Doctor Who Wouldn't be the Same Without Him: In Memory of Terrance Dicks

[@kemmdog4444]

We all owe Terrace Dicks and Barry Letts a lot of thanks.

[@GCAbleism158]

And Derek Sherwin

[@kemmdog4444]

You got it.Unfortunately they have all passed away.

[@Trev359]

Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts ,best Dr Who team ever.

[@the_plot_twist_24]

This man is the godfather of Doctor Who. Without him, Doctor Who would never be what it is today

[@bythebreach]

He is also responsible for the line 'never cruel or cowardly' and, I believe, the ongoing redecoration gag.

[@marionbaggins]

The "Oh, You have redecorated....I don't like it" Line!!! WOW, Uncle Terry (this is what the fans called him) created my favorite running gag!!!

[@josephdevlin7528]

I met him twice. A wonderful man. What a legacy he leaves behind.

[@thefragrantwookiee]

I love Terrance Dicks. Not everything he wrote was gold, but he understood Doctor Who on such a fundamental level that few, if any, writers can compare. So far I've read over thirty of his Who books (novelisations and original stories), and I've got another fifteen on the shelf waiting to go. I look forward to reading his final work in the 'Target Story Book' out next month. RIP Uncle Terry.

[@TheElderBlotch]

RIP Terrance, a Doctor Who legend. He's up there with Bwarry, now.

[@strataseeker2981]

Terrance Dicks to my mind is one of the all time best writers on Doctor Who, and certainly one of the most formative influences of the show as I grew up loving it. For my part, some of my earliest memories were watching a VHS tape my dad had made of The Five Doctors, Robot, and The Ark in Space, and 2/3 of those were written by Dicks. The wit he helped inject and the fun of those stories stuck with me all my life.

[@ericzenk4404]

RIP Terrance Dicks. I learned to read with Doctor Who novelizations. I got points docked off my spelling assignments for writing"colour" rather than "color", but it was worth it.

[@Badad67]

First TD book I read was The Auton Invasion in 1973. I was 6. DW Books taught me to spell. By the time of 1986 I owned and had read nearly all of his Target novelisation books. When the Moment as Rose mentioned the familiar wheezing, groaning sound, I knew at that very moment that was a massive nod to Terrance. It was in ALL of his books describing the TARDIS engines. They never did more than 7 episodes after TD took over. 8 was The Invasion. Love your videos.

[@kathyastrom1315]

Another non-scriptwriter contributor to the Target novelizations was Ian Marter, who played Harry Sullivan in Tom Baker’s first season. He wrote nine of those books before he died way too young at age 42.

[@JohnAShort]

Thanks for talking about Terrace Dicks. I'm glad that fans of the modern series hear about him and his huge body of work on the show. There are a few small errors in your tribute (understandable when you are talking off the cuff for quarter of an hour!) He didn't write 'The Three Doctors' only script edited it. And he wrote two DW stage plays not one. He continued to be involved in the BBC's support media on the show right up to his death, writing books about the Tenth Doctor from BBC Books and even a short story in an uncoming Target Books tribute which will be published postumously. Outside of the original creators of the show from 1963 he is probably the most important voice in shaping the mythology of the series. My epic in-order episode-a-day watch of all Doctor Who is about to get to the story he scripted for Tom Baker's Doctor - The Horror of Fang Rock - it's one of my favourite Dicks stories and if you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

[@leslieshafer6343]

I am especially glad that novelizations were done of the lost 2nd Doctor stories. Some ot them weren't just great Doctor Who stories, they were also just plain good science fiction. At the time I was reading the novelizations, I didn't keep a list of books I read. But I'm pretty certain I read ALL the novelizations, and he of course was by far the most prolific writer of the people who the novelizations. For those books & for his contributions in general to Doctor Who, I give him thanks. RIP Terrance Dicks.

[@Chris-tf7gi]

I would not say its an exaggeration to say Doctor Who would not exist today without Terrance Dicks' mammoth contributions. When I was a kid somehow Doctor Who novelizations were within eyesight of other things I read in the sci. fi. section of the local book store. I remember reading Death to the Daleks many years before actually getting to see a rebroadcast on TV and thinking how imaginative the story was in the book. Then reading every Doctor who book I could. Much later, watching the TV broadcast of Death to the Daleks, it didn't live up to what I had envisioned through Dicks' writing. (Oh, I still loved it.) There was something special about reading a Doctor Who novelization, flipping the book over to the cover while thinking to myself, 'that was really good.' Terrance Dicks' name was on the cover of those books. Thankfully questions about who he was and what he did to contribute to Dr. Who were largely answered in the many DVD special features and commentaries he's done, adding untold amounts of enjoyment through a better understanding of classic Dr. Who DVD releases in the modern era. I don't think Doctor Who would have made it to a modern era as something people think should be brought back without Terrance Dicks. Rest in peace Terrance Dicks.

