This is an excellent novelisation of the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story The Silurians. Already an excellent TV story, this novelisation adds depth to many of the characters and gives them motivations and back stories that would have been difficult or impossible to show within the confines of a TV story, albeit that at 7 episodes, this was one of the longer ones. The moral dilemmas of the clash between two advanced and intelligent civilisations are quite well explored. I would have liked a bit more detail of the effects of the epidemic on wider British society though if anything this was actually shown better on screen, with passengers collapsing at a London train station. This is an excellent and intelligent read, one of the best Target novelisations. ( )

The cave monsters in this story are more properly the Silurians, who were the first intelligent species to inhabit Earth and who have been lying dormant in caves beneath the ground for millions of years. But now with a nuclear research centre being developed near one of their groups of caves, in modern-day Derbyshire, they’ve been awakened, and they’re not too happy about the furry apes displacing them…

This was a reasonably exciting novelization of a Third Doctor story. It even comes with a map and illustrations, which not all the Target novelizations do. I liked seeing the Silurians in one of their earlier appearances on the show and thinking about how their portrayal has changed over the years — Madame Vastra being the prime example. This book kept a steady pace throughout and was exactly what I needed. ( )

Listening to Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters, Malcolm Hulke's novelization of his 'Doctor Who' storyline, Doctor Who and the Silurians, less than a month after listening to the original soundtrack for that storyline was interesting. I enjoyed the parallels in thinking between two Silurians, Morka and Bokka K'to, to that of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT and Major Baker, the security chief for Wenley Moor Nuclear Research Facility. For peace and sweet reason we have the Third Doctor, UNIT's Scientific Adviser, and Okdel L'da, leader of the Silurian refuge that was built under what eventually became Wenley Moor's cave complex. The scene where Okdel L'da contemplates what 100 million years of hibernation has meant for the civilization and cities he knew reminded me of chapters 9 and 12 of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Llana of Gathol. I felt so sorry for him. Making Morka the Silurian whom Doctor Quinn mishandled did give Morka a better reason to hate humans than he had in the TV series.

The novelization allowed Mr. Hulke to flesh out some of the characters created for the episode. I felt very sorry for Miss Dawson, who had her youth sacrificed on the altar of Dutiful Daughterhood. (Her late mother was abominably selfish.) Now Miss Dawson is attracted to a man who isn't worthy of her.

If Miss Dawson had a toxic mother, Dr. Quinn had a toxic father. That famous scientist made sure his son worked in HIS branch of science instead of the branch that son was interested in. I have less sympathy for Dr. Quinn, though, because he's manipulative and willing to sacrifice others to fulfill his own ambitions. Dr. Lawrence is a slightly more sympathetic character here, and Masters is quite insufferable.

The former medical librarian in me groans over the giving of antibiotics to patients suffering from a virus. I also wanted to scream when no one would listen to the Doctor's warning about said virus. All right, don't leave the infected (and infectious!) person lying on the floor, but for heaven's sake, break out the universal precautions in handling the patient. Okay, I'm not sure what the rules for infection control were like back when this story takes place, but surely Dr. Meredith should have taken more care.

I'm glad I listened to both versions. ( )

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This was the second original novel in Target's series of novelisations after Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion, the first of Hulke's six books for the range. It is a good one; Hulke tells the story in part from the point of view of the eponymous cave monsters (the word "Silurian" is not used here), showing us humans as alien vermin. He also makes the story a more overt parable about authority and power, and adds little bits of character especially for the Brigadier and Liz. I suspect this will be near the top of my list of Third Doctor novels. ( )