Publication Information
Author: Ian Marter
Cover artist: John Geary
Publishing date: 11th December 1979 Episode Information
TV serial: The Ribos Operation
Writer: Robert Holmes
Transmission Dates: 2nd - 23rd September 1978 (4 episodes) Fact and Findings
Usually Terrance Dicks got to novelise the serials of Robert Holmes, but this and The Ark In Space proved to be exceptions, both going to Ian Marter.
The W. H. Allen hardback was also printed in December 1979. The wrap-around dustjacket featured the same artwork by Geary but had an orange spine and backcover (without any text on the back). The ISBN was 0 491 02429 0 and the original price was £3.75.
The Graff Vynda-K became the Graff Vynda Ka in the novelisation.
Later editions were numbered 52 in the Doctor Who library.
The first serial of the Key to Time season. The other novelisations from the season are Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood, Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara, Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll and Dr Who and the Armageddon Factor, all by Terrance Dicks. The second story of the season, The Pirate Planet by Douglas Adams, remains to this day unnovelised. For once Target managed to arrange publishing schedules to allow the (in)complete season to be released in story order.
First edition cover price - 75p
Most dramatic chapter title: Escape into the Unknown
The original edition was printed by Wyndham / W. H. Allen , ISBN 0 426 20092 6. It was reprinted in 1980, 1982 and 1983 (52 appeared on the spine and title page, cost £1.35).
On TV, The Ribos Operation was followed by The Pirate Planet. This story was Douglas Adams' first contribution to the show. As the worldwide status of the author grew, it became increasingly apparent that Target would not be publishing an adaptation of this or any of the other Adams scripts. However in 1990 New Zealand fan David Bishop wrote a version. Now expanded (with additional scenes from the rehearsal scripts) and available as an A5 staple-bound non-profit publication from TSV books, the book has been designed to emulate the other Season 16 Target adaptations. Bishop moved to the UK and is now the author of sanctioned original Who-fiction Who Killed Kennedy (Virgin) and Amorality Tale (BBC). Cover Data
The novel, in common with all the other Key to Time novels, was never reprinted with a different cover.
Artist John Geary was credited on the back cover. Reviews
"Ribos was a very different book [to Doctor Who and the Ark in Space and Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment]; the atmospheres of the two previous novels were alien and sterile, yet here Ian's talents really shone as he tackled the dark side of everything. The Ribos Operation was still full of a lot of blood and gore absent from the televised version, but in no way did it detract from the story."
- Gary Russell in a tribute to Ian Marter, 'Doctor Who Magazine' (number 121), February 1987
"Due to changes, additions, and omissions, the book is not really acceptable as an accurate reflection of the script, if that's what you look for in a Doctor Who book, and thus it is not at all suitable for reference purposes. Why they don't just publish the scripts, I have no idea."
- Jonathan L. Pinkney, ' Doctor Who Views, News and Reviews' (number 9/10), May 1982
"The Ribos Operation stands head-and-shoulders above the other Doctor Who books released this year, and perhaps even last year, and it is only fitting that the books leave the 1970s on a high note, and the hope bright in everyone's eyes that we can look forward to more of thus type of high quality Doctor Who novel in the 1980s."
- Paul Mount, 'The Doctor Who Review' (number 3), December 1979UK Editions
The Target editions were published as follows:
1979, 11th December (first edition, W. H. Allen, Geary cover, red curve logo, white spine, colour Target, Wyndham W on back, ISBN 0 426 20092 6, 75p)*
1980 ("second impression", W. H. Allen, Geary cover, red curve logo, white spine, colour Target, ISBN 0 426 20092 6, 85p)*
1982 (W. H. Allen, Geary cover, red curve logo, white spine, colour Target, ISBN 0 426 20092 6, £1.35)*
1983 (W. H. Allen, Geary cover, red curve logo, white numbered spine, colour Target, ISBN 0 426 20092 6, £1.35)*
1984 (W. H. Allen, Geary cover, red curve logo, white numbered spine, outline Target, ISBN 0 426 20092 6, £1.50)*
* copy in site owner's personal collectionMiscellaneous
Author
Ian Marter