[@MrRjhyt]

I have to confess, in the hiatus, needing a Doctor Who fix, I could only really afford/justify buying one VHS, (showing my age), but it was 'The 5 Doctors'. The hiatus did give a lot of opportunity for the Whoniverse to get some fresh insight, and exploration. Ideas, styles and narrative changes that would allow Nu-Who to expand and flourish beyond it's original style, while keeping true to the core of Doctor Who.

[@justkerowen3191]

This was a lovely tribute. As a Whovian of a certain age, I can verify you're spot on with how important the Target novelizations were, particularly during the dark years when fewer channels were running repeats and VHS tapes were hella expensive. As a matter of fact, I think I still have a few kicking around somewhere. I also quite enjoyed hearing the anecdotes about him. He was truly a man who cared more about his work than his ego, and he'll be sorely missed by fans of every series he worked on. Thank you for doing this.

[@silverspike1]

I was fortunate enough to meet Terrence quite a few times down the years, partly due to my work back then free lancing as a photographer for the old Dr Who magazine and partly to my involvement in the original DWAS. I remember we went to his house and spent a very jolly afternoon interviewing him. Terrence was a lovely chap and I never once saw him get impatient or angry with fans at events. I loved his work and his attitude towards it. He is missed.

[@andrewbowman4611]

Terrance Dicks was the ultimate lovable curmudgeonly old gentleman. So much so that his last published piece of writing was a letter to Doctor Who Magazine, denying a story told about him by fellow former script editor Christopher H. Bidmead; this was a couple of months ago. One small correction: Terrance didn't write The Three Doctors. That was Bob Baker and Dave Martin. He did script-edit it, though.

[@roguebritgravy1]

It is sad. We will miss his books, episodes and ideas. He will be missed. The first doctor who book I read was a classic and was by him.

[@chrispalmer7893]

I may have read more words of Terrence Dicks than any other writer. I’m one of that generation where the show was on for a handful of weeks a year, not even that when the went on hiatus, and the Target novels are what kept the show alive. It’s wasn’t just Terrence who wrote them, but he wrote the best ones, churning them out at the rate of about one a month when it was at its height. I’m too young to have seen Hartnell, Troughton or Pertwee in their original runs. I have only sketchy memories of Tom Baker’s time. My love for each of their doctors was ignited and tended to by Terrence’s books. Eventually, as VHS and later DVDs let me see those shows I wasn’t disappointed in large measure because he captured the characters as they were performed so brilliantly - and he was working from memory and production scripts; he couldn’t go back and watch either. I love Doctor Who because of Terrence Dicks. I love reading because of Terrence Dicks. I love writing because of Terrence Dicks. He may not have been granted a high position in literary history in general, but for me he is as important to my love of stories as Raymond Chandler, Stephen King or Arthur Conan Doyle. And by all accounts he was also a good guy. RIP Terrence Dicks. We never met, but you helped define my childhood in the best possible way.

[@CountScarlioni]

A lovely tribute. Oh god yes, as a kid in the 80s I read his novelisations by the stackload. Upon discovering the school library had some of his non-Doctor Who novels I devoured them too! He was an absolute delight at conventions. You could have let Terrance talk to a bunch of fans all day and nobody in the room would ever get bored. The man seemed to be as full of crazy anecdotes as he was full of plotlines! As you touched on, a major appeal of Terrance with the fans was that he knew and understood the Doctor Who mythos as well as even the most diehard Whovian. He had after all created much of it! A treasure of a man.

[@jasonthayer1309]

The Five Doctors is THE BEST anniversary story ever!

[@theknightsofawesomeness2701]

This is a fact!

[@V-grandraccoon]

It’s the only anniversary story to give a large amount of time to every era it could. First doctor fans had the first doctor (kind of) and Susan running from Daleks. Second doctor fans had the second doctor battling Yeti with the brigadier plus cameos from Jamie and Victoria. Third doctor fans had the third doctor, the brigadier, Bessie, Sarah June and cameos from Liz and Yates. Fourth doctor fans still had the Brigadier, Sarah Jane, a K9 cameo, and the Master. Terrance Dicks knew how to write an anniversary story that could fit in old characters. Compare those to “Day of the Doctor” which is basically a series finale with one returning doctor and a random Zygon subplot that wouldn’t get a payoff for two years. The thing that’s always annoyed me about that was that there was a perfectly good anniversary story set up for them. Imagine if at the end of “The Name of the Doctor” The Doctor jumped into his timestream to find Clara and the episode ending on a cliffhanger (which it basically did anyways, did we ever find out how they got out?). Then the 50th anniversary special could involve the Doctor going through his time stream searching for Clara but also also battling old foes and meeting old friends that had escaped from their time-streams due to Clara’s interference. At the end throw in a montage of the doctor and Clara returning everyone to their original places.

