Doctor Who: Planet of Fire

Doctor Who Target Books (Numerical Order) #93

by Peter Grimwade

The Doctor is enjoying the sun on a holiday island — but things are soon hotter than he bargained for.

The young American Perpugilliam Brown brings to the TARDIS a mysterious object that her archaeologist step-father has found in a sunken wreck. Kamelion, the Doctor's robot friend of a thousand disguises, reacts to the object totally unexpectedly, with bewildering consequences for the TARDIS crew.

For Kamelion sends the Doctor and his friends to Sarn, a terrifyingly beautiful planet of fire. This strange world provides the key to Turlough's secret past — and once again the Doctor is pitted against the wily Master.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 1985

About the author

Peter Grimwade was a British television writer and director, best known for his work on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Outside of Doctor Who, Grimwade wrote and directed The Come-Uppance of Captain Katt for the ITV children's drama series Dramarama. The play was about events behind-the-scenes on a low-budget television science fiction series, which Grimwade openly acknowledged was inspired by his experience working on Doctor Who.

When the BBC gave the publisher W. H. Allen the rights to use Vislor Turlough in the novel Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma, W. H. Allen offered Grimwade a chance to publish an original novel. The result was Robot, a book filled with Doctor Who references.

Afterwards, Grimwade left the BBC and mainly worked in producing industrial training videos. He died in 1990 of leukaemia.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novelization of the fifth serial of the twenty-first season of Doctor Who, which was broadcast in February and March of 1984. Peter Grimwade adapted his own teleplay for the novel format, which featured the fifth version of the title character and introduced new companion Perpugilliam Brown while bidding farewell to Visior Turlough and robot chameleon Kamelion. The story is a pretty good archaeological mystery adventure that leads to another dramatic showdown with The Doctor's nefarious nemesis, The Master. Turlough, usually the bad guy in his own right, gets a bit of redemption and understanding, and saves Peri from drowning and returns home after being pardoned. Peri is a quirky and happy addition to the show, which had become a bit grim, and Grimwade's introduction of her is fun in this initial story. Grimwade's development and description of the alien mythology and society is captivating, too. It's an enjoyable book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fifth Doctor Target novel that I recall seeing at multiple WaldenBooks, but that I never added to my collection back in the day. Part of that could be that no printed word could ever quite have the impact that a certain sequence involving the newly introduced Peri in a bikini on my screen did.

So, I'll admit I was looking forward to seeing what Peter Grimwade did with his Target adaptation thirty-plus years after the book hit shelves.

Coming away from Planet of Fire, I can't say this is one of the greats of the range. Grimwade does a solid job of translating the story to the page, but he never quite gets to that next level of Target novels that add to the viewing experience. I find myself wanting to know about Turlough's background (I guess there's a book that does this) and the Trion prisoners on the planet of Sarn. I'd love to know more about the religious community that sprung up around the scientific examination of the volcano. I'd love to figure out a bit more about the Master's plot and his desire to control Kamelion.

Alas, none of these are really delved into. Instead, the story is content to rest on the strengths and weaknesses of the original script. So, we get a good but not necessarily great Target novel.

[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Grimwade's novelizations of his own scripts are always better than the televised version. Perhaps it is that the original scripts were drastically changed in production. Perhaps it is that novelizing the scripts allowed Grimwade to rethink what he had written. Or, perhaps Grimwade was just a better novelist than script writer. Whatever the reason, the novelized "Planet of Fire" gives us insights into the characters, especially Turlough and Peri, that we did not get on TV. There are also some additional scenes early, which add background and supply some rationality to some of the plot elements. The plot itself is a bit overly complicated in ways it need not be. There are some unanswered questions, such as how a Trion beacon ended up in the bottom of the Mediterranean. Also, in the novel, Grimwade makes Turlough a bit more snobbish, with some worrying opinions about the lower classes. He never does fully explain to the Doctor why he acts as he does. It is also a very small universe in which The Master just happens to need something on a planet used as a kind of prison by Turlough's people, and just happens to have the means to get Turlough there without trying to, and that Turlough's family just happened to crash their spaceship on that planet. Too many "just happened tos" for my taste.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1063804.html#cutid5[return][return]This was a somewhat frustrating read. There are some significant improvements to the story as broadcast - the background to Kamelion is explained a bit more, and it is clear right from the start that he is probably fatally damaged; also there is more of a feeling of difference between Sarn and the site of Howard's dig (clearly in Greece or Cyprus rather than the Canaries). But the exposition of Turlough's background should have been more substantial, and Grimwade occasionally resorts to jarring contemporary metaphors which don't really suit a Doctor Who narrative; the line about the Carmelite nuns in a disco will linger unpleasantly in my memory for some time.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good story here, in what seems a good run in this last season for the Fifth Doctor, really hitting his stride, I do think having 3 companions initially did hinder things a bit, and his portrayal of being weak in Castrololva as well.
This story also shows that just the Doctor and Turlough can be a good mix, which we happily get more of in the Big Finish stories, even if Turlough at times seemed back to is old conniving self from his first stories, albeit for a bit better reasons here.
The Doctor and Turlough in good form here though, and the Master also is in good form, and in an interesting predicament. Does have some of the tropes of prior stories that I don't enjoy (Doctor being mistaken for the bad guy for a bit longer than I like), and certainly the ending is a hard one for the Master to come back from, though he inevitably does.
Peri is introduced well here as well, getting quite a confused / almost accidental introduction into the TARDIS team, but is shown to be quite strong willed and independent from the get go here.
Kamelion gets to return and have a send off here, but after pretty much disappearing following the King's Demons, is a bit of a 'oh, that's right, he's still in the TARDIS isn't he' and the lack of continual appearances removes much buy in into his fate.
The one off characters here are also pretty good, an interesting mix of characters that add to the plot, to make for a good tale, and a good send off for Turlough, especially the ending scenes showing how much he has grown / changed during his time with the Doctor.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a bit of time to fully immerse myself into this story since admittedly it came at a pivotal time in the Fifth Doctor's timeline and doesn't work too well on its own. It is, after all, the penultimate serial before things are tied up on this run and is set right after Tegan's departure.

