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Doctor Who and the Android Invasion: 4th Doctor Novelisation

Doctor Who and the Android Invasion: 4th Doctor Novelisation

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-11-09 11:21:47
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Terrance Dicks
  • ISBN：152913868X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

An exciting novelisation of a classic TV adventure for the Fourth Doctor。

The Doctor and Sarah arrive safely back on Earth - or do they？ Why does the mysterious solder march straight over a cliff， and then reappear unharmed？ Why are they attacked by sinister mechanics with built-in guns for hands？

Why is a picturesque country village at first deserted， then filled with mindless zombies？ And why are the Doctor and Sarah's best friends trying to kill them？

Will they be in time to defeat the deadly Kraals and their terrifying android invasion of Earth？

（P） 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

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Reviews

Craig ，

This is a novelization of the fourth adventure of the thirteenth season of Doctor Who， which was broadcast in November and December of 1975。 The original teleplay was written by the famous Terry Nation and was adapted to this prose format by Terrance Dicks， who wrote so many of them。 The story features the fourth version of The Doctor， who is accompanied by Sarah Jane Smith。 Former full-time companion Harry Sullivan returns in his swan song， as does Sergeant Benton of UNIT。 It's one of two scrip This is a novelization of the fourth adventure of the thirteenth season of Doctor Who， which was broadcast in November and December of 1975。 The original teleplay was written by the famous Terry Nation and was adapted to this prose format by Terrance Dicks， who wrote so many of them。 The story features the fourth version of The Doctor， who is accompanied by Sarah Jane Smith。 Former full-time companion Harry Sullivan returns in his swan song， as does Sergeant Benton of UNIT。 It's one of two scripts written by Nation for the show that doesn't have Daleks。 It's a very good spooky story with good mysterious elements， inspired perhaps by Invasion of the Body Snatchers。 The TARDIS lands in what appears to be England but is instead a set on the planet Oseidon where the evil Kraals are plotting to cleanse the Earth so they can move in and take over。 This is the ninth of ten Doctor Who books that Pinnacle Books reprinted in North America to introduce the character to the North American audience。 Harlan Ellison wrote an enthusiastic introduction which was used at the beginning of all of them。 。。。more

Ezekiel Thorp ，

A simple but effective novelisation of a TV story for the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith from 1975， which also saw the last appearances of Sergeant Benton and Harry Sullivan。It's from an era when the novelisations were clearly written with a younger audience in mind， so maybe keep that in mind when you're starting。 It captures the tone of the TV original well though， even though the ending is as rushed and abrupt as it was in that version （and they took out one of my very favourite jokes in A simple but effective novelisation of a TV story for the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith from 1975， which also saw the last appearances of Sergeant Benton and Harry Sullivan。It's from an era when the novelisations were clearly written with a younger audience in mind， so maybe keep that in mind when you're starting。 It captures the tone of the TV original well though， even though the ending is as rushed and abrupt as it was in that version （and they took out one of my very favourite jokes in Doctor Who）。It's no masterpiece， by any means， but a genuine slice of 70s nostalgia and well worth giving a go （and soon to become more readily available via a new audiobook） 。。。more

Juliette Reneaume ，

A fun read about the Doctor with his wonderful companion Sarah Jane Smith。

Ken ，

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this story and Dicks novelisation highlights the more playful elements of this Season 13 serial。Admittedly much of the story is rehashed ideas from previous tales - which you'd expect from a Terry Nation script。UNIT themselves are pretty poorly served， but the initial setup is rather good。I love the mystery of a seemingly deserted village with so many random clues， like why are all the coins dated as the same year？I also find it odd that the TARDIS team a I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this story and Dicks novelisation highlights the more playful elements of this Season 13 serial。Admittedly much of the story is rehashed ideas from previous tales - which you'd expect from a Terry Nation script。UNIT themselves are pretty poorly served， but the initial setup is rather good。I love the mystery of a seemingly deserted village with so many random clues， like why are all the coins dated as the same year？I also find it odd that the TARDIS team are hopeful that they've arrived on Earth （especially as this feels like a repeat of the season opener Terror of the Zygons）。Though knowing that there's going to be an invasion with androids negates much of the initial premise。The Kraals plans are quite preposterous which I quite appreciate， Dicks does atleast wrap up some loose ends from the televised story。 。。。more

