Doctor Who
Novelisations: Fourth Doctor: Season 13
The first three Doctor Who novelisations were published in the 1960s by Frederick Muller Ltd, but it wasn't until 1973, when Target Books picked up the reprint rights, that the range of Doctor Who books began to expand.

Beginning with Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, Target Books would go on to print books based on all but five of the television stories produced between 1963 and 1989, with numerous re-jacketed editions in between.

With the majority of stories novelised, the company, now owned by Virgin Publishing, went on to establish the enormously successful range of New Adventures novels.

The production of the 1996 TV movie, starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, saw BBC Books taking the decision to publish both a script book and novelisation of the story. Shortly afterwards, the decision was also taken that the time had come for Doctor Who fiction to be brought in-house, with Target/Virgin's twenty-four year association with the programme finally coming to an end in April 1997.
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster cover image
by Terrance Dicks
  • UK
  • Paperback
  • Target Books
  • January 1976
  • (Book Number: 40)
Other Editions
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster
Click for cover image UK / Hardback / Allan Wingate Ltd / January 1976
Click for cover image USA / Paperback / Pinnacle Books / June 1979 / #6

Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / March 1993 / No.40

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster was also included as part of The Adventures of Doctor Who omnibus from Nelson Doubleday in the United States in 1979.
Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1976)
Why is DOCTOR WHO suddenly summoned to the shores of Loch Ness? Terror and panic spread as the third oil rig is smashed into the sea by a mysterious force...the monster? The controlling power must be the ZYGONS — alien creatures who have lived hidden on Earth for thousands of years, and now feel strong enough to take over the planet...The Doctor, Sarah and UNIT have different ideas — but can they outwit the supreme cunning of the ruthless ZYGONS?

Back Cover Blurb — Pinnacle Books
BORN-AGAIN ZYGONS

Investigating mysterious attacks on North Sea oil rigs, Doctor Who discovers that, yes, there really is a Loch Ness monster.

Half-animal and half-machine, it's the Skarasen, a monster-child of the exiled Zygons. They and their crippled spaceship have been in hiding for centuries. Now that they have regained their strength, the born-again but homeless Zygons plan to invade Earth, conquer its primitive peoples and stay on — as rulers.

Doctor Who is rather worried, even terrified, that the Zygons really might take over. Will Doctor Who be able to outwit the cunning strategies of the ruthless and dynamic Zygons in time to save us all?
Television Story
Terror of the Zygons
Script Writer: Robert Banks Stewart

4 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

30/08/75 Part One
06/09/75 Part Two
13/09/75 Part Three
20/09/75 Part Four

Search (VHS) Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com
All episodes exist and have been released on video in the UK and United States.
Regular Characters
Fourth Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith / Harry Sullivan

Familiar Faces / Returning Characters
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart / RSM Benton
Notes
  • Terror of the Zygons was the first of two stories to be written for the television series by Robert Banks Stewart, the other being The Seeds of Doom from the end of the season.
  • Terror of the Zygons would be the last television story to feature the Brigadier until Mawdryn Undead in 1983, at which point he would have left UNIT and started work as a maths teacher. Harry Sullivan would also be written out of the series at the conclusion of this story, deciding to remain behind on Earth. He turned up in the television series on just further occasion in the final episode of The Android Invasion later in the season. Later appearances for the character away from the television series would occur in Ian Marter's original novel Harry Sullivan's War, released by Target Books in 1986, and System Shock and Millennium Shock written by Justin Richards in the 1990s.
  • Surprisingly this was the only television story in which the Zygons were to feature, although they were to eventually re-appear in two original novels. Bodysnatchers from Mark Morris was published as part of the Eighth Doctor Adventures series in 1997, while Sting of the Zygons was a Tenth Doctor tale written by Stephen Cole for the New Series Adventures range in 2007.
Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil

Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil cover image
by Terrance Dicks
  • UK
  • Hardback
  • Allan Wingate Ltd
  • July 1977
Other Editions
Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / August 1977
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / 1982 / No.47
Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1977)
The expedition to Zeta Minor began with eight men. Seven were murdered. One survived — but he was not the murderer.

DOCTOR WHO lands on the planet at the same time as the expedition's rescue team, and is immediately taken prisoner — the suspected murderer. But even stranger things soon begin to happen...

What terrible creature inhabits this wild, desolate planet, killing mercilessly, lurking in the murky depths of the Black Pool. Will anyone ever be allowed to leave — alive?

Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1982)
A survey team of eight men from the mighty Morestran Empire lands on Zeta Minor, a remote planet on the fringes of the universe. Before their expedition is over, seven of the men are mysteriously and horrifically murdered.

A distress signal brings the Doctor to the planet — but his good intentions are not appreciated. The commander of a Morestran rescue party, sent to investigate the disappearance of the survey team, is convinced the Doctor is the killer.

