Dr Who and the Yeti Invasion of London
Obverse Books charity novel
Arriving back in his own time, Dr Who is shocked to find that London has been abandoned, its inhabitants forced out by a deadly fog… and by the even more deadly Yeti.
The battle for London is the beginning of the battle for the Earth. Notes: Initially, my first plan for expanding Peter Cushing's time as Dr Who was to give him five films. That idea didn't really last long, because I thought stretching his time in the role out was a better behind the scenes story. But even after I stretched his tenure out to the 1980s, I had planned just to write five books, with the fifth being a version of the Yeti story, The Web of Fear. In the end I mixed in bits of the earlier Yeti adventure, The Abominable Snowmen as well... but with lots of added snow which wasn't in the BBC TV serial. I just couldn't finish this one in time to get it out on sale quick enough to be of use to Tommy, so I held it back and it pushed me to do a second set to follow the first batch we released. The second batch's proceeds went to NHS charities.
The Web of Fear, along with The Cybermen, are the two Target Doctor Who novelisations I have read more than any other. When I was a kid I nearly always had a Target book in my hand. We didn't have DVDs or videos back then and novelisations were the only way enjoy a film or a TV show after seeing it. The Target books probably cemented my obsession with Doctor Who. Some of the Targets from the late 70s are very brief and a bit spartan on detail but for the most part, they're terrific. The early ones with a black block logo were an exotic delight for me because they had Doctors I'd never seen on TV and the later ones expanded the plots and paved the way for longer, more mature Doctor Who novels. They are a huge influence on my writing style, particularly the books which dipped into the background of the supporting characters, turning them from plot ciphers into people. When I decided to do these books, I thought they should be in the style of the early Targets; a series of Target books that had slipped through from an alternative reality in which Cushing had a long run as Dr Who. They may be the closest I ever get to writing a Target book, a series to which I am incredibly grateful, both for years of entertainment and for influencing me to become a writer.
The battle for London is the beginning of the battle for the Earth. Notes: Initially, my first plan for expanding Peter Cushing's time as Dr Who was to give him five films. That idea didn't really last long, because I thought stretching his time in the role out was a better behind the scenes story. But even after I stretched his tenure out to the 1980s, I had planned just to write five books, with the fifth being a version of the Yeti story, The Web of Fear. In the end I mixed in bits of the earlier Yeti adventure, The Abominable Snowmen as well... but with lots of added snow which wasn't in the BBC TV serial. I just couldn't finish this one in time to get it out on sale quick enough to be of use to Tommy, so I held it back and it pushed me to do a second set to follow the first batch we released. The second batch's proceeds went to NHS charities.
The Web of Fear, along with The Cybermen, are the two Target Doctor Who novelisations I have read more than any other. When I was a kid I nearly always had a Target book in my hand. We didn't have DVDs or videos back then and novelisations were the only way enjoy a film or a TV show after seeing it. The Target books probably cemented my obsession with Doctor Who. Some of the Targets from the late 70s are very brief and a bit spartan on detail but for the most part, they're terrific. The early ones with a black block logo were an exotic delight for me because they had Doctors I'd never seen on TV and the later ones expanded the plots and paved the way for longer, more mature Doctor Who novels. They are a huge influence on my writing style, particularly the books which dipped into the background of the supporting characters, turning them from plot ciphers into people. When I decided to do these books, I thought they should be in the style of the early Targets; a series of Target books that had slipped through from an alternative reality in which Cushing had a long run as Dr Who. They may be the closest I ever get to writing a Target book, a series to which I am incredibly grateful, both for years of entertainment and for influencing me to become a writer.