Not one of my favourites, this. The narrator spends too much time dumping facts about Titan and Saturn on us in the early pages, although TD does give us a plausible picture of Lowe as a fussy, precise man (exactly what Sheard's portrayal leads us to assume).
Leela can get the TARDIS to the Bi-Al Foundation because the Doctor has instructed her in basic takeoff and landing procedures, just in case.
The Foundation appears to be a business proposition, funded by various 'conglomerates'. Odd then that nobody seems to be charged any fees. We're also told more about the 'spaceniks', who make a nuisance of themselves stowing away to see the planets, and then have to be sent home at great expense. They're 'the descendants of the hippies and beatniks of the late twentieth century' - the spiritual descendants I presume, unless he's telling us that Cliff and Jo Jones are the root cause of the problem.
There's extra emphasis on the idea that the Kilbracken technique is one of holographic cloning, and that this is why it can reproduce clothing as well as bodies.
The lines in the 'bit of a mongrel' conversation are distributed slightly differently between Marius and PVC Nurse.
The cavern in which the Nucleus is lurking extends as far as the eye can see, and has silver pillars holding up the roof.
The narrator raises a question in our minds about the cause of the Doctor's immunity to further infection once the Nucleus leaves his brain - it might be because he's survived such a massive attack, 'or perhaps for some other reason'. Thus we are properly primed for the Doctor's explanation about the Leela clone dissolving in his bloodstream, making it seem more convincing.
On Titan, Safran is full of pride at having prepared such a good breeding environment for the Purpose. At least he dies happy, then. K9 deals with the guard that he decoys away by losing him in the maze of corridors (some task given the amount of noise K9 makes in his early stories).
The hatching virus creatures are described as like 'malevolent dragonflies' - possibly my first encounter with the word malevolent. The Nucleus has grown to massive size, and wallows frighteningly across the tank towards the door to get at the Doctor.
The TARDIS does not partially dematerialise, then return for Leela and K9 - they manage to dash inside just after the Doctor.
In sum, an unobjectionable adaptation, but not one of the classics.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Target: The Horror of Fang Rock
This is a notoriously short Target - although it has the standard page count, the print is huge. But TD is keen to give value for money, so he opens with a Prologue, which is in the present tense and talks about horrific events at the turn of the century, so we think it's set in our present day and is referring to the events of the story we're about to read. But it then does a pull-back-and-reveal to show that the present day is the early 1900s. Now, this is either a clever way to unsettle us, or a really confusing way to start a book.
Ben is much older than the thirtyish (?) man we see is on screen - in his early fifties.
The Doctor is not on the point of returning to the TARDIS when he sees the inoperative lighthouse - a shame, that, I enjoy the suggestion that he and Leela nearly missed the whole thing. He also gets the whole 'big in some ways, smaller in others' line, rather than sharing it with Leela.
Leela doesn't pick up a table knife to use as a weapon: she finds a sailor's knife in Ben's sea-chest (where she gets the spare clothes from).
Pleasingly, we accompany the Doctor, Reuben and Vince to the tiny shingle beach at East Crag where the lifeboat comes ashore. Palmerdale falls into the sea in his haste to jump out of the boat. (It's during this scene that the light comes on again and the Doctor deduces that the creature needs electricity).
The Doctor doesn't do the exaggerated 'We haven't been introduced!' bit, he just suggests that the castaways introduce themselves. He deconstructs the Beast of Fang Rock myth to Leela in terms of murder, suicide and trauma respectively among the three keepers in the legend.
When Harker refuses to take the boat back to sea, Palmerdale looks as surprised 'as if a chair or table had found a voice'. He's used to the 'lower orders' doing as he tells them.
The Doctor is put out by Reuben's interjection of the Beast story into his warning speech to the castaways, because it undermines the credibility of his warning.
Reference is made to the Doctor's 'staring eyes' as evidence that he's mad, and it's suggested that Leela is probably his nurse.
