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The Essential Terrance Dicks Volume 2
"I think if you can get a kid reading for pleasure, not because it's work, but actually reading for pleasure, it's a great step forward. It can start with me, you know, start with Dicks and work its way up to Dickens - as long as you get them reading." - Terrance DicksFor over 50 years, Terrance Dicks was the secret beating heart(s) of Doctor Who - from joining production of The Invasion in 1968 to his final short story in 2019. As the undisputed master of Doctor Who fiction, Terrance wrote 64 Target novels from his first commission in 1973 to his last, published in 1990. He helped introduce an entire generation to the pleasures of reading and writing, and his fans include Neil Gaiman, Sarah Waters, Mark Gatiss, Alastair Reynolds, Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, Frank-Cottrell Boyce, and Robert Webb, among many others.This two-volume collection, features the very best of his Doctor Who novels as chosen by fans - from his first book, The Auton Invasion, to his masterwork, the 20th anniversary celebration story The Five Doctors, voted all-time favourite.This Volume contains, complete and DOCTOR WHO AND THE GENESIS OF THE DALEKSDOCTOR WHO AND THE PYRAMIDS OF MARSDOCTOR WHO AND THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANGDOCTOR WHO AND THE HORROR OF FANG ROCKDOCTOR WHO AND THE FIVE DOCTORS
- GenresDoctor WhoFiction
465 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 26, 2021
19 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Terrance Dicks
326 books220 followersTerrance Dicks was an English author, screenwriter, script editor, and producer best known for his extensive contributions to Doctor Who. Serving as the show's script editor from 1968 to 1974, he helped shape many core elements of the series, including the concept of regeneration, the development of the Time Lords, and the naming of the Doctor’s home planet, Gallifrey. His tenure coincided with major thematic expansions, and he worked closely with producer Barry Letts to bring a socially aware tone to the show. Dicks later wrote several Doctor Who serials, including Robot, Horror of Fang Rock, and The Five Doctors, the 20th-anniversary special.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.
In parallel with his television work, Dicks became one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novelisations for Target Books, authoring over 60 titles and serving as the de facto editor of the range. These adaptations introduced a generation of young readers to the franchise. Beyond Doctor Who, he also wrote original novels, including children’s horror and adventure series such as The Baker Street Irregulars, Star Quest, and The Adventures of Goliath.
Dicks also worked on other television programmes including The Avengers, Moonbase 3, and various BBC literary adaptations. His later work included audio dramas and novels tied to Doctor Who. Widely respected for his clarity, imagination, and dedication to storytelling, he remained a central figure in Doctor Who fandom until his death in 2019, leaving behind a vast legacy in television and children's literature.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 23, 2022
This is the second of two volumes recently collecting some of the best of prolific Doctor Who scriptwriter Terrance Dicks’s work. In this second volume we are looking mainly at Terrance’s later work for the Third Doctor, Tom Baker. He was the longest serving and arguably the most popular Doctor in the early series run from 1963 – 1989, and so this volume contains some of the most popular stories of the original run. The last novel is based on the anniversary story which happened whilst Peter Davison was the Fourth Doctor, although two of the other Doctors are in that story as well.
Volume Two contains, complete and unabridged: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks, Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars, Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang, Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock and Doctor Who and the Five Doctors.
Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks is one of the most popular Doctor Who stories of all time. The Doctor (portrayed in the television series by Tom Baker) and his companions Sarah-Jane (played by Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan arrive on the planet Skaro to find an ongoing war between the Thals and the Daleks. They also meet their leader Davros for the first time. Great story. It evidently has the greatest print run of any of the original Target series and I can see why.
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars is an almost Lovecraftian story. Set in 1911 it involves archaeological professors, ancient mummies, alien gods and even robots. Very heavy on the Gothic and with some knowing nods to the film The Mummy, both elements which I enjoyed a lot.
Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang is perhaps a story that wouldn’t sit well with modern audiences. With more than a nod to the Sax Rohmer stories of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the Doctor finds himself in Victorian London with companion Leela fighting magicians from the future, mystical spirits and opium drug dens around the sewers of the Thames.
Similarly, Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock finds the Doctor and Leela in Victorian Gothic territory, with a dysfunctional lighthouse and aliens to deal with. And Leela trying to adapt to Victorian culture.
Lastly, Doctor Who and the Five Doctors was an anniversary series designed to celebrate 20 years of the Doctor, and was published before the programme was aired, which created great excitement at the time.. It was actually written by Dicks, who also wrote this novelisation. Whilst Peter Davison was the Doctor at the time (the 5th), the story involves admirable support from the First, Second and Third incarnations of himself and their companions as they battle against Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti and others in order to a bd guy to justice. Being less limited by budget, the novelisation is appropriately filled with lots of cameo performances, and a good story to finish on - but not the best.
