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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #118
Doctor Who: The Sensorites
The TARDIS materialises on board a dark and silent spaceship. As the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara penetrate the craft's eerie gloom they come across what appear to be the bodies of two dead astronauts.
But the astronauts are far from dead, and are living in mortal fear of the Sensorites, a race of telepathic creatures from the Sense-Sphere. When the lock of the TARDIS is stolen the Doctor is forced into an uneasy alliance with the aliens. And when he arrives on the Sensorites' planet he discovers that it is not only the Humans who have cause to be afraid...
But the astronauts are far from dead, and are living in mortal fear of the Sensorites, a race of telepathic creatures from the Sense-Sphere. When the lock of the TARDIS is stolen the Doctor is forced into an uneasy alliance with the aliens. And when he arrives on the Sensorites' planet he discovers that it is not only the Humans who have cause to be afraid...
143 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 16, 1987
3 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Nigel Robinson
85 books11 followersNigel Robinson is an English author, known for such works as the First Contact series. Nigel was born in Preston, Lancashire and attended St Thomas More school. Robinson's first published book was The Tolkien Quiz Book in 1981, co-written with Linda Wilson. This was followed by a series of three Doctor Who quiz books and a crossword book between 1981 and 1985. In the late 1980s he was the editor of Target Books' range of Doctor Who tie-ins and novelisations, also contributing to the range as a writer.
He later wrote an original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, for the New Adventures series for Virgin Publishing, which had purchased Target in 1989 shortly after Robinson had left the company. He also wrote the New Adventure Birthright, published in 1993.
In the 1990s, Robinson wrote novelisations of episodes of The Tomorrow People, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Baywatch and the film Free Willy. Between 1994 and 1995, he wrote a series of children's horror novels Remember Me..., All Shook Up, Dream Lover, Rave On, Bad Moon Rising, Symphony of Terror and Demon Brood.In 1996 he continued to write the Luke Cannon Show Jumping Mysteries series,containing four books, namely The Piebald Princess, The Chestnut Chase, The Black Mare of Devils Hill and the last in the series, Decision Day for the Dapple Grey. By 1997 he had also penned a trilogy science fiction novels First Contact, Second Nature and Third Degree.
His most recent work was another quiz book, this time to tie in with the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
He later wrote an original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, for the New Adventures series for Virgin Publishing, which had purchased Target in 1989 shortly after Robinson had left the company. He also wrote the New Adventure Birthright, published in 1993.
In the 1990s, Robinson wrote novelisations of episodes of The Tomorrow People, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Baywatch and the film Free Willy. Between 1994 and 1995, he wrote a series of children's horror novels Remember Me..., All Shook Up, Dream Lover, Rave On, Bad Moon Rising, Symphony of Terror and Demon Brood.In 1996 he continued to write the Luke Cannon Show Jumping Mysteries series,containing four books, namely The Piebald Princess, The Chestnut Chase, The Black Mare of Devils Hill and the last in the series, Decision Day for the Dapple Grey. By 1997 he had also penned a trilogy science fiction novels First Contact, Second Nature and Third Degree.
His most recent work was another quiz book, this time to tie in with the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
July 17, 2018
I’ve always had a soft spot for this much maligned story, The Sensorites are such wonderfully weird looking aliens. But just like the TV adventure, this closely novelised tale falters once the story moves to their planet during the second half of this adventure.
The TARDIS arrives on a dark silent ship, the initial mystery of what has occurred is seriously creepy. The teams first encounter with the aliens is just perfect.
It’s also probably the only story that Susan gets to shine, so it’s a slight shame that the story is unable to sustain he threat.
It’s a faithful telling of the story. It would probably take most readers the same amount of time to read this as it would take to watch all 6 episodes.
The TARDIS arrives on a dark silent ship, the initial mystery of what has occurred is seriously creepy. The teams first encounter with the aliens is just perfect.
It’s also probably the only story that Susan gets to shine, so it’s a slight shame that the story is unable to sustain he threat.
It’s a faithful telling of the story. It would probably take most readers the same amount of time to read this as it would take to watch all 6 episodes.
July 21, 2021
This is a novelization of a Doctor Who script that was the seventh serial of the first season of the show, broadcast over six episodes in the summer of 1964. The Doctor has his first three original companions with him, his "Granddaughter" Susan Foreman and her two teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. The teleplay upon which Robinson based his novel was written by Peter R. Newman. He takes some time to introduce the cast and give some background, which was not usual for the books, and then drops the crew onto a mysterious spacecraft orbiting "Sense-Sphere," home of the Sensorites. The ship is from Earth, and is exploring for rare minerals. The Sensorites are holding them because an earlier mission resulted in disaster and they're afraid to trust humans any further. The Sensorites are suffering a plague, The Doctor devises a cure after Ian is infected, there's some plotting and intrigue between the Sensorite factions, the humans are to blame, of course, but The Doctor sorts it all out... The ending is a bit weak, after an impressively interesting beginning. It's not among the best-written of the early novelizations, but it's a mostly fun read.
December 22, 2008
The Sensorites is a rather old Doctor Who novel--and unlike all the other Doctor novels I've read so far this year, it's actually just a novelization of an actual episode. The good news is, at 143 pages, it's a very light read. The bad news is, at 143 pages, it's a very light read.
