Eric Saward

A nice straightforward novelization of a nice straightforward TV adventure. I remember this being one of the very first Targets I read as a kid, when I really didn't have access to the TV show. I can see why it pulled me in: the evocative first chapter does a great job of setting up the mystery, and if the somewhat spare prose of the rest of the novel occasionally veers into "he said/she said," there's enough humor and light action to keep it interesting. It has a slightly anticlimactic ending, but otherwise, I think this would be a good book for a kid who liked Doctor Who even today.… (altro)

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).… (altro)

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.… (altro)