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Doctor Who: Target Books #135
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks: 5th Doctor Novelisation
Terry Molloy reads this brand new novelisation of the classic television adventure featuring the Fifth Doctor.
The TARDIS is ensnared in a time corridor, catapulting it into derelict docklands on 20th century Earth. The Doctor and his companions, Tegan and Turlough, stumble on a warehouse harbouring fugitives from the future at the far end of the corridor – and are soon under attack from a Dalek assault force.
The Doctor’s oldest enemies have set in motion an intricate and sinister plot to resurrect their race from the ashes of an interstellar war. For the Daleks’ plans to succeed, they must set free their creator, Davros, from a galactic prison – and force the Doctor to help them achieve total control over time and space. But the embittered Davros has ideas of his own…
35 years after its first TV transmission, Doctor Who fan-favourite Resurrection of the Daleks is novelised at last, by the author of the original script, Eric Saward.
Terry Molloy, who played Davros in the BBC TV series, reads the novelisation, with Dalek voices by Nicholas Briggs.
The TARDIS is ensnared in a time corridor, catapulting it into derelict docklands on 20th century Earth. The Doctor and his companions, Tegan and Turlough, stumble on a warehouse harbouring fugitives from the future at the far end of the corridor – and are soon under attack from a Dalek assault force.
The Doctor’s oldest enemies have set in motion an intricate and sinister plot to resurrect their race from the ashes of an interstellar war. For the Daleks’ plans to succeed, they must set free their creator, Davros, from a galactic prison – and force the Doctor to help them achieve total control over time and space. But the embittered Davros has ideas of his own…
35 years after its first TV transmission, Doctor Who fan-favourite Resurrection of the Daleks is novelised at last, by the author of the original script, Eric Saward.
Terry Molloy, who played Davros in the BBC TV series, reads the novelisation, with Dalek voices by Nicholas Briggs.
Audible Audio
First published July 18, 2019
18 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Eric Saward
24 books5 followersEric Saward worked as a writer and later script editor for Doctor Who during the 1980s.
Saward had a particular fondness for the Cybermen. He wrote stories with good action throughout them and stories that connected the Doctor to important events in Earth's history.
He also wrote the short story Birth of a Renegade and the radio play Slipback.
He served as script editor from Time-Flight, the last episode of season 19, to the penultimate episode of season 23 (The Ultimate Foe episode 1). He resigned his position due to a disagreement with producer John Nathan-Turner over the storyline (and particularly the ending) of episode 2 of The Ultimate Foe. Afterwards, he gave a notably scathing interview to Starburst magazine over his falling out with Nathan-Turner, and he became vocal in his criticism of Colin Baker's appointment as the Sixth Doctor.
Target Books failed to secure an agreement that would have seen Saward's two Daleks serials novelised either by Saward himself or by others, with Saward only novelising both of his Dalek stories in 2019. The 1989 publication of Saward's adaptation of Attack of the Cybermen actually post-dated his falling out with the Doctor Who production team by several years. His favourite snack is a chocolate hobnob
Saward had a particular fondness for the Cybermen. He wrote stories with good action throughout them and stories that connected the Doctor to important events in Earth's history.
He also wrote the short story Birth of a Renegade and the radio play Slipback.
He served as script editor from Time-Flight, the last episode of season 19, to the penultimate episode of season 23 (The Ultimate Foe episode 1). He resigned his position due to a disagreement with producer John Nathan-Turner over the storyline (and particularly the ending) of episode 2 of The Ultimate Foe. Afterwards, he gave a notably scathing interview to Starburst magazine over his falling out with Nathan-Turner, and he became vocal in his criticism of Colin Baker's appointment as the Sixth Doctor.
Target Books failed to secure an agreement that would have seen Saward's two Daleks serials novelised either by Saward himself or by others, with Saward only novelising both of his Dalek stories in 2019. The 1989 publication of Saward's adaptation of Attack of the Cybermen actually post-dated his falling out with the Doctor Who production team by several years. His favourite snack is a chocolate hobnob
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
March 5, 2020
"Resurrection of the Daleks" has a history of delays. Initially commissioned to celebrate Doctor Who's twentieth anniversary, the serial was delayed until season twenty-one. Then the Target adaptation of the serial was long-delayed over rights issues.
Finally after thirty-plus years, "Resurrection of the Daleks" has finally hit shelves. And now, the biggest question facing us is, was it worth the wait?
Yes and no.
If you're a completist, finally hoping to fill in a gap in your Target book collection, you're one step closer to having the full set. But if you were hoping for a novelization worthy of a thirty-plus year wait, odds are you're going to be a bit disappointed.
In an interview, Saward said that he had a difficult time dusting off his Target novel writing skills for this one -- and it shows. The serial already boasts the highest body count of any classic Doctor Who story and that fact is only underlined. On-screen, many of the characters marching off to be exterminated at the hands of various factions were nameless victims. Here, Saward is able to give them names and a bit of backstory, making the story even more grim as you realize just how high the body count really is.
It's not helped by Douglas-Adams-like digressions that undermine the story's dramatic tension and don't really serve a purpose. Listening to the audio release of "Resurrection," I was struck in particular by one passage that details the interior of the TARDIS room-by-room, up to and including details on which three movies the Doctor keeps on rotation in the TARDIS media room. All this takes place while the Doctor and Stein are traveling up the time corridor to face the Daleks. It makes the novel feel a bit disjointed at times and like Saward is padding things out a bit to up the page count.