Too light a read, in fact. More than once, I found the author offhandedly summarizing something such as "Barbara persuaded John to do this" or "the Doctor argued the Sensorite Elders into doing that" in a sentence or two, rather than actually spelling that out in dialogue. Classic violation of "show, don't tell", this. The same thing happened fairly often in parts where we're just told that "Susan trusted the Doctor implicitly", or some such.
So, yeah. I've actually seen at least part of the episode this book was novelizing, and the actual episode is a much more interesting implementation of this story. The book? Skippable. One and a half stars.
Too light a read, in fact. More than once, I found the author offhandedly summarizing something such as "Barbara persuaded John to do this" or "the Doctor argued the Sensorite Elders into doing that" in a sentence or two, rather than actually spelling that out in dialogue. Classic violation of "show, don't tell", this. The same thing happened fairly often in parts where we're just told that "Susan trusted the Doctor implicitly", or some such.
So, yeah. I've actually seen at least part of the episode this book was novelizing, and the actual episode is a much more interesting implementation of this story. The book? Skippable. One and a half stars.
February 5, 2017
Now THIS is a class story. Both in the sense of Sci-Fi but also in the sense of Doctor Who. The first Doctor here is a mervelous hero to which I have been informed is very unlike him up to this point(kinda a turning point for him). Athough many parts were predictable, that's what made it so classic and great for me.
September 8, 2021
Doctor Who – The Sensorites, by Nigel Robinson. Target 1987. Number 118 in the Doctor Who Library. 143 pages, paperback. Original script by Peter R. Newman, BBC 1964.
This adventure features the 1st Doctor, Susan, Barbara Wright, and Ian Chesterton.
SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.
The TARDIS has materialized but, according to the instruments, it's still moving. Venturing outside, the time travelers discover the TARDIS has arrived inside a spaceship in flight, thus explaining the movement.
The ship seems empty at first but they soon find the flight deck and two humans who appear to be dead. As the travelers prepare to leave, the two humans start to wake up. The crew, Maitland and Carol, revive and explain, much to the horror of the TARDIS crew, that the malevolent Sensorites are keeping them orbit and have subjecting them to some kind of mental torture.
Suddenly the ship starts to crash. Between the ship's almost paralyzed crew and the efforts of the TARDIS crew, they avert disaster. They all realize they were never in any real danger, that it was another test by the Sensorites. The best coarse of action seems to be to leave. They all prepare to depart in the TARDIS when the Doctor discovers that the lock is missing, stranding them on the spaceship.
The Sensorites come on board the ship, much to the terror of the ship's crew. At the same time, the Doctor and Ian become separated from Susan and Barbara, who are now trapped in a part of the ship with the Sensorites and what seems to be a monster. And somehow Susan has become sensitive to the Sensorites's telepathic power and has been communicating with them. She agrees to go to the planet below with them in exchange for the lives of the others.
The TARDIS crew reconnects after discovering that the monster is actually a third crewman, a man named John who was presumed dead but has been driven insane by the Sensorites. They discover that the Sensorites are sensitive to darkness and loud noise and use that to their advantage. In conversation with the Sensorites, it is revealed that a previous group of Earthers were intent on mining a valuable mineral and the Sensorites were afraid of having their way of life destroyed. The humans were set to leave when their ship was destroyed on launch. The Sensorites captured the current ship to prevent the humans from bringing back more humans to mine the planet.
It is also revealed that something has been killing the Sensorites. The Doctor agrees to research this in exchange for the TARDIS door lock and their freedom. Barbara and Carol agree to stay on the ship while the Doctor, Ian, Susan, Maitland, and John all go to the planet below. The Sensorites agree to heal John's mind.
The First Elder of the Sensorites extends the hand of friendship but the City Administrator doesn't trust the humans and plots to kill them all. He kills and takes the identity of the Second Elder and uses that power of office to nearly kill the Doctor and Ian who have gone to search the city's aqueducts for the source of the poison that's killing the Sensorites. The Doctor has developed an antidote but the City Administrator is convinced it more poison.
In a second excursion, the Doctor and Ian find three more humans in the caverns. It is they who have been poisoning the water while thinking that they have been at war. They even destroyed their own ship upon launch, thinking they had been betrayed. The Doctor and Ian lead them to the surface and to the Sensorites, who have promised to send them home. The City Administrator's plot is revealed and the First Elder exiles him from the city.
All ends well with the TARDIS door lock restored and all the ships' crews on their way home.
I rather enjoyed Robinson's telling of this story. His is a strong narrative voice that keeps the reader interested in an otherwise long story. He does something that few other authors do. He tries to get into the Doctor's mind, let the reader know what the Doctor thinking and feeling. I thought he maintained a good balance at both humanizing the Doctor while also keeping him alien. I thought it was good writing. For all that I thought the overall pace was slow, Robinson managed to breathe some life into this story, making strong points on what defines “humanity.” There are some great talking points raised in the narrative that I thought have some relevance to today's society.
Aside from the pace, the only other issue I had with the story was the Doctor's revelation that he suspected there were more people involved in poisoning the water when there really hadn't been any hard clues in that direction. In fact, it was supposed that the earlier humans had all been killed.
Still, The Sensorites in novel form is a good mystery adventure. I can comfortably recommend it.
This adventure features the 1st Doctor, Susan, Barbara Wright, and Ian Chesterton.
SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.
