The Reign of Terror (novelisation): Difference between revisions
From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
No edit summary |
No edit summary Tag: 2017 source edit |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{title dab away}} | {{title dab away}} | ||
{{real world}} | {{real world}} | ||
{{Infobox Story | {{Infobox Story SMW | ||
|image = Reign of terror target119.jpg | |image = Reign of terror target119.jpg | ||
|series = | |series = [[Target novelisation]]s | ||
|number = 119 | |number = 119 | ||
|novelisation of = The Reign of Terror (TV story) | |novelisation of = The Reign of Terror (TV story) | ||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
|enemy = [[Léon Colbert|Leon Colbert]] | |enemy = [[Léon Colbert|Leon Colbert]] | ||
|setting = [[Paris]], [[France]], [[July]] [[1794]] | |setting = [[Paris]], [[France]], [[July]] [[1794]] | ||
|writer = | |writer = Ian Marter | ||
|read by = [[Jamie Glover]] | |read by = [[Jamie Glover]] | ||
|cover = [[Tony Masero]] | |cover = [[Tony Masero]] | ||
|publisher = Target Books | |publisher = Target Books | ||
|publisher2 = W.H. Allen | |publisher2 = W.H. Allen | ||
|release date = | |release date = 20 August 1987 | ||
|format = Hardcover and paperback editions; 12 Chapters, 160 Pages | |format = Hardcover and paperback editions; 12 Chapters, 160 Pages | ||
|isbn = ISBN 0-426-20264-3 | |isbn = ISBN 0-426-20264-3 | ||
Latest revision as of 21:10, 5 February 2024
The Reign of Terror was a novelisation based on the 1964 television serial The Reign of Terror.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
It is 1794 and the TARDIS materialises some distance away from Paris during the French Revolution - the infamous Reign of Terror.
Soon the TARDIS crew find themselves caught up in the tangled web of historical events. Imprisoned in a dank dungeon, Ian is entrusted with delivering a message to master-spy James Stirling.
Who is James Stirling? What world-shattering events are being discussed in a deserted inn off the Calais road?
And can the Doctor and his friends escape a violent and bloody death at the dreaded guillotine?
Chapter titles[[edit] | [edit source]]
- So Near And So Far
- Under Siege
- Prisoners of the People
- The Diggers
- Liberty
- Sanctuary
- The Tyrant Of France
- Betrayal Everywhere
- Illusions Shattered
- A Hard Bargain
- A Glimpse Of Things To Come
- Escaping From History
Deviations from televised story[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Contrary to the televised story, the time-travellers conscientiously alternate between English and French more than a dozen times throughout the story. It's this language barrier that causes several issues, such as Lemaitre's more aggressive turn towards Ian in the Conciergerie and the French physician's suspicions towards Barbara when Susan is ill.
- The state and culture of France is expanded upon by both Barbara and the narrator. Including, but not limited to the tricotouses who jeer at those for the Guillotine, dying their wool in the victims' blood, and Napoleon's turbulent relationship with Barras and his government.
- Barbara's rebuke of the gaoler's advances leaves a livid gash in his cheek from where her ring caught the skin.
- Instead of wishing the unconscious foreman pleasant dreams, the Doctor jokes to him, as he places the coin on his eye, that the traveller was right. The foreman had indeed witnessed a "total eclipse".
- Louis XVI is mentioned.
- Leon loses his composure towards the end of Ian's torture as his men grow more restless and violent. Before Jules emerges into the crypt, he is pleading with Ian for the schoolteacher's life in exchange for information on his conspirators.
- Robespierre's maiming is depicted with "blood, teeth and fragments of jawbone [spurting] out between his clawing fingers." His pistol is flung from his hands into the ceiling where it discharges, creating a downpour of glass fragments from the chandelier to the delight of the jeering mob.
- Jules and Barbara's discussion of who will succeed Robespierre mentions Barras, Joseph Fouché, Tallien and Fréron as potential successors to the government. It's her, rather than Ian, who tells Jules to remember the name Napoléon Bonaparte. Stirling overhears the conversation with marked interest, though he hasn't the opportunity to ask the travellers where they really come from.
- Ian and Barbara are more despondent about their inability to change the course of history than on television. The latter questions whether they learnt anything at all, which Susan refutes by pointing out they aren't the same people who came aboard in Totter's Lane.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The cover and information on the right are for the original Target edition. It featured the artwork of Tony Masero. (See below for information on editions with different covers).
Writing and publishing notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The novel was one of several completed by Ian Marter shortly before his death in October 1986. It was published posthumously.
Additional cover images[[edit] | [edit source]]
1987 Hardback edition
British publication history[[edit] | [edit source]]
- W.H.Allen & Co. Ltd. UK ISBN:0491037023, copies priced £7.50 (UK))
- Paperback (August 1987)
- Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. Single paperback edition, estimated print run: 32,500, priced £1.95 (UK).
Audiobook[[edit] | [edit source]]
This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 2 June 2022 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Jamie Glover.
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]]
to be added