And while the Doctor is kept prisoner and powerless to act, the merciless hell-planet claims even more victims...
Television Story
Planet of Evil
Script Writer: Louis Marks

4 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

27/09/75 Part One
04/10/75 Part Two
11/10/75 Part Three
18/10/75 Part Four All episodes exist and have been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK, and on Region 1 DVD in the United States.
Regular Characters
Fourth Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith
Notes
  • Planet of Evil was the third of four stories written for the series by writer Louis Marks, having previously scripted Planet of Giants for the First Doctor in 1964 and Day of the Daleks for the Third Doctor in 1972. His final script would be The Masque of Mandragora the following season.
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars

Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars cover image
by Terrance Dicks
  • UK
  • Paperback
  • Target Books
  • December 1976
Other Editions
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars
Click for cover image UK / Hardback / Allan Wingate Ltd / December 1976
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / 1982 / (No.50)

Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / March 1993 / No.50
Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1976)
For many thousands of years SUTEKH had waited...trapped in the heart of an Egyptian Pyramid. Now at last the time had come — the moment of release, when all the force of his pent-up evil and malice would be unleashed upon the world...

The TARDIS lands on the site of UNIT headquarters in the year 1911, and the Doctor and Sarah emerge to fight a terrifying and deadly battle...against Egyptian Mummies, half-possessed humans — and the overwhelming evil power of SUTEKH!

Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1982)
The mind of Sutekh the Destroyer is consumed with jealousy and hatred. Convinced that all living things are his mortal enemy, he is determined to annihilate all forms of life throughout the universe.

Imprisoned at the heart of an Egyptian pyramid, the force of his maniacal evil has been paralysed for centuries. But now, after thousands upon thousands of years of long captivity, the moment of deliverance has arrived.

Sutekh's vicious megalomania is about to be unleashed upon the world — unless the Doctor succeeds in outwitting a mind so powerful it can force him to his knees and torture him at a glance...
Television Story
Pyramids of Mars
Script Writer: Stephen Harris (a pseudonym for Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer)

4 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

27/09/75 Part One
04/10/75 Part Two
11/10/75 Part Three
18/10/75 Part Four All episodes exist and have been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK, and on Region 1 DVD in the United States.
Regular Characters
Fourth Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars Audio Book
  • UK
  • BBC Worldwide
  • 4 × CD
  • August 2008
Unabridged reading of the novelisation, narrated by Tom Baker who played the Fourth Doctor in the television series.
Notes
  • The Sands of Time, a sequel to Pyramids of Mars, was released as part of the Missing Adventures range of books from Virgin Publishing in 1996. Justin Richard's novel did not, however, see the return of Sutekh, although the character would later re-appear (once again voiced by Gabriel Woolf) in a number of audio plays in the spin-off range of Faction Paradox audio dramas.
Doctor Who and the Android Invasion

Doctor Who and the Android Invasion cover image
by Terrance Dicks
  • UK
  • Paperback
  • Target Books
  • November 1978
  • (Book Number: 2)
Other Editions
Doctor Who and the Android Invasion
Click for cover image UK / Hardback / WH Allen / November 1978
Click for cover image USA / Paperback / Pinnacle Books / January 1980 / #9
Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1978)
The Doctor and Sarah arrive safely back on Earth — or do they?

Why does the mysterious soldier march straight over a cliff — and then reappear unharmed?

Why are they attacked by the sinister mechanics with built-in guns for hands?

Why is a picturesque country village at first deserted — then filled with mindless zombies?

And why are their best friends suddenly trying to kill them?

The Doctor has stumbled on a cunning alien plan to take over the Earth. Will he be in time to defeat the deadly Kraals and their terrifying android invasion?

Back Cover Blurb — Pinnacle Books
DOCTOR WHO MEETS HIS CLONE

Doctor Who, that cocky, crazy, cosmic hobo, and his delightful companion, Sarah, land in the small English village of Devesham. The TARDIS has brought them safely home at last. Or has it? At first the picturesque village seems deserted, but then they discover zombie-like inhabitants who won't answer their questions, and a mysterious soldier who marches over a cliff and reappears without a scratch. And then there are the weird coffin-like meteorites that open up and contain human-like creatures. Have the body snatchers returned? What Doctor Who doesn't know is that the village is not English at all, nor is it on Earth. It's a replica on the polluted Planet Oseidon, the radiation-infested home of the Kraals. The few surviving Kraals must find a new home fast and are sending androids to Earth to take it over.

Will Doctor Who be able to outsmart his own android clone in a face-to-face battle of wits and stop the android invasion of Earth?
Television Story
The Android Invasion
Script Writer: Terry Nation

4 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

22/11/75 Part One
29/11/75 Part Two
06/12/75 Part Three
13/12/75 Part Four

Search (VHS) Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com
All episodes exist and have been released on video in the UK and United States.
Regular Characters
Fourth Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith

Familiar Faces
RSM Benton / Harry Sullivan
Notes
  • The Android Invasion was a rare beast, being one of only two stories written by Terry Nation for the television series which did not feature the Daleks. The other was the distinctly average The Keys of Marinus, broadcast way back in 1964.
Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius

Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius cover image
by Terrance Dicks
  • UK
  • Hardback
  • Allan Wingate Ltd
  • May 1977
Other Editions
Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / June 1977 / (No.7)

After 1978 the background colour of the cover to the Target edition was changed from red to yellow. Click here to see the revised cover.


