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Resurrection of the Daleks was a novelisation based on the 1984 television serial Resurrection of the Daleks. It was written by the original writer Eric Saward and released by BBC Books on 18 July 2019. The novelisation was published again by Target Books on 11 March 2021.
Publisher's summary
The TARDIS is ensnared in a time corridor, catapulting it into derelict docklands on 20th century Earth. The Doctor and his companions, Tegan and Turlough, stumble on a warehouse harbouring fugitives from the future at the far end of the corridor – and are soon under attack from a Dalek assault force.
The Doctor's oldest enemies have set in motion an intricate and sinister plot to resurrect their race from the ashes of an interstellar war. For the Daleks' plans to succeed, they must set free their creator, Davros, from a galactic prison – and force the Doctor to help them achieve total control over time and space. But the embittered Davros has ideas of his own...
35 years after its first TV transmission, Doctor Who fan-favourite Resurrection of the Daleks is novelised at last, by the author of the original script, Eric Saward.
Characters
Deviations from televised story
- Many characters are given expanded backstories, personalities, and first names.
- The Prison Station is a ship called the Vipod Mor. It has a cat named Sir Runcible that escapes with the Fifth Doctor through the time corridor.
- Gustave Lytton's first name is spelled "Gustav." No first name is given on screen.
- The Dalek battlecruiser is said to be crewed by Tellurians, implying the duplicates and Troopers are humans. Lytton being a Charnel, as established in the Attack of the Cybermen novelisation, is never mentioned.
- "Howie Kellim" is the formal Star Fleet greeting, with "Howie Kellim Bi" as the reply.
- The computers controlling the time corridor attack the TARDIS using Ciskinady coding, which alerts the Doctor and Turlough that the Daleks are involved.
- The starfighters mentioned in the serial are depicted in a brief space battle.
- Styles is accompanied by an android nurse called Monda, who is destroyed during the Dalek attack on the airlock.
- The crewmember that accompanies Osborn is given the name Senior Ensign 'Baz' Seaton. He sabotaged Airlock Three so the Daleks could enter because they pay well.
- Seaton kills Osborn only to be killed by Lytton moments later, a reversal of their fates in the televised version.
- The grenade takes out 15 Daleks, instead of the obvious two on screen.
- The crew also destroy several Daleks in their defence of the station. It is explained most of the crew didn't bring gas masks because they thought it was a drill.
- The gas Lytton uses is called ZP gas.
- Lytton explaining the Movellan virus to Davros is omitted, meaning the virus is suddenly mentioned without introduction during Davros' experiments.
- Mercer is left in command of the prison station's defence because the captain is drunk.
- Calder being attacked by a Dalek prior to duplication is omitted, with Tegan and Laird simply noting he has disappeared.
- A scene of the Doctor and Stien entering the TARDIS, which was edited out of the broadcast version, is included.
- The novelisation shows the army personnel being duplicated in a van outside the warehouse.
- The Doctor previously met Lytton in Soho, running a high-class jazz club in Old Compton Street.
- Much detail is given about the interior of the Doctor's TARDIS, including that all the meals are prepared by an unseen robot chef named Ooba-Doa.
- Many Daleks from the serial are given specific titles, such as "Alpha Dalek," which the Doctor notes is one he's never heard of.
- Tegan is guarded by a Trooper after her arrival on the Dalek space ship, with the Trooper being killed by Mercer.
- It is Mercer, rather than Turlough, who deduces Davros is still on the station and comes up with the idea of killing him.
- There is no mention of Lytton killing his last Trooper at the warehouse, making it appear the Trooper has survived.
- More focus is placed on Tegan's growing discomfort, with her expressing disgust on finding the bodies of the bomb disposal squad and disagreeing with the Doctor's plan to execute Davros.
- The Doctor and Turlough intend to pursue Lytton instead of warning Earth authorities about the Dalek duplicates.
- In the "Coda," Tegan is briefly pursued by Lytton's policemen after leaving the TARDIS, and jumps off a bridge onto a boat to escape.
Notes
- The year for the prison station is established as 4590 (a date previously given in The Dalek Handbook) dating Destiny of the Daleks to 4500.
- The prison station being named Vipod Mor is reminiscent of the other Vipod Mor ship from Slipback, also written by Eric Saward, who stated in an interview that he forgotten he'd already used it.
Additional cover images
2021 Target Books edition.
Cover by Anthony Dry
Audiobook
- This novel was released as an audiobook on 19 September 2019 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Terry Molloy, with Dalek voices by Nicholas Briggs.
Audiobook cover
External links
- Official Resurrection of the Daleks page at Penguin Books