Here on Doctor Who Literature we take a brief scheduled break from the novelizations. It's still May 1986, and not only did we get the Doctor Who novelization of Timelash, but now we get the debut of the short-lived Companions of Doctor Who line. First up, Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma. Which doubles as the first original Doctor Who novel. Many more would follow.

Joining me to break this one down is Doctor Who novelist Dale Smith.

We'll also discuss Dale's recent Black Archive volume on The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

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"The Companions of Doctor Who–Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma" features cover art by David McAllister.

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

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Recorded live at Gallifrey One in Los Angeles last week, Simon Guerrier -- author of the magisterial new biography of David Whitaker -- sits down with me, and Mark from Trap One -- to discuss one of Doctor Who's more controversial episodes... Timelash. Plus, a brief recap of Gally.

Mark and I also collaborated on a Trap One Gally Field Report.

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"Doctor Who– Timelash" features cover art by David McAllister.

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

Please e-mail the pod at [email protected].

You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit

Live from Los Angeles, it's Saturday night... or rather, Sunday morning at Gallifrey One. Welcome to the first of three live interviews recorded at the con, with another to follow next week and the third to follow in a couple of months. The accomplished and well-traveled and glamorous Stacey Smith? rejoins me to discuss one of Doctor Who's less remembered, but possible underrated, 1960s episodes.

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"Doctor Who – Galaxy Four" features cover art by Andrew

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

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You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit

This week's Doctor Who novelization is The Twin Dilemma. Which, when you rank Doctor Who's TV stories from best to worst, is almost always at the bottom of the list.

And our Doctor Who Literature guest this week is Graeme Burk, from one of Jason's favorite Doctor Who podcasts, Reality Bomb.

Please listen to the two Doctor Who Essentials episodes of Reality Bomb, here and here.

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"Doctor Who – The Twin Dilemma" features cover art by Andrew

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

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You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit

After two weeks celebrating "The Gunfighters", we now spend a week tolerating, or at least giving a curt head nod to, "The Time Monster". Why was this one of the last Pertwee stories to be novelized? If the TV scripts were co-written by Barry Letts, why does Terrance Dicks appear to have so little patience for it?

Check out Si's Library of Impossible Things podcast.

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"Doctor Who – The Time Monster" features cover art by Andrew

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

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You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit

Jim Sangster rejoins me this week -- this time in the interviewer's seat -- as we continue our deep dive into The Gunfighters. Why was a particular 1983 Doctor Who hardcover reference book so hard on the story? Did the story effectively kill the historical genre in '60s Who? Was this the lowest-rated story of all time? Is the inclusion of the ballad a betrayal of the Western genre?

Jim and I both love this story to bits. Which is why we spent two weeks on it and not just one.

Sampled or narrated this week:

--The final pitch of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.

--The theme to US TV's The Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp.

--Frankie Laine sings the theme to Gunfight at O.K. Corral.

--The theme to Gerry Anderson's Four Feather Falls.

--The Doctor Who discussion in U.S. sportswriter Allen Barra's now out-of-print Inventing Wyatt Earp.

In short, Jim and I had a delightful two weeks in Tombstone. Next week a new guest and I will be off to Atlantis... will that be as much fun?

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"Doctor Who – The Gunfighters" features cover art by Andrew

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

Please e-mail the pod at [email protected].

You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit]

Jason loves The Gunfighters. Unreservedly and without irony. It ranked as #13 on his Top 60 of-all-time Doctor Who stories as announced in November 2023.

So this episode about the novelization needs to be big, epic, as widescreen as Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas (and Deforest Kelley!) in John Sturges' Gunfight at the OK Corral.

This week, Jim Sangster and I focus primarily on the behind-the-scenes production chaos behind the making of Doctor Who's third production season, which informs a lot about why Gunfighters is one of the show's last pure historicals. Jason also touches briefly on the context of the novelization, and then next week, both Jim and I are back for more rootin' tootin' Gunfighters.

The Harvey Keitel interview referenced in this episode can be viewed here.

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"Doctor Who – The Gunfighters" features cover art by Andrew Skilleter.

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

Please e-mail the pod at [email protected].

You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit

Target Book 100 was a special event for Doctor Who fans. A milestone novel, with a special introduction written by show producer John Nathan-Turner -- his only direct contribution to the Target books -- and with a gold-stamped foil logo and a unique flash above the logo.

Is The Two Doctors -- Patrick Troughton's final live contribution to Doctor Who, filmed about two and a half years before his untimely passing -- as special a story as the novelization? We need three guests to break it down for us this week. Conrad, Frazer, and Jason Davis, all back for repeat appearances.

Conrad co-stars in a brand-new Big Finish release with the Sontarans (and TV Sontaran Dan Starkey!). Buy it here!

Musical inspiration for this episode comes from The Sundays.

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"Doctor Who – The Two Doctors" features cover art by Andrew

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

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You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit

NOTE: This episode run time should be 92 minutes. A 66-minute truncated version was erroneously sourced first. We have now updated the stream.

And, incidentally, a happy 2024 to all of you at home.

We are no longer on Twitter, but can be found on YouTube, BlueSky, and all your favorite podcast apps of choice.

Jim Sangster rejoins me this week with a specially recorded "Direction Point" intro, a comedy sketch featuring the Krotons, and, of course, a lengthy conversation about Xmas movies and... the Krotons.

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"Doctor Who – The Krotons" features cover art by Andrew

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

Please e-mail the pod at [email protected].

You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit]

And, incidentally, a happy 2024 to all of you at home!

Mark from Trap One is my guest this week. We discuss the coming changes to Doctor Who Literature as Jason is deleting Twitter. You can find this show on BlueSky and YouTube going forward, as well as your favorite podcast apps of choice.

Jason and Mark watch Doctor Who's first New Year's Day special -- Volcano, Episode 8 of The Daleks' Master Plan, aired January 1st, 1966 -- and do a live episode commentary. Couldn't ask for a better discussion partner than Mark!

We also say goodbye to Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates), and discuss our plans for the upcoming Gallifrey One convention. You can hear the late Richard's appearance on Trap One here. Jason and Mark's latest Trap One is here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe, and rate us!

Watch this episode on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@drwhonovels

Doctor Who Literature is a member of the Direction Point Doctor Who podcast network.

Please e-mail the pod at [email protected].

You can catch all past episodes at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/doctorwholit.