Part of Series
Tegan, the young air hostess who quite unintentionally became a member of the TARDIS's crew, wants to return to her own time, but when the Doctor tries to take her back to Heathrow Airport in the twentieth century the TARDIS lands instead on the outskirts of seventeenth-century London. The Doctor and his companions receive a decidedly unfriendly welcome—but it soon becomes clear that the sinister activities of other visitors from time and space have made the villagers extremely suspicious of outsiders. And as a result of the aliens' evil schemes, the Doctor finds himself on the point of playing a key role in a gruesome historical event...
Author
Eric Saward worked as a writer and later script editor for Doctor Who during the 1980s. Saward had a particular fondness for the Cybermen. He wrote stories with good action throughout them and stories that connected the Doctor to important events in Earth's history. He also wrote the short story Birth of a Renegade and the radio play Slipback. He served as script editor from Time-Flight, the last episode of season 19, to the penultimate episode of season 23 (The Ultimate Foe episode 1). He resigned his position due to a disagreement with producer John Nathan-Turner over the storyline (and particularly the ending) of episode 2 of The Ultimate Foe. Afterwards, he gave a notably scathing interview to Starburst magazine over his falling out with Nathan-Turner, and he became vocal in his criticism of Colin Baker's appointment as the Sixth Doctor. Target Books failed to secure an agreement that would have seen Saward's two Daleks serials novelised either by Saward himself or by others. They remain two of only a handful of stories never officially adapted. The 1989 publication of Saward's adaptation of Attack of the Cybermen actually post-dated his falling out with the Doctor Who production team by several years. His favourite snack is a chocolate hobnob
