Another Dalek ´first´...

Published on 12 November 1964, just in time for the second arrival of the Daleks in the TV series ´The Dalek Invaision of Earth´, was the first ever Who book. A novelisation of their first appearance almost a year earlier, Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks, was written by David Whitaker and published in hardback by Frederick Muller. The first edition of 20,000 copies, with pink dustjacket, soon sold out and was quickly reprinted in December (the second, and later third, editions have grey covers).


Twelve internal black and white illustrations were by Arnold Schwartzman (a detail from one was reused on the cover).


A paperback edition was issued on 4th October 1965 by May Fair Books Ltd, under the Armada Paperbacks imprint. This version did not use Schwartzman's artwork, instead having a colour cover and 6 line illustrations by Peter Archer. This was the first Doctor Who novel to be published in paperback.


On 2 May 1973 it was the first Who title published under the Target Books range, renaming it as ´Doctor Who and the Daleks´, although the full title was still given on the inside frontpage, and with the subtitle "Based on the popular BBC television serial". From 1977 onwards reprinted editions, now complete with the arched Who logo, dropped the full title completly. All of the Target editions included the 12 illustrations by Schwartzman.

The now classic cover illustration was by Chris Achilleos, who has acknowledged the influence of Ron Turner's artwork for The Dalek Chronicles comic published in TV Century 21 (more about that soon!), in particular the two Daleks were modelled from Issue 60 (The Rogue Planet, part 2) and the title graphic from Issue 76 (Legacy of Yesteryear) onwards.


In January 1992 it was republished by Virgin, retitled ´Doctor Who - The Daleks´ and released with a new cover by Bruce Pearson.

BBC Audio used the Achilleos artwork on the cover of their 2005 audio CD release as part of the ´Doctor Who: Travels in Time and Space´ collectors tin, with actor William Russell (Ian) reading the novelisation.

Probably one of the best Who related websites, On Target, has jacket details and cover examples, including a section on foreign editions, complete with scans of inside illustrations by varying artists. Definately a site to booknmark!