Like in the first volume, Dicks’ prose is minimal and yet precise, conveying the plot and the visual elements of the stories with a minimum of fuss. The stories make their point and then move on. That’s not to say that they aren’t exciting and fast-paced when they need to be, but there are few diversions into subplots and introspection.
In short, they are just what a person’s inner twelve-year-old needs.
As is de rigeur with these reissues there is also a foreword by a celebrity brought in to say how important these stories were to them when younger. This time it is Robert Webb, who rather expectedly tells us that these books were a major influence on his reading habits back in the 1970s. Thoughts along the lines of “I wouldn’t be here today had it not been for…”
Like the first volume I really enjoyed revisiting these older Doctor Who tales. These stories are, if anything, stronger plot-wise than the first. I still wonder whether a new Who-vian would enjoy them, but even allowing for some elements being dated (all that talk of Orientals, for one), I can’t see why not. Even if you don’t remember the original episodes they capture the essence of a good Doctor Who story – strong plot, fast pace, minimal musings, atmospheric setting, great dialogue. And when Terrance was good, he was very good. A fitting celebration of the joys of Doctor Who.
Volume Two contains, complete and unabridged: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks, Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars, Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang, Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock and Doctor Who and the Five Doctors.
Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks is one of the most popular Doctor Who stories of all time. The Doctor (portrayed in the television series by Tom Baker) and his companions Sarah-Jane (played by Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan arrive on the planet Skaro to find an ongoing war between the Thals and the Daleks. They also meet their leader Davros for the first time. Great story. It evidently has the greatest print run of any of the original Target series and I can see why.
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars is an almost Lovecraftian story. Set in 1911 it involves archaeological professors, ancient mummies, alien gods and even robots. Very heavy on the Gothic and with some knowing nods to the film The Mummy, both elements which I enjoyed a lot.
Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang is perhaps a story that wouldn’t sit well with modern audiences. With more than a nod to the Sax Rohmer stories of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the Doctor finds himself in Victorian London with companion Leela fighting magicians from the future, mystical spirits and opium drug dens around the sewers of the Thames.
Similarly, Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock finds the Doctor and Leela in Victorian Gothic territory, with a dysfunctional lighthouse and aliens to deal with. And Leela trying to adapt to Victorian culture.
Lastly, Doctor Who and the Five Doctors was an anniversary series designed to celebrate 20 years of the Doctor, and was published before the programme was aired, which created great excitement at the time.. It was actually written by Dicks, who also wrote this novelisation. Whilst Peter Davison was the Doctor at the time (the 5th), the story involves admirable support from the First, Second and Third incarnations of himself and their companions as they battle against Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti and others in order to a bd guy to justice. Being less limited by budget, the novelisation is appropriately filled with lots of cameo performances, and a good story to finish on - but not the best.
Like in the first volume, Dicks’ prose is minimal and yet precise, conveying the plot and the visual elements of the stories with a minimum of fuss. The stories make their point and then move on. That’s not to say that they aren’t exciting and fast-paced when they need to be, but there are few diversions into subplots and introspection.
In short, they are just what a person’s inner twelve-year-old needs.
As is de rigeur with these reissues there is also a foreword by a celebrity brought in to say how important these stories were to them when younger. This time it is Robert Webb, who rather expectedly tells us that these books were a major influence on his reading habits back in the 1970s. Thoughts along the lines of “I wouldn’t be here today had it not been for…”
Like the first volume I really enjoyed revisiting these older Doctor Who tales. These stories are, if anything, stronger plot-wise than the first. I still wonder whether a new Who-vian would enjoy them, but even allowing for some elements being dated (all that talk of Orientals, for one), I can’t see why not. Even if you don’t remember the original episodes they capture the essence of a good Doctor Who story – strong plot, fast pace, minimal musings, atmospheric setting, great dialogue. And when Terrance was good, he was very good. A fitting celebration of the joys of Doctor Who.
February 2, 2025
Terrance Dicks was the oil that kept the Doctor Who machine running back in it’s day. His contribution to the show is known mainly as a script editor with his earliest credits being in the Second Doctor’s War Games serial. He was the mind behind a lot of the core mythology behind the wider universe of the show and he was attributed to have a well-maintained relationship with a lot of the main writers throughout the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th doctor’s era. Not only a major element behind the production of the show, Terrance Dicks also lent his written work towards the novelization of key episodes through the show’s history. Last year, I had the privilege of reading volume 1 of the compilation of Dick’s essential written works. Each story felt sharp, concise and captured the allure of the respective stories with complete ease.
