The Professionals #6: Fall Girl
by Ken Blake (Sphere, 1979)
Even though the prose is pulpy, the odd turn of phrase is enough to suggest this TV tie-in—three straightforward action retellings that bring back the memories—was churned out by a decent author (as it happens, British SF writer Kenneth Bulmer).
Clouds of Witness
by Dorothy L. Sayers (T. Fisher Unwin, 1926); audiobook read by Ian Carmichael (BBC, 1992/2009)
An unhurried mystery from which the protagonist seems oddly removed. Lord Peter Wimsey is a character cut from the Wodehouse mould, yet the writing—despite its occasionally witty turn of phrase—leaves him untethered, a whimsy (as it were) without true purpose.
Rumpole of the Bailey
by John Mortimer (Penguin, 1978); audiobook read by Robert Hardy (Bolinda, 2014)
Based on the TV series, this book is as much about the tribulations as the trials of Horace Rumpole, an eccentric and oft-thwarted, poetry-quoting English barrister. Rumpole’s wins may be pyrrhic at best, but are humorously bolstered by his free-flowing, sardonic ruminations.
The Big Lebowski
dir. Joel Coen (1998)
The Big Lebowski shouldn’t work—the script is indulgent, the kidnapping/ransom plot meanders convolutedly—yet somehow it does. Jeff Bridges is unforgettable as The Dude (a mellow but acerbic hippie), backed by John Goodman as his Vietnam War- and bowling-obsessed friend.
Mostly Harmless
by Douglas Adams (William Heinemann, 1992); audiobook read by Martin Freeman (Bolinda, 2006)
An ingeniously plotted novel—by far the most coherent of the Hitchhiker’s books—and one in which Adams at last paid attention to characterisation; but the effect is spoiled somewhat by an incongruous (if by then expected) jokiness in the prose style.
Doctor Who: Corpse Marker
by Chris Boucher (BBC, 1999); audiobook read by David Collings (BBC, 2015)
Back in the late 1970s Chris Boucher established the character of Leela, wrote the classic Doctor Who story The Robots of Death, and script-edited Blake’s 7. Little surprise, then, that his robots sequel Corpse Marker showcases the better qualities of all three.
Hitler’s Daughter
by Jackie French (HarperCollins, 1999); audiobook read by Caroline Lee (Bolinda, 2014)
The framing narrative of this cleverly structured middle grade book sees three rural Aussie kids sharing a story while waiting for their school bus. The tale of Hitler’s daughter raises the disturbing question: should children be held responsible for their parents’ beliefs.
Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation
by Ian Marter (Target, 1979); audiobook read by John Leeson (Chivers, 2011)
As a TV serial ‘The Ribos Operation’ is respected for its production values, script and performances. As a novelisation it becomes saggy and tedious. Wholehearted writer Ian Marter assiduously seizes every conceivable opportunity to unerringly inject knee-hammer adjectives and slavishly conceived adverbs.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (George Newnes, 1905); audiobook read by Stephen Fry (ABC, 2017)
Stephen Fry takes seriously the task of voicing Conan Doyle’s stories, yet with faint echoes of his own comedic characters seeping through (in contrast sufficient to add further gravitas to the great detective). Sherlock Holmes resumes practice post-Reichenbach, as superior as ever.
George’s Marvellous Medicine
by Roald Dahl (Jonathan Cape, 1981); audiobook read by Derek Jacobi (Penguin, 2013)
Despite this being one of Dahl’s less substantial (yet somehow belaboured) stories, the freewheeling absurdity of George’s concoction and the subsequent karmic comeuppance to his grandma will appeal to middle grade readers. Derek Jacobi narrates with the glee of a mischievous grandparent.