‘WARRIORS’ GATE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

An Adventure in E-Space with Tharils

The third and final story of ‘The E-Space Trilogy’ in Season 18 of ‘Doctor Who’ is ‘Warriors’ Gate’! And it’s one of the most complex stories ever made from the classic TV series. If you find this story puzzling when you watch it, don’t worry! You’re not alone! I found it a struggle watching it for the first time.

I think the more times I’ve seen ‘Warriors’ Gate’, I’ve been able to pick things up about what’s going on in the plot and what some of the characters’ motivations are. But there are still things I can’t comprehend when watching this story. This ‘Doctor Who’ story is suited for one of Steven Moffat’s era.

‘Warriors’ Gate’ is a fine example of being the epitome of the Christopher H. Bidmead atmosphere of this season. The arrogant sci-fi aspects of Chris Bidmead’s tenure as script editor come across in this TV story. This includes the sombreness of something not audience-friendly being delivered here.

This is a four-part story by Steve Gallagher and it’s his first contribution to the TV series. Steve Gallagher was a renowned science-fiction author before he became a ‘Doctor Who’ writer. I’ve no doubt that his science-fiction novels as well as his films and TV shows are ‘works of art’ in any genre.

However, I found my first experience of a ‘Doctor Who’ story by Steve Gallagher to be a bit of a struggle. This isn’t helped by the fact that his script for ‘Warriors’ Gate’ was turned inside and out by script editor Chris Bidmead and director Paul Joyce when they were making the story for television itself.

I’ve had the DVD cover of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ signed by Matthew Waterhouse at the ‘London Film & Comic Con 2017’ at the Olympia in July 2017. I’m glad I shared with Matthew how I found this story to be complicated when I watched it for the first time. He appreciated that when I saw him at the London event.

Matthew doesn’t have a huge part to play as Adric in this story. It was also interesting to hear from Matthew on how he found out the news about Tom Baker and Lalla Ward getting married after they did ‘Doctor Who’ together before Season 18 ended. But that’s something we’ll get to later in the review.

Anyway, the story has the Doctor, Romana, Adric and K-9 arriving at the Gateway between two universes to get back home. It’s interesting to see how the Gateway is presented in this story, as the TARDIS lands somewhere in a white Void. It’s probably the ‘intersection’ between the two universes.

That is an amp description by Adric in the story. But as the TARDIS is in the white Void, the team also come across a privateer ship of human slavers. They’re keeping lion-like time-sensitive beings called the Tharils inside their ship. The privateer crew are attempting to get out of E-Space and break through the Gateway.

As the Doctor discovers in his journey to visiting the Gateway and learning more about the Tharils’ circumstances of being slaves to the humans, things become more serious when the Void is starting to collapse. The price of returning back home will mean the loss of two of the Doctor’s best friends.

As documented in the DVD/Blu-ray making-of documentary ‘The Dreaming’, this ‘Doctor Who’ adventure was fraught with behind-the-scenes problems. Paul Joyce, who was also a newcomer to the TV show, wanted to bring his sense of vision with directing this ‘Doctor Who’ story by making it more cinematic on screen.

It’s interesting how Paul Joyce tried to be ahead of his time and defy the BBC management by making a new form of television with ‘Warriors’ Gate’. Nowadays, television feels more cinematic and film-like compared to back then. But it seemed Joyce was in the right place at the wrong time.

Like Lovett Bickford who directed ‘The Leisure Hive’, Paul Joyce’s enthusiasm as a director caused problems on set. For one thing, he was pretty slow on getting the shots he wanted to make his story visually stunning and impressive compared to previous ‘Doctor Who’ stories. It caused disgruntlement.

As a result of these delays and setbacks caused by Paul Joyce, he was initially sacked by the producer John Nathan-Turner. Production assistant and future ‘Doctor Who’ director Graeme Harper was called in to direct some of the story before Paul Joyce was reinstated back as director of the TV tale.

It’s pretty ironic and unusual that Paul Joyce was first fired by JNT before he was reinstated to complete the rest of the story. But because of the slow timing in delivering the story he wanted to make, ‘Warriors’ Gate’ is sadly Paul Joyce’s only contribution as a ‘Doctor Who’ TV director. This is a shame.

With that said, there is a difference between trying to be dynamic as a ‘Doctor Who’ director and seeing the end result. Oh, to be sure, ‘Warriors’ Gate’ is an impressive visual piece on many levels. The story’s opening shots inside the privateers’ ship are impressive and awe-inspiring for their time.

But it would be nice to feel the epic atmosphere of the story if I could understand what was going on. Most of the story feels pretty dream-like. This is especially when many of the characters like the Doctor and Biroc the Tharil pass through strange environments within the white Void as well as the Gateway.

