Doctor Who: Daleks Masterplan I (Part 1)
by John Peel

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Book Reviews of Doctor Who: Daleks Masterplan I (Part 1)

Book Review: Daleks' Master Plan begins
Summary: 3 Stars

This novel is the adaptation of the prologue and first six episodes. It is written as a "stand alone" book, and could be read separately from the second part ('The Mutation of Time') if you really wanted and couldn't find the second part. (It is certainly a better tactic than trying to cram so much information into a single volume - witness the adaptation of 'The War Games' for a different way of adapting a long story.)

In essence, the Daleks and a number of other alien races form an alliance to invade human space (or the Solar System, as the story oddly refers to it). They have constructed a secret weapon which requires a Tarranium core to power it. The Doctor, with companions Steven and Katarina arrive on the planet Kembal and stumble into the investigation of Space Security Service agent Bret Vyon.

Little do any of them know, but there is a traitor in the hierarchy of the human government.

Possibly the main fault of this story is that it is a little meandering - not as bad as, say, 'The Keys of Marinus' and 'The Chase', but containing some things that could have been left out in the original. John Peel, however, correctly retains them in this adaptation.

What Mr. Peel does do is insert a wide variety of references to the universe of Doctor Who that, in 1965 when this story was shown, hadn't yet been thought of. By doing so, he adds to the text. It is also interesting to see how he layers the prologue into rest of the story.

As such, this novelisation not only stands in for the original story (most of which no longer exists on tape), but is probably a more enjoyable read for Doctor Who fans than a straightforward adaptation would have been.

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