Doctor Who Target Book Club Podcast

Who would’ve believed that we could discuss THE ULTIMATE FOE for longer than the actual run-time of the story – and that we could say mostly positive things about it? Granted, there’s still that business of some weird future Doctor being the villain (spoilers!) and Colin Baker being fired after making this, but why should that yuck our yum? Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hu...

Killer plants! A murder mystery! Scheming agronomists! Ellipses…sentence fragments…and exclamation marks! EVERYWHERE! And so much new vocab! Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, Dalton Hughes, and special guest Matthew Kresal as they discuss Pip and Jane Baker’s TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS!!! We are a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine shows as THE DOCTOR WHO...

Is Peri dead? Is she unhappy in a forced marriage? Is she unhappy as the manager of a pro wrestler named Yrcanos? And what exactly does “Vroomnik” mean, anyway? Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, Dalton Hughes, and special guest Jason Miller as they discuss Philip Martin’s novelization of MINDWARP to find out! We are a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine...

What is the mystery of Ravalox? Is there really any Sixth Doctor and Peri slash fiction out there? And why are some car owners such a**holes? Join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they discuss Terrance Dicks’ novelization of THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET to find out! We are a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine shows as THE DOCTOR WHO COLLECTORS POD...

Is Kemel the most racist character created for the classic series? Did the Second Doctor really commit genocide? And did we really need a novelization of the “missing adventure” between THE WHEEL IN SPACE and THE DOMINATORS? Join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they discuss Frazer Hines’ novelization of EVIL OF THE DALEKS to find out! We are a proud part of the Direction Poi...

What does Frazer Hines remember most about EVIL OF THE DALEKS? What convinced him to write his own version of it? And what did Sonny Caldinez do to get so…big? Come listen to Tony Whitt interviewing Hines about all of this and more in this special episode, before our regular panelists discuss his novelization next week! REVISITING THE EVIL OF THE DALEKS WITH FRAZER HINES was recorded on Saturday,...

The year wouldn’t be complete without our light and calorie-free (not to mention mostly content-free) Holiday Special, and what better way to celebrate than to pull apart four books that we won’t even be covering on this show for another couple years? TARGETING THE NEW BATCH was recorded on Sunday, December 1 at Chicago TARDIS 2024. The PowerPoint presentation used can be downloaded at the Google...

Saward’s not done with the show at this point yet, but we’re done with Saward, and it’s about…well, mostly about Douglas Adams, to be honest. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Saward was being really bloody sincere. Join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Alyson Fitch-Safreed as they discuss the novelization of the radio play story SLIPBACK! We are a proud part of the Direction Poin...

The Ice Warriors are back, and it’s about…well, ice, really. And a virus that kills off men. And a female-dominated society trying to fight a male-dominated one. And the Doctor’s bully from school. And Sil. AND… You get the idea. Join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Alyson Fitch-Safreed as they look at the novelization of the unproduced television story MISSION TO MAGNUS! We are a proud part of the...

It's THE ULTIMATE EVIL! …but enough about the election. Now that certain lunatics are back in the White House, do we go back to calling him DWARF Mordant, or does the fact that we care make us snowflakes? And while we’re at it, would this story have been the new TWIN DILEMMA if it had been made. Join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Alyson Fitch-Safreed as they go back to a simple time (i.e., anytim...

In some alternate universe, the BBC had complete confidence in Colin Baker; Season 23 was produced and premiered right on schedule; and Graham Williams wrote the first of what would be a long line of excellent scripts for the show he once produced. None of those things happened in our universe, of course – but we still got the excellent Graham Williams story. Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Alyson...

Last time Eric Saward squared off against the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club, it didn’t go so well for him. What about this time? Has Saward learned from the excesses that laid RESURRECTION so low? Has the NZDWFC provided us a better read yet again? Come listen as Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Alyson Fitch-Safreed debate whether a bunch of references to tinclavic and Terileptils actually make fo...

