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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #106
Doctor Who: Vengeance on Varos
The TARDIS has stalled in mid-flight, and it is only on the planet Varos that the Doctor can find the precious Zeiton-7 ore he needs to continue his travels through time and space.
Arriving on the planet, he saves the rebel Jondar from execution, and incurs the wrath of Sil, the sadistic representative of the Galatron Mining Corporation on Varos.
The hunt is on for the Doctor and his rebel friends. And as they are pursued through the corridors of the deadly Punishment Dome, the Doctor discovers that the people of Varos have some very disturbing ideas of entertainment...
Arriving on the planet, he saves the rebel Jondar from execution, and incurs the wrath of Sil, the sadistic representative of the Galatron Mining Corporation on Varos.
The hunt is on for the Doctor and his rebel friends. And as they are pursued through the corridors of the deadly Punishment Dome, the Doctor discovers that the people of Varos have some very disturbing ideas of entertainment...
144 pages, Paperback
First published June 16, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 10, 2021
Thanks to the quirks of KTEH's (a bastion of Doctor Who in the U.S. back in the day) scheduling of Colin Baker's first season as the Doctor, I saw season 22 of classic Who a lot during my first decade or so as a fan. That kind of explains why it's been a hot minute since I dusted off that particular season on either my VHS or DVD collection. It's probably been at least a decade since I really dabbled in season 22 in a serious way -- and boy, did revisiting Philip Martin's adaptation of his script for "Vengeance on Varos" show that.
Martin takes a page from the master of the Doctor Who adaptation, Terrance Dicks, and gives us essentially the same story we get on-screen. Though to Martin's credit (and Dicks in the early days before they chained him to a typewriter and he churned out eight novels in a year), he does at least try to make the story feel like it unfolds over a longer duration of time than what we got on-screen. Martin makes it feel like the Doctor, Peri, Jondar, and Arata spend a bit more time wandering around the punishment dome, trying to find a way out and escape. He even extends things out enough so it appears the Doctor has passed away for longer than five-minutes than we see on-screen. There is an extended sequence where we pull back the curtain and see how the Governor truly lives when he's not negotiating with Sil or being sprayed with death rays. And don't forget that part where he has Sil fall into the vat of liquid that he's constantly being sprayed with on-screen.
But despite all these flourishes, it's the story of "Varos" that continues to shine through and where the success or failure of this particular story lies.
Thirty years ago, the video nasties of Varos seemed like a cautionary tale. Now, they feel all too real with the rise of reality television and how parts of it seem to get crueler with each passing season. Martin borrows certain aspects of Orwell in creating the world of Varos, from couples potentially spying on each other to the non-stop entertainment screens in all the living quarters. Varos is a shabby, drab place but it could be more if the Varosians realized that their Ziton 7 ore was far more valuable than corporate negotiator Sil lets on.
Looking at the story again thirty years on, I can't help but wonder just how Sil and his corporation control the information that Ziton 7 is more valuable than they're letting on. But then, I look around at the world today and think -- maybe that isn't so far-fetched after all.
Martin's script, which seemed far-fetched thirty plus years ago, looks far too much like what some of pop culture entertainment has become these days. I find myself revisiting certain sci-fi works from the last thirty years with their warnings about certain aspects of our world and wishing we'd paid more attention to them or learned the actual lesson they were trying to teach us.
"Varos" is a good script -- possibly the strongest of Colin Baker's tenure as the Doctor. Steven Moffat seems to agree, choosing this one to represent the era for the fiftieth anniversary a few years ago. I suppose to a casual fan or one wanting an overview of classic Who, it would suffice as am ample representative of its era (one that was far more fascinating for what was happening behind the camera rather than in front of it). But to this fan, I found myself wanting a bit more from it this time -- or maybe just a bit more from the novelization. I know at this point in the show, producer John Nathan-Turner ruled the novels with an iron fist, rarely allowing authors to expand much beyond what you saw on screen to the printed page. I can't help but wonder if Martin's story would have benefited from being allowed to do some character and world-building across the pages (and maybe run longer than the typical Target novel did).
As an audiobook, this one is well read by Martin Jarvis. (Interestingly, this was also selected years ago as an abridged audiobook read by Colin Baker). Jarvis' recreation of various characters is well done and he adds a bit of enjoyment to revisiting the dark, bleak world of Varos.