There are even sections of the story in ‘Parts Three and Four’ where the Doctor is walking against black-and-white photographs of a garden. It feels very eerie. I’ve tried to write a story myself, not ‘Doctor Who’ mind, where everything is a dream and most of the dialogue didn’t make much sense.

That was the impression I got when I watched this story for the first few times on DVD. A lot of the dialogue tended to be nonsensical, especially when Biroc tended to be speaking in riddles. Him saying that he is ‘a shadow of’ his ‘past and of’ our ‘future!’ springs to mind in thinking of the dialogue.

Again, Chris Bidmead’s ego comes into the fray of Steve Gallagher’s story when the concept of the I Ching is introduced. From what I understand, the I Ching is a Chinese philosophy. But even when watching this TV story, I can’t fully comprehend what this concept is, as it has to do with flipping a coin.

Yeah, flipping coins seems to be reoccurring theme in this story. Even Adric flips a coin a lot. It has something to do with probability, which would have been interesting if it was explained clearly. It’s like someone forgot to put in the explanations and assumed everyone would get the I Ching concept.

There’s also something else going on in this story. Apparently, there’s the conflict between the humans and the lion-like Tharils, who are time-sensitives within the white Void. I would’ve appreciated that story’s aspect more if I wasn’t bogged down in trying to understand everything else.

Also, whilst I do appreciate and sympathise with the Tharils being enslaved in this story, despite having a shady past, the human characters I have less sympathy for. With a few exceptions, the human slavers come across as rather unlikeable and difficult to care for when watching this TV story.

The human slave traders are led by Clifford Rose as Rorvik. He comes across as a bad version of ‘Dad’s Army’s Captain Mainwaring, which was what Clifford Rose was trying to aim for in his portrayal of him. To give Clifford Rose credit, it’s not a bad approach and he does make Rorvik very loathsome here.

There’s Kenneth Cope as Packard, who you could say is like Rorvik’s second-in-command. Kenneth Cope is well-known for starring in the 1960s TV series ‘Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)’. Packard has some sense as a character compared to Rorvik, but even he can come across as a bit of a jerk sometimes.

There’s also David Kincaid as Lane and Vincent Pickering as Sagan. There are also the two Chucklebrothers, I mean, Harry Walters as Royce and Freddie Earlle as Aldo. I like these two. They provide the comic relief and they seem to have more common sense rather than the other humans. 😀

The main Tharil of this adventure is of course David Weston as Biroc. He definitely comes across as lion-like in that make-up and hair of his, and there are touches of Aslan from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ in his character. Biroc is a time-sensitive being that manages to break into the TARDIS. Neat!

There’s also Jeremy Gittins as Lazlo, another Tharil that frees Romana from being a captive of the human slavers aboard their ship. Jeremy Gittins would go on to play the Vicar in ‘Keeping Up Appearances’. It was ironic to see Jeremy Gittins as a Tharil, especially when he doesn’t speak at all! 😀

There are also the Gundan robots that keep watch in the banqueting hall of the stone-built Gateway. I found that moment creepy and frightening when one of the Gundan robots woke up and moved before going to kill the Doctor! Mind you, the Gundan can speak in incomprehensible riddles as well.

The story is influenced by French films such as ‘La Belle et la Bête’ from 1946 and ‘Orphée’ from 1950, according to writer Steve Gallagher. This is especially in the banqueting scenes, both in the past and the present of the story, I believe. I wouldn’t have registered that whilst watching this story on DVD.

Like I said, Matthew Waterhouse as Adric is rather limited in terms of a character in this adventure. I suppose this story was initially written without Adric in mind and that he was inserted at the last minute. Adric has some nice scenes with K-9 when they’re in the TARDIS and when they go out in the white Void.

I was shocked when Adric sat on K-9 at some point in the story. Adric eventually meets up with Romana. I’m not sure what the working relationship between Matthew Waterhouse and Lalla Ward was like by this point, but it can’t have been easy-going, as the two didn’t get on well behind-the-scenes. 😦

Tom Baker is grand as ever as the Doctor. I don’t think this adventure suits his bonkers’ eccentricity, even though he was on his way out by this point. But he has some defining moments, including getting caught in the crossfire between two Gundan robots who tried to kill him on the spot with axes.

I liked it when the Doctor challenged Biroc and his kind as soon as he learns they used to be enslavers once before they were enslaved by the human slavers. I enjoyed it when Tom’s Doctor tried to work out the riddles of the Gateway from Biroc and the Gundan robots and he’s a reassuring presence.

Of course, this is K-9 Mark II’s final appearance in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. K-9, voiced by John Leeson, has had a rough ride in Season 18. This story is no different, as K-9 becomes delirious after getting hit and affected by the time winds. This is when the TARDIS opened its interior doors and Biroc entered.

K-9 does ramble a lot when speaking deliriously. It was shocking when he got on Packard’s nerves and was thrown out of the privateer ship after following the slavers in. K-9 gets given as a gift by the Doctor to Romana when she and the robot dog remain behind in E-Space. K-9 is fully repaired then.

