The Highlanders was novelised in 1984, with the hardback released in August and the paperback following in November. The artist is Nick Spender. He stated in an interview that he took a long time getting Frazer Hines' likeness just right, and also got a couple of friends to pose in Highland outfits and pretend to fight for the background figures. The image of Alexander McLaren is based on William Dysart. It was extremely unusual at this time in the run of novelisations for artists to be permitted to use actors' likenesses.
Spender based the TARDIS on a photo from The Masque of Mandragora - the same one he used on the cover for Doctor Who - The Aztecs.
The book has never reissued with a new cover.
The soundtrack was released in 2000 with the usual photomontage cover featuring some of the cast. The Troughton image derives from a publicity photo session for the following story. Jamie is seen only side on, so a much better image really ought to have been chosen. Not sure why they didn't just use the whole image of the Doctor and companions being threatened by Jamie and Alexander. Young McLaren is quite prominent on the cover, despite being killed off half way through the first episode.
Hines provided the linking narration.
The novelisation was released in audiobook format in April 2012, using Spender's artwork. The larger, squarer format allows us to see another Redcoat on the right.
This time the reader is Anneke Wills.
The soundtrack was recently re-released on translucent red and blue vinyl - in June 2024. Demon Records have opted to concentrate on the Battle of Culloden for an exciting, attention-grabbing cover - even though the conflict is over when we join the story and nothing is actually seen (or heard) of it. Misleading, but I doubt very much if any non-fans ever buy these releases.
The inner sleeves have Radio Times-style listings for the episodes printed on them.
Finally, with no animated DVD / Blu-ray release on the horizon, the movie database site has provided its own colour montage to illustrate this story. The three key guest artists, plus Jamie, are featured along with Troughton larking about with the Jacobite bonnet.
The story is one which many fans would like to see animated, but there are some obstacles. If you've seen what they do with the Doctor's checked trousers, then you'd realise that tartan would be very difficult to depict. The story also has a large number of sets and speaking characters - plus it's a historical - which might all work against it being an obvious choice for animation.
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