List of books written by Terrance Dicks

Here is what I hope is a definitive list of the 236 books written by the prolific Terrance Dicks. The Doctor Who books are well attested; working out where everything else fits has been a challenge. Hence me scouring the listings in the Bookseller, which provide month and year of publication.

Terrance tended to write in series, so here is my own key to some of them in the list below:

• DWs = Doctor Who specials [non-fiction]
• DWn = Doctor Who novelisations of TV stories
• DWo = Doctor Who original novels
• BSI = The Baker Street Irregulars
• Goliath = The Adventures of Goliath aka The Adventures of David and Goliath

Where a hardback and paperback edition were published at the same time, I've listed the version cited first in the Bookseller. On that basis, here are Terrance's published works in order of publication:

1. 
   08 Apr 1972: [DWs #01] The Making of Doctor Who by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks, C8 120pp, 25p, Piccolo Books (Pan), Children's, ISBN 330 23203 7, listed in Bookseller 8 Apr 1972, p. 1,893.
   Cover: photo of Jon Pertwee and a Sea Devil in the Doctor Who TV story The Sea Devils
   
   16 Dec 1976: Revised second edition, now credited to Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, 128pp, 60p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 0 426 11615 1, cover art by Chris Achilleos showing Fourth Doctor in Target logo.
   
   20 Mar 1983: Reprinted second edition, Target Books (WH Allen), £1.80, ISBN 0 426 11615 1
   
   
2. 17 Jan 1974: [DWn #01] Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, sC8 160pp, 25p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10313 0, listed in Bookseller 16 Mar 1974, p. 1,572. 
   
   
3. 18 Mar 1974: [DWn #02] Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks, sC8 160pp, 30p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10380 7, listed in Bookseller 30 Mar 1974, p. 1,805.
   
   
4. 21 Nov 1974, [DWn #03] Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen, sc8, 160pp, 30p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10583 4, listed in Bookseller 2 Nov 1974, p. 2,522.
   
   
5. 13 Mar 1975, [DWn #04] Doctor Who and the Giant Robot, sC8 128pp, 35p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10858 2, listed in Bookseller 29 Mar 1975, p. 1,952.
   
   
6. 15 May 1975, [DWn #05] Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons, sC8 128pp, 35p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10639 3, listed in Bookseller 24 May 1975, p. 2,646.
   
   
7. 
   16 Oct 1975, [DWn #06] Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders, sC8 128pp, 35p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10655 5, listed in Bookseller 18 Dec 1976, p. 2,811.
   
   
8. 20 Nov 1975, [DWn #07] Doctor Who — The Three Doctors, sC8 128pp, 35p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10938 4, listed in Bookseller 18 Dec 1976, p. 2,811.
   
   
9. 20 Nov 1975, [DWs #02] The Doctor Who Monster Book, Imp8 64pp, 50p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 11447 7, listed in Bookseller 17 Jan 1976, p. 195.
   
   
10. 15 Jan 1976, [DWn #08] Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster, IC8 128pp, £2.25, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 054 1, listed in Bookseller 17 Jan 1976, p. 195.
    
    Paperback edition, sC8, 40p, Target Books (Tandem), ISBN 426 11041 2, listed in Bookseller 31 Jan 1976, p. 364. First edition says "First published simultaneously in Great Britain by Tandem Publishing Ltd [ie paperback], and Allan Wingate (Publishers) Ltd [ie hardback] 1976".
    
    
11. 28 Jan 1976, The Mounties #01 — The Great March West, IC8 128pp, £2.25, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 063 0, listed in Bookseller 17 Jan 1976, p. 195.
    
    
12. ?? Apr 1976, The Mounties #02 — Massacre in the Hills, D8 128pp, £2.25, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 067 3, listed in Bookseller 10 Apr 1976, p. 1,960.
    
    ?? Apr 1976, paperback edition, sC8 128pp, Target Books (Tandem), Fiction (Western), ISBN 426 11105 2, listed in Bookseller 18 Dec 1976, p. 2,811.
    
    
13. 20 May 1976, [DWn #09] Doctor Who The Revenge of the Cybermen, sC8 128pp, 40p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 10997 X, listed in Bookseller 18 Dec 1976, p. 2,811.
    
    
14. 
    12 Jul 1976, The Mounties #03 — War Drums of the Blackfoot, D8 125pp, £2.25, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 068 1, listed in Bookseller 17 Jul 1976, p. 231.
    
    
15. 22 Jul 1976, [DWn #10] Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks, D8 14pp, £2.25, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 072 X, listed in Bookseller 17 Jul 1976, p. 231.
    
    
16. 19 Aug 1976, [DWn #11] Doctor Who and the Web of Fear, D8 127pp, £2.25, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 073 8, listed in Bookseller 14 Aug 1976, p. 1,348.
    
    
17. 21 Oct 1976, [DWn #12] Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks, IC8 125pp, £2.50, Allan Wingate, Children's ISBN 85523 076 2, listed in Bookseller 25 Sep 1976, p. 1,950.
    
    
18. 16 Dec 1976, [DWn #13] Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars, IC8 128pp, £2.50, Allan Wingate, Children's 85523 141 6, listed in Bookseller 22 Jan 1977, p. 262.
    
    
19. 16 Dec 1976, [DWs #03] The Doctor Who Dinosaur Book, 64pp, 75p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN  0 426 11842 1.
    
    
20. 20 Jan 1977, [DWn #14] Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters, IC8 128pp, £2.50, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 151 3, listed in Bookseller 22 Jan 1977, p. 262.
    
    
21. 
    24 Mar 1977, [DWn #15] Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth, D8 144pp, £2.50, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 171 8, listed in Bookseller 26 Mar 1977, p. 1,878.
    
    
22. 21 Apr 1977, [DWn #16] Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos, sC8 144pp, 50p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 11703 4, listed in Bookseller 23 Apr 1977, p. 2,191.
    
    
23. 19 May 1977, [DWn #17] Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius, IC8 139pp, £2.95, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 201 3, listed in Bookseller 28 May 1977, p. 2,635.
    
    
24. 21 Jul 1977, [DWn #18] Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil, IC8 126pp, £2.95. Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 231 5, listed in Bookseller 30 Jul 1977, p. 500.
    
    
25. 29 Sep 1977, [DWn #19] Doctor Who and the Mutants, sC8 128pp, 60p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 11690 9, listed in Bookseller 1 Oct 1977, p. 2,325.
    
    
26. 20 Oct 1977, [DWn #20] Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin, IC8 121pp, £2.95, Allan Wingate, Children's, ISBN 85523 120 3, listed in Bookseller22 Oct 1977, p. 2,586.
    
    
27. 20 Oct 1977, [DWs #04] The Second Doctor Who Monster Book, Imp8 64pp, 70p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 20001 2, listed in Bookseller 22 Oct 1977, p. 2,586.
    
    
28. 17 Nov 1977, [DWn #21] Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang, sC8 128pp, 60p, Target Books (Tandem), Children's, ISBN 426 11973 8, listed in Bookseller 26 Nov 1977, p. 2,996.
    
    
29. 19 Jan 1978, [DWn #22] Doctor Who and the Face of Evil, 126pp, 60p, Target Books (Tandem), ISBN 0 426 20006 3, listed in Bookseller 28 Jan 1978, p. 377.
    
    
30. 
    30 Mar 1978, [DWn #23] Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock, 126pp, £2.95, ISBN 0 491 02252 2. [No Bookseller listing found.]
    
    
31. ?? May 1978, [BSI #01] The Case of the Missing Masterpiece, sD8 128pp, £2.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 90456 0, listed in Bookseller 27 May 1978, p. 2,934.
    
    
32. 18 May 1978, [DWn #24] Doctor Who and the Time Warrior, IC8 144pp, £2.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02413 4, listed in Bookseller 27 May 1978, p. 2,934.
    
    
33. 20 Jul 1978, [DWn #25] Doctor Who — Death to the Daleks, IC8 128pp, £3.25, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02433 9, listed in Bookseller 26 Aug 1978, p. 1,870.
    
    
34. 23 Oct 1978, Star Quest #01 — Spacejack, IC8 111pp, £3.25, WH Allen, Fiction (Science Fiction), ISBN 491 02415 0, listed in Bookseller 4 Nov 1978, p. 3,019.
    
    
35. ?? Nov 1978, [BSI #02] The Case of the Fagin File, IC8 128pp, £2.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 90645 8, listed in Bookseller 16 Dec 1978, p. 3,593.
    
    
36. 16 Nov 1978, [DWn #26] Doctor Who and the Android Invasion, IC8 126pp, £3.25, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02026 0, listed in Bookseller 18 Nov 1978, p. 3,206.
    
    
37. 18 Jan 1979, [DWn #27] Doctor Who and the Hand of Fear, IC8 128pp, £3.25, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02256 5, listed in Bookseller 27 Jan 1979, p. 432.
    
    
38. 
    01 Mar 1979, Star Quest #02 — Roboworld, IC8 112pp, £3.25, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02336 7, listed in Bookseller 24 Mar 1979, p. 1,433.
    
    
39. 29 Mar 1979, [DWn #28] Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy, IC8 112pp, £3.25, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02437 1, listed in Bookseller 24 Mar 1979, p. 1,433.
    
    
40. 24 May 1979, [DWn #29] Doctor Who and the Robots of Death, £3.50, WH Allen,  ISBN 0 491 02436 3. [No Bookseller listing found.]
    
    
41. 26 Jul 1979, [DWn #30] Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl, IC8 112pp, £3.50, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02127 5, listed in Bookseller 28 Jul 1979, p. 462.
    
    
42. 25 Sep 1979, [DWs #05] The Adventures of K9 and Other Mechanical Creatures, sC8 96pp, £85p, Tandem, Children's, ISBN 426 20067 5, listed in Bookseller 29 Sep 1979, p. 1,586.
    
    
43. 25 Oct 1979, [DWs #06] Terry Nation's Dalek Special, C8 64pp, 95p, Target Books, Children's, ISBN 426 20094 2, listed in Bookseller 20 Dec 1980, p. 2,380.
    
    
44. 22 Nov 1979, [DWn #31] Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks, IC8 112pp, £3.50, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02640 4, listed in Bookseller 17 Nov 1979, p. 2,304.
    
    
45. ?? ??? 1979 [BSI #03] The Case of the Blackmail Boys, Blackie. [No Bookseller listing found.]
    
    
46. 24 Jan 1980, [DWn #32] Doctor Who and the Underworld, IC8 128pp, £3.75, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02229 8, listed in Bookseller 26 Jan 1980, p. 394.
    
    
47. 21 Feb 1980. [DWn #33] Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time, IC8 128pp, £3.75, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02439 8, listed in Bookseller 23 Feb 1980, p. 850.
    
    
48. 20 Mar 1980, [DWn #34] Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood, IC8 128pp, £3.75, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02680 3, listed in Bookseller 29 Mar 1980, p. 1,472.
    
    
49. 24 Apr 1980, [DWn #35] Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara, IC8 128pp, £3.75, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02651 X, listed in Bookseller 26 Apr 1980, p. 1,895.
    
    
50. 
    ?? May 1980, [BSI #04] The Case of the Cinema Swindle, IC8 128pp, £3.50, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 90887 6, listed in Bookseller 24 May 1980, p. 2,231.
    
    
51. 29 May 1980, [DWn #36] Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll, IC8 128 pp, £3.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02721 4, listed in Bookseller 24 May 1980, p. 2,231.
    
    
52. 26 Jun 1980, [DWn #37] Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor, IC8 128pp, £3.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02660 9, listed in Bookseller 28 Jun 1980, p. 2,724.
    
    
53. 21 Aug 1980, [DWn #38] Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden, sC8 112pp, 85p, Target Books, Children's, ISBN 426 20130 2, listed in Bookseller 20 Dec 1980, p. 2,381.
    
    
54. ?? Oct 1980, [BSI #05] The Case of the Ghost Grabbers, C8 128pp, £3.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 90888 4, listed in Bookseller 4 Oct 1980, p. 1,515.
    
    
55. 16 Oct 1980, [DWn #39] Doctor Who and the Horns of Nimon, IC8 112pp, £3.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02278 6, listed in Bookseller 25 Oct 1980, p. 1,770.
    
    
56. 20 Nov 1980, [DWn #40] Doctor Who and the Monster of Peladon, IC8 128pp, £3.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02823 7, listed in Bookseller 15 Nov 1980, p. 2,000.
    
    
57. ?? Apr 1981, [BSI #06] The Case of the Cop Catchers, C8 128pp, £4.50, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 91062 5, listed in Bookseller 2 May 1981, p. 1,604.
    
    (?? Jun 1981, audiobook version of Doctor Who — State of Decay, read by Tom Baker, single audio cassette, £2,.25, Pickwick Talking Books. Abridged version of the novelisation, released ahead of its publication; see 17 Sep, below.)
    
    
58. 20 Aug 1981, Star Quest #03 — Terrorsaur, IC8 128pp, £4.50, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02701 X, listed in Bookseller 22 Aug 1981, p. 679.
    
    
59. 17 Sep 1981, [DWn #41] Doctor Who and the State of Decay, IC8 128pp, £4.50, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 491 02953 5, listed in Bookseller 19 Sep 1981, p. 1,084.
    
    
60. 
    15 Oct 1981, [DWn #42] Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child, sC8 128pp, £1.25, Target Books, Children's, ISBN 426 20144 2, listed in Bookseller 17 Oct 1981, p. 1,433.
    
