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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #14
Doctor Who and the Cybermen
In 2070, the Earth's weather is controlled from a base on the moon. But when the Doctor and his friends arrive, all is not well. They discover unexplained drops of air pressure, minor problems with the weather control systems, and an outbreak of a mysterious plague.With Jamie injured, and members of the crew going missing, the Doctor realises that the moonbase is under attack. Some malevolent force is infecting the crew and sabotaging the systems as a prelude to an invasion of Earth. And the Doctor thinks he knows who is behind the Cybermen.This novel is based on 'The Moonbase', a Doctor Who sci-fi story that was originally broadcast from 11 February-4 March 1967.Featuring the Second Doctor as played by Patrick Troughton, and his companions Polly, Ben and Jamie
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 19, 1975
19 people are currently reading
461 people want to read
About the author
Gerry Davis
36 books10 followersGerry Davis was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United!.
From 1966 until the following year, he was the script editor on the popular BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who made several appearances in the series over the following twenty-two years. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler, and following their work on Doctor Who, the pair teamed up again in 1970 when they created a science-fiction programme of their own, Doomwatch. Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972, and also spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler, and later a cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5.
Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who, penning the original script for Revenge of the Cybermen, in 1975, though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by the then script-editor Robert Holmes. He also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books. With Kit Pedler, he wrote the science-fiction novels Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters (1971), Brainrack (1974) and The Dynostar Menace (1975).
In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980). In late 1989 he and Terry Nation made a joint but unsuccessful bid to take over production of Doctor Who and reformat the series mainly for the American market. Gerry Davis died on August 31 1991.
From 1966 until the following year, he was the script editor on the popular BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who made several appearances in the series over the following twenty-two years. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler, and following their work on Doctor Who, the pair teamed up again in 1970 when they created a science-fiction programme of their own, Doomwatch. Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972, and also spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler, and later a cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5.
Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who, penning the original script for Revenge of the Cybermen, in 1975, though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by the then script-editor Robert Holmes. He also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books. With Kit Pedler, he wrote the science-fiction novels Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters (1971), Brainrack (1974) and The Dynostar Menace (1975).
In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980). In late 1989 he and Terry Nation made a joint but unsuccessful bid to take over production of Doctor Who and reformat the series mainly for the American market. Gerry Davis died on August 31 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
January 30, 2019
The Cybermen were such a hit during their debut story that they were instantly brought back to the show just four months later.
By this point Troughton was starting to settle into the role as The Doctor, with the base under siege storyline this serial would form the basis of much of the Second Doctor’s tenure.
It’s an entertaining novelisation of a basic story, as it’s one of the Target books it also includes some nice illustrations throughout.
It’s great that the BBC have started reprinting these, I hope they continue to do so...
By this point Troughton was starting to settle into the role as The Doctor, with the base under siege storyline this serial would form the basis of much of the Second Doctor’s tenure.
It’s an entertaining novelisation of a basic story, as it’s one of the Target books it also includes some nice illustrations throughout.
It’s great that the BBC have started reprinting these, I hope they continue to do so...
February 26, 2023
It’s a very solid base under siege cybermen story in the second doctor’s era with some good moments. Never been the biggest fan of this story to be honest. For some reason I also don’t really like the narration of this novelization. It feels quite dense, making for a bit of a slow pace. The illustrations are a nice bonus though.
September 27, 2021
This is a novelization of the sixth adventure from the fourth season of Doctor, which was broadcast as Doctor Who and the Moonbase in February and March of 1967. Gerry Davis wrote this adaptation, based on the teleplay he wrote with his frequent collaborator, Kit Pedler. The story is set in the time of the second version of the title character, who is accompanied by contemporary (1966) Englishmen Ben Jackson of the Royal Navy, hip young Polly (who was never given a last name), and 17th-century Scottish piper Jamie MacCrimmon. The story is set in 2070 on the Moon, where the Cybermen are using biological weapons to secure control of the Graviton, a machine used to control Earth weather. It's a good, fast-paced story with something interesting twists. Davis provides an introductory briefing of background for anyone unfamiliar with the show, and then sticks pretty close to the broadcast version of the story. This is one of the earliest of the novelizations, and includes very nice illustrations by Alan Willow.
July 13, 2011
'There are some corners of the universe... which have bred the most terrible things. Things which are against everything we have ever believed in. They...' he shivered in spite of himself,'... must be fought. To the death.'
I do like it when the Cybermen are sneaky. They really can be quite creepy as they infiltrate their targets, keeping hidden as they undermine and convert. All this stomping about in formation they do nowadays just doesn't have the same scare factor. But I'm a long way from nine years old now... so what do I know?
Script Editor Gerry Davis on the 1967 story transcribes the Kit Pedlar script to novel pretty much word for word. He does add a strong narrative though and there are also a few references to the real moon landing which hadn't taken place when the episodes were first shown but revisiting the script in 1975 gave him the chance to arm Ben and Polly with knowledge that would back up their new 1970s origins overwriting their 1960s one from debut story 'The War Machines'. It's a nice touch. The story relies on the often used 'base under siege' story template so often employed during Pat Troughton's era, though there's little attempt to keep the Cybermen under wraps as the tv episodes did. No mystery threat here. It's the Cybermen - woo-hoo. They're on the cover and we get a little origin prologue to kick off. With half of the serial missing reading this rereleased novelisation is probably the best way to either relive the adventure or discover it for the first time. Great stuff.
This new edition includes an introduction by Gareth Roberts, the original illustrations by Alan Willow, profiles of gerry Davis and Kit Pedlar and a look at the changes made to the tv script and the novelisation.
I do like it when the Cybermen are sneaky. They really can be quite creepy as they infiltrate their targets, keeping hidden as they undermine and convert. All this stomping about in formation they do nowadays just doesn't have the same scare factor. But I'm a long way from nine years old now... so what do I know?
Script Editor Gerry Davis on the 1967 story transcribes the Kit Pedlar script to novel pretty much word for word. He does add a strong narrative though and there are also a few references to the real moon landing which hadn't taken place when the episodes were first shown but revisiting the script in 1975 gave him the chance to arm Ben and Polly with knowledge that would back up their new 1970s origins overwriting their 1960s one from debut story 'The War Machines'. It's a nice touch. The story relies on the often used 'base under siege' story template so often employed during Pat Troughton's era, though there's little attempt to keep the Cybermen under wraps as the tv episodes did. No mystery threat here. It's the Cybermen - woo-hoo. They're on the cover and we get a little origin prologue to kick off. With half of the serial missing reading this rereleased novelisation is probably the best way to either relive the adventure or discover it for the first time. Great stuff.
This new edition includes an introduction by Gareth Roberts, the original illustrations by Alan Willow, profiles of gerry Davis and Kit Pedlar and a look at the changes made to the tv script and the novelisation.
March 28, 2011
Gerry Davis is a strange character. He was a ballsy script editor, determined to bring action and pace and modernity to Doctor Who in the late 60s. But it was usually at the expense of intelligent, thoughtful, complicated plots. He was all about formula: base under siege, out and out heroism...and lots of B-movie serial ideas and cliche characters.
That said, most of his Doctor Who Target novelizations are first rate...especially this one. You'd never know this straightforward but exciting tale was rather corny and one-dimensional on the TV screen. Cherish this novelization of "The Moonbase", and skip the televised version, if you have a choice.
That said, most of his Doctor Who Target novelizations are first rate...especially this one. You'd never know this straightforward but exciting tale was rather corny and one-dimensional on the TV screen. Cherish this novelization of "The Moonbase", and skip the televised version, if you have a choice.
March 23, 2024
I think the difficulty I am having lately with Target novels is that the latest Target novels often seem to just be so high above the older ones that earning any more than three stars for the earliest published becomes a lot harder, but it may also be that sometimes 3 stars is just what a Target can hope to receive. I enjoy them, but they rarely wow me like longer non adaptation Doctor Who novels can do.
