A review by nwhyte
Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror by Ian Marter

http://nhw.livejournal.com/763482.html[return][return]A good novelisation of the six-part story which ended the very first season of Doctor Who back in 1964. It features gruesome implied violence - which Marter is quite subdued in writing up, apart from the historically accurate detail of Robespierre having his jaw blown off just before the end of the story. The whole atmosphere of a Paris living under horrible oppression is well conveyed; as with any Doctor Who story, the main characters get split up to follow different bits of the action, but Marter conveys very well their panic and disorientation in this dangerous environment. Purists will feel robbed that the Doctor's speech about destiny at the end of the last scene has been replaced with some banter between him and Ian Chesterton, but I suspect this may one of those cases where what worked on the screen would not have worked so well on the page. It also has a great cover.