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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #86
Doctor Who: The Dominators
The Doctor remembers Dulkis from a previous visit as a civilised and peaceful place. But times have changed, and his second trip is not quite the holiday he was expecting.
The Dulcians themselves are more reluctant than ever before to engage in acts of violence. The so-called Island of Death, once used as an atomic test site, has served as a dire warning to generations of Dulcians of the horrifying consequences of warfare. But an alien race prepares to take advantage of their pacifism...
The whole planet and its passive inhabitants are threatened with complete annihilation — and no one, it seems, is going to lift a finger to stop the evil Dominators and their unquestioning robot slaves.
The Dulcians themselves are more reluctant than ever before to engage in acts of violence. The so-called Island of Death, once used as an atomic test site, has served as a dire warning to generations of Dulcians of the horrifying consequences of warfare. But an alien race prepares to take advantage of their pacifism...
The whole planet and its passive inhabitants are threatened with complete annihilation — and no one, it seems, is going to lift a finger to stop the evil Dominators and their unquestioning robot slaves.
126 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1984
2 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Ian Marter
26 books20 followersIan Don Marter was born at Alcock Hospital in Keresley, near Coventry, on the 28th of October 1944. His father, Donald Herbert, was an RAF sergeant and electrician by trade, and his mother was Helen, nee Donaldson.
He was, among other things, a teacher and a milkman.
He became an actor after graduating from Oxford University, and appeared in Repertory and West End productions and on television. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic. He was best known for playing Harry Sullivan in the BBC Television series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1975, alongside Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. He had already appeared in the show as Lieutenant John Andrews in the Jon Pertwee serial Carnival of Monsters. He had numerous TV roles including appearances in Crown Court and Bergerac (Return of the Ice Maiden, 1985, opposite Louise Jameson).
Marter got into writing the novelisations following a dinner conversation. He went on to adapt 9 scripts over ten years. He started with The Ark in Space, the TV version of which he'd actually appeared in as companion Harry Sullivan. In the end he adapted more serials than he appeared in (7 appearances, 9 novelisations), and wrote one of the Companions series, telling of the post-Doctor adventures of Harry in Harry Sullivan's War. Shortly before his death he was discussing, with series editor Nigel Robinson, the possibility of adapting his unused movie script Doctor Who Meets Scratchman (co-written with Tom Baker) into a novel.
He was, among other things, a teacher and a milkman.
He became an actor after graduating from Oxford University, and appeared in Repertory and West End productions and on television. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic. He was best known for playing Harry Sullivan in the BBC Television series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1975, alongside Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. He had already appeared in the show as Lieutenant John Andrews in the Jon Pertwee serial Carnival of Monsters. He had numerous TV roles including appearances in Crown Court and Bergerac (Return of the Ice Maiden, 1985, opposite Louise Jameson).
Marter got into writing the novelisations following a dinner conversation. He went on to adapt 9 scripts over ten years. He started with The Ark in Space, the TV version of which he'd actually appeared in as companion Harry Sullivan. In the end he adapted more serials than he appeared in (7 appearances, 9 novelisations), and wrote one of the Companions series, telling of the post-Doctor adventures of Harry in Harry Sullivan's War. Shortly before his death he was discussing, with series editor Nigel Robinson, the possibility of adapting his unused movie script Doctor Who Meets Scratchman (co-written with Tom Baker) into a novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 21, 2019
I’ve now reached Season Six with the Target novelisations, though this is probably the weakest of Troughton’s time as The Doctor.
Even though there’s some fantastic stories this year, it’s ones like The Dominators that drags it down.
I felt that this was an improvement on Marter’s The Enemy of the World, as he’s deception of the planet Dulkis was vividly brought to life.
In fairness to Marter it’s one of the weaker stories, as the production team reduced the episodes to start with.
Being slightly hamstrung, he does produce some nice character moments.
It’s evident that the less liked stories were novelised near the end of the range, so I’m quite glad that I’m reading these in televised order.
I like when the end of the book leads into the next story and the clunkers make me appreciate the great stories even more!
I’m keen to move onto The Mind Robber....
Even though there’s some fantastic stories this year, it’s ones like The Dominators that drags it down.
