Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons

"Anything plastic, anything at all, can become a vehicle for the Nestene consciousness.'"

Writer: Terrance Dicks
Format: Novel
Released: May 1975
Series: Target 63

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis

The evil Master leered at the Doctor, and triumphantly pointed out of the cabin window. The many-tentacled Nestene monster - spearhead of the second Auton invasion of Earth - crouched beside the radio tower!

Part crab, part spider, part octopus, its single huge eye blazed with alien intelligence and deadly hatred...

Can the Doctor outwit his rival Time Lord, the Master, and save the Earth from the Nestene horror?

Verdict

Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons was a terrific novelisation of the television serial of (pretty much) the same name and I have to say it was wonderful to be back reading a book! It was my first one for quite some time but with a month before my dissertation being due and no other assignments left for me to complete, a train journey from South England to Mid Wales was the perfect opportunity for me to pick up a book again. And I picked an excellent one! This story is quite a momentous one as it introduces both the Master and Jo to Doctor Who and in their first story, both are in stellar form. We also see the return of the Autons following Spearhead from Space and they make great enemies at the command of the Nestene High Command. I really liked how Terrance Dicks fleshed out the detail of this story and it really did make for a brilliant read. I thought the characterisation of the Third Doctor was absolutely superb with Jon Pertwee's likeness being effortlessly captured. The Master was terrific in this story and I really enjoyed how gradual his meeting with the Doctor was. We saw him arrive at the Rossini Circus in his TARDIS with which we saw the successful use of the chameleon circuit. The length before it was revealed that he was a Time Lord was good and I quite liked how the Doctor was warned about his presence. The threat of him being completely erased from history was good and I liked that the Time Lord visitor the Doctor had at the DSRC2 was one who was present during his trial in The War Games. I thought the reference to An Unearthly Child was magnificent and I also liked the revelation that Philips was actually holding a Sontaran grenade with the Doctor recognising it in a story some time before The Time Warrior. I really liked the accompanying illustrations with this novel and the scenes they picked to present were good. Jo wanting to impress the Doctor after her hasty arrival and ruining of his dematerialisation circuit was fantastic and she really was brilliant in her first story. The Brigadier was in similarly good form and his stubbornness in doing things the militaristic way was good because it was proving irksome for the Doctor. I thought the pace of the book was perfect and the exciting climax was written very well. The hints at the Nestene's disapproval of the Master was good and the Brigadier threatening the Time Lord to cooperate with the Doctor was a nice addition. I still enjoyed his escape and continuing disguises and for his debut, this was a brilliant showing for the Master. We got to see the Nestene arrive on Earth but the two Time Lords quickly prevented a full-scale invasion. Overall, an excellent novelisation of what is a great story!

Rating: 9/10