‘Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks’ – Eric Saward (BBC Books)

I am so glad this working week is coming to an end. Not that it’s been a particularly bad week, it just felt like the standard five days weren’t quite enough for this one. Oh well, a few more hours and then it’s pizza and play station :o) Right now though? It’s been another one of those weeks where comfort reading was the best way to recharge and ‘Doctor Who’ has always been a ‘go to’ comfort read so… It was time to give ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ a go, a book that felt like it had been on the TBR pile far longer than it actually had (only about three weeks) and a story that I enjoyed when I revisited it back in 2021. Let me tell you about it...

‘Beware the hands that heal...’

The Doctor and Peri land on the planet Necros to visit the funerary home Tranquil Repose – where the dead are interred and the near-dead placed in suspended animation until such time as their conditions can be cured.

But the Great Healer of Tranquil Repose is far from benign. Under his command, Daleks guard the catacombs where sickening experiments are conducted on human bodies. The new life he offers the dying comes at a terrible cost – and the Doctor and Peri are being lured into a trap that will change them forever.

So… What can I say about ‘Revelation of the Daleks’, the book, that I haven’t already said about the TV serial…? Actually, it felt like the Doctor (Number 6) and Peri were getting on a lot better than they did on the small screen. They’re still awkward around each other but it feels like Saward has a little more room to bring out the positive sides of their relationship. They do snipe but there is also a degree of affection and respect that the TV episodes didn’t bring out. I liked it and felt like I was actually able to travel with them rather than feel like I had to look the other way when the arguments kicked off.

And as is the case with the other, newer novelisations (‘Revelation’ is an older story but according to Amazon, this is the first time it has ever been presented in book form), Saward takes the opportunity to add his own voice and stylings to the affair, rather than just monologuing what happens. The story is still the story but there’s a spark to it that I don’t think would have been there if this book had been written back in the mid-eighties. The result is a story with a little spark to it but a spark that brings out different sides to the plot itself. You’ll laugh, when you’re not expecting it, but you’ll also find yourself getting sad over the deaths in a way that you perhaps didn’t when you watched it on TV. Saward lets us get to know the characters before they die and that is all it takes.

And the plot itself is just as dark as it was on the small screen. There’s still plenty happening but the little bit of context that Saward gives us makes a big difference, there’s an urgency here now that wasn’t on the TV. I guess it helps that Saward wrote the TV script as well as the book but I’m not complaining ;o)

Another ‘Doctor Who’ book that can be filed under ‘G’ for ‘Glad I gave it a go’; absolutely worth picking up if that’s your thing and you don’t have it already. I’m going to have to go and see if I can find any more in the loft...