    
61. ?? Oct 1981, [Monsters #01] Cry Vampire!, C8 128pp, £5.25, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 91126 5, listed in Bookseller 24 Oct 1981, p. 1,488.
    
    
62. ?? Mar 1982, [Monsters #02] Marvin's Monster, D8 122pp, £5.25, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 91179 6, listed in Bookseller 27 Mar 1982, p. 1,246.
    
    
63. 20 May 1982, [DWn #43] Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken, sC8 128pp, Target Books, Children's, ISBN 426 20148 5, listed in Bookseller 22 May 1982, p. 1,964.
    
    
64. ?? Jul 1982, Ask Oliver #01 — The Mystery of the Missing Diamond, D8 56pp, £3.95, Pepper Press, Children's, ISBN 237 45636 2, listed in Bookseller 21 Aug 1982, p. 725.
    
    
65. 14 Oct 1982, [Monsters #03] Wereboy!, C8, 120pp, £5.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 216 91308 X, listed in Bookseller 23 Oct 1982, p. 1,567.
    
    
66. ?? Oct 1982, Ask Oliver #02 — The Mystery of the Haunted Hospital, D8 60pp, £3.95, Pepper Press, Children's, ISBN 0 237 45643 5, listed in Bookseller 5 Mar 1983, p. 870.
    
    
67. 18 Nov 1982, [DWn #44] Doctor Who and the Sunmakers, sC8 128pp, £1.25, Target Books, Children's, ISBN 426 20059 4, listed in Bookseller 20 Nov 1982, p. 1,929.
    
    
68. 17 Feb 1983, [DWn 45] Doctor Who — Meglos, C8 126pp, £5.25, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 0 491 03150 5, listed in Bookseller 26 Feb 1983, p. 758.
    
    
69. 28 Feb 1983, Ask Oliver #03 — The Mystery of the Smuggler’s Treasure, D8 160pp, £3.95, Pepper Press, Children's, ISBN 0 237 45663 X, listed in Bookseller 5 Mar 1983, p. 870.
    
    
70. 24 Mar 1983, [Monsters #04] Demon of the Dark, C8 120pp, £5.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 91360 8, listed in Bookseller 26 Mar 1983, p. 1,182.
    
    
71. 14 Apr 1983, [DWn #46] Doctor Who — Four to Doomsday, C8 128, £5.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 0 491 03450 4, listed in Bookseller 23 Apr 1983, p. 1,541.
    
    
72. 21 Jul 1983, [DWn #47] Doctor Who — Arc of Infinity, IC8 128, £5.50, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 0 491 03061 4, listed in Bookseller 23 Jul 1983, p. 419.
    
    
73. ?? Oct 1983, [Monsters #05] War of the Witches, C8 112pp, £5.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 91471 X, listed in Bookseller 5 Nov 1983, p. 1,927.
    
    
74. 24 Nov 1983, [DWn #48] Doctor Who — The Five Doctors, sC8 128, £1.50, Target Books, Children's, ISBN 0 426 19510 8, listed in Bookseller 26 Nov 1983, p. 2,180.
    
    
75. 08 Dec 1983, [DWn #49] Doctor Who — Kinda, C8 128pp, £5.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 0 491 03121 1, listed in Bookseller 10 Dec 1983, p. 2,387.
    
    
76. 21 Jan 1984, [DWn #50] Doctor Who — Snakedance, C8 128pp, £5.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 0 491 03151 3, listed in Bookseller 14 Jan 1984, p. 162.
    
    
77. 
    ?? Feb 1984, Ask Oliver #04 — The Mystery of the Missing Train, D8 56pp, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, £4.50, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 03 X, listed in Bookseller 25 Feb 1984, p. 841.
    
    
78. ?? Feb 1984, [Goliath #01] Goliath and the Burglar, D8 56pp, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, £4.50, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 00 5, listed in Bookseller 25 Feb 1984, p. 841.
    
    
79. 24 May 1984, [DWn #51] Doctor Who — Warriors of the Deep, IC8 128pp, £5.95, WH Allen, Children's, ISBN 0 491 03302 8, listed in Bookseller 19 May 1984, p. 2,104.
    
    
80. ?? May 1984, [Goliath #02] Goliath and the Buried Treasure, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, C8 64pp, £4.50, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 25 0, listed in Bookseller 19 May 1984, p. 2,104.
    
    
81. 16 Jul 1984, Ask Oliver #05 — The Fireworks Mystery, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, C8 64pp, £4.50, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 20 X, listed in Bookseller 21 Jul 1984, p. 318.
    
    
82. 19 Jul 1984, [DWn #52] Doctor Who — Inferno, C8 128pp, £5.95, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03143 2, listed in Bookseller 21 Jul 1984, p. 318.
    
    
83. 27 Sep 1984, [Goliath #03] Goliath and the Dognappers, C8 64pp, £4.50, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 50 1, listed in Bookseller 29 Sep 1984, p. 1,445.
    
    
84. 
    ?? Oct 1984, [Monsters #06] Ghosts of Gallows Cross, C8 112pp, £6.50, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 91643 7, listed in Bookseller 20 Oct 1984, p. 1,719.
    
    
85. 15 Nov 1984, [DWn #53] Doctor Who — The Caves of Androzani, C8 144pp, £5.95, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03483 0, listed in Bookseller 17 Nov 1984, p. 2,071.
    
    
86. ?? Jan 1985, T.R. Bear #01 — Enter T.R.!, illustrated by Susan Hellard, ages 5+, IC8 (198x129mm) 64pp, £4.50, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 16 1, listed in Bookseller 2 Feb 1985, p. 479. Piccadilly Press Spring List 1985, p. 4.
    
    
87. ?? Feb 1985, Ask Oliver #06 — Vicky's Victory, illustrated by Ruth Benton, ages 7-10, C8 64pp, £4.75, Piccadilly Press, Children's ISBN 0 946826 26 9, listed in Bookseller 23 Feb 1985, p. 787. Piccadilly Press Spring List 1985, p. 6.
    
    
88. 21 Mar 1985, [DWn #54] Doctor Who — The Mind of Evil, C8 144pp, £5.95, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03333 8, listed in Bookseller 23 Mar 1985, p. 1,318.
    
    
89. ?? Mar 1985, [Goliath #04] Goliath on Holiday, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, ages 5+, C8 (198x 129mm) 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 36 6, listed in 23 Mar 1985, p. 1,318. Piccadilly Press Spring List 1985, p. 5.
    
    
90. 12 Jun 1985, [DWn #55] Doctor Who — The Krotons, C8 128pp, £6.25, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03550 0, listed in Bookseller 22 Jun 1985, p. 2,568.
    
    
91. ?? Jun 1985, T.R. Bear #02 — T.R. Goes to School, illustrated by Susan Hellard, ages 5+, C8 (198x129pp) 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 41 2, listed in Bookseller 22 Jun 1985, p. 2,568. Piccadilly Press Spring List 1985, p. 4.
    
    
92. 12 Sep 1985, [DWn #56] Doctor Who — The Time Monster, IC8 144pp, £6.25, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03870 4, listed in Bookseller 21 Sep 1985, p. 1,281.
    
    
93. 12 Sep 1985, Ask Oliver #07 — Gupta’s Christmas, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 0 946826 19 6, partially listed in Bookseller 5 Oct 1985, p. 1,480.
    
    
94. 
    ?? Oct 1985, T.R. Bear #03 — T.R.'s Day Out, illustrated by Susan Hellard, C8 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 17 X, listed in Bookseller 12 Oct 1985, p. 1,572.
    
    
95. ?? Feb 1986, [BSI #07] The Disappearing Diplomat, C8 128pp, £6.50, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 91895 2, listed in Bookseller 22 Feb 1986, p. 769.
    
    
96. ?? Feb 1986, [Goliath #05] Goliath at the Dog Show, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, ages 5+, C8 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946828 24 2, listed in Bookseller 19 Dec 1986, p. 2,461. Piccadilly Press Spring List 1986, p. 9. 
    
    
97. ?? Mar 1986,  T.R. Bear #04 — T. R. Afloat, illustrated by Susan Hellard, ages 5+, C8 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 28 5, listed in Bookseller 22 Mar 1986, p. 1,239. Piccadilly Press Spring List 1986, p. 7. 
    
    
98. 15 May 1986, Camden Street Kids #01 — In the Money, cover by Stuart Hughes, illustrated by Ruth Benton, ages 7+, C8 72pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 33 1, listed in Bookseller 17 May 1986, p. 1,981. "April" according to Piccadilly Press Spring List 1986, p. 10.  
    
    
99. 17 Jul 1986, [DWn #57]  Doctor Who — The Seeds of Death, C8 160pp, £6.95, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03662 0, listed in Bookseller 19 Jul 1986, p. 294.
    
    
100. 
     21 Aug 1986, Camden Street Kids #02 — On TV, cover by Stuart Hughes, illustrated by Ruth Benton, ages 7+, sD8 72pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946827 44 7, listed in Bookseller 23 Aug 1986, p. 830. Piccadilly Press Spring List 1986, p. 10. 
     
     
101. ?? Sep 1986, [BSI #08] The Comic Crooks, C8 128pp, £6.50, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 91942 8, listed in Bookseller 26 Sep 1985, p. 1,351.
     
     
102. ?? Sep 1986, T.R. Bear #05 — T. R.'s Halloween, illustrated by Susan Hellard, ages 5+, C8 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 49 8, listed in Bookseller 26 Sep 1985, p. 1,351. Piccadilly Press Autumn List 1986, p. 5.
     
     
103. 
     09 Oct 1986, [Goliath #06] Goliath's Christmas, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, C8 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 57 9, listed in Bookseller 10 Oct 1986, p. 1,542. Piccadilly Press Autumn List 1986, p. 8.
     
     
104. 11 Dec 1986, [DWn #58] Doctor Who — The Faceless Ones, IC8 144pp, £7.25, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03692 2, listed in Bookseller 5 Dec 1986, p. 2,286.
     
     
105. 26 Feb 1987, Camden Street Kids #03 — By the Sea, C8 72pp, illustrated by Ruth Benton, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 68 4, listed in Bookseller 27 Feb 1987, p. 801.
     
     
106. ?? Apr 1987, T.R. Bear #06 — T. R.'s Festival, C8 64pp, illustrated by Susan Hellard, £?, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 73 0.
     
     This ISBN is listed with the title T.R.'s Big Game in Bookseller 10 Apr 1987, p. 1,464. But three months later, the Bookseller of 26 June 1987, p. 2,411 lists two separate titles: T. R.'s Festival (with this ISBN, 0 946826 73 0) and T. R.'s Big Game (ISBN 0 946826 88 9). The larger number suggests Big Game was pushed back in the schedule and published after T. R's Festival, so my guess is Festival in April and Big Game in June. 
     
     
107. ?? Apr 1987, [BSI #09] The Haunted Holiday, IC8 112pp, £6.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 92101 5, listed in Bookseller 17 Apr 1987, p. 1,555.
     
     
108. ?? Apr 1987, [Goliath #07] Goliath's Easter Parade, C8 60pp, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 79 X, listed in Bookseller 24 Apr 1987, p. 1,633.
     
     
109. 21 May 1987, [DWn #59] Doctor Who — The Ambassadors of Death, C8 144pp, £7.50, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03712 0, listed in Bookseller 22 May 1987, p. 1,993.
     
     
110. ?? Jun 1987, T.R. Bear #07 — T. R.'s Big Game, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 0 946826 88 9, as cited in Bookseller 26 June 1987, p. 2411; but see note above re T. R.'s Festival (April 1987).
     
     
111. 20 Aug 1987, Camden Street Kids #04 — School Fair, C8 65pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 87 0, listed in Bookseller 21 Aug 1987, p. 826.
     
     
112. 17 Sep 1987, Sally Ann #01 — On Her Own, C8 54pp, illustrated by Deborah van der Beek, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 94 3, listed in Bookseller 18 Sep 1987, p. 1,246.
     
     
113. ?? Sep 1987, [BSI #10] The Criminal Computer, Post8 112pp, £6.95, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 92310 7, listed in Bookseller 25 Sep 1987, p. 1,333.
     
     
114. 12 Nov 1987, [Goliath #08] Goliath Goes to Summer School, IC8 64pp, £4.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 0 946826 92 7, listed in Bookseller 13 Nov 1987, p. 1,984.
     
     
115. 19 Nov 1987, [DWn #60] Doctor Who — The Mysterious Planet, C8 144pp, £7.95, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03096 7, listed in Bookseller 20 Nov 1987, p. 2,064.
     
     
116. 
     21 Jan 1988, The Adventures of Buster and Betsy #01 — A New Beginning, C8 64, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 001 7, listed in Bookseller 22 Jan 1988, p. 284.
     
     
117. 17 Mar 1988, [DWn #61] Doctor Who — The Wheel in Space, sC8 144pp, £7.95, WH Allen, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 491 03356 7, listed in Bookseller 18 Mar 1988, p. 1,188.
     
     
118. ?? Mar 1988, Sally Ann #02 — Sally Ann's School Play, C8 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 008 4, listed in Bookseller 18 Mar 1988, p. 1,188.
     
     Published in the US as Sally Ann's School Show.
     
     
119. ?? Apr 1988, T. R. Bear #08 — T. R. Goes to Hollywood, C8 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 004 1, listed in Bookseller 15 Apr 1988, p. 1,565.
     
     
120. ?? May 1988, The Adventures of Buster and Betsy #02 — In Trouble, C8 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 013 0, listed in Bookseller 27 May 1988, p. 2,103.
     
