Doctor Who Target Book Club Podcast

Can the puny minds of Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Alyson Fitch-Safreed even conceive the power of Terrance Dicks’ novelization of MEGLOS? Make sure to bring your towel and some Band-aids (sticking plasters if you’re in the UK), because this one is a little sticky. Ouch! We are now a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine shows as THE DOCTOR WHO COLLECTORS PODCAST...

We finally, and I mean FINALLY, begin looking at Tom Baker’s final season as the Doctor, as Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and special guest Jennifer Picker talk about the very last (and possibly very best) David Fisher novelization we will ever read, from his script for THE LEISURE HIVE. Bring your beach chair and your winter coat, and come freeze with us on Brighton Beach for a...

We join the Fourth Doctor on a fishing trip (a Fisher trip?) as Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and special guest Erik Gulbrandsen talk about the BBC Books Target release of David Fisher’s THE ANDROIDS OF TARA! Thrill to swashbuckling sword fighting and cybernetic sadism as Fisher tries to inject some interest into this tepid tale – but does he succeed? Eh… We are now a proud part of the Direction Poin...

Was it really worth it for David Fisher to demonstrate how much he hated Terrance Dicks’ novelization of THE STONES OF BLOOD by going and writing his own? The only way you’re going to know (except by going out and buying a copy yourself, ya cheap mook) is by listening in as Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and special guest Jenny Ingersoll talk about the newest BBC Books Target release! We are now a pro...

EPISODE 118: PAUL SCOONES INTERVIEW It’s rare that we ever get to talk to an author about a DOCTOR WHO novelization – it’s only happened once before – and now we get to do it again! This week, as a special episode before we dive back into the world of David Fisher, we interview Paul Scoones, the author of the fan version of SHADA and former editor of the TIME-SPACE VISUALISER fanzine for the New Z...

Why is it so much easier to successfully emulate Terrance Dicks than it is to emulate Douglas Adams? Maybe it’s easier to do when it’s a better Douglas Adams script, and SHADA…well… Come join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and special guest Trey Korte as they discuss the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club adaptation of the notoriously incomplete story, and why certain adaptations just aren’t worth the pa...

There are times when a novelization can just about rehab even the most reviled story, and this is…almost one of those times. Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and guest panelist Jason Miller discuss the general horniness of the Nimon and why Terrance Dicks is still the best when it comes to making a silk purse out of a bull’s ear. We are now a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including...

After a long series of mishaps keeping us from recording, we finally get to the one story we’ve been looking forward to for months now. Just kidding – we’re discussing THE NIGHTMARE OF EDEN, a story that lives up to its name both behind and in front of the cameras. Come join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and guest panelist Jennifer Picker as we figure out whether even Terrance Dicks can polish a turd...

In a new installment of TECHNICALLY TARGET, we tackle a book that’s neither a Target book nor a novelization of a televised story. Instead, we look at the novelization of the movie DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS by Alan Smithee (yes, that’s actually the name on the book). Come join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and guest panelist Danny Celedon as we grapple with that most important of questions: Who the hell...

EPISODE 113: CREATURE FROM THE PIT The cast is great, the writing is clever, the creature is…turgid. What’s not to like about CREATURE FROM THE PIT? Just about everything, really, even in book form. Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they consider whether there’s such a thing as too much Tom Baker, and whether Erato had something in his pocket or was just really happy...

Or should that be CITIES OF DEATH? A TALE OF TWO CITIES OF DEATH? TWO CITIES, ONE CUP? Whatever it should be called, this is our long-awaited and much-delayed discussion of the two different novelizations of Douglas Adams’ acclaimed story. Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they try to figure out the answer to the question, “Where DO those face masks come from, anyway...

Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes start a new season of the podcast by talking about how awesome Lalla Ward is, how much the post-Davros Daleks suck, and whether there’s anything that screams 1979 more than Movellans do. Now with 100% less Key to Time! We are now a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine shows as THE DOCTOR WHO COLLECTORS PODCAST, T...

