Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen

by Terrance Dicks

  The Doctor made his voice deliberately contemptuous. ‘You? Much power?’

  Suddenly, one of the heavy bronze lamps flared up in a sheet of flame. It whizzed through the air like a cannon ball, missing the Doctor’s head by inches, and crashed into the wall. The three others gasped in terror, but the Doctor didn’t turn a hair.

  ‘A little simple teleportation?’ he said scornfully. ‘Are you going to keep us here watching conjuring tricks? What next? Rabbits out of hats?’

  ‘Aye, you’re a cunning wee fellow, Doctor,’ thought Jamie. ‘Playing on its vanity. I hope it works. If we canna get into that Sanctum, we’re done for.’

  ‘Why don’t you open those doors?’ the Doctor said mockingly. ‘Afraid to face us, are you?’

  There was a moment of silence. Then slowly the doors swung open. The Doctor turned round to his companions.

  ‘Anything may happen now. Anything at all. Trust me. And, above all – don’t panic.’ Slowly he led them through the doors and into the Inner Sanctum.

  Once inside, Jamie and Thomni looked in astonishment at the golden throne. The drapes were pulled now, obscuring it, but they could still see the little figure crouched over his table. A memory of some old fear passed through Victoria’s mind, but she pushed it aside. She began to repeat the prayer that Thomni had taught her.

  ‘Om, mane, padme, hum, om, mane, padme, hum.’ She repeated the soothing words over and over.

  Jamie looked at the little figure almost with pity. ‘Och, is that all?’ he thought. ‘You could blow the wee fellow away with a sneeze.’ Then, before he could move another step toward the dais, his whole body was caught by some terrifying invisible force.

  He literally could not move a muscle. Thomni and Victoria were held in the same way. So too, it seemed, was the Doctor. Or was he? Slowly, with infinite effort, the Doctor managed to take first one step and then another. He directed the entire force of his will towards the little shrouded figure on the golden chair. The build-up of energy in the little room was overpowering. Suddenly, the blast of a mighty wind ripped through the room, sweeping away the draperies around the throne. Padmasambvha was revealed sitting bolt upright, eyes blazing with malignancy.

  ‘Now!’ yelled the Doctor. ‘Now!’

  Jamie felt the grip on him slacken. He saw that the Doctor was standing in a half-crouch, one foot on the steps of the dais. His eyes were locked with those of the wizened figure on the throne. The effort required to do battle with the will of the Intelligence was distorting his face.

  ‘Come on, Thomni,’ yelled Jamie. ‘Let’s get to work.’

  They ran to the golden statue of Buddha and swung it aside, following the instructions from Songtsen. The entrance to the hidden control room was revealed. But before they could enter, a high-pitched sound filled the room. Blinding lights flickered before their eyes. Jamie saw that the Doctor was sinking slowly to his knees. Then, with agonising slowness, the Doctor began to straighten up. His eyes fixed on those of the possessed Master, he took another step forward. A low ghastly moan filled the room as the Intelligence realised the strength of the mind that was opposing it.

  ‘Come on, Thomni,’ yelled Jamie. The two young men dashed into the secret control room. It was bare, and very small. All the walls were covered with an incredible tangle of equipment, of all ages and in all conditions – a mad, lunatic lash-up of electronics. At one end of the room a plain metal pyramid reposed on an altar. At the other end a glowing sphere, larger even than the ones which Jamie and Victoria had seen in the cave, caught their attention.

  For a moment the two young men stood amazed. Then Jamie heard a strangled shout from the Doctor.

  ‘Hurry, Jamie, hurry. Can’t hold out much…’

  Jamie raised his staff and smashed it down on a control panel. Thomni did the same. They worked frantically with great sweeping blows. Soon the entire control room was well on the way to being wrecked.

  Outside in the Sanctum, Victoria watched as the Doctor waged his battle of wills with the Intelligence. She sensed a deadlock. Neither could afford the slightest distraction. Then to her horror she saw the withered hand of Padmasambvha creeping out towards the board.

  ‘Look out, Doctor,’ she called. ‘He’s going to bring the Yeti in.’

  The Doctor redoubled his concentration, but he was unable to stop the movement of the hand. One by one, four of the Yeti models were placed on the map of the Monastery.