Gareth ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Bit of a mixed bag， and some of my scoring， to only put it at a 3， is likely more due to my feelings about characters involved in the story， rather than the story itself。Some really good ideas in the story， and even though to the readers it is clear given the title from the get go what is going on， we do get to see from the Doctor and Sarah's point of view how there is a lot of mystery for them as to what is going on， coming up with lots of explanations that turn out to not be the case， but can Bit of a mixed bag， and some of my scoring， to only put it at a 3， is likely more due to my feelings about characters involved in the story， rather than the story itself。Some really good ideas in the story， and even though to the readers it is clear given the title from the get go what is going on， we do get to see from the Doctor and Sarah's point of view how there is a lot of mystery for them as to what is going on， coming up with lots of explanations that turn out to not be the case， but can see how they are working at it。 A good twist near the end as well。Outside of that though， the antagonists with one exception （Crayford） are somewhat one dimensional， and the one well fleshed out character， while good in of themselves， doesn't make up for the lack。Sarah has a somewhat egregious moment of twisting her ankle， that really stuck out for me， and while reading all these books shows it doesn't happen too often， and most of the time in understandable circumstances， this one seemed to just be to make her a damsel。 To be fair though， at least she eventually gets herself out of the mess。The Doctor at least is in good form， but shouldn't be at the cost of the companion。Then we come to UNIT - no brigadier in this story for the first time for a UNIT story， but at the same time， probably well out of it。 While we get some good villainous versions of Harry and Benton， their actual characters are poorly served， especially Benton， for their final story in Doctor Who （the TV version at least， happily Audio versions have provided more）。 Seemed especially silly regarding Harry， given that he had a good farewell in the Loch Ness Monster。So， not a bad story， but the characters we know well， seemed poorly served for the most part。 。。。more

Jack ，

I like the sense of mystery at the beginning of this story， although it goes on for longer in the televised serial than this novel。 Sarah gets some good journalist-style scenes， and overall this is a pretty good book for her， even though she's not exactly herself for some of it。 It's not the best UNIT story， and it feels like Doctor Who has outgrown its UNIT era by this point which is why it's a shame this is the last appearance of characters like Benton and Harry， as it's not the most exciting I like the sense of mystery at the beginning of this story， although it goes on for longer in the televised serial than this novel。 Sarah gets some good journalist-style scenes， and overall this is a pretty good book for her， even though she's not exactly herself for some of it。 It's not the best UNIT story， and it feels like Doctor Who has outgrown its UNIT era by this point which is why it's a shame this is the last appearance of characters like Benton and Harry， as it's not the most exciting story for them to go out on。 The ending also felt rather rushed， but it's not a terrible story and I do enjoy the plot potential of androids being able to successfully disguise themselves as humans。 。。。more

Damon Habbin ，

Okay book adds a little extra background

John Barclay ，

The second of my re-read of the old books。 Great to jump around from doctor to doctor and enjoy the stories outside of the timeline。 Another good story if you ignore the bits that don't work or make sense and full of the fun of Baker's version of the Doctor。Really enjoying the simple short action story of these books。Great for a terrible year in so many other ways。 The second of my re-read of the old books。 Great to jump around from doctor to doctor and enjoy the stories outside of the timeline。 Another good story if you ignore the bits that don't work or make sense and full of the fun of Baker's version of the Doctor。Really enjoying the simple short action story of these books。Great for a terrible year in so many other ways。 。。。more

Ian ，

An adaption of a Fourth Doctor （Tom Baker） story featuring Sarah Jane Smith。 Apparently returning to Earth， the Doctor and Sarah Jane begin to suspect that something is amiss and are chased by mysterious aggressors。 Then they encounter some familiar faces who are behaving very strangely。It's androids。 Obviously。 There is only one thing that would've made this story interesting and that is if there were some genuine mystery as to why Harry Sullivan and Sergeant Benton are acting out of character。 An adaption of a Fourth Doctor （Tom Baker） story featuring Sarah Jane Smith。 Apparently returning to Earth， the Doctor and Sarah Jane begin to suspect that something is amiss and are chased by mysterious aggressors。 Then they encounter some familiar faces who are behaving very strangely。It's androids。 Obviously。 There is only one thing that would've made this story interesting and that is if there were some genuine mystery as to why Harry Sullivan and Sergeant Benton are acting out of character。 Unfortunately the answer to the mystery is plastered all over the cover and therefore all that's left is a very lacklustre and derivative 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers' knock-off （something Who has already done many times and much better）。The only redeeming feature， and the reason I've not given this a one-out-of-five， is that the erratic charm and wit of Baker's incarnation of the Doctor is on full display here。 I particularly liked the scene where an enemy says there's no time for pleasantries and the Doctor replies "How about 'unpleasantries'， pig face？"* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2。webnode。com/ * 。。。more