And yes! ‘Warriors’ Gate’ happens to be Lalla Ward’s final story as Romana. It was Lalla’s decision to leave, of course, due to his rocky relationship with Tom Baker. But Romana’s choice of how to leave the series wasn’t well met. I did find it abrupt when Romana told the Doctor, “I’m not coming with you!”

There was no emotional build-up to that exit. In fact, there’s not much emotional drama to be found in Romana’s final TV story in the ‘Doctor Who’ series. It happened all so fast and it wasn’t a well-deserved exit for Lalla Ward’s Romana, as she became a popular Fourth Doctor companion by then.

But at least Romana did a noble thing to stay behind in E-Space and to help free the Tharils from their slavery by the humans. I would’ve liked it if there was a proper emotional goodbye between her and the Doctor rather than the quick “I’m going!”, “Goodbye!”, “I’ll miss you!” routine to be found.

What has become of Romana nowadays though? Is she still in E-Space? Did she manage to escape? Well, that’s something you’ll have to find out in the ‘Doctor Who’ books and audios produced after ‘Warriors’ Gate’ was made. A lot of things have happened to Romana since she exited the TV series! 🙂

As for Lalla Ward, well…she married Tom Baker. Yeah! Right after doing ‘Doctor Who’, Tom Baker and Lalla Ward married each other! How did that happen? Especially when they bickered and argued a lot on set? It came as a shock and a surprise to everyone who worked on the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series!

Of course, it didn’t last long, as Tom Baker and Lalla Ward were only married for about 16 months. Wow! Donkey from ‘Shrek’ was right! Celebrity marriages never last, do they? 😀 It’s a shame though, as Tom Baker and Lalla Ward could’ve been ideal partners if their own careers didn’t get in the way.

The original DVD special features were as follows. There were audio options, including a mono sound audio mix option for the story, a DVD audio commentary with Lalla Ward, John Leeson, director Paul Joyce, script editor Christopher H. Bidmead and visual effects designer Mat Irvine as well as an isolated music option by composer Peter Howell. There was also an info-text commentary option to enjoy. There was ‘The Dreaming’ making-of documentary with behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews, ‘The Boy With The Golden Star’ interview with Matthew Waterhouse and ‘Lalla’s Wardrobe’ frockumentary. There were also extended and deleted scenes of the story, BBC continuity announcements of the story, a photo gallery of the story with an info-text option, and a ‘Radio Times Listing’ PDF of the story. There was also a ‘coming soon’ DVD trailer for ‘The Rescue’ and ‘The Romans’, starring William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Maureen O’Brien, which is now included on Disc 2 of the Season 2 Blu-ray box set containing ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’. There was also an Easter Egg to look out for on the DVD, which was ‘The Axe Man’ deleted clip from ‘The Dreaming’ making-of documentary with visual effects designer Mat Irvine.

On Disc 5 of the ‘Doctor Who – The Collection – Season 18’ Blu-ray box set, the mono sound audio mix option for the story, the DVD audio commentary, the isolated music option, ‘The Dreaming’ making-of documentary, ‘Lalla’s Wardrobe’ frockumentary, the story’s extended and deleted scenes, the ‘Radio Times Listings’ PDF and ‘The Axe Man’ deleted clip can be found on there. ‘The Boy With The Golden Star’ interview with Matthew Waterhouse isn’t included on Disc 5 of the Season 18 Blu-ray box set containing ‘Warriors’ Gate’ and is instead included on Disc 6 of the Season 19 Blu-ray box set containing ‘Earthshock’. The BBC continuity announcements, the info-text commentary option, and the photo gallery (without the info-text option) for ‘Warriors’ Gate’ have been updated for 2019 on the Blu-ray.

The new special features on Blu-ray include the ‘Behind the Sofa’ item on ‘Warriors’ Gate’ with Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor), costume designer June Hudson and John Leeson (K-9) as well as Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Janet Fielding (Tegan) and Sarah Sutton (Nyssa). There’s a ‘Swap Shop’ extract with visual effects designer Mat Irvine on ‘Warriors’ Gate’ and the ‘Prime Computer’ adverts (taken from the ‘Destiny of the Daleks’ DVD). There’s a brand-new 5.1 surround sound audio mix option for the story.

On the PDF front, as well as the ‘Radio Times Listings’ of the story, there are also production documents and scripts for the story. You need a special Blu-ray computer drive for that.

‘Warriors’ Gate’ is a startling, eerie and bemusing story to finish off ‘The E-Space Trilogy’ of ‘Doctor Who’. It’s a story that I still can’t get my head around, although having watched it more times than once, I’m clearer on some of the parts that I initially found befuddling at first, which isn’t very much.

