Doctor Who, Series 5
(BBC, 2010)
A whimsical, wizardly Doctor; coupled companions; a contrived plot-arc whose conjured finale proves that bigger and bombastic are not better: Steven Moffat overhauled the programme for both good and bad, with the best coming from one-off writers Simon Nye and Richard Curtis.
Adventures with the Wife in Space
by Neil Perryman (Faber & Faber, 2013)
Several Everyman’s autobiographies have been structured around Doctor Who, each perfectly readable if of limited appeal. The titular allusion of this one doesn’t actually work (as the author himself would have noted) but Sue Perryman’s affably caustic interruptions make the trip worthwhile.
Doctor Who, Series 4
(BBC, 2008)
The Doctor’s chummy relationship with Donna (aka proper Tegan) takes the role of companion to a new and thankfully less-worshipful level, the importance of which shines grimly in the yin-yang episodes Midnight and Turn Left where each is deprived of the other.
Doctor Who: The Dying Light
by Nick Wallace (Big Finish, 2013)
The ever-young Frazer Hines delights in narrating and playing both himself and the Doctor, but despite his best efforts this adventure feels abridged. The Dying Light exhibits a wondrous complexity better suited to a novel-length treatment, not merely a single audio cd.
Doctor Who, Series 3
(BBC, 2007)
David Tennant hits the ground running post- Rose Tyler, in a season characterised by overt explorations of racism (experienced by companion Martha Jones), the return of the Master (revitalised by John Simm), and the brilliant, almost Doctor-less episode ‘Blink’ (starring Carey Mulligan).
Doctor Who: Night of the Humans
by David Llewellyn (BBC, 2010)
Whatever the story’s merits (the Doctor and Amy encounter shipwrecked aliens and bestial humans on a rubbish gyre in space), the writing makes this impossible to persist with. Not even by order of Terrance Dicks should young adult books be so unsophisticated.
Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams
by Steve Lyons (BBC, 2005)
Fiction is outlawed. The premise certainly has scope (it’s a nice touch that the Doctor, Rose and Jack don’t cotton on to the necessity behind the totalitarianism); but despite what Camille Coduri brings to the audiobook, the story itself feels rather belaboured.
Doctor Who and the Pirates
by Jacqueline Rayner (Big Finish, 2003)
A bizarre audio drama, featuring an explicitly unreliable narrator (the story’s telling is itself the mystery) and Bill Oddie in gleeful Ecky Thump pirate mode. The third quarter sees Colin Baker and Co. drop into a full-on musical of the high seas.
Who on Earth is Tom Baker?
by Tom Baker (HarperCollins, 1997)
Although Tom Baker’s autobiography is by no means a bad read, it does (excepting the preamble, which promises at least a measure of absurdism) make for an unremittingly grim read, Baker occupying a headspace far removed from the comforts of Doctor Who.
Doctor Who: The Ghosts of N-Space
by Barry Letts (BBC Radio, 1996)
Unfortunately the gratified nostalgia of having a new Third Doctor adventure after twenty-one years, even with strong performances by Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen, could not make up for the manifest shortcomings (namely, dire minor characters and plot) of this audio adventure.