Dragonfire (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1987 television serial Dragonfire.

1989 edition
When the Doctor and Mel arrive in the Space Trading Colony, Iceworld, the Doctor can feel that there is mischief afoot. And he and Mel don't have to wait long before they discover the culprit, for there in the Refreshment Bar they meet up with that old intergalactic rogue, Sabalon Glitz.

Glitz is hot on the trail of hidden treasure and the Doctor, keen to do some scientific research, decides to join him. Down in the Ice Passages they go – through the Ice Garden, past the Singing Trees, beyond the Lake of Oblivion – in search of the Dragon's Treasure.

But the Doctor and his companions don't know the true worth of this mythical hoard. Only Kane, the most feared man in Iceworld, knows the secret of the Dragonfire...

Deviations from televised story

 * Ace's dog Wayne is added to the story.
 * The cliffhanger to the first part of the story with the Doctor suspended from a crevasse is elaborated on.
 * Erick is an Aldeberian ambassador.
 * Zed, Arnheim and Pudovkin are unnamed.
 * An unnamed dark-haired woman from Glitz's crew is given some of Zed's part.
 * The TARDIS scene opens with Mel standing on her head and the Doctor deliberately causing turbulence so she falls over.
 * Stellar is given a few background details, being referred to as a Starchild and musing about describing her adventures to her best friend Mith-mind and that her father now loves with another woman.
 * Anderson is renamed Eisenstein. Ace does not pour a drink over him on being sacked.
 * The Doctor pays Glitz's bill at the café.
 * There is a sequence of Glitz being trapped under a spike of ice that is about to fall: This was filmed but cut from the finished programme.
 * Kracauer is not with the guards trying to clear the docking bay.
 * Glitz deliberately gives the Doctor the slip to look for the Ice Gardens.
 * Ace considers using nitro 9 against the Creature. She later nearly throws a can at her reflection.
 * The Doctor claims the map off Glitz before he boards the Nosferatu.
 * There is an extended sequence of Mel and Ace scaling the ice face, with Ace nearly being knocked out by leaking nitro fumes and Mel having to help her.
 * Ace hides the dazed Mel in a crack in the ice rather than under some stairs.
 * Kracauer mentions that Kane has hunted down and killed everyone that's left him.
 * All of Glitz's crew attack his party and are killed by the Creature rather than just Pudovkin; one is identified as a woman named Winterbottom.
 * Belazs and Kracauer die in different ways: Kane strangles Kracauer rather than using his ice touch, then kills Belazs by shaking her hand without her realising he has removed his glove. (The latter action was scripted but filmed differently.)
 * McLuhan and Bazin are not named until they are sent to hunt the Creature, with their role earlier in the story given to various nameless guards. Bazin is said to be a stickler for the rule book and McLuhan recalls being dared to climb a rock face as a child and realising another girl is going to fall.
 * The book reinstates scripted material of Glitz reminiscing about his voyages. Mel and Ace try to follow him when he leaves only for him to turn around and snarl.
 * Stellar's mother is dragged away by the fleeing crowd, explaining why she is left behind.
 * There is a sequence that featured in early drafts of Stellar meeting Kane who ignores her. Her teddy bear is shattered when she tries to pick him up after freezing him in Kane's cabinet.
 * There are five hundred spacecraft destroyed leaving Iceworld rather than just the Nosferatu.
 * Kane hides in the fridge-freezer of Ace's quarters to surprise her.
 * The Doctor expresses sympathy at the deaths of Bazin and McLuhan.
 * Glitz uses Ace's explosives to set a trap for a handful of mercenaries who were left behind during the evacuation. (This appeared in earlier storylines.)
 * A reptilian creature is featured.

Writing and publishing notes

 * Dedication: “With grateful thanks to John Nathan-Turner for his helpful comments and suggestions on the original scripts, and particularly to Andrew Cartmell, il miglior fabbro. Thanks also to the children and teenagers in Ealing who inspired it – particularly Annamarie, Joanne and Juno.”

British publication history
First publication: Paperback (March 1989) Re-issues: (October 1991)
 * Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. One single paperback edition, estimated print run: 21,000, priced £1.99 (UK).
 * Target / Virgin Publishing, estimated print run: 9,000, priced £2.99 (UK).