The Power of the Daleks

"One Dalek is quite enough to wipe out this entire colony."

Writer: John Peel
Format: Novel
Released: July 1993
Series: Target 154

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben

Synopsis

The stranger drew himself up to his full height. 'I am the Doctor,' he announced.

Disoriented after his regeneration, the Doctor takes the TARDIS to the Earth Colony Vulcan. Ben and Polly are disturbed – the Doctor isn't the man he used to be.

The Doctor too is worried. The colonists have found the remains of two Daleks – which they plan to revive.

Once revived, the Daleks claim that they are content to serve humanity. Can it really be true? Or do they have their own, more sinister plans?

Verdict

The Power of the Daleks was a very good novelisation of the famed and missing debut of the Second Doctor! I enjoyed this one and am delighted to have finally come across owning a copy for not quite a ridiculously expensive price! Regardless, I don't collect Doctor Who stories in any format in the physical form for long term so this will be going straight on eBay to try and recoup some of that expense. Anyway, I thought this one started outstandingly with the use of the novelisation really well utilised as we got a little extension of the end of The Tenth Planet and the First Doctor's regeneration. It obviously sets things up for what is to come with Ben and Polly questioning the Doctor's identity following his renewal which is such a great dynamic and prepares the show for longevity in the future. As if that wasn't enough, the epilogue of sorts of the First Doctor's farewell was bookended with the revelation that both UNIT and Sarah Jane were on the scene to mop things up and report as the human race was set into a new technological age based on Cyber technology. Of course, that contradicts everything about the modern era of the show, but I thought that was a phenomenal use of the format and I liked how it was referenced later in the book with those on Vulcan. I was a big fan of that. I loved the lengthy TARDIS scene post-renewal for the Doctor with him going through a little box of collections that he has attained during his travels with wonderful and homely mentions of The Daleks and The Aztecs as the Doctor fondly remembered both his granddaughter Susan and possible love interest Cameca. The way the metal from Skaro played into the story later on was really good. I also loved the idea of this story incorporating the Interplanetary Mining Corporation as funding the colony on Vulcan and was just a really great use of rounding out Doctor Who continuity. It greatly improved things which was a really good development and something I wasn't expecting. The story, despite being missing, isn't exactly new to me now as I have already blogged the Loose Canon reconstruction and the BBC animation, so a lot of elements were very familiar. Despite being good, I always thought that this would be better given everything it has going for it. It does work really well, but it's not quite up to the heights of other stalwarts. That's just my own pre-conceptions coming into play though. I do enjoy the power struggle that occurs on Vulcan and the differing characters involved with the likes of Lesterson, Hensell, Janley, Thane, Valmar and Quinn all playing their part. Of course, the maniacal one is Bragen and he made for quite the villain by the end. One thing I noticed more prominently doing the story as a novelisation was how eager the Doctor is for the Daleks to be destroyed. However, I felt he didn't do enough to explain why they needed to be destroyed and just gave whacky commands! A struggle of his recent renewal, perhaps? It was early day, but that seemed uncharacteristic of the Second Doctor we would come to know. Polly and Ben are presented well and it's clear that the latter has feelings for the former that seem reciprocated. There's definitely more than friendship between the pair and that was written well. I was very surprised for Polly to be described as a looker though! I mean, I won't disagree but that just came a bit left field and made me chuckle. You wouldn't get that in a modern novelisation that's for sure. The Daleks work well hiding in the shadows for much of this story as they sneakily and quietly carry out their plan and increase their power supply and begin mass producing themselves after being woken. Considering the title of the book, they don't show up until page 65 and even shortly after that they don't do a great deal! Seeing how slowly but surely their intentions are revealed is terrific and by then, it's all too late. It's not uncommon for people to try and use the Daleks for their own intentions, but that never goes well! I think things dropped off slightly at around the three-quarters stage as there was probably a little too much coming on, but the frantic pace of the conclusion worked well and the desperation of the Doctor was clear. Even in novelised format as well, the anger of the Doctor when the Daleks continued to refer to themselves as servants was palpable. I also think it's brilliant to have the Daleks identify the Doctor as being just that. Who better than to confirm his identity? Even though he hadn't met them, that was good enough for Ben who had been largely sceptical. One last thing, I thought it was good to acknowledge that this was the first alien planet for Ben and Polly in the TARDIS as they hadn't been travelling with the Doctor for long. I'm not sure where that leaves Ten Little Aliens, but it was good to acknowledge the televised continuity. Overall, a very good read!

Rating: 8/10