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Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #80
Doctor Who: Arc of Infinity
When the Doctor returns to Gallifrey, he learns that his bio data extract has been stolen from the Time Lords' master computer known as the Matrix.
The bio data extract is a detailed description of the Doctor's molecular structure — and this information, in the wrong hands, could be exploited with disastrous effect.
The Gallifreyan High Council believe that anti-matter will be infiltrated into the universe as a result of the theft. In order to render the information useless, they decide the Doctor must die...
The bio data extract is a detailed description of the Doctor's molecular structure — and this information, in the wrong hands, could be exploited with disastrous effect.
The Gallifreyan High Council believe that anti-matter will be infiltrated into the universe as a result of the theft. In order to render the information useless, they decide the Doctor must die...
117 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1983
3 people are currently reading
328 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 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 28, 2021
This is a novelization of the first Doctor Who adventure from the twentieth season of the show, which was broadcast in January of 1983. The Doctor is in his fifth regeneration, and he is joined by Nyssa and Tegan, though Nyssa doesn't figure too prominently in the plot and Tegan is just in need of rescue. It's set on Gallifrey among another political Time Lord intrigue, with the High Council deciding to recall and do away with The Doctor again, and in the contemporary city of Amsterdam, where the bad guy has set up his headquarters and they have a long chase. Dicks shortened this last somewhat from the original Johnny Byrne teleplay, and offers a bit more backstory and motivation for some of the inexplicable scenes. It's a straight forward and simple story, but not one of the better ones; the Time Lords come off as inept and not too bright.
April 12, 2017
Not great but not bad either. Short and to the point.
February 16, 2019
This story gets a lot of stick for its TV episodes, but less for the story and more for the quality of the production. Terrance Dicks strips those deficiencies away and produces a straightforward adaptation that reveals the heart of a decent tale. It's more efficient than expanded, but this prose version does offer a better picture of what "Arc of Infinity" is really all about.
May 31, 2025
A by-the-numbers retelling of a fairly by-the-numbers story. Dicks manages to invest some tension and characterisation into the story but it does become yet another run-around with some more interesting stakes than usual. And it has the single worst cover of any book in the entirety of Who-dom.
December 21, 2017
"Arc of Infinity" was one of the least of the Davison-era episodes. Johnny Byrne, who had written a cracking good story in "Keeper of Traken," here comes up with a very drab story. Much of this is down to extremely vague science and not much of a grasp of the backstory. In fact, it feels as if the script were quite hastily written, with some ad hoc off-the-cuff explanations thrown in. Just what is the Arc of Infinity? How does it "shift"? Why does its shift matter? A matter-antimatter explosion would certainly be worrisome, but not of the universe-ending proportion that it is made out to be. Near the end, we also get the dreary scenes of the side characters sidelined to watch the Doctor do his magic. They fret and worry, then all go "yay" when he succeeds. A similar thing happened in "Four to Doomsday" and was not particularly interesting in that show either. Terrance Dicks does his usual job of reproducing the script with minimum amounts of dressing up. The storytelling is a bit clumsy at first, but once he gets into it, the Dicks manner of racing along and not giving the reader time to think comes through. So, while the book is very true to the original episode, not much more is learned from reading this. The many problems of the script remain.
June 8, 2021
Between a 3 and a 4 for me - really cements the corruption of the Time Lords for me, which the Deadly Assassin and Invasion of Time already showed as an issue, but here the Time Lord 'traitor' as such being one of the Doctor's old friends makes it hit closer to home - though it is a shame that if an old friend, we hadn't seen him in any of the other appearances of Gallifrey to this point.
I think it is an interesting idea of what is going on here, and the apparent solution for the Time Lords in general, making the first half quite strong especially as there is mystery here around the ultimate antagonist, plus who is the traitor.
Once that is revealed though, the story gets a bit weaker, Omega here just not quite as menacing as in the Three Doctors, and instead becomes something of a tragic character, removing some of the tension towards the end, as feeling more sympathetic towards him than worrying about the possible consequences for Earth.
The Doctor in good form as usual here for me, and it is nice to see bits here where just Nyssa and the Doctor, the two seem to be a good team here, and Nyssa gets a fair bit to do. Tegan also gets some strong scenes here, and builds well to her returning to the TARDIS, even if it takes away some opportunities for Nyssa.
