Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors

Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #33

by Brian Hayles

1st Target 1976 edition paperback good In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Audiobook, Time Travel, Science Fiction Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 1976

About the author

Brian Hayles (7 March 1931 - 30 October 1978) was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His body of work as a writer for television and film, most notably for the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, lasted from 1963 to 1989.

Hayles wrote six stories for Doctor Who and is best known for his creation of the Celestial Toymaker in the 1966 story of the same name, the Ice Warriors, introduced in the 1967 story of the same name, and the feudal planet Peladon, the setting for The Curse of Peladon and its sequel The Monster of Peladon. His other stories were The Smugglers and The Seeds of Death.

In addition to script writing for the radio series The Archers, Hayles penned a novel based on the soap called Spring at Brookfield (Tandem, 1975) set in the period between the two world wars. His other books included novelisations of his Doctor Who serials The Curse of Peladon (Target, 1974) and The Ice Warriors (Target, 1976), an adaptation of his scripts for the BBC drama The Moon Stallion (Mirror Books, 1978), and two horror plays for children, The Curse of the Labyrinth (Dobson, 1976) and Hour of the Werewolf (Dobson, 1976). An original novel entitled Goldhawk (NEL, 1979) was published posthumously.

Apart from Doctor Who, Hayles wrote for such television series as The Regiment, Barlow at Large, Doomwatch, Out of the Unknown, United!, Legend of Death, Public Eye, Z-Cars, BBC Playhouse, The Wednesday Thriller and Suspense. He also wrote the screenplays for the feature films Nothing But the Night (1972) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978). The novelisation of the latter by Paul Victor (Futura, 1978) included a preface by Hayles entitled 'The Thinking Behind Atlantis' in which he explained the origins of the film's central concepts.

Hayles's final screenplay was for Arabian Adventure (1979), which he completed shortly before his death on 30 October 1978. The novelisation of the film by Keith Miles (Mirror Books, 1979) was dedicated to his memory.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the third serial from the fifth season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast in November and December of 1967. Brian Hayles adapted his own teleplay for the book, and, as in all of the best such novelizations, added some background and depth and characterization to the story. It's one of the early Doctor books, from before the Target standard format. The Doctor is in his second regeneration, and is accompanied by Scotsman Jamie McCrimmon from the eighteenth century and young Victorian Victoria Waterfield. This is one of Victoria's best adventures; she comes through as competent, intelligent, and brave. The TARDIS team arrives outside of Brittanicus Base on an Earth that's in the grip of an another ice age, and the three are soon caught up in several political and militaristic conflicts. This is the story that introduces the Ice Warriors, one of the best not-robotic antagonists; they're pesky Martian marauders bent on taking over the Earth. It's a good, exciting story, with several intriguing twists.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The description of something in the Ice, as the green tint of the eight foot warrior - especially with its helmet is simply described.

Season five has a certain cold vibe and I love that the TARDIS team references their previous adventure in Tibet.

The novelization was my first experience with the story and whilst it's not the strongest base under seige adventure of this era, it still has it's strong entertaining moments.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Doctor arrives on Earth in a future beset by a new ice-age. Scientists struggle to find a way to hold back the inexorable advance of the glaciers. Meanwhile a strange humanoid figure is discovered trapped and perhaps preserved in the ice.
I guess I was around ten when I first read this in the 1970s. I'd been far too young to catch The Ice Warriors when first broadcast in 1967. And I'd have to wait another 25 years or so to finally get my hands on the specially reconstructed edition on VHS to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Doctor Who. I hold The Ice Warriors in very high esteem, ranking it in the higher echelons of Patrick Troughton stories; it's hugely atmospheric, surprisingly arctic for the budget, well cast, funny, dramatic and a good script. The book is all those things, with a no limits effects budget and if it differs in small ways from the original production it's mainly due to what the actors brought to the characters themselves, most notably the humour and goofing of the Tardis crew in the first episode. Britannicus Base is realised better on the page. Finally that image of a full on country house, complete with lawns and terraces sheltered by an environment dome is achieved. I'd like to proclaim that this book introduced one of the great Who 'monster' races to me but I'd actually already encountered the Ice Warriors on tv via their Peladon appearances (also penned by Bryan Hayles). The book did spark a bit of interest in what glaciers were to my young mind. Previously glaciers were the bit of the dinosaur encyclopaedia that I'd been a bit dismissive of. Arden's very funny line,"Oh, not another Mastodon," wasn't in the book or I'd have certainly sympathised. I was disappointed to learn that glaciers weren't quite as sprightly as the Doctor Who variety. There are a lot of conflicts of opposites going on throughout, transforming the now familiar base under siege Troughton plot into a crackingly fascinating story; science against nature, the clash of personality between Leader Clent and temperamental scientist Penley, not to mention the mammalian v reptilian stand-off between the Humans and the Martians. Even through my rosy nostalgia haze I have to admit that at times the pseudo science jargon is sometimes a bit much and too much time is spent rationalising the science. Though in its defence it does make the science guff exceedingly convincing guff. But that's an impression that I have reading it at age 45. At age ten the main thought that was in my mind was finding more Target novelisations.
Original artwork , features on script to novel, Brian Hayles and a new introduction by Mark Gatiss.

[Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this 5 stars, as I enjoyed it a lot. Novelizations are at their best when they add something to the original story, while retelling them in a accurate and interesting way at the same time. In my opinion, Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors did both. I was more invested in the story this time, compared to watching it (well, most of it, with episodes 2 and 3 falling prey to the junking policy of the BBC). I always thought this was a good serial and it worked well as a book. The format of a novel allows for more information and it made a big difference with the side characters, who are actually quite central to the plot and had more complex characterization compared to the TV version.

The relationship of this Tardis Team was nicely portrayed, with some lovely moments at the beginning of the adventure.
I really liked how Victoria and Jamie weren't patronized for not being able to keep up with the all science discussed by the Doctor and the staff of the base. Obviously, as companions from past centuries, they would have no way of knowing any of it, but that doesn't make them useless or stupid. They both try to be helpful and ask good questions and make important observations. I liked how they distrusted and questioned the practice of a computer telling people what to do. This is a more Victoria heavy story and she comes off quite well. Yes, she is afraid, as anyone should be when facing the formidable and ruthless Ice Warriors but she tries to overcome it and holds her own. She is definitely one of the companions who is often dismissed by fans as damsel in distress which simply isn't true. Victoria is intelligent, observant, curious and kind, she can think quickly on her feet if she needs to and does it while being frightened and out of her depth. I think that is quite admirable, and she deserves more than being written of as a useless screamer.

The introduction was a good start to the reading experience, which surprised me because most of the time introductions either bore me or annoy me, especially in biographical works (letter collections etc) and classics, when the person writing the introduction tries to push their interpretation of the text onto the readers. The republished Doctor Who Target novels have more personal introductions, describing the importance and the influence of these books on the author and their appreciation of the story, and Doctor Who in general. This one, written by Mark Gatiss, is really nice.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice introduction to a much under used monster, the story does drag in some places though.

[Scott Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best TV serials of the Patrick Troughton era, The Ice Warriors is known for introducing these opponents of the Doctor. The effectiveness of their portrayal in the TV serial is due both to the costumes and to actor Bernard Bresslaw as Varga. Hayles, author of both the TV script and this novelisation, does a good job of capturing the atmosphere of the original. However, lacking the actors' performances, some characters are diminished. The monomaniacal personality of Clent, in particular, becomes more obvious. Of course, he makes a good foil for the Doctor, and the backstory with Penley adds depth, but at times he seems less of a character and more of a plot device.

[Alys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good, I loved how scientific it was with strong characters and the dilemma was introduced immediately. Plot was a little repetitive, people kept being captured and hiding and arguing some of which seemed a little pointless.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the Earth tries to use technology to halt a new Ice Age, a frozen soldier is retrieved from the ice and, when it is revived, it begins plans to take over the planet. The Doctor will stop at nothing to foil its plan.

A nice easy read, Hayles follows the original script closely, but rearranges events slightly to help them work better on the page.

[Dylan Reay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, felt like a bit of a slog at times. It just seemed a bit back and forth and could have been shorter. In saying that it might have been an issue with the original episode/script as I know this is an adaptation.

