Publication Information
Author: Terrance Dicks
Cover artist: Chris Achilleos / Alister Pearson (1992) / unknown (Schneider-Buch) / photographic (audio) / unknown (Doctor Who and the Daleks Omnibus) / Andrew Skilleter (Dalek Omnibus)
Publishing date: 21st October 1976 Episode Information
TV serial: Planet of the Daleks
Writer: Terry Nation
Transmission Dates: 7th April - 12th May 1973 (6 episodes) Fact and Findings
On TV, Planet of the Daleks followed directly on from Frontier in Space, a pattern echoed in the publications of the two novelisations.
Terrance Dicks was script editor on the original TV version.
Classic chapter title: Ascent to Peril
The hardback version was released one month before the paperback, by Allan Wingate Ltd.
Later editions were numbered 46 in the Doctor Who library.
Terry Nation is credited as the creator of the Daleks on the inside cover.
The original edition was published by Wyndham (45p, ISBN 0 426 11252 0). Reprinted four times, including 1977 (green logo, 60p), July 1978 (green logo, 60p)) and 1980 (red logo, 75p). A final edition, retitled Doctor Who - Planet of the Daleks, was published by Virgin in July 1992, same ISBN, £2.99.
The book was abridged and illustrated for the large format Marks and Spencers book Doctor Who and the Daleks Omnibus, published by Artus Books in Autumn 1976, alongside Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks. The dynamic illustrations were provided by the General Illustration Company. Rather confusingly, the fourth Doctor is illustrated fleeing the Daleks (twice!) in accompaniment to the telling of the Planet of the Daleks story. Also, on page 134, it would seem that the Daleks have cannibalised the Servo robot from The Wheel in Space in order to build a variation of a special weapons Dalek. The large format hardback book also included articles by Terry Nation on The Seventh Galaxy (far beyond the constellation Andromeda and including the planet Skaro apparently), The Anatomy of a Dalek, and The Dalek Deep Space Cruiser.
This was one of three novels brought together to form the Dalek Omnibus, published by W. H. Allen and released exclusively in hardback in June 1983. The other two novels (also by Terrance Dicks) were Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth and Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks. Despite the listing on the back of the book, the stories were printed inside in the order of transmission.
In 1995 an abridged version of the novel was read by Jon Pertwee and released on the BBC Radio Collection as a single 90 minute cassette. Pertwee also recorded Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon. The other books recorded for the BBC Radio Collection were Doctor Who - Kinda, Doctor Who - Warriors of the Deep (both read by Peter Davison), Doctor Who - Attack of the Cybermen and Doctor Who - Vengeance on Varos (both read by Colin Baker).
The audiobook edition was rated C- in 'SFX' magazine number 2, July 1995.
One of the top sellers in the series, according to Peter Darvill-Evans' list, compiled in 1991. It went on to sell almost 100,000 units. Cover Data
The only change to the cover for the 1977 and July 1978 reprint was to give it a green logo.
Pearson's cover replaced that of Achilleos in July 1992.
Alister Pearson's moody cover artwork for the 1992 reprint was released as a postcard, free with 'Doctor Who Magazine' (number 211), April 1994. Foreign Editions
The novel was released in Germany as Dr. Who - Der Planet der Daleks, in the early 1980's, by Schnider-Buch, based in Munich. Then again in December 1989, published by Goldman, with the original Achilleos artwork. This final German edition was translated by Bittina Zeller. Reviews
"I think the main reason I liked this story book and TV series was because its skeletal structure was basically the same as the first Dalek story...
Terry's decision to call the ice volcanoes icecanoes was a bit Flash Gordonish and cheap. Took away some of the realism of the story.
Still, the gradual fight into the caves where the Daleks were frozen and the will-they-or-won't-they-make-it ending makes the book worth buying. Definitely one of the best of the Target originals."
- Keith Miller, 'Doctor Who Digest' (volume 1, number 3), October 1976
"The Target imprint of W. H. Allen had, by 1976, published over thirty Doctor Who novels, two of which, Genesis of the Daleks and Planet of the Daleks, were also featured in the £1.99 large format hardback version published for Marks & Spencer for Christmas of that year: Doctor Who and the Daleks Omnibus. Full of stylised illustrations, it is an excellent book."
- Julian Knott, 'Doctor Who Magazine'
(25th Anniversary Special), November 1988
"Areeaaaakkkkk! Kerching! Yep, that's the noise of BBC Enterprises squeezing even more money out of Doctor Who. The question is though, does anybody really want audio cassette versions of Doctor Who novelisations? Especially stories that are already... available on video? And especially when they're based on edited versions of dodgy Terrance Dicks novels...
Credit must go to Peter Davison and Jon Pertwee for trying to inject some life into the bland scripts (although there should be a hefty tax on Pertwee's attempts at doing Daleks). But despite using music from the original TV stories, these audio versions lack any sense of excitement. It doesn't help that neither story was a classic to begin with."
- Dave Golder reviews the BBC Radio Collection editions of Planet of the Daleks and Warriors of the Deep, 'SFX' (number 2), July 1995
"I'm glad I wasn't driving when listening to Planet of the Daleks, since my tears of laughter at Jon Pertwee's nasal cockney Dalek voices would certainly have led to a serious accident!"