I think it is an interesting idea of what is going on here, and the apparent solution for the Time Lords in general, making the first half quite strong especially as there is mystery here around the ultimate antagonist, plus who is the traitor.
Once that is revealed though, the story gets a bit weaker, Omega here just not quite as menacing as in the Three Doctors, and instead becomes something of a tragic character, removing some of the tension towards the end, as feeling more sympathetic towards him than worrying about the possible consequences for Earth.
The Doctor in good form as usual here for me, and it is nice to see bits here where just Nyssa and the Doctor, the two seem to be a good team here, and Nyssa gets a fair bit to do. Tegan also gets some strong scenes here, and builds well to her returning to the TARDIS, even if it takes away some opportunities for Nyssa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2025
Target novels come in a variety of qualities. Some are straightforward adaptations, others offer more depth to the story. There are advantages to both, and normally the enjoyability of a Target comes down its author.
To that extent, although this is a fairly straightforward Target novelisation, it's another one that comes from the genius mind of Terrance Dicks. It made for a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon read and helped me to forget that I'm returning to work tomorrow after two weeks of annual leave - Aaaand there I go reminding myself of that, great.
I'm also quite fond of the cover art. Simplistic and minimal with a beautiful red logo on an orange background, although I do find it hilarious that the art work spoils who the traitor is even though we don't find this information out in the text until pp. 81-82 (out of 117).
In true Target novel fashion as well, there are plenty of spelling and grammar mistakes. My personal favourite being the word "atempt". But they're minor ones which are easy to interpret.
To that extent, although this is a fairly straightforward Target novelisation, it's another one that comes from the genius mind of Terrance Dicks. It made for a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon read and helped me to forget that I'm returning to work tomorrow after two weeks of annual leave - Aaaand there I go reminding myself of that, great.
I'm also quite fond of the cover art. Simplistic and minimal with a beautiful red logo on an orange background, although I do find it hilarious that the art work spoils who the traitor is even though we don't find this information out in the text until pp. 81-82 (out of 117).
In true Target novel fashion as well, there are plenty of spelling and grammar mistakes. My personal favourite being the word "atempt". But they're minor ones which are easy to interpret.
March 4, 2021
A classically brisk and no-frills novelization of a distinctly average Doctor Who story. Terrance Dicks was the master of this kind of thing. He would have written some great noir detective novels. Perhaps he did.
The advantage to the novelization is that the less interesting parts of the televised story can be glossed over. These include Gallifrey's distinctly regional office of an '80s photocopier company design aesthetic, the stupidity of almost every Time Lord involved (including the Doctor), and the rather tedious chase through Amsterdam in the final episode.
So, this story rattles along pretty entertainingly, which isn't entirely true of the televised version. There's part of me that wants to find out more about Hedin's relationship with the Doctor, and Dicks does give us a little hint into why Hedin was so keen to help Omega, which is not mentioned in the television story. But I wish there was a little more there.
The advantage to the novelization is that the less interesting parts of the televised story can be glossed over. These include Gallifrey's distinctly regional office of an '80s photocopier company design aesthetic, the stupidity of almost every Time Lord involved (including the Doctor), and the rather tedious chase through Amsterdam in the final episode.
So, this story rattles along pretty entertainingly, which isn't entirely true of the televised version. There's part of me that wants to find out more about Hedin's relationship with the Doctor, and Dicks does give us a little hint into why Hedin was so keen to help Omega, which is not mentioned in the television story. But I wish there was a little more there.
November 12, 2023
"Sometimes, even a Time Lord never seems to have quite enough time."
5th Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan
The Doctor had to return to Gallifrey, after the Gallifreyan high council had decided that The Doctor must die, as the whole universe is at stake. I was surprised that they decided to bring Omega back again, after 'The Three Doctors' I thought his fate was sealed.
"He seemed to die before, yet he returned to confound us all."
Like normal Terrance Dicks fashion, he didn't expand much from the tv episode but he did help instead to make the story itself a bit stronger. I was confused to why they decided to set in Amsterdam, as this could have been set anywhere. That they thought that Omega could be anywhere and they decide to choose Amsterdam- unless I'm missing something??
"Well, you know how it is. You put things off for a day and next thing you know, it's a hundred years later."