When Leela and the Doctor go to find out what's happened to Reuben, the Doctor says 'Don't step on any jellyfish,' not 'Don't talk to any strangers.' The tone of Leela's comment about the creature not being bold is different - more of a question.
Palmerdale shows his 'insurance' diamonds to Vince in the lamp-room, when he says 'I'm a businessman'. (He's trying to prove that £50 is nothing to a man like him, so it isn't a suspicious amount to be offering Vince).
There's no oak/hickory business between Leela and Harker. The Doctor does not quote the Malicious Damage Act 1861 - he just mentions malicious damage, and he does it after Leela has left, not as an opener. Nor does he mention lycanthropy in the 'chameleon factor' cliffhanger speech. (By the way, each episode lasts exactly 3 chapters).
Rutans have little concept of individual identity, so they always speak in the plural, the narrator tells us. (I think this was my first encounter with the word 'plural'. 28 years old I was...)
'That does not concern you,' says the Rutan, not 'doesn't'. Yes, I've omitted lots of larger changes in these lists but this one is more significant than it seems - it's an example of how the Target Rutan's diction and voice ('weird, high, shrill, totally alien') are not like what we hear on screen. I had a shock when I watched Fang Rock for the first time since 1977 and heard its fussy, Arthur Lowe-esque tones. Not totally inappropriate for a militaristic species, but still.
'I should have realised I was dealing with a Rutan,' thinks the Doctor. He also reflects that Rutans are so strange and savage that even the Sontarans are preferable.
Skinsale specifies that he's questioning the advisability of so much gunpowder in a confined space (professional qualms?) On a similar theme, the Doctor adds 'You know what these old soldiers are once they get talking' to his comment about military chit-chat.
I've often wondered exactly why the early Schemurly is 'no good' - in the book, the Doctor explains that Rutans can seal wounds made by (individual) projectile attacks. They have to be blown to bits. He also outlines the background of the Rutan-Sontaran conflict, and the Rutan plans for Earth, so at least Skinsale gets to know the nature of the war he's fighting (if not for very long). He's also definite about the Rutans concluding that this sector of space was too dangerous - they are, he says, a cautious species. (This point used to concern me with the screen version).
The reason that the Doctor and Skinsale have time to make the trip down to the crew room is that the Rutan is climbing the stairs slowly - it fears further attacks, being, I suppose, cautious as the Doctor has just said. Palmerdale's body is on a bunk, not the floor.
Skinsale's obituary is differently handled - the Doctor says he's dead, Leela asks 'With honour?'
That's good Terrancing. And an example of the Doctor writing his own adventures.
The poem scene is more involved - it's introduced by Leela asking what the local people will think has happened, and the Doctor replying that someone will probably write a poem about it. 'What litany is that?' interrupts Leela after the first line. I like the litany reference, but I think the poem works better without all the business.
However, TD isn't going to leave us on a weak point, because after the TARDIS has dematerialised, the narrator gives us the thundering of the waves. 'No one was left alive to hear them.'
Ben is much older than the thirtyish (?) man we see is on screen - in his early fifties.
The Doctor is not on the point of returning to the TARDIS when he sees the inoperative lighthouse - a shame, that, I enjoy the suggestion that he and Leela nearly missed the whole thing. He also gets the whole 'big in some ways, smaller in others' line, rather than sharing it with Leela.
Leela doesn't pick up a table knife to use as a weapon: she finds a sailor's knife in Ben's sea-chest (where she gets the spare clothes from).
Pleasingly, we accompany the Doctor, Reuben and Vince to the tiny shingle beach at East Crag where the lifeboat comes ashore. Palmerdale falls into the sea in his haste to jump out of the boat. (It's during this scene that the light comes on again and the Doctor deduces that the creature needs electricity).
The Doctor doesn't do the exaggerated 'We haven't been introduced!' bit, he just suggests that the castaways introduce themselves. He deconstructs the Beast of Fang Rock myth to Leela in terms of murder, suicide and trauma respectively among the three keepers in the legend.
