This was the first ever novelisation of a Doctor Who tv story, first published in the mid 60s. To most fans of the show this book is all kinds of wonderful, being hugely nostalgic and a crackingly well written novel in its own right. Back then this was the only way to relive an episode. VCRs or DVDs were more far-fetched science fiction ideas than some ones in the show. David Whitaker was Story Editor on the original serial and here he takes Terry Nation's script and really adds life and depth. Told in the first person from the point of view of Ian Chesterton the story kicks off by choosing to replace the whole school scenario of the first episode of an Unearthly Child with characters meeting each other for the first time after a traffic accident on Barnes Common. It's a pretty atmospheric opening. The Doctor is hostile and sly, playing his mindgames with Ian. The psychology of walking through those police box doors is explored quite comprehensively by Whitaker. Due to the limited point of view some characters don't get as much of the limelight as they might have done, notably Susan. Her alien qualities get lost in retelling and her early baptism of fire, having to retrieve the radiation drugs alone through the petrified forest, is only briefly mentioned as she recounts the episode to her friends. It's also fun to learn a bit more about the Tardis facilities and I would like to know what Venusian Night Fish or Martian Summer berries taste like. Other additions to the script are a full description of a Dalek mutant, a Glass Dalek, Everlasting Matches, an amusing boxing match that Ian arranges to try to get the Thalls to regard fighting in the same way as other physical sports, the seeds of a romance between Ian and Barbara, an un-sonic buttonhook and Ian's smoking habit. Whitaker writes well and has a nice line in poetic phrasing but he also knows how to colour a story with little character points and humour. I have only fond memories of reading this book back in the 1970s and I greatly enjoyed the recent reread. I'd like to think that the new reprints of these books will inspire a new generation of children in the same way as they did me when I was a little boy wandering about that big building filled with books with orders from my mum to 'choose one'.
This new edition has an introduction by Neil Gaiman, an about the authors spotlight of David Whitaker and Terry Nation, original illustrations and a between the lines feature about the script to novelisation process.
