The Five Doctors by: Terrence Dicks

 

The Five Doctors was written by Terrence Dicks, based on his story of the same name.  It was the 81^st story to be novelized by Target Books.

 

When I took a look at Doctor Who and the Giant Robot, I noted that Terrance Dicks only had two months to novelize his scripts after the television story had finished its broadcast and the book was published.  Somehow there is a novelization that has even less time between broadcast and publication.  The Five Doctors, once again Terrance Dicks adapting his own script for the 20^th anniversary special, released officially on November 24, 1983, one day before the premiere of the television special on November 25, 1983 on the BBC and one day after the world premiere on US television on the actual 20^th anniversary of Doctor Who.  This means that the novelization would have had to have been written shortly after the episode wrapped initial filming at the end of March of that year.  This means that things that were added in post-production, like the archival footage of William Hartnell in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, is not present in the novelization while there are scenes that were never filmed or were filmed differently like the abduction of the Second Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart being in an alley between UNIT buildings instead of just out in the open.

 

It is honestly a miracle The Five Doctors isn’t a total mess of a novelization.  This is at least partially because Terrance Dicks is adapting his own scripts, so he has the knowledge of what his script was intending on television.  It also helps that Dicks adapts it to be breezy and quick, something that works for a novelization of an anniversary special that on television was already a celebration for the fans.  It’s The Five Doctors and it follows that plot incredibly well, converting almost everything that makes the story work in the new medium.  The conversion of the characters allows Dicks to add a couple nice little bits of extra characterization when necessary, like the decision to have much of the scene at the Tomb of Rassilon to be told between Sarah Jane and Tegan, allowing the two companions to comment on the action while sidelined.  There is also this nice added scene to see what Susan actually has been doing since The Dalek Invasion of Earth, though her characterization through the portion adapting the episode itself doesn’t always allow her to act as the character, something Carole Ann Ford had more input in when filming.  The same with the First Doctor who it seems in television appearances not played by William Hartnell has this weird added layer of sexism which somehow feels more out of place and more bold here than in the televised adventure.

 

Overall, The Five Doctors is genuinely one of those great little novelizations that is a very quick read.  There are a couple of additions that help, a couple that hurt the story a little bit, but especially for a book that had to be written and was published before the episode actually aired, it’s a book you’ll have a good time with.  8/10.