Harlan Ellison (27 May 1934[1]-28 June 2018[2]) was an American science fiction author who wrote a foreword for Pinnacle Books' range of Americanised Doctor Who Target novelisations, first published in 1979.
Pinnacle Books' range was tailored for American readers new to Doctor Who, which at the time of their publishing was relatively obscure among American sci-fi fandom. In his foreword Ellison declared his fandom for Doctor Who over other then-mainstream American sci-fi, and explained some of the basic concepts of the series for newcomers.
I stood my ground, there on the lecture platform at the World Science Fiction Convention, and I repeated the heretical words that had sent them into animal hysterics: "Star Wars is adolescent nonsense; Close Encounters is obscurist drivel; Star Trek can turn your brains into puree of bat guano; and the greatest science fiction series of all time is Doctor Who! And I'll take you all on, one-by-one or all in a bunch to back it up!"
Ellison's foreword appears in the Pinnacle editions of the following novelisations:
- Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks
- Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon
- Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion
- Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks
- Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen
- Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster
- Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang
- Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora
- Doctor Who and the Android Invasion
- Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom
In-universe reference[]
Jason Kane once mentioned that while attempting to write stories in his youth, he'd wanted to be the next Harlan Ellison. (AUDIO: The End of the World)