This is a decent swansong for Romana and K-9, who leave the TARDIS. I wish this story had more emotional drama put into it, especially in the farewell between Romana and the Doctor, but this is the sombre atmosphere of the John Nathan-Turner/Christopher H. Bidmead era we’re talking about.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching ‘The E-Space Trilogy’ when I first saw it on DVD and have enjoyed re-watching it on Blu-ray in the Season 18 Blu-ray box set. The three stories have been fantastic to watch. The DVD/Blu-ray special features accompanying the stories have made them more enjoyable.

I found it interesting to explore how ‘Doctor Who’ changed in the 1980s especially through ‘The E-Space Trilogy’. Each story in the trilogy is different, but they’re worthy entertainment for a ‘Doctor Who’ fan! As the Doctor and Adric leave E-Space behind though, exciting things were about to come!

‘Warriors’ Gate’ rating – 6/10

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‘DOCTOR WHO AND WARRIORS’ GATE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The Dreaming

Is ‘Doctor Who and Warriors’ Gate’ an improvement on the TV story?

Like I’d done before with ‘Full Circle’ and ‘State of Decay’ in ‘The E-Space Trilogy’, I hoped to explore more of the final story in the trilogy – ‘Warriors’ Gate’ – through its Target novelization. This I’ve done and I found it a unique reading experience. But did I find the novelization better than the TV story?

I think I’ve made it clear in my review on the TV story that I found ‘Warriors’ Gate’ hard-going and complex to follow after many re-watches. I don’t consider ‘Warriors’ Gate’ as the best finale to a trilogy of stories in ‘Doctor Who’. In fact, I’m sure many fans would agree with me regarding that point.

The novelization was published in April 1982, about a year after the TV story was transmitted in early 1981. ‘Warriors’ Gate’ was novelized by John Lydecker, which happens to be a pseudonym for Steve Gallagher, the original author of the story. Why Steve Gallagher chose a pseudonym, I’m not certain.

Now the thing is, I have read another ‘John Lydecker’ novelization of ‘Doctor Who’ beforehand, since I read the Target novelization for ‘Terminus’. I really enjoyed that novelization and I was hoping for the same kind of enjoyment when it came to reading the 1982 ‘Warriors’ Gate’ Target novelization.

I was expecting the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ novelization to provide a clearer explanation of events on what happened during the story. I hoped the author would be able to achieve that without the tampering of director Paul Joyce and script editor Christopher H. Bidmead when they messed around with the story.

Did it work as I expected? Well, it depends really. The book is a slight improvement on the TV story. Only just. But all the same, I found it difficult to invest myself throughout the story. Even through some of the improvements of the story, I couldn’t feel engaged with it and I wanted to get it over with.

How does the story begin then? Well, it begins with a sequence on how the slavers’ spaceship, the privateer, ended up in the Void. It features them being attacked by an Antonine Killer craft in a crossfire in outer space. But even as I was reading the book’s beginning, I found that I was getting lost and bored.

If I re-read the novelization with an audiobook in the background when it comes out after this review, I think I’d be able to appreciate that opening sequence. But honestly, I couldn’t tell whether it was the slavers’ ship pursuing the Antonine Killer craft or vice versa, because the opening scene felt vague and incoherent as I read it.

This leads me onto another problem I have with the book. There are no chapters featured in it. None at all! This is difficult for a reader when they don’t know when they need to stop and bookmark reading the story. I had to make up my own chapters when it came to reading the novelization all the way through.

I know this is an approach that the author would use in his novelization for ‘Terminus’, but I was able to enjoy that story since I could follow it clearly. In many ways, ‘Terminus’ is a better story than ‘Warriors’ Gate’, since that’s clearer and it isn’t so convoluted as its predecessor when it was shown on TV.

Another issue I have with the book is the supporting characters. I know the privateer characters are meant to be unlikeable in the TV story, but that’s exactly the point why I couldn’t invest myself in the adventure, both on TV and in the novelization. I couldn’t relate to the characters whilst reading them.

For the most part, characters like Rorvik, Packard and Lane seem pretty two-dimensional and have no redeeming features about them. There is some development given about how they react to each other, especially Rorvik’s commanding behaviour, but it still makes them unlikeable and hard to relate to.

I admit with Rorvik’s character that he’s someone you really want to loathe when you read the book. But what does that say about the rest of the privateer crew? They don’t stand up to Rorvik when they should, as they’re either bored following his orders or they don’t have any morals to redeem themselves.

Another thing that made this book less enjoyable was the lack of Aldo and Royce, the story’s double act. One positive thing I can say about the TV story is the inclusion of those two. They at least provided the comic relief to make ‘Warriors’ Gate’ less dull to watch. It’s not very much, but it’s something.

The book only has a few scenes with Aldo and Royce when they’re reviving a Tharil and when they inspect Romana. Most of their comedic dialogue is missing from the book, as is most of the dialogue for other characters, since the author paraphrased many scenes to save time in the story’s writing.