Can we please stop talking about the Key to Time now? Join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they discuss just how tired they are of segments, tracers, and shadows, and why Mary Tamm deserved so much better. We are now a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine shows as THE DOCTOR WHO COLLECTORS PODCAST, THE POLICE BOX IN A JUNKYARD PODCAST, and T...

Our usual gang of Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Jenny Ingersoll decides to take a holiday break from the Target books to look at three short stories from the DOCTOR WHO ANNUAL 1980 – you know, the one with Romana and K-9, the one with the actual logo on the cover for a change? Tune in to find out whether it’s naughty or nice! Link to the PDF of the DOCTOR WHO ANNUAL 1980 mentioned in this episode...

We resume our regular programming with a discussion of colonialism, Dalek p*rn, and Aunt Jemima syrup. Oh, and a giant squid god named Nick Kroll or something. Come join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and Jenny Ingersoll as we try to find something interesting about a story that just kinda lies there in the mud like…well, like a giant squid god. (Features a remembrance of the late Chris Achilleos.) Li...

Remember going to your elementary school’s book fair and seeing such exciting books as GOOSEBUMPS, NANCY DREW, VALLEY HIGH, and…JUNIOR DOCTOR WHO? Yeah, we don’t either. (The last one, we mean – those others were awesome!) Turns out there are good reasons why you’d never have seen these back then, which is also why you rarely see them these days, either. Tune in as Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and s...

THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, with some androids thrown in? Yep, that’s about it, really – but can Terrance Dicks make a silk purse of a derivative sow’s ear? (Spoiler alert: No.) Join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and special guest, host of the POLICE BOX IN A JUNKYARD podcast Erik Gulbrandsen, as they discuss Dicks’ novelization of David Fisher’s THE ANDROIDS OF TARA. (And no, Fisher didn’t like this one,...

Ever watched a horror movie that you thought would be really scary, and it turned out to be…not really a horror movie at all? Join Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and special guest Jenny Ingersoll as they discuss the DOCTOR WHO equivalent of such an experience just in time for Halloween, Terrance Dicks’ novelization of David Fisher’s THE STONES OF BLOOD: two episodes of terror followed by…two episodes...

Just how different can two books written by two authors from a single script be? And can they both be any good, especially when the original story is so full of subtlety, pathos, and restrained acting? Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes discuss both the fan version by David Bishop and the “official” version by James Goss of Douglas Adams’ script of THE PIRATE PLANET to find out, a...

Ever have that favorite uncle or aunt that gave you the best Christmas gifts, but one year they gave you a pair of socks – and even worse, the socks didn’t fit right? That’s exactly how Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes feel about discussing Ian Marter’s version of THE RIBOS OPERATION. If you like ill-fitting socks, you just might like this episode. We are now a proud part of the...

What could THE INVASION OF TIME possibly have in common with MIGHTY MORPHIN’ POWER RANGERS? And why are bathrooms so inherently funny? These questions – as well as the usual ones about what’s the difference between a Gallifreyan and a Time Lord, or the difference between an Outside and a Larper – are all answered as Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes discuss Terrance Dicks’ adapta...

Why is UNDERWORLD (or, as Target calls it, THE UNDERWORLD) so reviled? And why is the book not much better, to be honest? Join Tony Whitt and guest panelists J.G. McQuarrie of the TALKING WHO TO YOU podcast and Jenny Ingersoll as we discuss how even on the printed page, UNDERWORLD just about works, but only if you squint really hard. If you like what you hear, please come visit our Patreon page! I...

How do you celebrate the landmark episode of a podcast you’ve been doing for years now that talks about Target books? Talk about something entirely different! This time, our three-person discussion panel of Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes is joined by friend of the podcast Larry VanMersbergen for a special bumper volume (hey, that’s a Target reference) for a joint episode with...

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The Company mistreats its workers, taxes their earnings to nothingness, and works them until they die. But enough about Amazon – let’s talk about Terrance Dicks’ novelization of THE SUNMAKERS instead! Come join our three-person discussion panel of Tony Whitt, Dalton Hughes, and special guest Jenny Ingersoll as we examine this story from the 1970s that has nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, to...