Published: September 1982

Edition read: Target second reprint, 1984

Coolest Cover: Andrew Skilleter is perfect here- concentrate on the monster and make them look mysterious.

The BBC Budget Wouldn’t Run To: Anything described in the prologue.

Purple Prose: Keara’s reaction to hearing of Tylos’s death:

"Keara’s face became expressionless. She blinked, and there was a glint of a tear in her eye. She hardly heard the Doctor tell them he was taking them back to the Science Unit. Automatically, she followed after them." (p,104). Followed a few pages later by an understated moment where Keara consoles Adric after Varsh is killed.

Childhood Recollections: I remember this as one of the better ones, being particularly afraid of the Marshmen and upset when Varsh died.

Ramblings: Andrew Smith is something of an enigma in the ranks of Doctor Who writers; plucked from the ranks of the fanboy would-be-writers, he turned out a strong story which fitted well with the new production team’s approach and promptly disappeared off the radar. In some ways, then, it’s a surprise that Smith should have decided to adapt his story for the Target range, although it does also mean that this is possibly the only entry ever to have also been submitted as a Higher English assignment.

The strength of the televised ‘Full Circle’ lies in its fusion of several potent ideas with a traditional monster story, so that we have a tale which touches on evolution, vivisection and institutionalised power and yet acknowledges the storytelling value of Something Out There In The Fog. It’s therefore encouraging to see that none of this has been lost from the book- in fact, perhaps one of the benefits of Smith’s amateur status is that if anything, it feels as if he was living ‘Full Circle’ in between writing the original script and the book. Gaps in the television storytelling are fleshed out- like what happened to Adric and Varsh’s parents, for example- although it has to be said that the majority of these instances are due to indifferent direction obscuring the action as much as anything else. If there’s a problem with Smith’s approach, it’s that the ideas and the presentation of the Marshmen (excellent as it is) tend to force out much sense of character, with exceptions such as Garif, who was clearly intended by Smith to be more of an out-and-out procrastinating coward than the television production intended. But the emotional trigger points such as the Marshchild’s death and Romana’s possession are still as powerful in prose as they were on screen, and the strategic use of additional characters not seen on television adds to the depth of the storytelling.

If anything, then, this is a remarkably strong entry in the range; whereas a hardened professional would probably have moved on from a commission like ‘Full Circle’ to the next project and returned to do a workmanlike job of adapting the story with slight variations to reflect the story as he saw it before the production team started tinkering, Smith has clearly had time to think about his story and how it could have been improved. Alzarius and the Starliner society really come to life, not least in the uncanny scene where the Marshmen return to their natural element and we have an insight into their world view. It has all of the strengths of the original story without the awkwardness in execution of the later studio-set episodes and it does leave the question of why Smith was never commissioned again because this adaptation leaves some of the professionals in the shade.