'doctor Who': the Mind Robber (BBC Audio) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Peter Ling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2009 | Series: BBC Audio

To escape a catastrophic volcanic eruption, the Doctor takes the TARDIS out of space and time - and into a void he can only describe as 'nowhere'. But the crisis is far from over and when the time-machine's circuits overload, the TARDIS explodes. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe come to in a dark unearthly forest. There they encounter a host of characters who seem somehow familiar: a beautiful princess with long flaxen hair, a sea traveller dressed in eighteenth-century clothes, and a white rabbit frantically consulting his pocket watch...What is happening to the three time-travellers? What strange power guides their actions? In the Land of Fiction who can really tell? Derek Jacobi, who played The Master in the "Doctor Who" episode "Utopia", reads Peter Ling's complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1986. 'Giving more depth to the tale than was ever allowed in the original television interpretation, this audiobook will keep the most ardent of "Doctor Who" fans, young and old, enthralled from start to finish' - "Bournemouth Daily Echo". 'BBC Audiobooks has chosen well with its books and has taken the right approach with its readers...they benefit from new music and sound effects' - "Doctor Who Magazine".

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sir Derek Jacobi won a Tony in 1985 for Much Ado About Nothing and was Tony-nominated in 1988 for Breaking the Code. His voicework includes narration for The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky, Manor House, and several Doctor Who titles. He was awarded CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 1985 and was knighted in 1994.

--This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks (August 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140840995X
• ISBN-13: 978-1408409954
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Oh dear........, October 15, 2010

By 

Music Lover. (England.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who: The Mind Robber (Audible Audio Edition)

Great story, but did not like the narration at all. Derek Jacobi is fine doing In The Night Garden, but on this audio, his voice sounds annoying with a most irritating way of speaking words with a 'ka' sound, like 'quality' or 'queue'. Whenever he articulated a word beginning with a hard c or a k or a q, I cringed at the sound. It sounded like he was overproducing saliva and was spitting when he talked or that he was hacking up phlegm whenever he pronounced certain words. I've noticed how some older people sound like this when they talk and it isn't pleasant to listen to. The Mind Robber really needed someone younger or who sounds young, to read it, and Derek Jacobi just sounds too old. It was particularly noticeable on disc two and three. The first one was ok, the fourth bearable and the fifth disc was all right and I was able to just concentrate on the story and try and ignore the irritations his voice caused to my listening experience.

I've heard some excellently narrated audiobooks in the range of Doctor Who Target books novelisations, namely from the likes of Peter Davison (Castrovalva), David Troughton (Abominable Snowmen) Katy Manning (The Three Doctors) Rula Lenska (The Happiness Patrol), Tom Baker (Pyramids of Mars), Nerys Hughes (Awakening) but this was a major letdown. I loved the tv episodes of The Mind Robber and was looking forwards to this audiobook version, but was very disappointed with it and usually I find these audios most satisfying. I wish they could have got Frazer Hines or Wendy Padbury to read this, or even David Troughton as he is excellent at doing the 2nd Doctor's voice, but please, not Derek Jacobi for any more or it would put me off buying.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Best experienced as a TV serial, October 27, 2000

By 

"grrreg" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who: The Mind Robber (Doctor Who Library) (Paperback)

One of the most unusual of the stories of the second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton), this is Peter Ling's adaptation of his own TV serial.

This book varies slightly from the original version: on TV, it followed on directly from 'The Dominators' with a volcanic eruption on the planet Dulkis. In the novel, the TARDIS crew are present at the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (an era far better explored in the audio play 'Fires of Vulcan'). Using an emergency unit that pushes the TARDIS out of reality, the travellers find themselves in a white void where something tries to lure them out...

They find themselves in a strange land, populated by characters from myth and literature. And the ruler of this land has plans for the Doctor.

While the story is OK in this novelised form, the original story is so striking that this effort pales in comparison. Watch the video, and perhaps read this book as a second choice.