     
121. ?? May 1988, Jonathan's Ghost, C8 80pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 011 4, listing in Bookseller 27 May 1988, p. 2,103.
     
     When this became the first in the Jonathan's Ghost trilogy, it was renamed The School Spirit.
     
     
122. 16 Jun 1988, [DWn #62] Doctor Who — The Smugglers, Target Books, ISBN 0 426 20328 3, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
123. 23 Jun 1988, [Goliath #09] Goliath at the Seaside, C8 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 015 7, listed in Bookseller 1 Jul 1988, p. 52.
     
     
124. ?? Aug 1988, Sally Ann #03 — Sally Ann's Picnic, IC8 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 017 3, listed in Bookseller 5 Aug 1988, p. 571.
     
     Published in the US as Sally Ann and the Mystery Picnic.
     
     
125. ?? Oct 1988, T. R. Bear #09 — T. R. Bear Goes Skiing, C8 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 028 9, listed in Bookseller 14 Oct 1988, p. 1,555.
     
     
126. 
     10 Nov 1988, Sally Ann #04 — Sally Ann Goes to Hospital, C8 64pp, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 035 1, listed in Bookseller 11 Nov 1988, p. 1,956.
     
     Published in the US as Nurse Sally Ann.
     
     
127. ?? Jan 1989, Jonathan's Ghost #02 — Spitfire Summer, 20cm 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 033 5, listed in Bookseller 27 Jan 1989, p. 326.
     
     
128. ?? Feb 1989, [Goliath #10] Sports Day, 20cm 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, 1 85340 041 6, listed in Bookseller 31 Mar 1989, p. 1,193.
     
     
129. 13 Apr 1989,  A Cat Called Max #01 — Magnificent Max, 20cm 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 039 4, listed in Bookseller 14 Apr 1989, p. 1,345.
     
     
130. ?? May 1989, T. R. Bear #10 — T. R. Bear Down Under, 20cm 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 042 4, listed in Bookseller 26 May 1989, p. 1,812.
     
     
131. 13 July 1989, The Adventures of Buster and Betsy #03 — The River Rats, Piccadilly Press, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
132. 24 Aug 1989,  T. R. Bear #11 — T. R. Bear in New York, Piccadilly Press, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
133. 24 Aug 1989, Sally Ann #05 — At the Ballet, Piccadilly Press, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
134. 05 Oct 1989, [Goliath #11] Goliath and the Cub Scouts, Piccadilly Press, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
135. 18 Jan 1990, [DWn #63] Doctor Who — Planet of Giants, Target Books, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
136. 25 Jan 1990, A Cat Called Max #02 — Max and the Quiz Kids, 13cm 64pp, £5.25, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 84340 058 0, listed in Bookseller 26 Jan 1990, p. 301.
     
     
137. 
     15 Mar 1990, [DWn #64] Doctor Who — The Space Pirates, 18cm 144pp, £2.50, Target Books, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 426 20346 1, listed in Bookseller 16 Mar 1990, p. 902.
     
     
138. 22 Mar 1990, Meet the Macmagics, 20cm 96pp, £6.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 070 X, listed in Bookseller 23 Mar 1990, p. 1,024.
     
     
139. 22 Mar 1990, Sally Ann #06 — The Pony, 20cm 64pp, £5.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 071 8, listed in Bookseller 23 Mar 1990, p. 1,024.
     
     
140. 19 Apr 1990,  T. R. Bear #12 — T. R. Bear at the Zoo, Piccadilly Press, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
141. ?? May 1990, [Goliath #12] Goliath's Birthday, 20cm 64pp, £5.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 075 0, listed in Bookseller 18 May 1990, p. 1,609.
     
     
142. 
     ?? May 1990, Prisoners of War, 20cm 128pp, Methuen Children's Books, Children's, ISBN 0 416 15052 7, listed in Bookseller 25 May 1990, p. 1,674.
     
     
143. ?? ??? 1990, A Cat Called Max #03 — Majestic Max, 64pp, illustrated by Toni Goffe, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 078 5. No Bookseller listing found, position in list based on ISBNs of other Piccadilly titles.
     
     
144. ?? ??? 1990, The Macmagics #02 — My Brother the Vampire, illustrated by Celia Canning, 91pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 080 7. No Bookseller listing found, position in list based on ISBNs of other Piccadilly titles.
     
     
145. 20 Sep 1990, Sally Ann #07 — Stella's Wedding, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 098 X no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
146. ?? Nov 1990, [Goliath #13] Teacher's Pet, Piccadilly Press, no Bookseller listing found.
     
     
147. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #01 — My Day at the Zoo, illustrated by Hanan Kaminiski, ages 2-5, MY Book Ltd.
     
     The (Dublin) Evening Herald, 1 December 1990, p. 31, explains that the "MY Book series of ten adventure yarns ... you can see your name in print, or your family or friends and even your pet cat or dog if you wish. ... Each title caters for a different age group between the 2-10 range. ... You can choose from five languages — English, French, Spanish, German and Italian — and I'm told an Irish version is on the way." The piece cites four titles, all by Dicks and Kaminski (though the last was actually illustrated by Gale Pitt).
     
     
148. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #02 — The Man in the Moon and Me, illustrated by Hannan Kaminski, ages 2-4, MY Book Ltd.
      
149. 
     ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #03 — The Day We Saved the Circus, illustrated by Hanan Kaminiski, ages 4-9, MY Book Ltd.
     
     
150. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #04 — My Secret Planet, illustrated by Gale Pitt, ages 5-10, MY Book Ltd.
     
     The following year, there were 11 MY Book titles advertised in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle (19 Nov 1991, p 22): it cited The Day We Saved the Circus and The Man in the Moon and Me as above, plus My Birthday and My Best Christmas Ever.
     
     By 1993, there were 14 titles in the range (Uxbridge and West Drayton Gazette, 8 Sep 1993, p. 17), and Terrance Dicks is cited as "one of the authors". So, we can be reasonably sure he wrote 10 of these books in 1990, and then other authors contributed to the range. I've found Terrance's name on two further titles:
     
     
151. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #05 — How We Caught the Wicked Witch, illustrated by Hanan Kaminski, MY Book Ltd.
     
     
152. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #06 — The Great Elephant Rescue, illustrated by Gale Pitt, MY Book Ltd.
     
     My guess is that Terrance was also the author of:
     
     
153. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #07 —  My Trip Over London in a Balloon, ages 4-10, MY Book Ltd.
     
     And that means he probably wrote three of the following: My Best Christmas Ever; How I Saved Christmas, ages 2-5; Our Day on the Farm, ages 2-5; My Camping Adventure, ages 3-8; My Birthday; The Rainbow Adventure; Football story, title unknown. For the moment I'll list these as:
     
     
154. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #08, details unknown
155. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #09, details unknown
156. ?? Dec 1990, MY Book #10, details unknown
     
     
157. ?? Jan 1991 [Goliath #15] On Their Own, illustrated by Valerie Littlewood, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 132 3. No Bookseller listing found, position in list based on ISBNs of other Piccadilly titles.
     
     
158. ?? Feb 1991, A Cat Called Max #04 — Max's Amazing Summer, 13cm 64pp, £5.95, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 140 4, listed in Bookseller 22 Feb 1991, p. 548.
     
     
159. 
     08 Mar 1991, Winjin' Pom by Terrance Dicks and Richard Carpenter [written by the former, based on TV scripts by the latter], 128pp, Piper (Macmillan Children's Books), ISBN 0330320890. No Bookseller listing found.
     
     
160. 28 Mar 1991, What's Going on William?, 21cm 32pp, illustrated by Adriano Gon, £6.95, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 135 8, listed in Bookseller 29 Mar 1991, p. 992.
     
     
161. ?? Apr 19991,  The Macmagics #03 — A Spell for My Sister, 20cm 64pp, £5.95, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 155 2, listed in Bookseller 26 Apr 1991, p. 1,250.
     
     
162. 30 May 1991, [Goliath #13] The Big Match, 20cm 64pp, £5.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 175 7, listed in Bookseller 10 May 1991, p. 1,393.
     
     
163. ?? Jun 1991, Jonathan's Ghost #03 —Jonathan and the Superstar, 20cm 96pp, £6.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, listed in Bookseller 28 Jun 1991, p. 284.
     
     
164. 15 Aug 1991, [DWo #01] Doctor Who — Timewyrm: Exodus, 18cm 240pp, £3.50, Target Books [says Bookseller], Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 426 20357 7, listed in Bookseller 16 Aug 1991, p. 420.
     
     
165. ?? ???? 1991, Blackie Bears #01 — Lost Property, Blackie, ISBN 0 216 92926 1. No Bookseller listing found, but ISBN is lower than that for other books in Blackie Bears series so was surely published first.
     
     
166. ?? Aug 1991, Blackie Bears #02 — George and the Dragon, illustrated by R Geary, 20cm 48pp, £3.50, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 93116 9, listed in Bookseller 11 Oct 1991, p. 1,065. 
     
     
167. 
     ?? Oct 1991, Europe United, illustrated by Ray Jelliffe, 23cm 144pp, £9.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's [non-fiction], ISBN 1 85340 141 2, listed in Bookseller 1 Nov 1991, p. 1,320.
     
     
168. ?? Nov 1991, [Goliath #14] Goliath Gets a Job, 20cm 64pp, £5.95, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 166 8, listed in Bookseller 29 Nov 1991, p. 1,603.
     
     
169. 28 Feb 1992, A Cat Called Max #05 — Max and the Cat Burglar, illustrated by Toni Goffe, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 176 5. No Bookseller listing found and note that the ISBN number is larger than the Max book published in October.
     
     
170. 04 Jun 1992, Knightschool, illustrated by Merlin Currie, 78pp, Knight paperback, ISBN 978 0340562437. No Bookseller listing found.
     
     
171. 16 Jul 1992, A Riot of Writers — A Romp Through Literature, illustrated by Ray Jelliffe, 160pp, Piccadilly, ISBN 9781853401428. No Bookseller listing found.
     
     
172. 24 Sep 1992, A Riot of Irish Writers: A Romp Through Irish Literature, illustrated by Ray Jelliffe, 20 cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, Humour [non-fiction], ISBN 1 85340 184 6, listed in Bookseller 25 Sep 1992, p. 940.
     
     
173. 29 Oct 1992, A Cat Called Max #06 — Max and the Missing Megastar, illustrated by Toni Goffe, 20cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 103 X, listed in Bookseller 30 Oct 1992, p. 1,338.
     
     
174. ?? Nov 1992, Blackie Bears #03 — Steaming Sam, 20cm 48pp, £3.99, Blackie, Children's, ISBN 0 216 93299 8, listed in Bookseller 27 Nov 1992, p. 1,632.
     
     ?? ??? 1992, The Comic Capers 
     I've seen several references to this book but can't trace any details beyond the title and year of publication. It may be an alternative title for a previous book, perhaps a US edition of [BSI #08] The Comic Crooks, first published in Sep 1986. Until I can find out more, I've left it off the count.
     
     
175. 
     01 Jul 1993, Uproar in the House — 700 Years of Lies, Scandal and Politics, illustrated by Richard Robinson, introduction by Lord Weatherill, 165pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 230 2. No Bookseller listing found. Book launch held in House of Commons, 30 June 1993, as reported in The Times on 1 Jul, p. 16.
     
     
176. 29 Jul 1993, The Littlest Dinosaur, illustrated by Bethan Matthews, 19cm 48pp, £3.99, Gazelle Books (Hamish Hamilton), Children's, ISBN 0 241 13382 3, listed in Bookseller 30 Jul 1993, p. 72.
     
     
177. ?? Aug 1993, [Goliath #16] Goliath and the School Bully, illustrated by Paul McCaffrey, 20cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 201 X, listed in Bookseller 27 Aug 1993, p. 64.
     
     
178. ?? Sep 1993, A Cat Called Max #07 — Max's Old-fashioned Christmas, illustrated by Toni Goffe, 20cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 236 2, listed in Bookseller 1 Oct 1993, p. 58.
     
     
179. 31 Mar 1994, Chronicles of a Computer Game Addict #01— The Ultimate Game, illustrated by Laura Beaumont, 20cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 272 9, listed in Bookseller 1 Apr 1994, p. 39.
     
     
180. 31 Mar 1994, Cold Blood vol. 2: Killing Time, 168pp, Puffin, ISBN 0140904017. No Bookseller listing found. [Published the same day as vol. 1, Final Act by Robin Campbell; vol. 3 Nightmare Rave by Alan Durant and vol. 4 Terminal Agreement by Richard Tate both published 26 May.]
     
     
181. 26 May 1994, The Littlest Dinosaur #02 — Littlest on Guard, illustrated by Bethan Matthews, 19cm 48pp, £4.50, Gazelle Books (Hamish Hamilton), Children's, ISBN 0 241 13383 1, listed in Bookseller 27 May 1994, p. 51.
     
     
182. 23 Jun 1994, A Right Royal History — A Thousand Years of Mixed-Up Monarchs, illustrated by Kathryn Lamb, 26cm 176pp, £10.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 248 6, listed in Bookseller 1 Jul 1994, p. 66.
     
     
183. 21 Jul 1994, [DWo #02] Doctor Who — Blood Harvest, 18cm 272pp, £4.99, Doctor Who Books (Virgin), Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 426 20417 4, listed in Bookseller 22 Jul 1994, p. 50.
     
