This is a novelisation of a Doctor Who TV story from 1985 written by the original scriptwriter. It was a blackly humorous TV story, usually regarded as the gem in what was widely regarded as a sub-standard era in the show's long history. This is quite a good novelisation, expanding on the broadcast story with some extra scenes, one fairly significant extra character and some backstory for some of the other characters. A tale of nefarious goings on in a giant funeral parlour presided over by the Great Healer, in reality Davros, creator of the Daleks, it was a satire on the Evelyn Waugh novel The Loved One. which I read last week (there is a reference to a character having died of Waugh's Disease). A good read (though I was a little disappointed that the hovering glass Dalek did not make it into this novelisation). ( )

I'm afraid it's not very good. This novelisation of the 1985 TV serials largely exacerbates the problems of the original version, throwing away key dramatic moments (the Daleks, for example, turn up mid-sentence), reducing the titular villains to easily disposed of henchmen to Davros, and becoming comically overwrought at times ("She was just 25").

It's not without some good stuff. There's a joy to Saward's writing – it reads like he's having a heck of a time – and the dialogue throws out the odd gem ("That would have created what I believe is termed consumer resistance"). The TV version is well remembered for its macabre atmosphere (a clever combination of Gothic horror and 80s superficiality) and, though dulled, it can still be seen here, as can Saward's tight world-building (something he seems to have learnt from his hero Robert Holmes).

It's a shame. On TV, Revelation of the Daleks is good bordering on a classic; an intelligent, sympathetic novelisation – similar to those enjoyed by Douglas Adams' scripts – could have pushed it over the line. But that's not what we've got. Hard to recommend to anyone other than the completist. ( )

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3311899.html

Neither of these is Great Literature, but on the other hand this is a better, more coherent story than Resurrection of the Daleks (even if the plot is basically resolved by killing almost all of the other characters) and these are therefore both better novels for it. Saward for once has dialled down his writing style, and cranked up his concentration on character and giving his fictional world a bit more in-universe context, to the point that this is actually a pretty readable book. These are for completists only, but not too embarrassing. ( )