TV/Film Novelisations and How They Differ.

[𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr]

I was wondering about books based on TV shows and what changes were made (perhaps as the TV budgets were limited) in the novelisations, and if you think the changes worked. Did they add a backstory, or finish the series if they show was cancelled, and did you agree with them? I know some books are basically the scripts padded out, but some are more developed.

[pulphack]

Having read far too many of these over the decades, as far as I can see it depends partly on how old the tie-in might be, and what the owner of the IP wants. There are several basic types.

1. the straight script-to-prose conversion. These can be interesting if the script was particuarly good, or if the writer works from an early draft that then gets changed - sometimes you get different endings, some sub-plots that may have been cut from the finished product, or some scenes that have been omitted but are quite illuminating (there's one of these John Burke's 'Dad's Army' movie novelisation).

2. Speaking of Mr Burke, writers of a better cut, such as Mr B, can make a silk purse from a sow's ear by the quality of their prose, and the odd addition of some background. Mr B liked to take a couple of episodes and weave them into a fuller narrative (cf Strange Report and Jason King). Chris Barlas, who did the George And Mildred novelisation, gave us George's POV quite a lot, and a right little Left Wing thinker he turned out to be. If you've ever watched G&M you may think that the writer got a bit carried away... It's a fun read though.

3. The continuation - yes, this is very useful if a series gets cancelled, as the books can finish that story nicely.

4. The prequel - Fringe did this with the novels based on the series, which is fact covered backstories for three of the main characters and created new narratives that used the existing world and their ideas to shed new light on events that had already occurred in the original medium.

5. The original story - this will take place within the existing universe of the story, and may refer to existing film or TV episodes but will basically be a whole new story using the existing characters. The X-Files and The Prisoner come to mind from my own reading, and I believe Charmed and Alias also did this (don't ask).

6. The franchise - I make a distinction here as we're in Dr Who, Star Trek, Star Wars territory. Yes, they had straight story-of-the-script jobs, but later developed their fiction franchises into worlds that used the characters and went beyond just the 'original story' idea to weave a whole universe around the novel series. A universe in which the original novels would refer to events in other original novels, which is not so common in the likes of 5. and makes for more depth to the franchise fiction.

All of these have their good and bad points depending on the quality of the story, the quality of the writer, and the editorial guidance from whoever oversees the franchise. Generally, the bigger the franchise the better the editorial and the overall standard of the writer. When it became serious ££$$ then the quality control improved. I always refer back to the US Berkley originals for The Avengers (60's UK TV one) where decent US pulpsters make a pigs ear of it as they've obviously never seen the show and have had bugger-all background material to work with.

It's what you want from such a book, in the end, but it does seem that streaming, and DVD and satellite before it, have made this a bit of a dying form. Again, that depends on the franchise - those mentioned in point 6 would appear to have a core that like to read as well as watch.

[helrunar]

Jack Gerson's Omega Factor novelisation (which I think I wrote about on another thread somewhere here) was noteworthy in that it included material that I presume he prepared in his original story outline for the series, but which was dropped in the eventual scripts that were shot. And the book provides a resolution for a situation that is part of the first episode but never actually resolved in the show as developed. So it was cool to read just to see what might have been shown had Gerson's outline been followed more closely. 

Hel.

[pulphack]

A perfect example of what the initial post was asking, Steve. Gerson must have found it particularly satisfying (perhaps frustrating as well) to do this in a novel published by the BBC, the same company that had altered and cancelled the series. Oh the irony...

Which reminded me that Christine Sparks penned the novelisation of The Enigma Files for BBC books around the same time. That's a very good example of a writer taking the ides of straightforward script adaptation and running with it, as she uses the whole series to weave a complete novel that reads really well in its own right, and adds some great character depth for supporting players who didn't get a lot of screentime.

[helrunar]

That sounds very cool. I checked youtube and The Enigma Files is currently on there--complete series, it appears. Of course it will be deleted sooner or later, but I just watched a few minutes. Tom Adams is always an intriguing presence.

cheers, Hel.

[pulphack]

It's been up for a while now, so you should be ok. I was happy to find it as it's never - as far as I can tell - been on dvd. It's very gritty and the street scenes reminded me very much of growing up in suburban London and also day trips to Epping Forest (that last bit you'll understand when you watch).

[helrunar]

Well, I hope I make it to Epping Forest. Material appears and disappears on youtube in a very random fashion. It looks as if the chap who uploaded the Enigma Files episodes had to omit or edit certain ones due to potential music rights issues. 

Epping Forest for some reason reminds me of this sentence I read decades ago in a Dr Who fan mag, quoting if I recall aright Jon Pertwee making a funny comment about a Yeti on the loo in a Tube station in Tooting Bec (which I think is part of London, but I've never known just where). I must be misremembering that quote because Jon never encountered a Yeti until the reunion episode, The Five Doctors, in the early 1980s. How long ago it all was.