The TARDIS has materialized but, according to the instruments, it's still moving. Venturing outside, the time travelers discover the TARDIS has arrived inside a spaceship in flight, thus explaining the movement.
The ship seems empty at first but they soon find the flight deck and two humans who appear to be dead. As the travelers prepare to leave, the two humans start to wake up. The crew, Maitland and Carol, revive and explain, much to the horror of the TARDIS crew, that the malevolent Sensorites are keeping them orbit and have subjecting them to some kind of mental torture.
Suddenly the ship starts to crash. Between the ship's almost paralyzed crew and the efforts of the TARDIS crew, they avert disaster. They all realize they were never in any real danger, that it was another test by the Sensorites. The best coarse of action seems to be to leave. They all prepare to depart in the TARDIS when the Doctor discovers that the lock is missing, stranding them on the spaceship.
The Sensorites come on board the ship, much to the terror of the ship's crew. At the same time, the Doctor and Ian become separated from Susan and Barbara, who are now trapped in a part of the ship with the Sensorites and what seems to be a monster. And somehow Susan has become sensitive to the Sensorites's telepathic power and has been communicating with them. She agrees to go to the planet below with them in exchange for the lives of the others.
The TARDIS crew reconnects after discovering that the monster is actually a third crewman, a man named John who was presumed dead but has been driven insane by the Sensorites. They discover that the Sensorites are sensitive to darkness and loud noise and use that to their advantage. In conversation with the Sensorites, it is revealed that a previous group of Earthers were intent on mining a valuable mineral and the Sensorites were afraid of having their way of life destroyed. The humans were set to leave when their ship was destroyed on launch. The Sensorites captured the current ship to prevent the humans from bringing back more humans to mine the planet.
It is also revealed that something has been killing the Sensorites. The Doctor agrees to research this in exchange for the TARDIS door lock and their freedom. Barbara and Carol agree to stay on the ship while the Doctor, Ian, Susan, Maitland, and John all go to the planet below. The Sensorites agree to heal John's mind.
The First Elder of the Sensorites extends the hand of friendship but the City Administrator doesn't trust the humans and plots to kill them all. He kills and takes the identity of the Second Elder and uses that power of office to nearly kill the Doctor and Ian who have gone to search the city's aqueducts for the source of the poison that's killing the Sensorites. The Doctor has developed an antidote but the City Administrator is convinced it more poison.
In a second excursion, the Doctor and Ian find three more humans in the caverns. It is they who have been poisoning the water while thinking that they have been at war. They even destroyed their own ship upon launch, thinking they had been betrayed. The Doctor and Ian lead them to the surface and to the Sensorites, who have promised to send them home. The City Administrator's plot is revealed and the First Elder exiles him from the city.
All ends well with the TARDIS door lock restored and all the ships' crews on their way home.
I rather enjoyed Robinson's telling of this story. His is a strong narrative voice that keeps the reader interested in an otherwise long story. He does something that few other authors do. He tries to get into the Doctor's mind, let the reader know what the Doctor thinking and feeling. I thought he maintained a good balance at both humanizing the Doctor while also keeping him alien. I thought it was good writing. For all that I thought the overall pace was slow, Robinson managed to breathe some life into this story, making strong points on what defines “humanity.” There are some great talking points raised in the narrative that I thought have some relevance to today's society.
Aside from the pace, the only other issue I had with the story was the Doctor's revelation that he suspected there were more people involved in poisoning the water when there really hadn't been any hard clues in that direction. In fact, it was supposed that the earlier humans had all been killed.
Still, The Sensorites in novel form is a good mystery adventure. I can comfortably recommend it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2025
The sensorites are one of my favourite creatures in the shows history. Not only do I love that 60s look to them, but I love the background and history to them. An alien race that live in the light, incredibly intelligent and wise but communicate telepathically. The power of their minds make them able to stay strong as a race by linking together. But this is also as a curse as they can see the inner thoughts, fears and imagination of another. Everyone has their places and ranks for an easy great life on the sense sphere.
So with that, this story is very ahead of its time. Having an alien race that's very peaceful but forced to be hostile. Yes It's something that we see countless times today but back then and for classic who as a whole its rather unique. I feel its why the story is boring to other fans. Most monsters and creatures in the 60s was useally villains. Now the story is not perfect. Half is based on a ship showing us the humans that are trapped while the sensorites torment them. The other half is based on the planet of the sensorites as the dr and team try to save the race from being poisoned. But we also have political meddling happening inbetween.
While this book is a very faithful adaption of the tv story, it gives it and the characters, (with the sensorites in particular), much more deeper depth. The first half on the ship is genuinely spooky and tense. The writer does such a good job at really showing us just how powerful the sensorites are. There are some excellent imagery as the dr and his companions walk towards them to close the door, but as they get closer their fears are intensified. The dr demands them to focus on one thing together! It's very griping and exciting stuff. One particular scene which is re written much better, is the cliffhanger to part 1. Instead of a spooky head popping up, Ian has his back to the window and the crew and the dr are all staying and staring intensely back at the sensorite and have a kind of mind duel, it's excellent.
The second half admitly isn't as strong as the first half but it's still enjoyable. Its paced much better than the show. As much as i enjoyed the exploration of doubt in its head i still don't think we needed to see a second attempt of sabotage from the city administrator. What I also liked here was how the writer chose not to focuse on scenes or plot points that was rather stretched out. Such as the story of the plague and the humans hiding away etc, here it's paced much better. Scenes are wrapped up well and are just written with a more focus on the characters reaction than plot point to plot point like a summary. Its constant throughout and it works very well.