[Ivana Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked this adaptation. It probably helped that Hayles was adapting his own script, but it still feels like he was writing for Pertwee at times, as the Doctor often uses phrases such as ' old chap' and ' my dear man'. In general though, it's not at all bad.
A passing thought on Target novels in general - this book has 144 pages to cover nearly 2.5 hrs of t.v, and (like a lot of them) the placing of the cliffhangers are a bit odd. It takes 44 pages before we even get to the end of pt 1 - thankfully in this case there was enough padding in the form of chases around ice caves that the rest doesn't seem too rushed. The longer stories often suffer due to the short page count, so heaven help us for 'The War Games' ( which I've not read for years, but will get around to before too long).

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story in which a second ice age has gripped Earth. Humanity is desperately trying to hold the glaciers back but somewhere inside the ice lies an alien spaceship and a small number of terrifying alien warlords from the planet Mars.

Featuring the Second Doctor along with Jamie and Victoria the Ice Warriors is one of the episodes previously thought lost forever and the DVD has recently been released with episodes 2 and 3 animated.

Though this novelization was good... It wasn't brilliant. I enjoyed it and it was wonderful reading the introduction of the brilliant Ice Warriors. One of my favourite villains of the entire series. The biggest flop with this novelization was that it was trying to re-create the episode too much. There are times where it depends on your memory of the characters appearances that you'd only have known of if the episode had been watched.

Though, that said, it was a fun story and I would recommend it to people hoping to begin reading the novelizations of episodes. And who doesn't like a good sonic blast from the Ice Warriors every now and then? :)

[Jack Iles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Gatiss describes Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors as a classic, and I am inclined to agree with him. Over the years I have become desensitised to the situations of peril within Doctor Who. Our heroes usually face an overconfident adversary who can be easily defeated by chucking toffees at them or something equally as outrageous. But within this adventure I began to feel the peril once more. The Ice Warriors posed a very real threat and maintained the upper hand over the Doctor into the final pages. Their defeat came both as a surprise and was very clever. As a story it is faultless, however it failed to achieve five-star status because of the sheer number of exclamation marks used throughout. Within speech it was fine, but within the prose it began to feel like Brian Hayles was shouting at me. I was scared enough as it was...

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a pity that Brian Hayles left us so early...his Target novelizations demonstrate a desire to delve into the heart of his stories that goes far beyond the surface gloss of his scripts. Both the novelizations of "The Curse of Peladon" and "The Ice Warriors" manage to cut out the filler and replace it with fascinating layers to the societies Hayles has imagined, and the cast of characters that populates each one. Definitely worth another look.

[Jacob Licklider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Hayles despite having written for the first three Doctors, only novelized two of his stories before his passing. Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon was a novelization that did an excellent job on expanding upon the television story since it was translating a four part story into a longer novelization. It did such a good job of bringing the Ice Warriors to page it placed into the mind of the fans that the Ice Warriors weren’t villains, so it is interesting that the other story Hayles novelized was The Ice Warriors, their first appearance where they were firmly in villain territory. Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors is a book that has an interesting pace. As an adaptation of a six parter, it’s one of those stories that focuses more on the first half of the story than the second half. This is actually to the story’s benefit in quite a few ways since the first half of the story is a stronger buildup, with the base already under siege from the forces of nature before the aliens show up. The sequences with the computer and the Doctor attempting to fix things in his own Doctorish way. Hayles is a master at writing the Second Doctor who is a very difficult Doctor to capture in prose, with many original novels failing to adequately translate the character to screen.



It helps that through portions of Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors the Doctor is in the background allowing Hayles’ supporting characters and even Victoria to shine at points. This is something which means that every character gets their own plot and character arc while Hayles explores ideas like conspiracy theorists around science arising when the world is in crisis, to a race of aliens who are simply attempting to survive though that survival is inevitably through the colonization of another planet. This is also an interesting idea that was there on television that is allowed to shine in the prose. The last three episodes only take up about 40 pages of this book’s page count and because of that it means several lengthy shot sequences are translated well as Derek Martinus’ directorial style (and really any director’s style especially in a show like Doctor Who) can be translated with the shortening of several longer sequences. The final few scenes do suffer from the compression, with the ending of the book kind of just creeping up on you as the resolution happens and almost immediately the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria are off on another adventure. Client is also a character toned down in the novelization which helps with the weird trend of Season 5’s base under siege stories to fit the mold of leader on the edge of a nervous breakdown.



