Doctor Who and the Tomb of the Cybermen (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1967 television serial The Tomb of the Cybermen.

1978 edition
The Cybermen - silver, indestructible monsters whose only goal is power - seem to have disappeared from their planet, Telos. When a party of archaeologists, joined by the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria, land on the Cybermen's barren, deserted planet, they uncover what appears to be their tomb.

But once inside it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some in the group of archaeologists desperately want to re-activate these monsters! How can the Doctor defeat these ruthless, power-seeking humans and the Cybermen?

1992 edition
'The Cyberman went on raising his gun, slowly, slowly...'

The Cybermen - indestructible, unfeeling monsters whose only goal is power - have now disappeared from the planet Telos, and when a group of archaeologists, accompanied by the Doctor and his companions, land on the barren, deserted world, they discover what appears to be their tomb.

But once inside, it becomes clear that the Cybermen are not dead, and some of the scientists are intent on re-activating the monsters. How can the Doctor prevent these ruthless humans from awakening the Cybermen?

The Tomb of the Cybermen was first broadcast in 1967 and was thought lost forever until it was rediscovered in 1992 and released on video. Gerry Davis's novelisation is based on the original story he wrote with Kit Pedler.

Chapter titles

 * Introduction
 * 1) Victoria and Jamie
 * 2) An Expedition into Space
 * 3) The Entrance to the Tombs
 * 4) Cyberman Control Room
 * 5) The Recharging Room
 * 6) The Target Room
 * 7) The Finding of the Cybermat
 * 8) The Secret of the Hatch
 * 9) The Cyberman Controller
 * 10) Release the Cybermats
 * 11) The Controller is Revitalised
 * 12) Toberman Returns
 * 13) Closing the Tombs

Deviations from televised story

 * The narration sometimes refers to the Doctor as "Doctor Who".
 * The introduction provides a brief synopsis of the birth of the Cybermen and the events of TV: The Tenth Planet and TV: The Moonbase. However, the introduction also states that the homeworld of the Cybermen was always Telos, not Mondas.
 * Toberman is described as either Turkish or Middle Eastern.
 * The main chamber of the tomb is lined with ornate bas-reliefs of the history of the Cybermen, from their creation to the destruction of Mondas.
 * The Cyber-Controller is described as having a black helmet, like the Cyber-Leaders seen later in the series.
 * There are five lieutenant Cybermen to the Cyber-controller.
 * Klieg states he is President of the Brotherhood of Logicians, rather than being just a major member of the Brotherhood.
 * The Earth expedition ship is named the Orbiter.
 * The Cybermats are described as scorpions.

cONTINUITY

 * Jamie refers to being present at Mondas' destruction. (TV: The Tenth Planet) However, he was not part of the TARDIS crew during that story.

Writing and publishing notes

 * The cover depicts a version of the Cybermen different from the one in the story. (The photo reference used comes from The Invasion).
 * Initial designs by an unknown artist featured the Second Doctor and the appropriate Cybermen, but was unused, most likely because of the BBC's tendency to allow only the then-current Doctors likeness on the covers.
 * This title was delayed from its planned release in July 1977 until May 1978.
 * Dedication: Dedicated to my daughters, Victoria-Jean and Felicity-Jane.
 * The cover for the original Target Books edition features the artwork of Jeff Cummins.

British publication history
First publication:
 * Hardback
 * W.H.Allen & Co. Ltd. UK


 * Paperback
 * Target

Re-issues:
 * 1992 by Virgin Publishing with a new cover by Alister Pearson priced £2.99 (UK)

Editions published outside Britain
to be added

Audiobook
This Target Book was released complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Michael Kilgarriff, who played the Cyber-Controller in the television story, with Cybermen voices provided by Nicholas Briggs.

The audio set of four CDs was released in March 2013 priced £13.99 (UK)