Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World (novelisation)
Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World was a novelisation based on the 1967 television serial The Enemy of the World.
Publisher's summary
1981 Target Books edition
In the year 2030 only one man seems to know what action to take when the world is hit by a series of terrible natural disasters. Salamander's success in handling these monumental problems has brought him enormous power.
From the moment the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on an Australian beach, they are caught up in a struggle for world domination - a struggle in which the Doctor's startling resemblance to Salamander plays a vital role.
1993 Target Books edition
The year is 2030 and the planet Earth is struck by a series of terrible 'natural' disasters. No sooner has the TARDIS landed on an Australian beach, than the Doctor has to flee from attack. A case of mistaken identity - for he is the exact double of Salamander, a despot who will stop at nothing to achieve total control of the planet. Using this uncanny resemblance, the Doctor infiltrates the evil domain of Salamander, along with his companions Jamie and Victoria. This confusion of identity will either result in the destruction or salvation of the planet.
Book chapters
- A Day by the Sea
- The Doctor Takes a Risk
- Volcanoes
- Too Many Cooks
- Seeds of Suspicion
- The Secret Empire
- A Scrap of Truth
- Deceptions
- Unexpected Evidence
- The Doctor Not Himself
Deviations from televised story
- The novelisation begins by describing the location of the beach, stating that it is above the Great Barrier Reef, placing its location anywhere between the right side of the tip of Queensland to just above the city of Brisbane. In the story, Tony states that their hovercraft is travelling between Cape Melville and Health Point, and there is indeed a place called Cape Melville in Queensland. However, Health Point is a fictitious location - and there is no city called Melville in Australia, said to be three kilometres from the beach in the novelisation - so the exact location of the beginning of the story is unclear.
- As noted by Lance Parkin in A History of the Universe, publicity for this story when it was first broadcast placed it "fifty years in the future," or in 2018. A date of August 16, 2017 was given onscreen with a character holding a newspaper noted as being from the previous year. Most story guides gave the date as 2018, based on the contemporary publicity for the story, until plans were made for the novelisation in 1980, which again gave a date of "fifty years in the future," or in this case, 2030. When the novelisation was finally written by Ian Marter in 1981, 2030 was the date used.
- Large chunks of story and dialogue were cut from the novelisation.
- The cliffhanger ending of the serial is modified in the novelisation, to resolve itself using the opening moments of the following story, The Web of Fear.
- Marter used more adult language (for instance, "bastard") than had been seen in previous novelisations, which were considered children's literature.
- In the novel, Anton is named Tony and Curly is named Tibor.
- Bruce details his reasons for rebelling.
- The story of Jean Ferrier is described, giving Astrid extra reasons to rebel.
- An explanation is given for how the Doctor got into the locked records room.
- Fedorin is given the first name of Nicholas.
- Benik is given the first name of Theodore.
- Fariah is given the last name of Neguib.
- Colin has the last name of Redmayne and Mary has the last name of Smith.
- Giles Kent talks more about the World Zone officials that Salamander killed and mentions one of them was Astrid's father.
- Many of Griffin the chef's scenes are not mentioned in the book.
- Jamie has the rank of lieutenant in Salamander's guards.
- More detail is given into how Fariah found Fedorin's file.
- The character of Forester, Bruce's deputy, is in the novel, and has lines (He appears briefly in the TV story, but has no lines).
- Salamander and the Doctor both use helicopters to get to the TARDIS.
- The Doctor tells Salamander that he had poured seawater into the fuel tank of his helicopter to prevent him escaping.
- Kent sees Fariah shot and killed by a guard, but doesn't tell the Doctor and Astrid. In the television story, they don't find out about her death until Bruce tells them.
- The televised story depicts Salamander's expulsion into the time vortex as an accident. A product of his tampering with the console's controls without understanding the mechanisms. In the novelisation, the Doctor deliberately sets the TARDIS out of control. Salamander is said to stretch as though he is "made of rubber" and disintegrates in the void outside the time-machine.
Writing and publishing notes
- David Whitaker provided some rough notes for the story before he died on 4 February 1980. Notably, it gave the villain Salamander the first name "Ramon" and moved the setting to the year 2030. The novelisation was written by Ian Marter in 1981. (DWM 200)
- An early cover was dropped after the BBC's decision not to allow the image of any Doctor other than the current one to be used.
- The original Target Books cover features the artwork of Bill Donohoe.
- The original edition of this book was the last Target novelisation to use a logo styled after the 'diamond logo' the show used from 1973 to 1980.
Additional cover images
Unused jacket painting by Steve Kyte, 1981
1981 Hardback cover
1993 edition.
Cover by Alister Pearson
British publication history
First publication:
- Hardback
- W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. UK
- Paperback
- Target
Re-issues:
- 1993 Virgin Publishing new cover by Andrew Skilleter priced £3.50 (UK)
Audiobook
This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 4 July 2019 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by David Troughton.
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
