1 Response to New MindlessWho Post

1. Hal says:

   May 10, 2012 at 12:59 pm

   I meant to comment on this before now but I’ve been tired and queasy – so blame my fevered state if I make even less sense than usual!
   The Target novelisations certainly contributed to increasing my literacy (as did superhero comic books, which is more than could be said for them now, when almost every character speaks with the same voice and the narrative captions are few, but I digress…). I picked up Curse of Peladon from the primary school spinner rack took it home and was hooked, an addiction furthered when I got The Space War for Christmas! Even now there are quite a few stories that work for me best in my memory of the books while other novelisations offer an experience different from but equal to the screen version; it’s fascinating that some of the greatest concepts from the series found their most memorable resonance for me on the printed page and molded my view of the Doctor’s world. Gallifrey, the TARDIS’s indestructibility (I still recall the time machine tumbling in Peladon and the Doctor’s words, wow the TARDIS is indestructible!) etc. The best of the books are as you say certainly not second best, in fact even some of Terrance Dicks’s plainer works are marvellous because the stories are strong and there’s plenty for the imagination to construct and colour. I would claim that those who were brought up with the Target novelisations have a more multifarious world picture of Doctor Who than those who weren’t (snobbish ain’t I?), that’s the power of the Word. Also, bliss was it in that dawn to be alive but to read the Doctor Who Summer Special was very heaven. Heh, I would make some disparaging comment about modern Doctor Who Magazine but it’s beneath me.
   P. S. The comment on Gary Russell was very funny. More please!

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