Planet of Evil

Target novelisation Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil

Author	Terrance Dicks
Published	1977
ISBN	0 426 11682 8
First Edition Cover	Mike Little

Back cover blurb: 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?

• Book of Dullness by Tim Roll-Pickering

Book of Dullness by Tim Roll-Pickering 10/2/04

Both the original cover by Mike Little and the 1980s cover by Andrew Skilleter use the same shot of Professor Sorenson as their main reference point, exposing immediately the story's roots as a pastiche of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The Forbidden Planet homage remains strong, though the visual inspiration is less obvious in the printed form. However as a book Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil feels like a strong letdown. The text is short, coming in at only 120 pages, and for much of the time it feels as though Terrance Dicks is merely treading water by directly translating the camera scripts into prose form. On television the inadequacies of the story were disguised by the strong direction and the design work for the jungle, but the novelisation has no such fig leaves to hide behind. As a result the way that the universe is suddenly imperilled because of a few cannisters being taken away from a planet at its known limits or how the Doctor is able to save the situation by giving his word as a Time Lord both come across as weak and the result of not thinking through the basic story. Doctor Who is a series that contains many ridiculous moments but usually the internal logic behind them is consistent and stands up well. Here it is somewhat lacking and with the story revolving primarily around the effects of mutation and an attempt to escape an unseen other there is little left to fall back upon.

One way in which the book does feel somewhat different is in its treatment of the character of Salamar. On television it was his arrogance which stood out the most, but here in the book he comes across as an insecure young commander, overpromoted due to his family connections and fundamentally weak and thus making it easy for Vishinsky to override some of Salamar's more dubious orders. Vishinsky himself comes across as a level headed and dependable second-in-command who has risen due to his ability not his connections but otherwise does not come across as a particularly exciting character. Sarah is also not used to her best effect, whilst the Doctor has undergone a change from the norm for this charecterisation as the roaming traveller becomes partially replaced by effectively a figure of authority when he reasons with the creature in the pool to allow the Morestrans to leave the planet if they leave the anti-matter behind, giving his word as a Time Lord. The one character who comes across particularly well is Professor Sorenson, with his determination to take his discovery home and be remembered for providing so much far showing how his vanity is fuelled with the result that he is blinded to the danger he is placing both the resuce mission and the entire universe in.

This novelisation is reasonably well written and never leaves the reader confused or wanting to give up, but frequently it just fails to excite and one is left with the strong impression that very little time or attention was devoted to this book, especially when compared to Terrance Dicks' three immediately preceding novelisations (Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth, Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos and Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius). This feels like a book that has been produced en masse. 3/10