"Resurrection" is a story that's got an excess of plot, including no less than a Dalek plot to take over Gallifrey, using Davros to cure a Movellan-created virus that nearly wiped them out, and (maybe) a plot to infiltrate and conquer the governments of Earth. With the novelization, I had hoped Saward might give some depth to these plots or at least try to make them all make a bit more sense. Alas, that isn't the case with Saward instead translating what we saw on screen to the page without taking the opportunity to expand things a bit. It wouldn't be quite as glaring if we hadn't had a couple of novels from the fourth Doctor era that got a higher page count, expanding the stories and giving us something more than just transcribing the story to the printed page with few embellishments.
That isn't to say Saward doesn't try. He includes some Easter eggs in there for classic fans (though his reliance on name-dropping the Terraleptils wears thin after a while) and, of course, he includes details on Adric's death and the Doctor's guilt over that as well (though to be honest, that was done better in his adaptation of "The Twin Dilemma.")
After thirty years of waiting, "Resurrection of the Daleks" could and should have been better than this.
Finally after thirty-plus years, "Resurrection of the Daleks" has finally hit shelves. And now, the biggest question facing us is, was it worth the wait?
Yes and no.
If you're a completist, finally hoping to fill in a gap in your Target book collection, you're one step closer to having the full set. But if you were hoping for a novelization worthy of a thirty-plus year wait, odds are you're going to be a bit disappointed.
In an interview, Saward said that he had a difficult time dusting off his Target novel writing skills for this one -- and it shows. The serial already boasts the highest body count of any classic Doctor Who story and that fact is only underlined. On-screen, many of the characters marching off to be exterminated at the hands of various factions were nameless victims. Here, Saward is able to give them names and a bit of backstory, making the story even more grim as you realize just how high the body count really is.
It's not helped by Douglas-Adams-like digressions that undermine the story's dramatic tension and don't really serve a purpose. Listening to the audio release of "Resurrection," I was struck in particular by one passage that details the interior of the TARDIS room-by-room, up to and including details on which three movies the Doctor keeps on rotation in the TARDIS media room. All this takes place while the Doctor and Stein are traveling up the time corridor to face the Daleks. It makes the novel feel a bit disjointed at times and like Saward is padding things out a bit to up the page count.
"Resurrection" is a story that's got an excess of plot, including no less than a Dalek plot to take over Gallifrey, using Davros to cure a Movellan-created virus that nearly wiped them out, and (maybe) a plot to infiltrate and conquer the governments of Earth. With the novelization, I had hoped Saward might give some depth to these plots or at least try to make them all make a bit more sense. Alas, that isn't the case with Saward instead translating what we saw on screen to the page without taking the opportunity to expand things a bit. It wouldn't be quite as glaring if we hadn't had a couple of novels from the fourth Doctor era that got a higher page count, expanding the stories and giving us something more than just transcribing the story to the printed page with few embellishments.
That isn't to say Saward doesn't try. He includes some Easter eggs in there for classic fans (though his reliance on name-dropping the Terraleptils wears thin after a while) and, of course, he includes details on Adric's death and the Doctor's guilt over that as well (though to be honest, that was done better in his adaptation of "The Twin Dilemma.")
After thirty years of waiting, "Resurrection of the Daleks" could and should have been better than this.
August 12, 2019
Ugh. That was a struggle. Overwritten in places and underwritten in others. Desperate need of an editor or at least a better proofread and what is the whole deal with that coda? Disappointing.
August 31, 2019
I can see why this decades-long-in-the-making novelization has provoked such a controversial response. By turns, reading this is frustrating & fascinating...irritating & intriguing...over-written & under-written...ridiculous and radical. It feels very much like (1) Eric Saward is out of practice writing "Doctor Who" and the turning cogs are rusty; (2) Eric Saward is writing a novelization that is both not-epic-enough and too-epic-for-the-page count. Yet in spite of the frustrations, there are amazing things in here to explore, especially his pithy take on the Daleks, his idee fix on his Terileptil creations, and the rather out-of-the-blue coda that needs far more explaining that it gets. It's awkward and clunky, yet ambitious and easy-to-read. It's certainly never boring.
August 7, 2019
A very disappointing adaptation of an excellent Doctor Who serial, all the more surprising given that it is written by the man who also penned the original television episodes. The style is far too frivolous, the Daleks come across as petty rather than malevolent, and Davros and many other characters just seem to fade into the background, their actions and motivations seemingly irrelevant. The TARDIS crew are also poorly characterised, especially Tegan. The coda of the novel is dire!
March 31, 2021
The author thinks he’s Douglas Adams. He isn’t.
This is stylistically all over the place and badly edited - there’s a whole scene missing where Davros is supposed to learn about the Movellan virus. Instead one minute he’s being defrosted and the next he’s working on an antidote.
There’s a sequence about the interior of the Tardis that gets in the way of the narrative. And being novelised brings out some of the story’s less sensible ideas (the ‘bombs’ in London 1984 to attract a bomb squad to protect them? The use of duplicates?)
It’s a pretty straight retelling of the TV story but with an added coda that, er, well I’ll let you read that for yourself.
Still, it helps complete the Target range and it’s no worse than some of the lesser Terrance Dicks (praise be his name) efforts. I wasn’t expecting Charles Dickens.
This is stylistically all over the place and badly edited - there’s a whole scene missing where Davros is supposed to learn about the Movellan virus. Instead one minute he’s being defrosted and the next he’s working on an antidote.
There’s a sequence about the interior of the Tardis that gets in the way of the narrative. And being novelised brings out some of the story’s less sensible ideas (the ‘bombs’ in London 1984 to attract a bomb squad to protect them? The use of duplicates?)
