Publication Information
Author: Stephen Gallagher (writing as John Lydecker)
Cover artist: photographic
Publishing date: 15th September 1983 Episode Information
TV serial: Terminus
Writer: Stephen Gallagher
Transmission Dates: 15th - 23rd February 1983 (4 episodes) Fact and Findings
Number 79 in the Doctor Who library and the first to have the number on the spine (although it disappeared again for the following book - Doctor Who - Arc of Infinity).
The original Target edition was published by W. H. Allen (ISBN 0 426 19385 7).
The hardback had been released in June 1983.
First edition cover price - £1.50
There are no chapters in Doctor Who - Terminus.
Already an established author, Stephen Gallagher used a pseudonym to keep his two Doctor Who novelisations (this and Doctor Who and Warriors' Gate) as distinct bodies of work. He already had many other adaptations to his name (including Fame), Gallagher went on to a successful career as a science-fiction/thriller author. He has written the novels Chimera (1982, Sphere Books, ISBN 0 7221 3757 5), Oktober (1988, New English Library, ISBN 0 450 49178 1) - both adapted for television, Valley of Lights (1987, New English Library, ISBN 0 450 42268 2), Down River (1989, New English Library, ISBN 0 450 49129 3), Rain (1990, New English Library, ISBN 0 450 52460 4), The Boat House (1991, New English Library, ISBN 450 52228 8), Red, Red Robin (1995, Bantam Press, ISBN 0 593 03803 7) and others. He was also script editor on Bugs for a while, and wrote the 2001 BBC1 drama series Murder Rooms - The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes.
The paperback was included in The Third Doctor Who Gift Set, released in late 1983. The set was made up of Castrovalva, Four to Doomsday, Earthshock and Terminus. Cover Data
The only cover ever used for Doctor Who - Terminus features photographs of Peter Davison as the fifth Doctor and Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian.
One of only two Target Doctor Who novelisations never to be released with an artwork cover. Reviews
"It takes a lot to make a bad TV story a good book, therefore one must assume that Steve Gallagher's adaptation of his Terminus screenplay has 'a lot' - Terminus the novel is excellent."
- Graeme Wood, Antony Dexter & David Owen, 'Shada' (number 15), May/June 1983
"John Lydecker manged to come up with a book which was, in my opinion, as tedious as the television show."
- Robert Hill, 'Demnos' (number 2), 1984
"Gallagher very sensibly plays down the part of the Black Guardian. He has the character speaking in italics, giving the impression that it exists on a different physical plane."
- Russ Mould, 'Eye of Horus' (number 4), October 1983
"Lydecker may well build up strong, clear personalities for the characters in his book, but these personalities are entirely different to those depicted in the television show. Turlough seems like an entirely different person, being portrayed as a cold, calculating professional killer, instead of the nervous amateur now familiar to regular viewers. At one point he even considers killing Tegan, hardly behaviour you would expect of Mark Strickson's character. Tegan is given a hard, even more humourless personality than has been evident in the last few stories on television. Even the Doctor's personality traits seem somehow altered from those accepted by most fans."
- 'The Animus', (number 3), 1983UK Editions
1983, 15th September (first edition, W. H. Allen, photographic cover, red neon logo, pink numbered spine, colour Target, ISBN 0 426 19385 7, £1.50)*
1984 (W. H. Allen, ISBN 0 426 19385 7, £1.50)Miscellaneous
Author
Stephen Gallagher
(a.k.a. JOHN LYDECKER)
Stephen Gallagher was born in Salford, Lancashire, on the 13th of October, 1954. He studied Drama and English at Hull University before getting a job as a documentaries researcher for Yorkshire Television. He then worked for Granada television and began writing scripts for Independent Local Radio. This led to work for BBC Radio 4.
His first commissioned TV work was the serial Warriors' Gate for Doctor Who, followed two years later by Terminus. He wrote the adaptations of his two Doctor Who serials under the name of John Lydecker to distinguish them from his body of work as an original fantasy/science fiction/ horror/thriller author.
Doctor Who and Warriors' Gate
Doctor Who - Terminus
The name ‘John Lydecker’ came from a character in Gallagher’s BBC Radio 4 play An Alternative to Suicide. Gallagher had already used the pseudonym on an adaptation of the Rank movie Silver Dream Racer (Futura, 1980), a vehicle (in every sense of the word) for pop star David Essex.
Gift Set
The novel formed part of The Third Doctor Who Gift Set, released in 1983. These sets comprised four recently released (or re-released) novelisations in a cardboard slip case. This set was made up of Castrovalva, Four to Doomsday, Earthshock and Terminus. The box cover featured a photograph of Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor (taken on location for The Visitation). The gift set had ISBN 0 426 194225 and cost £5.75. In all there were nine gift sets released between 1982 and 1986. The first and second were flimsy cardboard slip cases but the remainder were quite sturdy.