The Chase (novelisation): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Story | {{Infobox Story SMW | ||
|image = Chase novel.jpg | |image = Chase novel.jpg | ||
|series = [[Target novelisation]]s | |series = [[Target novelisation]]s | ||
| Line 11: | Line 10: | ||
|enemy = [[Dalek]]s, [[Mechanoid]]s | |enemy = [[Dalek]]s, [[Mechanoid]]s | ||
|setting = [[Earth]], [[Empire State Building]], [[Mary Celeste]], [[Aridius]], [[Mechanus]] | |setting = [[Earth]], [[Empire State Building]], [[Mary Celeste]], [[Aridius]], [[Mechanus]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = John Peel | ||
|read by = [[Maureen O'Brien]], [[Nicholas Briggs]] | |read by = [[Maureen O'Brien]], [[Nicholas Briggs]] | ||
|cover = [[Alister Pearson]] | |||
|publisher = Target Books | |publisher = Target Books | ||
|publisher2 = W.H. Allen | |publisher2 = W.H. Allen | ||
|release date = | |release date = 20 July 1989 | ||
|format = Paperback Book; 14 Chapters, 144 Pages | |format = Paperback Book; 14 Chapters, 144 Pages | ||
|isbn = ISBN 0-426-20336-4 | |isbn = ISBN 0-426-20336-4 | ||
|prev = The Space Museum (novelisation) | |prev = Mindwarp (novelisation) | ||
| | |next = The Ultimate Evil (novel) | ||
}} | |series2 = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|TV series order]] | ||
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was a novelisation based on the | |prev2 = The Space Museum (novelisation) | ||
|next2 = The Time Meddler (novelisation) | |||
}}{{Dab page|The Chase (disambiguation)}} | |||
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was a novelisation based on the 1965 television serial ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]''. | |||
<br><br><br> | |||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
=== 1989 edition === | === 1989 Target Books edition === | ||
Through a [[Time-Space Visualiser|Space-Time Visualiser]] | Through a [[Time-Space Visualiser|Space-Time Visualiser]] [[First Doctor|the Doctor]] and his companions are horrified to see [[Pursuer-Dalek|an execution squad]] of [[Dalek]]s about to leave [[Skaro]] on a mission to find [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] and exterminate the time travellers. | ||
Eluding the Daleks on the barren planet [[Aridius]] the Doctor and his friends escape in the TARDIS. But this is only the beginning of an epic journey. | Eluding the Daleks on the barren planet [[Aridius]] the Doctor and his friends escape in the TARDIS. But this is only the beginning of an epic journey. | ||
As they travel through space and time, they try to shake off their pursuers by making a series of random landings-but the Daleks don't give up easily. This is a chase to the death... | As they travel through space and time, they try to shake off their pursuers by making a series of random landings - but the Daleks don't give up easily. This is a chase to the death... | ||
=== 1991 edition === | === 1991 Target Books edition === | ||
'THOSE WHO CONTROL THE TARDIS HAVE INTERFERED WITH TOO MANY OF OUR PLANS, THEY ARE TO BE DESTROYED. IF NECESSARY, THE ASSASSINATION GROUP WILL PURSUE THEM THROUGH ALL ETERNITY. EXTERMINATE THEM!' | |||
[[First Doctor|The Doctor]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]] and [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]] had faced - and narrowly defeated - the [[Dalek]]s twice before. They had known that there was always the possibility that the Daleks would win. But the reaches of time and space had always seemed so safe - there was always the chance that if they were being overwhelmed, they could flee. | [[First Doctor|The Doctor]], [[Barbara Wright|Barbara]] and [[Ian Chesterton|Ian]] had faced - and narrowly defeated - the [[Dalek]]s twice before. They had known that there was always the possibility that the Daleks would win. But the reaches of time and space had always seemed so safe - there was always the chance that if they were being overwhelmed, they could flee. | ||
But now, the Daleks can track them through all of time and space. They try to shake off their attackers by making a series of random landings, but this is a chase to the death ... | But now, the Daleks can track them through all of time and space. They try to shake off their attackers by making a series of random landings, but this is a chase to the death... | ||