I felt that this was an improvement on Marter’s The Enemy of the World, as he’s deception of the planet Dulkis was vividly brought to life.
In fairness to Marter it’s one of the weaker stories, as the production team reduced the episodes to start with.
Being slightly hamstrung, he does produce some nice character moments.
It’s evident that the less liked stories were novelised near the end of the range, so I’m quite glad that I’m reading these in televised order.
I like when the end of the book leads into the next story and the clunkers make me appreciate the great stories even more!
I’m keen to move onto The Mind Robber....
November 9, 2021
This is a novelization of the premiere episode of the sixth season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast in August and September of 1968. It starred The Doctor as his second self, accompanied by long-time TARDIS crewman Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot, perky astrophysicist and librarian. The original teleplay was written by Mervyn Haisman in collaboration with Henry Lincoln under their pseudonym of Norman Ashby and was then heavily rewritten by Derrick Sherwin. Ian Marter, who as an actor had played long-time companion Harry Sullivan, wrote this book version, which isn't one of his best. It was one of the last of the early adventures to be novelized, and it's fair to speculate that they were not saving the best for last. The story involves the TARDIS landing on the planet Dulkis where the Dominators are using their evil Quark robots to enslave the Dulcians in an attempt to have them blow their world up into radioactive slag that they can use as fuel for their spaceship. There's a lot of conversation and running around until the Doctor manages to turn the tables and blow up the invaders. Zoe has little to do, and the one amusing bit that I recall is that Jamie and The Doctor are excused from slavery because the evil aliens conclude that they're hopeless idiots. The story is poorly structured, with ninety percent of the action being compacted into the last ten percent of the novel. I've never seen the episode, so I don't know if Marter followed it faithfully, or if he had access to all the versions of the script, but I suspect he just did the best he could with the time he had and the material he had to work with.
January 24, 2024
An alright though dull story. Marter is a somewhat odd choice for novelizing this story since The Dominators is largely without the horror aspects that Marter's novelizations are best known for (such as in The Sontaran Experiment's novelization).
The burning filament of this story is the dynamic between the resource-conservative Rago and the bloodthirsty Toba. Beyond this, the story is a rather basic alien invasion story. The society of Dulkis is only barely alien. The threat of nuclear annihilation was on the precipice of everyone's consciousness during the 60s (and was still a looming threat in the 80s, when Marter's novelization was written).
Another historical point of note is the parallels between the Dominator invasion and the invasion of the New World by the Old World. Both feature a civilization being faced with beings from an immense and vile civilization. This is a rather tenuous link, and one could make it for all similar stories (including the War of the Worlds).
I vaguely remember a review by GROB (Gareth Roberts) which is unintentionally hilarious due to it basically being a political tirade. This link should serve as a time capsule for it: https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/e...
The burning filament of this story is the dynamic between the resource-conservative Rago and the bloodthirsty Toba. Beyond this, the story is a rather basic alien invasion story. The society of Dulkis is only barely alien. The threat of nuclear annihilation was on the precipice of everyone's consciousness during the 60s (and was still a looming threat in the 80s, when Marter's novelization was written).
Another historical point of note is the parallels between the Dominator invasion and the invasion of the New World by the Old World. Both feature a civilization being faced with beings from an immense and vile civilization. This is a rather tenuous link, and one could make it for all similar stories (including the War of the Worlds).
I vaguely remember a review by GROB (Gareth Roberts) which is unintentionally hilarious due to it basically being a political tirade. This link should serve as a time capsule for it: https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/e...
Read
October 21, 2007http://nhw.livejournal.com/763482.html[return][return]This was a very over-padded five-episode story in the first place, and Marter has made it a bit less dull, and injected some of the missing chemistry between the two Dominators themselves - and made them both over two and a half metres tall! He does capture Zoe and Jamie rather well here. But faced with such unpromising material to work from, the result is not up to much.
November 1, 2023
Doctor Who – The Dominators, by Ian Marter. Target, 1984. Number 86 in the Doctor Who Library. 126 pages, paperback. Original script by Norman Ashby. BBC, 1968.
This adventure features the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe.
