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Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth

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Anyone familiar with the target range of Doctor Who novelizations will be very familiar with Terrance Dicks since he wrote so many adaptions in the range. You will also be familiar with the many criticisms of Dicks style. I`m afraid with DALEK INVASION OF EARTH these criticisms are justified.

Terry Nation`s 1964 teleplay suffers from being wildly over-ambitious featuring devestated city landscapes , but unlike his adaption of DAY OF THE DALEKS Dicks fails to elaborate on this scenario just blandly skimming through the original script . For completists only

After their first appearance, the Daleks were so popular that it was inevitable that they would come back. This is the novel based on their second appearance in Doctor Who.

Terrance Dicks adapts this story in a very straightforward manner. As I'm inclined to say about a number of Mr Dicks' novelisations of these serials, the main problem is the lack of spirit in the writing.

There is a great degree of tragedy in this story: the human race largely wiped out, the survivors fighting a losing battle with their invaders, and individual stories of triumph and tragedy in a world greatly transformed by the Daleks.

It is a very different story from "The Daleks", far more gritty (certainly the grittiest Doctor Who science fiction story that had been broadcast), and brings the treat of aliens into the backyard of the original viewers (although, for an Australian like me, its still a bitter distant).

Sadly, if you watch the original on video, the performances of the actors imbue the story with more life than Mr Dicks does. The important last scene, which could be extremely emotional, is presented in a very dry fashion which relies on the reader to truly imbue it with emotion. Given that Bill Hartnell's final major speech is a true delight to watch, it is a pity that it isn't presented in such an engaging way here.

Not a bad book, but not as good as the video.

(By the way, this story was later adapted into the movie "Daleks Invasion Earth 2150AD".)