The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)
The Evil of the Daleks was a novelisation based on the 1967 television serial The Evil of the Daleks.
Publisher's summary
"The Daleks tell me I’m going to do something for them - something I would rather die than do."
Stranded in Victorian London, separated from his TARDIS and forced to cooperate with the Daleks, it seems that the Doctor's luck has finally run out. The Daleks are searching for the elusive Human Factor, and want the Doctor to help them find it. With Victoria and Jamie held captive, the Doctor has no choice. An army of Daleks stands poised to conquer the universe. Will the Human Factor be their ultimate weapon?
This is a brand-new novelization of a classic Dalek story, and is the first story to feature Victoria as a companion.
Deviations from televised story
- The novel opens up with a prologue detailing the events following on from The Daleks' Master Plan, which took place over a thousand years prior to this story's setting. Due to the First Doctor's interference and the failure of the Dalek force on Kembel to destroy Earth, numerous war forces were able to assemble to assault the main forces of the Dalek Empire in a series of wars over the course of the millennium, among them the Thals, the Draconians and the Terran Federation. The Daleks' disastrous performances in "their Great War" led their computers to predict that they would be fought to extinction within 80 years if things did not improve.
- According to the novel, the Emperor was at one point the Dalek Prime, marking its third appearance after PROSE: The Chase and PROSE: The Mutation of Time. It is the same Dalek who exterminated Davros in TV: Genesis of the Daleks.
- While all the Daleks on TV were silver, with black-domed variants acting as the Emperor's guards, the novelisation describes the standard Daleks as grey, although this may be due to the serial being in black and white. The Emperor's guards are also described as "almost entirely black", despite the black-domed Dalek seen on the cover, to better fit with the term of "Black Daleks" used to describe them in the TV serial. Additionally, a Red Dalek takes command of the operations on Earth, acting as an emissary for the Supreme Council, making this the second time John Peel has inserted a Red Dalek into a novelisation, after The Mutation of Time.
Writing and publishing notes
- Along with The Power of the Daleks and The Paradise of Death, this title was significantly different from earlier Target Books novelisations in length and format. The three were regarded as a bridge between the old Target range of Doctor Who books and the all-new Virgin Missing Adventures range shortly to be launched. They had a new look cover with no Target logo featured; furthermore, each title was identified as part of the Doctor Who imprint and not Target imprint (however, the Target name did appear on the title pages).
- Dedication: "For Deanne Holding. A favourite story for one of our favourite people and with thanks to Jonathan V. Way Special thanks to Terry Nation and Roger Hancock."
- Title page shows Official 30th Anniversary Logo.
- This was the last Target novelisation of a televised story, as the final volume in the series, The Paradise of Death, was based upon a radio play. With this book, all of the Second Doctor's stories had now been novelised.
- The cover and information for the original Target edition featured the artwork of Alister Pearson.
British publication history
One single paperback edition, priced £4.50 (UK).
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