Terrance Dicks’s The Vampire Mutation was intended to open Doctor Who’s 15th season in 1977. Cancelled at the last moment, its secrets were believed lost forever. Now, working from never-before seen scripts and synopses, Steve Cole’s novelisation brings this ‘lost’ adventure from a much-loved writer into the light.

‘The conjunctions of the stars at last permit the awakening of the Dead One…’

Summoned by the White Guardian to a domain outside time and space, the Doctor learns that the lynchpin of the cosmos – the Time Key – has been stolen. He must recover its six components before a great darkness smothers the universe.

The first fragment draws the TARDIS to a remote, mist-choked planet. Captured by terrified locals, Leela hears tell of night-creatures that drink the blood of their victims… while the Doctor falls prey to the sinister Council of Seven.

Who are the Witch Lords? What is the terrible significance of the Thousand Year Sabbath? With the world on the brink of catastrophe, will the vampire mutation thwart the Doctor’s quest for the Time Key before it’s even begun?