Ghost Light (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1989 television serial Ghost Light.

Publisher's summary
Perivale, 1983

A column of smoke rises from the blazing ruins of a forgotten, decaying mansion. Perivale, 1883

In the sleepy, rural parish of Greenford Parva, Gabriel Chase is by far the most imposing edifice. The villagers shun the grim house, but the owner, the reclusive and controversial naturalist Josiah Samuel Smith, receives occasional visitors.

The Reverend Ernest Mathews, for instance, dean of Mortarhouse College, has travelled from Oxford to refute Smith’s blasphemous theories of evolution.

And in a deserted upstairs room, the Doctor and Ace venture from the TARDIS to explore the Victorian mansion …

Who – or what – is Josiah Smith? What terrible secrets does his house conceal? And why does Ace find everything so frightening familiar?

Deviations from televised story
To be added

Writing and publishing notes

 * Alister Pearson’s original cover design featured the faces of Josiah Samuel Smith and Light, which were removed in the final cover.
 * Dedication: “For Ian, Margaret and the wonderful Alice”

British publication history
One single paperback edition, priced £2.50 (UK), estimated print run: 25,000 copies.