When Harker refuses to take the boat back to sea, Palmerdale looks as surprised 'as if a chair or table had found a voice'. He's used to the 'lower orders' doing as he tells them.
The Doctor is put out by Reuben's interjection of the Beast story into his warning speech to the castaways, because it undermines the credibility of his warning.
Reference is made to the Doctor's 'staring eyes' as evidence that he's mad, and it's suggested that Leela is probably his nurse.
When Leela and the Doctor go to find out what's happened to Reuben, the Doctor says 'Don't step on any jellyfish,' not 'Don't talk to any strangers.' The tone of Leela's comment about the creature not being bold is different - more of a question.
Palmerdale shows his 'insurance' diamonds to Vince in the lamp-room, when he says 'I'm a businessman'. (He's trying to prove that £50 is nothing to a man like him, so it isn't a suspicious amount to be offering Vince).
There's no oak/hickory business between Leela and Harker. The Doctor does not quote the Malicious Damage Act 1861 - he just mentions malicious damage, and he does it after Leela has left, not as an opener. Nor does he mention lycanthropy in the 'chameleon factor' cliffhanger speech. (By the way, each episode lasts exactly 3 chapters).
Rutans have little concept of individual identity, so they always speak in the plural, the narrator tells us. (I think this was my first encounter with the word 'plural'. 28 years old I was...)
'That does not concern you,' says the Rutan, not 'doesn't'. Yes, I've omitted lots of larger changes in these lists but this one is more significant than it seems - it's an example of how the Target Rutan's diction and voice ('weird, high, shrill, totally alien') are not like what we hear on screen. I had a shock when I watched Fang Rock for the first time since 1977 and heard its fussy, Arthur Lowe-esque tones. Not totally inappropriate for a militaristic species, but still.
'I should have realised I was dealing with a Rutan,' thinks the Doctor. He also reflects that Rutans are so strange and savage that even the Sontarans are preferable.
Skinsale specifies that he's questioning the advisability of so much gunpowder in a confined space (professional qualms?) On a similar theme, the Doctor adds 'You know what these old soldiers are once they get talking' to his comment about military chit-chat.
I've often wondered exactly why the early Schemurly is 'no good' - in the book, the Doctor explains that Rutans can seal wounds made by (individual) projectile attacks. They have to be blown to bits. He also outlines the background of the Rutan-Sontaran conflict, and the Rutan plans for Earth, so at least Skinsale gets to know the nature of the war he's fighting (if not for very long). He's also definite about the Rutans concluding that this sector of space was too dangerous - they are, he says, a cautious species. (This point used to concern me with the screen version).
The reason that the Doctor and Skinsale have time to make the trip down to the crew room is that the Rutan is climbing the stairs slowly - it fears further attacks, being, I suppose, cautious as the Doctor has just said. Palmerdale's body is on a bunk, not the floor.
Skinsale's obituary is differently handled - the Doctor says he's dead, Leela asks 'With honour?'
The Doctor hesitated, thinking of Skinsale scrabbling for the diamonds. It was no way for a man to be remembered. 'Yes,' he said firmly. 'With honour.'
That's good Terrancing. And an example of the Doctor writing his own adventures.
The poem scene is more involved - it's introduced by Leela asking what the local people will think has happened, and the Doctor replying that someone will probably write a poem about it. 'What litany is that?' interrupts Leela after the first line. I like the litany reference, but I think the poem works better without all the business.
However, TD isn't going to leave us on a weak point, because after the TARDIS has dematerialised, the narrator gives us the thundering of the waves. 'No one was left alive to hear them.'
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Target: The Talons of Weng-Chiang
This is another adaptation which I've underestimated - again because I saw the screen version before I read it. But once again, Terrance Dicks is putting forth some extra effort with this one - on the first page we have a panoramic view of the 1890s, zooming in to the Palace Theatre where rich and poor alike are gathered for entertainment. (Does their anticipation mirror the reader's?)