June 30, 2016
This was an entertaining novelization of the 2nd Doctor episode. The reader (Anneke Wells; actress who played Polly) was good with voices and having the Cybermen voiced by Nicholas Briggs (voice of the new series Cybermen) was a fun bonus for me. The downside: the plot is very thin and, as often happens when the focus is on "action" instead of thoughtful or clever moments; pretty illogical
The Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jaime land on the moon. Unbeknownst to them; at about the same time, Cybermen ALSO land on the moon. And everyone is headed for the domed space station from which the humans are guiding and controlling the Earth's weather patterns. I will say that the audiobook of the novelization was an improvement over the actual episode as some of the scripting is very flat and boring on screen.
The Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jaime land on the moon. Unbeknownst to them; at about the same time, Cybermen ALSO land on the moon. And everyone is headed for the domed space station from which the humans are guiding and controlling the Earth's weather patterns. I will say that the audiobook of the novelization was an improvement over the actual episode as some of the scripting is very flat and boring on screen.
February 2, 2013
Reads like the ageing story it is, sadly, with some stilted dialogue and weak plot. There's some decent stuff in there and I suppose it's quaint in that you can almost visualise the original TV story from the written work, but that doesn't rescue a by-the-numbers 1960's sci-fi drama.
July 1, 2021
Although attempting a trip to Mars with his companions, the Doctor arrives at the Moonbase in 2070, just in time to help fight of an invasion by the Cybermen.
In keeping with the other Target Books, 'Doctor Who and the Cybermen' novelises 'The Moonbase' to allow readers to relive the serial.
In keeping with the other Target Books, 'Doctor Who and the Cybermen' novelises 'The Moonbase' to allow readers to relive the serial.
August 19, 2021
Captures the original TV show, which is one of the better stories from the Patrick Troughton era. Gerry Davis is a good writer, but the prose is fairly terse as this is a target book. Written several years after the TV script, the novel fails to update the characters even to the standards of the 1970s - the moonbase is staffed entirely by men, and seemingly entirely by Europeans too.
January 19, 2022
A classic episode brought to life in print. A great novelization that conjures the images of the Doctor, his companions, and one of his greatest foes.
May 5, 2021
I enjoyed it (physical book)
July 15, 2016
This audio CD novelization of Doctor Who and the Cybermen, a Second Doctor Doctor Who serial, was reasonably fun to listen to.
*************
The story is set on the moon! The Second Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jaime land on the moon, moonwalk over to a human human moon base which is slowly being infiltrated by the Cybermen. The Cybermen had parked their spaceship nearby, but had started their attack by burrowing in under the base's space dome and lacing the astronaut's food with some kind of mind control poison. Unfortunately, the Doctor only figured it out just as the Cybermen had enough people under their control and made their move! It turned out that the moon base was actually a weather control station that used a gravity beam to affect the tides of the earth, to control the weather. It was very precise work, and a single slip-up could wreak devastation across the globe - and the Cybermen wanted to do more than that, to directly use it to kill all life on earth! They got control of the gravity beam for a while, and used it to fling a ship full of human reinforcements into the sun! Luckily, Polly figured out the weakness of the Cybermen's air intake unit against being melted by solvents, and they were able to fight back against the super strong and highly advanced foes. Finally, as the Cybermen were setting up weapons for use against the moon base from outside the dome, the Doctor pointed out that if they just turned the gravity beam sideways, they could use it to shoot the Cybermen. They did that, won, and the Doctor and his companions slipped away as the surviving astronauts got back to work fixing Earth's weather.
***************
The book was well read, evidently by Anneke Wells, the actress who played Polly. She had some good, well distinguished and easily discernible voices that she used for the various characters, and they had the modern voice of the Cybermen stand in for all speaking Cybermen, which was very nice. I'm glad they didn't try to replicate the old voices more closely because they were terrible to listen to.
I kind of liked that they had a low gravity moon walk at the beginning of the story! Most Sci-fi stories just stick with the whole 'normal earth gravity in all situations' thing, and I'm glad that Doctor Who bucks that trend, even if that's all thrown out the window when they get to the moon base. They seemed to imply that the artificial gravity there was created by the graviton beam, but then they couldn't tell if it was on or off right away, so maybe not.
That said, this has the definite air of old Sci-Fi, where people are excited just to be in space. The companions spend quite some time just bouncing around on the moon, for example, and quite a bit of the run time is filled with random astronauts painstakingly doing some random task. Nowadays, this is just boring... it just being on the moon doesn't make every last picky detail of people sitting around calling orders to each other in a control room exciting anymore.
The story itself... well, a lot of people die, but the plot is very slow as if it was meant for a small child to follow. The mix is a bit incongruous. For example, everyone think's their people are coming down with some kind of disease, when it's pretty clear they're being poisoned. I mean, seriously, if they really thought it was a disease, why would they call so many boring meetings where everyone gets together in the same room? Another example is when Doctor painstakingly takes samples of everything he can get his hands on in the base so that he can test it to find out what's going wrong, but skips testing any of the food, and only figures out the sugar was tainted when a guy collapses right in front of him after taking sugar in his coffee. Yet another example is when they think someone might be sneaking into a room, but they don't move boxes around to check the walls for hidden doors. Finally, there's an actual full on Cyberman hiding under the covers on a bed! Hah, what?
I would say that the story suffers a bit from the timeline of Doctor Who as well. It's set in the Ben and Polly era, and Jaime is new. I'm sorry to say that Ben and Polly aren't the best of the companions. The actors were great, of course, given what they had to work with, but they were written as idiots, and their lameness really shows through in book form.
Ben is bumbling around, grabbing food, and the guy he's with gets nabbed by a Cyberman right under his nose and he thinks nothing of his disappearance. His only distinguishing characteristic in this story is that he has 'trained eyesight'.
Polly only figures out how to fight the Cybermen because she somehow brought a full manicure kit with her on her spacewalk, and she just randomly starts taking her nail polish off (and then they start playing with benzene, a terrible carcinogen).
Jaime is new, and they added him to the show rather abruptly, so he was written into the first few stories he was in as an afterthought. He spends most of the story knocked out, and doesn't have much to do once he wakes up, because he's from the 1700's and is still coming to grips with all the futuristic stuff going on around him. He spent three quarters of the story barely stirring and thinking that any Cyberman he sees is the Piper, his clan's harbinger of death! It's hard to take, knowing that he becomes one of the best companions.
As for the Doctor, he's still in the time period where the Actor and the Writers are still trying to find his new voice after taking over from William Hartnell's First Doctor. Basically, he's absent minded, can't access most of his memories unless he consults a diary to remember anything useful, and generally isn't all that helpful to the story beyond trying to convince the locals that the Cybermen are real. He's very standoffish, but at least he's gotten over the jerkiness his character started out with directly after his regeneration.
The Cybermen are the old style, silly looking, and with a lower level of technology than you get used to later in the series, lower even than the rebooted Cybermen that are earth based (although from an parallel universe). They're super strong, but also very slow. They can't insta-convert people into Cybermen, and really, why would they want to? They're not human. They're from the planet Telos, and they're here to make sure their Cyberman planet isn't destroyed like Mondas was. Oddly, they also don't know how their own weapons work... some of their sidearms don't work in vacuum, but they try anyway.
Other things I found odd about the story:
1: When the Cybermen use the Graviton thingy to fling the human reinforcement ship away, everyone seems to know two things. First, that it has been flung directly into the sun, even though the thing is pointed at the earth. And two, that there's absolutely no hope for the human ship... they're all going to die, and no one even bothers considering a way to help them out.
2: Why the heck is this Graviton thing on the moon anyway, and why is it so powerful! The moon base has no defenses.
3: The Cybermen hatch this convoluted plan to take over the moon base, and after they are thwarted, they threaten to destroy the dome holding all their air in. To prove they can, they easily laser a wee hole in the dome, that Ben has to plug with a serving tray! Everyone agrees that they could easily do that, just use the laser to slash a giant unpatchable hole in the dome and suffocate everyone. But... They should have just done that in the first place! There's no reason not to, since they're basically made out of space suits!