In fact, the book itself is 124 pages in total and as one chapter. How long is the ‘Terminus’ book? 159 pages! That’s another reason why I enjoyed the ‘Terminus’ book more than the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ book! More time was spent on that book compared to its predecessor. ‘Warriors’ Gate’ went by very quickly.

I spent a week and a half reading the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ book, which was shorter time compared to reading and listening to the ‘State of Decay’ book and audiobook for two weeks. Then again, I should be thankful for small mercies, as I wanted to get the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ book over and done with. I know how harsh that sounds.

Anyway, what other improvements can be found in this book. Well, I suppose the worldbuilding was an improvement on some level. When the Doctor goes through the mirror in the banqueting hall of the Gateway, he sees Biroc and has his hand repaired. This was after his hand touched the time winds.

I don’t think that point was clear in the TV story as it is in the book. So, I’m thankful that was established. Another improvement is the world the Doctor goes through in the mirror, as that is explained in more detail. I also believe there was more colour and credibility to the Tharils’ world.

In the TV story, the gardens of the Tharils’ world are depicted as black-and-white photographs. In the book, the Doctor is walking through an actual garden rather than a photograph. In fact, I don’t believe the author describes the garden as black-and-white photographs, which is probably a relief.

There’s also an improvement on K-9’s story in ‘Warriors’ Gate’. His fate gets presented as a tragedy. K-9 is depicted as faulty and erratic, as he gets hit by the time winds breaking into the TARDIS. The only way he can be repaired is by going through the mirrors and remain in the Tharils’ dimension.

Now this was pretty effective in the novelization and it developed K-9’s story in an interesting way. The fact that he can’t be taken out of the Tharils’ dimension once he’s repaired there is tragic. Although how they overcome that in later Big Finish audio stories with K-9 Mark II is a mystery to me.

Adric does have some improvement in the story compared to the TV version, as the author allows us to see from his point of view, especially when he ventures to look for Romana. By the way, the scenes where Adric leaves to find Romana and where K-9 leaves to find the Doctor are briefly glossed over in the book.

Lazlo is also improved as a character, since he’s given dialogue in the book. That’s different compared to the TV version, since Lazlo said nothing at all and it was Biroc who was the main-speaking Tharil. It would have been nice if Jeremy Gittins as Lazlo was actually given dialogue in the TV story.

The most important improvement in the novelization is Romana’s farewell to the Doctor. I like how the author handles Romana’s farewell differently compared to the TV story. I’m sure many, including Lalla Ward, were disappointed with how Romana left in ‘Warriors’ Gate’, since it was pretty rushed.

Romana actually returns with the Doctor to the TARDIS and they with Adric see the Thrails returning to their home dimension through the mirrors. Realising that K-9 can only be repaired on the other side of the mirrors, Romana decides to take K-9 with her and help the Tharils to restore their home.

This was effective and a well-deserved farewell for Romana, since it has more emotion and a proper goodbye between the Doctor and Romana. It also had the Doctor seemingly knowing that Romana would leave him, just like the Fifth Doctor would later know that Nyssa would leave him in the ‘Terminus’ novelization.

The book ends with Romana wandering about in the Tharils’ gardens long after the privateer spaceship explodes. Lazlo comes to see her and asks her if she has any regrets. Romana says she has, but is determined to go on to help the Tharils, just in the same way as the TV story ended with her and K-9.

I hope I’ll get to re-read the novelization again with its audiobook counterpart in order to give it another chance for a review. I don’t know who would read the audiobook. I guess that it wouldn’t be Tom Baker, Lalla Ward or Matthew Waterhouse, since it’ll probably be one of the supporting actors.

‘Doctor Who and Warriors’ Gate’ has been an interesting if unfulfilling Target novelization of the TV story. I found the story dull to watch on DVD and it’s probably why I couldn’t invest myself in the characters and the story. The novelization does improve the TV story on some level, but not much to understand it.

I admire the author’s attempts to make scenes better and clearer when it came to novelizing ‘Warriors’ Gate’. But in the end, ‘Warriors’ Gate’ turned out to be one of those ‘Doctor Who’ stories that fell flat for me. It didn’t work for me as a TV story and it still doesn’t work for me as a novelization.

‘Doctor Who and Warriors’ Gate’ rating – 5/10

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‘DOCTOR WHO – WARRIORS’ GATE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The Dreaming Revisited

The 2019 Target audiobook of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ wasn’t what I was expecting! 🙂

Since its release, the 2019 Target audiobook was re-released as a physical Target novelization by Stephen Gallagher in 2023, as part of the ‘Warriors’ Gate and Beyond’ collection. The collection also included two related short stories by Stephen Gallagher. 🙂

Both stories feature Romana and the Tharils. They’re ‘The Kairos Ring’, which was originally an audio story released in 2021 as part of the ‘Beyond the Doctor’ audio series. And there’s ‘The Little Book of Fate’, which is an original short story in print and features the Eighth Doctor.