There's also a recap of how Jago came to hear of Li H'sen Chang and to book him for the Palace. Authenticity was a key drawing factor - 'After all he really was Chinese, unlike most Oriental magicians who were usually English enough once the makeup was off.' Eh? eh? You sly old dog Mr D!
Jago refers to Mr Sin as a 'ventriloquist's doll', he doesn't use the theatrical slang 'vent'.
When she accompanies the police to the station, Leela thinks she's being taken to the ruler's dwelling. She doesn't think much of it, and the place is unflatteringly seen from her POV.
The bizarre waterfront hag is replaced by a man, but he still makes the 'in all my puff' remark. I wondered if, on the page, a woman would have made the resemblance to the similar scene in Our Mutual Friend too obvious?
There's a bit of back-story for Litefoot - he came to be Limehouse pathologist after being in the Army, and in search of more interesting work than attending to women with the vapours. His relatives think his choice is disgraceful.
The part where Litefoot realises he and the Doctor are talking about gory things in the presence of a 'lady' is more smoothly done - he apologises to Leela, rather than commenting to the Doctor.
When the Doctor first meets Jago, he introduces the 'master hypnotist' bit with a question about Buller - it's Jago's blank reaction that makes him think Jago is under the influence. Later, Jago doesn't faint at the sight of the 'ghost', he trips over and hits his head while running away from it.
At supper, Leela tears her meat 'with strong white teeth', an evocative phrase which I've never forgotten since the first time I read this Target aged about 8. The dining room is initially seen from her POV, although, as the narrator remarks, she doesn't realise that it's a clash of two styles (Victorian and Chinese).
It was Litefoot who spent a long time trying to open the Time Cabinet, not a visitor.
The woman who 'despicable Chang' kidnaps is named Teresa Hart, and she's a waitress in a Mayfair gambling club. (Almost all commentators on the screen version have assumed she was a prostitute, though to be fair to TD, he was hardly going to say so in a book aimed at children and published in 1977).
In the boat, Litefoot doesn't suggest that the gun is unusable, rather that the Doctor has overloaded it.
There appears to be a glitch in the decline of Chang and Greel's relationship: after Leela escapes, Greel tells Chang 'Fail me once more and I shall dismiss you, Chang. I cannot leave my fate in such blundering hands.' The next time they meet, when Greel is packing his bags, he's giving Chang the 'It is far more likely that he will kill you' bit, and dismissing him. (Perhaps the news that the Doctor is coming to the theatre is seen as showing that Chang has failed?)
Jago says that the Doctor won't be wearing a bowler hat and big boots, not 'a brown derby and boots'.
The theatre reminds Leela pleasurably of the tribal festivals of the Sevateem (no doubt involving a lot of chanting to Xoanon, led by Neeva). On screen she doesn't seem to be enjoying herself at all - incidentally, the line about the 'responses', which I like very much, isn't in the book.
When Chang throws him the cards, the Doctor pleasingly holds them over his 'left-hand heart'. Also, he pushes Lee into the cabinet, rather than temporarily hiding so that Lee has to take over his role.
The Doctor does not make the remark to Chang that implies that he'll be able to join his ancestors when he gets hanged for murder.
The narrator points out that Litefoot could have been expected to leave the clearing up to his servants. The comedy misunderstanding with Jago is sped up a bit so that it works better on the page. (Although, as I said, I saw this story before I read the Target, my picture of Jago was influenced by the children's book Rattus Rex by Colin Maclaren, which has various similarities to Talons. I imagined him as a larger, posher, more pompous figure, so the raffish, vulgar screen Jago came as a bit of surprise when I saw him again. Indeed he reminded me of the theatre owner in The Picture of Dorian Gray).
At the House of the Dragon, the Doctor thinks in flashback about the mysterious escape of Greel after the Battle of Reykjavik, and the narrator expands this with a few details about his arrival in China in the Time Cabinet.
Jago doesn't refer to a 'death-ray'. Also, his 'I say, I say, I say' line is uttered after he returns to safety - it's a gasp of relief rather than part of the diversion. I preferred the latter, because it makes us feel clever for thinking 'Yes, that's just how Jago would create a diversion.'