4: Turning the Graviton Beam thing sideways to defeat them at the end. First of all, they spent way to long worrying about this one stupid safety clamp that was there to avoid aiming it too horizontally. They painstakingly described crawling under there in teams and trying to unhook it. But, they had a cyberman weapon, they just could have shot it off! Second, if it's only supposed to be aimed at the earth, why could it tilt as far as it could already! It should basically be fixed in place. Third, suddenly the graviton beam just 'negated gravity' instead of pushing things away, and all the cybermen were flung out into space! Weird. But, so were their ships! Aside from the fact that they were supposedly parked behind a crater wall (possibly a problem with the novelization, not the show), the ships dwindled into the distance and everyone was happy. Except, they're not being flung into the sun, and they're spaceships that can go between stars, so presumably they can just turn right around?
5: Everyone's oddly okay with all their former coworkers dying, or losing the ones still in the Cybermen ships. No one tries to help the one guy they still have with them either, who may or may not be dead...
6: How hard would it have been to just smash the mind control headbands when they defeated those guys the first time?
*************
The story is set on the moon! The Second Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jaime land on the moon, moonwalk over to a human human moon base which is slowly being infiltrated by the Cybermen. The Cybermen had parked their spaceship nearby, but had started their attack by burrowing in under the base's space dome and lacing the astronaut's food with some kind of mind control poison. Unfortunately, the Doctor only figured it out just as the Cybermen had enough people under their control and made their move! It turned out that the moon base was actually a weather control station that used a gravity beam to affect the tides of the earth, to control the weather. It was very precise work, and a single slip-up could wreak devastation across the globe - and the Cybermen wanted to do more than that, to directly use it to kill all life on earth! They got control of the gravity beam for a while, and used it to fling a ship full of human reinforcements into the sun! Luckily, Polly figured out the weakness of the Cybermen's air intake unit against being melted by solvents, and they were able to fight back against the super strong and highly advanced foes. Finally, as the Cybermen were setting up weapons for use against the moon base from outside the dome, the Doctor pointed out that if they just turned the gravity beam sideways, they could use it to shoot the Cybermen. They did that, won, and the Doctor and his companions slipped away as the surviving astronauts got back to work fixing Earth's weather.
***************
The book was well read, evidently by Anneke Wells, the actress who played Polly. She had some good, well distinguished and easily discernible voices that she used for the various characters, and they had the modern voice of the Cybermen stand in for all speaking Cybermen, which was very nice. I'm glad they didn't try to replicate the old voices more closely because they were terrible to listen to.
I kind of liked that they had a low gravity moon walk at the beginning of the story! Most Sci-fi stories just stick with the whole 'normal earth gravity in all situations' thing, and I'm glad that Doctor Who bucks that trend, even if that's all thrown out the window when they get to the moon base. They seemed to imply that the artificial gravity there was created by the graviton beam, but then they couldn't tell if it was on or off right away, so maybe not.
That said, this has the definite air of old Sci-Fi, where people are excited just to be in space. The companions spend quite some time just bouncing around on the moon, for example, and quite a bit of the run time is filled with random astronauts painstakingly doing some random task. Nowadays, this is just boring... it just being on the moon doesn't make every last picky detail of people sitting around calling orders to each other in a control room exciting anymore.
The story itself... well, a lot of people die, but the plot is very slow as if it was meant for a small child to follow. The mix is a bit incongruous. For example, everyone think's their people are coming down with some kind of disease, when it's pretty clear they're being poisoned. I mean, seriously, if they really thought it was a disease, why would they call so many boring meetings where everyone gets together in the same room? Another example is when Doctor painstakingly takes samples of everything he can get his hands on in the base so that he can test it to find out what's going wrong, but skips testing any of the food, and only figures out the sugar was tainted when a guy collapses right in front of him after taking sugar in his coffee. Yet another example is when they think someone might be sneaking into a room, but they don't move boxes around to check the walls for hidden doors. Finally, there's an actual full on Cyberman hiding under the covers on a bed! Hah, what?
I would say that the story suffers a bit from the timeline of Doctor Who as well. It's set in the Ben and Polly era, and Jaime is new. I'm sorry to say that Ben and Polly aren't the best of the companions. The actors were great, of course, given what they had to work with, but they were written as idiots, and their lameness really shows through in book form.
Ben is bumbling around, grabbing food, and the guy he's with gets nabbed by a Cyberman right under his nose and he thinks nothing of his disappearance. His only distinguishing characteristic in this story is that he has 'trained eyesight'.
Polly only figures out how to fight the Cybermen because she somehow brought a full manicure kit with her on her spacewalk, and she just randomly starts taking her nail polish off (and then they start playing with benzene, a terrible carcinogen).
Jaime is new, and they added him to the show rather abruptly, so he was written into the first few stories he was in as an afterthought. He spends most of the story knocked out, and doesn't have much to do once he wakes up, because he's from the 1700's and is still coming to grips with all the futuristic stuff going on around him. He spent three quarters of the story barely stirring and thinking that any Cyberman he sees is the Piper, his clan's harbinger of death! It's hard to take, knowing that he becomes one of the best companions.
As for the Doctor, he's still in the time period where the Actor and the Writers are still trying to find his new voice after taking over from William Hartnell's First Doctor. Basically, he's absent minded, can't access most of his memories unless he consults a diary to remember anything useful, and generally isn't all that helpful to the story beyond trying to convince the locals that the Cybermen are real. He's very standoffish, but at least he's gotten over the jerkiness his character started out with directly after his regeneration.
The Cybermen are the old style, silly looking, and with a lower level of technology than you get used to later in the series, lower even than the rebooted Cybermen that are earth based (although from an parallel universe). They're super strong, but also very slow. They can't insta-convert people into Cybermen, and really, why would they want to? They're not human. They're from the planet Telos, and they're here to make sure their Cyberman planet isn't destroyed like Mondas was. Oddly, they also don't know how their own weapons work... some of their sidearms don't work in vacuum, but they try anyway.
Other things I found odd about the story:
1: When the Cybermen use the Graviton thingy to fling the human reinforcement ship away, everyone seems to know two things. First, that it has been flung directly into the sun, even though the thing is pointed at the earth. And two, that there's absolutely no hope for the human ship... they're all going to die, and no one even bothers considering a way to help them out.
2: Why the heck is this Graviton thing on the moon anyway, and why is it so powerful! The moon base has no defenses.
3: The Cybermen hatch this convoluted plan to take over the moon base, and after they are thwarted, they threaten to destroy the dome holding all their air in. To prove they can, they easily laser a wee hole in the dome, that Ben has to plug with a serving tray! Everyone agrees that they could easily do that, just use the laser to slash a giant unpatchable hole in the dome and suffocate everyone. But... They should have just done that in the first place! There's no reason not to, since they're basically made out of space suits!
4: Turning the Graviton Beam thing sideways to defeat them at the end. First of all, they spent way to long worrying about this one stupid safety clamp that was there to avoid aiming it too horizontally. They painstakingly described crawling under there in teams and trying to unhook it. But, they had a cyberman weapon, they just could have shot it off! Second, if it's only supposed to be aimed at the earth, why could it tilt as far as it could already! It should basically be fixed in place. Third, suddenly the graviton beam just 'negated gravity' instead of pushing things away, and all the cybermen were flung out into space! Weird. But, so were their ships! Aside from the fact that they were supposedly parked behind a crater wall (possibly a problem with the novelization, not the show), the ships dwindled into the distance and everyone was happy. Except, they're not being flung into the sun, and they're spaceships that can go between stars, so presumably they can just turn right around?
5: Everyone's oddly okay with all their former coworkers dying, or losing the ones still in the Cybermen ships. No one tries to help the one guy they still have with them either, who may or may not be dead...