Volume 2 of The Essential Terrance Dicks focuses primarily on some of the very best of the 4th and 5th Doctor’s era of Doctor Who. The stories are as follows:
• The Genesis of the Daleks
• The Pyramids of Mars
• The Talons of Weng-Chiang
• The Horror of Fang Rock
• The Five Doctors
I’ve admittingly never watched any of these Classic-Who stories before besides Genesis, but I’m aware of their reputation for the most part. The common link between all of the stories though is their common association with the very best of the classic era of Doctor Who. There’s a reason the majority of these stories are from Tom Baker’s era, as his era was arguably the most iconic period of the show.
Genesis of the Daleks served as one of the first stories of Baker’s run on the show and it pitched him and his companions against the Daleks at the very birth of their power. Having watched the TV serial for this episode, I can comment this is a fantastic transcription of the show into a written format. It captures the cold, brutal theme of desperate conflict layered so wonderfully in the story between the pages. I love how it’s able to keep the pace of the story going so consistently while being able to dive deep into a story heavily inspired by the fascist and dictatorial rise of the Nazi regime. It’s a fantastic story in its own right, but it also serves as a clear showcase of the star quality Baker’s era is set to showcase.
The Pyramids of Mars was another incredibly intriguing story to follow. Taking inspiration from Egyptian mythology, this story ponders on the idea that these Egyptian gods were actually powerful alien beings. The Doctor and Sarah Jane come across a cult of fanatics out to bring forth the return of Sutekh, an outcast of these aliens with a never-ending desire to bring death all of life. It’s a well paced story, layered with great tension and intrigue all throughout. Sutekh is easily my favourite part of the story. After recently experiencing his return in the new era of the show, it was great to see the scale of his might and power within this narrative through his interactions with the Doctor.
The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a great historical episode which puts the Doctor and his companion Leela in the streets of Victorian London to face off against a sinister criminal cult. It’s a story which exudes gothic horror at every stride and there’s a compelling mystery tied behind the plot of the story that kept me engrossed all throughout. I think it does lose a bit of value however due to it’s dated and somewhat racist stereotyping that ruins the flavour of the story in some moments.
Horror of Fang Rock is my favourite of the bunch for sure. Set on a remote island with a lighthouse, the Doctor and Leela soon encounter a mysterious alien life form which is killing off members of the island one by one. Like the prior story, there’s a great sense of intrigue and classical horror embedded into the story which compels you to follow it along to the very end. It’s a very stylistic story and it’s brilliantly paced to balance intrigue and action in equal balance.
The Five Doctors served as the show’s 20th anniversary celebration with a story that celebrated the storied history of the show by including (mostly) all the prior doctors as well as the current 5th Doctor played by Peter Davison. After being scooped out of their own time zones, the Doctor’s are placed in desolate land called the Death Zone and work with their companions to converge together and work a way to escape their predicament. The story is packed with a lot to appreciate for any Who fan. You can pick up a lot of the self-referencing and while it can be a bit padded, it’s still good fun and easy enough to follow for the most part.
Mirroring what I mentioned in my prior review of the 1st volume, these five stories reflect the very best of Terrance Dick’s quality as a writer. His ability to not only edit these scripts, but then take them and translate them into a novel and not lose any of the original stories essence is a skill worth every bit of recognition I can give. He’s contributed so much to the world of Doctor Who and his written exploits are no less a reflection of his star quality. These five stories really are some of the best Who stories out there and their written formats are an excellent reflection of that quality.
Volume 2 of The Essential Terrance Dicks focuses primarily on some of the very best of the 4th and 5th Doctor’s era of Doctor Who. The stories are as follows:
• The Genesis of the Daleks
• The Pyramids of Mars
• The Talons of Weng-Chiang
• The Horror of Fang Rock
• The Five Doctors
I’ve admittingly never watched any of these Classic-Who stories before besides Genesis, but I’m aware of their reputation for the most part. The common link between all of the stories though is their common association with the very best of the classic era of Doctor Who. There’s a reason the majority of these stories are from Tom Baker’s era, as his era was arguably the most iconic period of the show.
Genesis of the Daleks served as one of the first stories of Baker’s run on the show and it pitched him and his companions against the Daleks at the very birth of their power. Having watched the TV serial for this episode, I can comment this is a fantastic transcription of the show into a written format. It captures the cold, brutal theme of desperate conflict layered so wonderfully in the story between the pages. I love how it’s able to keep the pace of the story going so consistently while being able to dive deep into a story heavily inspired by the fascist and dictatorial rise of the Nazi regime. It’s a fantastic story in its own right, but it also serves as a clear showcase of the star quality Baker’s era is set to showcase.
The Pyramids of Mars was another incredibly intriguing story to follow. Taking inspiration from Egyptian mythology, this story ponders on the idea that these Egyptian gods were actually powerful alien beings. The Doctor and Sarah Jane come across a cult of fanatics out to bring forth the return of Sutekh, an outcast of these aliens with a never-ending desire to bring death all of life. It’s a well paced story, layered with great tension and intrigue all throughout. Sutekh is easily my favourite part of the story. After recently experiencing his return in the new era of the show, it was great to see the scale of his might and power within this narrative through his interactions with the Doctor.