Tea and muffins at Litefoot's intervene before the final scene. Jago doesn't suggest that the TARDIS is the Doctor's 'own personal transport', but that it's a 'portable police station', which is a bit more plausible.
The book excellently concludes with the footsteps of Litefoot and Jago fading into the fog, while Chang's face stares out from the poster. It's unusual for TD to refer so literally to a particular shot, but it works really well here.
There's also a recap of how Jago came to hear of Li H'sen Chang and to book him for the Palace. Authenticity was a key drawing factor - 'After all he really was Chinese, unlike most Oriental magicians who were usually English enough once the makeup was off.' Eh? eh? You sly old dog Mr D!
Jago refers to Mr Sin as a 'ventriloquist's doll', he doesn't use the theatrical slang 'vent'.
When she accompanies the police to the station, Leela thinks she's being taken to the ruler's dwelling. She doesn't think much of it, and the place is unflatteringly seen from her POV.
The bizarre waterfront hag is replaced by a man, but he still makes the 'in all my puff' remark. I wondered if, on the page, a woman would have made the resemblance to the similar scene in Our Mutual Friend too obvious?
There's a bit of back-story for Litefoot - he came to be Limehouse pathologist after being in the Army, and in search of more interesting work than attending to women with the vapours. His relatives think his choice is disgraceful.
The part where Litefoot realises he and the Doctor are talking about gory things in the presence of a 'lady' is more smoothly done - he apologises to Leela, rather than commenting to the Doctor.
When the Doctor first meets Jago, he introduces the 'master hypnotist' bit with a question about Buller - it's Jago's blank reaction that makes him think Jago is under the influence. Later, Jago doesn't faint at the sight of the 'ghost', he trips over and hits his head while running away from it.
At supper, Leela tears her meat 'with strong white teeth', an evocative phrase which I've never forgotten since the first time I read this Target aged about 8. The dining room is initially seen from her POV, although, as the narrator remarks, she doesn't realise that it's a clash of two styles (Victorian and Chinese).
It was Litefoot who spent a long time trying to open the Time Cabinet, not a visitor.
The woman who 'despicable Chang' kidnaps is named Teresa Hart, and she's a waitress in a Mayfair gambling club. (Almost all commentators on the screen version have assumed she was a prostitute, though to be fair to TD, he was hardly going to say so in a book aimed at children and published in 1977).
In the boat, Litefoot doesn't suggest that the gun is unusable, rather that the Doctor has overloaded it.
There appears to be a glitch in the decline of Chang and Greel's relationship: after Leela escapes, Greel tells Chang 'Fail me once more and I shall dismiss you, Chang. I cannot leave my fate in such blundering hands.' The next time they meet, when Greel is packing his bags, he's giving Chang the 'It is far more likely that he will kill you' bit, and dismissing him. (Perhaps the news that the Doctor is coming to the theatre is seen as showing that Chang has failed?)
Jago says that the Doctor won't be wearing a bowler hat and big boots, not 'a brown derby and boots'.
The theatre reminds Leela pleasurably of the tribal festivals of the Sevateem (no doubt involving a lot of chanting to Xoanon, led by Neeva). On screen she doesn't seem to be enjoying herself at all - incidentally, the line about the 'responses', which I like very much, isn't in the book.
When Chang throws him the cards, the Doctor pleasingly holds them over his 'left-hand heart'. Also, he pushes Lee into the cabinet, rather than temporarily hiding so that Lee has to take over his role.
The Doctor does not make the remark to Chang that implies that he'll be able to join his ancestors when he gets hanged for murder.
The narrator points out that Litefoot could have been expected to leave the clearing up to his servants. The comedy misunderstanding with Jago is sped up a bit so that it works better on the page. (Although, as I said, I saw this story before I read the Target, my picture of Jago was influenced by the children's book Rattus Rex by Colin Maclaren, which has various similarities to Talons. I imagined him as a larger, posher, more pompous figure, so the raffish, vulgar screen Jago came as a bit of surprise when I saw him again. Indeed he reminded me of the theatre owner in The Picture of Dorian Gray).