[@johngurnhill4633]

My first classic episode i bought

[@DaleRibbons]

Horror Of Fang Rock. Not just my favorite Terrance Dicks story, but probably my favorite Who story period. It's not a pivotal moment in the show's history, there are no major plot developments or character introductions, but it a really entertaining story that I have watched many times. Also, the DVD special features contains a documentary on Terrance DicksI recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about him.

[@theknightsofawesomeness2701]

The world won't be the same without him

[@lwaves]

FYI, there is a new book of DW stories out in October, called the Target Storybook, that features a new Terrance Dicks story. To me, Terrance Dicks is just as important to Who as it's original creators. They started it but he kept it going. You sum up the Target novels perfectly. As someone old enough to be around when it was a 'watch it or never see it' show, those novels were great for seeing the earlier stories that were before my time. I had quite the collection as a youngling.

[@themistakery6834]

R.I.P As a huge fan of doctor who I realise how big of a part he played in the whole storyline of doctor who.I hope his family are safe and okay.

[@Doccywho124]

To be honest I was saddened that Terrance was never asked to write episodes post 2005. I was expecting it to be him in series 10 when Moffat said he was employing a classic who writer. His stories were all fantastic and it's such a shame he's gone.

[@Ytsssss364]

When you read Terrance's latter circa 2002 "expanded" Who novels like "Warmonger" (which I love as well as the others from this series) wherein the fifth doctor literally quotes Hitler, and says he is doing so, plus threatening overtly to murder Dr. Solon if Peri isn't saved (oops sorry - go read the rest!) etc - as much as I personally love Terrance's edge, I can see how his attitudes/propensity thus might not have fit so well in terms of writing for Dr. Whoke as per Davies/Moffat et al. etc sorry to say.

[@stmtom2811]

I learned about him and what he brought to Dr Who. From watching the extras on the classic Dr Who DVD's. Those same extras are included on the new blu-ray season collections. That man did so much for Dr Who.

[@AubreySciFi]

Ahh, Terrance. One of the best writers the classic series ever had. He didn't produce as many scripts as my other favorite classic series writers owing to his job as script editor, but his hand was felt throughout the Pertwee era. My favorite scripts of his would probably be "The War Games", "Horror of Fang Rock", "State of Decay" and "The Five Doctors". There are lots of things to like in "Robot" too, and of course, there are his rewrites of the Three Doctors scripts to incorporate the fact that Hartnell could barely appear in it due to his health. I don't know if I have a favorite of his novelizations. I met Terrance twice at conventions. The first time was probably the best as he was appearing with Barry Letts, so I was able to meet the Pertwee era creative team together in one go, which was great. RIP Terrance, you will be missed.

[@PartridgeQuill]

Wow, this man was incredible. What a great way to reverence his memory!

[@ilovecatweazle]

My first real memory of Doctor Who was watching Jon Pertwee's first adventure 'Spearhead in Space' and being completely hooked at the tender age of 6yrs old. It wasn't because of the color either because at that time we had a hired black and white TV with a coin slot at the back. Back then it would have cost a working class family a small fortune to buy a b/w TV let alone a color one. Indeed our first color one we didn't get till the late 1970's, which meant I never got to see Jon in color on first watch.. I had a total fear of missing an episode because everyone thought we'd never see them again (I never did till the 1980's when life got in the way lol). Many of my favorite stories are from the Pertwee/Dicks era. His last Doctor Who related involvement was with Big Finish audio in 2011. 'Mutual Friend' was a story about one of the 7th Doctor companions Bernice Summerfield. His first was in involvement was in 1968, which means his influence with the Who universe spanned an incredible 43yrs. there is nobody out there now that influenced my favorite show in such a way. A sad but thankful RIP.

[@timogul]

I'd seen the Doctor Who reruns on PBS, but the first Doctor Who *book* I'd read was Blood Harvest, by Terrance Dicks. I went on to read a ton of those books.

[@simonbeaird7436]

Terrance Dicks was just awesome. The novelizations he wrote were a lifeline to First and Second Doctor stories that I only partially remembered from when I was 6, 7, 8 years old in the 60s.

[@dudstep]

The Target books are pretty great. Terrance's books all have a similar style and he introduces each Doctor in the same way in each book. His books are all solid.