The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a great historical episode which puts the Doctor and his companion Leela in the streets of Victorian London to face off against a sinister criminal cult. It’s a story which exudes gothic horror at every stride and there’s a compelling mystery tied behind the plot of the story that kept me engrossed all throughout. I think it does lose a bit of value however due to it’s dated and somewhat racist stereotyping that ruins the flavour of the story in some moments.
Horror of Fang Rock is my favourite of the bunch for sure. Set on a remote island with a lighthouse, the Doctor and Leela soon encounter a mysterious alien life form which is killing off members of the island one by one. Like the prior story, there’s a great sense of intrigue and classical horror embedded into the story which compels you to follow it along to the very end. It’s a very stylistic story and it’s brilliantly paced to balance intrigue and action in equal balance.
The Five Doctors served as the show’s 20th anniversary celebration with a story that celebrated the storied history of the show by including (mostly) all the prior doctors as well as the current 5th Doctor played by Peter Davison. After being scooped out of their own time zones, the Doctor’s are placed in desolate land called the Death Zone and work with their companions to converge together and work a way to escape their predicament. The story is packed with a lot to appreciate for any Who fan. You can pick up a lot of the self-referencing and while it can be a bit padded, it’s still good fun and easy enough to follow for the most part.
Mirroring what I mentioned in my prior review of the 1st volume, these five stories reflect the very best of Terrance Dick’s quality as a writer. His ability to not only edit these scripts, but then take them and translate them into a novel and not lose any of the original stories essence is a skill worth every bit of recognition I can give. He’s contributed so much to the world of Doctor Who and his written exploits are no less a reflection of his star quality. These five stories really are some of the best Who stories out there and their written formats are an excellent reflection of that quality.
October 8, 2025
As with the first volume, this is indeed a collection of some of Dicks' greatest Target novels. No problem with the stories themselves, they are a boot to read.
However, the actual presentation of this volume is surprisingly shoddy. There are page breaks in the middle of scenes, paragraphs are separated oddly (with single scenes divided and clumped together with following scenes so you have to do a double take to realise the scene has changed) and there are numerous punctuation mistakes such as unclosed dialogue (whether this is the fault of Dicks or the person who edited this collection, I could not say).
I also don't think there's a lot of variety in terms of Doctors for this "essential" collection. The first volume had stories from the First, Second and Third Doctor eras, while in this volume, four of the five featured books are all Fourth Doctor era. Could we not have had some more Third or Fifth Doctor books?
However, the actual presentation of this volume is surprisingly shoddy. There are page breaks in the middle of scenes, paragraphs are separated oddly (with single scenes divided and clumped together with following scenes so you have to do a double take to realise the scene has changed) and there are numerous punctuation mistakes such as unclosed dialogue (whether this is the fault of Dicks or the person who edited this collection, I could not say).
I also don't think there's a lot of variety in terms of Doctors for this "essential" collection. The first volume had stories from the First, Second and Third Doctor eras, while in this volume, four of the five featured books are all Fourth Doctor era. Could we not have had some more Third or Fifth Doctor books?
November 28, 2025
Part of my Doctor Who Day celebrations this year was reading this; five utter Who classics novelised by one of our greatest minds. These are all stories I'm quite familiar with (such as Pyramids of Mars, which I also watched on the same day I read it!), but experiencing them in a new way was really nice. I couldn't help but notice lots of un-proofread errors, especially in The Five Doctors, whether these were sic or new for this edition I don't know.
January 15, 2022
Spent many happy days reading the Target Doctor Who books, and the Terrance Dicks stories were always the best. Enjoyed re-reading some of my old favourites in this new edition, and my daughter is reading them now as well.
December 27, 2022
An even better selection of stories than the first volume, mostly 4th Doctor tales, with Weng-Chiang & Fang Rock working particularly well on the page instead of the screen. The Five Doctors seems to also fill in some gaps in comparison with the TV version.
November 17, 2021
An excellent selection of TD Doctor who novelizations. Could be argued that the books chosen are not necessarily the best books, but are certainly some of the best tv stories.
June 14, 2022
A pick of novelisations of classic Doctor Who serials, mainly the Tom Baker era, these are vibrantly written and probably in my mind the best way to experience the stories.
Read
October 5, 2022Loved it. Raises the (sorry but) poorer episodes of ‘Talons’ ‘Fang Rock’ and ‘Pyramids’ to new heights and makes my 2 personal all-time favourite Who stories ‘Genesis’ and ‘5 Doctors’ even better
Currently reading
July 6, 2025Stories read so far;
The Pyramids of Mars
The Pyramids of Mars
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews