The TARDIS brings the Doctor and his friends to a space tracking base in the Antarctic – and straight into trouble. A space mission is going badly wrong, and a new planet has appeared in the sky. Mondas, ancient fabled twin planet of Earth has returned. Soon its inhabitants arrive. But while they used to be just like the humans of Earth, now they are very different. Devoid of emotions, their bodies replaced with plastic and steel, the Cybermen are here. Humanity needs all the help it can get, but the one man who seems to know what’s going on is terminally ill. As the Cybermen take over, the Doctor is dying…This novel is based on the final story to feature the First Doctor, which was originally broadcast from 8 to 29 October 1966. This was the first “Doctor Who” story to feature the Cybermen. This title features the First Doctor in his very last adventure as played by William Hartnell, and his companions Ben and Polly.
Resistance is useless It’s the year 2000 and a South Polar military base is tracking a manned capsule probing Earth’s outer atmosphere. The TARDIS crew of an ailing Doctor, accompanied by Ben and Polly arrive at the base just as the capsule begins malfunctioning, seemingly affected by a strange force.By the time this one came out I’d already witnessed my first Time Lord regeneration when Jon Pertwee bowed out, so the big surprise at the end of the Tenth Planet shouldn’t have been much of a shock. What it did do to my understanding of the show, that I’d drifted into loving through Jon Pertwee’s tenure, was to make me aware that regeneration had occurred before and that sooner or later it was going to happen again. The story also introduces the Cybermen in their original, almost unrecognisable, though very creepy, cloth masked version. I was a month old when The Tenth Planet was first broadcast and by the time this book got into my hands the BBC had already junked much of their pre-70s episodes including that crucial regeneration episode.Gerry Davis’ novelisation sticks close to the original script. There’s a few minor changes like the year being 2000 instead of the original 1986, a Roger Moore James Bond cameo (sort of), some teasing lines from the newly regenerated Doctor at the conclusion and most noticeably the reinstatement of the Doctor’s lines from episode three which were delivered in the televised version by Michael Craze (Ben) , somewhat confusedly, when William Hartnell missed filming due to ill health. Even though the Doctor doesn’t have much of presence in this story it’s still a very enjoyable affair and one of the first times the base-under-siege scenario that would soon become familiar was used. Let’s face it, in the 1970s most little boys, when they weren’t staging dinosaur battles, were probably launching Lego rockets into space – after that all important Thunderbirds countdown of course, so stories with astronauts are something that was sure to grab the imagination of young minds. Much of the tension throughout is generated by the astronauts in peril. The Cybermen on the other hand, though creepy, are a little too easily defeated. There’s no mention of a weakness to gold at this stage but it’s not needed as their real Achilles heel is not keeping track of their weaponry. They might be ‘pretty advanced geezers’ as Ben puts it but tacticians they aren’t. Then when we find out that radiation makes them keel over like bowling pins, their battle cry of ‘Resistance is useless’ seems a little misguided. The real threat of the piece comes from the increasingly erratic and trigger happy base commander General Cutler who seems bent on sacrificing half the world’s population to save his son.Aged ten I couldn’t really think of anything better than walking home with a book like this under my arm – I loved it.Original artwork , features on script to novel, Gerry Davis and a new introduction by Tom MacRae.
I have inherited loads of these old Dr Who books on my Kindle. Im not a fan, I used to watch in the late 70’s and early 80’s. So i thought id have a look… Can’t stop reading them now. The story starts in the first couple of pages, and is action all the way through. If you’ve got the spare time, one of these in a day is easy and great reading. I can recommend all the old target books. Great stuff
of course, seeing the title The Tenth Planet flash up at me, i had to get it. The only doctor regeneration i havnt seen and i can imagine it in my minds eye. Not the massive explosion of golden artron energy we get today (although that is very impressive) but the Doctor skulking off to go quietly into his next body. No-one witnesses the change but we all no its happened. This book has certainly fullfilled a 21 year old guys fantasy of witnessing something he thought long lost. Brilliant book for Doctor Who fans