Terrance Dicks - Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion

Here at UNIT we deal with the odd the unexplained. Were prepared to tackle anything on Earth. Or even from beyond the Earth, if necessary.

Put on trial by the Time Lords, and found guilty of interfering in the affairs of other worlds, the Doctor is exiled to Earth in the 20th century, his appearance once again changed. His arrival coincides with a meteorite shower. But these are no ordinary meteorites.

The Nestene Consciousness has begun its first attempt to invade Earth using killer Autons and deadly shop window dummies. Only the Doctor and UNIT can stop the attack. But the Doctor is recovering in hospital, and his old friend the Brigadier doesnt even recognise him. Can the Doctor recover and win UNITs trust before the invasion begins?

This novel is based on Spearhead from Space, a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 324 January 1970.

Featuring the Third Doctor as played by Jon Pertwee, his companion Liz Shaw and the UNIT organisation commanded by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

DOCTOR WHO

AND THE

AUTON INVASION

Based on the BBC television serial Spearhead from Space by Robert Holmes by arrangement with the BBC

TERRANCE DICKS

Introduction by
RUSSELL T DAVIES

Illustrated by
Chris Achilleos

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781446417072

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Published in 2011 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing
A Random House Group Company
First published in 1974 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co., Ltd.

Novelisation copyright Terrance Dicks 1974
Original script Robert Holmes 1970
Illustrations Chris Achilleos 1974
Introduction Russell T Davies 2011
The Changing Face of Doctor Who and About the Authors Justin Richards 2011
Between the Lines Steve Tribe 2011
Autons Estate of Robert Holmes

BBC, DOCTOR WHO and TARDIS (word marks, logos and devices) are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at
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The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 849 90193 2

Commissioning editor: Albert DePetrillo
Editorial manager: Nicholas Payne
Series consultant: Justin Richards
Project editor: Steve Tribe
Cover design: Lee Binding Woodlands Books Ltd, 2011
Cover illustration: Chris Achilleos
Production: Rebecca Jones

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Malcolm Hulke

I met my first fellow fan through these Target books.

Of course, everyone watched Doctor Who in the old days, just as they do now. But as a Swansea kid in the 60s and 70s, I didnt really have a concept of fandom. Doctor Who was just a permanent and lovely thing, and no one could possibly be watching ITV on a Saturday night, could they? Simple as that.

But slowly, I became aware of a bigger world. Other forms of Doctor Who. Comic strips, the word Rolykin, the TV21 Daleks, and best of all, prose versions of old stories, in which things were slightly different from the programme I knew; differences that were thrilling, and mind-expanding. Id never have called this stuff merchandise. It was so much more than that! Looking back, its easy to focus on the things we didnt have in those days no DVD, no streaming, no Watch+1 but maybe that vacuum made the things we did have more potent. Could a novelisation ever be so mysterious, these days? Tempting us in, with a permanent and yet askew version of the Doctors adventures?

It all began with Doctor Who and the Daleks. My neighbour, Ceri, had a copy of the paperback. Looking back, it must have been one of the first editions the Armada paperback for boys and girls, before the Target range existed. Its dramatic cover haunted me. And I mean properly; Id stare at it for ages, quite literally mesmerised. Id ask to borrow the book and then keep it for weeks, hoping that Ceri would forget and not ask for it back. He always remembered, damn it. And so my life of crime began. One day, I just took it. Stuffed it in my pocket, smuggled it home, kept it hidden behind some other books, so only I would know it was there. And then it haunted me in a different, darker way, wedged in its shadowy hiding place; glowering and growing, like the cat in Vernon Scannells poem, A Case of Murder.

Why was it so important, to own it? Im still not sure, though Ive wondered about this for decades. But later, when I came to actually work on Doctor Who (you may remember me from such classics as Children In Need Cutaway and Tonights the Nights Alien Talent Search with John Barrowman), Id always get annoyed when cynics would dismiss merchandise as money-making. We have teams of people who fight to raise standards on the books and toys, because these things are important. For children in particular, I think, its part of owning the show, of participating; it brings that world of imagination into your hand, into your home, into your life of breakfast, school and bed. Maybe it closes the gap between Swansea and Skaro, just a little.

So, anyway, I had my guilty paperback festering away. But then, as though the world was growing up in sync with my little self, the book range became bigger. Target came along! Doctor Who and the Daleks was reprinted, with a better cover! Then more books. Monthly! Books promising books-to-come in the flyleaf!

And thats when I met her. That other fan. I was in WH Smith. Checking the Doctor Who shelf, as I did every week, just in case. And joy of joys, this turned out to be an incredible day two new novelisations released at the same time! The Daemons and The Sea Devils, together!

So I reached for those two books. Just as another hand reached for those two books. And we looked at each other and laughed. Two schoolkids. She was a bit older than me, I think, standing there with her mum. We said something like, Me too! Thats funny! Pause. I love these books! And me! And that was that. We went our separate ways.

Theres no great punchline to that tale. Sadly, I was doomed to never marry, so its not the romcom ending youre hoping for. But thats the point: nothing happened except something truly massive I met someone who loved