At the House of the Dragon, the Doctor thinks in flashback about the mysterious escape of Greel after the Battle of Reykjavik, and the narrator expands this with a few details about his arrival in China in the Time Cabinet.
Jago doesn't refer to a 'death-ray'. Also, his 'I say, I say, I say' line is uttered after he returns to safety - it's a gasp of relief rather than part of the diversion. I preferred the latter, because it makes us feel clever for thinking 'Yes, that's just how Jago would create a diversion.'
Tea and muffins at Litefoot's intervene before the final scene. Jago doesn't suggest that the TARDIS is the Doctor's 'own personal transport', but that it's a 'portable police station', which is a bit more plausible.
The book excellently concludes with the footsteps of Litefoot and Jago fading into the fog, while Chang's face stares out from the poster. It's unusual for TD to refer so literally to a particular shot, but it works really well here.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Invasion of Time
Perhaps I've been a bit harsh on this story in the past - the 'evil Doctor' plot, taken to this extent, is rare in DW. The false climax at the end of part four is quite clever too: if you didn't know it was a six-parter you'd be all ready for the Doctor and Leela to wave goodbye and get into the TARDIS, until he spots the Sontarans.
There's some quality Leela-ing in this too: she's picked up some more sophisticated mannerisms, saying 'How dare you' to the Doctor, and the very Doctorish phrase 'Oh, one does, one does' to Rodan. (But she still doesn't know what 'proficient' means, or how to use contractions).
People say that her staying with Andred is unconvincing, but the story tries to make it as convincing as possible. He's not just the 'security guard' of the casual putdown after all, he's chief of the guard and brave enough to start a rebellion against the Vardans on his own account. He's also quite humorous, he's not just a tin soldier type. And he can work the TARDIS controls with confidence.
I'd been watching Borusa for some time before I realised I was totally convinced by the performance. I'd be intrigued to see what the actor from Deadly Assassin would have made of the role here, though.
The bloke playing Kelner really makes the most out of a simple slimy villain role - the scene where he has to try and find the Doctor an orange jelly-baby is enjoyable. Also notice how he sweeps his cloak around once the Vardans put him in charge.
The villain voices have problems: the chief Vardan sounds like an arrogant 15-year-old public school boy. As a counterweight, Stor has the dark l's of my own accent ('force-fiewld') - proud as I am of our distinctive sound, I can't believe in a clone alien who shares it.
There's some quality Leela-ing in this too: she's picked up some more sophisticated mannerisms, saying 'How dare you' to the Doctor, and the very Doctorish phrase 'Oh, one does, one does' to Rodan. (But she still doesn't know what 'proficient' means, or how to use contractions).
People say that her staying with Andred is unconvincing, but the story tries to make it as convincing as possible. He's not just the 'security guard' of the casual putdown after all, he's chief of the guard and brave enough to start a rebellion against the Vardans on his own account. He's also quite humorous, he's not just a tin soldier type. And he can work the TARDIS controls with confidence.
I'd been watching Borusa for some time before I realised I was totally convinced by the performance. I'd be intrigued to see what the actor from Deadly Assassin would have made of the role here, though.
The bloke playing Kelner really makes the most out of a simple slimy villain role - the scene where he has to try and find the Doctor an orange jelly-baby is enjoyable. Also notice how he sweeps his cloak around once the Vardans put him in charge.
The villain voices have problems: the chief Vardan sounds like an arrogant 15-year-old public school boy. As a counterweight, Stor has the dark l's of my own accent ('force-fiewld') - proud as I am of our distinctive sound, I can't believe in a clone alien who shares it.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Target: The Robots of Death
This story is the first of a small category that I know well, but that I saw on television before reading the novelisation. As such I can't help treating them more critically - but this one stands up well to the harsher treatment.