     
184. 
     03 Nov 1994, Woof! The Never Ending Tale, 20c, 144pp, £3.50, Puffin Books, Children's, ISBN 0 14 037244 X, listed in Bookseller 4 Nov 1994, p. 55.
     
     
185. 24 Nov 1994, Chronicles of a Computer Game Addict #02 — Cyberspace Adventure, illustrated by Laura Beaumont, 20cm 96pp, £7.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 279 6, listed in Bookseller 25 Nov 1994, p. 55.
     
     
186. ?? ??? 1994, Terror in the Swamp, Carol Publishing Corporation, ISBN 9785551147428. No Bookseller listing found.
     
     
187. 06 Mar 1995, Escape from Everytown, illustrated by Chris Priestley, 19cm 95pp, £2.75, Longman Book Project (Pearson Education), School textbooks, ISBN 0 582 12202 3, listed in Bookseller 24 Mar 1995, p. 80.
     
     
188. 01 Apr 1995, Horrorscopes — Aries: Blood Storm as by “Maria Palmer”, aka Terrance Dicks, 130pp, £2.99, Mammoth, ISBN 0 7497 1860 9. One of series of 12 young-adult horror books all by “Maria Palmer”, aka JH Brennan, Theresa Breslin, Paul Cornell, Anthony Masters, Dave Morris, Alick Rowe, Ian C Strachan, Lisa Tuttle; see Locus Index to Science-Fiction: 1984-1988.
     
     
189. 29 Jun 1995, The Littlest Dinosaur #03 —Littlest Disappears, illustrated by Bethan Matthews, 55pp, Hamish Hamilton, ISBN 9780241135198. No Bookseller listing found.
     
     
190. 01 Jul 1995, The Good, the Bad and the Ghastly #01— World War Two, illustrated by Kathryn Lamb, 23cm 176pp, £10.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 395 4, listed in Bookseller 14 Jul 1995, p. 45.
     
     
191. 31 Aug 1995, Harvey #01 — Harvey to the Rescue, illustrated by Susan Hellard, 20cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 375 X, listed in Bookseller 1 Sep 1995, p. 41.
     
     
192. 16 Nov 1995, Chronicles of a Computer Game Addict #03 — Virtual Unreality, illustrated by Laura Beaumont, 20cm 96pp, £7.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 321 0, listed in Bookseller 24 Nov 1995, p. 41.
     
     
193. 07 Dec 1995, [DWo #03] Doctor Who — Shakedown, 18cm 272pp, £4.99, Doctor Who Books (Virgin), Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 426 20459 X, listed in Bookseller 8 Dec 1995, p. 52.
     
     
194. ?? Feb 1996, Harvey #02 — Harvey on Holiday, illustrated by Susan Hellard, 20cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 366 0, listed in Bookseller 2 Feb 1996, p. 49.
     
     
195. 01 May 1996, The Good, the Bad & the Ghastly #02 — The Wild West, illustrated by Kathryn Lamb, 20cm 192pp, £10.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 304 0, listed in Bookseller 31 May 1996, p. 44.
     
     
196. 01 May 1996, The Good, the Bad & the Ghastly #03 — World War One, illustrated by Kathryn Lamb, 176pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 312 5. No Bookseller listing found. 
     
     
197. 02 May 1996, Who Wrote That? An Instant Guide to Literature, illustrated by Ray Jelliffe, 18cm, £3.99, Red Fox, Children's, ISBN 0 09 963311 6, listed in Bookseller 3 May 1996, p. 45. This may be a revised version of A Riot of Writers (Piccadilly, 16 Jul 1992). 
     
     
198. 
     27 Jun 1996, Harvey #03 — Harvey and the Beast of Bodmin, illustrated by Susan Hellard, 20cm 64pp, £6.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 393 8, listed in Bookseller 28 Jun 1996, p. 50.
     
     
199. 27 Jun 1996, Murder on the Net — Discover the Internet Through and Exciting Murder Mystery Game by Julian Ellison and Terrance Dicks, 23cm 224pp plus disk, £16.99, BBC, Fiction (mystery), ISBN 0 563 37199 4, listed in Bookseller 28 June 1996, p. 60.
     
     
200. 01 Oct 1996, The Unexplained #01 — The Wollagong Incident, 20cm 96pp, £8.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 415 2, listed in Bookseller 25 Oct 1996, p. 53.
     
     
201. 06 Feb 1997,  Harvey #04 — Harvey Goes to School, illustrated by Susan Hellard, 20cm 64pp, £8.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 480 2, listed in Bookseller 28 February 1997, p. 44.
     
     
202. 27 Feb 1997, True Stories — Horror (30 short stories), 20 cm 352pp, £4.99, Robinson Publishing, Children's, ISBN 1 85487 457 8, listed in Bookseller 28 Feb 1997, p. 44.
     
     
203. 24 Apr 1997, The Unexplained #02 — The Bermuda Triangle Incident, 20cm 96pp, £8.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 446 2, listed in Bookseller 25 April 1997, p. 57.
     
     
204. 02 Jun 1997, [DWo #04] Doctor Who — The Eight Doctors, 18cm 288pp, £4.99, BBC Books, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 563 40563 5, listed in Bookseller 6 Jun 1997, p. 53.
     
     
205. 
     23 Oct 1997, The Unexplained #03 — The Circle of Death Incident, 20cm 96pp, £9.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 467 5, listed in Bookseller 24 Oct 1997, p. 52.
     
     
206. 13 Nov 1997, Harvey #05 — Harvey and the Swindlers, illustrated by Susan Hellard, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 448 1. No Bookseller listing found.
     
     
207. 01 Dec 1997, [DWo #05] Mean Streets, 18cm 272pp, £4.99, Virgin Books, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 426 20519 7, listed in Bookseller 5 Dec 1997, p. 48. [Although it doesn't feature the Doctor, this is set in the same universe as other books in the range and includes TV monsters the Ogrons.]
     
     
208. 19 Mar 1998, Chronicles of a Computer Game Addict #04 — Internet Danger, 20cm 80pp, £8.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 540 X, listed in Bookseller 27 Mar 1998, p. 46.
     
     
209. 05 May 1998, [DWo #06] Doctor Who — Catastrophea, 18cm 288pp, £4.99, BBC Books, Fiction (science-fiction), ISBN 0 563 40584 8, listed in Bookseller 9 May 1998, p. 47.
     
     
210. 11 Jun 1998, The Unexplained #04 — The Borley Rectory Incident, 20cm 96pp, £9.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 535 3, listed in Bookseller 26 June 1998, p. 54.
     
     
211. 01 Oct 1998, The Unexplained #05 — The Transylvanian Incident, 20cm 96pp, £9.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 469 1, listed in Bookseller 30 Oct 1998, p. 57.
     
     
212. ?? Oct 1998, Changing Universe #01 — SS World, 20cm 128pp, £9.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 531 0, listed in Bookseller 30 Oct 1998, p. 57.
     
     
213. ?? Mar 1999,  The Unexplained #06 — The Easter Island Incident, 20cm 96pp, £9.99, Piccadilly Press, Children's, ISBN 1 85340 508 6, listed in Bookseller 26 Mar 1999, p. 75.
     
     
214. 
     06 April 1999, [DWo #07] Doctor Who — Players, 18cm 288pp, BBC Books, ISBN 0 563 55573 4.
     
     
215. 18 Jun 1999, Sam the Detective, illustrated by Judith Lawton, 65pp, Barrington Stoke, ISBN 1 90226 019 8.
     
     
216. 01 Jul 1999, Changing Universe #02 — Eco Crash, 157pp, Piccadilly Press,  ISBN 1 85340 507 5.
     
     
217. 26 Aug 1999, The Unexplained #07 — The Pyramid Incident, 94pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 599 0.
     
     
218. 25 Nov 1999, The Unexplained #08 — The Mafia Incident, 96pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 670 6.
     
     
219. 02 Mar 2000, Changing Universe #03 — The Mars Project, 153pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 584 6.
     
     
220. 01 May 2000, The Unexplained #09 — The Chinese Ghost Incident, 96pp. Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 611 9.
     
     
221. 14 Sep 2000, Second Sight #01 — Cassie and the Devil’s Charm, 120pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 637 9.
     
     
222. 20 Oct 2000, Sci-fi Danger, set of six 32pp books “selected by David Orme”, written by Helen Bird, Martin Davies, Terrance Dicks, Maureen Lewis, David Orme and Gareth Prices respectively, for Pelican Guided Reading and Writing (Longman), ISBN 978-0582433328.
     
     
223. 06 Nov 2000, [DWo #08] Doctor Who — Endgame, BBC Books, ISBN 0 563 53822 8.
     
     
224. 11 Jan 2001, The Unexplained #10 — The Nazi Dagger Incident, 94pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 647 8.
     
     
225. 
     01 Mar 2001, Second Sight #02— Cassie and the Conway Curse, 128pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 613 3.
     
     
226. 31 Mar 2001,  The Unexplained #11 — The Inca Alien Incident, 96pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 663 8.
     
     
227. 29 Aug 2001, Second Sight #03— Cassie and the Cornish Ghost, 127pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 683 6.
     
     
228. 06 Sep 2001, The Unexplained #12 — The Bombay Deaths Incident, 96pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 730 7.
     
     
229. 31 Jan 2002, Second Sight #04— Cassie and the Riviera Crime, 128pp, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 735 2.
     
     
230. 06 May 2002, [DWo #09] Doctor Who — Warmonger, 288pp. BBC Books, ISBN 0 563 53852 X.
     
     
231. 
     06 Jun 2002, Nikki and the Drugs Queen Murder, Piccadilly Press, ISBN 1 85340 716 X.
     
     
232. 03 Nov 2003, [DWo #10] Doctor Who — Deadly Reunion by Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, 288pp, BBC, ISBN 0 563 48610 4.
     
     
233. 06 Oct 2005, [DWo #11] Doctor Who — World Game, 288pp, BBC Books, ISBN 0 563 48636 8.
     
     
234. 01 Mar 2007, [DWo #12] Doctor Who — Made of Steel, 99pp, BBC Books/Quick Reads, ISBN 978 1 84607 204 8.
     
     
235. 01 Nov 2007, [DWn #65] The Sarah Jane Adventures — Invasion of the Bane, 119pp, Penguin Character Books, ISBN 978 1 4059 0397 4.
     
     
236. 24 Feb 2008, [DWo #13] Doctor Who — Revenge of the Judoon, 102pp, BBC Books/Quick Reads, ISBN 1 84607 372 3.

Things Are Not Always What They Seem, by Michael Herbert

“This individual is a poseur and a professed agnostic with an exaggerated idea of his own importance.”

Special Branch report on Mac Hulke, 1 March 1948, cited p. 35.

The subtitle of this book is, “The writing and politics of Malcolm Hulke”, an author probably best known for his work on The Avengers and Doctor Who. Hulke knew and worked with David Whitaker, and when I was researching my biography of Whitaker, I swapped notes with Michael Herbert as he was working on this, which he’s been kind enough to acknowledge in the end notes. 

The first, 66-page chapter gives an overview of Hulke’s life, which is often extraordinary. He was apparently born on 21 November 1924, a year and 10 months after the death of his supposed father, Colonel Walter Backhouse Hulke — though there’s no record of Malcolm Hulke’s birth beyond what his mother told him. Indeed, when he applied for citizenship in 1948, “the most exhaustive enquiry and search” by Special Branch could find no record of him at all and succeeded only in casting doubt on the details he provided. It also noted his late mother’s two convictions for larceny (see p. 37).

The latter case, in 1926, involved Elsie Hulke distracting a shop assistant at a draper’s in Deal while her partner, Winifred Boot, hid “two cardigans down her [own] skirt” (p. 16). Herbert tells us that “Elsie teamed up with Winifred”, and that they lived together from 1929 until Elsie’s death in 1943, but doesn’t speculate further on their relationship. Yet Hulke’s former neighbour, Lauraine Palmeri, recalls that Hulke was,

“brought up by a much-detested Aunt whom he called ‘Miss Boot’. When he had to turn out her house after she died, he was still full of bitterness [and] at one time he was having sessions with a psychiatrist … learning to heal and rewrite his childhood to replace some of what had happened with happier memories” (pp. 45-46).

Even so, right up until Miss Boot’s death in 1967, Hulke lived round the corner from her and managed the house she rented out — which is how Hulke met and ending up working with my current subject of research, Terrance Dicks: a tenant from 1962. Years later, Miss Boot continued to cast some shadow over Hulke and his romantic relationships, such as when he mentioned the hypothetical prospect of marriage in a letter to a friend:

“Maybe I could at last do it. Bootie’s been dead a long, long time now and my super-conscience is fading a little.” (Letter to Jean Tate, 29 October 1974, p. 49)

What hold did she have over him?

After this overview, there are then chapters on specific periods of Hulke’s career: his relatively brief membership of the Communist Party; his time with the left-leaning Unity Theatre in an administrative role; his relatively late start as a writer in the 1950s, in TV, film and the stage; his nine episodes of The Avengers (four co-written with Terrance Dicks); his work on Doctor Who 1963-1969; his other work in TV 1964-75; Doctor Who 1970-74; his spat with the TUC 1967-70; and the books and short stories he wrote. An appendix gives details of his radio plays. Much of these later chapters comprise synopses of TV episodes, with quotations from dialogue and screengrabs. 

