Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons (novelisation)

Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons was the 1975 paperback novelisation of the 1971 television serial Terror of the Autons, rereleased in February 1981 as a harcover.

Publisher's summary[]

1975 Target Books edition[]

The evil Master leered at the Doctor, and triumphantly pointed out of the cabin window. The many-tentacled Nestene monster – spearhead of the second Auton invasion of the Earth – crouched beside the radio tower!

Part crab, part spider, part octopus, its single huge eye blazed with alien intelligence and deadly hatred...

Can the Doctor outwit his rival Time lord, the Master, and save the Earth from the Nestene horror?

Chapter titles[]

The Terror Begins
Sabotage at the Space Probe
The Master Takes Over
Death at the Plastics Factory
The Killer Doll
In the Hands of the Autons
The Battle in the Forest
The Killer Doll Attacks
The Deadly Daffodils
Prisoners of the Master
The Final Assault
The End of Round One

Deviations from televised story[]

Greater background in given to Luigi Rossini at the beginning of the novel. We learn that his real name is Lew Ross, and that he was born 50 years ago, in Hoxton. We are also told that he considers himself to be 'the boss' – acting likewise by withholding others' share of his circus' profits through employing shady characters, paying them minimal wages, and using physical violence to suppress any outcry.
Goodge is given the first name 'Albert'.
The Third Doctor's talk with the Time Lord messenger is longer and more detailed:
- It is mentioned that the messenger was one of the three Time Lords who officiated at the Second Doctor's trial;
- The messenger initially refers to the Master by his lengthy, "mellifluous" true Gallifreyan name (which the reader is never told), before he tells the Doctor that he has begun calling himself the Master.
- The Doctor is aware that the Time Lords nearly caught the Master at some point, but when he questions the messenger about it, he learns that the Master managed to get away before the Time Lords could de-energise his TARDIS.
- It is explained that the Time Lords had picked up the signal of the Master's TARDIS just before he landed on Earth, and were tracking him from their homeworld, but lost the signal due to the "interference" of the Nestene Consciousness's beacons.
It is explained that Rex Farrel has developed a very different personality to his father John Farrel, and is shy, timid, and weak – characteristics in sharp contrast to John Farrel's assertive, no-nonsense manner, a man to which Rex shows unquestioning obedience, and who has been the driving force of his life for many years. This enables for the Master's easy takeover and subjugation of his mind via hypnosis.
The bomb that the hypnotised Professor Philips uses to try to kill the Doctor and Jo is a Sontaran fragmentation grenade - a notable fact since Sontarans had not been canonically introduced to Doctor Who at this point, with them first appearing several serials later, in The Time Warrior.
Mrs. Farrel is given the first name 'Mary'.
The civil servant Brownrose is omitted entirely.
The telephone flex remains active after being pulled from the wall, continuing to audibly thrash around inside a big metal canister after the Brigadier and the Doctor have succeeded in forcing it inside.
Rather than simply slamming the steel door on the Auton found inside the safe at the Plastics Factory, the Brigadier proceeds to throw in a grenade. As the Doctor closes it, the Auton's arm gets jammed in the frame, falling to the floor as the grenade explodes. It then starts "lashing about the floor like a wounded snake, spitting out energy bolts" until the Doctor overturns the "massive mahogany topped desk" and crushes the arm beneath it.
The Nestene creature is much more vividly described (and illustrated) than the blob of white light seen on TV. The CGI Enhanced version available on the 2021 Season 8 Blu-ray is clearly inspired by this description (though does not adhere to it strictly).

Writing and publishing notes[]

The Master and Jo Grant are introduced, as is the case in the original story. However an earlier Target books release, PROSE: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon, also introduced the characters "for the first time".
This novelisation was later released as part of The UNIT Collection.

Additional cover images[]

Illustrations[]

Illustrations by Alan Willow

British publication history[]

First publication:

Hardback

W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. UK

Paperback

Target

Re-issues:

60p (UK)

1979 Target Books with a new cover by Alun Hood priced 60p (UK)

Editions published outside Britain[]

This book was to have also been published in the USA by Pinnacle Books in 1980 as a paperback edition, however when Lyle Stuart Inc secured the rights to distribute the Target Books in America the plan was shelved.^[1]

Audiobook[]

This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 8 July 2010 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Geoffrey Beevers.

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.

The audiobook was reissued on 5 April 2018 as part of The UNIT Collection.

Footnotes[]

↑ Based on the Popular BBC Television Serial 3rd Edition.

[1] Based on the Popular BBC Television Serial 3rd Edition.

[1]