The dr and the companions get some great moments that are focused on. There are a few beautiful character scenes of the dr and susan. One in particular was the dr losing his temper over Susan standing up to him and trying to help the sensorites. Getting in his head we see his fear of losing her and Susan's longing for a real home. Which than has a nice parallel to the sensorite first elder. Its hope to keep his home safe and peaceful. Its great to see him learn and take things from the humans to help his race be better.
The overall theme of this book and the TV story was the fear of the unknown and paranoia. The idea of these aliens seeing what man planned to with the minerals off their worlds made them terrified and trap them. And in turn made the humans fight back killing them. Its a war of mass miss understanding. Do I wish we got alittle more expansion? damn right. I can think of a few things id of liked to have seen, the sensorites in the future after the story, what the wastelands was like for bannised sensorites, the humans who hide in the tunnel could of have had an expansion on learning to understand there errors etc.
But as it is, this was a wonderful book. I love sensorites and I'm so glad they get that depth here they deserve. I love Terrance Dicks but I'm so glad he didn't do his one as it would be no way near in depth as it is. The sensorites here feel more like what Peter R Newman wanted them to be like. It's a hard concept to show and I feel In books it works. Im sad and shocked that they haven't really had much more stories in expanded media. There was a brilliant dalek and sensorite story by big finish in "Susan's war" that I'd massively recommend if you also like them. And while its nice that the ood are related to them etc I feel the ood are nothing compared to the them.
So with that, this story is very ahead of its time. Having an alien race that's very peaceful but forced to be hostile. Yes It's something that we see countless times today but back then and for classic who as a whole its rather unique. I feel its why the story is boring to other fans. Most monsters and creatures in the 60s was useally villains. Now the story is not perfect. Half is based on a ship showing us the humans that are trapped while the sensorites torment them. The other half is based on the planet of the sensorites as the dr and team try to save the race from being poisoned. But we also have political meddling happening inbetween.
While this book is a very faithful adaption of the tv story, it gives it and the characters, (with the sensorites in particular), much more deeper depth. The first half on the ship is genuinely spooky and tense. The writer does such a good job at really showing us just how powerful the sensorites are. There are some excellent imagery as the dr and his companions walk towards them to close the door, but as they get closer their fears are intensified. The dr demands them to focus on one thing together! It's very griping and exciting stuff. One particular scene which is re written much better, is the cliffhanger to part 1. Instead of a spooky head popping up, Ian has his back to the window and the crew and the dr are all staying and staring intensely back at the sensorite and have a kind of mind duel, it's excellent.
The second half admitly isn't as strong as the first half but it's still enjoyable. Its paced much better than the show. As much as i enjoyed the exploration of doubt in its head i still don't think we needed to see a second attempt of sabotage from the city administrator. What I also liked here was how the writer chose not to focuse on scenes or plot points that was rather stretched out. Such as the story of the plague and the humans hiding away etc, here it's paced much better. Scenes are wrapped up well and are just written with a more focus on the characters reaction than plot point to plot point like a summary. Its constant throughout and it works very well.
The dr and the companions get some great moments that are focused on. There are a few beautiful character scenes of the dr and susan. One in particular was the dr losing his temper over Susan standing up to him and trying to help the sensorites. Getting in his head we see his fear of losing her and Susan's longing for a real home. Which than has a nice parallel to the sensorite first elder. Its hope to keep his home safe and peaceful. Its great to see him learn and take things from the humans to help his race be better.
The overall theme of this book and the TV story was the fear of the unknown and paranoia. The idea of these aliens seeing what man planned to with the minerals off their worlds made them terrified and trap them. And in turn made the humans fight back killing them. Its a war of mass miss understanding. Do I wish we got alittle more expansion? damn right. I can think of a few things id of liked to have seen, the sensorites in the future after the story, what the wastelands was like for bannised sensorites, the humans who hide in the tunnel could of have had an expansion on learning to understand there errors etc.
But as it is, this was a wonderful book. I love sensorites and I'm so glad they get that depth here they deserve. I love Terrance Dicks but I'm so glad he didn't do his one as it would be no way near in depth as it is. The sensorites here feel more like what Peter R Newman wanted them to be like. It's a hard concept to show and I feel In books it works. Im sad and shocked that they haven't really had much more stories in expanded media. There was a brilliant dalek and sensorite story by big finish in "Susan's war" that I'd massively recommend if you also like them. And while its nice that the ood are related to them etc I feel the ood are nothing compared to the them.
April 10, 2022
This is an interesting novelization all things considered. The Sensorites is a story which isn’t held in high regard in the fandom, generally being put in the same group of Hartnell stories as The Space Museum and The Web Planet, serials with great first episodes that then fall apart. Now, I actually disagree with this assessment of all three serials, and think at the heart of The Sensorites is a really interesting cultural examination with some undercurrents of World War II. The novelization was done by Nigel Robinson in his first book for Doctor Who and as one of the few writers of the Target novelizations to not have a connection to the television series. Robinson actually approaches it with an interesting perspective, not changing things, but bringing some more depth to the proceedings in some areas yet making others more shallow. For instance, the Sensorites themselves aren’t made any more distinct than they were on television which is already one big issue with the story as the actors under the masks giving different portrayals, in prose there is no difference. Every Sensorite line has to have a dialogue tag or else you won’t get a sense of which Sensorite is speaking. The serial already had the plot point of the Sensorites switching sashes in an evil plot to confuse the TARDIS team, but here it is further lampshaded with the idea that all of the human characters look alike to the Sensorites. The Sensorites, of course, don’t actually have names or a sense of identity outside of their role in society which makes this weirder for the book.
