Terror of the Zygons

Target novelisation Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster

Author	Terrance Dicks
Published	1976
ISBN	0 426 11041 2
First Edition Cover	Chris Achilleos

Back cover blurb: Why is DOCTOR WHO suddenly summoned to the shores of Loch Ness? Terror and panic spread as the third oil rig is smashed into the sea by a mysterious force... the monster? The controlling power must be the ZYGONS - alien creatures who have lived hidden on Earth for thousands of years, and now feel strong enough to take over the planet... The Doctor, Sarah and UNIT have different ideas - but can they outwit the supreme cunning of the ruthless ZYGONS?

• A straightforward rendition by Tim Roll-Pickering
• UNIT's Last Stand by Andrew Feryok

A straightforward rendition by Tim Roll-Pickering 27/12/03

Whilst Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster is undoubtedly a title with a strong pulling power, it is nevertheless highly inaccurate since the monster is only a small part of this overall story. Otherwise this book is a fairly straightforward adaptation, so straightforward at times that there is little attempt at mystery and subtlety, especially in the scenes where the inn is being monitored by the Zygons and paragraphs are included that make it all too clear what is going on.

Despite this Terrance Dicks does make some effort to bring the story to life on the printed page. There's some exposition of what life is like on the oil rigs with radio messages seen as more important for the conversation than the contents. Elsewhere some additional scenes have been restored, such as the TARDIS becomming invisible until the Doctor fixes it, which was intended for the televised version but had to be dropped due to technical problems during filming. Other changes from the television version are noticeable, most obviously the Prime Minister now being male.

Throughout the novel there is a strong sense of forward direction, with Dicks breathing life into the scenes as the Skarasen pursues the Doctor on the moor or the desperate struggle with Broton in London. However there is very little depth in the novel (over than the Loch!) with the opportunity to flesh out the background and historical events mentioned and the result is a novelisation that feels very much like a straightforward rendition of the scripts with few enhancements. When the noveliser is firmly behind a story this can work wonders, but here it feels very much like an early example of the novelisations being produced en masse. 4/10

UNIT's Last Stand by Andrew Feryok 3/7/08

"I thought the plan was to rule the world?"
"The plan has not changed."
The Doctor struggled to his feet. "Well, there you are then. You can't rule the world if you're in hiding. You have to step out on a balcony from time to time and wave a gracious claw."
- The Doctor and Broton, Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster, Chapter 10, page 101

The book holds up rather well! Style-wise, the text is very simple and large, and the page count is small, putting it more in the category of his novelizations of Revenge of the Cybermen and The Android Invasion. This is hardly surprising, since those books were written around the same time. The book breezes along at a fast pace, which is good for me since I did not want to linger a great deal on the adventure. A fast reader could easily get it done in a matter of an hour or two, and it is definitely geared towards a child audience rather than an older fan audience.

For such a straightforward book, I was surprised to find that Dicks has actually slipped in some new material here and there to spice up the story. For instance, we get a longer opening scene in which the TARDIS lands in the forest and accidentally turns invisible, ala Troughton's The Invasion. The Doctor initially exits dressed in his regular outfit, but when he reenters the ship to fix the chameleon circuit, he exits dressed in his Scottish outfit (although this creates a continuity fluke since it is unclear how the Doctor gets his original outfit back since Harry and Sarah are not carrying it with them as they were on screen). The Brigadier gets to show some skill as a tracker when he and Sarah attempt to locate the Doctor on the moor after he lures the Skarasen away. Dicks also explains how the gamekeeper got the nickname "the Caber" from the locals. Finally, Dicks plays up the fact that this story occurs over several days and that the Doctor, Sarah and UNIT are staying in rooms at the inn. He does this by mentioning them going to sleep, taking baths and having breakfast. There is even a cute moment when the innkeeper serves them porridge at breakfast and gets offended when Sarah and the Brigadier ask for cream and sugar for theirs. The Doctor of course eats his plain with a bit of salt and admits he acquired a taste for it during the Jacobite Revolution (a wink to The Highlanders perhaps?).

The characters come across remarkably well. In the case of the Doctor, Sarah, Harry and Benton, this is definitely a good thing. Dicks makes it easy to bring up memories of them from the screen and fill in the visual aspects. Dicks noticeably makes the Duke a much less cold figure at the beginning. In fact, the Duke stops and offers the Doctor and friends a ride at the beginning instead of the Doctor flagging him down as is seen on screen. Dicks also makes Corporal Palmer a distinctive character, which is unusual since most UNIT officers, other than the regulars, end up being pretty faceless. But, in this case, Palmer is an uber-efficient officer who often does things before the Brigadier has ordered them, much to his frustration. The only character who doesn't come across well from being recreated well is the Brigadier. His buffoonery is played up much more here, although the Brigadier does get a chance to redeem himself towards the end as he gets to blast the Zygon ship and shoot Broton in the end, and even shows some remarkable tracking abilities. But there is way too much humor with him throughout the story. For instance, his wearing a kilt (which causes snickers from his troops, and the Doctor and friends), or his insistence that he was not sleeping on duty when he was knocked out by the Zygon's sleeping gas.

Speaking of the Zygons, they come across reasonably well in this story. You can tell Dicks is having some fun with the monsters. He clearly sees that character-wise they are utterly one dimensional and cliched in their plans for world domination. Instead, he turns it into a part of their personality. Particularly Broton, who is continually frustrated by the fact that neither Harry nor the Doctor take him seriously with all his bluster of superior Zygon technology and plans for world domination. And yet, Broton can't seem to help himself. He continually needs to gloat and bully others and sees his prisoners as convenient targets and a challenge to bend them to his will. The Skarasen comes across reasonably well too. Granted, we don't have to deal with the awful modelwork from the TV screen here, but the Skarasen does end up being nothing more than a walking weapon for the Zygons and it is a shame that the story never played up the whole mystery concerning the existence of the Loch Ness monster. In fact, the only time they mention the legend is towards the end when the Doctor, Sarah and the Brigadier first go the Duke's castle and find his library filled with books dating back to the 11th Century on the Loch Ness Monster.

Looking at the book as a whole, it is a decent, fast read. The story was never meant to be deep on screen, and therefore Dicks' lighter prose style is perfectly suited for the story. There is plenty of action and running around, and Dicks even manages to add some new material here and there. Don't go in expecting a Genesis of the Daleks or Full Circle. A light, but enjoyable, read. 8/10