After the successful re-releases of Doctor Who and Torchwood audio adventures as boxsets, BBC Audio’s latest title collects together 8 readings of the Tenth Doctor’s original novels. All of these are from 2007, although they were released as audiobooks the following year.
Running to approximately 18 hours, the tales are read by Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones – the Doctor’s companion throughout these stories), Adjoa Andoh (Martha’s mum, Francine), Reggie Yates (Leo Jones), and Will Thorp (The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit).
Here’s what’s inside the set:
Sting of the Zygons by Stephen Cole
Read by Reggie Yates
The TARDIS lands the Doctor and Martha in the Lake District in 1909, where a small village has been terrorised by a giant, scaly monster.
The search is on for the elusive ‘Beast of Westmorland’, and explorers, naturalists and hunters from across the country are descending on the fells. King Edward VII himself is on his way to join the search, with a knighthood for whoever finds the Beast. But there is a more sinister presence at work in the Lakes than a mere monster on the rampage, and the Doctor is soon embroiled in the plans of an old and terrifying enemy. As the hunters become the hunted, a desperate battle of wits begins – with the future of the entire world at stake…
Approx. 2 hrs 12 mins.
The Last Dodo by Jacqueline Rayner
Read by Freema Agyeman
The Doctor and Martha go in search of a real live dodo, and are transported by the TARDIS to the mysterious Museum of the Last Ones. There, in the Earth section, they discover every extinct creature up to the present day, all still alive and in suspended animation. Preservation is the museum’s only job – collecting the last of every endangered species from all over the universe. But exhibits are going missing…
Can the Doctor solve the mystery before the museum’s curator adds the last of the Time Lords to her collection?
Approx. 2 hrs.
Wooden Heart by Martin Day
Read by Adjoa Andoh
A vast starship, seemingly deserted, is spinning slowly in the void of deep space. Martha and the Doctor explore this drifting tomb and discover that they may not be alone after all. Who survived the disaster that overcame the rest of the crew? What continues to power the vessel? And why has a stretch of wooded countryside suddenly appeared in the middle of the craft?
As the Doctor and Martha journey through the forest, they find a mysterious, fog-bound village – a village traumatised by missing children and prophecies of its own destruction…
Approx. 2 hrs 32 mins.
Forever Autumn by Mark Morris
Read by Will Thorp
It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Paper skeletons hang in windows and carved pumpkins leer from porches.
The Doctor and Martha soon discover that this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient tree and the book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard at night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? Why are the harmless trappings of Halloween taking on a creepy new life of their own?
As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate.
Approx. 2 hrs 32 mins.
Wetworld by Mark Michalowski
Read by Freema Agyeman
When the TARDIS makes a disastrous landing in the swamps of the planet Sunday, the Doctor has no choice but to abandon Martha and try to find help.
But the tranquillity of Sunday’s swamps is deceptive, and even the TARDIS can’t protect Martha forever. The human pioneers of Sunday have their own dangers to face: homeless and alone, they’re starting to see that Sunday’s wildlife isn’t as harmless as it appears. Why are the otters behaving so strangely, and what is the creature in the swamps that is so interested in the humans, and the new arrivals? The Doctor and Martha must fight to ensure that human intelligence doesn’t become the greatest danger of all.
Approx. 2 hrs 21 mins.
Sick Building by Paul Magrs
Read by Will Thorp
Tiermann’s World: a planet covered in wintry woods and roamed by sabre-toothed tigers and other savage beasts. The Doctor is here to warn Professor Tiermann, his wife, and their son that a terrible danger is on its way.
The Tiermanns live in luxury, in a fantastic, futuristic, fully automated dreamhome, under an impenetrable force shield. But that won’t protect them from the Voracious Craw. A huge and hungry alien creature is heading remorselessly towards their home. When it arrives everything will be devoured. Can they get away in time? With the force shield cracking up, and the Dreamhome itself deciding who should or should not leave, things are looking desperate.
Approx. 2 hrs 30 mins.
The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier
Read by Freema Agyeman
The Doctor’s been everywhere and everywhen in the whole of the universe and seems to know all the answers. But ask him what happened to the Starship Brilliant and he hasn’t the first idea.
Did it fall into a sun or black hole? Was it shot down in the first moments of the galactic war? And what’s this about a secret experimental drive? The Doctor is skittish, but if Martha is so keen to find out he’ll land the TARDIS on the Brilliant, a few days before it vanishes. Then they can see for themselves…
Soon the Doctor learns the awful truth. And Martha learns that you need to be careful what you wish for. She certainly wasn’t hoping for mayhem, death, and badger-faced space pirates.
Approx 2 hrs 31 mins.
Peacemaker by James Swallow
Read by Will Thorp
The peace and quiet of a remote homestead in the 1880s American West is shattered by the arrival of two shadowy outriders searching for ‘the healer’. When the farmer refuses to help them, they raze the house to the ground using guns that shoot bolts of energy instead of bullets…In the town of Redwater, the Doctor and Martha learn of a snake-oil salesman whose patent medicines actually cure his patients.
But when the Doctor and Martha investigate they discover the truth is stranger, and far more dangerous. Caught between the law of the gun and the deadly plans of intergalactic mercenaries, the Doctor and Martha are about to discover just how wild the West can become…
Approx. 2 hrs 9 mins.
A follow-up volume is set for release in February 2018, collecting together 9 further Tenth Doctor novel readings.
The Tenth Doctor Novels audio boxset is out now, with an RRP of £40 – which is a huge saving. Mind you, it’s a bit strange that the novels featuring Rose Tyler haven’t been re-released yet; surely it’s a-coming…?