Overall, Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors is perhaps the superior way to experience the story as it’s a very quick read with a lot of atmosphere and buildup in tension of the story that comes to a head and quickly resolves without dragging out the back half of a six-episode television serial. The characterization is some of the best for the Second Doctor and company. 9/10.

[Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors, by Brian Hayles. Target, 1976. Number 33 in the Doctor Who Library. 144 pages, paperback. Original script by Brian Hayles. BBC, 1967.

This adventure features the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria.

The TARDIS seems to have left one snowy landscape for another. This time it isn’t the mountains of Tibet but is actually England in the distant future. Mankind’s own tinkering with pollution and the atmosphere has brought the world to the brink of destruction as the glaciers of a new Ice Age advance on civilization.

A team of scientists are trying to control the wall of ice using an advanced piece of technology called the Ioniser. A small expedition from their base was planting probes in the ice when they made a remarkable discovery: a man frozen for centuries. Overcome by scientific curiosity, Arden, the leader of the expedition, digs out a giant cube of ice containing the man and returns to base but not before losing one of his team.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria leave the TARDIS and, quite by accident, find the base as the personnel are preparing to evacuate. Though captured and initially thought to be scavengers, it doesn’t take long for the Doctor to convince Clent, leader of the base, and Garret, chief scientist, of his value.

Arden begins to thaw out his discovery which he’s named an Ice Warrior. The Doctor goes to help the base personnel with the Ioniser and Jamie follows, leaving Victoria alone with the Ice Warrior. He awakens and leaves the base, taking Victoria hostage, and stealing the devices Arden used to thaw him out. Varga, the Ice Warrior, reveals to Victoria that there are more of his Martian kind trapped in the ice.

When the Doctor and the base crew realize that the Ice Warrior and Victoria are gone, they surmise that there must be a spaceship hidden in the ice and can’t use the Ioniser for fear of causing a nuclear holocaust. Desperate to find out more, Arden and Jamie plan a rescue.

Can the Doctor rescue Victoria, defeat the Ice Warriors, and save the world before the glaciers crush them all?

Brian Hayles tells a great story. He has a real mastery of using the right words and sentence structure to build tension, to raise the stakes, and to keep the reader reading. To me, The Ice Warriors reads like a “boys” adventure. Gripping narrative, great characters, excellent use of cliffhangers. It’s probably been twenty years since I last read this story but I may add it to a regular rotation. I don’t know why I haven’t read it more often. The only thing lacking might be illustrations like those found the The Daemons, or The Zarbi, or The Cybermen.

Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors is a fantastic story. Highly recommend.

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on his own script this is number 33 in the Target catalogue. The cover art is be Chris Achilleos.

This is the first Ice Warrior story. I like the Ice Warriors, but this isn’t my favourite story. I think their return in The Seeds of Death is much better. However, this is where they began and gave them their moniker of Ice Warriors. As a Doctor Who monster/villain they are excellent, and haven’t been ruined by NuWho, Cold War is one of my favourite 11th Doctor episodes. I hope it gets Targeted.

I prefer this book to the broadcast version. The TV version has six parts, but doesn’t have enough plot to sustain it and it drags. I think the book has much better pacing. Although the book does lack the amazing future fashion. I can’t wait until we’re all dressed in such funky outfits.

Clent is also missing his walking stick in the book. I don’t know whether that was a necessity for the actor or a prop, but it added to his character. I was surprised by it’s omission from the book. The other character who kept jarring was Storr. He’s described in the book as large and imposing, which suits a scavenger character, but I kept seeing the small weedy Loch Ness bar keep from the TV version with his significant accent. The other problem with that character is the name. I kept thinking he was a Sontaran.