Looking back, perhaps I was rather harsh in my review for the original 1982 ‘Warriors’ Gate’ novelization by Stephen Gallagher writing as John Lydecker. In all fairness, it’s a decent novelization. I can’t blame Stephen Gallagher for the circumstances in writing it.

No, I suppose my frustration came from the fact that I found it an underwhelming read. I hoped that the original 1982 novelization would help to improve the story that was shown on TV. I hoped it would be clarified, as I found the story rather hard-going to watch on DVD.

Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way, which is a shame. I wanted to give the original 1982 novelization another chance. I didn’t want to discredit Steve Gallagher for the ideas he brought to the story, which were fascinating to see, even if you didn’t comprehend them.

I hoped that an audiobook of the original 1982 novelization would persuade me to change my mind on the book itself. I expected that to happen, as it’s usually the case when it comes to adapting an original Target novelization to be read for audio in modern times. 🙂

So, it came as a surprise to me when I heard the news that a completely new version of the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ Target novelization would be released by BBC Audio. It was to be an audio novelization ‘extended and restored by the author’. My interest definitely got piped.

Apparently, Stephen Gallagher wrote a different novelization before he wrote the one that was published in 1982. That different version of the novelization is the one read for audio in 2019. 🙂 The audiobook is read by Jon Culshaw, and he’s joined by John Leeson as K-9.

I wondered why Stephen Gallagher didn’t have his different novelization of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ published in 1982. It turns out that the expanded and restored original version of the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ novelization was submitted to Target publishing before it got rejected.

The ‘Doctor Who’ production team, namely producer John Nathan-Turner, wanted Stephen Gallagher to submit a novelization to match the TV version more closely. This is ironic, considering JNT didn’t understand the story when shown it in in the editor’s room.

This is according to the director Paul Joyce in ‘The Dreaming’ behind-the-scenes making-of documentary. Mind you, I can appreciate the viewpoint of sticking to the TV version more closely. It’s just a shame the 1982 novelization was slim and it didn’t clarify things.

With that said, it’s fascinating and interesting to hear the new Target audiobook by Stephen Gallagher writing as John Lydecker with all the changes he made to the story. I had the original 1982 novelization on hand to compare how different the new version was.

Thankfully, the new Target audiobook is an improved version of the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ story. Stephen Gallagher restructures things and enhances the story’s weaker aspects when shown on the TV. I couldn’t believe I was hearing a different version of the story on audio.

I purchased the audiobook via Audible as a download. The story is divided into four parts. It’s still a chapter-less story, as was the case in the original 1982 novelization. But having the audiobook break it up into four segments made it easier for me with enjoying the story.

I knew when to stop and bookmark it. When it came to checking out the 2023 Target novelization in print form under ‘Warriors’ Gate and Beyond’, I went back to bookmarking each chapter as I went along, usually read about over 10 pages per night of the story itself.

On audio, the four segments are lengthy. Each segment is about over one hour long, and the cliffhanger endings don’t match to the ones that were on TV. This is due to the restructured changes made by Stephen Gallagher whilst restoring his initial novelization.

This was all fascinating, especially when checking out the 2023 Target novelization. I could tell the differences between the TV story and the new novelization – both in the 2019 audiobook and the 2023 book – to see what Stephen Gallagher changed in the overall plot. 🙂

Mind you, I could also tell that not everything in the 2019 audiobook matches to the 2023 novelization in terms of text. It’s clear that Stephen Gallagher changed things when translating the 2019 audiobook into text for the ‘Warriors’ Gate and Beyond’ 2023 book.

I can’t recall that being the case when checking out ‘The Stones of Blood’ and ‘The Androids of Tara’ novelizations by David Fisher when they published in print in 2022. But I’m certain things changed when translating from audio into print for those novelizations.

It’s clear Stephen Gallagher had a different vision on how he wanted ‘Warriors’ Gate’ to be on TV as opposed to how script editor Chris Bidmead and director Paul Joyce brought their egos and messed it up to make the story convoluted. A pretty fascinating revelation!

Both on audio and in print. 🙂 Stephen Gallagher’s extended novelization would be great to see on TV! Mind you, I wonder how much of the budget could handle Stephen Gallagher’s new version of ‘Warriors’ Gate’, regardless of whether Paul Joyce directed it or not at all. 😐

So, what differences are there in the new extended audio novelization compared to the original 1982 one and the TV story? Well, for the audiobook’s first segment, it matches to what’s in the early parts of the 1982 Target novelization with some sentence restructuring.

Incidentally, Jon Culshaw is brilliant reading the 2019 ‘Warriors’ Gate’ Target audiobook. He, of course, does an authentic voice for Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor and I loved it when he’s voicing Rovrik. He does match to how Clifford Rose played the character in the TV story.

