Dalek

"His individuality would be shut away within his metal shell and never again be seen."

Writer: Robert Shearman

Format: Novel

Released: March 2021

Series: Target 161

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis

'The entire Dalek race, wiped out in one second. I watched it happen. I made it happen!'

The Doctor and Rose arrive in an underground vault in Utah in the near future. The vault is filled with alien artefacts. Its billionaire owner, Henry van Statten, even has possession of a living alien creature, a mechanical monster in chains that he has named a Metaltron. 

Seeking to help the Metaltron, the Doctor is appalled to find it is in fact a Dalek – one that has survived the horrors of the Time War just as he has. And as the Dalek breaks loose, the Doctor is brought back to the brutality and desperation of his darkest hours spent fighting the creatures of Skaro... this time with the Earth as their battlefield. 

Verdict

Dalek was a sensational novelisation of the televised episode of the same name! As far as Target books go, there are quite a few instant classics with the likes of Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin, Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters and Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken immediately coming to mind, but this honestly might be the best of the bunch. It was perfection. I can't give it any higher compliments because it was just pure brilliance from start to finish. Of course, the episode that it is based on is in its favour and even though it is my favourite Ninth Doctor story, moving formats is such a difficult task and the way this was done was sublime. I was surprised on more than one occasion with some of the commissions of events or dialogue, but that actually ended up only enhancing things and giving this a different feel to the episode of which it is based on. It felt like an entirely new perspective of the story's events and some of the extra depth that are synonymous with a number of Target books was just magnificent. I loved the little inserts of tales for the likes of the genius, the soldier and the collector to name a few. It really was brilliant to learn how Goddard and Simmons came to be in the employ of Henry van Statten with the extra detail on a completely different level to other novelisations in my opinion. It was outstanding. I think my favourite insert was the story for Adam and with him going on to become a short-lived companion, it was interesting to flesh out the detail of his year without speaking whilst aged seven just to see the results. Him hiding his diary under his bed and the comfort he had in that space was fantastic. I thought the revelation that the boy on the hill was actually the soldier that became the Dalek was incredible stuff and I really didn't think that was going to be the case. I had my money on it being van Statten so that was quite something. The description of the Dalek and its Grand Revelation as it fought for the Dalek cause was superb and I loved the idea of it getting a glimpse of the War Doctor before falling through time and not being able to die. The description of the mutation and how it was hacked apart to fit inside the casing was beyond gruesome. I loved the development of van Statten's character and his reputation in America was fantastic to expand upon. His richness was really enhanced and he even had the President in his back pocket which was great! The story of his father and how he received a telescope from Otto as a birthday present was marvellous stuff and that making him realise that profits didn't have to be immediate was wonderful. I thought that was a fine lesson. I liked how we got an extra TARDIS scene with the Doctor and Rose picking up the Dalek signal and I liked their arrival in the museum of alien collections, but I was not expecting the Cyberman to be omitted! It was an interesting shift for the Doctor to go banging on the door to end up in van Statten's company rather than be surrounded by guards as occurred on television. I think the third chapter and it depicting the scene in the cage where the Doctor encounters the Dalek for the third time was phenomenal prose. I really do think it's my favourite chapter in Target book history. Everything was superb. I loved the use of perspective in the novel and learning of events from the point of view of a number of different characters was really enlightening and beneficial. I thought how that pertained to the Dalek in particular was excellent. Bywater and Diana actually being in a relationship and undercover was a nice little twist and I liked how van Statten's dismissal of women allowed her to rise up the ranks unnoticed. The implication that he was gay was also a good logical step. I could go on for a long time here but there's still so much good that I haven't covered. Rose realising that the Doctor was terrified put her in an interesting predicament and I thought the Dalek beckoning her to touch it for her to spark regeneration was a good move. Overall, this was tremendous! One of the very best Target novelisations and it's difficult to see how this can get topped! 

Rating: 10/10