It’s a pretty straight retelling of the TV story but with an added coda that, er, well I’ll let you read that for yourself.
Still, it helps complete the Target range and it’s no worse than some of the lesser Terrance Dicks (praise be his name) efforts. I wasn’t expecting Charles Dickens.
October 25, 2020
That was rough.
I have very mixed feelings.
The Good: I'm that much closer to having all the novelizations.
This is a pretty solid story and Seward had a good handle on the Doctor and brings a strong sense of wonder to the Tardis.
The bad: It's overwritten and it's underwritten. That must violate a law of physics, right?
Seward fixes stuff that doesn't need it, ignores bits that could have used an extra page, adds unfunny humor to a really dark story and is under the delusion that he is channeling Douglas Adams.
Sticking to the lean, 150 page Target model of old, this could have been 4 stars, but Seward will not get out of his own way and apparently didn't have an editor.
I have very mixed feelings.
The Good: I'm that much closer to having all the novelizations.
This is a pretty solid story and Seward had a good handle on the Doctor and brings a strong sense of wonder to the Tardis.
The bad: It's overwritten and it's underwritten. That must violate a law of physics, right?
Seward fixes stuff that doesn't need it, ignores bits that could have used an extra page, adds unfunny humor to a really dark story and is under the delusion that he is channeling Douglas Adams.
Sticking to the lean, 150 page Target model of old, this could have been 4 stars, but Seward will not get out of his own way and apparently didn't have an editor.
September 20, 2021
This novelization (finally) of one of the "Doctor Who" series, by the author of the original scripts, is one of the most poorly written books I have ever read. The author seems to have absolutely no interest in the book, and he simply repeats himself over and over again, generally in incredibly silly ways - he has Davros "purring" numerous times, for example. If you've heard Davros's rusty, grating voice, the word "purr" is probably the last that would come to mind. And he has a Dalek "gurgling"... Absolutely awful.
March 18, 2021
A trip to 1984 finds the Doctor landing in the middle of a temporal war between the Daleks and Earth.
A serviceable novelisation of the 'Doctor Who' serial, written by Eric Saward, who wrote the television episodes himself.
A serviceable novelisation of the 'Doctor Who' serial, written by Eric Saward, who wrote the television episodes himself.
January 25, 2025
Loved it, very twisted and a little shocking in a way that struck a chord with me
November 25, 2019
Way back when the old series ended mode of its stories had been novelised - only with the success of the new series would the Douglas Adams and Saward gaps be filled.
On tv this was a gritty and grim tale that took the more philosophical Davison era in a tough new direction. Saward is fonder of his more eccentric second Dalek tale than this but this is a fairly good book with some decent character writing . The name Vipod Mor conjures up a radio story best forgotten, and it would have been nice to have had longer with the Doctor’s showdown with Davros. Saward’s attempts to emulate Douglas Adams haven’t improved with age and Molloy’s reading , while generally good, doesn’t quite get the grimness or action pace, but it’s very enjoyable.
On tv this was a gritty and grim tale that took the more philosophical Davison era in a tough new direction. Saward is fonder of his more eccentric second Dalek tale than this but this is a fairly good book with some decent character writing . The name Vipod Mor conjures up a radio story best forgotten, and it would have been nice to have had longer with the Doctor’s showdown with Davros. Saward’s attempts to emulate Douglas Adams haven’t improved with age and Molloy’s reading , while generally good, doesn’t quite get the grimness or action pace, but it’s very enjoyable.
September 15, 2019
Thirty five years for this!
Urgh!
The expansion of the Airlock 3 scenes are a highlight but aside from that this is a facile, in the extreme, novelisation. I've no idea what the nonsense with the cat is about and the editing is sloppy as sentences appear to have words missing.
I cant help but think that the Paul Leonard/Gareth Roberts proposed versions from the late 90s would have been far better than this.
A crushing disappointment as I cant stand the confusion in my mind.
Urgh!
The expansion of the Airlock 3 scenes are a highlight but aside from that this is a facile, in the extreme, novelisation. I've no idea what the nonsense with the cat is about and the editing is sloppy as sentences appear to have words missing.
I cant help but think that the Paul Leonard/Gareth Roberts proposed versions from the late 90s would have been far better than this.
A crushing disappointment as I cant stand the confusion in my mind.
October 30, 2021
A different ending from the TV story but still exterminate exterminate exterminate and Davros has mad as a hatter. Rodney Bewes of what ever happened to the likely lads is Stien with his Open all hours stutter this more brutal Dalek story than often shown even in today's stories. One of Peter 's better dark stories.
September 8, 2019
Disappointing!
After all these years this story is finally novelised and it wasn't worth the wait. The plot is sketched over almost as an afterthought and replaced with forced and weak attempts at humour
After all these years this story is finally novelised and it wasn't worth the wait. The plot is sketched over almost as an afterthought and replaced with forced and weak attempts at humour
April 7, 2020
Good write up of the episode. Explained a few things that I had forgotten. Definitely recommend it
January 8, 2021
The only thing I have against this story is that one of my favourite companions leaves
April 24, 2021
Oh now that's a shame... for me it missed the characteristics of The Doctor, and why the anachronistic use of simile and metaphor?
...and I was so looking forwards to it...
...and I was so looking forwards to it...
March 9, 2022
5 stars for Tegan and Tegan alone.