6: How hard would it have been to just smash the mind control headbands when they defeated those guys the first time?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2022
This is an interesting novelization to really look at. It’s the second Patrick Troughton story to be novelized and the third story to be novelized with missing episodes. Now unlike The Abominable Snowmen which is currently missing 5 of its 6 episodes or The Crusade which was adapted before any of the episodes would have been junked, the two existing episodes of The Moonbase are two episodes which have always existed in the archives (and there was a chance Episodes 1 and 3 existed at the time Gerry Davis novelized the story). Doctor Who and the Cybermen is the result and as the first novelization to feature the Cybermen, the title was changed to reflect this. Gerry Davis served as script editor for the era and cowrote The Tenth Planet and The Tomb of the Cybermen with Kit Pedler as well as writing The Highlanders with Elwyn Jones and at the time of novelizing The Moonbase, writing Revenge of the Cybermen around the same time. Doctor Who and the Cybermen is an interesting read since it’s early enough that the Target novelizations were able to experiment with how they would be adapting the stories and what exactly would be changed before Terrance Dicks became the dominant author and novels became fairly clear cut adaptations of their television counterparts before warping again towards expansions in preparation for the publishing of original Doctor Who novels.
The Moonbase as a plot is largely unchanged, most of the dialogue is retained, but anything that might have been adlibbed by Patrick Troughton and company is nowhere to be seen as it’s clear Davis had access to Pedler’s original scripts for the story. Things are slowed quite a bit, something that will be repeated in Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen which I had an issue with and while it is an issue here, it isn’t as bad as the first half of The Moonbase is more of a slow burn mystery about what is happening on the base. It doesn’t quite work when the title is changed to Doctor Who and the Cybermen so the reader knows that the Cybermen will be in the novel so the twist is lessened somewhat. There is also a great attempt to get Jamie integrated into the plot better than he was on television as this was a story where he was written in at the last minute by adding him in to the back half of the story as he is still forced with an illness to keep the TARDIS team on the moon. The second half of the story also isn’t as poorly served as Davis’ adaptation of The Tomb of the Cybermen, partially due to the slightly longer page count, although it is only 10 pages, those 10 pages make up a lot. Some of the language also hasn’t aged well with some 1960s/1970s sexism still being there and a slur being used at one point during the book (though that slur was medical terminology of the time and is used in that context).
Overall, while Doctor Who and the Cybermen has a reputation for being one of the all time great classic novels, it doesn’t quite live up to that reputation due to some minor changes that slow things down and just not adding enough to proceedings. It is still quite a lot of fun as a novel as Davis does well with the characters and gives them voice, partially due to being so involved in the making of the story more than the writing which was not the case for The Tomb of the Cybermen whose novelization suffered as a result. 8/10.
The Moonbase as a plot is largely unchanged, most of the dialogue is retained, but anything that might have been adlibbed by Patrick Troughton and company is nowhere to be seen as it’s clear Davis had access to Pedler’s original scripts for the story. Things are slowed quite a bit, something that will be repeated in Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen which I had an issue with and while it is an issue here, it isn’t as bad as the first half of The Moonbase is more of a slow burn mystery about what is happening on the base. It doesn’t quite work when the title is changed to Doctor Who and the Cybermen so the reader knows that the Cybermen will be in the novel so the twist is lessened somewhat. There is also a great attempt to get Jamie integrated into the plot better than he was on television as this was a story where he was written in at the last minute by adding him in to the back half of the story as he is still forced with an illness to keep the TARDIS team on the moon. The second half of the story also isn’t as poorly served as Davis’ adaptation of The Tomb of the Cybermen, partially due to the slightly longer page count, although it is only 10 pages, those 10 pages make up a lot. Some of the language also hasn’t aged well with some 1960s/1970s sexism still being there and a slur being used at one point during the book (though that slur was medical terminology of the time and is used in that context).
Overall, while Doctor Who and the Cybermen has a reputation for being one of the all time great classic novels, it doesn’t quite live up to that reputation due to some minor changes that slow things down and just not adding enough to proceedings. It is still quite a lot of fun as a novel as Davis does well with the characters and gives them voice, partially due to being so involved in the making of the story more than the writing which was not the case for The Tomb of the Cybermen whose novelization suffered as a result. 8/10.
February 3, 2023
Doctor Who and the Cybermen, by Gerry Davis. Target, 1974. Number 14 in the Doctor Who Library. 150 pages, paperback. Illustrated by Alan Willow. Cover art by Chris Achilleos. Original script title: The Moonbase, by Kit Pedler, BBC 1967. ISBN: 0-426-10575-3.
This story features the 2nd Doctor, Polly, Ben, and Jamie.
After fighting to bring the TARDIS under control, the Doctor lands he and his companions on, of all places, Earth’s own moon! Jamie can’t believe it and the Doctor is set to leave but Ben and Polly want to see it for themselves. The Doctor relents and soon the four of them are bounding across the lunar surface. Jamie takes a bounce too far and ends up in a canal that encircles a domed complex. As the Doctor and company watch, people come out and carry Jamie inside. Soon enough, they are permitted entry.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a fleet of spaceships had landed out of sight, away from the Moonbase. The Cybermen had arrived and had begun their invasion of the facility.
Inside the Moonbase, which houses the Gravitron, a powerful device used for controlling the weather on Earth, men are getting sick with a mysterious virus. And then there are the inexplicable drops in air pressure. Moonbase Director Hobson accuses the Doctor and his companions of their troubles and threatens to throw them outside. The Doctor persuades him to allow some time to investigate.
The Doctor’s investigation points toward the Cybermen but Hobson doesn’t believe him. His disbelief evaporates when the Cybermen reveal themselves. It becomes apparent that the Cybermen want to use the Gravitron to destroy the Earth! Can the Doctor and his companions help the Moonbase scientists defeat the Cybermen and save the world?
Doctor Who and the Cybermen is a fairly well-written book. I think it’s obvious that it was written for a younger audience. The punchy narrative style and easily followed plot make for good reading for the nine to fourteen year old set. The story has a few surprises, the two biggest being the revelation of the Cybermen in the Moonbase and then the hole in the dome. Those are both handled very well and provide good, tension driven stakes that can excite the reader.
The book starts in a TARDIS that’s out of control but settles into a brief romp before getting into the more serious nature of the actual plot, which is a little predictable. In my opinion, the Moonbase characters are a little flat, but moderately distinct enough to separate them. There is good dialogue to drive the characterizations along.
Overall, I wouldn’t say the book was boring but, with the exception of a couple of scenes, I didn’t find it hugely exciting. But I’m probably not the target audience either. I can still easily recommended Doctor Who and the Cybermen for an audience of about nine to fourteen years old or for us old school Doctor Who fans who read these for nostalgia sake.
This story features the 2nd Doctor, Polly, Ben, and Jamie.
After fighting to bring the TARDIS under control, the Doctor lands he and his companions on, of all places, Earth’s own moon! Jamie can’t believe it and the Doctor is set to leave but Ben and Polly want to see it for themselves. The Doctor relents and soon the four of them are bounding across the lunar surface. Jamie takes a bounce too far and ends up in a canal that encircles a domed complex. As the Doctor and company watch, people come out and carry Jamie inside. Soon enough, they are permitted entry.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a fleet of spaceships had landed out of sight, away from the Moonbase. The Cybermen had arrived and had begun their invasion of the facility.
Inside the Moonbase, which houses the Gravitron, a powerful device used for controlling the weather on Earth, men are getting sick with a mysterious virus. And then there are the inexplicable drops in air pressure. Moonbase Director Hobson accuses the Doctor and his companions of their troubles and threatens to throw them outside. The Doctor persuades him to allow some time to investigate.
The Doctor’s investigation points toward the Cybermen but Hobson doesn’t believe him. His disbelief evaporates when the Cybermen reveal themselves. It becomes apparent that the Cybermen want to use the Gravitron to destroy the Earth! Can the Doctor and his companions help the Moonbase scientists defeat the Cybermen and save the world?
Doctor Who and the Cybermen is a fairly well-written book. I think it’s obvious that it was written for a younger audience. The punchy narrative style and easily followed plot make for good reading for the nine to fourteen year old set. The story has a few surprises, the two biggest being the revelation of the Cybermen in the Moonbase and then the hole in the dome. Those are both handled very well and provide good, tension driven stakes that can excite the reader.
