Published in 1964, The Dalek Book was the first collection of original, printed fiction set in the Doctor Who universe. It was also the first in Souvenir Press' line of Dalek annuals. Co-written by Dalek creator Terry Nation and original story editor David Whitaker, the book contained information on the Daleks, as well as original stories and comic strips, a Dalek dictionary and a photo-story about Susan Foreman meeting the Daleks, featuring images from the 1963-64 serial The Daleks.
Story art was executed by A. B. Cornwell, Richard Jennings and John Woods, but none of the stories are individually credited. Except where artwork is signed, who did what remains a matter of speculation. It is believed that the book was largely written by David Whitaker.
Narratively, it was important for introducing the character of Jeff Stone, as well as the first Dalek Emperor, an individual best-known as the Golden Emperor for his distinctive golden casing, and later given a more personal name and backstory as the Dalek Prime.
Contents[]
Comic stories[]
- Dalek Planetarium
- Invasion of the Daleks
- The Oil Well
- The Message of Mystery (fumetti comic story)
- City of the Daleks
- The Humanoids
- Monsters of Gurnian
- Battle for the Moon
Prose stories[]
Features[]
- The Dalekode
- Anatomy of a Dalek (included within City of the Daleks)
- Dodge the Dalek
- The Dalek War Machines
- The Dalography of Skaro
- The Dalek Dictionary
Notes[]
• In the opening comic strip, Invasion of the Daleks, a display shows not just Skaro’s path through the solar system between Saturn and Uranus, but also a total of 11 planets: these included innermost world Vulcan (located between the Sun and Mercury) and the outermost world Omega. While a planet Vulcan had been proposed in the late 19th century to explain peculiarities in Mercury’s orbit, its potential existence had long since been dismissed by most astronomers by the time of the book’s publication. However, the possible existence of other worlds beyond Pluto was less fanciful even in 1964, although it would be decades before Pluto was reclassified as a Dwarf Planet. “Omega” was presumably chosen as the name for the outermost planet as it is the final letter in the Greek alphabet.
External links[]
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