Doctor Who - The Chase, written by [[Terry Nation]], the creator of the Daleks, was first broadcast in [[1965]], with [[William Hartnell]] playing the role of the Doctor. This adaptation is by [[John Peel]], who is also the author of [[The Gallifrey Chronicles ( | Doctor Who - The Chase, written by [[Terry Nation]], the creator of the Daleks, was first broadcast in [[1965 (releases)|1965]], with [[William Hartnell]] playing the role of the Doctor. This adaptation is by [[John Peel]], who is also the author of ''[[The Gallifrey Chronicles (reference book)|The Gallifrey Chronicles]]'', the definitive history of the Doctor's home planet and its people. | ||
Doctor Who - The Chase is available as a [[BBC Video]]. | Doctor Who - The Chase is available as a [[BBC Video]]. | ||
== Chapter | == Chapter titles == | ||
# The Executioners | # The Executioners | ||
# A Speech in Time | # A Speech in Time | ||
| Line 60: | Line 63: | ||
== Deviations from televised story == | == Deviations from televised story == | ||
John Peel states in the Author's Notes that he decided to novelise [[Terry Nation]]'s original scripts rather than simply recreate the televised story. His reasoning for doing so was that ''The Chase'' existed in full in the BBC archives, so novelising the original scripts would give readers something different. Despite this, the novel reads largely similar to the televised version with a number of the details expanded: | John Peel states in the Author's Notes that he decided to novelise [[Terry Nation]]'s original scripts rather than simply recreate the televised story. His reasoning for doing so was that ''The Chase'' existed in full in the BBC archives, so novelising the original scripts would give readers something different. Despite this, the novel reads largely similar to the televised version with a number of the details expanded: | ||
* The appearance of the Daleks at the beginning is expanded upon, with the [[Black Dalek]] seeing the squad of executioners leave in the [[Dalek time machine|time machine]]. At this point in their history, the Daleks are also aware of the Doctor's [[Regeneration|ability to change his appearance]] even though they encounter his first incarnation. | * The appearance of the Daleks at the beginning is expanded upon, with the [[Black Dalek]] seeing the squad of executioners leave in the [[Dalek time machine|time machine]]. At this point in their history, the Daleks are also aware of the Doctor's [[Regeneration|ability to change his appearance]], noting he has changed a few times even though they encounter his first incarnation. | ||
* The [[Dalek Prime]] from John Peel's later novel ''[[War of the Daleks (novel)|War of the Daleks]]'' makes its first appearance here, and would later do so again in the novelisation ''[[The Mutation of Time]]'' and as the [[Dalek Emperor]] in ''[[The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)|The Evil of the Daleks]]''. Its originally intended first appearance was the [[War of the Daleks (TV story)|''War of the Daleks'' TV story]] which was never produced due to the show's cancellation in 1989, although the idea was later used by Peel in all of his Dalek novels and novelisations, save for ''[[The Power of the Daleks (novelisation)|The Power of the Daleks]]'', and it is only mentioned in ''[[Mission to the Unknown (novelisation)|Mission to the Unknown]]'' and ''[[Legacy of the Daleks (novel)|Legacy of the Daleks]]''. | * The [[Dalek Prime]] from John Peel's later novel ''[[War of the Daleks (novel)|War of the Daleks]]'' makes its first appearance here, and would later do so again in the novelisation ''[[The Mutation of Time (novelisation)|The Mutation of Time]]'' and as the [[Dalek Emperor]] in ''[[The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)|The Evil of the Daleks]]''. Its originally intended first appearance was the [[War of the Daleks (TV story)|''War of the Daleks'' TV story]] which was never produced due to the show's cancellation in 1989, although the idea was later used by Peel in all of his Dalek novels and novelisations, save for ''[[The Power of the Daleks (novelisation)|The Power of the Daleks]]'', and it is only mentioned in ''[[Mission to the Unknown (novelisation)|Mission to the Unknown]]'' and ''[[Legacy of the Daleks (novel)|Legacy of the Daleks]]''. | ||
* The Daleks make use of [[Hoverbout]]s, referred to as "flying disks", to obtain a better view of the [[Aridius|Aridian]] [[desert]], which is called the Sagaro Desert. | * The Daleks make use of [[Hoverbout]]s, referred to as "flying disks", to obtain a better view of the [[Aridius|Aridian]] [[desert]], which is called the Sagaro Desert. | ||
