Doctor Who: The Faceless Ones

Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #116

by Terrance Dicks

In the summer of 1966, thousands of young people are taking their holidays with Chameleon Tours. And not one of them is coming back.

When the TARDIS lands at Gatwick Airport the Doctor is drawn into a web of intrigue and deception. To add to his troubles, Polly mysteriously vanishes.

Or does she? The girl at the Chameleon Tours desk looks like Polly, and even sounds like her, but she claims she comes from Zurich.

Who is she really? Who is behind these abductions? And for what sinister purpose? Soon the Doctor and Jamie must face a desperate group of faceless aliens - the deadly Chameleons…

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Time Travel

140 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

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

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main reason why Doctor Who appeals to me is due to the stories that are set in contemporary locations with an alien twist, especially those that I’ve been too.
The Faceless Ones is set at Gatwick, an airport that I’ve flown from numerous times!

The main plot focuses on groups of young travellers who mysteriously disappear when flying with Chameleon Tours.
It’s a simple story that is stretched over 6 episodes, the Target novelisation helps condense the narrative to a much more intriguing adventure.

One thing that stood out though was the inclusion of the Sonic Screwdriver, it hadn’t appeared in the series at this point.
I wonder if Dicks added it by accident as it didn’t really serve a purpose...

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the eighth adventure of the fourth season of Doctor Who, which originally aired in April and May of 1967. The adaptation by Terrance Dicks (who became the script editor of the show the following season) was based on the teleplay by Malcolm Hulke and David Ellis. The Doctor is in his second incarnation, and is accompanied by Jamie McCrimmon, the 18th-century Scotsman who crewed the TARDIS for more episodes than any other companion, along with contemporary (1966) seaman Ben Jackson and Polly, who was never given a last name on her three dozen episodes of the show. Dicks does his usual fine job of providing a straight-forward, no-frills transcription and description of the story. The TARDIS materializes in 1966 at Gatwick Airport where they find a race of aliens abducting young humans for nefarious purposes. There's quite a bit of running about which seems remarkably innocent in these days of air travel security before a rather abrupt ending orchestrated by The Doctor that sets most everything back to rights and two of the crew elect to stay behind since it is, after all, their home time. Rather than wrapping everything up, it leaves the TARDIS missing and leads into the next story, The Evil of the Daleks.

[Ivana Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Dicks is a joy to read. There's not a lot of extra material, but there are nice touches such as what characters are thinking. Seeing the animated version recently shows how accurately Dicks adapted the script, too. Well worth reading - along with most ( if not all) of his books.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who and the Faceless Ones is a novelization based on a mostly lost (taped over) second doctor episode, "The Faceless Ones." The Second Doctor, Jamie, Polly and Ben end up landing on the runway at Gatwick Airport. If that isn't enough, people are known to go missing from here. Somehow the disappearances are tied up with Chameleon Tours. Can the Doctor sort everything out, get his TARDIS back and save his companions?

As someone who has traveled without my family as a teen, I connected with the promise of adventure and the fears older family members must have of something happening. The opening scene with the plane nearly landing on the TARDIS got my attention. Airports are exhilarating and potentially dangerous. Other reviews have complained that it would be easier to just move the TARDIS than scattering in all directions. Given the TARDIS's unreliability and propensity to breakdown, I'd run too.

My only complaint is with the way things wrap up. After so much build up of mystery and misdirection when things are finally sorted out the doctor and his companions fix things very quickly. I think this is more an affect of the mandated novel length than of the original plot but I can only guess.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

33 works, 33 primary works

See also Virgin New Adventures and Virgin Decalog.

A series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels featured the First through Sixth Doctors (with the Seventh Doctor appeareing in one novel). Like all spin-off media, their canonicity in relation to the television series is open to interpretation.

In addition to original novels, the Missing Adventures series also ...more
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[Jason Bleckly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on a script by David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke. It is number 116 in the Target catalogue. The cover art is by Tony Masero.

Terrance Dicks – what would Doctor Who be without this man? Script editor, script writer, novelisations, and original novels. He’s been responsible for some of my favourite stories. And this novelisation is no exception.

I actually think I like this book more than the broadcast story. The TV version seemed overlong with lots of running around, the book just gets on with it.