Ben Goodridge ，

Is it cheap to shore up my reading list with Doctor Who books？ They're not particularly substantial。 Literary snacks， really。 Still， I read about a million of these things in the late 1980s， and， as books go， they're the kind of series I always wanted to write - brief， cerebral， pulpy， and prolific。 And they look pretty on a shelf all in a row。That having been said， they're numbered funny。 Second on the list is based on a serial released when the TV series was 12 years old。 Still， it's not like Is it cheap to shore up my reading list with Doctor Who books？ They're not particularly substantial。 Literary snacks， really。 Still， I read about a million of these things in the late 1980s， and， as books go， they're the kind of series I always wanted to write - brief， cerebral， pulpy， and prolific。 And they look pretty on a shelf all in a row。That having been said， they're numbered funny。 Second on the list is based on a serial released when the TV series was 12 years old。 Still， it's not like the story is unfamiliar: it's Doctor Who's take on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers，" with android duplicates raining down on England in pods， as spearhead to the Kraal invasion of Earth。Terrance Dicks could be pretty economical with the stories he was contracted to novelize。 His stories challenged the maxim that the book is always better。 He does better with better material， but this wasn't a particularly lackluster story to start with， and I had the sense that he was phoning it in。 。。。more

Foodie ，

This felt exactly like watching the classic episodes from the 70's。 I was able to really visualize it the way the show used to be。 This felt exactly like watching the classic episodes from the 70's。 I was able to really visualize it the way the show used to be。 。。。more

Daniel Kukwa ，

Another Terrance Dicks rescue mission。 On television， "The Android Invasion" is one of the few shaggy dog stories in the otherwise peerless gothic/early 4th Doctor era。 In prose， Mr。 Dicks sews up the logic holes， strips the fat from the story， and gives it a proper conclusion。 The end result is miles better than the original source material。 Another Terrance Dicks rescue mission。 On television， "The Android Invasion" is one of the few shaggy dog stories in the otherwise peerless gothic/early 4th Doctor era。 In prose， Mr。 Dicks sews up the logic holes， strips the fat from the story， and gives it a proper conclusion。 The end result is miles better than the original source material。 。。。more

Dodau ，

Trying to read all of my DW books in order， a few hundred of them。 That means starting with the Target ones whose main plus is that they are short。

Ralph Carlson ，

Another fun Doctor Who book。

Jenny ，

A classic， like the episodes

Michael Sigler ，

Classic Who > New Who， hands down。

Adam James ，

"The Android Invasion" has a pretty "meh" reputation amongst Who fans， but I dunno， I've always liked it。 I know Terry Nation only had two ideas in his entire career， but I always found the story kitschy and fun （maybe not what Nation was going for）。But the novelization by the Mighty Terrance Dicks is standard Dicks - it's efficient， and fun， and captures the spirit of the episode。 No complaints from this Whovian。 "The Android Invasion" has a pretty "meh" reputation amongst Who fans， but I dunno， I've always liked it。 I know Terry Nation only had two ideas in his entire career， but I always found the story kitschy and fun （maybe not what Nation was going for）。But the novelization by the Mighty Terrance Dicks is standard Dicks - it's efficient， and fun， and captures the spirit of the episode。 No complaints from this Whovian。 。。。more

Steven Poore ，

Functional， good for filling time in waiting rooms。。。

Souzan ，

too many characters！

Arthur Johnson ，

the very first doctor serial I saw on television as a kid， brings back memories。 I'm a big fan of uncle Terry prose found this book quite enjoyable the very first doctor serial I saw on television as a kid， brings back memories。 I'm a big fan of uncle Terry prose found this book quite enjoyable 。。。more

Warren Benton ，

3。25 rating。 The doctor and Sarah have to save earth from the Kraals。 the Kraals have created android replicas of the army base。 they want to destroy the world。 The Doctor and Sarah have to find a way to stop them。

Crystal ，

This is one of my favorite Doctors。 I'm still on my way to reading all the Doctor Who books， so。。。 onward！ This is one of my favorite Doctors。 I'm still on my way to reading all the Doctor Who books， so。。。 onward！ 。。。more