And like any good Target book, this one left me with the yearning to revisit the original source material. Which I may have to do pop this one in the DVD player for the first time in a decade or so.
Martin takes a page from the master of the Doctor Who adaptation, Terrance Dicks, and gives us essentially the same story we get on-screen. Though to Martin's credit (and Dicks in the early days before they chained him to a typewriter and he churned out eight novels in a year), he does at least try to make the story feel like it unfolds over a longer duration of time than what we got on-screen. Martin makes it feel like the Doctor, Peri, Jondar, and Arata spend a bit more time wandering around the punishment dome, trying to find a way out and escape. He even extends things out enough so it appears the Doctor has passed away for longer than five-minutes than we see on-screen. There is an extended sequence where we pull back the curtain and see how the Governor truly lives when he's not negotiating with Sil or being sprayed with death rays. And don't forget that part where he has Sil fall into the vat of liquid that he's constantly being sprayed with on-screen.
But despite all these flourishes, it's the story of "Varos" that continues to shine through and where the success or failure of this particular story lies.
Thirty years ago, the video nasties of Varos seemed like a cautionary tale. Now, they feel all too real with the rise of reality television and how parts of it seem to get crueler with each passing season. Martin borrows certain aspects of Orwell in creating the world of Varos, from couples potentially spying on each other to the non-stop entertainment screens in all the living quarters. Varos is a shabby, drab place but it could be more if the Varosians realized that their Ziton 7 ore was far more valuable than corporate negotiator Sil lets on.
Looking at the story again thirty years on, I can't help but wonder just how Sil and his corporation control the information that Ziton 7 is more valuable than they're letting on. But then, I look around at the world today and think -- maybe that isn't so far-fetched after all.
Martin's script, which seemed far-fetched thirty plus years ago, looks far too much like what some of pop culture entertainment has become these days. I find myself revisiting certain sci-fi works from the last thirty years with their warnings about certain aspects of our world and wishing we'd paid more attention to them or learned the actual lesson they were trying to teach us.
"Varos" is a good script -- possibly the strongest of Colin Baker's tenure as the Doctor. Steven Moffat seems to agree, choosing this one to represent the era for the fiftieth anniversary a few years ago. I suppose to a casual fan or one wanting an overview of classic Who, it would suffice as am ample representative of its era (one that was far more fascinating for what was happening behind the camera rather than in front of it). But to this fan, I found myself wanting a bit more from it this time -- or maybe just a bit more from the novelization. I know at this point in the show, producer John Nathan-Turner ruled the novels with an iron fist, rarely allowing authors to expand much beyond what you saw on screen to the printed page. I can't help but wonder if Martin's story would have benefited from being allowed to do some character and world-building across the pages (and maybe run longer than the typical Target novel did).
As an audiobook, this one is well read by Martin Jarvis. (Interestingly, this was also selected years ago as an abridged audiobook read by Colin Baker). Jarvis' recreation of various characters is well done and he adds a bit of enjoyment to revisiting the dark, bleak world of Varos.
And like any good Target book, this one left me with the yearning to revisit the original source material. Which I may have to do pop this one in the DVD player for the first time in a decade or so.
April 2, 2016
By the time Philip Martin finally completed the manuscript at least two years late Target books had become a bit redundant in the VCR age. I certainly gave it a miss.
The Doctor is forced to make a forced landing on Varos seeking a rare mineral to fix the Tardis.
I quite enjoyed the tv version but I gave the novelisation a miss, which reading it for the first time now seems to have been a good call. Martin might be a well credited tv script writer but his prose style is pretty poor. The two lengthy sequences when the Doctor and his rebel friends make their way through the trap filled tunnels are very dull. The scene where the Doctor is fooled into thinking he's thirsting to death in a sun baked desert doesn't prompt the reader to reach for a cool drink, more it makes the reader wish for a fast forward button (no I didn't skim). One of the delights that doesn't come across on the page is Nabil Shaban's wonderfully oily malevolent performance as Sil backed up by Martin Jarvis' suave Governor. Some of the attempts at satire are interesting enough like the married Varosian couple watching the action as it happens and taking part in the compulsory referendums.
