Doctor Who and the Crusaders

"I admire bravery, sir. And bravery and courage are clearly in you in full measure. Unfortunately, you have no brains at all. I despise fools."

Arriving in the Holy Land in the middle of the Third Crusade, the Doctor and his companions run straight into trouble. The Doctor and Vicki befriend Richard the Lionheart, but must survive the cut-throat politics of the English court. Even with the king on their side, they find they have made powerful enemies.

Looking for Barbara, Ian is ambushed — staked out in the sand and daubed with honey so that the ants will eat him. With Ian unable to help, Barbara is captured by the cruel warlord El Akir. Even if Ian escapes and rescues her, will they ever see the Doctor, Vicki and the TARDIS again?

I think I preferred this to Doctor Who and the Daleks. Here David Whittaker's adapting his own scripts and a fine job he does too expanding on events and characters from the serial. While the book was aimed at the children's market, Whittaker' style is quiet adult (the infamous scene where Barbara is whipped by El Akir being a case in point - no way that would ever have been in the TV series!). I can see why long time fans of the series (including people who write for the current series) have raved about this book.

Doctor Who and the Daleks

"The mysterious Doctor and his grandaughter Susan are joined by unwilling adventurers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright in an epic struggle for survival on an alien planet.

In a vast metal city they discover the survivors of a terrible nuclear war - the Daleks. Held captive in the deepest levels of the city, can the Doctor and his new companions stop the Daleks' plan to totally exterminate their mortal enemies, the peace-loving Thals? More importantly, even if they can escape from the Daleks, will Ian and Barbara ever see their home planet Earth again?"

This was the book that started it all. Originally published in November 1964 (around the tine Doctor Who's second series was starting, and just before the Daleks made their second appearance in The Dalek Invasion of Earth), not only was it the first novelisation published (along with Doctor Who and the Crusaders - also by David Whittaker - and Doctor Who and the Zarbi - aka The Web Planet) but was also the first book published when Target Books began publishing Doctor Who book in 1973 (an association that would continue for twenty years). I have to admit I only recently read it but in another first, not in print form but as an ebook.

In his introduction to this volume, Neil Gaiman points out just how important the novelisations were. And while what happened on the page was sometimes wildly different from what happened on screen (and in this case) back in the days before home video and DVD the novels were the only way you could enjoy the Doctor's adventures again and again.

And for the story itself? It's essentially a faithful retelling of the first Dalek story with a few differences, some minor (the glass Dalek  for example - Davros about then years early?) and some major (with An Unearthly Child not being published until the early eighties, Whittaker comes up with a new introductory scene for main characters). Also Whittaker uses the first person narrative so the whole story is told from Ian's perspective which means a lot of events from the TV series are left out. While it's a little dry in parts Doctor Who and the Daleks, like the TV episodes that inspired it, is one of the most important books ever published beginning a series that lasts to this day.