* The [[Aridian]] Elders are confronted by the Daleks and forced to cooperate with them, something which happened off-screen in the televised version. | * The [[Aridian]] Elders are confronted by the Daleks and forced to cooperate with them, something which happened off-screen in the televised version. One Aridian is killed by the Daleks. | ||
* [[Prondyn]] is written as one of the Aridian elders, but in the televised story, Prondyn is the Aridian who destroys the airlock. | * [[Prondyn]] is written as one of the Aridian elders, but in the televised story, Prondyn is the Aridian who destroys the airlock. | ||
* The Dalek time machines are powered by [[taranium]], the driving element of the plot in ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'', the following Dalek story. It took the Daleks two decades to gather enough taranium to power their time machines. Volume One of Peel's ''Master Plan'' novelisation would make reference to this. | * The Dalek time machines are powered by [[taranium]], the driving element of the plot in ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'', the following Dalek story. It took the Daleks two decades to gather enough taranium to power their time machines. Volume One of Peel's ''Master Plan'' novelisation would make reference to this. | ||
* More detail is given on the background of [[Morton Dill|Morton C. Dill]]: clumsy, always speaking without thinking and not the sort of person many people wish to know, he was nicknamed 'Dill the Pill' in school for being rather hard to take. After explaining to two guards in the [[Empire State Building]] about his encounter with the TARDIS crew and the Dalek, he was locked up in the Newman Rehabilitation Clinic in [[1967]] where he became a permanent resident. The Dalek decides against killing him because it considers it a far worse fate for the human race to allow him to live. | * More detail is given on the background of [[Morton Dill|Morton C. Dill]]: clumsy, always speaking without thinking and not the sort of person many people wish to know, he was nicknamed 'Dill the Pill' in school for being rather hard to take. After explaining to two guards in the [[Empire State Building]] about his encounter with the TARDIS crew and the Dalek, he was locked up in the [[Newman Rehabilitation Clinic]] in [[1967]] where he became a permanent resident. The Dalek decides against killing him because it considers it a far worse fate for the human race to allow him to live. | ||
* The crew of the ''[[Mary Celeste]]'' are all named. Additionally, while the Daleks scare the whole crew off the ship in the televised version, here one crew member is killed. Ian and Barbara discuss the matter further, wondering if the death of the crew was their fault since they led the Daleks there or if it was an [[Fixed point|inevitable fact of history]]. Ian notes that Barbara once tried to change the history of the [[Aztec]]s but failed. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'') | * The crew of the ''[[Mary Celeste]]'' are all named. Additionally, while the Daleks scare the whole crew off the ship in the televised version, here one crew member is killed. Ian and Barbara discuss the matter further, wondering if the death of the crew was their fault since they led the Daleks there or if it was an [[Fixed point|inevitable fact of history]]. Ian notes that Barbara once tried to change the history of the [[Aztec]]s but failed. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'') | ||
* The battle between the Daleks and the [[funfair]] [[robot]]s results in two Dalek casualties instead of one - one has its [[Dalek Eyestalk|eyestalk]] ripped off by [[Dracula (robot)|Dracula]] and the other is launched down the stairs by [[Frankenstein (robot)|Frankenstein's monster]]. Both of | * The battle between the Daleks and the [[funfair]] [[robot]]s results in two Dalek casualties instead of one - one has its [[Dalek Eyestalk|eyestalk]] ripped off by [[Dracula (robot)|Dracula]] and the other is launched down the stairs by [[Frankenstein (robot)|Frankenstein's monster]]. Both of the Daleks explode. One explosion damages Dracula, exposing his robotic components. One Dalek blast intended for the Doctor and Ian also sets a curtain on [[fire]], bathing the room in a red light. The [[Grey Lady]] is omitted entirely from the novelisation. | ||