Docteur Who: Le Cerveau de Morbius
Click for cover image France / Paperback / Editions Garancière / January 1987 / 5

Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / January 1991 / No.7
Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1977)
Why do so many spaceships crashland on Karn, a bleak, lonely and seemingly deserted planet?

Are they doomed by the mysterious powers of the strange, black-robed Sisterhood, jealously guarding their secret of eternal life? Or does the mad Dr Solon, for some evil purpose of his own, need the bodies of the victims? And more especially, the body of DOCTOR WHO...
Television Story
The Brain of Morbius
Script Writer: Robin Bland (pseudonym for Terrance Dicks)

4 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

03/01/76 Part One
10/01/76 Part Two
17/01/76 Part Three
24/01/76 Part Four

All episodes exist and have been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK. The story is due to be released on Region 1 DVD in the United States in October 2008.
Regular Characters
Fourth Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith

Familiar Faces
Morbius
Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius Audio Book
  • UK
  • BBC Worldwide
  • 4 × CD
  • February 2008
Unabridged reading of the novelisation, narrated by Tom Baker who played the Fourth Doctor in the television series.
Notes
  • A second novelisation of The Brain of Morbius was published in 1980 under the title Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius, again written by Terrance Dicks.
  • Warmonger, a sequel to The Brain of Morbius, was published as part of the Previous Doctor Adventures range of books in 2002. The novel was written by Terrance Dicks and is widely considered to be amongst the worst Doctor Who books ever to be published.
Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius

Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius cover image
by Terrance Dicks
  • UK
  • Hardback
  • WH Allen
  • June 1980
Other Editions
Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / 1980
Click for cover image UK / Paperback / Target Books / June 1987

Back Cover Blurb — Target Books (1980)
Why do spaceships crash on the remote planet of Karn?

Why is the evil Solon creating a monster in his secret laboratory?

Why does the witch-like Sisterhood hate and fear intruders?

The Doctor and Sarah must find the answers or lose their lives like the other victims of this terrifying planet.

Due to popular demand, Terrance Dicks has rewritten this DOCTOR WHO story especially for 5 to 8 year olds.
Television Story
The Brain of Morbius
Script Writer: Robin Bland (pseudonym for Terrance Dicks)

4 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

03/01/76 Part One
10/01/76 Part Two
17/01/76 Part Three
24/01/76 Part Four

All episodes exist and have been released on Region 2 DVD in the UK. The story is due to be released on Region 1 DVD in the United States in October 2008.
Regular Characters
Fourth Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith

Familiar Faces
Morbius
Notes
  • Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius was the second and final title in the series for younger readers, after the release of Junior Doctor Who and the Giant Robot the previous year.
Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom

Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom cover image
by Philip Hinchcliffe
  • UK
  • Paperback
  • Target Books
  • February 1977
  • (Book Number: 55)
Other Editions
Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom
Click for cover image UK / Hardback / Allan Wingate Ltd / February 1977
Click for cover image USA / Paperback / Pinnacle Books / March 1980 / #10

Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom was also included as part of the Doctor Who Classics: The Seeds of Doom and The Deadly Assassin omnibus from Star Books in May 1989.
Back Cover Blurb — Target Books
In the snowy wastes of blizzard-swept Antarctica, a strange pod-like object is unearthed, buried deep in the ice. Curiosity turns to alarm as the pod begins to grow — then horror when suddenly it cracks open and a snaking green tendril shoots out, mercilessly seeking the nearest live victim...

In London, the botanical experts are bewildered. DOCTOR WHO is called in to fight this unknown horror. But will he be in time to save Earth from the rapidly spreading tentacles of the KRYNOID, giant man-eating monster from an alien world?

Back Cover Blurb — Pinnacle Books
PLANTS ATTACK MAN

In the frozen reaches of the Antarctic, deep in the permafrost, the World Ecology Bureau uncovers two of the strangest pods ever known to man — two pods that have been buried in ice for thirty thousand years.

Then, one of the pods is destroyed, and the second is stolen...

The pod is an alien Krynoid — hostile to all animal life — including man. Only Doctor Who is able to stop its spreading tentacles of destruction. But will he be in time to save mankind?
Television Story
The Seeds of Doom
Script Writer: Robert Banks Stewart

6 × 25 Minutes / BBC1 / Colour

31/01/76 Part One
07/02/76 Part Two
14/02/76 Part Three
21/02/76 Part Four
28/02/76 Part Five
06/03/76 Part Six

Search (VHS) Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com
All episodes exist and have been released on video in the UK and United States.
Regular Characters
Fourth Doctor / Sarah Jane Smith
Notes
  • Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom was the first of Philip Hinchcliffe's three Doctor Who novelisations to be released. He would go on to novelise the following story in transmission oreder, The Masque of Mandragora, as well as Terry Nation's First Doctor story The Keys of Marinus.
  • Philip Hinchcliffe is best known to Doctor Who fans as the producer of the television series between 1974 and 1977, and alongside Robert Holmes, who served as script writer over the same period, is widely considered to have overseen one of the best periods in the series' history. Highlights of this period include notable stories such as The Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, The Seeds of Doom, The Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.