Doctor Who and the Green Death

"You are useless and have no further right to exist."

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: August 1975

Series: Target 29

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo, Brigadier

Synopsis

The Green Death begins slowly. In a small Welsh mining village a man emerges from the disused colliery covered in a green fungus. Minutes later he is dead.

UNIT, Jo Grant and Doctor Who in tow, Carrie on the scene to investigate, but strangely reluctant to assist their enquiries is Dr Stevens, director of the local refinery Panorama Chemicals.

Are they in time to destroy the mysterious power which threatens them all before the whole village, and even the world, is wiped out by a deadly swarm of green maggots?

Verdict

Doctor Who and the Green Death was an outstanding novelisation of the Season 10 finale! I knew this would be a good read because the televised serial is a fantastic story but I think I might have actually enjoyed the book even more! Right from the start, I was hooked and it was a most welcomed relief and reward this afternoon after completing some overtime. I pretty much read it from cover to cover in one sitting which is quite rare for me so that is testament to its quality. It's such a solid adventure. I love the simplicity of it and apart from the Doctor's little side venture to Metebelis III, everything is pretty much grounded to Earth. And what better setting than a little Welsh village? I really appreciated Llanfairfach as the location for the story and myself living in the Welsh valleys, I could appreciate the community feel of the village and the mining influence and importance to everyone who lived there. Of course, this was set and released in the mid-1970s when mining was very much still a big part of the Welsh community and reading of the National Coal Board having decided that the local mine had to shut was interesting to say the least. The distain felt in the village towards the English was great stuff and something I couldn't help but appreciate given my support of Welsh independence. The use of the Welsh language was nice but it would have been good for Terrance Dicks to actually write in the language! Ted's inspection of the mine was great and I liked how that soon turned from normality into something very serious as disaster struck and he was infected with the green death. The descriptions of that with the green glow were brilliant and I loved how it was a slow deterioration to death once coming into contact. Cliff Jones was a brilliant character and the way he was standing up to Dr Stevens and Panorama Chemicals was terrific. He was a Noble Prize winner which said a lot about his character and abilities, but he wasn't overly liked in the village after moving in recently. In fact, his home was dubbed the Nut Hatch which was a lot of fun! His relationship with Jo was wonderful and I loved how he didn't reveal his identity when they first met. That was wonderful stuff and although I maintain that their relationship develops into love and marriage at quite a stupendous pace, it's great to see how much Jo likes him and was interested in him over the Doctor. The likes of Dr Stevens and Hinks made for a brilliant villains behind Panorama Chemicals and I really liked the dynamic of Elgin not being under the influence of Boss. Inevitably, that ended up in him being taken over and tragically dying. Boss was a fantastic villain and the idea of an inefficient computer to ensure full efficiency was magnificent and actually made some sense. The Doctor confusing the logic-thinking computer with double entendres was terrific. I thought the use of the maggots was really well done and their arrival didn't come until about halfway through which is testament to their impact as they are always the talking point of this serial. We don't get the visuals of them like we did on television, but the illustrations dotted throughout the novelisation are just magnificent. I'm a huge fan of them as they break things up and actually add so much to the book! They really enhance the reading experience in my opinion. The serendipity of the fungus powder actually being the way to defeat the maggots and provide Cliff with his antidote was very good and the anger sparking that moment was very powerful. The Brigadier was superb throughout the book and I loved how he was facing difficulties in prioritising his appointed role and the clear wrongdoings of Panorama Chemicals, despite his orders to protect them. The mine central focus was excellent and I liked how that ended up being bombarded to keep the maggots within. Their development through chrysalis was very good and a great threat with the prospect of the green death going global. The Doctor managed to lure the dragonfly in before disaster struck and its neck was broken, and Benton not understanding his fascination with those they seek to defeat was a very good comment. Overall, this was a superb novelisation and it's heartbreaking to think the Doctor has a tear in his eye after Jo opts to go to the Amazon with Cliff. 

Rating: 10/10