It adds extra in just the right places. Right at the start we get the pilots perspective as he’s coming in to land and the TARDIS appears forcing him to veer off. The TV version just gives us the TARDIS creating havoc. It’s all these snippets of motivation from the secondary characters that enhance the novelisations and take them beyond what TV can deliver.

Another example is where the Doctor, Jamie, and Sam are going to zapped by the laser. In the TV episode there’s no reason for it, except to copy Goldfinger (Do you expect me to talk? No Mi Bond. I expect you to die. Classic scene, but I digress.). But in the book (pg 86) the Chameleon Spencer is doing it from spite and revenge for the trouble the Doctor has caused him.

One surprise though, was the Doctor using the sonic screwdriver to break into the Medical Centre (pg 97) and then again up on the space station (pg128) when he’s breaking the machine to prevent his conversion. In the animated version it shows him using an actual unsonic screwdriver to break it. I presume that’s based on details in the original script. Yet the trusty sonic doesn’t get it’s TV debut until War Games.

The other interesting thing that I’ve never noticed on the numerous watchings of the broadcast version is that Ben and Polly are basically written out of most of the story. Polly gets some extra bits as a Chameleon, but it’s quite obvious this was going to be their departure story. They are eased out halfway through, before their final farewell at the end. Their absence from the story is far more noticeable in the book version.

[MrColdStream · Rating 3 out of 5]

✅71% = Good!

Adapted by Terrance Dicks from the 1967 six-part TV adventure by Malcolm Hulke and featuring the Second Doctor, Jamie, Ben, and Polly.

Rather than being an omnipotent narrator, Dicks opts for keeping what we see and hear close to how it was in the TV version. He also retains the familiar dialogue and pretty much the entire plot with no major changes, additions, or omissions. The Gatwick airport setting and the fun characters give this story some flair, even if I wish it had used Ben and Polly better.

All characters are familiar from the televised version, and I even love how well the Doctor and Jamie's voices are captured through the dialogue. I like how Blade is described as having a cat-like face, which is very apt.

The book does jump between POVs a lot and suddenly, a bit like changing a scene in a TV show. The problem. is that it can be a bit jarring in a book since you can't see the scene change. This could have been indicated more clearly, through chapters or by other means.

Dicks doesn't do much to improve upon the weaknesses of the televised version, such as the large chunks of absence of Poly and Ben.

Overall, this is a good adaptation of the televised version for those of you who want to witness the adventure but don't feel like watching the telesnap or animated reconstructions.

[Mitchell George · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly serviceable read. I've never seen, or listened to, The Faceless Ones before sans some of the clips from the missing episodes, so this was pretty much a new experience for me. My main complaint lies with the writing style, which felt really jumbled and constantly jumped between POVs without any clear break point. Plus, the entire fact that Polly and Ben, in a sense, vanish for the entire adventure bothered me - though upon learning that both actors had been released from their contracts after episode 2 makes a little more sense.

I really enjoyed the setting of the airport, especially with all the wandering through distant hangers and side rooms and whatnot, somehow giving an eerie, spooky element to the otherwise run of the mill environment. The titular Faceless Ones, on the other hand, aren't really that impressive and the final showdown just feels a bit of a flop, though these are balanced out by the fantastic, hilarious exchanges between the Commandant and the Doctor, with Patrick Troughton's voice bleeding through the pages.