Terrance Dicks goes to some lengths to build up a picture for us of a society where everyone expects everything to be done by robots. I wonder if he enjoyed adapting Chris Boucher's scripts, because they stretch him more - at one point early on, he's handling a sustained conversation with 5 people talking at once, something I can't recall happening in any other Target.
The mine is referred to as 'the Sandminer' throughout.
Uvanov plays 3-D chess with the robot, not the ordinary kind.
The desert has bands of coloured sand 'gleaming red, purple, black, gold in the dim yellow light of a distant sun.' How I wish we could see it.
The 'One of you/one of us' exchange is accompanied by some good Uvanov POV - 'He'd unconsciously left himself out of the group of suspects. They were putting him back in.'
The Doctor's first encounter with Uvanov has the former mentally sum up the latter as having 'something curiously pathetic' about him, a middle-aged man pretending to be young, a weak man pretending to be strong. (The narrator does, however, say that he's 'the complete professional' when it comes to his work).
Zilda's brother had Grimwold's Syndrome, not Grimwade's.
Leela's fight with V.5 is well done - she first properly understands that she's dealing with machines, not men, when 'her fists and feet rebounded from the heavy metal of the robot's framework'. Also she gets her knife back, which means she throws it, and not a hand at D.84, so he says 'Please do not throw things at me' and not the stupid sub-Adams remark he makes on screen.
The 'I heard a cry' scene is done so that it actually makes sense - D.84 means that he heard a cry other than the one coming from the Doctor, and they go off and investigate it. That is not at all clear in the screen version, at least not to me - it just looks like D.84 and the Doctor are pointlessly trying to annoy each other.
The other main difference is that the conversation between D.84 and the Doctor, where the former explains what he's doing there, starts off with narration about the threatening letters, D.84's true nature as a Super-Voc, etc, and then gives us the conversation we hear on screen. This is an improvement - we aren't parachuted straight into the talk about threats and Taran Capel.
This one is much better than I remembered - interesting to see TD raising his game. Recommended.
Terrance Dicks goes to some lengths to build up a picture for us of a society where everyone expects everything to be done by robots. I wonder if he enjoyed adapting Chris Boucher's scripts, because they stretch him more - at one point early on, he's handling a sustained conversation with 5 people talking at once, something I can't recall happening in any other Target.
The mine is referred to as 'the Sandminer' throughout.
Uvanov plays 3-D chess with the robot, not the ordinary kind.
The desert has bands of coloured sand 'gleaming red, purple, black, gold in the dim yellow light of a distant sun.' How I wish we could see it.
The 'One of you/one of us' exchange is accompanied by some good Uvanov POV - 'He'd unconsciously left himself out of the group of suspects. They were putting him back in.'
The Doctor's first encounter with Uvanov has the former mentally sum up the latter as having 'something curiously pathetic' about him, a middle-aged man pretending to be young, a weak man pretending to be strong. (The narrator does, however, say that he's 'the complete professional' when it comes to his work).
Zilda's brother had Grimwold's Syndrome, not Grimwade's.
Leela's fight with V.5 is well done - she first properly understands that she's dealing with machines, not men, when 'her fists and feet rebounded from the heavy metal of the robot's framework'. Also she gets her knife back, which means she throws it, and not a hand at D.84, so he says 'Please do not throw things at me' and not the stupid sub-Adams remark he makes on screen.
The 'I heard a cry' scene is done so that it actually makes sense - D.84 means that he heard a cry other than the one coming from the Doctor, and they go off and investigate it. That is not at all clear in the screen version, at least not to me - it just looks like D.84 and the Doctor are pointlessly trying to annoy each other.
The other main difference is that the conversation between D.84 and the Doctor, where the former explains what he's doing there, starts off with narration about the threatening letters, D.84's true nature as a Super-Voc, etc, and then gives us the conversation we hear on screen. This is an improvement - we aren't parachuted straight into the talk about threats and Taran Capel.
