Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen (novelisation)

When DOCTOR WHO discovers that a long-dead friend is still alive, he knows why his visit to the lonely Himalayan monastery has led to a struggle to save the Earth!

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

1983 Target Books edition[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Tibetan monks at the monastery of Det-sen are worried, frightened men. Many of their companions have been killed - and it seems the Yeti are the cause of all their troubles.

But normally the Yeti, giant man-like creatures living in the remotest peaks of the Himalayas, are seen only very rarely and are notoriously timid.

What is the explanation for their apparent transformation into ferocious brutes, monsters with glowing eyes and savage fangs who are spreading death and destruction in the isolated valley of peace?

When the Doctor arrives at the monastery, his first visit for three hundred years, he expects to be welcomed with open arms. But because of the mysterious killings, the reception that awaits him is anything but friendly...

2011 BBC Books edition[[edit] | [edit source]]

"Light flooded into the tunnel, silhouetting the enormous shaggy figure in the cave mouth. With a blood-curdling roar, claws outstretched, it bore down on Jamie."

The Doctor has been to Det-Sen Monastery before and expects the welcome of a lifetime. But the Monastery is a very different place from when the Doctor last came. Fearing an attack at any moment by the legendary Yeti, the monks are prepared to defend themselves and see the Doctor as a threat.

The Doctor and his friends join forces with Travers, an English explorer out to prove the existence of the elusive abominable snowmen. But they soon discover that these Yeti are not the timid animals that Travers seeks. They are the unstoppable servants of an alien intelligence.

This novel is based on a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 30 September-4 November 1967.

Featuring the Second Doctor as played by Patrick Troughton, and his companions Jamie and Victoria

Chapter titles[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Secret of the Snows
The Creature in the Cave
Live Bait to Catch a Monster
Jamie Traps a Yeti
The Secret of the Inner Sanctum
A Yeti Comes to Life!
A Plan to Conquer Earth
Revolt in the Monastery
Attack of the Yeti
Peril on the Mountain
The Final Battle
The Abominable Snowman

Deviations from televised story[[edit] | [edit source]]

Although screened in black and white, the Yeti have beady green eyes on the cover but red eyes throughout the novelisation.
Dialogue is similar to the televised story, but changed somewhat. For example, the Doctor never says "discretion is the better part of valor."
When Terrance Dicks novelised the story in 1974, he made slight changes to the names of these characters - Padmasambhava became Padmasambvha, Songsten became Songtsen, Thonmi became Thomni and so on - apparently on the advice of Doctor Who's then-producer Barry Letts who, as a follower of Buddhism, considered what Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln (the writers of the TV story) had done was unnecessary and risked offence (the names were real historical figures).
Edward Travers' unsuccessful life is expanded upon, and his old rival is named as Professor Walters.
The Great Intelligence comes from another universe and wants to swallow the Earth.

Writing and publishing notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The title page includes the text: "THE CHANGING FACE OF DOCTOR WHO: The cover illustration and others contained within this book portray the second DOCTOR WHO whose physical appearance was later altered by the Time Lords."
Although not the first release in the Target Books novelisation range, due to its placement in alphabetising, when Target Books later assigned issue numbers to its books, Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen became #1 in the series.
The original Target edition cover features the artwork of Chris Achilleos.
This was the first novelisation of a Second Doctor story.
A hardcover edition was not published until more than a decade after the paperback.
For the first time in over ten years, the book was re-released by BBC Books in 2011. An introduction by Stephen Baxter was included.
This book is also available as an ebook from the Amazon Kindle store.

Additional cover images[[edit] | [edit source]]

1978 edition with diamond logo
1983 edition.
Cover by Andrew Skilleter
1985 Hardback edition
2011 BBC Books edition

British publication history[[edit] | [edit source]]

First publication:

Hardback

W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. UK

Paperback

Target

Re-issues:

1983 Target Books with a new cover by Andrew Skilleter priced £1.35 (UK)

Editions published outside Britain[[edit] | [edit source]]

Published in Turkey by Remzi Kitabevi in 1975 as a paperback edition, translated by Reha Pinar and published as Doktor Kim ve Korkunc Karadamlari, it was one of six Turkish novelisations.
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 Abomináveis Homens das Neves., it was one of ten Portuguese novelisations.
Published in France by Editions Garanciere in 1987 as a paperback edition, translated by Corine Derblum and published as Docteur Who L'Abominable Homme des neiges, it was one of eight French novelisations; each book is given the strapline ‘Igor et Grichka Bogdanoff presentent’ they presented a French science programme called Temps X, the broadcaster had bought and dubbed a selection of Fourth Doctor stories in 1986 but didn’t show them until 1989. Despite the story featuring the Second Doctor a figure resembling the Fourth Doctor appears on the cover. ^[1]

Turkish edition
Portuguese edition.
Cover by Rui Ligeiro
French edition.
Cover by Jean-François Pénichoux

Audiobook[[edit] | [edit source]]

This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 8 January 2009 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.