Given my limited exposure to the Doctor's companion Turlough, this book was a great since a lot of it tied to expanding his backstory with more revelations about his planet and how he ended up with the Doctor. He has a lot to do in this story as he too needs to understand what exactly has happened on Sarn, the titular planet of fire.

And the story features the Master in all of his campy glory and I love how it played out. Starting with Kamelion's unusual behaviour and ending with, well, a lot of Master antics, this book really plays out well.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who : Planet of Fire (1985) by Peter Grimwade is the novelisation of the fifth serial of the twenty first season of Doctor Who.

The Doctor and Turlough try to go for a holiday on an island where an archaeologist is exploring with his step-daughter Peri. The chameleon, who is still on board the TARDIS is acting curiously. Before long the Doctor, Turlough and Peri are on their way to the planet Sarn because the chameleon has put the coordinates into the TARDIS. There Turlough must also confront his past.

It’s not a bad serial. It’s notable because Turlough, the only companion who was only with the Fifth Doctor, left.

[Christian Petrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is more of a 3 1/2 stars rating. The overall plot is the same as the televised, thus not as exciting until the end. However, the novelization is better than other Target books, because of the writing. We are at a grade above Terrance Dick's churning. Unlike other Target books, near the end there is some extended information not in the televised story, plus a couple call backs to other TV stories. A better than average Target book.

[Ian Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite his penchant for laboured similes, Grimwade retells his script competently, fleshing out the “ancient astronaut” cliches so that they don’t leap out at the reader quite as obviously as they did on screen. Fun, but slight.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to Peri and a wonderful Master story.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good story let down by the appalling Peri. I hate that character

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a particularly strong story, more a collection of story threads woven into a thin framework of a story. Peter Davidson was getting ready to end his run as the fifth Doctor and this story was written with the express purpose of wrapping up any loose sub-plots while writing out two companions and introducing a new one.
Didn't leave much room for a story.
An archeological dig on Earth discovers an alien artifact, which bears a symbol similar to a marking the Doctor's mysterious companion, Turlough, has on his arm.
Before he and the Doctor can investigate, their robot companion, Kamelion, starts to go nuts and Turlough rescues young Peri Brown from drowning.
Once the quartet leaves Earth, they scatter. While Turlough and the Doctor discover the people living on an volcanically unstable planet, while Peri is stuck with the unstable robot.

The resolution involves the return of an old Who villain, Turlough finding his people and deciding to return home and Kamelion gets the boot.
Very light on story, but lots of good characterization and it was interesting to see the various plot threads dealt with.
I do feel bad for Kamelion. He got a raw deal, as the robot prop never worked well so he got ignored and then written out. Shame as he had a lot of potential as a companion.

Not a big epic, but just a fun read.

[Van Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the novelization of the television script of the same name and the book is written by the original script writer.
I found the novelization to be somewhat flat, much in the same as I have found Terrance Dicks' novelizations. The story was okay and I enjoyed seeing the character Turlough's storyline given some background but it came as the character was leaving. Interestingly enough, I liked the story that introduced Turlough, "Mawdryn Undead," a lot more and it was even written and novelized by the same author here.
I liked the introduction of Peri but was a little disturbed by the demise of Kamelion. Of the Master's little problem, I thought it was funny and fitting.
I would still recommend this to anyone even given its minor flaws.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In some ways, it's Peter Grimwade's most ambitious novelization of his three Doctor Who scripts. Yet it's also the least satisfying...because I don't believe he takes his enhancements and refinements as far as he could have. The end result is a novelization that is good, even occasionally great...but could have been stunning.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3

A good adaptation of the televised series with some additional scenes.
Not a favourite 5th Doctor story but okay.
More well known probably for the location filming out of the UK and Peri’s bathing costume

[Becci · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Master and Chameleon return with more menacing plans...

[Justin Rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent Master story but was a little dull as an overall Doctor Who. Stil one that you should read simply for the awesomeness that the Master provides :p.

[Jim Short · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad we finally learned some things about Turrlough. And people say Adric was annoying.