[@neilmcdonald8355]

The Davison story you mention,"Kinda",is pronounced to rhyme with "Linda" not "grinder"🎩

[@frislander4299]

/kɪndə/ not /kaɪndə/

[@jamiestevens3074]

My favourite classic doctor is pertwee, Terrence was a big contributor in that era. So I’ll always thank him for helping to create an era that stood out to me. But even if I hated that era and hated pertwee, I, and everyone else, should respect him for the other incredible work he had done.

[@mauriceedwards6759]

Your spot on he was a great writer,I used to read his Target book novels all the time in the 70s and 80s he understood the character of the Doctor,yes I am that old miss him I will.

[@Doccywho124]

War games is my favourite story of his. I think it's one of the best doctor who stories of all time

[@GermanLeftist]

I'm so glad I got to meet him at a convention a few years back, got to talk to him a bit and I've also got an autograph.

[@danielsleeper2307]

Favorite Terrance Dicks story: I honestly do not know. Horror of Fang Rock was amazing, The Three Doctors: phenomenal, The Five Doctors: likewise, etc., etc., etc.

[@lwaves]

Even as a kid back in the 70's, I never really found DW scary. Creepy at times but never scary. Then they showed Horror of Fang Rock and that changed. One of the very few TV/movie things to give ever give me recurring nightmares.

[@Prowl1701]

My favortie story he wrote was Robot, it really established Tom's persona as the fourth doctor quickly. And is just a really fun story to watch.

[@LaytonMathieson]

My favourite serial he wrote is The War Games, and my favourite serial he was script editor for is Planet of the Spiders.

[@ihateunicorns867]

I know the name Terrance Dicks very well as it was written about 60 times across the book spines on my bookcase as a kid. As a kid in the 80s, I loved Doctor Who but you are absolutely right: I didn’t have access to see any of the old stories, so I read them. Even when we eventually got a VHS player, there were only a handle of DW videos out. (And I also went to see that stage play with Jon Pertwee in it. I was too young to know if it was any good or not. I don’t remember much about it, but it was Doctor Who, so I loved it)

[@paulking9476]

The horror of fang rock

[@timrob12]

I always remember that Terrance Dicks fought for the inclusion of a Dalek in The Five Doctors. And it's only right one did appear in an anniversary story. It's like how the 50th wouldn't be perfect without them.

[@SammySatine]

Wonderful tribute! Rest In Peace Terrance Dicks. One of my favourites would have to be Horror of Fang Rock. I adore that story. I feel like I need to read some of his Target Novelisations now.

[@Ytsssss364]

Terrance's "explanded" Who original novels like "Warmonger" are to me his best contribution to Who; I was working on a writing project while he'd still been alive and wrote to his agent to express gratitude for Terrance's influence on my boyhood reading etc. She said he'd gotten the message - and encouraged me to keep buying more of his books so he'd get more royalties. A class act. God bless the man for taking old Pertwee scripts like Ambassador's of Death by David Whittaker and churning out Target novelization no. 121 in 1987, during the Colin Baker era - so Terrance worked tirelessly to pump out the novelizations of those classic Who's we all loved and cherished, even though by then the VHS/DVD's were becoming available. I much prefer reading a Terrance Target nowadays to popping in a bluray or signing up for Britbox. It's the only way I experienced those terrible Colin Baker/Sylvester McCoy "forgettable stories" cough cough The Mysterious Planet cough cough

[@BronyDanProductions]

The only time I think Terrance ever got annoyed with 'Doctor Who' was with 'The Brain of Morbius'. He originally wrote the story, it was approved and then he went away on holiday and when he came back, he saw that Bob Holmes (his successor as Script Editor) and completely re-written the story because Philip Hinchcliffe (the Producer who took over from his partner Barry Letts) wasn't satisfied with the idea of a robot servant creating Morbius' new body. He was so angered by this change, he demanded his name be taken off the story and for Bob to put it out under some bland Pseudonym, so the story is credited to 'Robin Bland', which even gave Terrance a chuckle.

[@ftumschk]

I read his Target novelisations from the very first (The Auton Invasion) in 1974, avidly awaiting the next one off the press, and read them all in the end. They instilled in me an abiding love of reading and, in a modest way, writing. Indeed, I won a national short story competition aged 11, and I honestly don't think I'd have done so if it had not been for the Target novelisations in general, and Terrance Dicks in particular.

[@Venemofthe888]

He is probably one of the best people to ever be found with doctor who and it is a shame that i never got to meet him because he is a influence on me and i have had a passion for writing so much so that i came up with a idea of a doctor who series that i could one day produce it is definitely a dream of mine. R.I.P Terrence Your a Legend

[@alpine_newt]

Yeah, I'm 40 I had a huge collection of Target books. Some of my favourites where ones I had never seen!