It's a perfectly serviceable book, nothing too exciting, but it was nice to flick through a story I otherwise knew nothing about.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between a 3 and a 4 for more. Is quite an interesting story, invasion of the body snatchers style story really, plenty of tension, drama and mystery, felt like could be a good criminal show type story really, or X-file story, with the involvement of the police and officials we had here.
Is a shame that Polly and Ben didn't feature too much in it, but on flip side, plenty of opportunity for Jamie to shine, getting into and out of trouble, and interacting well with the one off characters.
Is a nice farewell at the end for Ben and Polly as well, especially compared to the last departure (Dodo), though is a shame to see them go, as I did like them more than average for the companions (not as much as Ian and Barbara obviously :) ).
The one thing that didn't seem to quite make sense, is that even after having Polly's memories and Ben also available, the 'bad guys' didn't pick up on the Doctor not being human until much too late, which seemed a bit of a plot hole to me.
Otherwise though, an enjoyable read.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Second Doctor era is replete with base under siege stories, so I think we should cherish the ones that go a different way, even if they're not as flashy. Okay, maybe not The Underwater Menace. But The Faceless Ones is quite a good story, with a fun setting (the airport, which in the adaptation, feels less like a series of small sets), a good sci-fi mystery, and a memorable almost-companion in Samathan Briggs. Terrence Dicks is THE Doctor Who adapter and his pacey prose gets us through a six-parter very efficiently, somehow even ADDING to the televised story. The Chameleons' schemes are better explained, there's humor injected into characters' thoughts and motivations, and (though you might consider it a mistake) the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver about a year before it would actually be introduced. The Faceless Ones didn't give us a key Doctor Who monster, but it's still a lot of fun.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it was better than "The Macra Terror". That's damning something with faint praise, isn't it?

This is solid and workable, but without that kind of spark you get from something the author was enjoying writing and wanted to add his own touches to. I think Dicks found writing this book a chore, and it shows.

Also, what's with all the heavy handed fore-shadowing. It was like a big, pointing finger rather than a subtle touch. Subtle, this book is not.

But I did like getting to read the actual story of the episodes that are missing. I always knew the basics of it, but if I'd read this in the past, I have no memory of it and the gaps are filled. In a solid and workman like way.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who : The Faceless Ones (1986) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the eighth serial of the fourth season of Doctor Who.

The Second Doctor, Jamie, Polly and Ben land in the TARDIS in 1966 at Gatwick Airport. The team run from the police, then Polly witnesses a murder. Something is afoot. The suspicious Chameleon Tours seems to take many young people away. Polly disappears and then a new workere at Chameleon looks exactly like Polly but claims to be from Switzerland.

At the end of the Faceless Ones Ben and Polly leave as they are at the same time as they initially left.

The Faceless Ones is alright, it’s probably best know for Ben and Polly’s departure.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I think I'm rapidly running out of things to say about these novelisations. Another competent adaptation of a decent story, and that's pretty much it, although I did appreciate mentioning Ben and Polly's concerns about getting home at the beginning, which means at least theoretically we get more build up to their departure. Definitely didn't like Jamie being called 'primitive' in the same chapter, though.

[Daniel 🌈🎭😻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Faceless Ones is one of my favourite stories from Patrick Troughton's era. That said, this novelisation certainly lives up to the story. Apart from a few grammatical errors and a few inaccuracies (such as the Doctor using his sonic screwdriver before it was even introduced!!!) this was an excellent read. It was really interesting and gripping all the way through, and I certainly recommend this one if you can get your hands on it.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this one even though it was the last episode with Ben and Polly. I was surprised how little they were actually in the book. I was also kind of bummed about them leaving as I have enjoyed their time with the Doctor. The overall plot was interesting and well told. I thought the aliens' making replicas of the passengers was a good hook, and hopefully, I will be able to catch this one on television eventually.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

On TV, "The Faceless Ones" was an attempt at creating a creepy and unique moral dilemma...but at 6 episodes, it dragged considerably. Terrance Dicks take the opportunity to shred the fat, and transform the story into something that flows more elegantly, resulting in a far more enjoyable adventure. Another first rate rescue effort by the efficient Mr. Dicks.

[Denis Southall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gatwick airport 1966, alien abductors of young people going on holiday (similar to 18 - 30 no doubt). The Doctor and companions straight in to the thick of the action having landed on a runway. I thought the plot far fetched even for the less H&S conscious '60's. The sonic screwdriver appears from nowhere and Ben and Polly leave abruptly at the end. Not one of my favourites.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read this while I waited for the North American release of the television story on DVD. I was thoroughly pleased with this story. It’s very intense at times and the excitement and action continues across the book. Terrance Dicks was probably very straight forward and kept to the plot of its TV counterpart, but I will have to wait to see it to tell.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a later Dicks novelisation so it unfolds carefully and doesn’t feel rushed like some of his late 70s/early 80s efforts. And it’s a good, well-paced read, taking care to let us know a little more about the characters and their part in the story.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Literally the description, but longer.

