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Doctor Who Novelisations of Lost Terrance Dicks Stories
Two new novels will adapt unfilmed Doctor Who scripts by Terrance Dicks Some of the most compelling Doctor Who stories are the ones that never got told. In his 13 year association with the TV show itself, Terrance Dicks wrote many scripts. Most made it to the screen, some were abandoned, and others changed radically during the development process. Now, Penguin Random House are releasing two of these infamous ‘lost’ classics in novel form, each adapted by another expert Doctor Who writer. The Vampire Mutation and The Six Doctors finally reached screens as the radically different State of Decay and The Five Doctors The Vampire Mutation was Dicks’ original attempt to bring the undead into the Whoniverse. In the spirit of the show’s beloved ‘gothic’ phase, it takes loose inspiration from Dracula, with the Fourth Doctor and Mary Tamm’s Romana tracking the first segment of the Time Key to a world under the shadow of the sinister Council of Seven. Can the terrified locals be right that this really is the work of vampires? The Vampire Mutations was originally put aside and replaced in the Season 16 running order with Robert Holmes’ The Ribos Operation. Dicks later reworked it for Season 18 as State of Decay, but it changed hugely in development. The novel by Steve Cole finally presents the version of the story the writer originally wanted to tell. Meanwhile, The Six Doctors represents Terrance Dicks’ original idea for celebrating the show’s 20th anniversary. In this version, a sinister force moves through time and space, not to kidnap the Time Lord’s different incarnations, but to destroy them. Only the Fourth stands a chance at survival, but at the price of betraying his other selves. However, one of them may not be what they seem. Few stories in the show’s history have had as complicated a development as 1983’s anniversary special, and Simon Guerrier’s The Six Doctors reconstructs one of Dicks’ early drafts after joining the project. The Six Doctors is out on the 21st of January 2027, with The Vampire Mutation following on the 6th of March. Click the titles to get pre-order links for your preferred retailer. Doctor Who: The Vampire Mutation ‘The conjunctions of the stars at last permit the awakening of the Dead One…’ Summoned by the White Guardian to a domain outside time and space, the Doctor learns that the lynchpin of the cosmos – the Time Key – has been stolen. He must recover its six components before a great darkness smothers the universe. The first fragment draws the TARDIS to a remote, mist-choked planet. Captured by terrified locals, Leela hears tell of night-creatures that drink the blood of their victims… while the Doctor falls prey to the sinister Council of Seven. Who are the Witch Lords? What is the terrible significance of the Thousand Year Sabbath? With the world on the brink of catastrophe, will the vampire mutation thwart the Doctor’s quest for the Time Key before it’s even begun? Doctor Who: The Six Doctors ‘Play the game, Doctor. Destroy your other selves!’ Fireballs tear through time and space. Each one hunts down a different incarnation of the Doctor… ready to erase them in an instant. But one Doctor is offered a terrible alternative. He can not only survive but live forever – if he agrees to help destroy his other selves. One Doctor. One timeline. One victor. The Fourth Doctor would usually refuse without hesitation. But after escaping E-Space he feels his life running out and knows he is nearing the end of his time. With nothing to lose, he accepts his role in the deadliest game of all… Like this: Like Loading…
