Category: Target Books
Doctor Who And… 10: The Abominable Snowmen (21/11/1974)
Written by Terrance Dicks, based on Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln’s scripts for the 1967 TV serial.
![](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-cover-abominable-snowmen.jpg?w=830)
Doctor Who And… 9: The Sea-Devils (17/10/1974)
Doctor Who And… 8: The Dæmons (17/10/1974)
Written by Barry Letts, based on the “Guy Leopold” (i.e., Barry Letts and Robert Sloman’s) scripts for the 1971 TV serial.
![Covers of The Daemons](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-cover-daemons-.jpg?w=830)
Doctor Who And… 7: The Day of the Daleks (27/3/1974)
Doctor Who And… 6: The Doomsday Weapon (27/3/1974)
Written by Malcolm Hulke, based on his scripts for the 1971 TV serial Colony in Space.
![Covers of my copies](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-cover-doomsday-weapon.jpg?w=830)
Doctor Who And… 5: The Cave Monsters (17/1/1974)
Written by Malcolm Hulke, based on his scripts for the 1970 TV serial Doctor Who and the Silurians.
![](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-cover-cave-monsters2.jpg?w=830)
Doctor Who And… The Top Ten Target Covers
One of the joys of the Target Books has always been their cover art, from the earliest, in Frank Bellamy comic style, to the later, more photorealistic “blue spines”. Here are 10 of my favourites, sticking to no more than one per artist.
Continue readingDoctor Who And… 4: The Auton Invasion (17/1/1974)
Written by Terrance Dicks, based on Robert Holmes’ scripts for the 1970 TV serial Spearhead from Space.
![Covers of my copies](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-the-auton-invasion.jpg)
Doctor Who And… 3: The Crusaders (2/5/1973)
Written by David Whitaker, based on his script for the 1965 TV serial.
![Covers of my copies](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-crusaders.jpg)
The beautiful “story so far” prologue (covering Susan’s marriage to “David Cameron”, Vicki’s arrival and Ian and Barbara’s blossoming romance), presents this as a continuation of the story Whitaker began in Doctor Who and the Daleks. Whitaker expounds on his theory of Time as a force that prevents historical interference – a sort of precursor to RTD’s Fixed Points. He includes some wry script editorial asides (if Tardis‘ safety features worked perfectly “there would be no chronicles about Doctor Who”).
Characterisation is vivid, with El Akir in particular a sadistic pervert more loathsome than any of the alien monsters the time travellers have faced. The prose is evocative without being flowery, and the overall piece is more sophisticated and confident than Doctor Who and the Daleks, probably reflecting Whitaker’s own authorship of the original scripts. The main issue with the TV episodes remains here: the Doctor and Vicki’s plot is almost completely irrelevant to Barbara’s kidnap and Ian’s single-minded mission to recover her. What’s positioned as a battle of wits between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin entirely stops as soon as Richard’s sister Joanna dismisses the idea of a marriage pact. But the Ian and Barbara storyline is so compelling this barely matters. Grade 1.
![Description of grades from 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Boring)](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-grades.jpg?w=830)
Next Time: Doctor Who And… The Auton Invasion
Doctor Who And… 2: The Zarbi (2/5/1973)
Written by Bill Strutton, adapted from his scripts for the 1965 TV serial.
![Covers of my copies](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-zarbi.jpg?w=830)
There are six chapters reflecting the six episodes. “Doctor Who” is used as his name, including in some dialogue. This is verbose, with a longer page count than later Target Books and far more descriptive passages. I guess this is necessary, given most of the aliens don’t speak English, but it is lacking in brisk conciseness (particularly in comparison to the forthcoming Terrance Dicks / Target house style), and a bit of a struggle to stick with. It’s an interesting choice for second novel, probably reflecting the massive audiences The Web Planet pulled in. I think it somewhat lacks the sense of astonishment of the TV version. Grade 5, I’m afraid.
![Description of grades from 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Boring)](https://matthewmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dw-grades.jpg?w=830)