barbara force their way into the TARDIS and the Doctor whisks them off into time and space. Next stop...Skaro.
The rest of the story plays out pretty much as the TV version, although there is extra information added and the Whitaker gets to enjoy adding unaffordable monsters to the Lakes as Ian, Barbara and the Thals make their way to the inside of the Dalek City. Also as this is Ian's story we only hear what happened to the Doctor and Susan second hand. They are secondary characters in this story.
The main difference though between the TV and book is that there's a strong element of romance between Barbara and Ian. We all know that Barbara and Ian were clearly a thing by the time they got back to London 1965 but this explicitly has them go through a not quite enemies to lovers arc. Although being Doctor Who and being 1964 it is more of a misunderstanding to handholding arc. This is trying to be a proper novel and not just a Doctor Who book.
Whitaker's writing is pretty solid. The pacing is good, even with the occasional Barbara/Ian will they/won't they moment. It's not quite peak Terrance Dicks but it is close.
The book comes with illustrations - sketches - by Arnold Schwartzman, which are a nice touch even if they are taken pretty unimaginatively from shots from the TV episode.
All in all you'd not go wrong starting your Target novelisation reading with this one. It serves as a introduction to the whole thing, even if it isn't quite the same story. 1964 and Doctor Who was already serving up alternative timelines.
It is narrated by Ian Chesterton, who we first meet driving on a foggy Barnes Common. There is no Unearthly Child in this alternative Whoniverse. Barbara and Ian are not colleagues at Coal Hill School but strangers who meet here and now on Barnes Common after Barbara has been involved in a car accident whilst taking Susan home. Barbara isn't a teacher, she's a tutor. Her story is pretty similar to the TV version. She's spotted certain gaps in Susan's knowledge. She's found Susan evasive about her grandfather and where she lives. The fog gave Barbara an excuse to take Susan home, but an army lorry intervened.
The whole set up is more dramatic than the first episode of An Unearthly Child in many ways, but actually less atmospheric. However it plays out to its end the same way. Ian and Barbara force their way into the TARDIS and the Doctor whisks them off into time and space. Next stop...Skaro.
The rest of the story plays out pretty much as the TV version, although there is extra information added and the Whitaker gets to enjoy adding unaffordable monsters to the Lakes as Ian, Barbara and the Thals make their way to the inside of the Dalek City. Also as this is Ian's story we only hear what happened to the Doctor and Susan second hand. They are secondary characters in this story.
The main difference though between the TV and book is that there's a strong element of romance between Barbara and Ian. We all know that Barbara and Ian were clearly a thing by the time they got back to London 1965 but this explicitly has them go through a not quite enemies to lovers arc. Although being Doctor Who and being 1964 it is more of a misunderstanding to handholding arc. This is trying to be a proper novel and not just a Doctor Who book.
Whitaker's writing is pretty solid. The pacing is good, even with the occasional Barbara/Ian will they/won't they moment. It's not quite peak Terrance Dicks but it is close.
The book comes with illustrations - sketches - by Arnold Schwartzman, which are a nice touch even if they are taken pretty unimaginatively from shots from the TV episode.
All in all you'd not go wrong starting your Target novelisation reading with this one. It serves as a introduction to the whole thing, even if it isn't quite the same story. 1964 and Doctor Who was already serving up alternative timelines.
queerfrankenstein's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
thoroughlymodernreviewer's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
I don’t say this lightly, but this might just be the best way to experience Doctor Who’s very first Dalek story. Written in the first person from Ian’s point of view, Doctor Who and the Daleks takes everything exciting from the TV version of the story and just improves upon it in almost every conceivable way. It’s the story you know, but with an added layer that turns it into something entirely new.
If you’ve seen “The Daleks”, then you know the basic story. The TARDIS turns up on the planet Skaro, where the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian encounter the deadly Daleks and the mysterious Thals. Soon, they’re drawn into the middle of a centuries-long war, desperate to find a way to defeat the Daleks and leave this planet before the Daleks blow it to smithereens. A familiar story, and one that’s recreated fairly faithfully. But this isn’t a perfect, line-by-line adaptation. No, Whittaker adds a few twists to the story, spicing things up.
For starters, the first few chapters offer an alternate origin for how Ian and Barbara join the Doctor and Susan in the TARDIS. This new origin hits many of the same beats as the original, but it’s been tweaked just a bit. And that’s very much the case for the book as a whole. It’s the story you’re familiar with, the story you’ve loved for all these years. But it’s just a little bit different in ways only a really good book can be. And that’s what makes it so exciting.
