Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara (Target Collection)

Description

42 years on from Terrance Dicks' original novelization, David Fisher adapts his Tom Baker-era Doctor Who adventure into a wickedly witty new Target Book "Why is your first impulse to reach for your swords and never a screwdriver?" The Doctor and Romana's search for the fourth segment of the all-powerful Key to Time leads them to the planet Tara, where courtly intrigue and romantic pageantry employ the most sophisticated technology. Within hours of arriving, Romana is mistaken for a powerful princess and the Doctor forced to dally with robotic royalty - and both are quickly embroiled in the scheming ambitions of the wicked Count Grendel. Finding the segment of the Key is easy enough, but escaping with it in one piece will prove an altogether more colourful affair...

David Fisher was approached by script editor Anthony Read to write for Doctor Who and the result was the 100th story, The Stones of Blood, transmitted in 1978. Fisher first met Read when the latter was setting up a series called The Troubleshooters in 1965. Fisher went on to write for Orlando (1967), Dixon of Dock Green (1969), Sutherland's Law (1973) and General Hospital (1977). As well as The Stones of Blood, Fisher also contributed The Androids of Tara, The Creature from the Pit and The Leisure Hive to Doctor Who. The first two stories were novelised by Terrance Dicks, but Fisher decided to pen the latter two himself for the Target range. Following his work on Doctor Who, Fisher wrote for Hammer House of Horror (1980), Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (1984) and collaborated with Read on a number of historical books with subjects including World War Two espionage, the Nazi persecution of Jews and the Nazi/Soviet pact of the early 1940s.

This is so much more than merchandise...these novels are connecting us together even now. All the way across time and space -- Russell T Davies Target books offered much more than just a window into Doctor Who: they were a formative part of my reading experience -- Alastair Reynolds Target writers performed quite a invaluable service in 'saving' these stories...so don't think of this book as just another novel. It's a slice of Who history -- Stephen Baxter It became a ritual, saving pocket money, then deciding which Target book to go for. I devoured them -- Mark Gatiss