* Steven lists the [[Human-Draconian War|conflict]] fought against the [[Draconian Empire]] and the [[Third Dalek War]] as factors which put an end to [[Earth Empire|Earth's]] expansionist phase. The [[Draconian]]s were not introduced on TV until ''[[Frontier in Space (TV story)|Frontier in Space]]'' during the [[Third Doctor]]'s era. A conflict known as the [[Second Dalek War]] would play a large role in future stories such as ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'', ''[[Return of the Living Dad (novel)|Return of the Living Dad]]'', ''[[Deceit (novel)|Deceit]]'', ''[[Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer (comic story)|Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer]]'' and ''[[Prisoner of the Daleks (novel)|Prisoner of the Daleks]]''; a Third Dalek War would only be referenced in the Virgin New Adventures, ''[[Lucifer Rising (novel)|Lucifer Rising]]'' and ''[[Sky Pirates! (novel)|Sky Pirates!]]'', as well as a [[Doctor Who: Battles in Time Dalek Wars|Dalek Wars]] | * The location of the haunted house is not the [[Festival of Ghana]] in 1996 as in the televised version, but present day Battersea Funfair. | ||
* Steven's stuffed [[panda]] mascot, [[HiFi]], does not appear in the novelisation, but confusingly features in the following | * Steven lists the [[Human-Draconian War|conflict]] fought against the [[Draconian Empire]] and the [[Third Dalek War]] as factors which put an end to [[Earth Empire|Earth's]] expansionist phase. The [[Draconian]]s were not introduced on TV until ''[[Frontier in Space (TV story)|Frontier in Space]]'' during the [[Third Doctor]]'s era. A conflict known as the [[Second Dalek War]] would play a large role in future stories such as ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'', ''[[Return of the Living Dad (novel)|Return of the Living Dad]]'', ''[[Deceit (novel)|Deceit]]'', ''[[Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer (comic story)|Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer]]'' and ''[[Prisoner of the Daleks (novel)|Prisoner of the Daleks]]''; a Third Dalek War would only be referenced in the Virgin New Adventures, ''[[Lucifer Rising (novel)|Lucifer Rising]]'' and ''[[Sky Pirates! (novel)|Sky Pirates!]]'', as well as ''[[The Match of the Daleks (short story)|The Match of the Daleks]]'', a [[Doctor Who: Battles in Time Dalek Wars|Dalek Wars]] story from [[DWBIT 55|Issue 55]] of ''[[Doctor Who: Battles in Time]]'' magazine. | ||
* The Dalek Leader slips away from the battle with the | * Steven's stuffed [[panda]] mascot, [[HiFi]], does not appear in the novelisation, but confusingly features in that of the following televised story, ''[[The Time Meddler (novelisation)|The Time Meddler]]'' by [[Nigel Robinson]]. | ||
* The Dalek Leader slips away from the battle with the Mechanoids after realising that the assassination squad has no chance of winning. As the last surviving Dalek and in an act of self-sacrifice, it hacks into the [[Mechanoid City|city]]'s computer systems and sets the whole place to self-destruct, hoping to kill the Doctor and his companions in the blast. In the TV story, the Daleks and the Mechanoids are evenly matched and the battle brings the city down around them. | |||
* In the TV story, the Doctor was outraged at the thought of Ian and Barbara using the Dalek time machine, which didn't happen in the book. | |||
* A different reason for Barbara and Ian's departure is given; the Doctor uses the Dalek time machine to return them home, but a couple of years later than 1963 in order to sync the timelines. | * A different reason for Barbara and Ian's departure is given; the Doctor uses the Dalek time machine to return them home, but a couple of years later than 1963 in order to sync the timelines. | ||
| Line 77: | Line 82: | ||
* The original Target edition featured the artwork of [[David McAllister]]. | * The original Target edition featured the artwork of [[David McAllister]]. | ||
* [[Alister Pearson]]'s original cover design was greatly simplified. Several elements of the story were removed. | * [[Alister Pearson]]'s original cover design was greatly simplified. Several elements of the story were removed. | ||
* The Newman Rehabilitation Clinic is presumably named after ''Doctor Who'' creator [[Sydney Newman]]. | * The [[Newman Rehabilitation Clinic]] is presumably named after ''Doctor Who'' creator [[Sydney Newman]]. | ||
