Doctor Who and the Robots of Death is a novelization by Terrance Dicks of the classic Doctor Who episode that was aired in 1977 during Tom Baker’s era as the Doctor. The original script was written by Chris Boucher, who also created the character of Leela, played by Louise Jameson.
The Doctor and Leela arrive on a desert planet aboard a giant vehicle known as a Sandminer. A small crew of humans is charge of mining for minerals and ores. Most of the more mundane duties are performed by robots. The Doctor and Leela arrive just in time to be accused of murder. They are also just in time to get caught up in a revolution that is turning the robot servants into lethal weapons.
I used to collect the Target novelizations as a youngster and still procure one every now and then. This one surprisingly got by me for years, but I have it now. Terrance Dicks was the most prolific contributor to this range. Although Dicks was no master wordsmith, his impact on the series is still profound. Dicks has a very simplistic, straight forward prose style, however there is still something distinctive about it.
This particular episode is actually a favorite as it is for many fans of the series, and Dicks doesn’t add a whole lot of anything new. Saying that, it was still fun to visit this particular story in print for the first time.
Now, time for something a little more weighty as my next literary indulgence. I am going with Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
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