The further into the novel the story gets the more it starts to deviate from the tv version until it almost seems like some of the Trial of a Time-Lord stories with two subtly different realities going on eg the acid bath deaths being accidental on screen but quite deliberately engineered by the Doctor in this novel. There's a bit of closer look at how the ruling class operate, which shows them to be more rivals than confederates. We even find out what happens during a Varosian night. The Governor goes home to incredible luxury, enjoying a lovely bath, fine food, wine and a choice of viewing, some imported light comedies. By the end of the book two cannibals have turned into a mob and the printed page can afford trips out onto the surface and several guard filled cars careering into the stingy jungle. And there are Tarzan references by Peri. Bizarre.
The Doctor is forced to make a forced landing on Varos seeking a rare mineral to fix the Tardis.
I quite enjoyed the tv version but I gave the novelisation a miss, which reading it for the first time now seems to have been a good call. Martin might be a well credited tv script writer but his prose style is pretty poor. The two lengthy sequences when the Doctor and his rebel friends make their way through the trap filled tunnels are very dull. The scene where the Doctor is fooled into thinking he's thirsting to death in a sun baked desert doesn't prompt the reader to reach for a cool drink, more it makes the reader wish for a fast forward button (no I didn't skim). One of the delights that doesn't come across on the page is Nabil Shaban's wonderfully oily malevolent performance as Sil backed up by Martin Jarvis' suave Governor. Some of the attempts at satire are interesting enough like the married Varosian couple watching the action as it happens and taking part in the compulsory referendums.
The further into the novel the story gets the more it starts to deviate from the tv version until it almost seems like some of the Trial of a Time-Lord stories with two subtly different realities going on eg the acid bath deaths being accidental on screen but quite deliberately engineered by the Doctor in this novel. There's a bit of closer look at how the ruling class operate, which shows them to be more rivals than confederates. We even find out what happens during a Varosian night. The Governor goes home to incredible luxury, enjoying a lovely bath, fine food, wine and a choice of viewing, some imported light comedies. By the end of the book two cannibals have turned into a mob and the printed page can afford trips out onto the surface and several guard filled cars careering into the stingy jungle. And there are Tarzan references by Peri. Bizarre.
November 8, 2017
Well i found it rather darker than some of the Doctor Who stories that I have read more recently and this only added to the excitement. However not having seen the corresponding episodes allows me to have a much different approach than a viewer. My first 6th Doctor story to top it all off and I think Vengeance on Varos made for quite rhe adventure and despite the constant running through corridors or being captured I think that was kind of the point? I mean the punishment dome revolved around keeping the viewers enthralled and constant chases and escapes would do that. It just makes sense. 4 stars well earned.
May 30, 2024
Holy run-on sentence, Batman!
Novelizations that don’t skim over important plot, character development, dialog, or “setting” generally are an automatic 3 star rating.
Novelizations like that where I really enjoy the theme or story behind the plot trend upward to four stars.
The problem with Varos is that the televised story is a marvelous commentary on television itself, and anyone trying to capture its biting commentary on the page has a near impossible task ahead of them. Knowing that the televised story’s author is also the author of this adaptation gave me hope, but unfortunately it seems like they missed the point.
Someone like Donald Cotton may have realized this upfront and decided to re-adapt, letting the events play out more or less as televised, but adding a meta-commentary on the very process of novelizing. Short of that effort, the focus could have been placed more on the difference between what “the viewers at home” see, and what the people running “the show” are having to scramble to get ready or fix.
Instead, we get detail that we don’t need, in very weird ways, that drag the quality of one of the best Colin Baker stories down. Like the previous two stories, it is a good demonstration of “less is more”, but really “more is not better.” The “more” in this case turns out to be not only sheer words before a pause, clause, or period, but also repeating words in sentence full stop.
Again, like the previous two stories, a balanced partnership between an editor and an author is vital to making a book feel good to read. This book has so many run-on sentences, sprinkled throughout every chapter, that it seems like it wasn’t edited at all. The detail we get in those run-on sentences goes in circles so many times that I ditched one pdf version of the book for the recent reprint, only to discover that the problems were not the result of a character scanner gone mad, which might have been another welcome metatextual addition to this novelization, as it slowly eats away fat sentences throughout the book until we’re back to Dicks-level pragmatism.