5th Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan
The Doctor had to return to Gallifrey, after the Gallifreyan high council had decided that The Doctor must die, as the whole universe is at stake. I was surprised that they decided to bring Omega back again, after 'The Three Doctors' I thought his fate was sealed.
"He seemed to die before, yet he returned to confound us all."
Like normal Terrance Dicks fashion, he didn't expand much from the tv episode but he did help instead to make the story itself a bit stronger. I was confused to why they decided to set in Amsterdam, as this could have been set anywhere. That they thought that Omega could be anywhere and they decide to choose Amsterdam- unless I'm missing something??
"Well, you know how it is. You put things off for a day and next thing you know, it's a hundred years later."
September 15, 2023
Doctor Who : Arc of Infinity (1983) by Terrance Dicks is the novelisation of the first serial of the twentieth season of Doctor Who.
The Doctor’s biodata is stolen from the Matrix in Galifrey. The Doctor and Nyssa are then summoned there. Meanwhile Robin and Colin, two backpackers in Amsterdam sleep near a mysterious crypt and one of them is then mind controlled. The other, Robin goes to the airport to meet Colin’s cousin, who is a young woman from Australia who has just lost her job as a flight attendant. Much of the serial is then set on Galifrey where there are shenanigans.
Arc of Infinity is a good start to season twenty of Doctor Who. It’s amusing.
The Doctor’s biodata is stolen from the Matrix in Galifrey. The Doctor and Nyssa are then summoned there. Meanwhile Robin and Colin, two backpackers in Amsterdam sleep near a mysterious crypt and one of them is then mind controlled. The other, Robin goes to the airport to meet Colin’s cousin, who is a young woman from Australia who has just lost her job as a flight attendant. Much of the serial is then set on Galifrey where there are shenanigans.
Arc of Infinity is a good start to season twenty of Doctor Who. It’s amusing.
May 24, 2023
Hard to believe that this would be the last we see of Michael Gough until 1989's Batman and the first we see of Colin Baker (the future Sixth Doctor) Unfortunately, the book is more of a cookie cutter Doctor in peril from an old enemy, and the scenes on Gallifrey were just meh. The chase was predictable and Tegan never added much to the story. Nyssa was a breath of fresh air, but the Doctor seemed wrung out by the whole experience, except for the few flashes of humor.
August 14, 2024
Another typically short Target adaptation. Despite the page count, Dicks does manage to clear up a few points that were rather ambiguous in the televised episodes - particularly the ending, where the Doctor looks not exactly happy to have Tegan back aboard. A strange choice of photo for the front cover though.
March 28, 2020
Nice to meet Omega and know more about a history of Gallifrey.
September 29, 2020
pdf
A not too inspired straightforward retelling of the scripts. The most memorable bits, the interminale chase through the streets of Amsterdam, is shorter than I remember. The tension as to the identity of the traitor is well-maintained (especially if one doesn't look at the cover) and of course we gain a glimpse of Maxil...
A not too inspired straightforward retelling of the scripts. The most memorable bits, the interminale chase through the streets of Amsterdam, is shorter than I remember. The tension as to the identity of the traitor is well-maintained (especially if one doesn't look at the cover) and of course we gain a glimpse of Maxil...
June 30, 2021
Like many of the fifth Doctor stories in the Target range, this is one that I simply skipped in my earlier collecting years and never got around to reading. Listening to the audio version, I can see why.
Arc of Infinity is a solid example of Terrance Dicks taking the shooting script and adapting it for the printed page with ease and professionalism. But for a story that's a sequel to one that Dicks himself worked on during his tenure as script editor, it feels a bit wanting and thin at times. The story goes to great lengths to keep the identity of various villains secret during its four-episode run time. And translated to the printed page, it feels like there's a lot of treading water taking place from the Doctor's being almost taken over by Omega in episode one until Omega is dispatched in episode four. In between, there is some running up and down corridors and later along the streets of Amsterdam.
Dicks is able to consolidate much of the running about via his prose, but somehow it makes the story feel thinner than it did on-screen. I couldn't help but find myself wishing for the Dicks who gave us "The Auton Invasion" or even "The Three Doctors" to fill in some gaps here or to give us some other reason Omega is still lurking about other than "well, we wanted to bring him back for the twentieth anniversary."
All that said, the saving grace for the audiobook is the performance by Geoffrey Beavers. As I've said before, Beavers could read a take-out menu and hit the right notes of menace for a Doctor Who villain -- and that is certainly the case here. Beavers does his best with the material he's given, elevating it a bit and making the entire experience a bit more enjoyable.
