Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Our episode novelisation continues. Last time our villain trapped the Doctor, Ian, and the TARDIS in a cave and seemingly killed Barbara. It’s not a spoiler to say they survived of course.
So where’s the drama if we know they make it out? Well, if this was your first read and you never saw the episode, it’s like prequel and flashback stories: learning HOW they survived. If the story is interesting enough, you’ll watch/read it again with a new perspective and maybe catch things you missed the first time. If you’re like me and finally saw the two episodes long after reading the book it’s getting to compare the two, while seeing if the book is still an interesting read on its own apart from the episode, and vice versa. It depends on when you came into either version. A good story shouldn’t be boring just because you know they’re going to survive. Of course they’re going to survive (provided the actor is staying). They’re a main character. It’s how they survive that brings us back each story.
With that, it’s time to check in on our new main character, and see if she can save one of the current ones.
The first part of the chapter has Vicki finding the injured Barbara and bringing her back to the wreckage of the ship. Like the episode, you don’t know who or what is finding her. This is followed by the next section, as Koquillion checks in on Vicki and Bennett, Vicki using her rock collection to cover where she had been and the evidence of dragging someone along. Look at the size of Vicki versus Barbara and she should be glad it wasn’t Ian. I remember that someone found Barbara in the episode but we didn’t know it was Barbara until after Koquillion went to talk to Bennett and it was revealed Barbara was on the bed. We only get the teacher being dragged by someone clearly dragging above their weight class. No real notes here outside of matching up with the episode. I would have to rewatch for the sequences of those two and the next part.
The next part follows Ian and the Doctor. All this does is explain why the Didoi couldn’t be hostile, because the race wouldn’t survive without it. In a scene I don’t remember from the episode, the Doctor explains that the planet orbit two starts that also orbit each other. I don’t know how that could possibly work but I’m not an astronomer. At some point the planet ends up in a spot where the place gets really hot and what’s left of the people have to hide underground until it passes in a hundred years. I’m also not an evolutionist so I have no idea how life could form under those conditions. Marter might have been more interested in trying to force the idea that the residents can’t be hostile in any form if they want to continue, going against Ian’s idea that leadership changes and probably was about to mention other changes. It’s not a terrible explanation…to someone who isn’t a scientist.
Back with Vicki and Barbara to end the chapter. More information from the show doesn’t show up. There’s an expansion on how they got out of the ship and why she and Bennett live in this part, the second door between where Bennett stays and Vicki does, so she can be by the radio. There’s also mention of “silver things”. That comes into play later as people who saw the episode are already aware, but they weren’t acknowledged this far in, only popping up in the second episode of this arc. This makes them potentially more of a presence in the background than just “we’re here now–oops, now we’re gone”. It’s also here that Bennett comes out, saying Koquillion has gone, mentioning that “his people” killed others on a ship, I guess because Vicki was wondering about them, and they can only take care of each other…and Barbara when he learns she’s here. If by “take care” you mean he seems ready to attack the woman.
I’m not sure if Marter was trying to fill in what he saw as gaps in the story or pad out the book. All of the Target novelisations are about the same size (the American novelization of a Tom Baker story I also own isn’t much larger but still larger) and most arcs are four to five episodes long, some even longer than that. This is two episodes and we still haven’t finished the first one. I can see the need to pad out the book, but there are some interesting ideas added.
We’ll take a short break for Christmas and then return with the next chapter in this story. Merry Christmas, or whatever you celebrate. And if nothing, have a great day anyway.
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