[@Ben-vf5gk]

Thank you Terrance Dicks. You helped give me one of my favourite eras of Doctor Who, without you we may not have the Master, one of my favourite characters in all fiction. You've gave me stories like War Games, Three Doctors and Horror of Fang Rock, characters, ideas and Target Novels that I've loved and will never stop loving. You were fantastic.

[@marionbaggins]

Robert Homles created the Master

[@rosco31100]

Part of me wishes they'd do more target novels of the modern era, I really love the ones I have, of classic and modern. It just nice to see the same story in a different way, in text rather than on screen. And Terrance Dicks has done so much for so many fans of Doctor Who, he will be truly missed, but hopefully never forgotten.

[@Pyrais]

Another important impact he had was during the Wilderness Years. He was a force with up and coming writers that kept Doctor Who alive. And in time revived the show.

[@IronSalamander8]

I love how much he did for Doctor Who; the show, the books, and so on. I never knew he worked on Avengers or Space:1999, both shows I quite enjoy. I have a bunch of the novels, sometimes the books give us a little extra that makes the story even better. For example while Spearhead from Space was amazing, the book (Auton Invasion) gives us more detail about the wax doubles taking over to cause confusion. Also if you read the book for Warriors of the Deep, it's actually pretty good unlike the wretched TV version.

[@kemmdog4444]

I do enjoy The Horror of Fang Rock.

[@andersthecrow6588]

This is so sad he will be missed i will always remember his amazing work 😢❤️

[@geekdetritus5503]

There is a quote from Terrance Dicks about Mary Whitehouse (for those who don't know, she spearheaded the outcry that Doctor Who was too violent for children, and was constantly complaining when they would do something really cool on the show) Anyway, he was quoted as saying, "If there is one thing Mary Whitehouse hates more than sex, it's Doctor Who"

[@reactivearmour5126]

God bless Terrance Dicks. He was a great writer who wrote two of my favorite Doctor Who stories, Horror of Fang Rock and State of Decay. Indeed, I think the former story is the best all time DW story. Terrance remained aloof from some of the political and counter culture silliness that sometimes crept into DW and has now thoroughly consumed the show. He also had the right concept for the companions. He understood that viewers who watched DW didn’t care about the personal lives of companions, they cared about the Doctor, the monsters and the story. The job of companions was to ask questions for the audience and to get into trouble so that the Doctor could get them out of trouble. I wish there were more DW writers like him.

[@Adeodatus100]

1973 - age 10, I bought in quick succession "Doctor Who and the Daleks", "...and the Zarbi", "...and the Crusaders", reprints of three 1960s novelisations. And then came a new one - "...and the Auton Invasion", by Terrance Dicks. And we were off! I so looked forward to those novelisations, which at their peak were coming out at the rate of one a month. Terrance Dicks was the best, most reliable, most purely entertaining of the writers (even when he was working to tight deadlines and word counts, in some of the middle-period novelisations). He was, as you say, the guy through whom an older generation of Who fans got to know and love dozens of the old stories. A wonderful man.

[@Medraut00]

yes I agree that his work with Target books is what he is most well known for. Five Doctors is the best multi doctor story despite no Tom and replacement of Hartnell. State of Decay was good. some of his more original dr who novels may not have been great but he did a lot of good work on the show.

[@AlexFyrehartDGAFCave]

While I haven't seen everything Terrance Dicks ever wrote/was script editor for on Doctor Who, I feel like my favourite story he wrote will always be The War Games. If for no other reason than it was the first Classic era story I ever saw. Hell, the fact I enjoyed it encouraged me to try and watch more Classic Who stuff. Dunno how much Classic Who stuff I've seen all up so far, but it would probably would've stayed at "nothing" for a quite a while longer if I hadn't seen The War Games when I did.

[@Shadoestar]

He also wrote a bunch of original Doctor Who novels for both Virgin and BBC Books, plus the stage play The Ultimate Adventure.

[@chrispalmer7893]

Exodus and his Chicago 1920s book (the name of which eludes me) are two of my favourite from that whole range.

[@Shadoestar]

@@chrispalmer7893 Blood Harvest

[@chrispalmer7893]

@@Shadoestar Thank you! I need to look that out again...