Oh no, now they’ve got me doing it!
This script includes the idea of an environment that makes you think something is far more intimidating than it really is. Since the novel keeps that idea, you’d think it would use that in a way to mold these weird excesses of prose into something meaningful. Maybe even have it be the way Sil talks — _correction_ — the way Sil’s translator box talks?
Again, I’m trying to “fix” the book rather than review, apologies.
It’s very weird that the original author of a well-liked script manages to miss the point of novelization. Capture the great stuff about the original story, capture the interesting changes from the televised version, or go in a completely different and interesting direction using the same base elements.
The point is not to transcribe events, only elaborating in useless ways to meet a word count so you get paid more. (I seriously doubt it would have worked that way.)
This should have been more than a three, because the story itself is easily a four/five, but the lack of consistent editing, if nothing else, drags it back down.
Novelizations that don’t skim over important plot, character development, dialog, or “setting” generally are an automatic 3 star rating.
Novelizations like that where I really enjoy the theme or story behind the plot trend upward to four stars.
The problem with Varos is that the televised story is a marvelous commentary on television itself, and anyone trying to capture its biting commentary on the page has a near impossible task ahead of them. Knowing that the televised story’s author is also the author of this adaptation gave me hope, but unfortunately it seems like they missed the point.
Someone like Donald Cotton may have realized this upfront and decided to re-adapt, letting the events play out more or less as televised, but adding a meta-commentary on the very process of novelizing. Short of that effort, the focus could have been placed more on the difference between what “the viewers at home” see, and what the people running “the show” are having to scramble to get ready or fix.
Instead, we get detail that we don’t need, in very weird ways, that drag the quality of one of the best Colin Baker stories down. Like the previous two stories, it is a good demonstration of “less is more”, but really “more is not better.” The “more” in this case turns out to be not only sheer words before a pause, clause, or period, but also repeating words in sentence full stop.
Again, like the previous two stories, a balanced partnership between an editor and an author is vital to making a book feel good to read. This book has so many run-on sentences, sprinkled throughout every chapter, that it seems like it wasn’t edited at all. The detail we get in those run-on sentences goes in circles so many times that I ditched one pdf version of the book for the recent reprint, only to discover that the problems were not the result of a character scanner gone mad, which might have been another welcome metatextual addition to this novelization, as it slowly eats away fat sentences throughout the book until we’re back to Dicks-level pragmatism.
Oh no, now they’ve got me doing it!
This script includes the idea of an environment that makes you think something is far more intimidating than it really is. Since the novel keeps that idea, you’d think it would use that in a way to mold these weird excesses of prose into something meaningful. Maybe even have it be the way Sil talks — _correction_ — the way Sil’s translator box talks?
Again, I’m trying to “fix” the book rather than review, apologies.
It’s very weird that the original author of a well-liked script manages to miss the point of novelization. Capture the great stuff about the original story, capture the interesting changes from the televised version, or go in a completely different and interesting direction using the same base elements.
The point is not to transcribe events, only elaborating in useless ways to meet a word count so you get paid more. (I seriously doubt it would have worked that way.)
This should have been more than a three, because the story itself is easily a four/five, but the lack of consistent editing, if nothing else, drags it back down.
September 2, 2018
The episode-to-book novels are always hit or miss. This one ended up being a win! It definitely read like an episode, but I loved it. The writing and transitions were brilliant, and I totally read it in the voices of the Doctor and Peri, as well as their enemies.
This was a great read on what was a great series of episodes!
This was a great read on what was a great series of episodes!
September 29, 2009
Couple interesting bad guys can't save this book. It's too grim and Varos feels very flat and it's too noticeable that the Doctor and Peri spend too much time locked up or running around corridors.
Shame as the characterization of the Doctor and Peri is pretty strong.
Shame as the characterization of the Doctor and Peri is pretty strong.