The book starts in a TARDIS that’s out of control but settles into a brief romp before getting into the more serious nature of the actual plot, which is a little predictable. In my opinion, the Moonbase characters are a little flat, but moderately distinct enough to separate them. There is good dialogue to drive the characterizations along.
Overall, I wouldn’t say the book was boring but, with the exception of a couple of scenes, I didn’t find it hugely exciting. But I’m probably not the target audience either. I can still easily recommended Doctor Who and the Cybermen for an audience of about nine to fourteen years old or for us old school Doctor Who fans who read these for nostalgia sake.
October 7, 2020
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1028417.html#cutid3
A relatively early novelisation here, but not an especially good one. Davis' characterisation is poor (Jamie is thick; Polly is a girlie; the head of the Moonbase is from Yorkshire) and the science of the story still makes no sense. Davis' style must have improved over the years - this and Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet are markedly inferior to Doctor Who - The Highlanders.
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3438699.html
I twitched at a couple of differences. One of them is in the conversation about Lister:
‘Just a minute.’ Polly was beside him, her face looking a little anxious. ‘Are you really a medical doctor?’
The Doctor stopped, thought for a moment, and then brought out his inevitable diary. ‘Yes. I think I did take a medical degree once.’ He opened an early page in the diary and looked. ‘There it is; Edinburgh, 1870! What’s this...’ He looked closely at the entry. ‘... Lister... Mmm...’ He closed the diary, thrust it back into his pocket and turned to the patient.
Lister left Glasgow for Edinburgh in 1869, and remained there for the rest of his career. Between the 1967 broadcast and the 1975 novelisation, someone must have pointed out to Gerry Davis that it would have been impossible for the Doctor to study under Lister in Glasgow in 1888.
Another difference is in the account of the origin of the Cybermen, a desperate attempt to restore continuity with The Tenth Planet (though it's puzzling that Davis thought readers of 1975 would care more about this than viewers in 1967):
Benoit sat down on the edge of the console, his cool self again. ‘But the history books say you were all killed when your planet, MONDAS, exploded in 1986.’
The first Cyberman had moved to a position where he could watch the activity in the Gravitron room. He now turned round to answer Benoit. ‘We were the first space travellers from MONDAS. We left before it was destroyed. We have come from the other Cyberman planet, TELOS.’
The Doctor broke in, ‘Then you know how MONDAS was destroyed?’
The first Cyberman looked at him. ‘Yes, and we know what part you played in that. We have returned to take the power you used to destroy MONDAS.’
This represents one line of the TV script where Benoit says "But you were all killed!"
A relatively early novelisation here, but not an especially good one. Davis' characterisation is poor (Jamie is thick; Polly is a girlie; the head of the Moonbase is from Yorkshire) and the science of the story still makes no sense. Davis' style must have improved over the years - this and Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet are markedly inferior to Doctor Who - The Highlanders.
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3438699.html
I twitched at a couple of differences. One of them is in the conversation about Lister:
‘Just a minute.’ Polly was beside him, her face looking a little anxious. ‘Are you really a medical doctor?’
The Doctor stopped, thought for a moment, and then brought out his inevitable diary. ‘Yes. I think I did take a medical degree once.’ He opened an early page in the diary and looked. ‘There it is; Edinburgh, 1870! What’s this...’ He looked closely at the entry. ‘... Lister... Mmm...’ He closed the diary, thrust it back into his pocket and turned to the patient.
Lister left Glasgow for Edinburgh in 1869, and remained there for the rest of his career. Between the 1967 broadcast and the 1975 novelisation, someone must have pointed out to Gerry Davis that it would have been impossible for the Doctor to study under Lister in Glasgow in 1888.
Another difference is in the account of the origin of the Cybermen, a desperate attempt to restore continuity with The Tenth Planet (though it's puzzling that Davis thought readers of 1975 would care more about this than viewers in 1967):
Benoit sat down on the edge of the console, his cool self again. ‘But the history books say you were all killed when your planet, MONDAS, exploded in 1986.’
The first Cyberman had moved to a position where he could watch the activity in the Gravitron room. He now turned round to answer Benoit. ‘We were the first space travellers from MONDAS. We left before it was destroyed. We have come from the other Cyberman planet, TELOS.’
The Doctor broke in, ‘Then you know how MONDAS was destroyed?’
The first Cyberman looked at him. ‘Yes, and we know what part you played in that. We have returned to take the power you used to destroy MONDAS.’
This represents one line of the TV script where Benoit says "But you were all killed!"
July 12, 2025
Given their placement as Doctor Who’s other great monster, it was inevitable when the Target novelizations launched that a Cybermen story would soon be adapted. It took nine books and little over a year into the range, but their co-creator Gerry Davis adapted The Moonbase in 1975. Given this reviewer’s fondness for both that TV serial and the silver terrors, it’s a surprise that it was among the very last Target books I acquired to complete my collection at Chicago TARDIS 2024. Reading it recently was an interesting experience for a number of reasons.
Perhaps the most prominent reason being that Davis, who also co-wrote the serial eight years earlier, adapted his own work. In reading (and re-reading in some cases) various Target books, it’s become clear just how many of them were essentially “writer’s cuts” of their televised counterparts that served to highlight what they could have been instead of what they were.
Reading the slim volume, it’s clear that was Davis approach here. The description of the sets around the main control room and the larger base have a grander feel to them. There’s multiple levels, scaffolding that has to be climbed to fix the hole blasted into the dome, and a general sense of it being somewhere more lived in that the BBC could offer at the time. Something which also makes the sequence where the Cybermen march on the base (already an impressive visual sequence) all the more spectacular when you can portray more than a handful of extras in costume. That’s something which is also borne out in the illustrations from Alan Willow that are likewise free from the BBC’s budget and (unsurprisingly given his work on TV21) feel more akin to something from a Gerry Anderson series of the era.
Beyond just the set descriptions, Davis leans into presenting the TV story on something closer to a cinematic scale. The Cybermen sequences move at a breakneck speed, presented with an eye for visual details and pace that plays up their menace nicely. The chance to revisit some of the dialogue also removes at least one cringeworthy piece of Cybermen dialogue, which is a welcome change for this fan. Working on the pace also means that Davis makes nips and tucks to dialogue, trimming scenes where he can such as the opening TARDIS scene and some of the exposition throughout. Also to Davis credit, he does give Jamie a little more to do in the latter half of the story, having had a chance to find a better way to work the character into a story in which he wasn’t originally supposed to appear. The result is nicely paced and something that makes for a fun read.
Fun but undemanding. Though he takes the chance to write what feels like a movie version of The Moonbase, Davis takes almost no opportunity to expand upon the supporting characters or the world of 2070 anymore than what was on screen. The nipping and tucking also has some negative impacts on the main characters with Polly and Jamie left looking thicker than were on TV in places. No review of Doctor Who and the Cybermen would be complete without mentioning the prologue in which Davis laid out the history of the Cybermen, details of which swap around which planet they came originated from and which they settled that, reading this a half-century later, serves as a reminder of how fluid the “canon” was even a dozen years after the series started.
The Moonbase isn’t a Malcolm Hulke style novelization, then, and perhaps a little poorer for it. What it does offer is a solid TV story given an equally solid literary treatment. One that plays up the action and suspense, not to mention freeing its setting from the constraints of a 1960s BBC TV budget. For those reasons alone it’s worth a read, even in a time when you can watch the half-surviving, half-animated story on DVD to your heart’s content.
Perhaps the most prominent reason being that Davis, who also co-wrote the serial eight years earlier, adapted his own work. In reading (and re-reading in some cases) various Target books, it’s become clear just how many of them were essentially “writer’s cuts” of their televised counterparts that served to highlight what they could have been instead of what they were.
Reading the slim volume, it’s clear that was Davis approach here. The description of the sets around the main control room and the larger base have a grander feel to them. There’s multiple levels, scaffolding that has to be climbed to fix the hole blasted into the dome, and a general sense of it being somewhere more lived in that the BBC could offer at the time. Something which also makes the sequence where the Cybermen march on the base (already an impressive visual sequence) all the more spectacular when you can portray more than a handful of extras in costume. That’s something which is also borne out in the illustrations from Alan Willow that are likewise free from the BBC’s budget and (unsurprisingly given his work on TV21) feel more akin to something from a Gerry Anderson series of the era.
Beyond just the set descriptions, Davis leans into presenting the TV story on something closer to a cinematic scale. The Cybermen sequences move at a breakneck speed, presented with an eye for visual details and pace that plays up their menace nicely. The chance to revisit some of the dialogue also removes at least one cringeworthy piece of Cybermen dialogue, which is a welcome change for this fan. Working on the pace also means that Davis makes nips and tucks to dialogue, trimming scenes where he can such as the opening TARDIS scene and some of the exposition throughout. Also to Davis credit, he does give Jamie a little more to do in the latter half of the story, having had a chance to find a better way to work the character into a story in which he wasn’t originally supposed to appear. The result is nicely paced and something that makes for a fun read.
Fun but undemanding. Though he takes the chance to write what feels like a movie version of The Moonbase, Davis takes almost no opportunity to expand upon the supporting characters or the world of 2070 anymore than what was on screen. The nipping and tucking also has some negative impacts on the main characters with Polly and Jamie left looking thicker than were on TV in places. No review of Doctor Who and the Cybermen would be complete without mentioning the prologue in which Davis laid out the history of the Cybermen, details of which swap around which planet they came originated from and which they settled that, reading this a half-century later, serves as a reminder of how fluid the “canon” was even a dozen years after the series started.
The Moonbase isn’t a Malcolm Hulke style novelization, then, and perhaps a little poorer for it. What it does offer is a solid TV story given an equally solid literary treatment. One that plays up the action and suspense, not to mention freeing its setting from the constraints of a 1960s BBC TV budget. For those reasons alone it’s worth a read, even in a time when you can watch the half-surviving, half-animated story on DVD to your heart’s content.
March 7, 2020
This is part of my ongoing reviews of Target novels covering the "Lost Episodes" of Classic Who. Being a novelization of the half-missing Second Doctor story "The Moonbase," overall, I would say that neither the original TV serial nor the novelization are perfect products, but taken together they really enhance the understanding and enjoyment of one of my favorite Cybermen stories.
The Cybermen, and later the Ice Warriors, were intentionally created with the idea of competing with the Daleks as a recurring villain, since Dalek-mania was beginning to fade and their creator Terry Nation was a pain in the arse. This is their second appearance in Season 4 since they were introduced in "The 10th Planet" just a few episodes before. Despite the Cybermen redesign, the stories are very similar, following the base-under-seige formula which gets a lot of criticism in some reviews. But one must not forget that this kind of thing was often not seen in Dr. Who before, and I must say that these kinds of thrillers are a perfect vehicle for the early ghostly zombie cyborgs, which pre-date "Night of the Living Dead." This story itself can be quite tense and claustrophobic, especially for young readers.
The book itself is competently written, though is certainly not the best example of a Doctor Who novel. It is largely faithful to the original broadcast, with some minor alterations to who performs what action in the narrative, as well as an introduction that erroneously explains the Cybermen are originally from the planet Telos. It drags in some places and so it has not remained the most memorable of the Target books for me. But it is certainly worth the read if you have not seen "The Moonbase," or if you wish to enhance your experience of this episode, or if you like the base-under-seige subgenre, or if you want to get your kid into reading some great Doctor Who.
The Cybermen, and later the Ice Warriors, were intentionally created with the idea of competing with the Daleks as a recurring villain, since Dalek-mania was beginning to fade and their creator Terry Nation was a pain in the arse. This is their second appearance in Season 4 since they were introduced in "The 10th Planet" just a few episodes before. Despite the Cybermen redesign, the stories are very similar, following the base-under-seige formula which gets a lot of criticism in some reviews. But one must not forget that this kind of thing was often not seen in Dr. Who before, and I must say that these kinds of thrillers are a perfect vehicle for the early ghostly zombie cyborgs, which pre-date "Night of the Living Dead." This story itself can be quite tense and claustrophobic, especially for young readers.
The book itself is competently written, though is certainly not the best example of a Doctor Who novel. It is largely faithful to the original broadcast, with some minor alterations to who performs what action in the narrative, as well as an introduction that erroneously explains the Cybermen are originally from the planet Telos. It drags in some places and so it has not remained the most memorable of the Target books for me. But it is certainly worth the read if you have not seen "The Moonbase," or if you wish to enhance your experience of this episode, or if you like the base-under-seige subgenre, or if you want to get your kid into reading some great Doctor Who.
July 31, 2021
I don't know enough about the Second Doctor beyond the usual descriptions of him being impish or a clown. This book pits him against the Cybermen in a rather thrilling adventure that probably tested the limits of television technology at the time this serial aired.
We have our heroes back on the moon, now home to a complex base that is able to manipulate the weather back on Earth in order to provide more favorable conditions. The centerpiece of this installation is a machine known as the Graviton that is able to exert its influence from so far away. But they are afflicted with an unusual illness that is slowly infecting more and more members of the moonbase grew. And perhaps the Doctor and his companions may find a way to help them.
The title of this novelization pretty much gives away the fact that the Cybermen are at the heart of this story. The original TV serial was called "The Moonbase", which added more mystery to the adversaries of the story. Either way, it's a great little caper as they first try to puzzle through what is making the crewmen sick - a mystery that is compounded as people begin to disappear as well. I love the pacing of this, even in this shorter novel. It builds great tension and captures some of the spirit of the original story.
The resolution to all this is quite thrilling and I really need to get around to watching the animated version of this serial to complete the image in my head. It shows a different side of the Doctor (and not just the Second Doctor) that really reinforces a lot of his characterization in later years. Certainly a fun book and worth the read.
We have our heroes back on the moon, now home to a complex base that is able to manipulate the weather back on Earth in order to provide more favorable conditions. The centerpiece of this installation is a machine known as the Graviton that is able to exert its influence from so far away. But they are afflicted with an unusual illness that is slowly infecting more and more members of the moonbase grew. And perhaps the Doctor and his companions may find a way to help them.
The title of this novelization pretty much gives away the fact that the Cybermen are at the heart of this story. The original TV serial was called "The Moonbase", which added more mystery to the adversaries of the story. Either way, it's a great little caper as they first try to puzzle through what is making the crewmen sick - a mystery that is compounded as people begin to disappear as well. I love the pacing of this, even in this shorter novel. It builds great tension and captures some of the spirit of the original story.
The resolution to all this is quite thrilling and I really need to get around to watching the animated version of this serial to complete the image in my head. It shows a different side of the Doctor (and not just the Second Doctor) that really reinforces a lot of his characterization in later years. Certainly a fun book and worth the read.
March 15, 2022
I wont create a review as such. You withe love this book and the TV show episode from 1967 for its brilliantness or you don't.
A couple of comments on continuity though. It is implied that Dr Evans and One other person are infected with the virus and two go down with in in the control you whilst the Doctor and his trolling companions are present. Ralph (no 14) is also taken alive by the Cybermen and possibly two others who go to repair an external assembly which has been damaged. Only three return to the base.
Leaving the control units with the men in the medical bay seems a little shortsighted. What happens to the three Cybermen bodies from the original force.
On the TV show the Graviton probe and the control room are separate, whereas in the book, they are combined into one room, which is very loud and contains a Torus (a vessel to contain high energy plasma). The studio model and the sets aren't entirely consistent with each other, although they do try to minimise the difference.
The book is based on a late script so there are lines of dialogue and some scenes which don't appear in the actual TV story. Towards the end of the Target (Virgin) novelisation range, the author would have been permitted to go slightly further and add scenes. I'd really like to read that version of the story. One where passing time makes much more sense. Time is compressed for the TV show and the novelisation seems to copy this approach, whereas the actual story is meant to evolve over at least a couple of days imo.