[@M-E_123]

The novelisation of Nightmare of Eden. I read it before seeing the episodes and it still sticks with me today - he describes the merging / transitioning between the 2 ships and the scientists "collection" in ways that really made the concepts shine (and in a way that the show itself could never possibly realise). One of my favourite Dr Who stories because of that book. And from reading these comments I had no idea he wrote State of Decay - always was one of my favourite Tom Baker stories - so many good ideas and dripping with atmosphere. Other memories of him come from his interviews - the way he categorised Dr Who stories (seeing interviews with him stating things like "take all that away and what you have underneath is a pretty straight forward base under siege story"). I always found that an interesting approach - the idea that you have a finite number of templates for Dr Who adventures to follow and the real trick in writing for the show is to embrace that. Follow the formula and trust that the monster of the week, guest actors and particular background / character motivations the script writer has given you (as script editor) will be enough to make it feel unique. His job was to recognise what type of story was being told and fix the script to make sure it still gave the audience what they wanted / expected from that type of adventure - and exploite the fact most stories would take 4-6 weeks to tell he would also be able to mix up the running order to keep stories that follow the same template months apart to help keep them fresh. And he did it all so well for so many years.

[@benw4409]

My favourite story written solely by Terrance Dicks is State of Decay. What a masterful story in Tom Baker's final series. The War Games is one of the greatest DW stories ever, co written by him.

[@ftumschk]

I agree. Come to think of it, _State of Decay_ is probably the best story in Tom's final series, along with _Warriors' Gate_ (if you're a fan of the latter, which I am).

[@drewandcoproductions4739]

Miss him dearly, Doctor who legend, don't forget he wrote the brain of Morbius!

[@corbinvickers9993]

Thank you so much for making this video. As a new who fan I really didn’t appreciate or understand how important he was. Rip Terrance

[@garrettwhite5943]

I read The Eight Doctors when I first saw the McGann movie after catching up on the modern show in 2012, and while it wasn't the most interesting plot ever written, you could tell he'd had many years of experience working with all the Doctors prior to McGann's incarnation, and while Dicks did give us the most frustrating companion ever (Sam Jones from the EDA series) I will always love the guy's work. Read the Tomb of the Cybermen target novel recently and it blew me away.

[@TheHylianBatman]

It's gotta be _Horror of Fang Rock_ . God, I love that story.

[@ptnkatan7124]

Wow. I know it's cliche to say it but I can't believe he's gone. Along side Robert Holmes I consider this man to be one of the most influential and important figures in the entire history of the show. I can't really speak for anyone over twenty, but growing up with the small collection of classic Doctor Who dvds I had, he was always such a great presence in interviews. Whether it be in behind the scenes features or in audio commentary he was just such a great consistent presence. There was one scene in 'Doctor Who and the Silurians' (yes that is the full title) where the Doctor has to venture down into some caves. He tries to convince his companion at the time, Liz Shaw, to stay behind, but she is insistent on joining him. The Doctor then agrees to let her join. In the commentary Dicks noted something along the lines of, "There goes feminism, rearing it's ugly head" and I know a comment like this can elicit a lot of groans, but the way he said it was so tongue in cheek and funny I can't help but be amused by it. Speaking of the Target books, if anyone wants to watch a documentary on that then I highly suggest watching the feature called "Terrance Dicks: On Target" which chronicles a lot of his work on the books. It's on the first Tom Baker blu ray set, and I think it might be on the dvd for Robot as well, but don't quote me on that.

[@Epsilon1Zeta]

I really like the Target novelizations of Doctor Who.

[@zakjaggs9761]

He wrote some great ones: the war games, robot and state of decay

[@thomaskirkness-little5809]

Terrence Dicks is like the only behind the scenes name I ever knew for Doctor Who until very recently.

[@DanielDiaz-um1xd]

He was a script editor, the definitive article you might say

[@citrinedragonfly]

Those novelizations were what really cemented my love of Doctor Who back in the 90s. We had Doctor Who on our PBS station, and they showed many of Terrance Dicks' episodes, but our library also had a full run of the US equivalent of the Target Novelizations (Harlan Ellison did the introduction for them, and it was amazing). Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks was the second one I read, and one of the first stories I saw on TV, and Dicks' writing made me love the characters and stories so, so much. He also wrote for Virgin Publishing when they had the Doctor Who license - he did Blood Harvest, about the Great Vampires, and then for BBC Books when they took the license back after the TV Movie. Doctor Who would not have the impact it has today without this man. Much love to him and his family. I imagine him having drinks in the afterlife with Barry Letts and Jon Pertwee and all the "old gang" and having a good chat.

[@greenmonsterprod]

I remember the Pinnacle Books editions, the ones with the Harlan Ellison intros. Those were the first "Doctor Who" novelizations published in the U.S. I recall that there were only eight of them, but they were very good. Five were written by Dicks, with two others written by Phillip Hinchcliffe, and one by Malcolm Hulke, if I remember correctly. The first one I got was "Android Invasion" by Dicks. The Target books arrived in the U.S. by 1983; my first one of those was "The Five Doctors", also by Dicks. Good reading.

