Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy

"I've never been inside anybody's head before."

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: March 1979

Series: Target 36

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela, K9

Synopsis

A mysterious cloud drifts menacingly through space...

A sudden energy flash and the Doctor is infected with the Nucleus of a malignant Virus that threatens to destroy his mind. 

Meanwhile, on Titan, human slaves prepare the Hive from which the Virus will swarm out and infect the universe. 

In search of a cure, Leela takes the Doctor to the Foundation where they make an incredible journey into the Doctor's brain in an attempt to destroy the Nucleus. 

But can the Doctor free himself from the Nucleus in time to reach Titan and destroy the Hive? Luckily he has help – in the strangely dog-like shape of a mobile computer called K9...

Verdict

Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy was a great novelisation of a television serial I absolutely love! For whatever reason, I do think this adventure works better on screen which I realise is probably a little ironic given the somewhat questionable special effects concerning the Swarm or the inside of the Doctor's head. I was surprised before reading that this book was only going to be 110 pages so it was a breeze to read during the workday, but maybe that small length for a four-parter meant that it was perhaps lacking a little in depth and detail? I can't say I ever truly felt like that when reading, but the pace is frantic and it really does flash by. I liked the use of prose to describe the cloud of the Swarm when approaching in space and seeking out the Doctor. Combining the TARDIS with Titan was good and I loved how the Doctor was determined as the perfect host because of his intelligence. A savvy virus makes for a good enemy and even though I've seen the on screen version at least three times, it really does feel obvious that once the Doctor and Leela are cloned and inserted within the true Doctor to tackle the Swarm it wouldn't be them coming back out and getting back to maximum size. I liked the chase though and the Doctor wanting Leela's ability as a hunter to track out the Swarm was brilliant. Her qualities were on full display here. I liked the use of the return to the traditional white TARDIS console room and Leela reacting to it by stating white wasn't a colour was amusing. Nobody else would make such an observation! There was a good amount of humour between the Doctor and Leela as we usually get, and that was mostly in the parrot sequence where Leela's way of showing she didn't understand an aspect of what the Doctor was saying was to repeat the word or phrase. It was also terrific for the Doctor to try and claim credit for the idea to blow up the base and take the Swarm with it. Leela should be very proud indeed. I wasn't wholly on board with that in the book here because I liked the way the Leela clone was used to determine the antibody against the Swarm once it was consumed into the Doctor's blood sytsem. Professor Marius is a strong character and he's obviously an important figure in the history of Doctor Who as the creator of K9! The debut of the famed robot dog is great stuff and I love how quickly he takes to the Doctor and Leela being granted master and mistress status. Leela is overjoyed at the end when he gets to come with them and the robot dog makes no qualms about rushing into the TARDIS! It's really quite fun. The likes of Lowe and Meeker were strong characters and the background of the celebration after six months as a crew only to be killed by those serving the Purpose was horrifying. So close yet so far. I think something could have been elaborated on in the book to explain how a virus was speaking English and setting sights for the macro world. Could it have known the Doctor had access to a dimension stabiliser and could adapt it from the TARDIS into actual people? How else did it plan to get oversized? The struggle of it to deal with that newfound size was great and it did help to not have the clumsiness of the costume in the book. It was good for the Doctor and the Swarm to have a battle of wits but the sudden impact of the inferno at the end was quite fitting. The Doctor lost the antibodies but Leela's idea loomed large in his head to see another way out. It got close and his little dash to the TARDIS was quite amusing, but it was a fitting end really. Overall, a terrific little read! 

Rating: 8/10