But these are only minor qubbles of variation between screen and book. The big problem which I’d never noticed in the TV version, though it is there as well, is the gaping plot hole. The story is set in Britain trying to hold back glaciers from a new ice age. It’s near-ish future, yet the Ice Warriors and their spaceship have been stuck in the glacier for thousands of years. That’s simply not possible. There are no glaciers in Britain. All the glaciers in the story have formed as part of the new ice age so the Ice Warriors can’t have been trapped in those as they haven’t been there for thousands of years. And they can’t be in any old glaciers that have moved south with the wether as Britain is an island and glaciers only move downhill so there is no way existing glaciers could flow on to Britain It dosen’t really effect the story, but it did strike me as simply impossible in an otherwise credible story of climate change.

It is a good story in book format and I can see myself re-reading it in the future

[Andrew Foxley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brian Hayles' novelisation of his own television adventure from 1967 sees the Second Doctor and his travelling companions Jamie and Victoria having their first encounter with the Ice Warriors from the planet Mars, one of the all-time great alien menaces the series has produced.

The basic premise of the story is pretty interesting - we’re on a future Earth in the midst of a new Ice Age, and a scientific base in what used to be the UK is working to halt the progress of an advancing glacier with its Ioniser device. Meanwhile, an ancient giant has been unearthed, preserved in ice. So far, so good. But aside from the premise and the Ice Warriors themselves, this isn’t the most thrilling of stories. The Martians don’t have much of a plan, and the humans aren’t a particularly likeable bunch - especially Leader Clent, who’s pretty tedious and one-note, his grumpiness and over-reliance on his supercomputer wearing thin rather quickly. The potential of the concept isn’t really exploited to the full, and whilst Hayles does a decent enough job of translating his scripts to the page, this doesn’t stand out as anything special in the Target novelisations range.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bryan Hayles adapts his own story in Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors, introducing the Martian giants and boy... It's not Hayles' fault, but poor Jamie has been freezing his knees off in three consecutive stories now, hasn't he? Though I was afraid the technobabble would take over from that first scene, it's actually a competent and fast-paced action story in the end, Hayles giving his guest characters slightly more depth (Miss Garrett is more sympathetic, for example). Pace is an interesting thing to examine, actually. The first two parts (of six) comprise more than half the page count, pointing to a lot of padding in the last four on television. Indeed, we're spared the terrifying threat of a bear cub and Jamie doesn't need to pass out, come to and pass out again. The cuts are for the good. The bit I do question is that he's changed (in his mind, updated?) the reason for the New Ice Age, and it's... we overdid it with recycling and "depollution"? I'm not sure that's the messaging I want young readers to get...

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I really enjoyed the unusual setting for this book. It would have fit right in with a lot of the dystopian fiction that has become so popular these days. This future setting of an Earth facing another ice age is already quite dramatic, but throw in the alien ice warriors for which the story becomes most known elevates things to a new level.

This story has so many fantastical elements from an Ioniser that melts the glaciers, the computer Ecco that evaluates the best course of action for the base to take to fight the ice, and of course throw in the Doctor getting involved and there's so much to go for. This novelization really helps to flesh out the story of Varga and his fellow Martian warriors more and the serious threat they represent.

It was actually rather tricky to even project how this story would be ultimately resolved in a Doctor Who manner, but the ending was still pretty satisfying. I really enjoyed this story and I wish I had seen the Classic episode beforehand.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly pushing a bit over a four, but not sure. I really like the idea of a future ice age presented here, shown really well how climate can differ quite drastically to today, and how humankind would try and fight it. Mixed into this comes the Ice Warriors, a nice menacing presence in this one to add quite a bit of tension to the overall story as well.
Compared to the previous one, Victoria is a bit more of a straight damsel in distress it feels unfortunately, not getting to be as proactive as much though at least does look to have moments of being to get herself out of trouble for a nice change.
The Doctor and Jamie in good form as usual, the one off characters a little bit more one dimensional though, leaving me more ambivalent about their fates, though I thought Clent was more rounded than perhaps his equivalent from the Tenth Planet, Cutler, which was good.
Overall, some really great ideas in this, and not too bad as read otherwise.

[George Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another novelisation of one of the lost Classic Doctor Who stories. This time they land sometime in the earth's future. Men had inadvertently caused another ice age that was causing glaciers to advance across the globe. Most of the population has evacuated to the equator regions. A group of world scientists are creating what they call an ionizing beam to reverse the spread of the glaciers.