March 24, 2019
"Vengeance on Varos" may be the best of the season of Colin Baker's first full outing as The Doctor. It has the very interesting premise of a former prison planet that has modeled its society along the prison rules, with the officers and guards becoming the elite governing class and the prisoners becoming the oppressed labor class. Martin has introduced an added twist in that the punishment system has been turned into mass entertainment. There is some strong social commentary about addiction to television. Martin has added some elements in his novelization that make the setup more sensible. These may have been in the original script, but probably could not have been done given budget constraints for television. These include having the guards' squad cars run on a monorail rather than being glorified golf carts. The size of the Varos colony is increased, with separate domes and access ways. Martin explains why the colonists live in domes rather than on the surface. There are several limitations in the novelized version still. These include a requirement to keep it short, to write to a youngish (early teens) audience, and to keep most of the original TV story intact. As interesting as the background is, Martin's storytelling technique is less thought out. The plot is mostly a long series of "evade and capture" events. Martin goes with the A.E. van Vogt method that every so often one must introduce a plot twist no matter what the logic of that might be.
June 27, 2021
An interesting one this one for me - is actually quite a strong story, just not a strong Doctor Who story as such. The violence had been increasing in Doctor Who again over the last little while, starting with the Fifth Doctor, but up until now at least it seemed similar to the older Fourth Doctor and the Third Doctor stories - quite a lot of deaths, but dealt with somewhat casually as such. Here though it becomes gratuitous in nature, and the Doctor seems quite cavalier about it.
The overall plot though is quite good, some interesting one off characters, some likeable, some dislikeable, and some quite grey, adding to quite an interesting tale.
The Doctor is in reasonable form, outside of his lack of compassion here for many of the characters, Peri is a bit of a damsel in distress again at times, but has some good scenes nonetheless.
Overall, a good, strong read, but felt more like something for Blake's Seven or the like, than for Doctor Who.
The overall plot though is quite good, some interesting one off characters, some likeable, some dislikeable, and some quite grey, adding to quite an interesting tale.
The Doctor is in reasonable form, outside of his lack of compassion here for many of the characters, Peri is a bit of a damsel in distress again at times, but has some good scenes nonetheless.
Overall, a good, strong read, but felt more like something for Blake's Seven or the like, than for Doctor Who.
October 9, 2023
Doctor Who : Vengence on Varos (1988) by Phillip Martin is the novelisation of the second serial of the twenty second season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor and Peri are having their usual TARDIS troubles and travel to Varos, a mining planet. The planet is corrupt and the citizens watch torture and execution for enjoyment on big screens in their houses. The Doctor and Peri stop an execution and wind up on the run. Smil, a small alien slug is corruptly negotiating with the government of Varos.
It’s alright, but not that strong.
The Doctor and Peri are having their usual TARDIS troubles and travel to Varos, a mining planet. The planet is corrupt and the citizens watch torture and execution for enjoyment on big screens in their houses. The Doctor and Peri stop an execution and wind up on the run. Smil, a small alien slug is corruptly negotiating with the government of Varos.
It’s alright, but not that strong.
February 28, 2025
I read the ebook version. I don’t know if there any differences from the Target book. Philip Martin has done some tidying up from the tv serial. The book ends a bit better than the tv serial did.
When Peri and Areta are transformed in the serial they revert back almost immediately Philip Martin extends this in the book. The ending is clearer in the book. Martin also wrote Mindwarp a , a semi sequel to Varos. Varos is the superior serial and the better book.
Nabil Shabans brilliant performance as Sil is missed !!
When Peri and Areta are transformed in the serial they revert back almost immediately Philip Martin extends this in the book. The ending is clearer in the book. Martin also wrote Mindwarp a , a semi sequel to Varos. Varos is the superior serial and the better book.
Nabil Shabans brilliant performance as Sil is missed !!
May 24, 2025
A good enough adaptation of one of Sixie's best stories, there isn't a lot here that's above and beyond what we got on screen, probably Arak and Etta get the most room to breathe, we thankfully get a horde of residents chasing the heroes rather than a couple of gurning nappy wearers that could be afforded on screen. Some bits that stick more in my memory seemed to be missing, certain lines and a couple of visuals.
September 11, 2025
Philip Martin does a little bit of rehabilitation of his own script, downplaying some of the more violent and controversial moments and beefing up the characterisations and humour a little more. It almost works, but the result is a book crowded with incident trying to be a Nigel Kneale script without the scathing hatred of the genre.
