Scan barcode
scottishvix's review against another edition
4.0
Well, this is different. Most Target novelisations are direct adaptations of the script for the TV series. They might add in what a character thought to explain their motivations, include a scene that was in one of the original scripts but was cut for time, or fill in a plot hole, but in the main they are straight adaptations with little room for creativity from the author.
David Whitaker’s adaptation was, according to his Wikipedia page, based on Terry Nation’s original notes for the story. But the first 20% is completely different to what occurs in the episode (I have seen the serial several times, most recently towards the beginning of this year so I am pretty familiar with it). It would not have been out of place as the introductory episode of the series, except it is also different from the beginning of An Unearthly Child. Ian Chesterton is a bored school teacher who has just been rejected for a job at a science research centre. Lost on Barnes Common in the fog, he is stumbled upon by an injured Barbara Wright who has just come out of a car wreck. She is a bored secretary who has taken up tutoring a private pupil for extra cash. She was driving that student, Susan English (not Foreman?), home when their car crashed. They go back for the badly injured Susan, but are unable to find her. From there the story is familiar to people who have seen An Unearthly Child – they meet an old man who is suspiciously evasive and a locked, out-of-place Police Box, they fight their way inside to discover it is a space ship. There is anger, resentment and disbelief, and then acceptance of what has happened. Then the book finally gets into the same territory as the originally screened episode.
In another departure, the book is not written in the omniscient third person that is usual for the Target novelisations. Instead, everything is from the direct POV of Ian Chesterton. Things that he couldn’t have seen, like Susan’s trip back to the TARDIS for the medication necessary to save them from radiation poisoning, is relayed back to him by someone who was there. This change makes the most of the altered beginning, as we get Ian’s internal reactions to his situation and surroundings. We can read his thoughts as he moves from scepticism to belief at his being in a Time/Space machine and it is a delight to discover the marvels of the TARDIS through his eyes – the shower is definitely something I’d like to try out. I would have preferred less of the animosity that was shoehorned into the Ian/Barbara relationship and leads to a very obvious place at the book’s conclusion.
The other addition, not normally present in the Target books but found in my copy, were the illustrations. These line drawings correspond more to the TV series than the book – for example the first drawing Susan appears in shows her in the blouse and tight fitting cropped trousers of the TV show, rather than the bright jumper and ski trousers she’s described as wearing on the previous page. The drawings themselves are actually quite nice little sketches, though the artist clearly had some trouble with accurately rendering the faces.
All in all, this is a curious little piece, quite different from the normal Doctor Who novelisation, or even most TV tie-ins. This was written before Whitaker did any of his script writing for the actual series and may have been, in a way, an audition piece. An interesting little curiosity for fans of the series.
David Whitaker’s adaptation was, according to his Wikipedia page, based on Terry Nation’s original notes for the story. But the first 20% is completely different to what occurs in the episode (I have seen the serial several times, most recently towards the beginning of this year so I am pretty familiar with it). It would not have been out of place as the introductory episode of the series, except it is also different from the beginning of An Unearthly Child. Ian Chesterton is a bored school teacher who has just been rejected for a job at a science research centre. Lost on Barnes Common in the fog, he is stumbled upon by an injured Barbara Wright who has just come out of a car wreck. She is a bored secretary who has taken up tutoring a private pupil for extra cash. She was driving that student, Susan English (not Foreman?), home when their car crashed. They go back for the badly injured Susan, but are unable to find her. From there the story is familiar to people who have seen An Unearthly Child – they meet an old man who is suspiciously evasive and a locked, out-of-place Police Box, they fight their way inside to discover it is a space ship. There is anger, resentment and disbelief, and then acceptance of what has happened. Then the book finally gets into the same territory as the originally screened episode.
In another departure, the book is not written in the omniscient third person that is usual for the Target novelisations. Instead, everything is from the direct POV of Ian Chesterton. Things that he couldn’t have seen, like Susan’s trip back to the TARDIS for the medication necessary to save them from radiation poisoning, is relayed back to him by someone who was there. This change makes the most of the altered beginning, as we get Ian’s internal reactions to his situation and surroundings. We can read his thoughts as he moves from scepticism to belief at his being in a Time/Space machine and it is a delight to discover the marvels of the TARDIS through his eyes – the shower is definitely something I’d like to try out. I would have preferred less of the animosity that was shoehorned into the Ian/Barbara relationship and leads to a very obvious place at the book’s conclusion.
The other addition, not normally present in the Target books but found in my copy, were the illustrations. These line drawings correspond more to the TV series than the book – for example the first drawing Susan appears in shows her in the blouse and tight fitting cropped trousers of the TV show, rather than the bright jumper and ski trousers she’s described as wearing on the previous page. The drawings themselves are actually quite nice little sketches, though the artist clearly had some trouble with accurately rendering the faces.