While this is a detriment to a story that already had a big issue of falling apart in the final episode, Robinson does actually improve on the foreshadowing of the human beings already on the Sense-Sphere and the entire plotline with those astronauts works much better here. There’s more in the text explaining who these people are and why they were here which was barely there in the original serial due to being confined to the final episode. The foreshadowing is also ramped up with more references on the Sense-Sphere and the previous humans they encountered, as well as quite a lot more on the lower castes (though not much in depth). Perhaps where Robinson succeeds the most, however, is in the use of Susan Foreman. The Sensorites was always a stronger outing for Susan, but here there’s this added layer of perspective as Robinson includes some of her inner thoughts. She feels like she has agency in what happens on the Sense-Sphere in saving these people and her altercations with her Grandfather also affect them both, they hadn’t fought before this moment and that is an interesting little element that should have been explored in the television show. Now, The Sensorites is still a story that has some issues, the pace is still off even in book form, and it does end rather abruptly (even more so here as the lead in for The Reign of Terror is cut). It still has the absurdities of the murder plots and the poison plots to contend with, but perhaps gives just a bit more character to the story.
Overall, The Sensorites stands out as an interesting adaptation of a television story that manages to improve some things while other’s get lost by the wayside. While it’s a story that I have quite the fondness for, there are still many flaws that aren’t glazed over in an adaptation, partially due to Robinson not being the original writer or even working on the era. A great effort and a great writing style, but it doesn’t quite give enough of the alien characters personality or smooth off the pacing that comes when transferring a longer story to novel form. 6/10.
While this is a detriment to a story that already had a big issue of falling apart in the final episode, Robinson does actually improve on the foreshadowing of the human beings already on the Sense-Sphere and the entire plotline with those astronauts works much better here. There’s more in the text explaining who these people are and why they were here which was barely there in the original serial due to being confined to the final episode. The foreshadowing is also ramped up with more references on the Sense-Sphere and the previous humans they encountered, as well as quite a lot more on the lower castes (though not much in depth). Perhaps where Robinson succeeds the most, however, is in the use of Susan Foreman. The Sensorites was always a stronger outing for Susan, but here there’s this added layer of perspective as Robinson includes some of her inner thoughts. She feels like she has agency in what happens on the Sense-Sphere in saving these people and her altercations with her Grandfather also affect them both, they hadn’t fought before this moment and that is an interesting little element that should have been explored in the television show. Now, The Sensorites is still a story that has some issues, the pace is still off even in book form, and it does end rather abruptly (even more so here as the lead in for The Reign of Terror is cut). It still has the absurdities of the murder plots and the poison plots to contend with, but perhaps gives just a bit more character to the story.
Overall, The Sensorites stands out as an interesting adaptation of a television story that manages to improve some things while other’s get lost by the wayside. While it’s a story that I have quite the fondness for, there are still many flaws that aren’t glazed over in an adaptation, partially due to Robinson not being the original writer or even working on the era. A great effort and a great writing style, but it doesn’t quite give enough of the alien characters personality or smooth off the pacing that comes when transferring a longer story to novel form. 6/10.
May 30, 2025
A New Look at Colonialism
26 March 2025
It turns out the Ord in the newer series are actually based on these guys, and apparently they also live near each other suggesting that they both evolved from the same source. Mind you, it is a shame that they didn’t bring them back, but then again a lot of these races probably aren’t spacefaring (the suggestion is that the Sensorites aren’t) so unless The Doctor is going back to their planet it is unlikely we will see them again, especially since the Tardis has a habit of not going where you want it to go.
So, they land up on a spaceship and the occupants are asleep. When they wake them up the learn that the Sensorites have immobilised the ship, and before the Doctor can leave, they steal the lock to the Tardis (this is one of the things you see a lot – the Doctor’s Tardis disappears, or is incapacitated, forcing him to stay for the adventure – in a way it’s like the Dungeon Master trying to prevent the players from walking past the cave).
Anyway, it turns out that the planet is really, really wealthy, and the Sensorites do not want the humans returning and mining the crap out of it. Like, we know what humans are like, and the suggestion here is that even back in the 60s there was this understanding that the global north would colonise and exploit the global south. Okay, this was after decolonisation, but the suggestion here is that despite that, poorer countries were being exploited by the north for their resources, making them even poorer.
This is also one of those cool episodes where what appears to be the enemy turns out to actually be the good guys, though the humans in the story are good as well. Sure, they might return saying they found nothing, but it is clear that the Sensorites are smart enough to know that the wealthy planet won’t stay hidden for long.
Another cool thing is that there is also political intrigue. Honestly, this is something that I never really picked up from Doctor Who when I was younger, but then as a kid I probably didn’t have the education, or the understanding, to really pick up political intrigue. I really only watched it for the aliens and the occasional spaceship, and since this was a really low budget one, I generally avoided it anyway. However, having read it now, I have to say that the story is pretty good, with lots of twists and turns, and also the race to uncover a disease that is killing off the Sensorites.
