December 24th, 1977 14 comments

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Doctor Who Target novels 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS
TERRANCE DICKS

The Doctor and Jo land on a cargo ship crossing the Indian Ocean in the year 1926. Or so they think.

Far away on a planet called Inter Minor, a travelling showman is setting up his live peepshow, watched by an eager audience of space officials… On board ship, a giant hand suddenly appears, grasps the Tardis and withdraws.

Without warning, a prehistoric monster rises from the sea to attack… What is happening? Where are they? Only the Doctor realises, with horror, that they might be trapped…

Published 20 January 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE SEEDS OF DOOM
PHILIP HINCHCLIFFE

In the snowy wastes of blizzard-swept Antarctica, a strange pod-like object is unearthed, buried deep in the ice. Curiosity turns to alarm as the pod begins to grow—then horror when suddenly it cracks open and a snaking green tendril shoots out, mercilessly seeking the nearest live victim… In London, the botanical experts are bewildered. DOCTOR WHO is called in to fight this unknown horror.

But will he be in time to save Earth from the rapidly spreading tentacles of the KRYNOID, giant man-eating monster from an alien world?

Published 17 February 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH
TERRANCE DICKS

The TARDIS lands in a London of future times—a city of fear, devastation and holocaust… a city now ruled by DALEKS.

The Doctor and his companions meet a team of underground resistance workers, among the few survivors, but after an unsuccessful attack on the Dalek spaceship, they are all forced to flee the capital.

A perilous journey through England finally brings them to the secret centre of Dalek operations… and the mysterious reason for the Dalek invasion of Earth!

Published 24 March 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE CLAWS OF AXOS
TERRANCE DICKS

‘Axos calling Earth, Axos calling Earth…’ The creatures stood before them, beautiful golden humanoids, offering friendship and their priceless Axonite, in return for—what?

Only Doctor Who remains suspicious.

What is the real reason for the Axons’ sudden arrival on Earth?

And why is the evil Master a passenger on their spaceship?

He very soon finds out…

Published 21 April 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE ARK IN SPACE
IAN MARTER

At a time in the far-off future, Earth has become uninhabitable.

A selection of Humanity is placed, deepfrozen, in a fully automated space station, to await the day
of their return to Earth…

Thousands of years later, DOCTOR WHO arrives.

He finds things going suspiciously wrong, and the station under attack from the giant WIRRN, deadly creatures who, in their lust for power, now threaten the future of the whole Human Race…

Published 10 May 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE BRAIN OF MORBIUS
TERRANCE DICKS

Why do so many spaceships crashland on Karn, a bleak,lonely and seemingly deserted planet?

Are they doomed by the mysterious powers of the strange, black-robed Sisterhood, jealously guarding their secret of eternal life?

Or does the mad Dr Solon, for some evil purpose of his own, need the bodies of the victims?

And more especially the body of DOCTOR WHO…

Published 23 June 1977

Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil
Terrance Dicks

Zeta Minor is the gateway to another universe…

The Tardis picks up a distress call and the Doctor and Sarah arrive on the planet Zeta Minor.

There they discover that a Morestran geological expedition has fallen prey to an unseen killer and only the leader, Professor Sorenson, remains alive.

Published 18 August 1977

Doctor Who and the Mutants
Terrance Dicks

A Massive shape scuttles out of the darkness and strikes the earth Overlord down. It is a Mutant – a huge insectoid creature. It moves in a crouch, its back arched and scaly, with huge knobbly vertebrae. The controlling Overlord, the Marshal, has ordered all such Mutants killed instantly. What has happened to the people of Solos? Why are they gradually turning into Monsters? Hands that become claws, flesh that turns scale-like . . . When DOCTOR WHO meets the Marshal and Jaegar, he realises that all is not as it appears to be. The Marshal has a sinister plan to gain control of this planet, and DOCTOR WHO must save Solos from this mad earthman, as well as save the Solonians themselves.

Published 29 September 1977

Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin
Terrance Dicks

The Doctor is suddenly summoned to Gallifrey, the home of the Time Lords, where his ghastly hallucination of the President’s assassination seems to turn into reality. When the Doctor is arrested for the murder, there is a hideous, dark, cowled figure gleefully watching in the shadows.

Faced with his old enemy, the Master, Doctor Who approaches defeat in a battle of minds in a nightmare world created by the Master’s imagination. But the Master’s evil intentions go much further—he has a Doomsday Plan. It is up to the Doctor to prevent him from destroying Gallifrey and taking over the Universe!

Published 20 October 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG
TERRANCE DICKS

Stepping out of the Tardis into Victorian London, Leelaand the Doctor are confronted by menacing, diabolica lhorrors shrouded within the swirling London fog—aman’s death cry, an attack by Chinese Tong hatchet men,giant rats roaming the sewers, young women mysteriously disappearing…The hideously deformed Magnus Greel, conducting a desperate search for the lost Time Cabinet, is theinstigator of all this evil. Posing as the Chinese god,Weng-Chiang, Greel uses the crafty Chang, and the midget manikin, Mr Sin, to achieve his terrifying objectives. The Doctor must use all his skill, energy and intelligence to escape the talons of Weng-Chiang.

Published 15 November 1977

DOCTOR WHO AND THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA
PHILIP HINCHCLIFFE

Forced off course by the Mandragora Helix, the Tardis lands in the province of San Martino in fifteenth-century Italy. Here, the court astrologer, Hieronymous, has been taken over by the Mandragora energy-form—Hieronymous and the other members of his star-worshipping black magic cult will be used as a bridgehead, enabling the Mandragora Helix to conquer the Earth and rule it through their chosen servants. The Doctor has to defeat not only the Mandragora energy, but the evil schemes of the murderous Count Frederico who plans to usurp the place of his nephew, the rightful ruler of the province.

Published 12 December 1977

Other Places of interest…

Wikipedia Resource for Target Doctor Who Novels with selectable dates, numbers and listings.

On Target A comprehensive guide to the Target novelisations including Alternative covers.

Categorised under: Books, Story books