Publication Information
Author: Malcolm Hulke
Cover artist: Chris Achilleos / Chris Achilleos (1979) / unknown (Omnibus)
Publishing date: 23rd September 1976 Episode Information
TV serial: Frontier In Space
Writer: Malcolm Hulke
Transmission Dates: 24th February - 31st March 1973 (6 episodes) Fact and Findings
The title for the television serial, also by Hulke, had been Frontier in Space. Target and its parent companies had adopted a policy of changing the title where the original wasn't felt to convey enough excitement or have enough popular appeal. The policy was in place right from the start where
Spearhead from Space expanded into a full Auton Invasion, The Silurians became the more direct Cave-Monsters (a title lacking subtlety perhaps, but arguably more accurate as things transpired) and the homey Colony in Space became the more threatening Doomsday Weapon. It seems unfair to accuse The Daleks, The Zarbi and The Crusaders of the same affliction as these titles were inherited and besides, the early black and white serials didn't have onscreen titles. But the confusing state of affairs did continue for The Moonbase (The Cybermen) and Terror of the Zygons (The Loch Ness Monster). A milder dose was experienced for Tom Baker's debut Robot that became the more boastful Giant Robot, and another 1976 Hulke novelisation - The Invasion of the Dinosaurs becoming the more succinct Dinosaur Invasion. Doctor Who novelisations weren't the only Target titles to go through this change of identity for the sake of grabbing attention - other examples included Margaret Greaves' The Grandmother Stone (Methuen, 1972) turning into The Stone of Terror (Target, 1974) and Ruth M. Arthur's After Candlemas (Gollancz, 1974) becoming Candlemas Mystery (Target, 1976). Frontier in Space becoming Doctor Who and the Space War was the last example of this interference.
First edition cover price - 45p
Classic chapter title: The Mind Probe
From 1984 editions were numbered 57 in the Doctor Who library.
When the TV serial was made, no one knew that only months later Roger Delgado would be killed in a car crash in Turkey and that the rather hurried ending would actually be his unworthy exit from the show. Hulke had the opportunity to rectify this within the novel and, although some may say his revised ending is hardly one that goes out with a bang, he does give the last few lines to this incarnation of the Master: The Doctor closed the door of the TARDIS. The Master watched as it dematerialised. Then he went back to his big table and started to collect his star charts and other papers. 'Oh well,' he said to himself, 'there's always tomorrow.'
The hardback edition of Doctor Who and the Space War was also published in September 1976, by Allan Wingate. The ISBN was 855230770 and it cost £2.50. The dust jacket bore the same illustration by Chris Achilleos and the inside back flap carried a photograph of the author. The publishing details page also carries the credit Daleks created by Terry Nation. This is not mentioned in the paperback edition (hopefully on the grounds that it does rather give the ending away!).
Much as Frontier in Space led directly in to Planet of the Daleks on TV, so the publication of Space War was immediately followed by publication of Planet of the Daleks...
In 1977, Book Club Associates released a hardback compilation of Doctor Who and the Web of Fear, Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen and Doctor Who and the Space War, entitled The Doctor Who Omnibus, available only through book clubs.
The original edition was published by Wyndham. Reprinted in 1979 (W. H. Allen / Wyndham, blue logo, 60p), 1982 and 1984 (W. H. Allen, numbered spine, £1.35). Spare batches of the 1984 reprints had their covers replaced late in the 1980s with new covers priced at £1.95 and bearing the black and white Target logo. The ISBN was 0 426 11033 1 throughout. Cover Data
The cover for Doctor Who and the Space War was never repainted but, in 1979, the green Pertwee/Baker logo had turned blue. The library number was also appearing on the spine by this stage.
A larger version of Achilleos's artwork appears in David J. Howe's book Timeframe (Virgin Publishing Ltd, 1993). Reviews
"Yes, well, Frontier In Space was rather a long, drawn-out story anyway and I had my doubts about it being transferred into book form. Really all it is is a gigantic introduction to Planet of the Daleks...
The running backwards and forwards between embassies became rather tedious and although it was nice to see a change of writer in Malcolm Hulke after Terry Dicks' long reign as Target King, he tends to fall into the same sleep-inducing knack of just transferring dialogue into book form...
Summing up, I'm afraid I had to force myself to finish the book and felt no sense of satisfaction when I did."
- Keith Miller, 'Doctor Who Digest' (volume 1, number 3), October 1976UK Editions
| YEAR | DATE | PUBLISHER | COVER ARTIST | LOGO | SPINE COLOUR | SPINE NUMBER | TARGET LOGO | ISBN | PRICE | NOTES | OWNED |
|---|
| 1976 | 23rd September | Wyndham | Achilleos | green curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11033 1 | 45p | first edition, Wyndham W on back | Y |
| 1979 | 18th January | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | blue curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11033 1 | 60p | "second impression", Wyndham W on back | Y |
| 1980 | 21st February | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | blue curve | white | - | colour | 0 426 11033 1 | 85p | - | - |
| 1982 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | blue curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11033 1 | £1.25 | - | Y |
| 1983 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | blue curve | white | none | colour | 0 426 11033 1 | £1.35 | - | Y |
| 1984 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | blue curve | white | 57 | colour | 0 426 11033 1 | £1.35 | - | Y |
| 1987 | - | W. H. Allen | Achilleos | blue curve | white | 57 | outline | 0 426 11033 1 | £1.95 | re-jacketed using 1984 contents | Y |
Miscellaneous
Author
MALCOLM HULKE
Malcolm Hulke has written for the 'Doctor Who' television series since 1965. As well as seven 'Doctor Who' books, he has written several adult novels based on the television series 'Crossroads', and has recently completed Cassell's Parliamentary Dictionary, a new analytical guide.