This in terms of the tone and the delivery when voicing Rovrik. I also enjoyed his interpretation of Packard and Lane. I could easily visualise the characters as I saw them in the TV story whilst hearing the audiobook and reading the novelization simultaneously.

John Leeson is equally good as K-9 when he voices him at times during the story. Stephen Gallagher retains the sad tragedy of K-9’s fate in E-Space, as he did in the original 1982 Target novelization. It’s something I hoped wouldn’t be omitted in the new novelization. 🙂

It helps to build up to Romana’s departure from the TARDIS and deciding to stay behind in E-Space with K-9, which I feel is well-handled in both the 2019 audiobook and the 2023 novelization. It’s something I wish had been included for the actual TV adventure itself. 🙂

Throughout the Target audiobook, I gained a clearer idea of what the Antonine Killer spaceship sequence at the beginning of the story was all about. It turns out that the Antonine Killer ship and Rovrik’s privateer ship were engaged in a battle in outer space. 😐

This is before the privateer slipped through a CVE into E-Space. The Antonine Killer sequence acts as a prologue to explain how the privateer crew ended up in the Void. It does match to how the Fourth Doctor and Romana ended up in E-Space in ‘Full Circle’. 🙂

Like I said, the audiobook’s first segment mostly matches to what’s in the early part of the 1982 novelization. But it changes significantly when the Doctor steps out to meet Rovrik, Packard and Lane in the Void instead of Romana. 🙂 This was quite a huge change indeed.

It does work well by featuring the Doctor more in the story. Very often, a thing that’s often an issue concerning Season 18 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series is how Tom Baker’s Doctor isn’t always at the centre of the action. 😐 A contrast to previous seasons of his era.

By the time I got to the audiobook’s second segment, it was difficult to follow what was similar and what was different in the original 1982 novelization and the 2019 audiobook. Eventually, I gave up referring to the original book and I enjoyed the rest of the audiobook.

The 2019 audiobook takes a completely different turn with the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ story compared to the original TV version. Like I said, the Doctor is more actively involved with Rovrik and the traders whilst Romana and Adric get to enjoy their adventures elsewhere. 🙂

This is when Romana and Adric find themselves going off to the privateer ship to investigate it. Mind you, Romana ends separated from Adric when she teams up with Lazlo in the story. Plus, Adric is on his own for quite a bit before he’s meeting up with K-9.

I found Adric’s character interesting in the 2019 audiobook/2023 novelization. Apparently, his reliance on flipping a coin – or a gold token, as given to him by a Decider from Alzarius – becomes an important plot point as well as enhancing his own character.

Adric’s reliance to flip a coin seems to get him to places within the Void like the TARDIS. It also gets him to find people like Romana in the Void. This was interesting to discover when I was checked out 2019 audiobook as well as – very recently – the 2023 novelization.

Had Adric’s dependency on probability with flipping a coin, a gold token or his star-like badge for mathematical excellence been used more prominently in the TV series, it would’ve helped to enhance his character. A shame that wasn’t even considered, frankly.

Lazlo, as a character, seems to be given more dedicated time to develop as a character in the 2019 audiobook/2023 novelization compared to Biroc. I like how Lazlo has his own voice in the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ Target novelizations and in the upcoming stories by Stephen Gallagher. 🙂

Had the 2019/2023 version of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ in book audiobook and novelization forms been the TV story, I’m sure that Jeremy Gittins would’ve enjoyed the dialogue Lazlo has compared to the lack of it in the TV story. It’s strange that Lazla didn’t talk in the TV story.

I liked it when the Doctor meets up with Romana and Lazlo in the Tharil gardens on the other side of the mirror. I also liked it when Lazlo guides the Doctor and Romana back to the decaying banqueting hall by going through the mirror. This is both for audio and book.

I feel that this works very well compared to how the TV story handled things. To be honest, I didn’t really understand what happened at the end of ‘Part Three’ of the TV story. Even to this day from seeing the TV story multiple times on Blu-ray, I still don’t know what went on.

This is when the Gundan robots came in, Romana tried to rescue the Doctor, an axe hits the table, and the Doctor and Romana are back in the banqueting hall with Rovrik and the privateer crew. I’m pleased that cliffhanger ending wasn’t reused in the new novelization.

There’s less of Biroc in the new Target novelization – both audio and book – compared to the TV story and probably the original 1982 novelization. He seems to be regarded as a spiritual figure or leader when Lazlo praises him during the story with Romana beside him.

There seems to be only one scene between Biroc and the Doctor when checking out the 2019 audiobook and the 2023 novelization. I wonder if Biroc was meant to appear less in the original version of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ compared to how things happened in the TV version.