I prefer the original cove, even if the Cyberman depicted is the wrong generation.
A couple of comments on continuity though. It is implied that Dr Evans and One other person are infected with the virus and two go down with in in the control you whilst the Doctor and his trolling companions are present. Ralph (no 14) is also taken alive by the Cybermen and possibly two others who go to repair an external assembly which has been damaged. Only three return to the base.
Leaving the control units with the men in the medical bay seems a little shortsighted. What happens to the three Cybermen bodies from the original force.
On the TV show the Graviton probe and the control room are separate, whereas in the book, they are combined into one room, which is very loud and contains a Torus (a vessel to contain high energy plasma). The studio model and the sets aren't entirely consistent with each other, although they do try to minimise the difference.
The book is based on a late script so there are lines of dialogue and some scenes which don't appear in the actual TV story. Towards the end of the Target (Virgin) novelisation range, the author would have been permitted to go slightly further and add scenes. I'd really like to read that version of the story. One where passing time makes much more sense. Time is compressed for the TV show and the novelisation seems to copy this approach, whereas the actual story is meant to evolve over at least a couple of days imo.
I prefer the original cove, even if the Cyberman depicted is the wrong generation.
October 5, 2024
Based on a script by Cybermen co-creator Kit Peddler with Gerry Davis as script editor at the time. The show was broadcast with the title ‘The Moonbase’. It’s number 14 in the Target catalogue. As one of the early Targets it also has interior illustrations by Alan Willow. The first cover is by Chris Achilleos and the second by Bill Donohoe.
My opinion of this book is probably a little biased as I love the Cybermen. I’ve always found them more menacing than the Daleks. Yes, the Daleks made Who famous and cemented the shows position in history, but personally the Cybermen are the greatest adversaries in the Whoniverse. Up until the NuWho where they’ve gone downhill by becoming too robotic.
Once again Gerry has done a brilliant rendition of the original episodes. He sticks to the story without major revision and gives us the thoughts of the characters, including the cybermen. Although at one point he forgets who the cybermen are when one gets bored with a conversation (page 90). Bored is an emotion. As with the Tenth Planet a couple of the Cyberman are given names. I’m presuming this is to create some differentiation in the book so it’s easy to identify which cyberman is talking. From memory I think it’s the same names as used in the Tenth Planet. I’ll have to double check one day when I’ve got time.
I now only have Tomb of the Cyberman to read. It is my favourite Cyberman story and I’m really looking forward to Gerry’s version. He is one of the best Target writers.
My opinion of this book is probably a little biased as I love the Cybermen. I’ve always found them more menacing than the Daleks. Yes, the Daleks made Who famous and cemented the shows position in history, but personally the Cybermen are the greatest adversaries in the Whoniverse. Up until the NuWho where they’ve gone downhill by becoming too robotic.
Once again Gerry has done a brilliant rendition of the original episodes. He sticks to the story without major revision and gives us the thoughts of the characters, including the cybermen. Although at one point he forgets who the cybermen are when one gets bored with a conversation (page 90). Bored is an emotion. As with the Tenth Planet a couple of the Cyberman are given names. I’m presuming this is to create some differentiation in the book so it’s easy to identify which cyberman is talking. From memory I think it’s the same names as used in the Tenth Planet. I’ll have to double check one day when I’ve got time.
I now only have Tomb of the Cyberman to read. It is my favourite Cyberman story and I’m really looking forward to Gerry’s version. He is one of the best Target writers.
February 12, 2021
Much better than the last novel, and a typical base under siege story for the Second Doctor here as well. While the title gives it away a bit more than the tv story did, and makes it clear from get go with prologue and beginning who the enemy is, where I think it could have done well to keep it hidden somewhat, though harder for a novel based on a TV story, than the TV story itself.
Again has a prologue tying bits of Cybermen lore together, that has been contradicted more recently.
Nice tension throughout the story though, fair bit of mystery for the characters to resolve, and some epic scenes.
Does seem a bit schizophrenic when it comes to Polly, mixing the characterizations from the Highlanders and the Underwater Menace together, so at times she is taking charge and solving things, at other times she is more damsel in distress, with a couple of scenes here ammunition for those who say classic Doctor Who was sexist, and certainly one of the scenes at least does seem to be, but I think is unusually so for Doctor Who, with Barbara, Sara Kingdom and Polly for much of her run, it does show the female characters as being quite strong. Susan, Vicki and especially Dodo less so, but they have their opportunities as well.
Jamie not in the story that much, as obviously they still weren't sure what to do with him, but Ben gets lots of action, and the Doctor is in good form.
Again has a prologue tying bits of Cybermen lore together, that has been contradicted more recently.
Nice tension throughout the story though, fair bit of mystery for the characters to resolve, and some epic scenes.
Does seem a bit schizophrenic when it comes to Polly, mixing the characterizations from the Highlanders and the Underwater Menace together, so at times she is taking charge and solving things, at other times she is more damsel in distress, with a couple of scenes here ammunition for those who say classic Doctor Who was sexist, and certainly one of the scenes at least does seem to be, but I think is unusually so for Doctor Who, with Barbara, Sara Kingdom and Polly for much of her run, it does show the female characters as being quite strong. Susan, Vicki and especially Dodo less so, but they have their opportunities as well.
Jamie not in the story that much, as obviously they still weren't sure what to do with him, but Ben gets lots of action, and the Doctor is in good form.
November 25, 2025
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a Dalek or Cyberman story. They're classic enemies for a reason!
Ben and Polly were much more bearable in this one. They still had their moments, but there was less of their bickering and nastiness. My favourite piece of trivia for this story is that Frazer Hines wasn't meant to continue as Jamie in the show, so Jamie wasn't written into this story, and as a result he spends 50% of it in bed with a concussion. Even when he wakes up he's pretty much fetching and carrying. I'm so glad he and Patrick Troughton had such a great rapport that Jamie stayed. He's my second favourite companion and even then it's a close shot between him and Ace.
This book is definitely of its time, and there was an instance of language that really threw me off when I was reading. Never in my life would I have thought I'd read a Cyberman thinking a slur. Very uncalled for, but I reluctantly concede that the author probably didn't know any better at the time. This knowledge didn't make it any less jarring, and it's one of the reasons I docked a star.
Still a greatly enjoyable story all around. Your classic Cyberman fare but, like I've said, that's pretty much my favourite type of Doctor Who story. This book was made for me :)
Ben and Polly were much more bearable in this one. They still had their moments, but there was less of their bickering and nastiness. My favourite piece of trivia for this story is that Frazer Hines wasn't meant to continue as Jamie in the show, so Jamie wasn't written into this story, and as a result he spends 50% of it in bed with a concussion. Even when he wakes up he's pretty much fetching and carrying. I'm so glad he and Patrick Troughton had such a great rapport that Jamie stayed. He's my second favourite companion and even then it's a close shot between him and Ace.
This book is definitely of its time, and there was an instance of language that really threw me off when I was reading. Never in my life would I have thought I'd read a Cyberman thinking a slur. Very uncalled for, but I reluctantly concede that the author probably didn't know any better at the time. This knowledge didn't make it any less jarring, and it's one of the reasons I docked a star.
Still a greatly enjoyable story all around. Your classic Cyberman fare but, like I've said, that's pretty much my favourite type of Doctor Who story. This book was made for me :)
November 30, 2020
In my personal quest to read all classic Who stories in order of broadcast, I'm now into the second Doctor's tenure and this is one of the first ever books written from the Patrick Troughton era.
What struck me about the writing - and seeing as half the TV version is missing, it's not entirely possible to compare fully - is the attempt to include slight facets of "real science" that is often missing from a lot of the Doctor Who novels. I really should have kept notes but but I seem to think that there were at least four instances of weaving principles of science into the story.
