Vengeance on Varos (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1985 television serial Vengeance on Varos.

1988 edition
The TARDIS has stalled in mid-flight, and it is only on the planet Varos that the Doctor can find his precious Zeiton-7 ore he needs to continue his travels through time and space.

Arriving on the planet, he saves the rebel Jondar from execution, and incurs the wrath of Sil, the sadistic representative of the Galatron Mining Corporation on Varos.

The hunt is on for the Doctor and his rebel friends. And as they are pursued through the corridors of the deadly Punishment Dome, the Doctor discovers that the people of Varos have some very disturbing ideas of entertainment ...

Chapter Titles

 * 1) The Dome of Death
 * 2) The Vital Vote
 * 3) Execution
 * 4) Escape into Danger
 * 5) The Purple Zone
 * 6) Capture
 * 7) Death in the Desert
 * 8) Night and Silence
 * 9) Interrogation
 * 10) Quillam
 * 11) Condemned
 * 12) The Changelings
 * 13) Realm of Chaos
 * 14) The Final Vote
 * 15) Into the End Zone
 * 16) Goodbye to Varos

Deviations from televised story

 * In the Punishment Dome and across the planet, there are lines of Monorails linked, across the planet.
 * There is a scene including the Governor and his personal butler, Sevrin, in his home when the Chief Officer requests him to return to the Dome regarding Sil.
 * During the first meeting with the Governor and Sil, Sil rocks his water-tank so hard, he falls over. No such thing occurred in the televised story.
 * There are numerous mentions of Sil's superior, Lord Kiv - a character who would not appear until Mindwarp.
 * When Sil receives a new voice-box translator, there are numerous speech malfunctions.
 * The guards who fall in the acid bath are named Az and Oza.
 * Peri, the Governor and Maldak are forced to cross the harsh surface of Varos in environment suits to get the safety zone in the Punishment Zone.
 * In the televised story, the Chief Officer, Quillam and their militia stop and are struck by the poisoned vine trap set by the Doctor in his friends. In the novelisation, they drive on, oblivious to the vines and are hit - causing them to crash their vehicles.
 * The confrontation about Zeiton-7 does not appear in the vision control room. Sil is confronted by the protagonists about his star-ship.

Writing and publishing notes

 * Although given the Target library reference number of 106, this title arrived some two years later between numbers 128 and 129.
 * Accepting the commission to novelise his own story, its proposed publication date of December 1985 was delayed for two years before finally being delivered and published in July 1987.
 * The cover artwork for this title had been ready some two years earlier for the proposed release date. This is why the older neon-tubing logo was used rather than the contemporary Seventh Doctor era logo.

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


 * Paperback
 * Target

Audiobook
In November 1997, BBC Audio released an abridged audiobook version of the novel, read by Colin Baker. It was later reissued on Tales from the TARDIS Volume 2.