The Edge of My Seat

I’d like to recall the most frightening experience I’ve had regarding Doctor Who, which ironically wasn’t whilst watching the programme; it was when I first read the Target novelisation of The Edge of Destruction.

This relatively simple story may not seem to have anything special to offer as far as frightening the reader is concerned, but even the televised version is an atmospheric and at times startling story, particularly the scene where Susan is seen violently stabbing a mattress with a pair of impossibly long scissors, only inches away from an understandably concerned Barbara (mind you, perhaps I can understand Susan’s sub-conscious scissor action at the sight of Barbara’s impossibly large hairdo). The interaction between the characters as they become more and more panicky and paranoid, and start to accuse each other of causing each other bodily harm amongst other things is interesting in its own right but especially so early on in the show’s life. In this respect it’s ironic that the story was a last-minute production, and made only due to unforeseen circumstances.

As is common with books that are written after their television or film origins are viewed or released, the Target novel of The Edge of Destruction offered a far wider scope of presentation than its televisual counterpart. The book was written by Nigel Robinson who was at the time the editor of the Target novel range. He’d previously written three other Target novels for the series and later penned two original New Adventures novels. The Edge of Destruction was his last contribution to the Target range, and his previous experience ensured that he captured the atmosphere of the original televised story, and the extra material remains faithful to the essence of the characters. The main expansion and elaboration of the existing story line occurs at the point where the Doctor and Ian are investigating the faulty instrumentation within the TARDIS, and this is the part of the book which scared the living daylights out of me. Whereas in the television version they simply examine the fault locator and food machine, in the book the Doctor and Ian also set off deep into the interior of the ship in order to examine the power systems and see if they can fix the problem there.

Before I go on, I’ll set the scene by describing the circumstances in which I was reading the book, which does have some contribution to the fact that it scared me so much. It was 1989, making me 16 or 17 years old, and I lived at home with only my mum, who was a nurse at the time. This particular day was a Friday evening, and whilst other kids my age were out either consuming vast amounts of alcohol or wreaking havoc somewhere (or possibly both – most probably the former followed by the latter), I was at home on my own and there was nothing much on the telly. My mum was on a late shift and wasn’t due to arrive home until around 10pm (we used to watch The Golden Girls together when she got home), so being the boring teenager that I was, I decided to while away the time by reading one of the 100 or so Target novels which I’d collected over the years. I chose The Edge of Destruction for reasons which I can’t recall now, but probably because I knew it was only a two-episode story and so I could probably get through it in one evening. This was also the first time that I had read the book, so I’d probably only just acquired it and it was therefore a good opportunity to give it a go. I also had not seen the original television version at this time, so I had no idea what the story was about.

I remember that I was sitting on the sofa in the lounge with just a couple of table lamps for illumination, so the room was, shall we say, gloomily lit. It was also very quiet outside, and there was no television, radio or other noise to interrupt my reading, so I was able to concentrate 100% on immersing myself in the story. As I’ve already mentioned, this was my first experience of The Edge of Destruction in any form, so consequently it was exciting to read it for the first time and find out what it was all about. I was intrigued with the story from fairly early on, and it wasn’t long before my imagination was conjuring up black and white images of the characters and the scenario, and I eventually reached the point that I have already mentioned, where Ian and the Doctor are exploring the gloomy TARDIS corridors.

Nigel Robinson went to great lengths to make these scenes in the story as full of atmosphere as possible, and he lends us a detailed visual description of the dark and eerie rooms and corridors that the two characters encounter on their journey. He also describes the disconcerting lighting which pulsates up and down again and again in an endless cycle, and draws our attention to the sounds emanating from their surroundings as Ian and the Doctor approach the centre of the ship. The stark and atmospheric nature of these scenes had already made me feel slightly twitchy and uncomfortable, and as I read on the effect on my general disposition was beginning to bring me out in a cold sweat. The graphic description of the ‘thump-thump’ noises made by the TARDIS drive systems as, ‘….like that of a human heartbeat’, did nothing to stop my own heart from pounding away in my chest, seemingly louder than I had ever heard it before. The story unfolds to present us with a scene where Ian eventually loses the Doctor, who has scurried off down a dark corridor whilst Ian is examining various paintings, sculptures and other works of art which appear periodically at various locations as he continues to explore the ship.

Now alone and completely lost, Ian, who is also scared out of his wits by the creepy and unknown territory of the TARDIS interior, tries to locate the Doctor by trying every single door that he can find. Some of them are locked, and some of them are not. As he proceeds through the unlocked doors, they slam shut behind him, which naturally doesn’t help his feeling of uneasiness. As he attempts to go back through the same door, he realises it is now locked, and this happens again and again until he eventually realises that he’s been guided through the TARDIS without even knowing it. Eventually, Ian reaches a room via the familiar pattern of unlocked and subsequently locked doors, and all the familiar sounds that have accompanied him on his journey so far have now disappeared, and the room is suddenly plunged into complete darkness and silence. As he stands there in the dark, I am there with him, absolutely petrified and scared to even move. As I look around the sitting room as if to reassure myself that I’m still in my familiar surroundings, I start to imagine that I’m hearing odd noises, something I always seem to do in theses situations. Just as I’m thinking I can’t possibly get any more frightened that I am already, I continue with the story and I read something that makes me not want to turn the next page. All of a sudden, the blackness of the room that Ian is standing in is disrupted as one of the apparently unlocked doors opens slowly, and a blinding light behind it silhouettes an unknown figure standing in the doorway……..

The mysterious figure turns out to be the Doctor, who, in typical Hartnell style, is totally oblivious to Ian’s terrified state, and proceeds to reprimand him for getting lost.

The phrase, ‘You had to be there…’ can probably be applied to my recollections of reading The Edge of Destruction, as anyone else reading the same book in somewhat different circumstances would probably not have become quite as involved as I did. Obviously, one can also read any novel and be affected in a similar fashion, but for a modest book based on a mainstream television show, I think it’s quite a feat.

Next Episode: A Growing Friendship and Our Lives As Doctor Who Fans