Doctor Who and the Android Invasion

Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #2

by Terrance Dicks, David Mann (Cover Artist)

When the TARDIS materialises just outside a sleepy English village, it appears the Doctor and Sarah Jane are nearly "home" at last. But all is not as it seems in rural paradise. White-suited, gun-wielding guards stalk the countryside, while the village itself is eerily deserted. As the Doctor and Sarah look on, a UNIT member leaps over a cliff to his death and, as the clock strikes twelve, the local pub is suddenly filled with strange robotic villagers. The UNIT member is amongst them, very much alive. What exactly is happening here?

The Doctor is mystified, setting off for UNIT HQ in search of answers. There, with the Brigadier away, Senior Defence Astronaut Guy Crayford holds court. But just who is his shadowy master, the Thraal, Styggron? Indeed, who are the Thraals and what have they got in store for the Earth? Why has the TARDIS dematerialised seemingly of its own accord?

The Doctor must move quickly to find the truth, for the very future of mankind hangs in the balance...

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

126 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 1978

About the author

Terrance Dicks was an English author, screenwriter, script editor, and producer best known for his extensive contributions to Doctor Who. Serving as the show's script editor from 1968 to 1974, he helped shape many core elements of the series, including the concept of regeneration, the development of the Time Lords, and the naming of the Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey. His tenure coincided with major thematic expansions, and he worked closely with producer Barry Letts to bring a socially aware tone to the show. Dicks later wrote several Doctor Who serials, including Robot, Horror of Fang Rock, and The Five Doctors, the 20th-anniversary special.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this story and Dicks novelisation highlights the more playful elements of this Season 13 serial.

Admittedly much of the story is rehashed ideas from previous tales - which you'd expect from a Terry Nation script.
UNIT themselves are pretty poorly served, but the initial setup is rather good.

I love the mystery of a seemingly deserted village with so many random clues, like why are all the coins dated as the same year?
I also find it odd that the TARDIS team are hopeful that they've arrived on Earth (especially as this feels like a repeat of the season opener Terror of the Zygons).
Though knowing that there's going to be an invasion with androids negates much of the initial premise.

The Kraals plans are quite preposterous which I quite appreciate, Dicks does atleast wrap up some loose ends from the televised story.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the fourth adventure of the thirteenth season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast in November and December of 1975. The original teleplay was written by the famous Terry Nation and was adapted to this prose format by Terrance Dicks, who wrote so many of them. The story features the fourth version of The Doctor, who is accompanied by Sarah Jane Smith. Former full-time companion Harry Sullivan returns in his swan song, as does Sergeant Benton of UNIT. It's one of two scripts written by Nation for the show that doesn't have Daleks. It's a very good spooky story with good mysterious elements, inspired perhaps by Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The TARDIS lands in what appears to be England but is instead a set on the planet Oseidon where the evil Kraals are plotting to cleanse the Earth so they can move in and take over. This is the ninth of ten Doctor Who books that Pinnacle Books reprinted in North America to introduce the character to the North American audience. Harlan Ellison wrote an enthusiastic introduction which was used at the beginning of all of them.

[Ben Goodridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it cheap to shore up my reading list with Doctor Who books? They're not particularly substantial. Literary snacks, really. Still, I read about a million of these things in the late 1980s, and, as books go, they're the kind of series I always wanted to write - brief, cerebral, pulpy, and prolific. And they look pretty on a shelf all in a row.

That having been said, they're numbered funny. Second on the list is based on a serial released when the TV series was 12 years old. Still, it's not like the story is unfamiliar: it's Doctor Who's take on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," with android duplicates raining down on England in pods, as spearhead to the Kraal invasion of Earth.

Terrance Dicks could be pretty economical with the stories he was contracted to novelize. His stories challenged the maxim that the book is always better. He does better with better material, but this wasn't a particularly lackluster story to start with, and I had the sense that he was phoning it in.

[Michael Sigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Who > New Who, hands down.

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

4th Doctor story. Very pulpy. Fun for fans, but novices to the Doctor may find it more cheesy. 3.9/5

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the latest in my following and reading along of Paul's Blog Now as I remember I enjoyed the tv version of this story. I can't really say the same for the book. It's not told with any gusto. It's like a bored person describing the events. You don't feel any sense of danger, elation, anything. This should have been a good read. There's a good story to tell here. It's the first time I've been disappointed by a Target novelisation. I'm worried it won't be the last....

