Dalek annual: Difference between revisions

[[File:DAlek_Annual.jpg|thumb|Annual 1976.]]{{real world}}

"'''Dalek annual'''" is an imprecise term used to denote seven hardbound books that were issued by joint arrangement of [[Terry Nation]] and the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] — three of which never had the word ''annual'' in their titles.

The [[Dalek]] annuals were released in two groups. Three came out during the earliest stirrings of [[Dalekmania]] in the [[1960s]], and the remaining four came out in the late [[1970s]]. [[The Dalek Book|The first so-called "Dalek annual"]] actually preceded the first ''[[Doctor Who Annual]]'', and was one of the very first pieces of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' merchandise. The 1960s books — published by [[Souvenir Press]] — all had different names, while the 1970s [[World Distributors]] "sequels" were all printed under the name, ''Terry Nation's Dalek Annual''.

Only ''The Dalek Book'' had a direct tie to ''Doctor Who'', in that it featured a photo-montage of ''[[The Daleks]]'', and therefore showed images of [[Susan Foreman|Susan]] and other characters from the original Dalek [[serial]]. All the remaining books were efforts to build the mythology of the Daleks indepently of the parent programme. In the two later 1960s annuals, there was an effort create a "team" of people who could fight the Daleks. ''[[The Dalek Outer Space Book]]'', in fact, used [[Sara Kingdom]] and the [[Space Security Service]] from ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]''. Some elements from these initial books would later feature in ''[[The Destroyers (unproduced spin-off)|The Destroyers]]'', Nation's unproduced effort to launch an [[American]] television series based on the Daleks. One element introduced in the 1960s annuals — the notion of an [[android]] named "Seven" opposed to the Daleks — would see future use in ''The Destroyers'' and all of the 1970s annuals. Each use of the character, eventually known as "Mark Seven" was somewhat different, however.

The 1970s annuals were far more narratively integrated than the 1960s efforts. They tell the tale of the [[Anti-Dalek Force]], and have a regular "cast" that includes Space Major [[Joel Shaw]] and [[Mark Seven]], as well as some recurring ADF agents who feature in more than one story, such as [[Reb Shavron]].