Good, but not my favorite

[stormhawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every Doctor Who story contains unlikely elements.

Many Doctor Who stories stretch the boundaries of imagination.

A good many Doctor Who stories grab your credulity, twist it about a bit, and then snap it like an over-stretched rubber band.

The Faceless Ones is one of those stories, that even amongst the alien hordes that are bipedal humanoids and speak Royal Shakespeare Company English, stands out in it's absurdity.

But that doesn't make it any less fun ... particularly when half of the broadcast episodes are missing and the only way to experience the story is through the medium of the Target Novels, and nobody wrote them better than Terrance Dicks, who remains my favorite Doctor Who author (although Gerry Davis is running a close second).

The TARDIS materializes and discharges The Doctor, Jamie, Polly, and Ben on the end of a runway at Gatwick airport. As usual there is a alien plot afoot, but not with the usual end of world domination. The ending is a bit weaker than most Who stories, but whether this is a fault of the original script or expediency resulting from the reconstruction of the story is unknown, to me, at least.

But that doesn't make it any less fun.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun adventure set in an airport.
Aliens are snatching travelers as part of their plot to take over.
The Tardis accidently lands on a runway, there's lots of running around the airport as they try and solve the mystery while saving all the missing people.

Only gripes, is that this is the story that writes out Ben and Polly and they get a bit of a raw deal, spending a lot of time off stage and then a very quit leaving scene. Shame as I liked them as companions and there are so few shows with them still around they get ignored when people talk about companions.

The 'new girl' that gets introduced is obviously a try out to see if she'd work as a companion, but she's a good character, so you wonder what it would have been like if she'd stayed.

The aliens are a bit bland. I've never seen this TV episode and the description of them is vague, so you never really get a good feel for them. Maybe they should have used a known old villain.

Not an earth shaking or really famous Who story, but a solid, fun read.

[Adam James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more Target novelizations one reads, the more difficult it is to find anything clever to say about them.
Terrance Dicks is a genius at writing efficient, children's fiction. Digestible sentences, concise descriptions, just enough difficult words to make it challenging for a 10 year-old.
Terrance Dicks is a gangster.

In terms of lost Doctor Who stories, The Faceless Ones is pretty high-up on my list of Please-God-Let-Ian-Levine-Find-This-One-in-the-Middle-of-a-Third-World-Country's-Delapidated-TV-Station. This story is always great fun with lots of dashing about, and terrific Doctor / Jamie slapstick hi-jinx.

Please, Ian Levine. At least pay some of your bizarrely large fortune to have this story animated. You can even dub your own voice over for Ben. Nobody will notice. Or care.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1028417.html#cutid5[return][return]Another valiant effort here - Dicks actually makes a decent fist of a confusing and incoherent story, featuring the quiet removal of Ben and Polly, and also one of the greatest companions-who-never-was, Samantha Briggs. Dicks has Jamie somewhat intimidated by Samantha's sexuality, which contrasts with what I remember from the original version. He also introduces the sonic screwdriver several stories early, and yet again finishes by promising that the next adventure will be better (though in fairness, each time he does this he is right). But in contrast with even some of Dicks' own less inspiring efforts, it's not bad.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 2 out of 5]

One interesting script of a lost episode. Sincererly it was a mistake to cut two characters short so soon. Polly was an good character even if Ben was a weak one. For what I heard/read Polly left Doctor Who after the directors choose to let go of Ben.

I really enjoy Jamie the scottish boy. A charming and interesting character from the past. In my opinion that's a point in his favor since somethings are unknown to him.


The story is simple but leaves a big question in the end. A bit rush scene...

[Leela42 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second Doctor, Polly, Jamie, Ben. Novelisation of a season 4 story of which only part has been recovered. A wholly unremarkable novelisation. Much of it seems to have been written in a hurry--for example the first two chapters. Cameos by the sonic screwdriver a year before it first appeared.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great novelization of a classic Doctor Who episode, not all that surprising considering the author. The Doctor and his companions scramble to find the alien menace between a string of disappearances at a London airport in 1966.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Andy]

NO. 116 IN THE DOCTOR WHO LIBRARY.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the Chameleons are one of the better enenmies of the Second Doctor, so far.