[JJ Coetzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very enjoyable book, here Doctor Who uses his screwdriver for the first time to tell the androids from the humans, as the androids are exact mirror copies of other people. Thou this book was not as good as the first in the series reed, and lack some description I found it quite easy to imagine the scene of things, or it might be that I just have a very good imagination

[Mark]

"The Doctor said casually, 'That's all right. But keep your wits about you, Benton. Nobody knows who's who around here.' Pleased with his little joke, the Doctor went on his way." (p. 117)

Groan, Terrance. Groan.

[Julian White · Rating 2 out of 5]

pdf - which has a 1978 copyright date of publication (99 pages)

A rather underwhelming novelisation of a story that had some interesting variations on a sort of Pod People/Body Snatcher theme. The final sentence wraps things up somewhat abruptly: 'The android invasion was over.'

[Steven Poore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Functional, good for filling time in waiting rooms...

[Gareth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a mixed bag, and some of my scoring, to only put it at a 3, is likely more due to my feelings about characters involved in the story, rather than the story itself.
Some really good ideas in the story, and even though to the readers it is clear given the title from the get go what is going on, we do get to see from the Doctor and Sarah's point of view how there is a lot of mystery for them as to what is going on, coming up with lots of explanations that turn out to not be the case, but can see how they are working at it. A good twist near the end as well.
Outside of that though, the antagonists with one exception (Crayford) are somewhat one dimensional, and the one well fleshed out character, while good in of themselves, doesn't make up for the lack.
Sarah has a somewhat egregious moment of twisting her ankle, that really stuck out for me, and while reading all these books shows it doesn't happen too often, and most of the time in understandable circumstances, this one seemed to just be to make her a damsel. To be fair though, at least she eventually gets herself out of the mess.
The Doctor at least is in good form, but shouldn't be at the cost of the companion.
Then we come to UNIT - no brigadier in this story for the first time for a UNIT story, but at the same time, probably well out of it. While we get some good villainous versions of Harry and Benton, their actual characters are poorly served, especially Benton, for their final story in Doctor Who (the TV version at least, happily Audio versions have provided more). Seemed especially silly regarding Harry, given that he had a good farewell in the Loch Ness Monster.
So, not a bad story, but the characters we know well, seemed poorly served for the most part.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of a bunch of novelizations of Doctor Who episodes that were first published in America. My brother had the set, back in the day. I think all of them featured the same exact introduction by Harlan Ellison. When Tom Baker was still The Doctor (that's how old I am), I was a knocked-out fan. Was so for years -- until about ten minutes into Colin Baker's first episode. Cured that addiction in a snap.

I discovered some of the American editions online for free, so I thought I'd read about an episode I'd nearly forgotten about, "The Android Invasion." Big mistake.

If you're interested in a classic Doctor Who story, just see if you can find it on YouTube or a streaming service. Don't bother with the books. They're crap -- and that might be insulting to crap. There are almost no descriptions. There are some mildly interesting thoughts from the characters (such as the Doctor being against foxhunting), but that's it. Terrance Dicks assumed that anyone reading this was a fan of the show, so no back stories are given.

I don't think Terrance sticks had hold of the final version of the script when he set out to write this, or just didn't care. My memory of this episode is foggy, but a few scenes came back to me. The dialogue seemed to be wrong in regards to Harry's medals. This would be the last story where Harry appears.

There is some funny dialgue between Sarah and the Doctor. That was the charm of the Tom Baker years -- good script writing, and three-dimensional companions who didn't just look pretty and need to be rescued all of the time.

[Mikes Dw Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original story is possibly the weakest in season 13 but its still pretty enjoyable. Part 1s mysterious village and the androids themselves are pretty good. Sadly the rest of the story becomes a run around of grunting monsters saying something will happen. It happens but then it's revealed it was a test for real one. Written by Terry nation at the hight of his success he didn't really have the time for doctor who or really care as much. So we get a ton of re used ideas and the rest is written by script editors trying to make this story work. On TV it just works, it's daft, but its fun.

However as a book, it's quite dull and meaningless. I can't blame Terry nation completely because Terrance dicks doesn't really add anything at all to help the script either which is a shame. The story has lots of padding which makes the book suffer as a flowing read. Now this is normal for tv the show as they did that quite often to fill out 4 or 6 weeks but as a book it drags the story down so much.

The opening part 1 is still very enjoyable and we do get some more understanding of what the Kraals want to do to earth. We do also get some more scenes with the robot doctor but it still has that fake ending with the said doctor.

