Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl

"Man did not evolve on Earth!"

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: July 1979

Series: Target 34

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

"The Fendahl is death," said the Doctor. "How do you kill death itself?'

The ultra-modern technology of the Time Scanner combines with the ancient evil of Fetch Wood, and brings to life a terror that has lain hidden for twelve million years.

The Doctor and Leela fight to destroy the Fendahl, a recreated menace that threatens to devour all life in the galaxy.

Verdict

Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl was a terrific novelisation of the Fourth Doctor serial! I have never been a massive fan of the televised story so I must admit I was a little trepidatious about reading this beforehand, but it turned out to be a really great adventure and I think prose is definitely the format that works best for this story. That may have something to do with the lack of special effects in imagining the Fendahl, as that was a little bit iffy on screen but with the power of imagination and the beautiful artwork adorning the book's cover, the Fendahl was a much better threat here. I felt that the setting of Fetch Priory was really strong and well suited to this type of dark adventure. One thing I did notice was that with the approach taken by Terrance Dicks, the pace was frantic and really added some strong excitement to the tale. At only 109 pages, there wasn't much room to mess around here and there was a lot of shifting between characters which only added to the thrill. This was such an easy read and it didn't take much longer than two hours which makes for a fine afternoon! I enjoyed the characterisation of the Fourth Doctor and Leela, particularly when it came to the bookending scenes in the TARDIS and referring to K9 as a 'he'. That was terrific stuff and just a lovely way to incorporate their relationship. I liked the focus on the Time Scanner and the idea of looking into the past as a way to date an impossible skull. The skull was really good and it doesn't come much scarier than that as a symbol, so for it to predate human evolution by around eight million years was very exciting! Fendleman was a fantastic character and he was quite crazed along with Stael in what he was discovering. I loved how he referred to as the first step of a giant leap forward and with it not fitting into the existing theories, it all had to start somewhere and this was the first step. Mitchell was a strong character too and his death was so emphatic in prose. He screamed and he died. It really was that simple. Thea was a terrific character as well and I loved her role in the gestalt of the Fendahl needing 12 Fendahleen and a core to reach its full power. The idea of recreation from contact with the skull was brilliant and the energy reserves to last over twelve million years really were staggering! The Fendahl being from the history of the Time Lords was excellent and a really insightful look into Gallifreyan history. The description of the fifth planet breaking up and the Time Lords taking quite drastic involvement was really good stuff. The Doctor and Leela aiming to interfere in the Fendahl as they were too powerful by this point was decent in selling the threat. I liked the use of the implosion to ultimately deal with the Fendahl and see Fetch Priory basically destroyed, and it was fun for the Doctor to threaten this and then follow through on the promise. The use of Granny Tyler in being freed as they eat cake from her fine china was delicious. Overall, a really great read!

Rating: 8/10