The TARDIS materializes on Dulkis, a planet the Doctor remembers as peaceful. At nearly the same time, a young Dulcian named Kully brings a group of friends to the so-called Island of Death, named so for being highly radioactive after a series of atomic tests many years before. By sheer coincidence, a spaceship lands on the island.
The spaceship bears the dreadful Dominators, humanoid in appearance but far from human in behavior. Efficiently brutal, Rago and Toba, the two Dominators on the ship, send their robot Quarks to begin surveying the island.
Kully and his friends, after crashing their watercraft, discover they are able to survive on the island. There’s no radiation, a mystery to solve. Their movements are noticed by Toba and he dispatches a Quark to destroy them. Kully barely escapes, but his friends are massacred.
The Doctor and company hear the explosion and go to investigate. On the way, they encounter a staged home, complete with mannequins. The Doctor realizes that it’s an atomic testing stage and has to wonder about the peaceful Dulcians. But as he ponders, he and his companions are trapped by radiation suited Dulcians. They reveal themselves to be scientists who’ve come to study the radiation and are equally puzzled as to its disappearance.
Kully intrudes with a story about aliens and robots. None of his fellow Dulcians believes him but they are quick to believe that the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe are aliens. The Doctor and Jamie go to investigate while Zoe and Kully go to the Capital to speak with Director Senex, who happens to be Kully’s father.
Jamie and the Doctor find the Dominators and are taken about the ship as captives.
As the story unfolds through a series of cat and mouse chases by deadly robots and an angry Toba bent on destruction, it’s eventually revealed that the Dominators intend to destroy Dulkis to use as a fuel source for their fleet. Jamie and Kully become quite adept at sabotaging Quarks, but will it be enough to stop the Dominators from drilling into the planet’s crust?
Can the Doctor devise a plan defeat the Dominators and save the planet?
Ian Marter writes a great story. He’s incredibly descriptive and, at times, somewhat verbose. Marter’s writing style seems to include the use of much larger words than are really necessary. It begs the question of whom he thought the audience was. The Dominators isn’t written as if it was intended for young teens but more like already well-read young adults. The book is, nevertheless, captivating. Marter captures emotion of the characters, alien and not, very well. The pace stalls in a few places, but overall, his writing keeps the pages turning. Highly recommend.
This adventure features the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe.
The TARDIS materializes on Dulkis, a planet the Doctor remembers as peaceful. At nearly the same time, a young Dulcian named Kully brings a group of friends to the so-called Island of Death, named so for being highly radioactive after a series of atomic tests many years before. By sheer coincidence, a spaceship lands on the island.
The spaceship bears the dreadful Dominators, humanoid in appearance but far from human in behavior. Efficiently brutal, Rago and Toba, the two Dominators on the ship, send their robot Quarks to begin surveying the island.
Kully and his friends, after crashing their watercraft, discover they are able to survive on the island. There’s no radiation, a mystery to solve. Their movements are noticed by Toba and he dispatches a Quark to destroy them. Kully barely escapes, but his friends are massacred.
The Doctor and company hear the explosion and go to investigate. On the way, they encounter a staged home, complete with mannequins. The Doctor realizes that it’s an atomic testing stage and has to wonder about the peaceful Dulcians. But as he ponders, he and his companions are trapped by radiation suited Dulcians. They reveal themselves to be scientists who’ve come to study the radiation and are equally puzzled as to its disappearance.
Kully intrudes with a story about aliens and robots. None of his fellow Dulcians believes him but they are quick to believe that the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe are aliens. The Doctor and Jamie go to investigate while Zoe and Kully go to the Capital to speak with Director Senex, who happens to be Kully’s father.
Jamie and the Doctor find the Dominators and are taken about the ship as captives.
As the story unfolds through a series of cat and mouse chases by deadly robots and an angry Toba bent on destruction, it’s eventually revealed that the Dominators intend to destroy Dulkis to use as a fuel source for their fleet. Jamie and Kully become quite adept at sabotaging Quarks, but will it be enough to stop the Dominators from drilling into the planet’s crust?
Can the Doctor devise a plan defeat the Dominators and save the planet?