  Outside the Monastery doors, Travers saw four of the Yeti move swiftly inside. Once they were under way, he started to follow them.

  The Yeti seemed to move at a far greater speed than normal. As if impelled by some signal of great urgency, they rushed along the corridors, Travers trailing cautiously behind them.

  Inside the Sanctum, the Doctor was still locked in struggle with the Intelligence. Like two wrestlers of exactly even strength, neither of them could move.

  But the Doctor knew that the alien strength of the Intelligence would soon wear him down. And once he weakened, all would be over… They would all die.

  Victoria watched helplessly. From inside the hidden control room came the sound of smashing equipment. Jamie and Thomni were going about their task with savage gusto. Then, from the corridor she heard the sound of roaring. The Yeti were coming!

  ‘Victoria – get the models…’ gasped the Doctor. ‘Move them back…’

  Victoria forced herself to go forward to the table. But the strength of the Intelligence’s will was too much for her. Even locked in struggle with the Doctor, it stopped her from reaching the models.

  ‘Resist it,’ urged the Doctor. ‘Say the prayer!’

  Victoria tried. ‘Om, mane, padme, hum. Om, mane, padme, hum…’ But it was no use. She could not move her hand. And then it was too late. The Yeti burst into the room. As they lumbered towards him, the Doctor managed to yell, ‘Jamie, Yeti… here…’

  In the control room, Jamie and Thomni looked at each other.

  ‘We have smashed all that controls them,’ said Thomni. Jamie looked round.

  ‘Aye, except this,’ he said, and moved towards the sphere on the altar. Raising his staff above his head, he brought it smashing down on the sphere.

  A Yeti, its arm drawn back to attack the Doctor, staggered back with a roar. There was an explosion from somewhere inside it, and it reeled away smoking, a hole blown in its chest. The control unit had exploded. The same happened to all its companions. They collapsed, shattered wrecks, on the floor.

  The voice of the Intelligence said, ‘You have destroyed my servants, but you have not destroyed me!’

  Travers rushed into the room. Raising his rifle, he emptied the whole magazine into the figure on the throne.

  It brushed its hand across its face as though swatting a fly, and then held out the hand. In it lay the spent bullets.

  The Intelligence gave its terrible laugh. ‘Oh foolish man,’ it said. ‘Did you not realise my power in the cave?’

  The cave, thought the Doctor with the part of his mind that was still free. What did Travers tell me about the cave? Raising his voice, he yelled, ‘Jamie, is there a pyramid in there?’

  ‘Aye, there is that!’ Jamie called back.

  ‘Then smash it. Smash it now!’

  In the control room Jamie and Thomni lashed with all their force at the pyramid. Suddenly it shattered into fragments as though made of glass.

  Padmasambvha’s body gave out a last terrible scream.

  From somewhere outside came a series of rumbling explosions that shook the building. The cave in the mountain had exploded.

  The body on the throne gave a sudden leap, falling from the throne. It landed across the little table, knocking it to the ground. With a final convulsive twitch, the Intelligence left it.

  The Doctor lifted the shrivelled body in his arms. Worn out by years of slavery, it was almost weightless. Suddenly Padmasambvha’s eyes opened. He saw the Doctor looking down at him, and smiled.

  Victoria realised that, for
the first time, they were seeing the real Padmasambvha, free of the Intelligence. When he spoke, his voice was warm and gentle, the voice of a wise old man.

  ‘At last, I shall have peace… I waited so long, Doctor. I knew you would come, and save me from myself…’

  The old man’s head fell back.

  ‘Goodbye, old friend,’ said the Doctor, and lowered the frail body to the ground. Jamie and Thomni emerged from the control room.

  ‘It worked,’ said the Doctor. ‘The Intelligence is destroyed. My old friend Padmasambvha can rest at last.’

  They all walked slowly from the Sanctum, and made their way back to the courtyard.

  ‘Look,’ said Travers, and pointed. They all looked up. The glow had gone from the mountain. The explosion in the cave had destroyed the physical being of the Intelligence.

  ‘Yes,’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s really over at last.’ He yawned and stretched.

  ‘You know, I think I could do with some sleep.’