Here, the story’s not restrained by the constraints of a 1960s BBC budget. The Daleks and their world can be as alien, as frightening as you want them to be. The Thals can be this very sci-fi group of perfectly manicured people. The action can be larger than life, the sets can be as huge and intricate as you want them to be. The story can be paced perfectly, without needing to pad out its runtime to fill a certain number of episodes with a certain amount of allotted screen time. Everything about Whittaker’s adaptation just works, elevating the story off the page and into the depths of your imagination.
This elevation is helped brilliantly by Robert Hack’s very retro illustrations. Hack doesn’t try to recreate the episode’s imagery, nor does he try to recreate the Peter Cushing film’s take on the story. Instead, he offers an alternate view of what “The Daleks” might’ve looked like had it been able to reach the heights the script clearly aimed for. And his illustrations are the best reason to get the specific edition of the book as they really do add a lot to the experience. Awash I’m very retro colors, lots of oranges and blues and quintessentially 1960s sci-fi imagery. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, for sure. And I definitely think the book could’ve used a bit more illustrations than it had, especially smaller ones to help break up the larger sections of text without illustrations. But as a whole, Hack’s illustrations elevate Whittaker’s prose into something truly special.
At the end of the day, if you’ve never read a Target Doctor Who novelization, this illustrated edition of Doctor Who and the Daleks is the perfect place to start. Offering a new take on a familiar story, the writing itself is a joy to read. Quick-paced, action-packed, yet still full of lovely character moments. And the illustrations just add an extra level of enjoyment to the whole affair. In this, the year of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, what better thing to give a Doctor Who fan than this glorious illustrated edition of the show’s very first novelization?
If you’ve seen “The Daleks”, then you know the basic story. The TARDIS turns up on the planet Skaro, where the Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian encounter the deadly Daleks and the mysterious Thals. Soon, they’re drawn into the middle of a centuries-long war, desperate to find a way to defeat the Daleks and leave this planet before the Daleks blow it to smithereens. A familiar story, and one that’s recreated fairly faithfully. But this isn’t a perfect, line-by-line adaptation. No, Whittaker adds a few twists to the story, spicing things up.
For starters, the first few chapters offer an alternate origin for how Ian and Barbara join the Doctor and Susan in the TARDIS. This new origin hits many of the same beats as the original, but it’s been tweaked just a bit. And that’s very much the case for the book as a whole. It’s the story you’re familiar with, the story you’ve loved for all these years. But it’s just a little bit different in ways only a really good book can be. And that’s what makes it so exciting.
Here, the story’s not restrained by the constraints of a 1960s BBC budget. The Daleks and their world can be as alien, as frightening as you want them to be. The Thals can be this very sci-fi group of perfectly manicured people. The action can be larger than life, the sets can be as huge and intricate as you want them to be. The story can be paced perfectly, without needing to pad out its runtime to fill a certain number of episodes with a certain amount of allotted screen time. Everything about Whittaker’s adaptation just works, elevating the story off the page and into the depths of your imagination.
This elevation is helped brilliantly by Robert Hack’s very retro illustrations. Hack doesn’t try to recreate the episode’s imagery, nor does he try to recreate the Peter Cushing film’s take on the story. Instead, he offers an alternate view of what “The Daleks” might’ve looked like had it been able to reach the heights the script clearly aimed for. And his illustrations are the best reason to get the specific edition of the book as they really do add a lot to the experience. Awash I’m very retro colors, lots of oranges and blues and quintessentially 1960s sci-fi imagery. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, for sure. And I definitely think the book could’ve used a bit more illustrations than it had, especially smaller ones to help break up the larger sections of text without illustrations. But as a whole, Hack’s illustrations elevate Whittaker’s prose into something truly special.
At the end of the day, if you’ve never read a Target Doctor Who novelization, this illustrated edition of Doctor Who and the Daleks is the perfect place to start. Offering a new take on a familiar story, the writing itself is a joy to read. Quick-paced, action-packed, yet still full of lovely character moments. And the illustrations just add an extra level of enjoyment to the whole affair. In this, the year of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, what better thing to give a Doctor Who fan than this glorious illustrated edition of the show’s very first novelization?
scarletsky's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
serialreader's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0