Ian Marter writes a great story. He’s incredibly descriptive and, at times, somewhat verbose. Marter’s writing style seems to include the use of much larger words than are really necessary. It begs the question of whom he thought the audience was. The Dominators isn’t written as if it was intended for young teens but more like already well-read young adults. The book is, nevertheless, captivating. Marter captures emotion of the characters, alien and not, very well. The pace stalls in a few places, but overall, his writing keeps the pages turning. Highly recommend.
November 25, 2025
The orginal dominators story has never been a popular one within the fandom. For me personally I don't hate it or love it. I've always had a soft spot for the quarks though. But while I've always agreed the 5 part story is a drag, I can spend my time watching it and enjoying the visuals and performances. However here with the book I can finally understand the story's problems and why it's not very liked.
Ian marter does his absolute best to make this book enjoyable. For the most part he does. He tries to tone down some of the ridiculous aspects and keep the main story's threat and main focus. The quarks aren't really given a definite voice so you can make them better than the orginal. The dominators are terrible villians, stupid and all talk no bite. They talk alot about what they can do and will do but never do it so there really annoying to read. I do appreciate ians attempts to keep their really badly overaly written nonsense to a minimum. Sadly there's never a hint of character behind the lines so it's just so monotone it's really boring.
At its core the story is very simple and thin. They see how intelligent a planets life is, test it to see if they can be used as slaves, for some reason. They then want to drill into the planet and make it like a volcano that will destroy it. But then they don't take any slaves with them anyways so what's the point. They also threaten the race in the city but nothing ever comes of it. And this highlights the story's big issue. Things just happen and that's it. And what little plot there is it's so dragged out its hard to be interested.
Don't get me wrong Ian marter makes this readable compard to some of the 8th dr novels but its still a weak story.
Ian marter does his absolute best to make this book enjoyable. For the most part he does. He tries to tone down some of the ridiculous aspects and keep the main story's threat and main focus. The quarks aren't really given a definite voice so you can make them better than the orginal. The dominators are terrible villians, stupid and all talk no bite. They talk alot about what they can do and will do but never do it so there really annoying to read. I do appreciate ians attempts to keep their really badly overaly written nonsense to a minimum. Sadly there's never a hint of character behind the lines so it's just so monotone it's really boring.
At its core the story is very simple and thin. They see how intelligent a planets life is, test it to see if they can be used as slaves, for some reason. They then want to drill into the planet and make it like a volcano that will destroy it. But then they don't take any slaves with them anyways so what's the point. They also threaten the race in the city but nothing ever comes of it. And this highlights the story's big issue. Things just happen and that's it. And what little plot there is it's so dragged out its hard to be interested.
Don't get me wrong Ian marter makes this readable compard to some of the 8th dr novels but its still a weak story.
February 24, 2021
Somewhere between a 3 and a 4 here. At times the Dominators were quite an interesting adversary, and the story and some good tense sequences, full of tension and / or action.
I don't have Wheel in Space, so this is the first appearance for Zoe chronologically for me, but she is good here, not a Damsel in Distress at all really, but quite proactive at times and shows her intelligence and bravery well, especially in comparison to the Dulcians (which arguably isn't hard, but was a good contrast).
Jamie was pretty good in here as well, plenty of action for him, and opportunities to encourage others as well.
The Doctor is a bit harder to pin down, and forms part of the issue I had with the story that pulled it down - I was quite incredulous at times with the odds I guess of things happening, and how the Dominators swung between violent and pragmatic, or between investigating everything and just using a smaller sample, and how the Doctor always managed to avoid fates that other characters faced or hide intentions, simply due to things swinging again. Plus his ability to fool the Dominators stretched my belief as well - one of the Dominators at least didn't seem stupid, but it felt they would have to be stupid to be taken in by the Doctor's apparent stupidity. This all detracted from it for me, though I still quite enjoyed the tale otherwise. I can't really remember the TV story very well to determine how well it compared, or if the TV story did any better a job at believability, though given Ian Marter is generally pretty faithful to the stories, I imagine not.
I don't have Wheel in Space, so this is the first appearance for Zoe chronologically for me, but she is good here, not a Damsel in Distress at all really, but quite proactive at times and shows her intelligence and bravery well, especially in comparison to the Dulcians (which arguably isn't hard, but was a good contrast).
