This is the first (continuity-wise, anyway) in a series of fan fiction novelizations published by the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club, which plug the gaps in the classic stories that weren't novelized by Target Books. The Pirate Planet was Douglas Adams's first Doctor Who script back in the 1970s; this is a decent stab at a novelization. Perhaps too decent, since you expect that Terrance Dicks could have turned in something just as good with about half the effort. And I don't even like Terrance Dicks.

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1047630.html#cutid1

This is one book you won't have to buy; it is available on-line here, the first (in internal chronology) of the five "missing novelisations" provided by the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club, and the first of David Bishop's contributions to the extended canon.

Bishop has added a few original touches to the Douglas Adams script, but unfortunately his own writing style was still pretty rough at this stage of his career. He certainly has improved since, but this was a wobbly start. ( )