Mark ，

"The Doctor said casually， 'That's all right。 But keep your wits about you， Benton。 Nobody knows who's who around here。' Pleased with his little joke， the Doctor went on his way。" （p。 117）Groan， Terrance。 Groan。 "The Doctor said casually， 'That's all right。 But keep your wits about you， Benton。 Nobody knows who's who around here。' Pleased with his little joke， the Doctor went on his way。" （p。 117）Groan， Terrance。 Groan。 。。。more

JJ Coetzer ，

a very enjoyable book， here Doctor Who uses his screwdriver for the first time to tell the androids from the humans， as the androids are exact mirror copies of other people。 Thou this book was not as good as the first in the series reed， and lack some description I found it quite easy to imagine the scene of things， or it might be that I just have a very good imagination

Adrian Sherlock ，

The first novel I ever read！ When I was a young boy， I became hooked on Dr。Who。 I had seen the first three parts of this on TV， but not the ending part。 Then at the time I started highschool， this book was in a local news agent and so began my love of reading， thanks to Dr。Who， Terrance Dicks and Terry Nation。 The cracking pace of Terry Nation's plot makes this immediately involving and Dicks minimalist style is easy to read。 My favourite part is when the Doctor and Sarah have to climb into coff The first novel I ever read！ When I was a young boy， I became hooked on Dr。Who。 I had seen the first three parts of this on TV， but not the ending part。 Then at the time I started highschool， this book was in a local news agent and so began my love of reading， thanks to Dr。Who， Terrance Dicks and Terry Nation。 The cracking pace of Terry Nation's plot makes this immediately involving and Dicks minimalist style is easy to read。 My favourite part is when the Doctor and Sarah have to climb into coffin-sized capsules and get fired out of a space ship and hope they don't burn up on re-entry， suffocate in the capsule or get smashed to bits on landing on the Earth。 To say I was really gripped when it got to that point is an understatement， very exciting storytelling！ 。。。more

Mel ，

Before there were dvds and videos Dr Who episodes used to get released as novels so kids （and grown ups） could re-read their favourite adventures。 Unfortunately as a child I never had any of these books as I would have loved them and read them again and again。 So a friend was selling a few old ones she'd been given and I had to read them。 The Android Invasion is an episode I think I may have seen a long time ago， but definitely one I don't remember well。 I sat down and read this while I was not Before there were dvds and videos Dr Who episodes used to get released as novels so kids （and grown ups） could re-read their favourite adventures。 Unfortunately as a child I never had any of these books as I would have loved them and read them again and again。 So a friend was selling a few old ones she'd been given and I had to read them。 The Android Invasion is an episode I think I may have seen a long time ago， but definitely one I don't remember well。 I sat down and read this while I was not feeling very well and it was almost as fun as watching the episodes。 I liked how the author very quietly poked fun at the running through the corridors and them being in another quarry。 The characters came across as they would on the show。 The plot to this was rather silly， but very enjoyable nonetheless。 Sarah Jane managed to rescue the doctor twice， as well as save his life once。 Now I think I need to watch the actual episodes。 。。。more

NebulousGloom （FK） ，

Started a bit slow， but was good in general。

Alex Bennetts ，

DOCTOR WHO IS A DOCTOR BUT NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR。

Mary ，

This is the latest in my following and reading along of Paul's Blog Now as I remember I enjoyed the tv version of this story。 I can't really say the same for the book。 It's not told with any gusto。 It's like a bored person describing the events。 You don't feel any sense of danger， elation， anything。 This should have been a good read。 There's a good story to tell here。 It's the first time I've been disappointed by a Target novelisation。 I'm worried it won't be the last。。。。 This is the latest in my following and reading along of Paul's Blog Now as I remember I enjoyed the tv version of this story。 I can't really say the same for the book。 It's not told with any gusto。 It's like a bored person describing the events。 You don't feel any sense of danger， elation， anything。 This should have been a good read。 There's a good story to tell here。 It's the first time I've been disappointed by a Target novelisation。 I'm worried it won't be the last。。。。 。。。more

stormhawk ，

Ah， this is how I like my Doctors 。。。 curly-haired and twinkly-eyed。 Enough years have passed since I saw the episode and read this book that while familiar， it still held some surprises。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Doctor Who and the Android Invasion: 4th Doctor Novelisation

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Doctor Who and the Android Invasion: 4th Doctor Novelisation&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Doctor Who and the Android Invasion: 4th Doctor Novelisation&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0