The Nightmare Man (novelisation)

The Nightmare Man, based upon the televised story of the same name, is the first novelisation of a story from Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Along with Death of the Doctor, it was initially announced as a print release, but ultimately was issued in e-book format only.

Publisher's summary
Luke is scared about going to university...but something much more terrifying is threatening his very existence! A creepy Nightmare Man haunts his dreams and begins to take over his waking life, too — but he can't tell anyone. Will Sarah Jane and his friends figure out what's happening and make sure Luke doesn't disappear forever?

Characters

 * Sarah Jane Smith
 * Luke Smith
 * Rani Chandra
 * Clyde Langer
 * Mr Smith
 * K9 Mark IV
 * Nightmare Man
 * Maria Jackson
 * Alan Jackson
 * Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
 * Doris Lethbridge-Stewart
 * Carla Langer
 * Celeste Rivers
 * Toby Silverman
 * Lucy Skinner
 * Nicholas Skinner
 * Martha Smith-Jones
 * Mickey Smith
 * Mrs Griffin
 * Josh

Deviations from the televised story

 * Luke is stated to have just finished the diet that he was on in the novelisation of The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith and packs three pairs of trousers that have stretchy waistbands to accommodate for the freshman fifteen, which he is anxious of gaining.
 * The story retains a line of dialogue originally written for the TV version but cut from broadcast that hints that Luke may be gay; the implication of this line was confirmed by Russell T Davies in a 2013 interview in which he revealed CBBC had asked for a gay character to be included in the series, and Davies decided to establish Luke as such. However, due to Elisabeth Sladen's unexpected dead, the storyline (and the series) wasn't expanded.

Continuity

 * Luke Smith had nightmares about his worst experiences. He dreamed about the Daleks, their invasion of Earth, and his crying mother (TV: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End), Maria Jackson's departure to America (TV: The Last Sontaran) and that Clyde Langer was forced to forget him when Clyde's father was using the Berserker pendant. (TV: The Mark of the Berserker)