Jamie was pretty good in here as well, plenty of action for him, and opportunities to encourage others as well.
The Doctor is a bit harder to pin down, and forms part of the issue I had with the story that pulled it down - I was quite incredulous at times with the odds I guess of things happening, and how the Dominators swung between violent and pragmatic, or between investigating everything and just using a smaller sample, and how the Doctor always managed to avoid fates that other characters faced or hide intentions, simply due to things swinging again. Plus his ability to fool the Dominators stretched my belief as well - one of the Dominators at least didn't seem stupid, but it felt they would have to be stupid to be taken in by the Doctor's apparent stupidity. This all detracted from it for me, though I still quite enjoyed the tale otherwise. I can't really remember the TV story very well to determine how well it compared, or if the TV story did any better a job at believability, though given Ian Marter is generally pretty faithful to the stories, I imagine not.
December 11, 2024
Based on a script by Norman Ashby (alias for this is number 86 in the Target catalogue. The first cover is by Andrew Skilleter and the second by Alister Pearson. I really like both these covers the capture the essence of the story, Quarks and shoulder pads. 😉
I’ve now read a couple of Ian’s novelisation and what I’ve noticed with each of them is an extremely florid and over-written opening scenes. He calms down when he gets into the actual story, but his openings…
One curious addition I noticed is that in the episodes Zoe gets her change of clothes from an automatic machine. In the book she’s borrowing clothes from Kully’s younger sister Zanta (pg 49). It has absolutely no bearing on the plot and just seems an odd thing to change.
This book is a really good novelisation. It’s not a brilliant standout book, it doesn’t add greater character motivations or more detail to the plot. But equally important it doesn’t leave anything out. It’s an enjoyable solid adaptation of the broadcast version.
In my chronological read through I’m now up to the books where I’ve seen the episodes countless times since I was kid. I’m quite fond of this story. The Dominators have the right level of arrogance and ruthlessness. I’d love to see a story where the Dominators are fighting the Sontarans. They have very similar attitudes.
I’ve now read a couple of Ian’s novelisation and what I’ve noticed with each of them is an extremely florid and over-written opening scenes. He calms down when he gets into the actual story, but his openings…
One curious addition I noticed is that in the episodes Zoe gets her change of clothes from an automatic machine. In the book she’s borrowing clothes from Kully’s younger sister Zanta (pg 49). It has absolutely no bearing on the plot and just seems an odd thing to change.
This book is a really good novelisation. It’s not a brilliant standout book, it doesn’t add greater character motivations or more detail to the plot. But equally important it doesn’t leave anything out. It’s an enjoyable solid adaptation of the broadcast version.
In my chronological read through I’m now up to the books where I’ve seen the episodes countless times since I was kid. I’m quite fond of this story. The Dominators have the right level of arrogance and ruthlessness. I’d love to see a story where the Dominators are fighting the Sontarans. They have very similar attitudes.
May 14, 2025
You can't put lipstick on a pig, and you can't make Ian Marter adapt one of Doctor Who's worst stories apparently. The Dominators benefits from Marter's vivid descriptions and crisp prose, but there's just no saving this one. Barring the fact that it's always been a lame remix of "The Daleks" (killer robots, radiation concerns, pacifists who don't want to fight for their own survival), it also features what might be Doctor Who's stupidest villains. I don't mean the Quarks, even if they're silly (that's less obvious in prose and Marter makes them bigger and fiercer), but the Dominators themselves. Most of their role is to argue about using or not using their robots to kill locals. And those locals aren't any smarter. The Dulcians spend THEIR time being obstructionists oblivious to the danger they're in. So even if Marter is a good writer, and manages some excitement in the in back quarter, he can't avoid the dumb dialog scenes.
October 31, 2023
Not a great televised story but the novelisation makes up for some of the deficiencies. The Dominators are a generic villain race of invders - though their costuming was a definitely interesting attempt to alter the human form. Thier Quark service robots are a poor effort - and do not fare well when compared to the Krotons later in the season. The planet Dulkis is, frankly, dull - and once again a lack of imagination gives the planetary leader, an older man, the name Senex...
The TARDIS arrives and the team bumble through the plot as usual. A sort of base-under-seige story if you squint a bit, with lots of running hither and yon in a sandpit rather than corridors. Disappointingly bland - and typically the story is one retained by the BBC...
The TARDIS arrives and the team bumble through the plot as usual. A sort of base-under-seige story if you squint a bit, with lots of running hither and yon in a sandpit rather than corridors. Disappointingly bland - and typically the story is one retained by the BBC...
January 11, 2019
The last chapter and a half was pretty good, pity about the first eight and a half chapters. This is largely because the last 15% of the novel contained 98% of the plot leaving very little for the first 85% of the book. Ian Marter gave a solid attempt at translating this razor thin Doctor Who series into a passable novel but James Joyce would have failed here. Speaking of which I'm slowly reading The Dubliners not to mention PG Wodehouse and a word of advice, don't read poor sci-fi TV series adaptations at the same time you are reading two of the greatest English language writers of their respective genres. The chasm between minimal competence and genius is almost too much to bare.
February 16, 2018
'The Dominators' has always been one of my favourite Doctor Who serials, and I have never understood the perceived fan 'wisdom' that suggests it is a clunker. Ian Marter does a good job of adapting it into novelisation form, making the Dominators themselves even more sadistic. The Quarks are given added menace, and extra little asides and character developments are also included in the adaptation. Less successful, however, is Marter's rendering of the ending, which is dramatic and slick in the TV serial, but which ends up being protracted and underwhelming in the novelisation.
September 21, 2020
For Who: 9/10
Basically everything you want in a Who story, it's exciting, full of tension with a fun, unsettling setting. The Dominators are a fantastic antagnoist for the Doctor, and his interactions with them are some of the second Doctor's most mischievous and cunning moments.
As a book: 5/10
It's still the same Classic Who Formula
For Non-Who Fans: 5/10
It's a really good story, and doesn't require any pre-knowledge, it just doesn't really set-up any more Doctor Who in any significant way.
Basically everything you want in a Who story, it's exciting, full of tension with a fun, unsettling setting. The Dominators are a fantastic antagnoist for the Doctor, and his interactions with them are some of the second Doctor's most mischievous and cunning moments.
As a book: 5/10
It's still the same Classic Who Formula
For Non-Who Fans: 5/10
It's a really good story, and doesn't require any pre-knowledge, it just doesn't really set-up any more Doctor Who in any significant way.
August 6, 2019
Another necessary rehabilitation effort, as "The Dominators" is one of the most reviled of TV stories, and certainly the least liked adventure of the black-and-white era. Ian Marter does his best, and manages to trasnform the story into a fast-moving physical thriller, with much sinister atmosphere. Between these stylistic enhancements and the stripping of any padding, the end result is a much more acceptable (if very average) 2nd Doctor adventure.
April 1, 2023
Doctor Who : The Dominators (1984) by Ian Marter is the novelisation of the first serial of the sixth season of Doctor Who.
The Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe land on Dulkis. The Dulcians are a peaceful people. At the same time two Dominators and their Quark robots land on Dulkis and try to use the planet for their own purposes.
The Dominators is not a good Doctor Who book. It’s really better skipped. One for the completionists.
The Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe land on Dulkis. The Dulcians are a peaceful people. At the same time two Dominators and their Quark robots land on Dulkis and try to use the planet for their own purposes.
The Dominators is not a good Doctor Who book. It’s really better skipped. One for the completionists.
February 13, 2024
Despite having some very interesting ideas, this was the hardest to finish Dr Who book I've read, and I've read loads! It was just turgid from the beginning. I don't blame Ian Marter; I think its down to the attitudes of the era and the way the characters were portrayed. Even Jamie, usually a very reliable character, felt false and/or a bit strained. I just didn't enjoy this one at all.
November 16, 2020
Rather a dull retelling of the televised story. Most of the charm of this story is probably down to the interaction between Troughton and Hines, which doesn't come across in the book. Not one of Ian Marter's best novels.
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January 24, 2022Ian Marter does his best with an uninspiring script. If it's not, in the end, particularly good, I can't help but feel that that's a fault with the source material which might be more difficult to resolve than these novelisations usually have the capacity for.
