Doctor Who and the Dæmons (novelisation)

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Doctor Who and the Dæmons was a novelisation based on the 1971 television serial The Dæmons.

Publisher's summary

1974 Target Books edition

DOCTOR WHO is strangely concerned about Professor Horner's plan to cut open an ancient barrow near the peaceful English village of Devil's End; equally worried is Miss Hawthorne, the local white witch, who foretells a terrible disaster if he goes ahead; determined that the Professor should is Mr. Magister, the new vicar (in truth the MASTER) whose secret ceremonies are designed to conjure up from out of the barrow a horribly powerful being from a far-off planet ... The Brigadier and Jo Grant assist DOCTOR WHO in this exciting confrontation with the forces of black magic!

`DOCTOR WHO, the children's own programme which adults adore...' Gerard Garrett, The Daily Sketch.

1980 Target Books edition

Doctor Who is strangely concerned about Professor Horner's plan to cut open an ancient barrow near the peaceful village of Devil's End.

Equally worried is Miss Hawthorne, the local white witch, who foretells a terrible disaster if he goes ahead.

The only person who wants the Professor to open to the barrow is the vicar (in truth the Master) whose secret ceremomies are designed to conjure up from out of the barrow a horribly powerful being ...

1993 Target Books edition

'HARKEN TO MY VOICE, OH DARK ONE; ANCIENT AND AWFUL; SUPREME IN ARTIFICE; BEARER OF POWER; I CONJORE THEE!'

Working with UNIT on earth, the Doctor is strangely concerned about Professor Horner's plans to cut open an ancient barrow near the peaceful village of Devil's End. Equally worried is Miss Hawthorne, the local white witch, who foretells a terrible disaster if he goes ahead. The only person who wants Horner to open to the barrow is the new vicar - in truth the Master - whose secret ceremomies are designed to conjure up from the barrow a horribly powerful being.

The author, Barry Letts, has been associated with Doctor Who in several capacities, mainly as a director and producer during the Pertwee years.

Chapter titles

  • Prologue
  1. The White Witch
  2. The New Vicar
  3. The Opening of the Barrow
  4. The Appearance of the Beast
  5. The Heat Barrier
  6. Meetings
  7. Explanations
  8. The Second Appearance
  9. Into Danger
  10. The Third Appearance
  11. The Rescue
  12. Into the Cavern
  13. The Sacrifice
  • Epilogue

Deviations from televised story

  • As in the earlier novelisation PROSE: Doctor Who and the Zarbi, the Doctor is referred to in the text by the name "Doctor Who".
  • Some characters are renamed: Jim is renamed Josh Wilkins and Tom Girton is renamed Tom Wilkins.
  • Several characters are given first or last names: Bert is given the last name Walker, Thorpe is given the first name Ron and Winstanley's full name is given as Montmorency Vere de Vere Winstanley.
  • Benton's scenes with Miss Hawthorne are expanded upon.
  • Benton and Miss Hawthorne draw a pentagram to try to destroy Bok.
  • The Master is upset when he thinks he killed the Doctor.
  • The baker's man is not left behind at the heat barrier but is instead given a lift by the Brigadier and his driver — who is named as Manders — in the staff car to Lob's Crick, so he can phone his "Guv'nor". He is also described as being an "eighteen-year-old with spots and a brown overall" — quite unlike Gerald Taylor, who played the part on television and was thirty-one at the time.
  • The Brigadier gives his order "Chap with wings there. Five rounds rapid!" to Corporal Nevin, rather than Jenkins.

Writing and publishing notes

  • Title page includes: THE CHANGING FACE OF DOCTOR WHO. The cover illustration of this book portrays the third DOCTOR WHO whose physical appearance was altered by the Time Lords when they banished him to planet Earth in the Twentieth Century.
  • This is the only novelisation of a televised story to be written by series producer Barry Letts. He would later novelise two Third Doctor radio plays and also write several original novels.
  • This novelisation was later released as part of The Master Collection.
  • The front cover of the 1982 hardback edition inadvertently featured the words "Doctor Who" twice — i.e. "DOCTOR WHO AND THE DÆMONS" appeared beneath the Doctor Who logo instead of "...AND THE DÆMONS".

Additional cover images

Illustrations

Illustrations by Alan Willow

British publication history

First publication:

  • Hardback
W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. UK
  • Paperback
Target

Re-issues:

40p
1980 Target Books with a new cover by Andrew Skilleter priced 75p (UK)
1993 Virgin Publishing with a new cover by Alistair Pearson priced £3.50 (UK)

Editions published outside Britain

  • Published in the Netherlands by Unieboek/De Gooise in about 1975/76 as a paperback edition, translated by Wim Hohage and published as Doctor Who en de Demonen, it was one of eight Dutch novelisations; despite the broadcaster TROS showing Seasons 12 and 13 at this time the cover still depicts the Third Doctor, however Chris Achilleos' image of the Fourth Doctor from The Doctor Who Monster Book does appear on the back cover.[1]
  • Published in Portugal by Editorial Presença in 1983 as a paperback edition, translated by Conceição Fardim and Eduardo Nogueria and published as Doutor Who e os Demónios, it was one of ten Portuguese novelisations.

Audiobook

This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 14 August 2008 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by the author, Barry Letts.

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.

External links

to be added

Footnotes