Dr Who's Greatest Adventure
Obverse Books charity novel
This slightly different version of the cover was designed but not used.
At a remote Scottish coastal town, the impossible is seen swimming in the water. Soon after, there are more sightings all across London. Dr Who begins to investigate, but some problems are so enormous that even the Doctor needs help...
Sixty-five million years after their extinction, dinosaurs again roam the Earth. Notes:
'Change, my dear, and not a moment too soon...' That's a quote from Doctor Who for those of you unfortunate enough not to be fans.
There's a change in this book from the earlier movie novelisations. There are a few reasons for that. First, as a writer I need to shake things up and make a few little changes just to keep things fresh. Secondly, to give this Peter Cushing era definition it had to have a beginning, a pomp and an end. This was, originally, to have been the end for Cushing's Dr Who. A belated eighth movie also featuring TV Doctor Tom Baker and lots of dinosaurs felt about right for 1979. Why add Tom Baker's Doctor? Because Peter Cushing was getting older. In fact, by 1979, he was 66 years old. Other characters would have to carry the more physical action, and I was eager for the Doctor to always be integral, so a second Doctor made sense. Which made me think... didn't Milton Subostky try to get another Doctor Who film off the ground in the late 70s/early 80s? Dr Who's Greatest Adventure or The Lossiemouth Affair or something? Right, that was the direction to take.
In the end I decided this wasn't the actual end for Cushing's Dr Who. Why would it be the last film in the series? Well, movie series end because a film flops. I didn't want Cushing's tenure to end on a failure, so I did two things. I found a way to bring him back for a triumphant final hurrah on TV four years later and I gave the film a rough time during production and release but a phoenix-like rise from the ashes later which, I think, gave this film the most interesting backstory since Dr Who and the Ice Men from Mars.
ETA: Now, after the book was written in 2020-21, news broke that there was an actual script written for a third film, with this title, but it was based on a horror book about giant crabs. "Damn. Damn and blast!", I thought. So, I went back and added a few bits so that there are at least nods to that script, adding a few giant claw crabs here and there. It's not perfect, but these films happened on Earth-2, so they diverge from "our" reality, and at least there's a hint in there.
Sixty-five million years after their extinction, dinosaurs again roam the Earth. Notes:
'Change, my dear, and not a moment too soon...' That's a quote from Doctor Who for those of you unfortunate enough not to be fans.
There's a change in this book from the earlier movie novelisations. There are a few reasons for that. First, as a writer I need to shake things up and make a few little changes just to keep things fresh. Secondly, to give this Peter Cushing era definition it had to have a beginning, a pomp and an end. This was, originally, to have been the end for Cushing's Dr Who. A belated eighth movie also featuring TV Doctor Tom Baker and lots of dinosaurs felt about right for 1979. Why add Tom Baker's Doctor? Because Peter Cushing was getting older. In fact, by 1979, he was 66 years old. Other characters would have to carry the more physical action, and I was eager for the Doctor to always be integral, so a second Doctor made sense. Which made me think... didn't Milton Subostky try to get another Doctor Who film off the ground in the late 70s/early 80s? Dr Who's Greatest Adventure or The Lossiemouth Affair or something? Right, that was the direction to take.
In the end I decided this wasn't the actual end for Cushing's Dr Who. Why would it be the last film in the series? Well, movie series end because a film flops. I didn't want Cushing's tenure to end on a failure, so I did two things. I found a way to bring him back for a triumphant final hurrah on TV four years later and I gave the film a rough time during production and release but a phoenix-like rise from the ashes later which, I think, gave this film the most interesting backstory since Dr Who and the Ice Men from Mars.
ETA: Now, after the book was written in 2020-21, news broke that there was an actual script written for a third film, with this title, but it was based on a horror book about giant crabs. "Damn. Damn and blast!", I thought. So, I went back and added a few bits so that there are at least nods to that script, adding a few giant claw crabs here and there. It's not perfect, but these films happened on Earth-2, so they diverge from "our" reality, and at least there's a hint in there.