26 March 2025
It turns out the Ord in the newer series are actually based on these guys, and apparently they also live near each other suggesting that they both evolved from the same source. Mind you, it is a shame that they didn’t bring them back, but then again a lot of these races probably aren’t spacefaring (the suggestion is that the Sensorites aren’t) so unless The Doctor is going back to their planet it is unlikely we will see them again, especially since the Tardis has a habit of not going where you want it to go.
So, they land up on a spaceship and the occupants are asleep. When they wake them up the learn that the Sensorites have immobilised the ship, and before the Doctor can leave, they steal the lock to the Tardis (this is one of the things you see a lot – the Doctor’s Tardis disappears, or is incapacitated, forcing him to stay for the adventure – in a way it’s like the Dungeon Master trying to prevent the players from walking past the cave).
Anyway, it turns out that the planet is really, really wealthy, and the Sensorites do not want the humans returning and mining the crap out of it. Like, we know what humans are like, and the suggestion here is that even back in the 60s there was this understanding that the global north would colonise and exploit the global south. Okay, this was after decolonisation, but the suggestion here is that despite that, poorer countries were being exploited by the north for their resources, making them even poorer.
This is also one of those cool episodes where what appears to be the enemy turns out to actually be the good guys, though the humans in the story are good as well. Sure, they might return saying they found nothing, but it is clear that the Sensorites are smart enough to know that the wealthy planet won’t stay hidden for long.
Another cool thing is that there is also political intrigue. Honestly, this is something that I never really picked up from Doctor Who when I was younger, but then as a kid I probably didn’t have the education, or the understanding, to really pick up political intrigue. I really only watched it for the aliens and the occasional spaceship, and since this was a really low budget one, I generally avoided it anyway. However, having read it now, I have to say that the story is pretty good, with lots of twists and turns, and also the race to uncover a disease that is killing off the Sensorites.
November 30, 2024
Nigel Robinson once again does his best to uplift a weak First Doctor story in Doctor Who (and) the Sensorites (look, I really hate that they dropped the "and"s in the later Targets), but it's really hard to make this one sing. It helps that it's six episodes contracted into the usual page count. It's less tedious, and I dare say the back half of the book moves a very good pace. I'd go so far as to call it exciting, and I'm into the thoughts of the various characters (denied to us onscreen), including the key Sensorites themselves. But that first half, oof, I find it hard to stay interested. And that's not Robinson's fault. He was editor of the line in the 80s (so HE'S at fault for losing the "and"s, and it looks like he took one of two for the team, assigning himself stories I'm sure no one wanted (Edge of Destruction, The Underwater Menace and this). So I'm thankful, and I think The Sensorites might have been weaker without him. It's certainly weaker on screen due to some poor direction, especially in the later chapters!
January 20, 2020
If I'm perfectly honest, the tv episodes of "The Sensorites" did very little for me. There were some nice moments, but it was very slow. Robinson's novelisation actually improved on the story in this regard. The pace picked up, and everything zipped along so that I ended up, for once, thinking more of the book than the actual programme. Unfortunately, the book failed to address the same giant plot problem of the episodes - namely, where was that deadly nightshade coming from?! It's an Earth plant, so it shouldn't be growing on an alien world. Perhaps the astronauts brought it with them... enough to poison an entire city (why would anyone need so much, and why would they bring it in the first place?). Possibly they only had a small sample and grew more (in dark underground tunnels where there's no sunshine for photosynthesis, and in alien soils which lack the microbiota of Earth?). I don't think so.
I'm a botanist by training, alright. These things matter to me.
I'm a botanist by training, alright. These things matter to me.
June 25, 2025
‘Doctor Who: The Sensorites’ by Nigel Robinson is the tv tie in book of the classic Doctor Who Serial with the First Doctor and his companions, Susan, Barbara and Ian. The story is the 7th serial in the very first series of Doctor Who. The story is around the Doctor and his companions landing the Tardis on a spaceship where there are an alien race called Sensorites causing issues and as the story develops issues arise or are identified with the Sensorites.
This book was written by Nigel Robinson and was released in 1987. The book is now out of print but is available on audiobook. This book stayed quite faithful to the television serial and was a decent listen to as a audiobook book with William Russell who played Ian in the series narrating the book. It is a recommended read for any classic Doctor Who fan.
This book was written by Nigel Robinson and was released in 1987. The book is now out of print but is available on audiobook. This book stayed quite faithful to the television serial and was a decent listen to as a audiobook book with William Russell who played Ian in the series narrating the book. It is a recommended read for any classic Doctor Who fan.
January 18, 2021
Between a 3 and a 4 for me this one. Interesting scenario, which quickly portrays that it isn't always black and white who are the good guys and who are the bad guys (a change after the Daleks and Keys of Marinus tending to portray non-human looking species as always the bad guys).
Some interesting twists in the story as the characters try and unravel the mysteries here. Outside of the Doctor and his companions, the human characters aren't really that strongly defined / interesting, and only a few of the Sensorites have much flesh to them, but enough to help keep the story going strong.
Also interesting to see Susan's abilities expanded a bit here, adding some (probably needed in retrospect) complexity to the character.
