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jazzab1971 's review for:
Doctor Who and the Daleks
by David Whitaker
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting read when comparing this to the original TV story.
Published in 1964, less than a year after it had aired, this book is written by the then story editor of the show who would have an intimate knowledge of the programm so any deviations from how it was originally presented are interesting and make you wonder why these changes were made.
The biggest difference is that this book is presented as Ian and Barbara's first encounter with the Doctor. As such it creates a whole new scene of a car crash that Ian comes across. In this telling Ian does not know Barbara prior to the events of the adventure. Why, I wondered, did David Whitaker simply not tell the events of the first episode of "An Unearthly Child"? As it is Ian and Barbara have a rather cool relationship in this telling for much of the story. Towards the end it becomes clear that Whitaker seems to have chosen this version of events so that he can develop their relationship and hint at a possible romance.
Other changes include Susan being callled Susan English, rather than Forman, the daleks initially being described as being 3 feet tall (later they are described as being 4 and a half feet tall) and Ian being a smoker - he lights up a cigarette and then tosses it away on the ground just a few moments after he had heard a match being struck and was worried it would cause the leaking petrol from the crash to ignite! The match in question being another invention for this telling - the Doctor's everlasting matches!
This story generally is well written. It is told in the first person narrative of Ian. Although this does give us greater insight into the thoughts of this Ian, it does mean any scenes Ian doesn't take part in (such as Susan's journey back to the ship to get the medicines or the Doctor's frontal assault on the dalek city) are relayed to us by another character telling Ian what happened after the event in a brief paragraph of dialogue.
Finally, Susan tells Ian that "Tardis" [sic] stands for "Time and relative dimensions in space"...is this the first time this error is made in the history of the show?
Published in 1964, less than a year after it had aired, this book is written by the then story editor of the show who would have an intimate knowledge of the programm so any deviations from how it was originally presented are interesting and make you wonder why these changes were made.
The biggest difference is that this book is presented as Ian and Barbara's first encounter with the Doctor. As such it creates a whole new scene of a car crash that Ian comes across. In this telling Ian does not know Barbara prior to the events of the adventure. Why, I wondered, did David Whitaker simply not tell the events of the first episode of "An Unearthly Child"? As it is Ian and Barbara have a rather cool relationship in this telling for much of the story. Towards the end it becomes clear that Whitaker seems to have chosen this version of events so that he can develop their relationship and hint at a possible romance.
Other changes include Susan being callled Susan English, rather than Forman, the daleks initially being described as being 3 feet tall (later they are described as being 4 and a half feet tall) and Ian being a smoker - he lights up a cigarette and then tosses it away on the ground just a few moments after he had heard a match being struck and was worried it would cause the leaking petrol from the crash to ignite! The match in question being another invention for this telling - the Doctor's everlasting matches!
This story generally is well written. It is told in the first person narrative of Ian. Although this does give us greater insight into the thoughts of this Ian, it does mean any scenes Ian doesn't take part in (such as Susan's journey back to the ship to get the medicines or the Doctor's frontal assault on the dalek city) are relayed to us by another character telling Ian what happened after the event in a brief paragraph of dialogue.
Finally, Susan tells Ian that "Tardis" [sic] stands for "Time and relative dimensions in space"...is this the first time this error is made in the history of the show?