All in all, this is a curious little piece, quite different from the normal Doctor Who novelisation, or even most TV tie-ins. This was written before Whitaker did any of his script writing for the actual series and may have been, in a way, an audition piece. An interesting little curiosity for fans of the series.
mylria's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first classic Doctor Who novel I have ever read. I never watched the first Doctor and was quite curious on how he was. Also, I wanted to see how the Daleks got introduced. "Doctor Who: The Daleks" was fun as well as all the fun characters/aliens that the reader got to know and cared about. The book was great because it described the view of the Doctor and happenings from the point of view of the companion. If you always wanted to know where the Daleks originated, how the first Doctor was or re-introduce yourself to this world, any Whovian needs to read this book.
julie7's review
3.5
3.5 ⭐ =Quite Good.
This brought back memories! I love watching Doctor Who on the television and always have. 😁
An easy, fairly short read.
This brought back memories! I love watching Doctor Who on the television and always have. 😁
An easy, fairly short read.
preiman790's review against another edition
3.0
while lacking some of the charm of later doctor stories this book still provides an entertaining look into the doctor's first encounter with arguably his greatest foe. the one thing that bothers me is that the author felt the need to rewrite history a bit by introducing companions that the doctor and Susan should have already known from an earlier adventure to 10,000 BC. but if we were apposed to a little Retconning and historical revision i suppose we would have given up on the doctor long ago.
ziwxbhld's review against another edition
3.0
A blast from the past - my past, to be precise, which would be 24 years ago now. Not bad at all.
yoda_bor's review against another edition
4.0
Cette novélisation du deuxième épisode de la série Doctor Who est écrite du point de vue de Ian, mon compagnon préféré de One. C’est très intéressant et très agréable puisqu’on accède du coup à ses pensées et qu’on évite quelques longueurs assez pénibles (que celui qui a réussi à apprécier la virée dans les grottes dans la série télé me jette la première pierre !).
Comme j’ai déjà pu l’écrire, j’aime particulièrement Ian et j’ai vraiment apprécié pouvoir découvrir son avis sur les manigances du Docteur et son ressenti face à ses fourberies. Il ne faut pas oublier que c’est à cause de son envie de visiter la ville qu’il va aller perdre le mercure du TARDIS au milieu de mutants hostiles.
Tout comme lors de mon visionnage de l’épisode, je n’apprécie pas vraiment l’interventionnisme de Ian et du Docteur dans la non-guerre entre les Thals et les Daleks. S’ils sont pacifistes et ne connaissent pas l’idée de conflit, je ne cautionne pas que des visiteurs de passage viennent mettre leur nez là dedans. Surtout que leur but est essentiellement de récupérer le mercure, les morts Thals, ils s’en préoccupent assez moyennement. Mais bon, cette idée était déjà présente dans la série et il était logique de la reprendre.
En revanche, toute la fin sur le début de romance entre Ian et Barbara m’a un peu tapé sur le système. C’est quelque chose d’inventé pour ce livre et si on peut sentir Ian jaloux dans l’épisode, c’est justement parce que Barbara et un des Thals se comptent fleurette d’un peu trop près à son goût.
Là, Barbara passe son temps à soupirer et à être lunatique, ça a fini par m’agacer même si c’est pour moi un des couples phares de la série.
J’ai tout de même beaucoup apprécié ce livre. J’accroche vraiment à ces novélisations que je trouve de très bonne qualité et qui réussissent à garder le meilleur des histoires qu’elles racontent tout en allégeant certains passages parfois un peu lourds dans la version télévisée.
Comme j’ai déjà pu l’écrire, j’aime particulièrement Ian et j’ai vraiment apprécié pouvoir découvrir son avis sur les manigances du Docteur et son ressenti face à ses fourberies. Il ne faut pas oublier que c’est à cause de son envie de visiter la ville qu’il va aller perdre le mercure du TARDIS au milieu de mutants hostiles.
Tout comme lors de mon visionnage de l’épisode, je n’apprécie pas vraiment l’interventionnisme de Ian et du Docteur dans la non-guerre entre les Thals et les Daleks. S’ils sont pacifistes et ne connaissent pas l’idée de conflit, je ne cautionne pas que des visiteurs de passage viennent mettre leur nez là dedans. Surtout que leur but est essentiellement de récupérer le mercure, les morts Thals, ils s’en préoccupent assez moyennement. Mais bon, cette idée était déjà présente dans la série et il était logique de la reprendre.
En revanche, toute la fin sur le début de romance entre Ian et Barbara m’a un peu tapé sur le système. C’est quelque chose d’inventé pour ce livre et si on peut sentir Ian jaloux dans l’épisode, c’est justement parce que Barbara et un des Thals se comptent fleurette d’un peu trop près à son goût.
Là, Barbara passe son temps à soupirer et à être lunatique, ça a fini par m’agacer même si c’est pour moi un des couples phares de la série.
J’ai tout de même beaucoup apprécié ce livre. J’accroche vraiment à ces novélisations que je trouve de très bonne qualité et qui réussissent à garder le meilleur des histoires qu’elles racontent tout en allégeant certains passages parfois un peu lourds dans la version télévisée.
samigo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
wow this is aggressively sexist