Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus [Paperback]

Philip Hinchcliffe (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Carol Pub Group (May 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0426201256
• ISBN-13: 978-0426201250
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,626,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A straightforward adaptation of a weak story, October 10, 2000

By 

"grrreg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus (Paperback)

The television story upon which this book is based was written by Terry Nation, who a couple of months earlier got the great British public to tune in compulsively to watch his Dalek serial. While this Dalek story firmly established Doctor Who as a favourite in the hearts of the public, it is rather sad to see that his second script was a cliche-ridden story that might just as well have been a Flash Gordon serial (no offence to Flash Gordon fans, but the ideal stories for the two characters are very different!).

The TARDIS arrives on the island Marinus, where the crew are captured but later convince the Keeper of the Conscience of Marinus that they are not saboteurs - unlike the Voord, who they help the Keeper to overcome. Arbitan, the Keeper, sets the travellers on a quest to obtain the microcircuit keys that control the Conscience, a computer that governs the world and eliminates feelings of evil, so that it can be reset to also influence the Voord.

Each key is hidden in a location which the travellers must explore to find it, overcoming a variety of perils. Unfortunately, even for 1964 when this story was broadcast, the perils are old hat as are the ways in which the travellers overcome them.

Philip Hinchcliffe's novelisation is quite workmanlike, but given the paucity of the original story can't do too much to rise it out of the ranks of mediocrity in which it rightly belongs.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the TV episodes..., August 18, 2008

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus (Paperback)

The Keys of Marinus is one of the best First Doctor adventure. I love the details, the sense of a quest, the feeling of danger towards a whole planet. Too bad that does not come out in the novel form of the story. It lacks the feeling of detail, the complex characters, the whole feeling of a epic story has been tossed out the window.