- Dave Owen reviews the Pertwee-read BBC Radio Collection edition, 'Doctor Who Magazine' (number 229), August 1995UK Editions
| YEAR | DATE | PUBLISHER | COVER ARTIST | LOGO | SPINE COLOUR | SPINE NUMBER | TARGET LOGO | ISBN | PRICE | NOTES | OWNED |
|---|
| 1976 | 21st October | Wyndham | Achilleos | red curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | 45p | first edition, Wyndham W on back | Y |
| 1977 | 21st July | Wyndham | Achilleos | red curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | 60p | Wyndham W on back | Y |
| 1978 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | green curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | 60p | "second impression", Wyndham W on back | Y |
| 1980 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | red curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | 75p | "third impression", Wyndham W on back | Y |
| 1980 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | red curve | white | - | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | 85p | - | - |
| 1982 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | red curve | white | - | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | £1.25 | - | - |
| 1982 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | red curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | £1.25 | "twice" | Y |
| 1983 | - | W. H. Allen | - | - | - | - | - | 0 426 11252 0 | - | - | - |
| 1984 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | red curve | white | - | colour | 0 426 11252 0 | £1.35 | - | - |
| 1987 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | red curve | white | 46 | outline | 0 426 11252 0 | £1.95 | re-jacketed using 1984 contents | Y |
| 1992 | 16th July | Virgin | Pearson | McCoy banner | dark blue | 46 | outline | 0 426 11252 0 | £2.99 | retitled Doctor Who - Planet of the Daleks | Y |
Miscellaneous
Author
Terrance Dicks
Omnibus
Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks and Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks were abridged and illustrated for the large format Marks and Spencers book Doctor Who and the Daleks Omnibus, published by Artus Books in September 1976. The dynamic illustrations were provided by the General Illustration Company. Rather confusingly, the Fourth Doctor is illustrated fleeing the Daleks (twice!) in accompaniment to the telling of the Planet of the Daleks story, and, on page 134, it would seem that the Daleks have cannibalised the Servo robot from The Wheel in Space in order to build a variation of a special weapons Dalek. The large format hardback book also included articles by Terry Nation on The Seventh Galaxy (far beyond the constellation Andromeda and including the planet Skaro apparently), The Anatomy of a Dalek, and The Dalek Deep Space Cruiser. There was also a couple of pages showing original camera script pages from Genesis of the Daleks.
Cover artist: General Illustration Company
1976 Artus edition
Omnibus
The Daleks, coldy efficient machines of death, the Doctor's most hideously ruthless enemies, captured the imaginations of Dr Who fans everywhere. This omnibus edition brings together three chilling Dalek stories - Dr Who classics!
THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH
The TARDIS brings the Doctor and his companions to London at a time in the future when the city is ruled by the Daleks. Underground freedom-fighters are resisting the merciless dictatorship of their inhuman masters and the Doctor has no doubt which way his sympathies lie...
PLANET OF THE DALEKS
The TARDIS materialises on the planet Spiridon in the midst of a tropical jungle where vicious plants spit deadly poison, invisible Spiridons attack from all sides, and a vast army lies hidden, waiting for the moment to mobilise and conquer...
DAY OF THE DALEKS
The Doctor is caught up in a desperate bid by a group of twenty-second-century guerilla fighters to return to the twentieth-century Earth and assassinate the man they believe was responsible for the outbreak of the Third World War and all its terrible consequences...
Cover artist: Andrew Skilleter
1983 W. H. Allen hardback edition
Three novels were brought together to form the Dalek Omnibus, published by W. H. Allen and released exclusively in hardback in 1983. Despite the listing on the back of the book, the stories were printed inside in the order of transmission. The standard size (for the W. H. Allen releases) hardback cost £6.95. The copyright notice inside this edition refers to the title of the television script as The World's End which was in fact the title of the first episode, a mistake that originated with the 1973 Radio Times Doctor Who special.
The artwork was used again for the Star Books Doctor Who Classics release in 1988 of The Dalek Invasion of Earth / The Crusaders.
Audio
In 1995 an abridged version of the novel was read by Jon Pertwee and released on the BBC Radio Collection as a single 90 minute cassette. Pertwee also recorded Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon. The other books recorded for the BBC Radio Collection were Doctor Who - Kinda, Doctor Who - Warriors of the Deep (both read by Peter Davison), Doctor Who - Attack of the Cybermen and Doctor Who - Vengeance on Varos (both read by Colin Baker). The audiobook edition of Planet was rated C- in 'SFX' magazine number 2, July 1995.
The readings were re-released in 2004 on BBC Audio CDs.
Other Countries
Germany
The novel was released in Germany as Dr. Who: Der Planet der Daleks, in 1980, by Munich-based Schneider-Buch. The translation was by Ulla Neckenauer and the book was edited by Angela Djuren. Alongside the cover by David Hardy, the book also contained a small number of black and white line drawings by Herbert Horn, depicting the Doctor and Jo in the TARDIS, and the Thals. The ISBN was 3 505 07254 0 and the price was DM 3,95.
Schneider-Buch followed this in 1981 with a translation of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
Cover artist: David Hardy
1980 Schneider-Buch edition