Customer Reviews

Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen

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A good quick read. Seems to be based on the TV episode, so it stays largely with what you would see if you watched the show rather than presenting the reader with what is happening inside the character's heads. An entertaining story and I could picture the cheesy (but fun to watch) special effects of the TV show while reading it :)

The Doctor saves the world (of course) and possibly the entire galaxy/universe from an evil intelligence that uses yetis and a (very) old monk as its weapons. You have to wonder why such a great intelligence cannot come up with a better plan during the 300 years it is working on this one. I guess that's what leads to its downfall, as the Doctor's more spontaneous unplanned actions triumph over the methodically executed evil one's plan.

This is one of the first original Target adaptations of a Doctor Who serial. It is written by Terrance Dicks, the most prolific of adapters, and being one of his first his prose style is more dynamic than his later adaptations.

The TARDIS arrives in the Himalayas, and the Doctor is excited by the opportunity to return the holy ghanta, a bell he has in safe keeping for the Det-sen Monastery. Leaving Jamie and Victoria in the TARDIS, he sets off to return the bell, promising to return to bring them once their welcome is ensured. When he arrives at the monastery, he finds that the yeti have become hostile and British explorer Edward Travers convinces the monks that the Doctor is behind this.

Meanwhile, Jamie and Victoria get bored waiting in the TARDIS and head out to explore. They find a cave with a pyramid built of silver spheres before being trapped by a yeti...

The story has several twists and turns, with both the nature of the yeti and their master not being what they at first appear. It is both excellent and original, but the broadcast version is now lost (except for one episode of the original six). This novel is the best way to enjoy this great piece of Doctor Who history.