There wasn’t much emphasis on the Tharils being slavers once when checking out the new novelization – both audio and book – compared what’s in the TV story and the original 1982 novelization. It’s a bit odd, considering how it reflected them being slaves to Rovrik.

The banqueting hall scene that features the Doctor with Biroc and the Tharils is omitted because of that. A shame that aspect of the story wasn’t explored in the new novelization by Stephen Gallagher. But at least the slavery issue does get addressed once and a while.

This is in terms of how the Doctor, Romana and Adric react to the Thrails being mistreated as slaves by Rovrik and his crew. I was disappointed in terms of how Aldo and Royce were used in the new novelization by Stephen Gallagher compared to how the TV story did them.

However, they’re not called Aldo and Royce in the new novelization. They’re called Aldo and Waldo instead. I don’t see how changing the double act’s name makes it credible in the new novelization, as it sounds silly. I prefer them as Aldo and Royce in ‘Warriors’ Gate’.

I liked it when Rovrik got annoyed with Aldo and Waldo’s presence on the privateer ship’s bridge whilst they collected the rubbish. There’s a point where Rovrik thought Aldo and Waldo were ‘the visitors’ coming to the bridge, before it turned out to be the Doctor and Lazlo. 🙂

Packard seems to be restrained in the story whilst staying behind on the privateer ship and Rovrik and the slavers go off to visit the Gateway with the Doctor. Romana and Adric are no better off, especially when they’re being told to remain in the TARDIS by the Doctor.

This is when the Doctor and Lazlo are visiting the privateer ship in the story’s climax. I enjoyed it when K-9 kept following Lane in the Void compared to the TV story where K-9 kept following Packard and Lane. 🙂 There’s more humour in that scene compared to TV. 🙂

I also liked it when Biroc was helping Adric out when he lost his gold token in the Void. The emphasis of Biroc saying to Adric that he didn’t need his gold token was fascinating to listen to and read. It’s also rare, as Biroc didn’t have a scene with Adric in the TV story.

The story’s closing section that builds up to Romana’s farewell is well-handled in the new novelization. It matches to what’s in the original 1982 novelization when I picked up the book again. Yes! I was able to pick up the original 1982 book again to make a comparison. 😀

Having enjoyed and followed the story more in the audiobook, I was able to appreciate Romana’s exit more, especially in that build-up. Again, it makes a difference when more time gets spent on Romana’s exit compared to how the TV version briefly handles her exit.

The 2019/2023 Target novelization of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ is very good! I enjoyed the 2019 audiobook very much, especially with Jon Culshaw reading it and John Leeson as the voice of K-9. It’s also been terrific to revisit the story through its 2023 printed counterpart.

I found the 2019/2023 Target novelization of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ far superior compared to the TV version of the story and the original 1982 novelization. I was able to gain a lot more out of it – something that I wanted to experience in the original 1982 book, but I didn’t get it.

If you haven’t discovered both the 2019 audiobook and the 2023 physical novelization of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ by Stephen Gallagher, I highly recommend checking them out. Whether you check out one or the other or both simultaneously, it’s entirely up to you to decide. 🙂

The new additions and extensions that are featured in both the 2019 audiobook and the 2023 physical novelization compliment the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ story well. Plus, the restructuring of certain scenes and characters works to the story’s advantage than the TV version did. 🙂

You might want to check out both 2019 audiobook and 2023 novelization more than once. This is to get over some of the complexities of the story, as ‘Warriors’ Gate’ is still a pretty ambitious one. I can’t claim to know everything that’s going on in the ‘Warriors’ Gate’ story.

But there’s more clarity to the story than you could ever have possibly imagined and you won’t be short-changed by what Stephen Gallagher has provided in an improved rendition of the story as originally shown in 1981. 🙂 Something I didn’t expect to find after all this time.

It’s a shame the original novelization Stephen Gallagher had in mind to submit for Target publishing back in the 1980s was rejected by producer John Nathan-Turner. I’m sure many would’ve welcomed a refreshing take on this story compared to its TV counterpart.

Despite that, I’m glad that we can have both the audio version and the physical version of the new Target novelization of ‘Warriors’ Gate’ to find out what could’ve been had it been made for TV. I didn’t anticipate I would check out the new novelization twice and in two forms. 😀

‘Doctor Who – Warriors’ Gate’ rating – 8/10

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The previous story For the Fourth Doctor was ‘The Quest of the Engineer’ (Audio) For Romana was ‘The Quest of the Engineer’ (Audio) For K-9 Mk II was ‘The Quest of the Engineer’ (Audio) For Adric was ‘The Quest of the Engineer’ (Audio)	The next story For the Fourth Doctor is ‘The Keeper of Traken’ (TV) For Romana is ‘Stolen Futures’ (Audio) For K-9 Mk II is ‘Stolen Futures’ (Audio) For Adric is ‘The Keeper of Traken’ (TV)
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