Some fans have called this story cursed, and after losing two-thirds of our first attempt to record this episode and then having to remount it three weeks later, we agree! (Is this what it felt like to make SHADA? They both have Denis Carey in them, so…maybe HE’S the curse?) Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as we try to endure this book without having to call an ambula...

You’re listening to your favorite podcast (ha!), and they decide to cover SEARCH FOR THE DOCTOR by Dave Martin, one of the FIND YOUR FATE books featuring the Sixth Doctor. If you decide to stick around and here what Tony Whitt and Dalton Hughes have to say about this bizarre book, go to 159. If you decide you’d rather wait until they get around to discussing a novelization of a real story such as...

Name me another podcast where such varied subjects as Season 6B, the morality of vegetarianism, the inherent racism of DOCTOR WHO, and the relative sexual attractiveness of Patrick Troughton come up in the same discussion. I dare you. Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as we discuss Robert Holmes’ first and only full-length novelization of his script for THE TWO DOCTORS....

For this synopsis, I tried to come up with jokes about the Master hanging around in a field waiting for the Doctor or the Rani giving one of her victims a woody, but I just couldn’t be bothered. Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as we try to decide whether there’s any joy to be had in Pip and Jane Baker’s book, or whether it’s just an ACT vocab study guide masquerading...

What exactly is the literary equivalent of a video nasty? And does the novelization of VENGEANCE ON VAROS really fit the bill, or is it more of a political satire in the vein of 1984 – or maybe both? Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as we try to figure out exactly what Philip Martin was trying to do with this book, and why it took him nearly four years to do it. We are...

Cybermen, Cryons, and cops – oh my! Add to all of that enough fanwank that the story should come with its own box of Kleenex, and you’ve got a recipe for a bad novelization. So how is it so good – and how did it come from Eric Saward? Again?! Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as we discuss Saward’s novelization of a Colin Baker story written by…somebody. We are now a pr...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Eric Saward’s books are a bit…much. So what is a band of jaded reviewers to do when Saward takes a turd like THE TWIN DILEMMA and polishes it until it’s…well, less of a turd? Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, Dalton Hughes, and our special guest Larry VanMersbergen of the DOCTOR WHO COLLECTORS PODCAST as they ask that question and many more abo...

It’s considered not only one of the best but THE best story of the classic series. But can even Terrance Dicks translate the greatness that is THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI to the printed page? Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they ask that very question and many more about the novelization of Peter Davison’s final story! We are now a proud part of the Direction Point Podc...

What do you think happened to Turlough and his brother Malcon went they went back to Trion after the events of PLANET OF FIRE? Well, whatever you guessed, you’re likely to be wrong – especially if you said anything at all about Malcon. Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they discuss Tony Attwood’s sometimes fascinating, often frustrating, and endlessly LONG original n...

While we could have done an entire episode full of jokes about how the producer, the writer, and two stars in this story were “flamers,” we didn’t. (Besides, our host has no room to talk.) Instead, we came to have a short discussion and ended up having one of our longest discussions to date, about a book that is surprisingly good. Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as th...

Eric Saward’s novelization of his 1984 was almost 40 years in the making. Was it worth the wait? …Seriously, we’re asking. Oh, and we read a much better version by Paul Scoones, too. Come join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Danny Celedon for a special 150th episode as they discuss both the fan and official novelizations of RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS. We are now a proud part of the Direction Point...

Why are there two novelizations of RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS – and why is only one of them any good? This time we discuss the fan version of the novelization with its author, Paul Scoones, to find out what led to the creation of this version, why it took so long for an official version to come out, and why the Daleks are doing what they’re doing in this story. (We only answer two of those questio...

What could be worse than being sucked through the earth? Having our panelists make dirty jokes about it. (Heh. “Dirty” jokes.) Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, Dalton Hughes, and special guest J.G. McQuarrie as they discuss Christopher H. Bidmead’s novelization of FRONTIOS. We are now a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine shows as THE DOCTOR WHO COLLEC...