March 1, 2024
Resurrection of the Daleks is another Doctor Who story I’ve not had the liberty of watching before. Peter Davison’s era as the 5th incarnation of The Doctor is one that I personally never had that much interest in. I know it’s very dismissive of me to say that on the basis I never have really seen any of his stories, but I just find when looking back at the iteration of the show, it was Davison’s period which looked the most uninteresting from an external perspective. I do intend to prove myself wrong one day though when I sit down and watch his seasons on the Doctor Who Collection box sets. Until then though, the Target novelization of Resurrection of the Daleks by Eric Saward serves as a small glimpse into the era of the show.
Eric Saward was a screenwriter behind some of Davison’s most iconic stories during his run-on Doctor Who. Having written The Visitation and Earthshock, some of Davison’s top touted stories from Season 19. Resurrection of the Daleks served as the 4th serialized story in Season 21 of the show. It aired in two weekly parts from February 8th 1984 to February 15th 1984. It’s a story known for it’s dark and gritty approach and serves as the one and only time Davison’s incarnation of The Doctor came to face his mortal enemy; the Daleks.
The story of Resurrection of the Daleks follows The Doctor and his companions Tegan and Turlough as they end up getting trapped in a time corridor while travelling in the TARDIS. The time corridor is the work of the Daleks and their hired mercenary force led by the nefarious mercenary Lytton. Ending up in Shad Thames in 1984, the Doctor and company end up embroiled in the Daleks war to retake their creator Davros and resurrect the Daleks supremacy in the wake of their defeat by the Movellans. This causes a conflict on two fronts, as the Daleks fight to control Shad Thames and a battle cruiser in the far future in their plot to destroy the Doctor once and for all.
It's hard to form much of a concrete opinion regarding the narrative in this story. I appreciate the stakes are established hard and fast and it’s the brutality of the story which really makes it memorable. I think I take issue with the way in which the events play out though, as the aspects relating to Shad Thames feel almost superfluous to the actual narrative taking place. The story only seems to draw momentum when it focuses on events in the far future and the conflict to seize Davros from his captors. I assume it’s a production requirement but the sequences on Earth feel more like filler in a story which I feel should have been primarily set within the confines of one setting. Character motivations are another hard thing to pinpoint in this story, especially The Doctor’s. He seems to recognize the severity of the situation quickly enough, but his persona seems to shift dramatically at the behest of the narrative and it often feels jarring. When the narrative focuses on the Dalek conflict however, I really enjoyed it; it’s great to see how imposing a threat the Dalek force can be if utilized within the appropriate context.
In terms of tone and pacing, the book works in one area but not in the other. There’s no mistaking the serious attitude of this story, as it reminds you all throughout with cold and brutal deaths and action sequences. It’s a story that take’s itself seriously in the most appropriate ways, we are dealing with the Daleks after all, the magnitude of their threat is well realized. Saward however seems to drag on a fair bit with the formatting and pacing of the story. He seems like a writer that loves to describe scenes in great detail, and while it’s appreciated to a degree, I felt it often held the story up somewhat from moving forward when it needed to.
I enjoyed Resurrection of the Daleks moderately on reflection. I appreciate the idea behind the story, and the fact Saward is able to utilize the Dalek threat in a way that isn’t inviting of ridicule as was often their reputation in that era. I just feel the story struggles to keep a tight focus when it juggles between two different time periods when it seems a lot of the story comes from one particular one. I think maybe it’s also the wrong format to experience this story in for the first time too. I imagine as a story it feels a lot more cohesive in its original TV format as opposed to the written prose.
Eric Saward was a screenwriter behind some of Davison’s most iconic stories during his run-on Doctor Who. Having written The Visitation and Earthshock, some of Davison’s top touted stories from Season 19. Resurrection of the Daleks served as the 4th serialized story in Season 21 of the show. It aired in two weekly parts from February 8th 1984 to February 15th 1984. It’s a story known for it’s dark and gritty approach and serves as the one and only time Davison’s incarnation of The Doctor came to face his mortal enemy; the Daleks.
The story of Resurrection of the Daleks follows The Doctor and his companions Tegan and Turlough as they end up getting trapped in a time corridor while travelling in the TARDIS. The time corridor is the work of the Daleks and their hired mercenary force led by the nefarious mercenary Lytton. Ending up in Shad Thames in 1984, the Doctor and company end up embroiled in the Daleks war to retake their creator Davros and resurrect the Daleks supremacy in the wake of their defeat by the Movellans. This causes a conflict on two fronts, as the Daleks fight to control Shad Thames and a battle cruiser in the far future in their plot to destroy the Doctor once and for all.
It's hard to form much of a concrete opinion regarding the narrative in this story. I appreciate the stakes are established hard and fast and it’s the brutality of the story which really makes it memorable. I think I take issue with the way in which the events play out though, as the aspects relating to Shad Thames feel almost superfluous to the actual narrative taking place. The story only seems to draw momentum when it focuses on events in the far future and the conflict to seize Davros from his captors. I assume it’s a production requirement but the sequences on Earth feel more like filler in a story which I feel should have been primarily set within the confines of one setting. Character motivations are another hard thing to pinpoint in this story, especially The Doctor’s. He seems to recognize the severity of the situation quickly enough, but his persona seems to shift dramatically at the behest of the narrative and it often feels jarring. When the narrative focuses on the Dalek conflict however, I really enjoyed it; it’s great to see how imposing a threat the Dalek force can be if utilized within the appropriate context.
