Doctor Who and the Pescatons (Dr Who) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2005 | Series: Dr Who

Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen star as the fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane in this classic audio adventure, remastered for CD and now featuring an exclusive 45 minute bonus interview. The TARDIS s arrival, on a lonely stretch of beach at night, is closely followed by a slithering sound and a chilling roar marking the beginning of a terrifying adventure on present day Earth for the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. The deadly Pescatons have arrived! Refugees from their own dying planet, these towering amphibian monsters are led by the mighty Zor whom the Doctor has encountered before. Soon the creatures have invaded London, wreaking death and destruction upon the city and all who stand in their way. In their efforts to help save the planet s population from this violent onslaught, the Doctor and Sarah must draw upon all their reserves of courage and ingenuity. In an exclusive and highly entertaining bonus interview, recorded especially for this release, Elisabeth Sladen talks about her memories of Doctor Who and the Pescatons, her portrayal of the ever-popular Sarah Jane Smith, and what it was like to be part of the Doctor Who team in the 1970s.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks (January 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0563527641
• ISBN-13: 978-0563527640
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #945,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Doctor Comes To Audio!, August 24, 2007

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Matthew Kresal (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doctor Who and the Pescatons (Dr Who) (Audio CD)

Doctor Who And The Pescatons, originally released in 1976, is interesting for a number of reasons. First it was the first Doctor Who story specially done for audio (The later release of Genesis Of The Daleks was a recording taken from the serial with narration and Exploration Earth was an educational program). More importantly perhaps, it is the only Doctor Who audio drama to feature the classic teaming of Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. So how does this thirty year old audio drama hold up? The answer: surprisingly well.

Why? For starters if you're a Tom Baker fan you will love this. Baker not only gets to play the role of the Doctor, he also gets to narrate the story as well. It is Baker who serves as our guide through the story and he is one who sells it. His voice takes us underwater towards the beginning of the story and to the far off world of Pesca in part two. Baker's acting chops are huge and here, more then anytime in his tenure on the TV series, he gets to show them off.

Backing Baker up is Elisabeth Sladen and Bill Mitchell. Sladen, of course, reprises her role as Sarah Jane Smith from the TV series. While she doesn't appear near the amount that Baker does, she does add a lot to the story. Her presence helps sell the terror of the first scene on the beach and later if a desperate rescue attempt the Pescaton invasion. Mitchell's appearance is the smallest of the three roles but he is the story's villain. And what a villain he makes as one can only wish we could have heard more of him in the story.

Despite the fact that this is only a three hander (the technical term mean "this only has three actors in it") this story still manages to feel epic. The sound effects are exceptional and one only needs to listen to the segments featuring London first in peace and then in terror from the Pescaton invasion to realize that point. I should also mention that this story has a few well placed sound effects that will more then likely make you jump. To back these sound effects is the music. The music by Kenny Clayton could easily rival anything composed by then series composer Dudley Simpson. What does this lead to in the end? An eerie Doctor Who story without some of the laughable special effects from the series (even as a fan one has to admit how the bad effects often hurt the series). But that's the obvious fun of audio drama: you create the adventure's visuals.

The story isn't perfect of course and does have flaws. Victor Pemberton's writing is terrific in terms of plot (even though one can trace the stories origins to other Doctor Who TV stories especially Pemberton's own second Doctor story Fury From The Deep), but it is in the narration that the flaws in the writing can be found. Scenes seem to jump too quickly, for example how the opening scene on the beach jumps to the Doctor's underwater exploration with a quick piece of narration. The story needed development in terms of bringing in more scenes and character to add depth to the story. But this can be forgiven when keeping in mind the limits of the LP technology thirty years ago. Yet even when this forgiven, it is an inescapable fact that this is still a major flaw.

The other interesting aspect of this release is the contents of the second disk. Disk one is the actual program (the story is only about 45 minutes long) while the second disk contains a treat: an interview with Elisabeth Sladen. She discusses (along with interviewers Mark Ayers and Michael Stevens) the rather rushed production of this story. But outside of that discussion they go into Sladen's time on the TV series. It offers a behind the scenes glimpse into the series, in particular why Jon Pertwee left the series and Sladen's view on the controversy surrounding the "horror sequences" of the series. It's interesting to listen to, especially if one is a fan of this era of the series.

As a fan of Doctor Who, it is hard not to enjoy this story. It's the only audio adventure featuring Tom Baker's fourth Doctor after all. Yet this offers a chance any fan can, and should, relish: a chance to take a classic Doctor and a great story and create the visual aspects of the story in our minds. No bad special effects to hamper the terror and thrills. Instead we have only the sounds of the actors, the incredible sound effects, and the creepy music of Kenny Clayton. If that's not worth a fan's time and money, what is?