Doctor Who: Attack of the Graske
by Gareth Roberts; dir. Ashley Way (BBC Red Button, 2005)
A plush, interactive Christmas special aimed at young viewers. While David Tennant does his best to rise above the Choose Your Own Adventure format, the available choices are (severely) limited and the story, shorn of its gimmick, is an utterly banal non-starter.
Doctor Who: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit
by Matt Jones; dir. James Strong (BBC, 2006)
One of the highlights of Series 2. A powerful double-episode in which Rose and the Doctor are forced to contemplate first life without the TARDIS, then losing each other, then death and the original, archetypal devil. Well-paced, claustrophobic, with a quality cast.
Doctor Who: Fear Her
by Matthew Graham; dir. Euros Lyn (BBC, 2006)
Graham’s concept successfully melds SF and scary supernatural elements, albeit aimed at a younger audience (more Sarah Jane Adventures than Doctor Who). The episode would have been more effective tonally had the Doctor and Rose not kept oscillating back to chummy flippancy.
Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen
by Malcolm Kohll (Target, 1989)
audiobook read by Bonnie Langford (BBC, 2017)
An ambitious story, in that it pairs manifestly serious themes (not least, genocide) with a feel-good, late-1950s rock ‘n’ roll vibe. Kohll opts for blithe exuberance in the novelisation, and, regrettably, not to excise the American agents. Langford’s reading is pure Mel.
Doctor Who: The Good Doctor
by Juno Dawson (BBC, 2018)
audiobook read by Clare Corbett (BBC Digital, 2018)
An insipid, paint-by-numbers novel. Dawson offers nothing original in terms of content and almost less than that in delivery, as if the BBC range editors were fixedly determined to scrub the word ‘new’ from ‘New Series Adventures’. Clare Corbett tries her best.
Doctor Who: The Zygon Who Fell To Earth
by Paul Magrs (Big Finish, 2008)
A pleasantly small-scale invasion story with a focus on relationships, humbugged somewhat by overtly manipulative, aggressively heart-rending incidental music. Steven Pacey is a welcome addition to the voice cast, as is Tim Brooke-Taylor in his one, gloriously understated appearance for Big Finish.
Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora
by Louis Marks; dir. Rodney Bennett (BBC, 1976)
Tom Baker is in fine fettle as the Doctor swashbuckles around a rather small-looking historical adventure, countering an alien threat that he himself has enabled. Elisabeth Sladen brings matchless nuance to her performance. Giuliano narrowly survives a foreshadowing of Blackadder’s Lord Percy.
Doctor Who: The Kairos Ring
by Stephen Gallagher; read by Steven Pacey (BBC Audio, 2021)
A novelette that would have benefited from a longer treatment. Gallagher is an accomplished writer peddling a nifty idea, but Romana has too little involvement (especially for a Doctor-less story) and the threat, having been built up, is vanquished rather too easily.
Doctor Who: The Book of Kells
by Barnaby Edwards (Big Finish, 2010)
A solid historical adventure, commendably underplayed (albeit mostly a veiled character set-up). Paul McGann is excellent as ever, his delivery a sublime and mercurial mix of conceit, solemnity, flippancy and suppressed wrath. Goodies fans will appreciate a well-pitched appearance by Graeme Garden.
Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor
by Chris Chibnall; dir. Jamie Magnus Stone (BBC, 2022)
Grandiloquent, saccharine, but something of a wet dream for longstanding Who fans. The plot is bonkers (not in such a bad way) and trades nostalgia for closure. Amidst the series-spanning Easter egg hunt, Sacha Dhawan gives the one performance of independent merit.