Arc of Infinity is a solid example of Terrance Dicks taking the shooting script and adapting it for the printed page with ease and professionalism. But for a story that's a sequel to one that Dicks himself worked on during his tenure as script editor, it feels a bit wanting and thin at times. The story goes to great lengths to keep the identity of various villains secret during its four-episode run time. And translated to the printed page, it feels like there's a lot of treading water taking place from the Doctor's being almost taken over by Omega in episode one until Omega is dispatched in episode four. In between, there is some running up and down corridors and later along the streets of Amsterdam.
Dicks is able to consolidate much of the running about via his prose, but somehow it makes the story feel thinner than it did on-screen. I couldn't help but find myself wishing for the Dicks who gave us "The Auton Invasion" or even "The Three Doctors" to fill in some gaps here or to give us some other reason Omega is still lurking about other than "well, we wanted to bring him back for the twentieth anniversary."
All that said, the saving grace for the audiobook is the performance by Geoffrey Beavers. As I've said before, Beavers could read a take-out menu and hit the right notes of menace for a Doctor Who villain -- and that is certainly the case here. Beavers does his best with the material he's given, elevating it a bit and making the entire experience a bit more enjoyable.
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April 13, 2011Terrance Dicks' novelizations of the television, while generally sparse and to-the-point, still provide more background than just the serial alone. In Arc of Infinity, one of the Time Lords' Founders (one of the establisher of their entire civilization, essentially) returns from his accidental imprisonment in a universe made of anti-matter. Half-mad from his centuries of exile, his one chance at escape involves using the protagonist's (the Doctor) biological data to reconstruct a body for himself. In typical sci-fi fashion, the plan actually works, but the Doctor is forced into a terrible choice: the safety of the Earth, or the life of one of the greatest heroes of his people. While it may not be an end to Omega, it is, for its time, a great work of fiction.
July 19, 2009
A quick and dirty novelization of the Doctor Who storyline of the same name. The story itself is very cool -- alien beings made of antimatter, Time Lord High Councils, a somewhat spunky female companion (Nyssa has no qualms about picking up a gun to defend herself), treason and betrayal, and a reintroduction of Tegan to the Doctor Who fold. However, the writing was little more than the script gussied up with some narrative and lots of superfluous adverbs: "looked despairingly", "asked urgently", etc. Still, I enjoyed the plot and managed to power through the book in about an hour, so it does not have too many marks deducted.
July 1, 2008
A fun episode that ends up a so so book. Terrance Dicks is one of the elder statesmen of Doctor Who, but had a tendency to just go through the motions on some of these episode adaption books. Especially if it was an episode he wasn't involved in.
The stuff involving Tegan and her missing cousin in Amsterdam was fun, but the parts on Galifry felt a bit bland. Writers seem to ignore the granduer of the Time Lords and focus on the 'it's boring, that's why the Doctor left' stuff.
The stuff involving Tegan and her missing cousin in Amsterdam was fun, but the parts on Galifry felt a bit bland. Writers seem to ignore the granduer of the Time Lords and focus on the 'it's boring, that's why the Doctor left' stuff.
July 27, 2019
Rating 3
a standard entry in the Target range of novelizations of Classic Who stories.
The story was the first story in season 20 (and the 2nd of the 5th Doctor) which also re-introduced Tegan, Omega and the Time Lords.
It is a pity that this story was not expanded by TD as there were a number of opportunities to expand it especially in the Gallifrey scenes.
a standard entry in the Target range of novelizations of Classic Who stories.
The story was the first story in season 20 (and the 2nd of the 5th Doctor) which also re-introduced Tegan, Omega and the Time Lords.
It is a pity that this story was not expanded by TD as there were a number of opportunities to expand it especially in the Gallifrey scenes.
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April 8, 2009http://nhw.livejournal.com/1060883.html#cutid2[return][return]A rather run-of-the-mill Dicks effort.
July 28, 2010
I can't believe these are even listed! I went through such a huge Dr. Who phase. Sigh.
June 23, 2017
The 5th Doctor is in trouble again. A figure from the past is back and the whole of creation is at stake. Omega is back and he has Tegan. The Doctor is sentenced to death by the Time Lords.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews