The Wheel in Space (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1968 television serial The Wheel in Space.

Publisher's summary
When the TARDIS rematerialises inside a rocket the Doctor and Jamie are alarmed by the presence of a hostile Servo-Robot. They discover that the rocket is drifting in the orbit of a giant space station - the Wheel in Space.

Once inside this magnificent space ship they are bewildered by its complexity and sheer size. The technicians and programmers are highly trained, but who are they working for?

Suspecting the worst, the Doctor is still horrified to find the deadly Cybermen in control. What evil plan are they plotting? Who or what are the Cybermats? Can the Doctor trust anyone on board to help him stop the Wheel as it spins relentlessly through space?

Chapter titles

 * 1) Goodbye to Victoria
 * 2) The Unseen Enemy
 * 3) Hunted
 * 4) Command Decision
 * 5) Under Suspicion
 * 6) Birth of Terror
 * 7) Menace
 * 8) The First Death
 * 9) The Trap
 * 10) Trojan Horse
 * 11) Takeover
 * 12) Into Danger
 * 13) Cybermat Attack
 * 14) Meteor Storm
 * 15) Poison in the Air
 * 16) Perilous Journey
 * 17) The Invasion
 * 18) An End and a Beginning

Deviations from televised story

 * Some dialogue differs from the televised version.
 * The TARDIS's warnings are specifically referred to as the automatic defence network.
 * The Doctor offers Jamie sherbets before they find the food machine.
 * The Doctor shows Zoe the events of The Evil of the Daleks but not specifically the Dalek exterminating Kennedy.
 * Jamie finds he's starting to forget Victoria's face.
 * Assuming the Doctor already set the controls, Jamie notes the TARDIS is already in flight before Zoe can decide to stay.

Writing and publishing notes

 * Back Pages include The 1988 Doctor Who 25 Year Bonanza Competition!
 * The cover of the original Target Books edition featured the artwork of Ian Burgess.
 * With only 23,000 copies printed, the paperback is considered one of the rarer Doctor Who novels. Reportedly a warehouse fire was responsible for there being so few copies. As a result, copies of this book often fetch high prices as collectables.
 * This was also the final Target Books novelisation to use the 'neon logo', which the TV series had stopped using the previous year. All subsequent novelisations would use the computer-generated McCoy-era logo until the TV movie was novelised in 1996.

British publication history

 * Hardback (March 1988)


 * W.H.Allen & Co. Ltd. UK ISBN:0491033567, copies priced £7.95)
 * Paperback (August 1988)


 * Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. One single paperback edition, estimated print run: 23,000, priced £1.99 (UK).

Audiobook
This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 5 August 2021 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by David Troughton with Cyberman voices by Nicholas Briggs.

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.