Bits of this stuff I knew; I detail the spat with the TUC in my biography of David Whitaker, based on the same sources, though I see it quite differently from what’s described here. To me, it seems extraordinary that Hulke fought for and won full payment for a script he never even wrote, based on a first-draft outline co-written with Gerry Davis that did not meet the original brief, as Whitaker later said candidly to Hulke, having been with him in that initial meeting. Hulke was certainly tenacious in the matter but I suspect won himself few friends.

The real treasure here is the information and direct quotations from 40 letters Hulke wrote to his friend Jean Tate between August 1974 and January 1977, providing insights into his thoughts, feelings, health and work. He makes light of his heart attack in January 1975; he’s furious that the editor of the book Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion has seen fit to, er, edit it.

There are lots of other fascinatingly odd things. For example, Herbert says Hulke’s first Crossroads novel — based on the creaky but popular tea-time soap opera — features some “surprisingly explicit” sex (p. 420), while the second novel involves Meg being involved in a plane crash, ending up in a Victorian mansion that is “cut off from the rest of the world” and then taking a teenage boy from there back to the motel, “to integrate him into the modern world”. Herbert says this seems to have been lifted from James Hilton’s 1933 novel Lost Horizon, which Hulke had already adapted for BBC radio in 1966.

I’m especially delighted by Hulke’s novel Roger Moore and the Crime Fighters — The Siege (1977), which features a dog called Dalek and a would-be assassin pretending to be an extra on Doctor Who until his deception is spotted by Roger Moore, “who informs the police” and so foils the plot. I wonder how that conversation went.

“Look, chief inspector, I’m telling you this man wasn’t Pat Gorman, Max Faulkner or Terry Walsh. There’s only one explanation: an attempt to kill the President of Walinga.”

I’m glad I wasn’t Hulke’s editor.

Prisoners of War, by Terrance Dicks

This is an unusual book by Terrance Dicks. Alongside his wealth of Doctor Who novelisations and novels — more of which in due course — he tended to write books in series: there are multiple volumes about T.R. Bear (a bear), Sally Ann (a rag doll) or Goliath (a dog); for slightly older readers, the Baker Street Irregulars and The Unexplained ran to more than 10 books each. Even his non-fiction books tended to be in runs.

Prisoners of War, first published by Methuen in 1990, is not only a standalone novel, I think it’s also more autobiographical than any of Terrance’s other books. It’s set in the spring of 1944, with young Tony Dent — ie Terry Dicks — starting a new school at “Grendon Moor” in the north of England, where his dad, a sergeant, has been posted to the local prisoner-of-war camp.

Tony’s mum and dad, Bill and Nell, have the names of Terrance's parents, and also their temperaments and backgrounds. The following, for example, matches a description Terrance gave elsewhere about the real-life William Henry Dicks:

“Dad … was what you might call unpolitical. Back in London, he belonged to the Liberal Club, the Labour Club and the Conservative Club, all at the same time. He said the company was better at the Labour Club, the beer was better at the Liberal Club, and the Conservative Club had the best billiard table. Dad could get on with anyone, anywhere, any time.” (p. 56)

Bill is a bit of a wheeler-dealer, able — in the midst of rationing — to acquire champagne for a party, or bacon and eggs for his wife. When posh Lady Carrington screams at him because his army truck has upset the gravel on her drive, Bill easily charms her, and lies to her too, so as not to land her husband in trouble for not passing on “her orders” about where they should park (p. 24). He’s a loveable rogue, good in a crisis and, when needed, in a fight.

While there’s lots on the “happily incompatible” relationship of Bill and Nell, and Tony’s issues fitting in at a new school, the main story involves his burgeoning friendship with a German prisoner, about which both feel conflicted, and the machinations of a Nazi officer in the same camp. There’s also a romantic subplot for Tony — we’re told in the closing chapter that he goes on to marry Lucy Carrington.

Tony shares traits with young Terrance:

“What with being an only child, and our being shunted about so much, I was a keen picturegoer and what my family called a big reader.” (p. 48)

But Terrance turned 9 in April 1944 and though we’re not told Tony’s age, he’s surely older than this given what happens here and that he is taller than his dad (p. 100). There's some other fudging of real-life, in that the imposing headmaster Dr White is surely based on the real-life Dr Whiteley, headmaster of East Ham Grammar School for Boys, where Terrance was a pupil after the war. This is a fictional adventure story grounded in various odd bits of real life — and that’s what makes it so effective. The suspense and moral complexity feel real.

In fact, it’s not quite a standalone novel as it surely follows Terrance’s short story “London’s Burning”, first published in the anthology Streets Ahead — Tales of City Life, also published by Methuen and a year before this novel came out. (Around this time, Methuen published new editions of Terrance’s Baker Street Irregulars books, too). 

Streets Ahead was edited by Valerie Bierman, who Terrance had known since 1980 when she invited him to be a guest at the Edinburgh Book Fair and later Edinburgh Book Festival. She says in the introduction that she approached 10 well-known novelists and asked them to write “a story on any theme that interested them — provided it had a city as a background” (p. 7); the results were almost all based on personal experience and connections to the cities they describe. So, the brief inspired something more personal than usual from Terrance. In fact, I think we get some of his best and most vivid writing: 

“Most mornings we’d make ourselves late for school by hunting for shrapnel, chunks of ragged metal fragments, all that was left of the exploded bombs. Stamp collecting was nowhere that year.

I thought it was all wonderful. But my mum and dad didn’t and now I can see why.

One morning I woke up to find a gaping, smoking hole where the end house in the street used to be. A nice family called the Strettons, cheerful dad, pleasant mum and two little girls. They’d just moved into the house and done it up and they were pleased as anything with it. Now there was no more house and no more Strettons.” (“London’s Burning”, Streets Ahead, pp. 77-78)

Given the danger, the unnamed narrator is taken by his mother — Nelly (p. 78) — to stay with her cousin on a farm some 50 miles outside London. Homesick, he runs away and arrives back in London as the bombs are falling. It’s a thrilling, concisely told story, running just 11 and a half pages. At the end we're told that the narrator’s dad “finished up Quartermaster-Sergeant in an army camp in the North, and after a time Mum and I moved up to join him” (p. 85).

That matches Tony Dent’s experience in the novel:

“Mum had tried a sort of private-enterprise evacuation on me when the bombing first started, packing me off to relations in the country. I’d hated it so much I’d run away after a couple of weeks.” (Prisoners of War, p. 22.)

They’re surely the same character, but how much of this was based on Terrance's own real experience?

Sadly, Prisoners of War doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact. I’ve found little in the way of press coverage about it, and Terrance didn’t write another book for Methuen after this, though he did contribute a short story to another Bierman anthology, No More School? (1992).

But I think this novel may have influenced something else. It was published in June 1990, and that same month Terrance received a letter from Peter Darvill-Evans, editor at Virgin Publishing, to confirm a new range of original Doctor Who novels. Terrance was invited to come up with a story involving a villain created for the range, the Timewyrm, but was otherwise free as to plot and setting. His synopsis, delivered in August, began with a compelling image:

“The Doctor in erratic pursuit of the Timewyrm finds himself attending the 1950 [sic] Festival of Britain. He realises when and where he is when they emerge from the TARDIS to the South Bank and see the Skylon, the tapering tower that is the symbol of the Festival. It’s there all right — but there’s a swastika on top!” (“Doctor Who: The New Adventures — Exodus of Evil by Terrance Dicks”, storyline received by Virgin Publishing, 23 August 1990).

Just as with Prisoners of War, this was an adventure story based on his own experience, grounding things in the real:

“I actually remembered going to the Festival of Britain with a school party in 1951, so it was fun to bring that in. I remember it rained all the time.” (Andrew Martin, “Terrance Dicks — Writing the Past, Present and Future”, TV Zone Special #5, p. 23.

That’s exactly what we see in what he wrote:

“Beside a broad and sluggish river, a group of concrete pavilions huddled under a fine drizzling rain. A tall slender tower soared gracefully into the mists towards a grey and cloudy sky.” (Terrance Dicks, Timewyrm: Exodus, 1991).

As in the synopsis, this London has fallen to the Nazis and the Doctor and Ace are soon arrested. The Doctor not only escapes but convinces the Nazis that he's a senior officer, commandeering a car and swanning about like he owns the place. It’s deftly both great fun and also tense and suspenseful.

When I first read Timewrym: Exodus in the summer of 1991, I knew this was also riffing on what the Second Doctor does in pretending to be a German office in TV story The War Games (1969) — co-written by Terrance and his friend Malcolm Hulke.

But now, reading Prisoners of War, I can see he was drawing on an older source. In this wheeler-dealer Doctor, there's something of Terrance’s dad.

• I’ll be giving a short talk on Terrance Dicks at the Target Book Club event on 19 July

See also

• Doctor Who and the Wheel in Space by Terrance Dicks
• Doctor Who and the Time Warrior by Terrance Dicks

Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness, by David Attenborough and Colin Butfield

This was a bigger hit with my teenage son than Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith, which I think he found a bit too abstract too often. But I found bits of this harder to grapple with because so much of it is about wondrous things we cannot see - a series of visually arresting examples to explain the state of the ocean and what we're doing it, good and bad. We've not yet watched the accompanying film and I suspect, as with other books-of-TV-shows, that this one works best as an aide-memoire to what the reader has already seen.

It's largely directed at the huge harm done by industrialised fishing, especially bottom trawling, which is so destructive and wasteful - the damage visible from space. I suspect some of the visuals will be harrowing.

Attenborough makes good use of his years of experience, stepping forward as a witness of human-inflicted harm to the planet: he has seen the changes and effects he describes, and can compare the images he captured decades ago so shed light on where things are now. That then continues in the case studies, talking to people with long experience of particular places, who can tell us what it was like to scuba dive there or what local industry used to be like. That's important; at one point the book talks about the problem of people accepting the state of things now as normal rather than wrong.

What really sticks in my head is the evidence, from several different cases around the world, that the ocean can recover - at some speed - if given the chance. There are some extraordinary examples recounted. I was especially wowed by the success of the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project, off the coast of Selsey and Shoreham where I spent holidays in my childhood. It's so vividly described, I could see myself barefoot on those beaches littered with kelp from a storm, and then diving in the depths to see the replenished riches of the underwater world.

Whereas Earthrise was pessimistic, this compelling story is full of hope.

Earthrise, by Robert Poole

I read an earlier version of this book more than a decade ago as prep for The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who, and it's never really left my imagination. Poole, who is emeritus professor of history at the University of Central Lancashire (where I was an undergraduate, though I don't think we've ever met) recounts how the space programme affected our sense of ourselves by focusing on the famous "Earthrise" photograph, snapped by William Anders on Christmas Eve, 1968 while on Apollo 8 - the first crewed mission to the Moon.

To place this in context, we begin with the history of conceptions of what the Earth would look like seen from space from before we could take pictures from orbit. The same characteristics recur in old pictures and descriptions: the prominence of landmasses, the lack of cloud, the theory that there would be blinding glare from reflected sunlight in the sea. As I said in Scientific Secrets, we're familiar with this kind of vision of the Earth in the logo of Universal Pictures, with rich green and brown land forms dominant over oceans of deep blue. A fixed shape and structures with no sign of change other than the globe slowly turns.

Instead, with Earthrise and subsequent images, we now know a bright, white-blue world with swirling, active clouds. No two pictures of the Earth from space are ever the same because those clouds are constantly moving, and - as Poole delineates - because the planet is in flux. More of that in a moment.

Before getting to Earthrise, Poole details the efforts to get the first cameras into space, and the perhaps greater challenge of doing something counter-intuitive and pointing them back towards the Earth. The politics or scientific merit of that is just one issue. Poole also explains the complex physical and chemical processes involved in ensuring a camera can survive spaceflight, and a picture can be taken and developed - in the days before digital - and then communicated back to Earth's surface. Thanks to him, a blurry, streaked image of cloud becomes an object of wonder when we understand how miraculous it was to capture any image at all.

How fascinating to learn that there is no consensus on the first photograph to show the curvature of the Earth. As Poole says, the round Earth was known to the ancients. It's an observable phenomenon by watching boats on the sea: masts appear first over the horizon, then the hulls, rather than the whole boat appearing at once in the distance as it would if the sea were flat. I remember standing at Logan's Rock in Cornwall as a kid, looking down on the seaward horizon, and holding up a ruler to better see the curve of that line of sea. Are there really no early photographs of such vistas?

According to Poole, though, "the first photograph clearly to show the curvature of the Earth" (p. 34) was taken by the aeronauts on board Explorer II on 11 November 1935, which launched from the "Stratobowl" in the Black Hills of South Dakota and reached an altitude of 13.6 miles (22 km). The photograph they took was published in National Geographic the following year.

Another notable early effort was took place on 24 October 1946, when a V-2 rocket launched from the army's White Sands proving ground in New Mexico was fitted with a 35mm movie camera. The resulting images, from some 65 miles up, made the papers and newsreels. 

I thought this might be the footage used in the opening moments of The Quatermass Experiment (1953), but checking Toby Hadoke's book reveals this was from a later V-2 launched at the same site on 17 February 1950 (see Hadoke, p. 133).

A set of photographs taken by a V-2 camera on 26 July 1948 were stitched together to create two panoramas of the curving Earth, released to the press on 19 October. Poole says that this, "was accepted in the press and the archives as 'man's first view of the curvature of the Earth', an official position it has held ever since" (p. 37). But, as he continues, the fact that there's any doubt at all is evidence that these different images, for all they were published to some acclaim, didn't quite catch on as later images did.