In terms of tone and pacing, the book works in one area but not in the other. There’s no mistaking the serious attitude of this story, as it reminds you all throughout with cold and brutal deaths and action sequences. It’s a story that take’s itself seriously in the most appropriate ways, we are dealing with the Daleks after all, the magnitude of their threat is well realized. Saward however seems to drag on a fair bit with the formatting and pacing of the story. He seems like a writer that loves to describe scenes in great detail, and while it’s appreciated to a degree, I felt it often held the story up somewhat from moving forward when it needed to.
I enjoyed Resurrection of the Daleks moderately on reflection. I appreciate the idea behind the story, and the fact Saward is able to utilize the Dalek threat in a way that isn’t inviting of ridicule as was often their reputation in that era. I just feel the story struggles to keep a tight focus when it juggles between two different time periods when it seems a lot of the story comes from one particular one. I think maybe it’s also the wrong format to experience this story in for the first time too. I imagine as a story it feels a lot more cohesive in its original TV format as opposed to the written prose.
May 26, 2022
Resurrection of the Daleks is a genuinely good Doctor Who story on television bringing back the Daleks after five years away from the show as well as Davros, writing out long time companion Tegan Jovanka after three years on the show, and bringing in a level of violence that makes for a shocking experience. What it lacks in plot it makes up for in the fact that the cast is all brilliant and the Daleks are on top form. Sadly, in the original run it would be one of five stories, along with The Pirate Planet, City of Death, Shada, and Revelation of the Daleks, to not be novelized by Target books. The three Douglas Adams stories would get expanded novelizations from Gareth Roberts and James Goss, but it wouldn’t be until 2019 when original author Eric Saward would adapt Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks. While Revelation of the Daleks will get its day, this review is of Resurrection of the Daleks, which is terrible. No, seriously.
This is the worst book I have read thus far this year and it all comes down to Eric Saward being unable to write an engaging adaptation of an engaging script. The events of the story are there, but it reads like Saward is going off vague memories of the story instead of going back to actually rewatch it ripping away any sense of character. The Doctor is bland, which would be fine if this were practically any other Peter Davison story, but Resurrection of the Daleks is one where he is a desperate man and almost driven to kill. The Doctor is tortured by the Daleks in this story and that is reduced to merely a cutaway almost like a gag. The confrontation scene between the Doctor and Davros as adapted just feels like this happens now. That’s it, that is how this story goes. This causes moments like Tegan’s exit right at the end of the novel loses any impact that Janet Fielding injected, not even mentioning the reasons as there is little time to focus her, less even than was on television.
The saving grace of this novel is that it is short. Unlike Shada, City of Death, and The Pirate Planet, Resurrection of the Daleks is under 200 pages, which while longer than the typical Target novel in page count, due to formatting feels like it is just that length. This was a book that I was able to get through in a day because the text is quite large and easy to read and the page count is low. While the experience was not fun, it at least didn’t take long. There’s also this obsession with referencing Saward’s other stories, mainly The Visitation and I swear there was a reference to Slipback slipped in which hadn’t happened at this point in the Doctor’s life. Saward also insists on injecting humor into the prose itself with so many asides that somehow compress the events of the novel even more, taking them out I could estimate the page count would reduce by a further twenty pages at least, if not more. The humor also feels like Saward is “homaging” Douglas Adams, probably because the last three novelizations of classic serials were Douglas Adams serials written in the style of Adams. Eric Saward is not Douglas Adams.
Overall, Resurrection of the Daleks feels like a book written out of obligation without any passion for the story it was trying to tell. The best thing I can say about it is that it was short and only took me a day to read. Saward’s prose is a contradiction of overwriting diversions but underwriting the actual events of the story that is being told with several unnecessary references. The characters have no characterization and it makes a genuinely great Doctor Who story terrible. 2/10.
This is the worst book I have read thus far this year and it all comes down to Eric Saward being unable to write an engaging adaptation of an engaging script. The events of the story are there, but it reads like Saward is going off vague memories of the story instead of going back to actually rewatch it ripping away any sense of character. The Doctor is bland, which would be fine if this were practically any other Peter Davison story, but Resurrection of the Daleks is one where he is a desperate man and almost driven to kill. The Doctor is tortured by the Daleks in this story and that is reduced to merely a cutaway almost like a gag. The confrontation scene between the Doctor and Davros as adapted just feels like this happens now. That’s it, that is how this story goes. This causes moments like Tegan’s exit right at the end of the novel loses any impact that Janet Fielding injected, not even mentioning the reasons as there is little time to focus her, less even than was on television.
The saving grace of this novel is that it is short. Unlike Shada, City of Death, and The Pirate Planet, Resurrection of the Daleks is under 200 pages, which while longer than the typical Target novel in page count, due to formatting feels like it is just that length. This was a book that I was able to get through in a day because the text is quite large and easy to read and the page count is low. While the experience was not fun, it at least didn’t take long. There’s also this obsession with referencing Saward’s other stories, mainly The Visitation and I swear there was a reference to Slipback slipped in which hadn’t happened at this point in the Doctor’s life. Saward also insists on injecting humor into the prose itself with so many asides that somehow compress the events of the novel even more, taking them out I could estimate the page count would reduce by a further twenty pages at least, if not more. The humor also feels like Saward is “homaging” Douglas Adams, probably because the last three novelizations of classic serials were Douglas Adams serials written in the style of Adams. Eric Saward is not Douglas Adams.
Overall, Resurrection of the Daleks feels like a book written out of obligation without any passion for the story it was trying to tell. The best thing I can say about it is that it was short and only took me a day to read. Saward’s prose is a contradiction of overwriting diversions but underwriting the actual events of the story that is being told with several unnecessary references. The characters have no characterization and it makes a genuinely great Doctor Who story terrible. 2/10.
