Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1971 television serial Colony in Space.

1974 edition
The evil has stolen the Time Lords' file on the horrifying DOOMSDAY WEAPON with which, when he finds it, he can blast whole planets out of existence and make himself ruler of the Galaxy!

The Time Lords direct DOCTOR WHO and Jo Grant in TARDIS to a bleak planet in the year 2471 where they find colonists from Earth under threat from mysterious, savage, monster lizards with frightful claws! And hidden upon this planet is the DOOMSDAY WEAPON for which the MASTER is intently searching ...

Deviations from televised story

 * Both Jo Grant and the Master are given new introductions, with Grant in particular described as joining the Doctor for the first time, despite several earlier stories featuring her. As one of the first releases in the Target Books series, there was no expectation that all stories would eventually be adapted. Once the earlier stories had been novelised, no attempt was made at revising The Doomsday Weapon, creating a continuity hiccough for those reading the novelisations in chronological order.
 * The concrete Earth that the colonists had left is expanded upon - there are people with blue hair, moving pavements, metric units, lifts that took the people in the underground for sunshine treats or walk treats and folk tales of Drahvins, Monoids, Daleks and Silurians.
 * It is described how the colonists met back on earth.
 * IMC's robot is humanoid and named Charlie.
 * The Keeper of the Time Lord files retells the story of TV: The War Games.
 * The Doctor organises a funeral for the Leesons.
 * It is stated that the year is 2971, not 2471, in contradiction with the back cover blurb.

Writing and publishing notes

 * The 1979 edition by Pinnacle Books in the US included an introduction by Harlan Ellison.
 * The first edition Target cover was the first to feature the Master.
 * This novelisation was later released as part of The Master Collection.

Chapter titles

 * 1) A Missing Secret
 * 2) Into Time and Space
 * 3) The Planet
 * 4) The Monster
 * 5) Starvation
 * 6) The Survivor
 * 7) The Robot
 * 8) The Men from IMC
 * 9) The Spy
 * 10) The Claw
 * 11) Face-to-face
 * 12) The Bomb
 * 13) The Attack
 * 14) The Adjudicator
 * 15) Primitive City
 * 16) The Ambush
 * 17) Captain Dent Thinks Twice
 * 18) The Master's TARDIS
 * 19) The Return of Captain Dent
 * 20) The Doomsday Weapon
 * 21) Mission Completed

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


 * Paperback
 * Target

Re-issues:
 * 70p
 * 1979 Target Books with a new cover by Jeff Cummins priced 75p (UK)

Editions published outside Britain

 * Published in the USA in 1979 by Pinnacle Books.
 * Published in Japan in 1980 by Hayakawa Bunko.
 * Published in Portugal in 1983 by Editorial Presença.

Audiobook
This Target book was released complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Geoffrey Beevers who played the Master (though not in Colony in Space).

The audio set of 4 CDs with an ISBN 1-4056-7795-3 was released in September 2007 priced £13.99 (UK)

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.