Various factors explain why the Earthrise image had the impact it did. It's a good quality, high resolution image, for one thing, which reproduces well. While there's no "up" or "down" in space, it's usually presented with the lunar landscape in the lower part of the frame, creation a boggling inversion of our usual view of the Moon in the sky above our own horizon. There's also the juxtaposition of the bright, coloured Earth with its whirling, active cloud and the grey, desolate Moon. 

But Apollo 8 as a whole made people sit up and take notice. As James Burke recalled in Our Man on the Moon, suddenly people realised, "Hey, they're really going to land on the Moon!" Burke was swiftly told to swot up on rocket science so that he could present the BBC coverage. So I think Earthrise was also emblematic of the Moon landings becoming, well, real.

Poole then charts the impact that Earthrise had on Earth, galvanising the environmental and ecological movements and having a direct influence on the first Earth Day, held in 1970, and conceptions of Earth as either spaceship or mother-Gaia. This is the stuff I really remember from reading this last time and - as I argued in Scientific Secrets - is all over the Doctor Who of this period. In fact, the first Doctor Who story shown after the Moon landing, and ushering in a new era of the series, begins with a view of the whole Earth from space, the first to appear in the series, and in colour, too. That's made me think about the mechanics of replication: how much the impact of Earthrise owes to good quality colour print in newspaper supplements and magazines, and the spread of colour TV.  

All in all, this book presents a fascinating, wide-reaching history, full of tenacious characters, not all of them heroes. I didn't know, for example, that Fred Hoyle was an anti-environmentalist who even accused Friends of the Earth of operating on behalf of "their Russian paymasters" to deprive the west of energy (p. 4); he had to withdraw the allegation. 

It's a self-published book, and there are typos and artefacts littered through the text. Perhaps a judicious editor might also have questioned the description of those suggesting that the Moon landings might have been faked as "fuckwit denialism" (p. 76) - though I can imagine other science writers putting it in similar terms. Really, all I mean is that this compelling book deserves another, more polished edition, perhaps including colour plates of the images under discussion.

Last time, what hit me about this book was the way leaving Earth - and looking back at what we left - transformed our sense of and relationship to our planet. That's still here, updated to include William Shatner's response to his own real-life trek into orbit in 2021. He was profoundly moved, and saddened, by the fragility of Earth in a universe of cold, dark nothing. What hits me reading this edition is the same profound sense of loss. The images of Earth from space taken since Earthrise show the damage we have inflicted in the intervening years: the melting ice caps, the loss of vegetation on vast scales, the ferocity of the weather we once never even thought of in our conceptualisations of Earth.

"Humankind now appears to be both the product and the custodian of the only island of intelligent life in the universe that we will ever encounter. Whether that vision has been timely enough, and powerful enough, for homo sapiens, the most successful of all invasive species, to reverse its own devouring impact on the Earth, will be known soon. Perhaps we know already." (p. 177)

More space stuff by me:

• Carrying the Fire, the autobiography of astronaut Michael Collins 
• On 2007 documentary In the Shadow of the Moon
• Moondust, by Andrew Smith
• Apollo, by Fitch, Baker and Collins
• Orbital, by Samantha Harvey
• Ad Astra, by Dallas Campbell
• My trip to Kennedy Space Center
• On Yuri Gagarin's autograph in Croydon

Ace Jacket - The Inside Story

Published today to raise money for autism charities, Ace Jacket - The Inside Story is an A4 softback boasting more than 250 pages of original stories, pieces, artwork and photographs relating to Doctor Who companion Ace and her iconic badge-bedecked jacket.

• Buy Ace Jacket - The Inside Story

The book features a foreword by the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors, David Tennant, and an afterword by former Doctor Who executive producer Chris Chibnall. There are contributions from Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker, as well as - it says here - "companions, past showrunners, writers, producers, villains and monster makers". 

I wonder which one of those I count as. My contribution is on Flowerchild's time-travelling earring.

Fittingly, the book will soon have a companion volume, Ace Jacket - The Outside Story, which details the onscreen appearance of Ace's jacket (or jackets plural) in ferocious detail. It is published on 25 November but you can pre-order it now.

The New Forest Murders, by Matthew Sweet

The wife and children were generous with my annual appraised (or "Father's Day"). I got a lie in, a badge of a smiley fried egg, a copy of my friend Matthew Sweet's new novel and - best of all - the chance to sit and read it. What joy.

"There is a village in England that all us know, even if we have never set foot there. The village that comes to our minds when we think of cricket on the green on a Sunday in July; when we see a honeysuckled cottage painted on the lid of a tin of biscuits; when we put our hands together and say, 'Here's the church and here's the steeple.'

"It really exists." (p. 125)

This village is in the New Forest, near where I grew up. Characters speak of the bright lights and bustle of Southampton, where I went to school. But this particular village is familiar from a whole load of other sources, too - Larkwhistle here in 1944 owes something to Bramley End in Went the Day Well (a film released in 1942 but set after the end of the Second World War, so told to us from the future). Meanwhile, local pub the Fleur-de-Lys is straight out of Doctor Who and the Android Invasion (1975), in which the real-life East Hagbourne doubled for fictional Devesham.

It's a mix of spy story, murder mystery and romance, neatly acknowledging its sources from the dog called Wimsey after Dorothy L Sayers's detective to more than one Sherlock Holmes reference. 

"That's a bit dog-that-didn't bark, isn't it?" (p. 154)

The blurb of the book says it is "perfect for fans of Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime". The church of St Cedd surely owes something to Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams, and at one point there's a joke from Doctor Who and the State of Decay; I think the author of that story, Terrance Dicks, would have loved this. 

As for the plot: it's 1944 and Normandy has been invaded, the last act of the war under way. But Jill Metcalfe and her father then receive bad news from a rather good-looking American officer, Jack Strafford. While they're reeling from the shock, word comes of a dead body under a tree. It's not just any body, or just any tree - and soon Jack and Jill are working together to solve a murder and to catch a spy, which may or may not be related...

The book rattles along - I finished it in a day - by turns funny and real and harrowing. You feel the loss, and the great depths of emotion in this apparently quiet, conventional setting. Oh, and the back-flap tells us what is surely another influence on this: Matthew's forthcoming book The Great Dictator (haha!) is a biography of Barbara Cartland.

Target Book Club, 19 July 2025

James Goss, the master brain behind Target Book Club, a celebration of the Doctor Who novelisations, has announced that I'm one of this year's speakers.

Target Book Club takes place from 10 am on Saturday 19 July 2025 at the Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, London.

• Buy tickets for Target Book Club 2025

My 15-minute talk, "The Unseen Terrance Dicks", will include some newly discovered facts about the most prolific of the Target authors. "Secrets from his files," says James. Yes, indeed.

I'm reading a lot of Terrance's work at the moment and blogged on his novelisation of The Wheel in Space just last week. You may also enjoy this 2015 interview I conducted with Terrance, in which he told me - very amiably - that I was talking nonsense.

Space Security Service title sequence

The first volume of Space Security Service is out today from Big Finish. This new audio series, which I produced, comprises three adventures of space cops Anya Kingdom (Jane Slavin) and Mark Seven (Joe Sim), who used to travel with Doctors Who and are now on missions of their own.

To accompany the release, Rob Ritchie has produced a title sequence to match Jon Ewen's amazing theme tune for the series:

Full blurb as follows:

They’re the guardians of the Solar System and Earth’s first line of defence. But now the agents of the Space Security Service face their greatest ever threat… 

Anya Kingdom (Jane Slavin) and the android Mark Seven (Joe Sims) are the top agents of the Space Security Service, fighting alien threats and sinister villains across the galaxy. 

Last encountered in the Dalek Universe story arc, in which they teamed up with the Tenth Doctor, these popular characters now star in their own spin-off series of full-cast audio dramas, inspired by the 1960s Doctor Who serials of Terry Nation. 

The thrilling retro-styled adventures of the Space Security Service begin today with a box set of three brand-new stories, which take Anya and Mark to London in the 1980s, a Thal planet where a scientist conducts dangerous experiments, and a world on the brink of war. 

The Worlds of Doctor Who – Space Security Service: The Voord in London is now available to purchase for just £19.99 (as a digital download to own), exclusively from Big Finish. 

The SSS’s three latest missions are: 

The Voord in London by LR Hay 

1980s London. WDC Ann Kelso is assigned to CID, helping to clean up the streets. But “Ann” is really SSS Agent Anya Kingdom from the 41st century, on a top-secret mission to track down aliens hiding in the past. But then she finds a different group of aliens hiding in the Thames – with very deadly intentions… 

The Thal from G.R.A.C.E. by Felicia Barker 

As their investigations continue, SSS agents Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven journey to a planet colonised by Thals. They’re in pursuit of a Thal scientist who has perfected an experimental new weapon… But soon they are the targets… 

Allegiance by Angus Dunican 

The lush planet Othrys is on the cusp of civil war. SSS agents Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven are meant to keep a low profile while on a diplomatic mission there… But when a pregnant surrogate for the Othryn royal family desperately asks for their help, they’re unable to refuse…

Joining Jane Slavin and Joe Sims in Space Security Service: The Voord in London are Sean Gilder (Slow Horses), Madeline Appiah (Jungle), and Lara Lemon (Insomnia). The guest cast also includes Rodney Gooden, David Holt, Nicholas Briggs, Camille Burnett, Peter Bankolé, Jez Fielder, and Barnaby Kay. 

Cover art by Grant Kempster. Script editor John Dorney, director Barnaby Kay and executive producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs.

The Legend of Nigel Kneale 2. Enemy From Space

The super deluxe collectors' edition of Quatermass 2 is now available to pre-order from Hammer Films. It's released next month.

Among the many goodies included in the set is the second part of the documentary me and Brother Tom have produced with Eklectics about Quatermass creator and writer, The Legend of Nigel Kneale.

As with the first part, included on the collectors' edition of The Quatermass Xperiment, the documentary is presented by Toby Hadoke and includes interviews with Kneale's biographer Andy Murray, Dr Tom Attah, Joel Morris, Brontë Schiltz and Jane Asher. This second part also includes two other on-screen contributors... but wait and see.

Smith & Sullivan cover reveal

Big Finish have shared the cover artwork for Smith & Sullivan: Reunited, the Doctor Who spin-off audio set out next month which includes my story, Blood Type, as well as stories by Tim Foley and Roland Moore. The art is by Ryan Aplin. 

The Wheel in Space, by Terrance Dicks

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine comes with this exclusive edition of The Wheel in Space by Terrance Dicks, which I’d never read before. I flicked through the opening pages, found myself ensnared and raced on to the end. Breezy, is the word. Six episodes of TV adventure in just 136 pages. Deceptively straight-forward.

In fact, there’s a lot going on here.

For one thing, there’s why you’d reprint this particular novelisation. First published in hardback on 17 March 1988, in paperback on 18 August the same year, it wasn’t reprinted until 2021. Second-hand copies of the first edition were notoriously tricky to find. Over the years, I’ve cooed at rare specimens in specialist shops, well beyond my price range. It’s why, during lockdown, fans voted this one of 10, out of his 64 Doctor Who novelisations, to be republished as part of The Essential Terrance Dicks collection.

Except now I gather that the first edition wasn’t especially rare: print runs weren’t any different from other novelisations, and stocks of this book in particular weren’t decimated by a fire at the warehouse. Was it hyped? Was there a conspiracy? That would have involved quite a convoluted plot, but then that fits this particular story.

The Wheel in Space was the 61st of Terrance’s novelisations. In the Essential collection, ordered by broadcast dates of the TV stories they’re based on, it is followed by his very first (Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion (1974), based on Spearhead from Space). But the TV story The Wheel in Space was also Terrance’s first Doctor Who story — he seems to have joined the production team as assistant script editor just before the start of production on 18 March 1968.

The TV story was written by David Whitaker, the original story editor of Doctor Who — in effect, Terrance’s ancestor in the role. The closing episode led into a repeat of The Evil of the Daleks, also by Whitaker (the novelisation given away free by DWM last year). Wheel begins with our last sight of companion Victoria Waterfield and then introduces her successor Zoe Heriot, before segueing into the repeat — Victoria’s first story.

Round and round we go. Terrance seems to have been conscious of this muddling of chronology: on the last page of the novelisation, as Zoe is welcomed into the TARDIS, Jamie feels a pang.

“Jamie realised that the Doctor was telling Zoe the story of one of their recent adventures, the one in which they’d first met poor Victoria. … Jamie wondered if Victoria was happy in her new life. He hoped so. Curiously, he was finding it hard to remember her face — especially with Zoe’s vivid little face gazing enthralled at the screen.” (p. 136) 

The novelisation of The Wheel in Space was also the first novelisation to feature the Second Doctor written by Terrance after the death of actor Patrick Troughton. He died on 28 March 1987 while a guest at the Magnum Opus II science-fiction convention in Georgia, USA; he’d been due to return to the UK for a costume fitting for his role as grotesque old letch Lord Steyne in the BBC’s epic 16-part TV serialisation of Vanity Fair — produced by Terrance.

Given what we know about Troughton’s, ahem, complicated love life, was there something pointed in assigning him that part?

When he died, John Shrapnel took the lecherous role. In the cliffhanger ending to episode 13 of Vanity Fair (tx 29 November 1987), Captain Rawdon Crawley (Jack Klaff) catches his wife Becky Sharp (Eve Matheson) in the arms of Lord Steyne and all hell breaks loose. The morning after broadcast of these shock events, Terrance and Eve Matheson appeared on the BBC’s live phone-in show, Open Air, to discuss the scandal — and attempt to boost flagging ratings.