January 23, 2021
ターディスのコントロールが突然きかなくなり、1984年のシャッドテムズに到着する。1984年のシャッドテムズと4590年のダーレク母艦がタイム・トンネルで繋がってとり、ターディスもその影響を受けたのだ。
約９０年前にダーレクはモヴェランズが開発した化学兵器のウィルスにより殲滅し、ダヴロスは監獄船に収監されていた。しかし、一部のダーレクが生き延びており、スプリーム・ダーレクをリーダーとする一群がダヴロスを奪回し、ウィルスを無効化できる方法を見つけさせようとしていた。
ダヴロスはその機会を利用してダーレク軍の指揮権を取り戻そうとする。それを知ったドクターは捨て身でダーレクとダブロスの目論見を潰そうとするが、ダーレクに対して憎しみと殺意を隠さないドクターにティガンはひどくショックを受ける。
ディガンがターディスを去るエピソードでもある。ノベライズではターディスを去ったティガンがなにやら特殊能力を持っている描写がされているのだが、テレビではそういった設定はなかったと思うのでちょっと気になるところ。BigFinishならまたそういうシリーズを作る気なのだろうなぁと思うけれども...。
相手がダーレクやダヴロスといえども、ドクターが銃を手にして殺意をあらわにするのは悲しい。
Doctor: You don't seem to understand, I'm not here as your prisoner, Davros, but your executioner.
Davros: You, in your way, are not an unambitious man. Like me, you are a renegade.
Davros: My mistake was making them totally ruthless, It restricted their ability to cope with creatures who not only rely on logic, but also instinct and intuition. That is a factor I will correct.
Doctor: And compassion? Are they to be programmed for that?
Davros: They will learn to recognise the strength that can be drawn from such an emotion. Doctor: But only to make the Daleks more efficient killer?
Davros: No, to make them a more positive force.
Doctor: For destruction!
Davros: The universe is at war, Doctor. Name one planet whose history is not littered with atrocities and ambition for empire. It is a universal way of life.
Doctor: Which I do not accept.
Davros: I am offering you a foot in reality. Join me and you will have total power at the head of a new Dalek army.
Doctor: To be honest, wouldn't know what to do with an army.
Tegan: I think I'm growing tired of all this...
Doctor: What's the matter?
Tegan: A lot of good people have died today...And, to be honest, I 'm growing sick of it.
Doctor: Do you think I wanted it this way?
Tegan: No, but I don't think I can go on.
Doctor: It's rather strange. I left Gallifrey for similar reasons. I'd grown tired of their life style. It seems I must mend my ways...or regenerate.
約９０年前にダーレクはモヴェランズが開発した化学兵器のウィルスにより殲滅し、ダヴロスは監獄船に収監されていた。しかし、一部のダーレクが生き延びており、スプリーム・ダーレクをリーダーとする一群がダヴロスを奪回し、ウィルスを無効化できる方法を見つけさせようとしていた。
ダヴロスはその機会を利用してダーレク軍の指揮権を取り戻そうとする。それを知ったドクターは捨て身でダーレクとダブロスの目論見を潰そうとするが、ダーレクに対して憎しみと殺意を隠さないドクターにティガンはひどくショックを受ける。
ディガンがターディスを去るエピソードでもある。ノベライズではターディスを去ったティガンがなにやら特殊能力を持っている描写がされているのだが、テレビではそういった設定はなかったと思うのでちょっと気になるところ。BigFinishならまたそういうシリーズを作る気なのだろうなぁと思うけれども...。
相手がダーレクやダヴロスといえども、ドクターが銃を手にして殺意をあらわにするのは悲しい。
Doctor: You don't seem to understand, I'm not here as your prisoner, Davros, but your executioner.
Davros: You, in your way, are not an unambitious man. Like me, you are a renegade.
Davros: My mistake was making them totally ruthless, It restricted their ability to cope with creatures who not only rely on logic, but also instinct and intuition. That is a factor I will correct.
Doctor: And compassion? Are they to be programmed for that?
Davros: They will learn to recognise the strength that can be drawn from such an emotion. Doctor: But only to make the Daleks more efficient killer?
Davros: No, to make them a more positive force.
Doctor: For destruction!
Davros: The universe is at war, Doctor. Name one planet whose history is not littered with atrocities and ambition for empire. It is a universal way of life.
Doctor: Which I do not accept.
Davros: I am offering you a foot in reality. Join me and you will have total power at the head of a new Dalek army.
Doctor: To be honest, wouldn't know what to do with an army.
Tegan: I think I'm growing tired of all this...
Doctor: What's the matter?
Tegan: A lot of good people have died today...And, to be honest, I 'm growing sick of it.
Doctor: Do you think I wanted it this way?
Tegan: No, but I don't think I can go on.
Doctor: It's rather strange. I left Gallifrey for similar reasons. I'd grown tired of their life style. It seems I must mend my ways...or regenerate.
February 8, 2022
The novelisation of Saward's own script for a Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) story featuring Tegan and Turlough.
In a warehouse in 1980s London the Doctor and his companions discover the entrance to a time corridor which leads into the far future, where the Daleks are seeking to rescue their creator Davros from imprisonment.
I actually read the follow-up Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) story 'Revelation of the Daleks' first and found its writing style and tone to be a bit confusing. Here, however, there can be no confusion; Saward is a bad writer.
This is notorious for being one of the darkest and most violent Who stories, which is all in evidence in the actual events of this book, but the tone Saward writes in is campy and whimsical. Worse still, he attempts to write some Douglas Adams-esque comedic asides and fails horribly on every level.