Dan Ross's Dark Shadows TV tie-in books get my vote for among the lamest, most repetitive in this sub-genre. He published around 32 of them under his wife Marilyn's name (so that she could continue to collect royalties on them--or something, after he was gone). And all of those have been republished in recent years AND had audiobooks recorded by series alumna Kathryn Leigh Scott. They are mind-numbingly naff, bland little things, but there's a cult around those books nonetheless.

At least that fellow who composed those Keith Partridge sex fantasy novels (just my little joke) came up with some mildly amusing plots for the stories.

Hel.

[pulphack]

Now there's an odd coincidence - I'm not a big Dr Who fan but I can solve that little riddle for you, Steve! Pertwee was referring to his previous Patrick Troughton incarnation, as that Dr Who faced the Yetis down in the London Underground for a 1968 serial called The Web Of Fear. I'm just too young for Troughton having been four when that was broadcast, but I am obsessed by the Tube, and I saw this in a charity shop the other week, buying it just as because of the setting. They're all sets, obviously, with no actual location filming in the tube, but the sets are very well done, and it is great fun. The only reason I looked twice, by the way, is I saw it mentioned in a magazine article a few weeks before, otherwise I would have flicked by it in the rack as I'm not fan enough to buy Who dvd's per se. Synchronicity, eh?

PS Tooting Bec is in Sarf London - that's bandit country, we never go there if we're north of the river...

[samdawson]

The running tunnel set n The Web of Fear is surprisingly good. The BBC had approached London Underground for permission to film and been refused, and when the serial aired complained that the BBC had gone ahead and used a section of track without permission. It also features the first appearance of the lovely Nicholas Courtney as Colonel (later Brigadier) Lethbridge-Stewart of The Scots Guards.

Tooting Bec station  opened as Trinity Road, but after a couple of decades LT wanted to reinforce that it was a station serving that end of Tooting not served by Tooting Broadway Station and so renamed it

[andydecker]

It must have made an impression.

I think I read references to this at least a few times, but the one I remember for sure is in Gordon Rennie's and Dom Reardon's well made comic series Caballistics.

[helrunar]

Fascinating. I think I might have seen one episode of the Web of Fear donkey's ears ago (early to mid 1990s???)--I need to watch it again. Same with Tomb of the Cybermen which I recall having been very good and I remember the excitement in the fandom when it was recovered and released on VHS.

I do love it that the Tube mandarins were fooled by Auntie's cleverly constructed sets. Good job, chaps!

I wonder how Tooting got its name. I'm sure there's somewhere online to look that up.

cheers, Hel.

[helrunar]

I'm a big fan of Nic Courtney and my all time favorite Who era is the UNIT years with Jon and Nic and the gang. The original Liz Shaw (Caroline John) stories have the edge for me because I just loved the character of Liz, but when Jo comes in, so does the Master, and those were great stories.

Will stop fanwanking over Who now.

Hel.

[andydecker]

Aug 27, 2023 19:11:44 GMT helrunar said:

I'm a big fan of Nic Courtney and my all time favorite Who era is the UNIT years with Jon and Nic and the gang. The original Liz Shaw (Caroline John) stories have the edge for me because I just loved the character of Liz, but when Jo comes in, so does the Master, and those were great stories.

Will stop fanwanking over Who now.

Hel.

My only exposure to the Brigadier was much later in the Seventh Doctor Battlefield, which was one of those stories which were more interesting than successful. He was a lot of fun. But I never actually saw an episode of the Third Doctor. Only read about them. The Master stuff and all. They were a bit more action orientated than the earlier stuff, I gathered. While Liz and Jo are blanks, Sarah Jane is one of those companions which had staying power, considering how often she re-appeared in the novels and later the new series.

Still have a couple of unread Virgin and BBC novels of the Past Doctor range with the team on the shelves. But I was quite impressed by her portrayal in Lawrence Miles' novel Interference.

[goathunter]

When Orson Scott Card's The Abyss was published, it included a foreword about how it was something unique, a novel based on the screenplay, and not a novelization of the screenplay. And it was, too. It was a great novel, because Card took you into the characters' heads, in addition to including more that was cut from the theatrical release.

The standout scene for me was

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}the scene where Catfish tries to swim with Bud to the wave pool, but halfway there, he tells Bud he can't make it. In an exciting surprise a few minutes later, he shows up and punches Coffey. In the movie, he just shows up, but in the novel, you learn that he gets an assist from the aliens, though he doesn't realize it, if memory serves

. It really expanded that scene and enhanced the whole story, IMO.

[pulphack]

I've not read that, but that sounds like a perfect example of how a writer who puts some work into their novelisation can make something that stands out as a book in its own right, rather than just a kind of souvenir of the film or show, which is I guess what tie-ins were supposed to be before VHS, etc. Card expanding the characterisation with some interior monolgue and POV to give them an extra dimension is exactly what a writer should aim, really - it must make the job of novelising more interesting to put that thought into the work.