* [[John Peel]]'s author's note at the beginning of this book states it is “not strictly speaking an adaptation of the televised version of ''The Chase''.” Instead the author chose to base the story on Terry Nation's original script (unearthed by Terry's wife Kate) and included some of the rewritten material (presumably by then-story editor Dennis Spooner) used in the televised version - hence the numerous differences listed above. The ''Mary Celeste'' sequence was changed using facts about the incidents sourced from ''Mystery Ship'' by George S. Bryan, published by Lippincott in 1942. | * [[John Peel]]'s author's note at the beginning of this book states it is “not strictly speaking an adaptation of the televised version of ''The Chase''.” Instead the author chose to base the story on Terry Nation's original script (unearthed by Terry's wife Kate) and included some of the rewritten material (presumably by then-story editor Dennis Spooner) used in the televised version - hence the numerous differences listed above. The ''Mary Celeste'' sequence was changed using facts about the incidents sourced from ''Mystery Ship'' by George S. Bryan, published by Lippincott in 1942. | ||
* The novel is dedicated to Terry Nation's wife Kate and the author's wife Nan. | * The novel is dedicated to Terry Nation's wife Kate and the author's wife Nan. | ||
* For years, Target had been trying to acquire the rights to adapt ''The Chase'', along with | * For years, Target had been trying to acquire the rights to adapt ''The Chase'', along with ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'' and the two [[Second Doctor]] Dalek stories, ''[[The Power of the Daleks (TV story)|The Power of the Daleks]]'' and ''[[The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)|The Evil of the Daleks]]''. For a time it seemed as if these stories (of which only ''The Chase'' still existed in complete form in the BBC Archives) would remain unnovelised, along with the three [[Fourth Doctor]] stories by [[Douglas Adams]] and the two [[Eric Saward]] Daleks stories from the [[Fifth Doctor|Fifth]] and [[Sixth Doctor]] eras. A surprise resolution regarding the rights to the early Dalek tales opened the door for Target to novelise them. John Peel was assigned the task of adapting these stories. ''The Chase'' was chosen as the first of these books published because it was the first broadcast. | ||
== Additional cover images == | == Additional cover images == | ||
| Line 88: | Line 93: | ||
First publication: | First publication: | ||
Paperback (July 1989) | Paperback (July 1989) | ||
* Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. | * Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. One original printing and 2 reprints in 1989, estimated print run: 24,000, priced £2.50 (UK). | ||
Re-issues: (July 1991) | Re-issues: (July 1991) | ||
* Target / Virgin Publishing, estimated print run: 5,000, priced £2.50 (UK). | * Target / Virgin Publishing, estimated print run: 5,000, priced £2.50 (UK). | ||
== Audiobook == | == Audiobook == | ||
This Target Book was released complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Maureen O'Brien]], with Dalek voices | This Target Book was released as an audiobook on [[7 July (releases)|7 July]] [[2011 (releases)|2011]] complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Maureen O'Brien]], with Dalek voices by [[Nicholas Briggs]]. | ||
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]]. | |||
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | <gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | ||
The Chase Audio.jpg | The Chase Audio.jpg|Audiobook cover | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
| Line 106: | Line 111: | ||
{{DWN}} | {{DWN}} | ||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[Category:Target novelisations]] | [[Category:Target novelisations]] | ||
[[Category:1989 novels]] | [[Category:1989 novels]] | ||
[[Category:Dalek novels]] | [[Category:Dalek novels]] | ||
[[Category:First Doctor | [[Category:First Doctor novelisations]] | ||
[[Category:Mechanoid stories]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1966]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in New York City]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1996]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1965]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in London]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1872]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1963]] | |||
[[Category:Target novelisations with audiobook readings]] | |||
Latest revision as of 20:50, 3 November 2024
- You may wish to consult
The Chase (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
The Chase was a novelisation based on the 1965 television serial The Chase.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
1989 Target Books edition[[edit] | [edit source]]
Through a Space-Time Visualiser the Doctor and his companions are horrified to see an execution squad of Daleks about to leave Skaro on a mission to find the TARDIS and exterminate the time travellers.
