The Tome Lord

[wellinghall]

"Before video and DVD, Dr Who fans who wanted a fix of the time lord in between the TV shows relied on a series of official novels. Writing for the Magazine, Mark Gatiss recalls his love of Dr Who's adventures in print."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8113603.stm

Comments

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that link, which I'd not seen. The montage at the top of the article isn't as representative of the piece or the radio programme with which it's associated, as there are too many covers from the 1980s, and one which isn't part of the Target range at all, though it later became one... Gatiss very much celebrates the mid-1970s novelizations, when the list was more manageable and more conscientiously managed by its publishers than it later became. The cover from Doctor Who - The Three Doctors which Gatiss mentions in the programme, is there, though... and it's a pity that this cover (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Doctor_Who_and_the_Dinosaur_Invasion.jpg) for Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion isn't present.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

You won't be surprised to read that you were the chief intended recipient of this post.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Not at all. The icon displayed is adapted from some Target cover artwork (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Doctor_Who_and_the_Planet_of_the_Spiders.jpg) from 1975, recently reused for the audiobook (http://www.play.com/Books/AudioBooks/4-/8990065/-/Product.html?page=title&dpr=0).

[skordh.livejournal.com]

My goodness. I think my 'Dinosaur Invasion' cover is far more boring (and tasteful).

I absolutely adored the Target books as a child. I took over and added to my cousin's collection and read them obsessively and they are still a key part of my mental furniture.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I remember buying the rejacketed Dinosaur Invasion when it came out, and being disappointed that it wasn't the original Achilleos jacket, which I prefer, though like many of the other covers in the vignette style of 1975-1977 it dated quickly.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I also have fond memories of them; I think I had a reasonable number, although I probably didn't read them as much as you.