November 5, 2022
Good solid 2nd Dr story. Well written and the plot holds up overall. Good tension in the Dominators relationship backed up by deadly robots and a placid native population who would be well named as The Ditherers.
December 21, 2018
A boring retelling of a boring story that not even Ian Marter can save.
October 7, 2019
Another really great novelization. Again, it definitely helped clarify some things for me that weren't entirely clear in the episode. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the show.
February 4, 2021
Eh. Ian Matter makes a decent job of trying to make this readable, but the source material is somemof Doctor Who's worst. Just dreadfully dull stuff.
April 18, 2022
These older ones just aren’t my cup of tea. I was so uninterested in these characters or what happened to them. I’ll be happy when these older ones are over.
December 19, 2023
Probably the best iteration of this adventure. Characters are fleshed out more, the setting is expanded on and it feels quite exciting in places.
February 11, 2024
A decent stab at adapting a pretty boring story.
May 22, 2024
An okay read I do like Ian Marter's style of writing, also I know that the sonic screwdriver had dissolved concrete before the 13th doctor did it 😀
December 6, 2024
This wasn't one of the best of the series but I love the combination of Jaime, Zoe, and the Doctor so they saved it for me. It just felt like a lot of running around so I wasn't super engaged.
February 9, 2019
Again a weak story saved by Ian Marter. So far with the books I have read in the Target range certain items have improved them from the televised story. In this case, it was a good writer who brought more life to the story.
The story is still very basic and not much action. Another race arrives on a planet for their own needs. You have the black and white few by each race. One believing they are the superior race the other not wanting fight because of their past. Of course it is up to the Doctor, his companions, and those who go against the grain to save the day.
What Marter does with the story is expand the world more. To give more life to the world of Dulkis. This makes it feel that it is more to just some set pieces.
The story still falls flat as the plot and situations are pretty bland. This also makes it if you are not a Doctor Who fan, you won't miss with skipping this book. Normally this would fall under a 1 star book, but Ian Marter's writing brings it up a notch.
Next up is The Invasion. So with having hitting a story with a stronger plot I am looking forward to seeing how Marter writes this. Yes, The Mind Robber should be next, but I don't own a copy of that one.
The story is still very basic and not much action. Another race arrives on a planet for their own needs. You have the black and white few by each race. One believing they are the superior race the other not wanting fight because of their past. Of course it is up to the Doctor, his companions, and those who go against the grain to save the day.
What Marter does with the story is expand the world more. To give more life to the world of Dulkis. This makes it feel that it is more to just some set pieces.
The story still falls flat as the plot and situations are pretty bland. This also makes it if you are not a Doctor Who fan, you won't miss with skipping this book. Normally this would fall under a 1 star book, but Ian Marter's writing brings it up a notch.
Next up is The Invasion. So with having hitting a story with a stronger plot I am looking forward to seeing how Marter writes this. Yes, The Mind Robber should be next, but I don't own a copy of that one.
November 29, 2016
I think that the late Ian Marter did a good job with bad material, in this novelization. Other than the design of the robots, the villains and their mechanical servants were derivative and annoying, and the nominal "good" aliens were such a brain-dead stereotype of pacifistic bureaucrats that it was annoying.
Still, the resulting book was more readable than a scenario for it might have suggested. I'm not a big fan of the second Doctor, mostly because I haven't seen much of the Troughton episodes, but watching the recent animated re-creation of his first story caused me to finally pick this one up and read it.
Still, the resulting book was more readable than a scenario for it might have suggested. I'm not a big fan of the second Doctor, mostly because I haven't seen much of the Troughton episodes, but watching the recent animated re-creation of his first story caused me to finally pick this one up and read it.
November 17, 2008
Nothing special, but the bad guys are interesting and there's a message to the story, but it doesn't feel like the writer is hitting you over the head with it.
I've heard this wasn't a great TV episode, but there's a nice sense of menace to the Dominators and their evil little robots that helps an otherwise so-so story.
I've heard this wasn't a great TV episode, but there's a nice sense of menace to the Dominators and their evil little robots that helps an otherwise so-so story.
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