THE RIBOS OPERATION

[Tony]

Here we are discussing Ian Marter's novelization of THE RIBOS OPERATION! If you want to hear your review of or comments on this book read on the air, or you have a specific question about the book, please post it here by no later than 5pm CST on Friday, September 17!

[Michael]

In my early days of Target reading, I was kind of annoyed that Ian Marter didn't follow the Terrance Dicks style of adapting the script exactly as it appeared on my screen. In the intervening years, my tastes have changed (I hope for the better) and I've come to appreciate this Target novel a great deal. It's got a good script by Robert Holmes and it's a solid adaptation.

It may be one of the best fourth Doctor Target books of its era.

[Damon]

Good Robert Holmes character pairings as usual and also nice to read an Ian Marter book to break up uncle Terrance's style of penmanship.

A book that's better than the TV show due to budget restraints.

it's a great start to the key to time arc and a fantastic introduction to Romana.

3 stars

[Dave]

I found this a disappointing book though, to be fair, I wasn't that keen on the televised story in the first place, thinking most of it dull. Marter has made four annoying changes in the first chapter alone. The first two concern the TARDIS doors. In modern Who the inside of the doors to the outside are a mirror of the Police box doors on the outside, but at this point in the show they are solid, and larger than the outside, yet Marter has the light shining through the frosted glass. On screen the light shines through the partly opened doors. The doors are opened with a brass door handle, whereas on screen they are operated with a lever on the console. At first, I couldn't understand how a former companion could get something so basic so wrong but, I realised, although Harry made two journeys aboard the TARDIS, we only saw him going into or coming out of the Police box prop. Marter probably never saw the console set as it wasn't used during his time on the show, so it would have been in storage. Also, he wrote the book before the internet so would have had difficulty finding photo references.
Then there's the dialogue changes. On screen, Romana thinks she was sent by the President of Gallifrey to help the Doctor, but in the book she knows it's the White Guardian. I can't remember when she finds out the truth, but this might have confusing ramifications for a future book.
The other dialogue change in chapter one *really* annoys me. When the Doctor asks the White Guardian what will happen to him if he refuses the mission, the Guardian tells him that nothing will happen to the Doctor, Ever. This benign threat, or possibly malignant reassurance, has led some fans to speculate that the White Guardian doesn't really appear at all, and it's just the Black Guardian in disguise. Marter seems to have decided to remove all doubt, and make the Guardian into a B-movie villain, replacing the subtle line with "You will not refuse, Doctor".
I managed to get to the end of the book, but I was racing through it as quickly as I could, and not paying too much attention on the way. Nothing leapt out to grab my attention, and I was glad to get it over with. I expected better from Ian Marter.