This may not be apparent to the average reader but because my degree thesis touched on using science fiction to teach real science in China (https://www.amazon.com/SPACE-CREATE-C...) I now notice it a lot more in other works and when it does appear in SF literature it somehow increases the validity of the work and shows that the author has put in real effort. Compare this to later stories where the Doctor just waggles his sonic screwdriver (expelliarmus) and everything is alright again.
What struck me about the writing - and seeing as half the TV version is missing, it's not entirely possible to compare fully - is the attempt to include slight facets of "real science" that is often missing from a lot of the Doctor Who novels. I really should have kept notes but but I seem to think that there were at least four instances of weaving principles of science into the story.
This may not be apparent to the average reader but because my degree thesis touched on using science fiction to teach real science in China (https://www.amazon.com/SPACE-CREATE-C...) I now notice it a lot more in other works and when it does appear in SF literature it somehow increases the validity of the work and shows that the author has put in real effort. Compare this to later stories where the Doctor just waggles his sonic screwdriver (expelliarmus) and everything is alright again.
December 25, 2023
I knew my dad was a Doctor Who fan. One day, he gave me the Daleks to read as a joke… and then it all sort of spiralled and I went a bit mad and now I sit in my room with BBC iPlayer burnt into my iPad. Anyway, The Cybermen was either the second or third Doctor Who story I had ever experienced, and I was hooked. I didn’t know who this second Doctor was, or this Polly, or this Ben, I didn’t even know who this Jamie was who kept on saying things weirdly, but it didn’t matter. The story explained it so well (and with the added help of a few pictures) I was able to build a solid image in my head.
Of course, I can’t go on about how this is so original, because it’s adapted from a handful of episodes. At some point or other, I watched The Moonbase (the original name on TV for The Cybermen book) and the book stuck closely to the plot.
Very good read. I can’t speak for older readers, as I did not experience it as such, but as a child, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Of course, I can’t go on about how this is so original, because it’s adapted from a handful of episodes. At some point or other, I watched The Moonbase (the original name on TV for The Cybermen book) and the book stuck closely to the plot.
Very good read. I can’t speak for older readers, as I did not experience it as such, but as a child, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
February 25, 2025
Gerry Davis' adaptation of The Moonbase is titled Doctor Who and the Cybermen, if you're having a hard time finding it, and it's one of the few books in the range to offer illustrations. Cybermen on the Moon, I mean, yeah. It lends itself well to that. While the book adds Moonbase crew or switches their roles around (Roger Benoit as a fit strongman?!), and expands on the architecture a bit to make it seem bigger than they could manage on screen, it hinges pretty close to the original material as broadcast. The 2011 edition comments that Polly is too wet in the book, but I don't think it's out of character, and besides, this is a strong story for her. Yes, she's serving everyone coffee, etc., but she also makes a weapon that works against the Cybermen and is given a little more action than on the show. In fact, Davis often gives the companions more play at the expense of the guest stars, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
May 4, 2018
I suppose like a lot of older readers I am drawn to the Target Doctor Who books because I remember them with great fondness from my youth. Since the death of my father I feel an even greater attachment to them as they remind me of him when I was a small boy and he would read books at bedtime to me. Doctor Who and the Cybermen by Gerry Davis features the second doctor and his companions Polly, Ben and Jamie. The travellers accidentally find themselves landing on the moon and are soon caught up in a secret Cybermen invasion. A moon base is under threat from the deadly silver villains and only the Doctor and his friends can save humanity in this exciting and nostalgic Doctor Who novel. I highly recommend this short book for any Who fans wanting to revisit their childhood love of the Doctor or indeed any parents wishing to read a magical book to their children.
July 30, 2024
It's a perfectly satisfying rendition of an otherwise lost Doctor Who story. Whilst for the most part it's a bit dry, Davis did a great job of capturing the personality of it's core cast enough to pull me through. But the Moonbase just isn't the most interesting tale. It's the classic 'base under siege story', but beyond some interesting bits of worldbuilding (controlling the weather with gravity is sure something), it's pretty standard fair.
Most interesting, though, is the fact that it pulls a bit more from working concepts of the Cybermen that never really made it to the screen; several Cybermen have actual names, feature a tiny bit more 'logical non-emotion emotion' than their televised appearances, and have a bit more of a 'robot gangster cross viking' vibe, right down to intimidation tactics and existence as a raiding party are fascinating.
I also really love how this book adds a little more depth to the continuity of the Cybermen. They are the same 'race' as the ones from Mondas, previously seen in The Tenth Planet, but additionally they are specifically noted as coming from Telos, established later in The Tomb of the Cybermen as another planet of the Cybermen. Obviously these continuity notes don't hold up too well to Doctor Who's television 'canon', but it's a nice detail to add in to the novel.
Lastly, I just want to shout out how well Gerry Davis adapted the 'voice' of Patrick Troughton to the written word; every action, spoken or not, can be heard with the man's voice, something that is extremely important to me as Troughton is far and away my favourite Doctor.
The Moonbase is fine; there's not a whole lot to say, beyond being an interesting read of an otherwise missing episode. The Cybermen lore implications are great, and the voice of the characters, especially Troughton, are well captured. But like I said, The Moonbase just isn't the most interesting story in the world, with it's only real pull being the true re-introduction of the Cybermen as a recurring antagonist. It's a decent book, but I doubt I'll read it again.
Most interesting, though, is the fact that it pulls a bit more from working concepts of the Cybermen that never really made it to the screen; several Cybermen have actual names, feature a tiny bit more 'logical non-emotion emotion' than their televised appearances, and have a bit more of a 'robot gangster cross viking' vibe, right down to intimidation tactics and existence as a raiding party are fascinating.
I also really love how this book adds a little more depth to the continuity of the Cybermen. They are the same 'race' as the ones from Mondas, previously seen in The Tenth Planet, but additionally they are specifically noted as coming from Telos, established later in The Tomb of the Cybermen as another planet of the Cybermen. Obviously these continuity notes don't hold up too well to Doctor Who's television 'canon', but it's a nice detail to add in to the novel.
Lastly, I just want to shout out how well Gerry Davis adapted the 'voice' of Patrick Troughton to the written word; every action, spoken or not, can be heard with the man's voice, something that is extremely important to me as Troughton is far and away my favourite Doctor.
The Moonbase is fine; there's not a whole lot to say, beyond being an interesting read of an otherwise missing episode. The Cybermen lore implications are great, and the voice of the characters, especially Troughton, are well captured. But like I said, The Moonbase just isn't the most interesting story in the world, with it's only real pull being the true re-introduction of the Cybermen as a recurring antagonist. It's a decent book, but I doubt I'll read it again.
October 13, 2020
This one had some plot holes left over from the broadcast story, but otherwise was a good adaptation of a strangely compelling story. The idea of Cybermen using human technology to try to wreck human civilization was an interesting one, as was the idea that there may be other Cybermen out there, even though their world had already been wrecked.
I'm still not convinced about the use of altering gravity to alter storm paths on Earth, but if it worked, then it would certainly be useful.
I didn't care for the portrayal of Jamie in this story, compared to other tales, but it could be that I don't remember most of his episodes that well. I did like the fact that this story really had nothing to do with the TARDIS, for a change, but instead was a real battle against a real, established enemy.
I'm still not convinced about the use of altering gravity to alter storm paths on Earth, but if it worked, then it would certainly be useful.
I didn't care for the portrayal of Jamie in this story, compared to other tales, but it could be that I don't remember most of his episodes that well. I did like the fact that this story really had nothing to do with the TARDIS, for a change, but instead was a real battle against a real, established enemy.
October 8, 2017
Although I read the Target Doctor Who novelisations voraciously as a youngster, I never found this one in the local library. To date, I've not watched the TV story that this is based on (although given that the missing episodes of that story have been replaced by animation, I probably should) so can't compare the two. This is early in the second Doctor's era, so Jamie has just joined the Tardis crew, but there's still no excuse for making him as stupid as Davis does. I think Polly also isn't served well, but I don't know if that's Davis or Kit Pedler (who wrote the original story) at fault. Still, it's workmanlike and entertaining for a couple of hours.
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