Some interesting twists in the story as the characters try and unravel the mysteries here. Outside of the Doctor and his companions, the human characters aren't really that strongly defined / interesting, and only a few of the Sensorites have much flesh to them, but enough to help keep the story going strong.
Also interesting to see Susan's abilities expanded a bit here, adding some (probably needed in retrospect) complexity to the character.
March 14, 2023
My first reaction to this novelisation is that Robinson has captured quite accurately the glacial pacing of the story, but that’s really quite unfair. He keeps the pace fairly brisk for the first couple of chapters but then it slows right down until he picks it up for the last couple of chapters, where the ridiculous page count that Target enforced becomes an advantage because you do find that it does become quite tense and exciting in places. Robinson also tries to address a couple of weaknesses in the story during the last couple of pages, rather similarly to the way that Terrance Dicks did in his novel of The Android Invasion. He also does some effective foreshadowing into the near future of this interaction of TARDIS crew. A pretty solid retelling of a less-than-stellar story.
January 5, 2023
Doctor Who : The Sensorites (1987) by Nigel Robinson is the novelisation of the seventh serial of the first season of Doctor Who. The companions are Susan, Ian and Barbara.
The Doctor and crew land on a spaceship trapped near a planet with psychic beings. The Sensorites.
The lock to the TARDIS is stolen and so the crew have to jump through hoops to get it back.
The Sensorites are more interesting than expected and it’s not too bad a story in the end.
The Sensorites is no classic Doctor Who story, but it might be the first Doctor Who story where the monsters turn out to be nicely less monstrous and are more interesting.
The Doctor and crew land on a spaceship trapped near a planet with psychic beings. The Sensorites.
The lock to the TARDIS is stolen and so the crew have to jump through hoops to get it back.
The Sensorites are more interesting than expected and it’s not too bad a story in the end.
The Sensorites is no classic Doctor Who story, but it might be the first Doctor Who story where the monsters turn out to be nicely less monstrous and are more interesting.
February 24, 2019
There's a lot to like here - the opening is very mysterious and the Sensorites start off pretty interesting and novel. I liked the plotline about the poisoned water supply, and Susan finally gets some good scenes where she starts growing up and thinkin about leading her life elsewhere, fairly convincingly. Unfortunately the 'evil Sensorite' plot couldn't be more boring and that's made the main focus. Oh, and why is the cover quite so bulbous?
July 13, 2017
A solid story with some interesting intrigue, although it winds up being a little more complicated than it needed to be. The quality of the novelization itself is good at times, such as the moments with the Doctor and Susan, but merely workmanlike at others, such as stretches where dialogue is described rather than simply quoted. (B)
October 27, 2018
An o.k adaptation of a fairly average Hartnell story. The first half, set on the spaceship is very well done, and much more atmospheric than the later bits. Once the action transfers down to the planet, it loses something. Not a bad book by any means.
September 18, 2023
Part of my 60th anniversary re-read. Decent story. I remember first buying this book as a kid from Cosmic Quest Comic Books Store in Tulsa shortly after it came out. Next up, The Reign of Terror, the final story in Doctor Who’s first season.
March 27, 2021
Pretty competent, and I like The Sensorites anyway, but it also doesn't really add much of note to the original story - plus there's some weird Orientalism stuff on top of things.
October 7, 2021
audible book
Doctor Who encounters a race of telepathic aliens who cannot stand loud noises or bright lights.
Doctor Who encounters a race of telepathic aliens who cannot stand loud noises or bright lights.
December 24, 2023
A novelization of the final story of Doctor Who's first season.
February 17, 2019
Werepenguin Productions Content Description
Keywords: 1st Doctor, Barbara, Ian, Susan, Space Travel Future
Content Warnings: None
Violence and Gore: Minor realistic (blood from cuts, nosebleeds, split lips, bruises)
Profanity: PG language
Sex and Nudity: None
Content descriptions are provided without value judgments. We want to maximize the fun and success rates of finding a new fandom. Since audiences vary in age, culture, and comfort levels we want to help people connect with something they’ll enjoy the most. To learn more about our content description writing process click here.
https://www.werepenguinproductions.or...
Keywords: 1st Doctor, Barbara, Ian, Susan, Space Travel Future
Content Warnings: None
Violence and Gore: Minor realistic (blood from cuts, nosebleeds, split lips, bruises)
Profanity: PG language
Sex and Nudity: None
Content descriptions are provided without value judgments. We want to maximize the fun and success rates of finding a new fandom. Since audiences vary in age, culture, and comfort levels we want to help people connect with something they’ll enjoy the most. To learn more about our content description writing process click here.
https://www.werepenguinproductions.or...
September 11, 2021
pdf, 120 pages
A somewhat unengaging novelisation - but I've always had a problem with this story, for reasons unknown.
A somewhat unengaging novelisation - but I've always had a problem with this story, for reasons unknown.
May 17, 2024
Based on a script by Peter R Newman this is number 118 in the Target catalogue. The cover art is by Nick Spender. The broadcast story is 6 episodes.
This isn’t one of my favourite stories, it’s like it’s 2 stories, one on the ship and one on the planet. And it seems overly long to me. The book actually improves the pacing, though it still has the 2 separate halves of the story.
One thing I noticed and liked is that Susan is given greater introspection about her itinerant life-style and finding a permanent home, foreshadowing her departure in a couple of stories. The broadcast story showed her growing independence from the Doctor, the book enhanced it with her rationale.