This one is much better than I remembered - interesting to see TD raising his game. Recommended.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Target: The Face of Evil
Now this is a real classic, one of Terrance's finest efforts. Almost every page has been polished and improved. When the Doctor first arrives, he wonders if he subconsciously piloted the TARDIS to this unexpected location. And he has a feeling something's missing - 'Of course! Sarah Jane Smith.' He ruminates on how he couldn't take her to Gallifrey, and how in any case 'it was more than time that she took up her own ordinary human life again.' But despite feeling assured that he'd acted for the best, he 'couldn't help feeling a little lonely...' And we immediately cut to Leela, who is thus foregrounded as potential companion (if the big picture of her on the cover wasn't enough of a clue).
She, incidentally, wonders whether there might be 'some other tribe that would take her in' - an interesting suggestion, but it seems most likely that the Sevateem and the Tesh were the only survivors of the expedition.
The Wall is much more impressive on the page - a tunnel opens up in it, into which the Sevateem rush. Before the attack, Andor reflects that 'Much more of this and Xoanon would have no Sevateem left to worship him,' because the attacks, and hunting accidents, famine and disease have reduced their numbers to critical levels. I particularly like stories where the Doctor turns up just as a situation is about to go pear-shaped anyway.
(One quibble about the Wall - if it's a Time Barrier, how come they can see the mountain with the Evil One's face on it? It's inside the barrier, surely?)
When the Doctor survives the Test of the Horda, he realises that his rare achievement has given him a temporary psychological advantage, which he must exploit while it lasts.
He also has a reverie which explains exactly where his original visit to the planet fits into continuity. (I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it, but it makes sense).
After the particle analyser scene, it's made clear that the Doctor already had the mirror in his hand when Jabel poleaxes him, thus answering the puzzle of how he got it out of his pocket when he was tied up. I'm told that this is visible on screen too, but I've never noticed it myself.
The ending is much the same, except for the omission of the 'Little Gentek?' line, and a TARDIS interior scene where Leela sees, and curiously operates, the dematerialisation lever.
She, incidentally, wonders whether there might be 'some other tribe that would take her in' - an interesting suggestion, but it seems most likely that the Sevateem and the Tesh were the only survivors of the expedition.
The Wall is much more impressive on the page - a tunnel opens up in it, into which the Sevateem rush. Before the attack, Andor reflects that 'Much more of this and Xoanon would have no Sevateem left to worship him,' because the attacks, and hunting accidents, famine and disease have reduced their numbers to critical levels. I particularly like stories where the Doctor turns up just as a situation is about to go pear-shaped anyway.
(One quibble about the Wall - if it's a Time Barrier, how come they can see the mountain with the Evil One's face on it? It's inside the barrier, surely?)
When the Doctor survives the Test of the Horda, he realises that his rare achievement has given him a temporary psychological advantage, which he must exploit while it lasts.
He also has a reverie which explains exactly where his original visit to the planet fits into continuity. (I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it, but it makes sense).
After the particle analyser scene, it's made clear that the Doctor already had the mirror in his hand when Jabel poleaxes him, thus answering the puzzle of how he got it out of his pocket when he was tied up. I'm told that this is visible on screen too, but I've never noticed it myself.
The ending is much the same, except for the omission of the 'Little Gentek?' line, and a TARDIS interior scene where Leela sees, and curiously operates, the dematerialisation lever.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Target: The Deadly Assassin
This is a strangely uninspiring Target - it only comes alive in the Matrix section, where the descriptions of the Doctor's opponent, the Hunter, 'perfectly equipped for jungle warfare', are excellent and do the difficult job of making a very visual passage work on the page.
Spandrell does not refer to Sheboggans when he talks about vandalising the light-globe.
The only other enhancement I noticed was that the Doctor's evasion of the guards is helped by his memories of childhood hide-and-seek games in the Capitol.
Spandrell does not refer to Sheboggans when he talks about vandalising the light-globe.
The only other enhancement I noticed was that the Doctor's evasion of the guards is helped by his memories of childhood hide-and-seek games in the Capitol.