July 6, 2019
Good plot, a bit vague. Not so great character development. Good Doctor Who.
July 8, 2019
This book started off slow but it did turn out alright. I think I'd like to watch the episodes with the first Doctors.
July 8, 2021
The plot is incredible.
October 2, 2024
A par for the course adaptation, basically.
December 30, 2016
Unlike the Previous BBC reissues, I feel this one really needed to fleshed out more. More internal monologues to give us a clue to what the characters are thinking, more information about Varos and how it changed etc.
Martin's Novelization is a bit too thin for my liking. Furthermore it does not carry over how deliciously camp and fun Nabil Shaban's Sil is in the episodes. Sil in the novel is dry dull and one dimensional.
Better to watch the episodes.
Martin's Novelization is a bit too thin for my liking. Furthermore it does not carry over how deliciously camp and fun Nabil Shaban's Sil is in the episodes. Sil in the novel is dry dull and one dimensional.
Better to watch the episodes.
July 13, 2023
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1068930.html?style=mine#cutid1
basically this is a competent enough adaptation of the plot, with some of the unfortunate excesses of the TV original improved and a bit more substance to the characterisations.
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/vengeance-on-varos-by-jonathan-dennis-and-philip-martin-also-sil-and-the-devil-seeds-of-arodor/
I was interested to note that the cliff-hanger comes relatively early in the book, a good ten pages before the half-way point. Otherwise the book is a safe transformation from screen to print.
basically this is a competent enough adaptation of the plot, with some of the unfortunate excesses of the TV original improved and a bit more substance to the characterisations.
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/vengeance-on-varos-by-jonathan-dennis-and-philip-martin-also-sil-and-the-devil-seeds-of-arodor/
I was interested to note that the cliff-hanger comes relatively early in the book, a good ten pages before the half-way point. Otherwise the book is a safe transformation from screen to print.
September 8, 2015
Churlish, I know - it was a free pdf - but the number of scanning-induced errors was higher than usual and made reading this a bit of a chore, over and above the plot. Not a favourite story of mine - ooh, the TARDIS has a different power source which somehow is depleted leaving just enough power to reach the only planet where it is found... Peri in deadly peril (several times) and is subjected to genetic transformation... Doctor behaving uncharacteristically violent (really - The Sixth Doctor behaving oddly!) and all set on a planet with the most bizarre government ever invented outside the works of Jonathan Swift. Oh, and introducing Sil.
The book adds somewhat to the televised version and alters some of what we saw so is an improvement on some of the Target offerings but the whole adds up to a massive meh!
The book adds somewhat to the televised version and alters some of what we saw so is an improvement on some of the Target offerings but the whole adds up to a massive meh!
May 28, 2016
What I especially like about this novelization is that it manages a great deal of fleshing out, yet remain within the tight word count confines of a Target book. The minor characters especially shine (such as the communications officer, Bax), and there are wonderful moments such as seeing the after hours life of the Governor, and his thoughts about whether anything on his benighted planet can or will ever change. It's always nice to see an author's ambitions bear fruit.
June 8, 2016
This story is pulled from what was arguably the worst season of Doctor Who ever made and it shows. The novel is a brutally violent disaster, although the blame lies chiefly with the source material. I have heard it claimed that this story was intended as a send up of Thatcher's Britain, but I don't really see it as anything other than a discouraging mess.
June 29, 2016
A story which was quite ugly and squalid on TV, is much improved in the Target novelisation. It's still quite brutal and I wouldn't want every Who story to be like it, but I'm happy that the show can go this dark occasionally.
July 22, 2012
Somehow falls flat compared with its televised counterpart. Some odd turns of phrase (and not just from the aliens) kept taking me out of the book.
December 30, 2020
[Note: I'm reading this as I re-watch the episodes.]
The best of the Sixth Doctor up to this point. But the book isn't quite on the mark -- although I can't quite put my finger on why.
The best of the Sixth Doctor up to this point. But the book isn't quite on the mark -- although I can't quite put my finger on why.
March 30, 2022
Routine retelling of the two-part "Doctor Who" story, which featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor. The episodes have a kind of quirkiness I enjoyed, which the novelization doesn't capture.
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