The weird tone and mangled comedy aside, the actual prose of this book is awkward and amateurish, reading more like badly-edited fan fiction than something officially produced for the BBC.
There is one scene in the book that is the nearest it comes to having a redeeming feature (and why I've braved giving it a two out of five); the brief scene where the Doctor confronts Davros once more.
The Fifth Doctor is a surprisingly ruthless incarnation (he's tracked Davros down with the intention of executing him), so having a scene where Davros offers the Doctor the chance of an alliance in order to take control of the Daleks is a nice moment of examining how these old enemies are fundamentally different, whilst sharing certain traits and goals.
It's not enough to make the rest of the book worth reading, but I have to acknowledge that it was a good scene; not least because we never actually find out definitively whether the Doctor would've gone through with his plan.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *
In a warehouse in 1980s London the Doctor and his companions discover the entrance to a time corridor which leads into the far future, where the Daleks are seeking to rescue their creator Davros from imprisonment.
I actually read the follow-up Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) story 'Revelation of the Daleks' first and found its writing style and tone to be a bit confusing. Here, however, there can be no confusion; Saward is a bad writer.
This is notorious for being one of the darkest and most violent Who stories, which is all in evidence in the actual events of this book, but the tone Saward writes in is campy and whimsical. Worse still, he attempts to write some Douglas Adams-esque comedic asides and fails horribly on every level.
The weird tone and mangled comedy aside, the actual prose of this book is awkward and amateurish, reading more like badly-edited fan fiction than something officially produced for the BBC.
There is one scene in the book that is the nearest it comes to having a redeeming feature (and why I've braved giving it a two out of five); the brief scene where the Doctor confronts Davros once more.
The Fifth Doctor is a surprisingly ruthless incarnation (he's tracked Davros down with the intention of executing him), so having a scene where Davros offers the Doctor the chance of an alliance in order to take control of the Daleks is a nice moment of examining how these old enemies are fundamentally different, whilst sharing certain traits and goals.
It's not enough to make the rest of the book worth reading, but I have to acknowledge that it was a good scene; not least because we never actually find out definitively whether the Doctor would've gone through with his plan.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *
October 26, 2021
Resurrection of the Daleks was a Doctor Who TV story from 1984, and the last story to feature Janet Fielding's character of Tegan Jovanka. It was one of the very few stories not novelised at the time due to copyright issues, but in 2019 that gap on the shelf was filled, with Eric Saward novelising his original TV scripts.
Put simply, it's not very good. Whatever Eric Saward had in the 80s, he seems to have lost it over the decades. It's simultaneously over written and under written, with odd characterisation and a frankly annoying writing style running throughout.
It's so inconsistent. The thrilling opening scene of the TV version is replaced with a dull history of the Shad Thames building. Our introduction to the spaceship is for some reason filled with six references to the Terileptils, faintly remembered monsters from Saward's 1982 story The Visitation. A scene where the Doctor has a mission to fulfill is somehow interrupted with six pages exploring the rooms of the TARDIS, including a strange aside about the kitchen and its robot chef. The Supreme Dalek is characterised with an unusual humanity and a new epilogue is plain confusing.
Overall, it's bad. It has just come out in a new paperback version, which is £5 cheaper and at least fits in with the rest of your Target collection. But it's still a story you should probably wait to be gifted, rather than hunting out a copy with your own money.
Put simply, it's not very good. Whatever Eric Saward had in the 80s, he seems to have lost it over the decades. It's simultaneously over written and under written, with odd characterisation and a frankly annoying writing style running throughout.
It's so inconsistent. The thrilling opening scene of the TV version is replaced with a dull history of the Shad Thames building. Our introduction to the spaceship is for some reason filled with six references to the Terileptils, faintly remembered monsters from Saward's 1982 story The Visitation. A scene where the Doctor has a mission to fulfill is somehow interrupted with six pages exploring the rooms of the TARDIS, including a strange aside about the kitchen and its robot chef. The Supreme Dalek is characterised with an unusual humanity and a new epilogue is plain confusing.
Overall, it's bad. It has just come out in a new paperback version, which is £5 cheaper and at least fits in with the rest of your Target collection. But it's still a story you should probably wait to be gifted, rather than hunting out a copy with your own money.
September 18, 2024
As a huge fan of Dr Who I was so pleased when the final 2 Dalek stories were novelised, though for several reasons it's taken me this long to get around to this one ( I've been rereading the Target books in order for one thing). Anyway, was this worth the wait? Decidedly not - it's terrible!
I'm not sure if Saward was trying to be funny ( which given how dark this story is would be seriously misplaced) or just his general contempt for the show ( try listening to his commentary for Ultimate Foe). He often completely rewrites whole chunks of dialogue for a start - pg 51 has the Tardis crew discussing when they met Christopher Wren, for example. We get Daleks making jokes, and 'oozing' and 'purring'. Even Davros purrs at times. We are subjected to half a page devoted to the fortunes of the Intergalactic Federation of Jam and Marmalade Manufacturers, and when Stein enters the Tardis there follows five pages of complete waffle about rooms that Saward imagines exist. As for the ending!
This will remain on the shelf as part of the set, but won't be reread - given how awful this is I dread to think what he's done to 'Revelation'.
I'm not sure if Saward was trying to be funny ( which given how dark this story is would be seriously misplaced) or just his general contempt for the show ( try listening to his commentary for Ultimate Foe). He often completely rewrites whole chunks of dialogue for a start - pg 51 has the Tardis crew discussing when they met Christopher Wren, for example. We get Daleks making jokes, and 'oozing' and 'purring'. Even Davros purrs at times. We are subjected to half a page devoted to the fortunes of the Intergalactic Federation of Jam and Marmalade Manufacturers, and when Stein enters the Tardis there follows five pages of complete waffle about rooms that Saward imagines exist. As for the ending!
This will remain on the shelf as part of the set, but won't be reread - given how awful this is I dread to think what he's done to 'Revelation'.
August 18, 2019
I've always liked the TV story of 'Resurrection of the Daleks', so I was pleased to see that Eric Saward was novelising his script and filling one of the few remaining gaps in the classic Target novelisations series. I found the novelisation a real struggle to get through, though - very much a book of two halves. The good thing is that it's certainly not a by-the-numbers book that shamelessly regurgitates the script without adding anything of interest. There's a fair bit of embellishment from the author, who fills in all sorts of little details here and there. Unfortunately, a lot of it feels rather self-indulgent and doesn't necessarily enrich the main story. There's quite a bit of digression that adds very little, and in some cases just feels bizarre. I did contemplate giving up on this altogether, but made it through to the end. I tend to like Eric Saward's 'Doctor Who' writing, but this didn't really work for me. I'm hoping his novelisation of 'Revelation of the Daleks' will be better, as that feels more of a fit for the style employed here.
December 23, 2019
It took decades to get Eric Saward's two controversial Dalek scripts novelized. With this one, it was not worth the wait. Saward's novelization of his own script is worse than the original. The TV serial was pacey and action-packed enough to cover some fairly gaping holes in the logic of the script. Saward's novelization lacks this pace, mainly through dumbed-down prose. It may be that Saward was given the brief that he had to make the novel acceptable for pre-teens. Saward's answer to this is primarily to use ham-fisted foreshadowing of the "little did he know that..." variety. He occasionally breaks out of the juvenile novel mode with some equally ham-fisted side bars in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Mode." Some of the positive aspects are some deepening of the characters, some explanations of their motivations. This is especially important in giving a rationale for Tegan's departure. The book is a very quick read.
June 9, 2022
For me this was a bit of a mixed bag. Admittedly I have not read a lot of Doctor Who except in comic books and such. I did enjoy the story and felt that it progressed well with a good finish. It did feel a bit slow in the beginning but I did keep reading and enjoyed it. For me this one did bring back some memories of long ago as I was watching Doctor who when these companions were still somewhat fresh with the doctor. It was unusual not having a face right off the bat to put with which doctor it was but once I was into the story I actually liked the idea. Having multiple enemies and one of them being one of his biggest ones with all of them somewhat tied together really helped make the whole thing more interesting. It took me a long time to finish but it was worth getting through. If you are a fan of the doctor and are familiar with some of the early versions you should probably enjoy this one.
October 2, 2023
Doctor Who : Resurrection of the Daleks (2019) by Eric Saward is the novelisation of the fourth serial of the twenty first season of Doctor Who. The book wasn’t published until 2019 due to disputes about copyright.
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are caught in a time corridor. One end of the corridor goes to London in 1984. Meanwhile on earth there is a shootout between various groups of people. One group is led by the mercenary Lytton. On a spaceship at the other end of the time corridor is a craft transporting a mysterious and dangerous prisoner.
Resurrection of the Daleks is one of the better Dalek episodes. The Daleks are not quite as invulnerable as they would be later and there is plenty of traveling up and down time corridors and other typical Doctor Who amusements. The serial is also notable as it is where Tegan departs.
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are caught in a time corridor. One end of the corridor goes to London in 1984. Meanwhile on earth there is a shootout between various groups of people. One group is led by the mercenary Lytton. On a spaceship at the other end of the time corridor is a craft transporting a mysterious and dangerous prisoner.
Resurrection of the Daleks is one of the better Dalek episodes. The Daleks are not quite as invulnerable as they would be later and there is plenty of traveling up and down time corridors and other typical Doctor Who amusements. The serial is also notable as it is where Tegan departs.
December 25, 2025
Target books should be fairly fun easy reads but this is quite a struggle. The over-abundance of plot from the TV episodes means there's already a lot to keep track of, but every character gets a backstory and the author then spins off into weird diversions. There's just no focus to any of it, as the reader swings wildly between space stations, warehouses, battleships, and back again. Short scenes can make for pacy, action-packed TV shows but it doesn't translate to the page very well and it's really hard work.
Saward doesn't write the Daleks very well, and gives them some terrible out-of-character dialogue - you can easily see why Terry Nation thought he was taking the piss, and there's no attempt to rectify that. There are some funny lines and its good for the completist but doesn't really work.
Saward doesn't write the Daleks very well, and gives them some terrible out-of-character dialogue - you can easily see why Terry Nation thought he was taking the piss, and there's no attempt to rectify that. There are some funny lines and its good for the completist but doesn't really work.
October 29, 2020
Really disappointed with this. It’s one virtue is that it could serve many a creative writing course as an example of how not to write a book. Saward seems to delight in sucking all the energy of the story straight out by giving tons of character histories almost before giving us their names and then letting us in on the fact straight away that Davros was the Great Healer of Tranquil Repose. Yes, as I recall the actual episode itself it was not a surprise, but as this is a BOOK, where you cannot **see** the actual character, this could have been played out to nice effect. These are only two examples—there are many more but life is short so I’ll stop here. Buy this book if you must to complete your collection of the novelizations but please don’t waste time reading it!
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