  12

  The Abominable Snowman

  Next morning, as the Doctor, Jamie, Victoria and Travers came out into the courtyard, they were greeted by a deafening clang. Thomni was solemnly banging an enormous gong. ‘What on earth are you doing?’ asked Victoria, her hands over her ears.

  ‘It is the hour for morning prayer, Miss Victoria,’ explained Thomni.

  Victoria frowned. ‘But there’s no one here but you.’

  ‘All the more reason that I should strictly observe the rituals, until my brothers return,’ said Thomni. ‘They will hear the gong and know that all is well.’

  ‘Time we all said goodbye, I’m afraid,’ said the Doctor.

  Thomni looked disappointed. ‘Can you not stay until my brethren return? They will wish to thank you.’

  ‘I’m afraid not,’ said the Doctor hastily. ‘You see, I’m worried about my equipment. It might have been damaged when the top of the mountain exploded.’

  Thomni looked at the mountain. It was now quite a different shape at the top, part of the upper peak having been blown away. ‘Very well then, Doctor. Goodbye and thank you again.’ After more farewells, Travers said, ‘I’ll see you safely up the mountain, Doctor!’

  Nothing they could say would dissuade him, and they all set off up the mountain path together. Looking back, they could see that once again the doors of Det-sen Monastery stood wide and welcoming. Victoria just caught a fleeting glimpse of Thomni setting off for prayers in a one-man procession. She smiled. He really had been very nice. But very solemn.

  Jamie came up close to the Doctor and whispered, ‘You’re not really worried about the TARDIS, are you, Doctor?’

  The Doctor shook his head. ‘The TARDIS is indestructible, Jamie, you know that. No, I just thought it was time we were leaving.’

  Jamie indicated Travers, who was happily marching on ahead.

  ‘What about him, Doctor? The TARDIS will be a bit of a shock to him.’

  ‘I know,’ said the Doctor. ‘That’s been worrying me rather. But he won’t take any hints!’

  There came a shout from Travers. He had stopped, and was waving to them. ‘Look at this!’ The shattered body of a Yeti lay across the path. ‘Its chest unit must have exploded at the same time as those in the Sanctum,’ said Jamie.

  ‘Wonderful machines, those,’ said the Doctor. ‘Almost a shame to have destroyed them. Something for you to take back from your expedition at any rate, Mr Travers.’

  Travers sighed. ‘They’d only say it was a fake. If they won’t believe in the real Yeti, they certainly wouldn’t credit what’s happened here.’

  Walking round the shattered robot, they went on. ‘You really needn’t trouble to come with us any further, Mr Travers,’ said the Doctor.

  ‘Ay, that’s right,’ agreed Jamie eagerly. ‘No doubt you’ll want to be off hunting your beasties!’

  ‘I’m thinking of giving all that up,’ said Travers gloomily. ‘I’m only getting myself laughed at. Wretched thing’s probably only a legend anyway.’

  ‘Don’t give up, whatever you do,’ urged the Doctor. ‘It’s a splendid thing to have a dream… even if it does turn out to be a legend.’

  ‘Maybe,’ said Travers, but he didn’t sound convinced. ‘Let’s get on,’ he suggested. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing this camp of yours.’

  The Doctor and his companions exchanged glances, and they all walked on. The journey became more difficult now as they climbed higher. The explosion at the cave had thrown down rocks and boulders which covered the path, and they had to clamber over and round them. ‘Much further, is it?’ puffed Travers.

  The Doctor shook his head resignedly. ‘Not far. Once we get through that clump of boulders we’ll be there.’

  A few minutes later, Travers was staring in utter amazement at the old blue police box perched incongruously on a mountain ledge. ‘My word,’ he said. ‘What the blazes is that doing here?’

  The Doctor cleared his throat. ‘Well, as a matter of fact, Mr Travers,’ he began. There came a sudden scream from Victoria. ‘Look – another Yeti. It’s moving.’

  ‘That’s impossible!’ said the Doctor. They all looked where she was pointing. Not far away, behind some boulders, a creature was peering shyly at them.

  ‘It’s different!’ said Victoria. ‘Not like the others at all!’ And so it was. It was taller and less bulky. The fur was longer and silkier, and had a more reddish tint. Above all, the face was different, rather like that of a lemur, with dark, soft eyes. Travers was looking at it entranced. ‘Don’t you see?’ he said. ‘It’s a Yeti. It’s a real Yeti, not some wretched robot. I’ve found it. I’ve found it at last!’