Another minor enhancement in the book over the broadcast is the murder of the Second Elder. The TV version is a slight scuffle and he falls down dead, whereas the book gives him a good whack on the head with the proverbial blunt object. It’s much more credible. Of course censors back in 1964 would not have allowed a more graphic and believable on screen murder. Times have changed.
I might need to revisit the last couple of episodes. I haven’t seen it since January, but I feel sure the men in the tunnels had a much larger slice of story than they get in the book. They’re completely dealt with in 7-8 pages.
The prose is clean and sharp making this an easy and quick book to read. It’s entirely third person perspective so feels very much like the TV show. The City Administrators arrogance, contempt, and scheming are accurately portrayed as the villain of the story.
This isn’t one of my favourite stories, it’s like it’s 2 stories, one on the ship and one on the planet. And it seems overly long to me. The book actually improves the pacing, though it still has the 2 separate halves of the story.
One thing I noticed and liked is that Susan is given greater introspection about her itinerant life-style and finding a permanent home, foreshadowing her departure in a couple of stories. The broadcast story showed her growing independence from the Doctor, the book enhanced it with her rationale.
Another minor enhancement in the book over the broadcast is the murder of the Second Elder. The TV version is a slight scuffle and he falls down dead, whereas the book gives him a good whack on the head with the proverbial blunt object. It’s much more credible. Of course censors back in 1964 would not have allowed a more graphic and believable on screen murder. Times have changed.
I might need to revisit the last couple of episodes. I haven’t seen it since January, but I feel sure the men in the tunnels had a much larger slice of story than they get in the book. They’re completely dealt with in 7-8 pages.
The prose is clean and sharp making this an easy and quick book to read. It’s entirely third person perspective so feels very much like the TV show. The City Administrators arrogance, contempt, and scheming are accurately portrayed as the villain of the story.
January 18, 2016
This was a real "hide behind the couch" kind of story. The first half of the book features a lot of scary moments with creepy aliens on a dark and foreboding spacecraft. The Doctor and his companions lose their access to the TARDIS (of course!) while exploring this almost totally abandoned ship. After discovering members of the crew either comatose or insane, the TARDIS crew finally encounter the creepy alien Sensorites.
There are lots of scary moments as well as a few tongue-in-cheek scares - I mean when the bad guys homeworld is called the Sense-Sphere (get it, Sense-Fear), it MUST be scary, right? But lots of darkness and things that go BUMP in the dark are featured for cheap, yet fun thrills.
The story turns more political in the second half as the Doctor and his companions negotiate their way through Sensorite back-biting to save themselves as well as the crew of the ship orbiting the planet.
I thought this was a fun and spine-tingly read.
There are lots of scary moments as well as a few tongue-in-cheek scares - I mean when the bad guys homeworld is called the Sense-Sphere (get it, Sense-Fear), it MUST be scary, right? But lots of darkness and things that go BUMP in the dark are featured for cheap, yet fun thrills.
The story turns more political in the second half as the Doctor and his companions negotiate their way through Sensorite back-biting to save themselves as well as the crew of the ship orbiting the planet.
I thought this was a fun and spine-tingly read.
Read
April 8, 2009http://nhw.livejournal.com/1018079.html[return][return]I was deeply underwhelmed by the TV version of this story, which fights off strong competition from The Web Planet to be probably the worst Hartnell adventure. Curiously, Nigel Robinson actually manages to smooth over the most awful bits of the narrative - the poor acting of the human characters, the poor characterisation of the non-humans - to the point where one feels that there is actually a decent sf tale in there somewhere, trying desperately to get out. Unfortunately the attempt is doomed to failure because of Robinson's plonkingly awful prose style. Some day some keen fan will do a version of this - the Sensorites as they should have been written. Meantime this book is only for completists.
December 27, 2014
This was a good science fiction adventure with an interesting alien race that started off as seeming evil but weren't really. Though they did have one rather ambitious member. It was nice to see an alien race in a Doctor Who episode who weren't all the same, despite looking all the same. I think this is an adventure that definitely benefited from being in a novelisation as the scenery, props and aliens were all probably much better and scarier in my imagination than they would have been on screen. The only sad thing was that Barabara was missing for so much of the adventure, though it was nice when she came back and kicked ass. It was also nice that Susan got so much to do and became somewhat telepathic. It was written very well for a target novelisation with lots of feelings and motivations of the different characters explained. I really enjoyed this.
March 17, 2023
Nicely paced and true to the episode. I am slowly working my way through the Doctor Who novels and the Sensorites was next in line. As an episode it is an odd mis-mash with the first half almost tipping into horror, with echoes of the first Alien movie, but then reeling back into almost ST-TNG territory. However, the novelization both fleshes the story out and softens the joins with some nice characterisation and good description. A light and easy read and am now ready for the Reign of Terror. Recommended.
January 18, 2011
Now THIS is everything the novelization of "An Unearthly Child" isn't: an under-rated first season story, beautifully fleshed out by Nigel Robinson. The characters...even minor ones...are given their chance to shine. The settings -- from the claustrophobic space ship to the gloriously light Sense-Sphere -- are brought to vivid life. The novel concludes with wishful thoughts from Barbara about the future of human nature...a fine conclusion to a very fine novelization.
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