As they are about to use the ionizing beams a giant warrior is found frozen in the ice. When he is thawed he returns to life. We find out he is a warrior sent to Earth millions of years ago to take over the Earth. The frozen warrior revives his fellow warriors who then try to take over the station.

This was a fun story. Unfortunately, the audiobook version of the story was hard to follow whenever the warriors spoke which was a little frustrating.

I enjoyed the story.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors (1976) is the novelisation of the third serial from the fifth season of Doctor Who. The second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive in a world where there has been a new ice age.

Interestingly the ice age has been caused by the removal of carbon dioxide which was done as a computer program suggested too much recycling of carbon dioxide.

But after that the story goes into a familiar sort of Doctor Who pattern. A group of scientists are in this case fighting glaciers, they uncover a mysterious figure trapped in the ice that they defrost. Ice Warriors ensue. They initially suspect the doctor but soon come to see that he is amazing.

Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors is another pretty forgettable Doctor Who novel.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, interesting story. The Ice Warriors are present in the old and new shows. They have some personality but are bent on conquest here. It is an interesting premise for today's reader as efforts to combat climate change have worked too well bringing on an ice age. Now scientists are working to warm up the planet to keep the glaciers at bay.
The Doctor, companions, and story characters all have a little bit of building and story to them, so it is not a flat story.
It was nice to pick this up soon after reading the Snowman (Yeti) story since they are sequential and some reference is at the beginning.

[F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third Doctor Who book (and adventure) I ever read and experienced. It was one of my favourites for a long while as a child. In fact, I distinctly recall waking up far too early on Christmas morning, and settling down with this book for a couple of hours before I deemed it acceptable to wake my parents up.

I watched this adventure a year or so after I read this book, and I have to say I enjoyed the book a lot more than the episodes. This was mainly because all classic Doctor Who episodes were either so white they bored your eyes out, or so dark you were squinting to make out the characters.

Also — if the book’s got Jamie, in it, you have to love it, don’t you?

[Mal 🏳️‍🌈🏴‍☠️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ice Warriors n Ice n Stuff

This’ll be a brief little review.

The setting of the plot is this sort of ice age/apocalypse, with provides the necessary chills for the plot, which sees the uncovering of the Ice Warriors who are dead-set on escaping the planet or dominating it. The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria do their part in stopping them.

It’s a cute little story, with a lot of 60s Who charm. Is it perfect? No. And did it drag a little as it follows the common tropes of “oh no! Companion kidnapped!”, yes, but still. It’s a fun, interesting story that I enjoyed.

Solid and simple. 7.5/10.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victoria... I love her so much and she's so sweet in this. I'd read literally anything for Victoria content but this was like a fun re-telling of the serial. It actually cut out/changed kind of a lot, which is partly why I didn't rate it higher :( it cut out some of the parts in the original serial that I really liked. The writing style also didn't really jive with me, but I got more Victoria content and that's all that mattered.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Doctor Who: 6/10

Definitely a story best read by an avid fan of 60s Who. Classic Base Under Seige, with little room for character interactions.

As a SF novel: 2/10

Does not develop it themes well enough to work as a stand alone or introductionary story.

Adaption quality: 10/10

This is the best way to enjoy the story, as most of the episodes are missing and the animated recreations, which are good, feel slower than the books.

[Mars G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novelization. It is, again, one that I didn't see televised in my watch - perhaps it is lost or perhaps the streaming service I used didn't have it.

Either way, I enjoyed this one. I thought that it was a bit creative rather than the same cut - and - dry "rescuing folks from certain doom" (that isn't to say that I don't love that, though).

Read it!

[fred jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better early Troughton stories adapted by the scriptwriter who adds a bit of extra detail and depth to his original script. As with all the Target books it is quite short and looses the Cliffhanger endings but this is One of the better ones. Frasier Jones does an excellent job with the narration and the voices..

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s nothing actually wrong with this book but it remains a novelisation that I’ve never really cared for. The characters are well-written (especially Victoria), the settings (all three of them) are striking, but I just don’t enjoy it all that much: it’s very much a ‘me’ problem rather than a Brian Hayles problem, I’ll add.