Eamonn Holmes interviews Eve Matheson and Terrance Dicks
Open Air, 30 November 1987

Terrance had already made two appearances on the same programme that year. He sits there, bemused, fielding awkward questions from viewers — and the hosts. It’s just as uncomfortable and clunky as footage from around the same time of him at Doctor Who conventions. By this point, Terrance had worked out how to play these kind of events. He seems quite at ease answering questions about the TV scene that should have starred his dead friend, the star of the first Doctor Who story he worked on, the novelisation of which Terrance must have delivered around this time.

So much about this book is, well, odd.

From what I can gather, Terrance seems to have aimed for 100 pages of typescript per Doctor Who novelisation. He’d source videotapes of the surviving episodes and work from the scripts of the rest — largely supplied by the BBC but sometimes by acquaintances in fandom. There are 18 chapters in this novelisation and he clearly divided each of the six TV episodes into three.

Split evenly over 136 pages, that should mean 22.7 pages per episode. In fact, Episode 1 comprises 25 pages, Episode 2 is 22 plus a blank page, Episode 3 is 24 — so it’s slightly more dense in set-up and then accelerates in the second half.

Even the set-up is concisely done. He captures us from the first simple, vivid sentence — “Victoria was waving goodbye.” Then we rattle into the episode, now missing from the archive, as per the camera script. The Doctor and Jamie, at the console of the TARDIS, watch Victoria fade from the screen. On TV, there was then a fade out before the next scene, also set in the TARDIS control room, with Jamie now asleep on a chair to emphasise the passage of time.

Terrance follows that structure but feels the need to explain what’s happening, succinctly.

“Like the good fighting man he was, Jamie took every opportunity for a nap.” (p. 3)

It’s a quick, nimble fix for this particular transition — but is it really true of the character? By “took every opportunity for”, read “never takes”.

There’s then some attempt to explain sci-fi things from Jamie’s 18th-century perspective, such as their arrival on the spacecraft Silver Carrier:

“He was in a kind of metal cave, surrounded by massive metallic shapes.” (p. 7)

But Jamie doesn’t think of the TARDIS control room as a cave; he’s well used to travel in that particular space (and time) craft. He has also learned about other spacecraft — though he doesn’t go aboard — in The Moonbase and The Tomb of the Cybermen (both 1967), the two Cybermen stories that precede The Wheel in Space. It’s not how he was written on TV at the time, where they recognised that he developed while travelling with the Doctor. But writing him in retrospect, Jamie is defined by his origins. (I think something similar happens in the way he is written in 1985 TV story The Two Doctors.)

“A kind of metal cave,” is not especially specific or vivid, and we see similar vague, handwaving descriptions from Terrance later — “Somehow it was clear…” (p. 15), “Some kind of alien eggs…” (p. 18) etc. On page 20, he makes an ordinary item a bit more futuristic by referring to a “space blanket”. He also explains why Jamie picks up this item when he hears the injured Doctor cry out, so as to have it conveniently in his hand when confronted by a robot.

“Snatching up the blanket — he had a confused idea that the Doctor ought to be kept warm — Jamie shot out of the cabin and into the corridor…” (p. 20)

The same page includes a sudden shift in perspective: we follow events as seen by the Doctor and then, in a cliffhanger moment, shift to the robot’s perspective. I think it works rather nicely here but also know that it could throw readers. Not too long after this, the editorial team of Doctor Who books made a ruling that each section needed a single point-of-view.

Having glimpsed Zoe Heriot on a video screen on p. 37, we meet the Doctor’s new companion properly on the next page, from Jamie’s perspective — where he self-corrects his own first impression.

“Behind the desk sat a very small girl, or rather a young woman. She wore the same black and white coverall outfit as everyone else on the Wheel” (p. 38)

I think this is Terrance consciously making Zoe older than she was meant to be on screen — a woman, not a teen. He puts her in black-and-white, like the other, adult characters, not the more childish pink version actress Wendy Padbury actually wore (as seen in Dan Liles’s cover artwork for this new edition). I’ll come back to why I think Terrance did that…

On screen, there’s a moment in this first meeting where 18th century Jamie threatens to “larrup” Zoe, and she simply laughs. It’s a sign of her strength that she isn’t threatened in the slightest — we learn in later stories that she can defend herself with martial arts. I wonder how much this light-hearted threat inspired writer Dick Sharples, whose nearly-made Prison in Space ends with Jamie delivering on his promise. (No, being a call-back to this episode doesn’t excuse it.) 

Twenty years after broadcast, Terrance didn’t think better of Jamie’s threat to larrup Zoe; it’s in the novelisation. I think the argument could be made that, again, it’s true to Jamie’s 18th-century character. It’s still odd to read in a book ostensibly written for children.

The colour — or lack of it — of Zoe’s outfit can be explained by the fact that the story was made in black and white. Terrance may have based the description on the two surviving episodes that he rewatched on video rather than what he remembered from production 20 years before. Where episodes weren’t available, he worked from surviving camera scripts, in this case working round some odd “ghosts” from earlier drafts. 

Several characters were renamed in rehearsals to make the Wheel more multi-ethnic, but the original names still often appear frequently on the page. Gemma Corwyn was originally Nell (the name of writer David Whitaker’s mother-in-law); Tanya Lernov was originally Tanya Lerner; Enrico Casali was Harry Carby; Chang was Ken; Captain Leo Ryan was Tom Stone — perhaps a relation to the Stone family from The Dalek Book (1964), also written by Whitaker. 

In writing the TV episodes, Whitaker worked from a storyline provided by Cyberman creator Kit Pedler, but there’s lots here I think is directly him. For example, the Venusian flowers are like the alien flora of his The Daleks comic strip. Then there’s something we’re sold as space-age psychology but I think is really the mentality of someone who grew up during the Second World War and wouldn’t dare waste food. Perhaps it’s an echo of something David heard from Nell:

“GEMMA: [Jamie] asked me for a drink of water and then he left it. He might have been on Earth. That boy's has no space travel training, Jarvis.” (Episode 2)

So I read this trying to sift what was Terrance, what Whitaker, what the ur-text of Kit Pedler. Pedler’s storyline must have had the Doctor and Jamie suspected of sabotage and kept confined; Whitaker also needed them out on the Wheel to uncover clues. That means, a bit awkwardly, Jamie is sometimes escorted to other parts of the Wheel, and then he and the Doctor are simply no longer kept under guard — “apparently restored to favour” as Terrance says in an aside (p. 90), with what I think might be a roll of the eyes.

He doesn’t comment on another aspect of the TV story, but my sense is that he didn’t approve of stuff about brainwashing children. This is the dialogue as broadcast in Episode 4:

ZOE:
Leo said I was like a robot, a machine. I think he's right. My head’s been pumped full of facts and figures which I reel out automatically when needed. But, well, I want to feel things as well. 

GEMMA:
Good. Unfortunately the parapsychology unit at the city tends to ignore this aspect in its pupils. Some of them never fully develop their human emotions. 


ZOE: You don't think I'll be like that, do you? 


GEMMA: No, no: you seemed to have survived their brainwashing techniques remarkably well. 

Though Zoe’s age wasn’t given on screen in Doctor Who, publicity material of the time said she was 15. She’s a schoolgirl, conditioned by her futuristic school to behave like a machine. Over the course of this story, we learn that such logical conditioning means she’s incapable of dealing with unexpected phenomena — such as the baroque plotting of Cybermen. As the Doctor says, logic “merely enables one to be wrong with authority.”

Jarvis Bennett, the Controller of the Wheel, is similarly afflicted, unable to believe what’s really happening. I wonder if Kit Pedler meant him to be have been schooled by the same system, as part of some broader point about the importance of critical thinking, of education needing to be more than the recitation of facts.

Terrance cuts the dialogue back so we learn that Zoe is brainwashed but are not told where. As I said before, Jamie corrects himself about Zoe: she is a “young woman”, not a girl, so there’s no suggestion that she was brainwashed at school. Perhaps Terrance thought the idea too unsettling for young readers; perhaps he thought it too pointed a comment about education policy. Whatever the case, there’s a tension here between the different authors of this story.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, which furnishes this new edition of the novelisation, reveals another author. Editor Steve Cole says:

“It felt to me as if the original manuscript was barely edited at all. Paragraphs and separate sections run into each other. At one point a Cyberman descends some steps although it is standing at the top of them, then descends them again. The phrase ‘his body went rigid’ appears twice in five lines. And poor Tanya Lernov! An astrogator on screen, in prose she is demoted to ‘Astrologer, second class’.”

He says Terrance once told him that he wished he’d been more robustly edited, which Steve has borne in mind in preparing this new edition. He indicates some differences from the version in The Essential Terrance Dicks, where the scan of the original copy produced a few small errors. I don’t have the first edition to check whether any of the things I note here are new inventions.

I’ve been chatting about some of this stuff with the very patient Steve — my editor, too — as part of something else I’m working on. That is, I’m in dialogue with my editor about him editing our late friend Terrance Dicks, who was in turn editing a story by his own predecessor, Doctor Who’s first story editor David Whitaker. This breezy novelisation is a direct conduit to the past: relive a lost TV story, commune with the people who made it. 

That’s the electrifying sense I got as I flicked through the opening pages and then couldn’t stop.

Contact.

See also:

• My biography of David Whitaker
• On Doctor Who - The Time Warrior (1978) by Terrance Dicks
• On Doctor Who - The Five Doctors (1983) by Terrance Dicks
• On the making of the BBC's Vanity Fair (1987), produced by Terrance Dicks
• On Shakedown - Return of the Sontarans (1994) by Terrance Dicks
• On Doctor Who - Made of Steel (2007) by Terrance Dicks
• The Life and Times of a Doctor Who Dummy, by Robin Squire, one-time assistant to Terrance
• Cybermen - The Ultimate Guide (includes me on the design of Cybermen in The Wheel in Space)

The Quatermass Experiment, by Toby Hadoke

This comprehensive plunge into the sci-fi horror TV serial from 1953 has been a joy to read. I should declare right away that it’s written by my mate, with whom I’ve just made a documentary for the forthcoming deluxe Blu-ray of the film version of the same story, out next month. But then the reason Toby fronts the documentary is that he’s the go-to guy for this stuff.

The book is him sharing what he knows, the facts gleaned from decades of research and some shrewd deductions, plus his analysis based on long years of consideration. I especially like how good he is at probing sources: he says when he thinks an anecdote has been embellished; he also says when he isn’t sure what to conclude.

There’s lots of factual information here that I didn’t know and there are lots of fresh insights that open up this old TV show. It’s also very engaging — for example in Toby’s increasing exasperation with the Daily Mail’s TV journalist of the time, Peter Black. (By chance, I once gave Toby a copy of Black’s book, The Mirror in the Corner; I wonder what he made of it.) 

The serial was broadcast live in six episodes. The first two episodes were recorded and survive; the rest went out once and were then lost to the ether. What hadn’t occurred to me before I read Toby’s book is that at least some of episodes 3 to 6 were recorded — even if those recordings have now been lost. They each featured a small amount of pre-filmed material, detailed by Toby. It also seems that producer Rudolph Cartier filmed a little of each instalment up to episode 5 to act as a “trailer” or story-so-far at the start of the subsequent episode (pp. 168-9). 

The chances of this material having survived are next to zero, but sometimes — just sometimes — this kind of thing turns up. 

Indeed, Toby has turned up a load of archive material never seen before, including a roll of film from studio rehearsals on episodes 1 to 5, the images in very good condition and presented beautifully here. Reader, I have pored over these thrilling, vivid glimpses of what is otherwise lost to us. I should also like an illustrated version of the script - or even a whole comic strip - done by Robert Hack, whose artwork features here.

Toby has also gathered a wealth of sources to tell a detailed story. What we learn is set nicely in context — how this serial compared to other TV productions of the time, how people watched and engaged with it, and where it sits in the history of science-fiction and horror. Much is made of the fact that nothing like this had been seen on television preciously. That meant I was struck by the line at the end of Episode 1, when a reporter responds to the sight of astronaut Victor Caroon emerging from his rocket,

“That suit they wear, it is like the comic magazines after all,” (p. 70).

That is surely a reference to the Eagle and Dan Dare, pilot of the future, who dons a kind of diving gear in space. His comic strip adventures launched in 1950 but he perfectly exemplifies the kind of “New Elizabethan” hero referred to and then undercut in the serial. Quatermass is, I think, a kind of anti-Dan Dare.

Later, Toby notes that in L’esperimento Quatermass (Mondadori, 1978) — an Italian translation of the script book of the serial — a small change was made to the spoof, 3D sci-fi film playing in the cinema visited by Victor. 

“The Space Girl (Ragazza Spaziale) doesn’t call the Lieutenant ‘Chuck’ as in the UK version, but ‘Jim’,” (p. 269).

That’s a random change, I thought. Unless it’s a reference to the well-known Jim Kirk from Star Trek, updating the allusion to (what was seen as) a contemporary example of hokey sci-fi.

Toby is especially good at keeping the focus on the people involved, the contributions made by cast and crew to both the original production and recounting how it was made. A last section, detailing what they all went on to do after Quatermass, is compelling — like the serial itself, Toby gives them a last bow.

But what I was most taken by, I think, was what the leading man — the first Quatermass — brought to the role in particular.