[@citrinedragonfly]

@@greenmonsterprod I bought and got the Pinnacle editions for my collection instead of the Targets for those stories because I had such fond memories of them. They're a little out of place on the shelf with the other novelizations, but they make me happy to see there.

[@ecat4789]

Though I'm quite young, I read an unearthly child. I don't know where it came from, or where it came from, but I remember it and still think about it.

[@paulwalker3758]

Has to be Doctor Who and the Silurians. That was my introduction to Doctor Who, and was the only episode we owned for years. I credit it with being a fan of the series.

[@The_Sober_One_LCM]

Preface: I apologize for this giant list. Classic Who Notes: - While Terrance Dicks served as Script Editor on The Three Doctors (10th Anniversary Serial), Bob Baker and Dave Martin (who would go on to create K-9) wrote The Three Doctors story in it of itself The Target Books: - The first was The Daleks in 1973 - The last was Battlefield in 1991 - Reprints began in 2012 - It was revived with Rose, The Christmas Invasion, The Day of the Doctor, & Twice Upon a Time in 2017 The State of the Doctor Who Archive: - The BBC Archive was founded in 1978 (with Doctor Who as a test project) meaning that starting with Season 16 everything went straight to the Achieve. - By the end of the BBC Archive's 1st year, All but Two Pertwee and All Tom Baker episodes where housed in the Archive. The 2 Pertwee's in question where Invasion of the Dinosaurs 1 (found 1983) and Death to the Daleks 1 (found 1979). As for Hartnell & Troughton a total of 134/253 episodes were missing (meaning we've found 37 missing episodes since 1978) From here on I did need to double check the wiki - I do not know all things Doctor Who: Doctor Who on Home Video (while Classic Who was on the air): - The first Doctor Who VHS was Revenge of the Cybermen in 1983 and it went for like 60 pounds Which granted is extortion) - 1984 The Brain of Morbius - 1985 Pyramids of Mars, The Seeds of Death (1st non 4th Dr VHS / 1st 2nd Dr VHS), The Five Doctors (1st 5th Dr VHS) - 1986 The Robots of Death, Day of the Daleks (1st 3rd Dr VHS) - 1987 Death to the Daleks - 1988 Spearhead from Space, The Robots of Death, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Terror of the Zygons - 1989 The Time Warrior, The ark in Space, The Daleks (1st 1st Dr VHS) *for the sake of conveinience I am only listing new releases, not any releases Classic Who Re-Runs: BBC One Christmas Specials: - In 1971 BBC One aired The Daemons as the second Doctor Who Christmas Special (the first being 1965's The Feast of Saint Steven) prior to Season 9 premiere - 1972 The Time Monster prior to Season 10 premiere - 1973 The Green Death prior to Season 11 premiere - 1974 Planet of the Spiders prior to Season 12 premiere - 1975 Genesis of the Daleks - 1976 Pyramids of Mars and The Brain of Morbius - In 1977 BBC One aired The Robots of Death as the final "Christmas Special" of Classic Doctor Who Other Reruns: - In 1975 BBC One reran The ark in Space prior to the Season 13 premiere - In 1976 BBC One reran Planet of Evil and The Sontaron Stratagem prior to the Season 14 premiere - In 1977 BBC One reran The Deadly Assassin prior to the Season 15 premiere - In 1978 BBC One reran The Invisible Enemy and The Sun Makers prior to the Season 16 premiere - In 1979 BBC One reran The Pirate Planet and The Androids of Tara prior to the Season 17 premiere - In 1980 BBC One reran Destiny of the Daleks and City of Death prior to the Season 18 premiere - In July 1981 BBC One reran Full Circle and The Keeper of Traken prior to the Season 19 premiere - In Late 1981 BBC Two reran An Unearthly Child, The Krotons, The Carnival of Monsters, The Three Doctors, and Logopolisprior to the Season 19 premiere, these serials spanned "All Four" previous Doctors to "jog" peoples memory about regeneration. - In 1982 BBC One reran The Cure of Peladon, Genesis of the Daleks, and Earthshock prior to the Season 20 premiere - In 1983 BBC One reran The Visitation, Kinda, and Black Orchid in the Summer Prior to the 20th Anniversary Special and Season 21's premiere - In 1984 BBC One reran The King's Demons, The Awakening, The Five Doctors. Prior to the Season 22 premiere This was the final time The BBC would rerun Doctor Who while the original series was on the air. For the sake of completion: My first memory of Terrance Dicks was watching 'The War Games' in 2014 (I've been a fan since 2012 when I was shown Rose & An Unearthly Child (full serial) back to back by a friend - it was An Unearthly Child that got me hooked, sorry). I would also get very used to seeing him alongside Barry Letts in the making of docs on the Pertwee DVDs in 2015.