Eluding the Daleks on the barren planet Aridius the Doctor and his friends escape in the TARDIS. But this is only the beginning of an epic journey.
As they travel through space and time, they try to shake off their pursuers by making a series of random landings - but the Daleks don't give up easily. This is a chase to the death...
1991 Target Books edition[[edit] | [edit source]]
'THOSE WHO CONTROL THE TARDIS HAVE INTERFERED WITH TOO MANY OF OUR PLANS, THEY ARE TO BE DESTROYED. IF NECESSARY, THE ASSASSINATION GROUP WILL PURSUE THEM THROUGH ALL ETERNITY. EXTERMINATE THEM!'
The Doctor, Barbara and Ian had faced - and narrowly defeated - the Daleks twice before. They had known that there was always the possibility that the Daleks would win. But the reaches of time and space had always seemed so safe - there was always the chance that if they were being overwhelmed, they could flee.
But now, the Daleks can track them through all of time and space. They try to shake off their attackers by making a series of random landings, but this is a chase to the death...
Doctor Who - The Chase, written by Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks, was first broadcast in 1965, with William Hartnell playing the role of the Doctor. This adaptation is by John Peel, who is also the author of The Gallifrey Chronicles, the definitive history of the Doctor's home planet and its people.
Doctor Who - The Chase is available as a BBC Video.
Chapter titles[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Executioners
- A Speech in Time
- The Sands of Death
- The Victims
- Deadline
- Flight Through Eternity
- Nightmare
- Journey Into Terror
- Fallen Spirits
- Who's Who?
- To the Death!
- The Mechanoids
- The End of the Hunt
- Home!
Deviations from televised story[[edit] | [edit source]]
John Peel states in the Author's Notes that he decided to novelise Terry Nation's original scripts rather than simply recreate the televised story. His reasoning for doing so was that The Chase existed in full in the BBC archives, so novelising the original scripts would give readers something different. Despite this, the novel reads largely similar to the televised version with a number of the details expanded:
- The appearance of the Daleks at the beginning is expanded upon, with the Black Dalek seeing the squad of executioners leave in the time machine. At this point in their history, the Daleks are also aware of the Doctor's ability to change his appearance, noting he has changed a few times even though they encounter his first incarnation.
- The Dalek Prime from John Peel's later novel War of the Daleks makes its first appearance here, and would later do so again in the novelisation The Mutation of Time and as the Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks. Its originally intended first appearance was the War of the Daleks TV story which was never produced due to the show's cancellation in 1989, although the idea was later used by Peel in all of his Dalek novels and novelisations, save for The Power of the Daleks, and it is only mentioned in Mission to the Unknown and Legacy of the Daleks.
- The Daleks make use of Hoverbouts, referred to as "flying disks", to obtain a better view of the Aridian desert, which is called the Sagaro Desert.
- The Aridian Elders are confronted by the Daleks and forced to cooperate with them, something which happened off-screen in the televised version. One Aridian is killed by the Daleks.
- Prondyn is written as one of the Aridian elders, but in the televised story, Prondyn is the Aridian who destroys the airlock.
- The Dalek time machines are powered by taranium, the driving element of the plot in The Daleks' Master Plan, the following Dalek story. It took the Daleks two decades to gather enough taranium to power their time machines. Volume One of Peel's Master Plan novelisation would make reference to this.
- More detail is given on the background of Morton C. Dill: clumsy, always speaking without thinking and not the sort of person many people wish to know, he was nicknamed 'Dill the Pill' in school for being rather hard to take. After explaining to two guards in the Empire State Building about his encounter with the TARDIS crew and the Dalek, he was locked up in the Newman Rehabilitation Clinic in 1967 where he became a permanent resident. The Dalek decides against killing him because it considers it a far worse fate for the human race to allow him to live.
