The Mind Robber (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1968 television serial The Mind Robber.

1987 edition
To escape a catastrophic volcanic eruption the Doctor takes the TARDIS out of space and time-and into a void he can only describe as 'nowhere'.

But the crisis is far from over and when the time-machine’s circuits overload, the TARDIS explodes.

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe come to a dark unearthly forest. There they encounter a host of characters who seem somehow familiar: a beautiful princess with long flaxen hair, a sea traveller dressed in eighteenth-century clothes, and a white rabbit frantically consulting his pocket watch…

What is happening to the three time-travellers? What strange power guides their actions? In the Land of Fiction who can really tell?

Chapter Titles

 * 1) The Doctor Abhors a Vacuum
 * 2) The Power of Thought
 * 3) Boys and Girls Come Out to Play
 * 4) Dangerous Games
 * 5) Into the Labyrinth
 * 6) The Facts of Fiction
 * 7) 'I Am the Karkus'
 * 8) A Meeting of Masters
 * 9) Lives in the Balance
 * 10) The Doctor Has the Last Word

Deviations from televised story

 * The story contains many scenes written specially for the novel, including a firing squad test before the Unicorn charges in and several references to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland aside many others.
 * The labyrinth is presented as a hacienda from a Spanish crime novel containing Miss Haversham's wedding cake; the cave is from Narnia; the Karkus speaks using speech bubbles.
 * Rather than escaping Dulkis following the events of TV: The Dominators, the TARDIS instead materialises on a volcano five seconds before it erupts.
 * The novel opens in the Land of Fiction, with the first episode of the story depicted as a flashback.
 * The Master of the Land of Fiction leaves the land in the TARDIS.

Writing and publishing notes

 * Several amendments were made to Peter Ling’s original submission. Of particular note was his mistaken belief that Zoe had long blonde hair. The error was not realised until a viewing of the BBC video. Incidentally, the character of Zoe, was at one point considered to be a male, with blond hair.
 * Dedication: For Dave Baldock with love and gratitude.
 * The 1990 Target / Virgin edition utilised the same new cover artwork as used on the BBC video release.

British publication history

 * Hardback (November 1986)


 * W.H.Allen & Co. Ltd. UK ISBN:0491036825, copies priced £7.25 (UK))
 * Paperback (April 1987)


 * Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. Single paperback edition, estimated print run: 32,500, priced £1.75 (UK).
 * Paperback (August 1990)


 * Target / Virgin Publishing New cover artwork by Alister Pearson, priced £2.50 (UK).

Audiobook release
The audiobook version of this novel was read by Derek Jacobi, who played the Master in Utopia.