[@robd9413]

I've still got several of the Target books and some of them really do work better as books. Budgets were crazy tight back then and some stories over-reached what could be realised. One of the most "famous" examples of this (and one of the books I have) is Doctor Who and the Underworld from the 4th Doctor Era (Jan 1978). To save on the elaborately described sets, they used a bluescreen technique called CSO. Their version didn't age well and you can really tell how far that technology has come since (used these days for weather broadcasts).

[@louiswright8282]

Its always the greatest that go first. Rest in piece Terrance. We will all miss you 😭

[@SophieDuncan]

If a Doctor Who Book or ep was by Terrance Dicks, I always knew it was going to be good. I think my favourite of his DW stories would have to be State of Decay, vampires FTW. I was too young to have watched it when it aired, but it's one of my fav Tom Baker adventures and indeed, Doctor Who stories overall. I also have a soft spot for the Five Doctors, which I did see when it originally aired. R.I.P Terrance!

[@paulmoody4750]

While not my favorite Dicks story overall (that would be War Games), Robot has my favorite newly-regenerated Doctor scenes ever. It clearly influenced the new series as far as writing regeneration stories.

[@kieranwatts8037]

RIP, made my favourite series, my fav series, hope his family and friends are at peace

[@59rlmccormack]

Doctor Who is an awesome piece of science fiction that will never be forgotten!

[@ghlmk5931]

Never knew about him, but I'm glad you brought him to light. Love these kind of videos. It also reminded me of the novelizations made for the original Star Trek after it went off the air. It's what kept it alive and the movies and subsequent series wouldn't have seen the light of day without those novels. This gentleman had the same effect on Doctor Who. It was great to learn about him. Thank you.

[@laughingman19]

I've only ever read one of the Target novelizations (The Tenth Planet), but I am told "Uncle Terry" had a number of stock phrases and descriptions you could find in every book, making his style very recognizable. I am also told he judged a "write like Terrance Dicks" competition, in which contestants applied his style and descriptors to an Eleventh Doctor story.

[@daemonartursson5952]

From 1989 till the mid 90s Terrance Dicks novelization Were Dr Who. Some Great, some not so l. Regardless. Thanks Terrance. RIP

[@jacklawrence2212]

Fave story: Horror of Fang Rock. Gothic horror masterpiece, with an often unsettling, brooding atmosphere. Some of my favourite books from growing up are his Target novels. RIP Terrance Dicks.

[@umage1]

I still have some of those novelizations. Thanks for bringing them up.

[@FranktheBlindArtist]

Grew up in a cult with no tv so these doctor who books from the library were awesome!

[@tonk82]

Big fan of War Games and Horror of fang rock here. And i read some of his novelizations, specially some of the lost serials. One of the great names in doctor who history, no doubt.

[@ftumschk]

Despite the excellence of Patrick Troughton, ratings had started to wane during his tenure, but they took off again in the Terrance Dicks/Barry Letts era. This might have been boosted by the show being in colour, but not everyone had a colour TV back then (my family didn't) and, even if they had, the novelty would have worn off if the stories weren't any good. Happily the stories were usually excellent, and the Dicks/Letts/Pertwee combo resulted in possibly the most consistent era in the show's long history.

[@jeezlouise1902]

Not sure if you've heard this but as part of the coming rivival of the target range with modern episodes the BBC is releasing a target story book of all new Doctor Who short stories, one of which is Terrance's last contributions to Dr Who. It is to be released in the coming months

[@jonathan.palfrey]

Interesting. I followed Doctor Who from 1964 onwards, but I just watched it on television when I could, didn't participate in fandom, and don't remember being aware of the novelizations. Terrance Dicks is a familiar name, I've seen it cropping up over the years, but I wasn't paying attention to what he actually did for the show. Thanks for filling me in.

[@Newt5996]

It might interest everyone to know that Terrance Dicks contributed to The Target Storybook out in October

[@johngurnhill4633]

R.I.P Uncle Terry

[@CulturePhilter]

Lovely tribute.

[@doctordwarf1086]

favorite story terrance worked on inferno favorite he wrote the five doctors rip mr dicks

[@FranktheBlindArtist]

I remember reading fang rock as a kid in the 80s ❤

[@matthewburrows4359]

Lovely tribute mate x

[@xMvP_RAMPAGEX]

First book I read by Terrance Dicks was 'Revenge of the Judoon'.