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Remembrance of the Daleks was a novelisation based on the 1988 television serial Remembrance of the Daleks.
Publisher's summary
1990 Target edition
Shoreditch, London, 1963. Two teachers follow an unnervingly knowledgeable schoolgirl to her home - a blue police telephone box in the middle of a 76 Totter's Lane. The old man whom the girl calls 'grandfather' is annoyed at the intrusion: there is something he has to do, and he has a premonition that he will be delayed for some time...
Six regenerations later the Doctor returns; and Ace, his travelling companion, sees London as it was before the Sixties started swinging - and long before she was born.
But a Grey Dalek is lurking in Foreman's Yard; Imperial Daleks are appearing in the basement of Coal Hill School; and both factions want the Hand of Omega, the remote stellar manipulator that the Doctor has left behind. Has the Doctor arrived in time to deprive the Daleks of the secret of time travel?
Chapter Titles
- Prologue
- Shoreditch, November 1963 - Friday, 15:30
- Friday, 16:03
- Friday, 17:30
- Saturday, 02:17
- Saturday, 06:26
- Saturday, 07:31
- Saturday, 12:13
- Saturday, 14:15
- Saturday, 14:55
- Saturday, 15:00
- Saturday, 15:31
- Saturday, 15:42
- Saturday, 15:50
- Saturday, 16:05
- Saturday, 16:11
- Saturday, 16:15
- Saturday, 16:32
- Saturday, 16:34
- Saturday, 16:45
- Saturday, 17:15
- Skaro
- Saturday, 17:37
- Thursday, 11:30
2013 BBC Books edition
With unfinished business to attend to, the Seventh Doctor returns to where it all began: Coal Hill School in London in 1963. Last time he was here, the Doctor left something behind – a powerful Time Lord artefact that could unlock the secrets of time travel. Can the Doctor retrieve it before two rival factions of Daleks track it down? And even if he can, how will the Doctor prevent the whole of London becoming a war zone as the Daleks meet in explosive confrontation?
Deviations from televised story
- The cliffhanger to part 1 has the Dalek Operator crash through a wall before chasing the Doctor and Ace. In the televised story, it is just seen coming towards the Doctor and Ace, and we do not hear the wall crash down.
- Various Dalek campaigns are mentioned such as the Spiridon Campaign and the Movellan War. Three off screen campaigns are also mentioned: Pa Jass-Gutrik, the war of vengeance against the Movellans, Pa Jaski-Thal, the liquidation war against the Thals and Pas Jass-Vortan, the time campaign - the war to end all wars.
- The book contains far more detail on the Special Weapons Dalek, also known (in the novelisation) as "the Abomination". In the book, its motives are explored in detail, from its inception and creation as the ultimate weapon, to the surprising fact that the firing of the weapon caused it to mutate, and become self-aware. As a result, it is closely monitored and even 'feared' by other Daleks.
- The Imperial Daleks use "scout Daleks" not seen (so far) on television or in other media.
- Remembrance of the Daleks is considered to be a significant novelisation by many fans, and the precursor to the Virgin New Adventures. It introduced a character called Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart, an ancestor of the character who later appears in the Virgin novels. It also includes flashbacks to ancient Gallifrey which introduce "the other", the mysterious third member of the Triumvirate with Rassilon and Omega. The Virgin novels would later change "the other" into "the Other" and hint at his connection to the Doctor.
- The Renegade Dalek faction made use of ECM (Electronic Counter-Measure) pods in their defensive positions. These devices locked onto the casings of any Imperial Daleks who came into range and infiltrated their systems, sabotaging the life-support software so the Kaled mutant within drowned in its own nutrient fluid.
- The Doctor mentions the Movellan War to Ace, Rachel and Allison referring to the Movellans as androids, just as nasty as the Daleks but more attractive to look at. It is suggested by the Doctor that the Movellan virus fragmented the Daleks and left them in isolated factions.
- Ace and the Doctor encounter the Special Weapons Dalek as it and the Imperial Daleks attack the Renegade Daleks in Ratcliffe's Yard.
- Skaro's destruction is described fully: "Under the Plain of Swords the beetles stirred in their nests. In the sky above, the sun changed. One thousand million Daleks stopped. The rock leopards in the mountains howled in terror. The sky turned white hot. One thousand million daleks cried out in defiance. Then the seas boiled, the metal cities ran like wax, and the atmosphere was blown away into space."
Writing and publishing notes
- Like The Curse of Fenric novelisation, this commission was given an unlimited wordcount, and in the light of the forthcoming range of New Adventures and new editor Peter Darvill-Evans, the writers were encouraged to take a more "grown up" approach to the story, and in particular its underlying theme of racism.
- Dedication: "To Andrew who opened the door, and Anna who pushed me through it". (Andrew presumably refers to Doctor Who Script Editor Andrew Cartmel.)
Additional cover images
The 2013 cover, made for the 50th Anniversary
British publication history
First paperback edition, priced £2.50 (UK), estimated print run: 25,000 copies.