Doctor Who and the Mutants (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1972 television serial The Mutants.

Publisher's summary
A massive shape scuttles out of the darkness and strikes the earth Overlord down. It is a Mutant – a huge insectoid creature. It moves in a crouch, its back arched and scaly, with huge knobbly vertebrae. The controlling Overlord, the Marshal, has ordered all such Mutants killed instantly.

What was happening to the people of Solos? Why are they gradually turning into Monsters? Hands that become claws, flesh that turns scale-like...

When DOCTOR WHO meets the Marshal and Jaegar, he realises that all is not as it appears to be. The Marshal has a sinister plan to gain control of this planet, and DOCTOR WHO must save Solos from this mad earthman, as well as save the Solonians themselves.

DOCTOR WHO scripts – awarded the Writer's Guild Award for the best British children's original drama script.

Chapter titles

 * 1) The Hunters
 * 2) Mutant on the Loose!
 * 3) Assassination!
 * 4) Hunted on Solos
 * 5) The Experiment
 * 6) Escape
 * 7) The Attack
 * 8) The Trap
 * 9) The Fugitive
 * 10) The Crystal
 * 11) Condemned
 * 12) The Message
 * 13) The Investigator
 * 14) The Witness
 * 15) The Change

Deviations from televised story

 * Solos is described as more jungle-like than it appeared onscreen.
 * The Doctor describes the use of message pods as a system used for a "real emergency" and that the "Time Lords' code" compels him to deliver it.
 * Varan's son is given a name, Vorn.
 * The assassination weapon Vorn uses is described as metallic; onscreen, it appeared to be disguised as carved wood.
 * Jaeger is given some backstory as being disgraced on Earth for stealing data from an academic colleague.
 * In addition to the stone tablets seen onscreen, the message pod also contains parchment scrolls.
 * The Marshal discovers that Stubbs and Cotton are working with the Doctor by monitoring them in the caves with a directional microphone. In the televised version, he merely listens in on the open comline.
 * There is a secret passage underneath the Marshal's desk.
 * The evolved Solonians appear to Jo in a vision in the cave.
 * Much of the dialogue is omitted, paraphrased or truncated, for instance Ky's aggression in Sondergaard's laboratory is shortened and Cotton's "We'll all be done for!" speech at the end of Episode Five is turned into a calmer explanation about "The Marshal's arranged another of his little accidents!"
 * The Marshal is given back story as having come to Skybase as a security guard and worked his way up the ranks, meaning he has no connections on Earth.
 * Ky trying to stop the Marshal killing the mutant on Skybase is removed.

Writing and publishing notes

 * The Solonian picture on the cover is almost a perfect recreation of the televised creature.
 * This is one of the Target books Doctor Who Magazine gave away.
 * The spine of this book mistakenly refers to the title as 'Dr Who and the Mutants'.

British publication history

 * Hardback
 * W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. UK


 * Paperback
 * Target

Audiobook
This Target Book was released on 4 October 2018 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Jon Culshaw.

The cover blurb and thumbnail illustrations were retained in the accompanying booklet with sleevenotes by David J. Howe. Music and sound effects by Simon Power.