  Travers began stumbling towards the Yeti, across the mountain slope. For a moment the creature watched him approach. Then it gave a curiously high-pitched squeal of fright and disappeared behind a boulder. Travers broke into a run, and soon he too had disappeared from view.

  ‘I rather think this is our opportunity,’ said the Doctor. ‘No need to worry about Mr Travers’ reaction to the TARDIS. By now he’s forgotten its existence.’

  ‘Do you think he’ll catch his Yeti, Doctor?’ asked Victoria.

  ‘That doesn’t really matter,’ said the Doctor gently. ‘The important thing is, he’s found his dream again.’

  Jamie shivered. ‘Let’s be away then, Doctor,’ he said. ‘It’s no’ a bad place, this Tibet of yours, but it’s awful chilly. Next time you want to visit some old friends, can you no’ make it somewhere warmer?’

  ‘Honestly, Jamie, you’re always grumbling,’ said Victoria. ‘Anyway, you know the Doctor’s got no idea where the TARDIS will finish up next.’

  ‘That’s most unfair, Victoria,’ protested the Doctor. ‘There may be the occasional navigational error, but basically I am fully in control – well, more or less.’

  Wrangling amiably the three companions walked across the snow and disappeared inside the TARDIS. After a moment, a strange groaning noise echoed through the mountain air, and the old blue police box shimmered and vanished. The Doctor and his friends were off on their next adventure.

  DOCTOR WHO AND THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN

  Between the Lines

  The first full year of Doctor Who publishing from Target began and ended with books written by Terrance Dicks. Seven novelisations came out in 1974, beginning with Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion in January and culminating, in November, with Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen. Dicks’s third contribution was his first featuring a past Doctor; although the range had been launched the previous year with reprints of three First Doctor adventures, the bulk of the new paperbacks featured Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor. On television, the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, was about to make his debut, and Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen was the first of just six Second Doctor novels released in the 1970s.

  Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ was originally broadcast in six 25-minute episodes from 30 September to 4 November 1967, the second ser
ial in Doctor Who’s fifth season. Terrance Dicks’s novelisation was published by Universal-Tandem Publishing as a Target paperback on 21 November 1974. The cover illustration was by Chris Achilleos, the artist responsible for the twenty-eight Target covers during the first four years of the range. Interior drawings (used in this edition) were by Alan Willow, who had already illustrated Doctor Who and the Daemons and Doctor Who and the Sea Devils; he subsequently illustrated Doctor Who and the Curse of Peladon, Doctor Who and the Cybermen, Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons and Doctor Who and the Green Death.

  This new edition re-presents that 1974 version. While a few minor errors or inconsistencies have been corrected, no attempt has been made to update or modernise the text – this is Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen as originally written and published.

  This means that the novel retains certain stylistic and editorial practices that were current in 1974 but which have since adapted or changed. Most obviously, measurements are given in the then-standard imperial system of weights and measures: a yard is equivalent to 0.9144 metres; three feet make a yard, and a foot is 30 centimetres; twelve inches make a foot, and an inch is 25.4 millimetres.

  When adapting scripts for novelisation, Terrance Dicks often took the opportunity to expand on what had been seen on screen. Extended and invented scenes are a regular feature of Terrance Dicks’s mid-1970s Doctor Who novelisations, as seen in Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion and Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks. (The latter, for example, includes a televised scene in which the Third Doctor and his assistant Jo meet future versions of themselves, then follows it up with an untelevised scene in which those future versions encounter their earlier selves.) ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ offers fewer opportunities for this sort of invention, and these are largely confined to the character of Edward Travers. Episode 1’s opening scene lasted less than a minute, with Travers woken by the dying screams of his colleague ‘John’. The novel’s first couple of pages greatly extend this, giving John a surname (Mackay) and Edward Travers a back story. Travers’ troubled dreams of the Royal Geographical Society and its members’ cynical response to his theories help explain both his fanatical zeal and his later unhinged state. And Jamie’s scheme to capture a Yeti here receives the Doctor’s complete backing and trust, in contrast with its humorously panicked reception in the second episode on television.