Toby tells us that Reginald Tate made his TV debut in March 1937, which was less than six months after the start of the BBC’s regular TV service. He appeared in an exact from the stage version of Jane Eyre in which he was appearing at the time in London’s West End. Tate played Mr Rochester, a role he’d had since the stage production began in Malvern the previous year. Toby tells us he played Rochester again on stage in Leeds in 1946 (p. 65) and on TV in 1948 (p. 66). He then performed as Rochester once more, for BBC Radio, at the same time as he was in production on The Quatermass Experiment. He told the Evening Standard at the time that, 

“The transition [between the two roles] is not very great. The two seem to have characters in common” (p. 70).

Toby describes Quatermass as a troubled, guilt-ridden figure, trying to put right what he got terribly wrong — in this case, sending three men into space to devastating effect that now imperils the whole Earth. I don’t think writer Nigel Kneale had any thought of Mr Rochester when he wrote it; but that’s what Tate brought to his performance.

It’s another example of how the leading man of this new kind of TV drama — a pilot of the future, in his own way — is anchored in the past. The ideas are new but the emotional heft of the serial is an echo from the past…

• Buy The Quatermass Experiment, by Toby Hadoke, from Ten Acre Films

Doppelganger, by Naomi Klein

“It’s all so unbearable. No wonder we work so hard to look away. No wonder we erect those walls, literal and psychological. No  wonder we would rather gaze at our reflections, or get lost in our avatars, than confront our shadows.” (p. 323)

This is a compelling, sometimes difficult read and I’ve had to stop and start a few times to process some of what it says. Naomi Klein, the author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine, keeps being mistaken for the conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf, and becomes obsessed with trying to understand her double, the journey she has taken in the past few years and what it can all mean. In the process, she grapples with Covid, the history of anti-Semitism, the situation in Gaza and a whole load besides.

I’m haunted by the radio interview with Wolf, which I heard go out live on the evening of 21 May 2019. Presenter Matthew Sweet (my mate!) asked her to explain the thesis of her new book, Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalisation of Love, and then, at 21:20, said words to chill the blood of any writer.

“I don’t think you’re right about this.”

What follows is polite, curt and utterly devastating. When Matthew then turns to the next item in the programme, and another guest, you can hear their nervousness. You can still hear the whole programme, if you dare.

Klein charts how Wolf got there and what happened next, but really this is a book about how we respond to extremism of one kind and another without becoming extremists ourselves. That entails some self-examination and scrutiny of the structures we so often take for granted — Klein has a lot to say about capitalism as a whole.

Much of this will linger with me. I was especially taken with what she says about the response from John Berger to her previous book, The Shock Doctrine, where he said shock can make us lose our identity and footing. Berger concluded that, “Hence calm is a form of resistance.”

“I think about those words often. Calm is not a replacement for righteous rage or fury at injustice, both of which are powerful drivers for necessary change. But calm is the precondition for focus, for the capacity to prioritize. If shock included a loss of identity, then calm is the condition under which we return to ourselves. Berger helped me to see that the search for calm is why I write: to tame the chaos in my surroundings, in my own mind, and—I hope—in the minds of my readers as well. The information [of the sort she reports on] is always distressing and, to many, shocking—but in my view, the goal should never be to put readers into a state of shock. It should be to pull them out of it.” (p. 227)

At the end, we’re told Klein invited Wolf to respond, to have a conversation, but never got an answer. One question Klein wanted to ask was whether Wolf might remember her from the one time they met, when Klein was still a student and Wolf was promoting The Beauty Myth. Klein admits she was dazzled by Wolf, was probably influenced by her as she started as a writer — in effect, she might be the doppelgänger, not the other way round.

But there’s another devastating sentence, on p. 345, when Klein repeats the first thing Wolf ever said to her. I felt that, in just those few words, it unlocked so much about her.

Cybermen: The Ultimate Guide

I’ve received my copy of this lavish new guide to the Cybermen, produced by the team at Doctor Who Magazine.

Gav Rymill and I have written a history of the changing look of the Cybermen, with a double-page spread devoted to each of 20 iterations from their first appearance in The Tenth Planet (1966) to their last TV story to date, The Power of the Doctor (2022). These are accompanied by new CG illustrations by Anthony Lamb — and Gav, too.

There is plenty of new information in what we’ve written, let alone among all the other stuff by other people. If you like Cybermen, you will like this. And if you don’t, it will convince you.

Is there really more to say about Cybermen, or Doctor Who in general?

Well, last night, I was in Liverpool to meet John Higgs for the first time and hear him talk about his brilliant new book Exterminate, Regenerate. He was interviewed / chatted with the music journalist and novelist David Keenan, who also has a book out, his a collection of writings about the weird fringes of culture while John maps something more mainstream. 

But David said he got into all this weird, edge-of-culture stuff in the first place by, as a kid, reading Doctor Who novelisations by Terrance Dicks. Doctor Who changed the way he looked at things, and the things he looked for. It made the mainstream more rich and strange — and involving.

He also used the word “unfathomable” to describe Doctor Who. Whereas a murder mystery has a solution, or a romantic story ends with a couple getting together — or not — Doctor Who keeps going on and on. That means that, no matter how deeply we dive into it, we will never reach the bottom. 

I’m really taken with that idea, Doctor Who as abyss into which I can’t stop staring.

British Television Drama — Past, Present and Future (2nd edition), ed. Jonathan Bignell and Stephen Lacey

Following Friday’s post, a bit more time travel via old TV. This book exploring the “golden age” of TV drama — and critiquing that term — transported me back almost 30 years. Many of the contributions here were originally talks given at On the Boundary: Turning Points in Television Drama 1965-2000, an event held at the old Bulmershe campus of Reading University in April 1998, which I attended while an MA student there more than half my life ago.

As well as being in the audience for talks by luminaries such as Tony Garnett and Timothy West, I was among the students sat for dinner with Kenneth Trodd — who, on being told I was studying science-fiction, wanted reassurance that Cold Lazarus hadn’t looked and felt like Blake’s 7. A group of academics who seemed so ancient and wise — and were probably younger than me now —  were patient when I interrupted their conversation about Dennis Potter to ask what they knew about him pitching to write Doctor Who.

The whole event was overshadowed by the recent death of Sydney Newman, effectively becoming a conference about his legacy as Head of Drama at the BBC, 1963-67. But a recurring topic in the bar was the public response to the death of Princess Diana the previous summer — how it affected viewing figures of drama at the time, how it would shape drama to come. One producer said she thought that increasingly risk-averse broadcasters would veto any drama that was not sufficiently respectful to the public mood. 

When, the following year, Queer as Folk contained a scene of characters talking about the death of Diana, it was rude and funny, yet at heart about a shared sense of grief — and the closing joke was about not Diana but Elton John. The friend I watched with was shocked; I could see it navigating the sensibilities I’d heard that producer raise.

Reading the book now has made me acutely aware of what I missed while at the event all those years ago. I had not heard of, let alone seen, many of the dramas cited. I did not know the names of many people there or whose work was being discussed. Now I see I was rubbing shoulders with, perhaps even serving wine to, John McGrath, Irene Shubik and a whole host of others whose work I now know so well through my various bits of research. The things I wish I could go back and ask! 

But telly has always been ephemeral; it is made and then you move on.

There’s lots of fascinating, insightful stuff in the book, both from the conference in 1998 and added new for the second edition (2014). There is lots on the ideology behind what makes it to the screen, the move from schooling the audience in culture to trailing after them as consumers, as well as the respective value accorded to different kinds of drama by a male-dominated, male-centred industry. That’s informed my viewing of the BBC’s Vanity Fair (1987), on which I’ll have more to say in due course.

I was also engrossed by accounts of how developments in technology changed what we see on TV, and its look and feel. Phil Redmond explains how Brookside made use of developments in computer technology and word processing to streamline writing and recording, and dovetails this with the aim of the programme to reflect a fast-changing world. Victoria Byard’s chapter on The Sarah Jane Adventures addresses the way it worked across traditional broadcast TV as well as new digital platforms, and there’s a concluding chapter by the editors on time-shifted viewing and the changing ways that the audience — or audiences plural — are consuming media. Or were, given how much things have moved on in the past decade.

Sarah Cardwell’s chapter compares three different TV versions of Persuasion made over a 36-year period (1971, 1995 and 2007), though I’m not sure I entirely agree that the 1971 one was slow-moving and wordy because of “the technological and institutional context” (p. 86). Compare it to Upstairs, Downstairs or The Stalls of Barchester from the same year and you’d get a very different sense of the way the past could be realised. I think Persuasion was made within a tradition of serialised dramatisations of “classic” novels, what Screening the Novel referred to as a “house style”, resulting in an old-fashioned mode of TV drama even for 1971. The question, I think, is how consciously the people who made it resisted the wider technological and institutional context. 

That’s got me thinking about the way any new dramatisation of a classic novel must balance making the old story relevant to a modern-day audience without feeling too “new”. A common objection to the 2022 Netflix version of Persuasion was that protagonist Anne Eliot directly addresses the audience in the style of Fleabag (2016-19). Obviously, Fleabag didn’t invent talking-to-camera, but that particular series is mentioned in much of the criticism. Such “gimmicks” (Variety) are “jarring” (Vanity Fair) in drama set in the past, resulting in a “disaster of anachronistic dialogue and annoyingly wry glances at the camera” (the Guardian). 

We could point to other anachronisms — the teeth and skin of the actors are too perfect, their costumes look brand new, the whole world on screen is too picturesque, clean and healthy — but that’s the same in most other costume dramas of this sort. That, I think is at the heart of the objection: it’s not about whether it authentically presents the early 19th century, but the expectations we have built up from previous screen dramatisations. Persuasion (2022) does not sufficiently look and feel like old TV.

In fact, I’d argue that the direct address to camera is a neat way of tackling a perennial issue in dramatisation: how to transpose both the content and flavour of narration in the book into dialogue used on screen. In this case, the direct address conveys something of Jane Austen’s use of free indirect speech, which gives the book an intimate, informal, even gossipy style. In that sense, it’s authentic. 

Deep Space Nine: Outside In Can Live With It

I am one of the 171 authors in the newly announced Outside In Can Live With It, an anthology of perspectives on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The book is out on 24 July and available to pre-order now, with proceeds going to the charity Against Malaria.

My contribution, “Red Flags”, is focused on episode #168, ’Til Death Do Us Part. By chance, I wrote it while working on the script for our documentary Terror of the Suburbs, which refers to the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part (1965-71), and I had to pay close attention to the order of the “us” and the “do” in each case.

Which has got it right? 

Well, in fact, neither. I mean, both appear in the solemnisation of matrimony, depending which editions of The Book of Common Prayer and other prayer books you check. But if you’re an awful nerd and feel compelled to trace the phrase back to earliest historical source, you reach the 1549 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, and it says something else.

I N. take thee N. to my wedded wife, to have and to holde from this day forwarde, for better, for wurse, for richer, for poorer, in sickenes, and in health, to love and to cherishe, til death us departe: according to Goddes holy ordeinaunce: And therto I plight thee my trouth.

The suggestion is that it was written as “departe” but heard as “do part”; the sense of being together until death mutating into one of being together until death forcibly separates us from each other. That is subtly different but I think slightly more romantic, which may explain why it caught on.

The “do us part” is surely a latter correction so as not to split the infinitive. 

I decided this wouldn’t do for my entry in the Deep Space Nine book so inflict it on you here.

The Brigadier’s family hatchback

Old TV is time travel. It’s full of extraordinary, telling details, often stuff that the people making the programme weren’t conscious of as they made it. The things they took for granted or didn’t sweat can now seem so vividly odd. They’re well worth digging into. They are history alive.

For example, in the 1971 Doctor Who story Terror of the Autons, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and two of his officers drive a pale blue Austin Maxi, registration POF 61OG, which is involved in an action sequence in Episode 3. The shape of it, the boxy way it moves, the guttural sound of the engine, are all very distinctive of the time. “Gosh,” I thought, watching a bit today while fact-checking something something else, “I’d forgotten cars sounded like that…” 

The sound of the past, once so prevalent and now a detail from history. 

On the commentary recorded for the DVD release, producer Barry Letts and actors Nicholas Courtney and Katy Manning joke about the incongruity of such an ordinary car in the midst of an alien invasion. Basically, they ask, why doesn’t the heroic Brig drive something more, well, manly?

I think something quite interesting* is going on here. This car we see on screen isn’t ordinary at all. 

The Austin Maxi was the first car to be launched by the newly formed British Leyland Motor Corporation. That was on 24 April 1969 — less than 18 months before this particular model featured in scenes filmed for Doctor Who in September 1970. It’s brand new — and also more than that, too. 

Around this time, British Leyland’s publicity people seem to have loaned several Austin Maxis to BBC productions, surely as a means of subliminal advertising. The idea, of course, was to make the new model of car familiar to viewers, encouraging them to buy one. In that sense, this is the car of tomorrow — the next model that viewers’ will themselves drive. And that fits with this story, and Doctor Who of the time, being set in the very near future.

That’s why, I think, that in September 1970 it didn’t seem incongruous to the production team for Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of the UN’s Intelligence Taskforce to drive into battle in a five-door hatchback. At least, it wasn’t incongruous enough for them to put him behind the wheel of something else.

The irony is that the subliminal advertising worked. People did become familiar with and buy Austin Maxis, so this particular model took on a range of associations as an ordinary, family car. It was once the aspirational new car of the future. That it now feels incongruous is a sign of how much we’ve moved on. 

See also

• 15 years of The Coup — or how I gave the Brigadier a knighthood
• My long-ago plan to make him a Lord and all
• More of me wanging on about the Third Doctor’s era of Doctor Who