The author lectures frequently at schools and professional gatherings on the subject of writing. He enjoys travelling abroad as a relaxation from writing, when time allows it.
Malcolm Hulke's first script contribution to Doctor Who was The Faceless Ones for Patrick Troughton's Doctor. This was followed by the epic The War Games (co-writen with Terrance Dicks), leading into a prolific run of adventures for Jon Pertwee's Doctor. He adapted all of his own scripts (with the exception of The Faceless Ones) and even adapted a script by Robert Sloman (The Green Death).
Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters
Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon
Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils
Doctor Who and the Green Death
Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion
Doctor Who and the Space War
Doctor Who and the War Games
Before he began his run of Who adaptations, he wrote, assisted by Terrance Dicks, The Making of Doctor Who for Pan books. It contained imaginative first person re-tellings of the Doctor's adventures from various "official" perspectives. The book was later rewritten and updated by Dicks for Target.
He was a prolific script writer, contributing tales to Danger Man, The Avengers (co-written with Terrance Dicks), Ghost Squad, Gideon's Way, Crossroads (the original series), The Protectors (1964), and Sergeant Cork as well as Doctor Who. He co-created (with Eric Paice) the science-fiction serials Target Luna, Pathfinders in Space, Pathfinders to Mars and Pathfinders to Venus. Also with Paice, he wrote the 1960 British black and white film, The Man in the Back Seat, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren (Tegana) Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner.
As well as adapting his Who serials, Hulke was also busy in the mid-70s adapting stories from the long-running British soap opera Crossroads. The books were A New Beginning (1974), A Warm Breeze (1975), Something Old, Something New (1976) and A Time for Living (1976), all Everest. The books were also published in hardback by White Lion, who, around the same time, had reprinted the original Frederick Muller Doctor Who novelisations with new Fourth Doctor covers.
Non-fiction included compiling Cassell's Parliamentary Dictionary and then in 1974, Hulke wrote Writing for Televison in the 70s, an indispensable handbook for those seeking to write successfully for the medium. This was reprinted in 1976 and reissued in 1980 as Writing for Television. Of particular interest to Doctor Who fans is the section on the making of Carnival of Monsters, and the contributions from Barry Letts, Robert Holmes, Terrance Dicks, Dennis Spooner and Peter Ling (there's also a retelling of the "real"-exploding-church-in-The-Daemons story).
He also devised and edited The Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine and Self-Help, published by Rider and Company in 1978.
In 1976 he spent six months in the USA researching a novel about an airship.
In 1977, Alpine Books released a series of six children's adventure books called Roger Moore and the Crime Fighters (yes, that Roger Moore - in 1977 he was at the height of his Bond acclaim). Alpine was an imprint of Everest Books Ltd line (who also published Hulke's Crossroads novelisations). The authors were Hulke, Robin Smyth, Fielden Hughes, Dulcie Gray, Deben Holt and Anthony Wall. The books were illustrated by Ray Mutimer. Hulke's contribution was The Siege, which was the first in the series. It tells how youngsters Bill, Bonnie and Darren foil an embassy siege and get invited by Roger Moore to form a crimefighters club. Of much interest (and fun) are the book's references to Doctor Who. Firstly, Darren's scruffy dog is called Dalek because his bark sounds like a Dalek saying "Exterminate", only worse. At the book's climax, the villain Grimwood goes to Studio 3 of the BBC Television Centre, where they just happen to be recording a certain SF show. Grimwood has gone to steal a policeman's uniform but he bumps into Roger Moore (!) who's suspicions are aroused when he reasons that Doctor Who probably doesn't require any policemen. The paperback edition had ISBN 0905018 354 and cost 50p.
In 1980 (after Hulke's death), UK publishers Purnell released Purnell's Book of Adventures in Space (SBN 461 044070, 1980), a large format hardback anthology of SF short stories. The contributors on the writing side were Hulke, Fred Baker, David Meredith, John Grant, William Hall, Sydney Bounds, George Beal and Jim Storrie. The book was richly illustrated by several artists including Target cover artist Andrew Skilleter. Hulke wrote six of the short stories and Skilleter illustrated six also, but a story called Mutiny was the only joint collaboration. The book was also released in America as Galactic Adventures, published by Rand McNally. It had SBN 528 82374 4 and was released in 1980. The cover was painted by by Brian Edwards.
(Cover scan of Purnell's Book of Adventures in Space courtesy of Jon Preddle)
Malcolm Hulke died on the 6th of July 1979.
Omnibus
This omnibus contains three stories featuring one of BBC Television's most popular characters DR WHO. Since he first appeared in 1963, the Doctor has been a firm favourite amongst children of all ages. These stories give everyone who enjoys the programmes another opportunity to follow the Doctor's adventures.
In 1977, Book Club Associates released a hardback compilation of Doctor Who and the Web of Fear, Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen and Doctor Who and the Space War, entitled The Doctor Who Omnibus, available only through book clubs.
Cover artist: unknown
1977 Book Club Associates edition