Overall its okay but lacks the fun from the original tv story.

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always Terrance has done an excellent adaptation. The pacing is great and the prose clear and easy to read. There’s just enough extra detail to flesh out the scenery and the story doesn’t have an major alterations.

I’ve always been a little disappointed in this since the very first time I saw it as a kid. It’s the almost UNIT story. If they were going to have Harry and Benton, they needed the Brig. If Nick Courtney wasn’t available, they should have just had regular army at the Research Station. The half UNIT just doesn’t sit right with me. I freely admit that’s a personal bias, and not a failing of the story.

There are some minor changes to the broadcast version. The climatic fight scenes in the scanner room and onboard the XK5 are slightly different. And the ginger pop clue that Sarah is an android is missing. The android Sarah drinking it is included, but the setup where the real Sarah says she can’t stand it is missing. The scene still works because of the Sarahs jacket the Doctor used to draw off the dogs and the android Sarah is wearing, but I liked that nice subtle clue to the different Sarahs.

This is a good solid story and a well done adaptation. Not in my top 10, but an enjoyable read.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

An adaption of a Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) story featuring Sarah Jane Smith. Apparently returning to Earth, the Doctor and Sarah Jane begin to suspect that something is amiss and are chased by mysterious aggressors. Then they encounter some familiar faces who are behaving very strangely.

It's androids.
Obviously.
There is only one thing that would've made this story interesting and that is if there were some genuine mystery as to why Harry Sullivan and Sergeant Benton are acting out of character. Unfortunately the answer to the mystery is plastered all over the cover and therefore all that's left is a very lacklustre and derivative 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers' knock-off (something Who has already done many times and much better).

The only redeeming feature, and the reason I've not given this a one-out-of-five, is that the erratic charm and wit of Baker's incarnation of the Doctor is on full display here.
I particularly liked the scene where an enemy says there's no time for pleasantries and the Doctor replies "How about 'unpleasantries', pig face?"

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *

[Ezekiel Thorp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple but effective novelisation of a TV story for the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith from 1975, which also saw the last appearances of Sergeant Benton and Harry Sullivan.

It's from an era when the novelisations were clearly written with a younger audience in mind, so maybe keep that in mind when you're starting. It captures the tone of the TV original well though, even though the ending is as rushed and abrupt as it was in that version (and they took out one of my very favourite jokes in Doctor Who).

It's no masterpiece, by any means, but a genuine slice of 70s nostalgia and well worth giving a go (and soon to become more readily available via a new audiobook)

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Android Invasion (1978) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the thirteenth season of Doctor Who.

The Doctor and Sarah land on a planet that looks just like earth but they find a deserted village that is suddenly populated by people who are acting just a bit strange. From the title you can guess what’s happening.

Doctor Who and the Android Invasion is a reasonable Doctor Who serial. The TV version did the parts in the village better.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Terrance Dicks rescue mission. On television, "The Android Invasion" is one of the few shaggy dog stories in the otherwise peerless gothic/early 4th Doctor era. In prose, Mr. Dicks sews up the logic holes, strips the fat from the story, and gives it a proper conclusion. The end result is miles better than the original source material.

[John Barclay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second of my re-read of the old books. Great to jump around from doctor to doctor and enjoy the stories outside of the timeline.

Another good story if you ignore the bits that don't work or make sense and full of the fun of Baker's version of the Doctor.

Really enjoying the simple short action story of these books.

Great for a terrible year in so many other ways.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an ok serial and a pretty good retelling of it. Dicks glosses over a lot of faults in the plot and adds a lot of detail to lull the reader into thinking the story is a lot tighter than it really is.

[George O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for what it is. Light and entertaining. Not great writing and the ending is like the author got bored of writing. The last line is literally "The Android Invasion was over". Still, these books are enjoyable.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Doctor Who book.

[Foodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt exactly like watching the classic episodes from the 70's. I was able to really visualize it the way the show used to be.

[Damon Habbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay book adds a little extra background

[Juliette Reneaume · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read about the Doctor with his wonderful companion Sarah Jane Smith.

[Paul McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime Doctor Who.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

more fun

[Mark waite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story and an underrated 70s adventure

[Egghead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read early in life.
Dicks dashes through plot breathlessly:
Aliens, robots, drinks.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good action packed story. It was small scale and moved along fast. I thought it ended too quickly but otherwise was good.