- The crew of the Mary Celeste are all named. Additionally, while the Daleks scare the whole crew off the ship in the televised version, here one crew member is killed. Ian and Barbara discuss the matter further, wondering if the death of the crew was their fault since they led the Daleks there or if it was an inevitable fact of history. Ian notes that Barbara once tried to change the history of the Aztecs but failed. (TV: The Aztecs)
- The battle between the Daleks and the funfair robots results in two Dalek casualties instead of one - one has its eyestalk ripped off by Dracula and the other is launched down the stairs by Frankenstein's monster. Both of the Daleks explode. One explosion damages Dracula, exposing his robotic components. One Dalek blast intended for the Doctor and Ian also sets a curtain on fire, bathing the room in a red light. The Grey Lady is omitted entirely from the novelisation.
- The location of the haunted house is not the Festival of Ghana in 1996 as in the televised version, but present day Battersea Funfair.
- Steven lists the conflict fought against the Draconian Empire and the Third Dalek War as factors which put an end to Earth's expansionist phase. The Draconians were not introduced on TV until Frontier in Space during the Third Doctor's era. A conflict known as the Second Dalek War would play a large role in future stories such as Love and War, Return of the Living Dad, Deceit, Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer and Prisoner of the Daleks; a Third Dalek War would only be referenced in the Virgin New Adventures, Lucifer Rising and Sky Pirates!, as well as The Match of the Daleks, a Dalek Wars story from Issue 55 of Doctor Who: Battles in Time magazine.
- Steven's stuffed panda mascot, HiFi, does not appear in the novelisation, but confusingly features in that of the following televised story, The Time Meddler by Nigel Robinson.
- The Dalek Leader slips away from the battle with the Mechanoids after realising that the assassination squad has no chance of winning. As the last surviving Dalek and in an act of self-sacrifice, it hacks into the city's computer systems and sets the whole place to self-destruct, hoping to kill the Doctor and his companions in the blast. In the TV story, the Daleks and the Mechanoids are evenly matched and the battle brings the city down around them.
- In the TV story, the Doctor was outraged at the thought of Ian and Barbara using the Dalek time machine, which didn't happen in the book.
- A different reason for Barbara and Ian's departure is given; the Doctor uses the Dalek time machine to return them home, but a couple of years later than 1963 in order to sync the timelines.
Writing and publishing notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The original Target edition featured the artwork of David McAllister.
- Alister Pearson's original cover design was greatly simplified. Several elements of the story were removed.
- The Newman Rehabilitation Clinic is presumably named after Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman.
- John Peel's author's note at the beginning of this book states it is “not strictly speaking an adaptation of the televised version of The Chase.” Instead the author chose to base the story on Terry Nation's original script (unearthed by Terry's wife Kate) and included some of the rewritten material (presumably by then-story editor Dennis Spooner) used in the televised version - hence the numerous differences listed above. The Mary Celeste sequence was changed using facts about the incidents sourced from Mystery Ship by George S. Bryan, published by Lippincott in 1942.
- The novel is dedicated to Terry Nation's wife Kate and the author's wife Nan.
- For years, Target had been trying to acquire the rights to adapt The Chase, along with The Daleks' Master Plan and the two Second Doctor Dalek stories, The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks. For a time it seemed as if these stories (of which only The Chase still existed in complete form in the BBC Archives) would remain unnovelised, along with the three Fourth Doctor stories by Douglas Adams and the two Eric Saward Daleks stories from the Fifth and Sixth Doctor eras. A surprise resolution regarding the rights to the early Dalek tales opened the door for Target to novelise them. John Peel was assigned the task of adapting these stories. The Chase was chosen as the first of these books published because it was the first broadcast.
Additional cover images[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
British publication history[[edit] | [edit source]]
First publication: Paperback (July 1989)
- Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. One original printing and 2 reprints in 1989, estimated print run: 24,000, priced £2.50 (UK).
Re-issues: (July 1991)
- Target / Virgin Publishing, estimated print run: 5,000, priced £2.50 (UK).
Audiobook[[edit] | [edit source]]
This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 7 July 2011 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Maureen O'Brien, with Dalek voices by Nicholas Briggs.
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.
Audiobook cover
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
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