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Doctor Who And The Dinosaur Invasion

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Doctor Who And The Dinosaur Invasion

By: Malcolm Hulke
Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
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 The Doctor walked slowly forward into the cul-de-sac. The giant dinosaur turned its head to focus on the midget now approaching... the Doctor aimed his gun to fire... suddenly from behind came a great roar of anger. He spun round - blocking the exit from the narrow street towered a Tyrannosaurus rex, its savage jaws dripping with blood... The Doctor and Sarah arrive back in the TARDIS to find London completely deserted - except for the dinosaurs. Has the return of these prehistoric creatures been deliberately planned and, if so, who can be behind it all? Martin Jarvis, who played Butler in the original TV serial Invasion of the Dinosaurs, reads Malcolm Hulke’s complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1976. ‘They’re well-written books - adventure stories of course, but with some thought... the creation of the character of the Doctor had a touch of genius about it.’ - Westminster Press.©1976 Malcolm Hulke; (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction
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Freed from the pathetic plastic dinosaurs and miserly budget of the screen version the story holds up well and is enjoyably read by one of the original villains of the piece. Pure nostalgia for Pertwee, Sarah Jane and Unit fans.

A classic Who.

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Prehistoric monsters have started to appear to pose a new challenge to Blighty's beleaguered city folk. Not content with rudely stomping through people's living rooms and eating visiting Scotsmen, as related in the novel's prologue, they then disappear without so much as a by-your-leave.
The Third Doctor and the journalist Sarah Jane Smith materialise right in the middle of this mess, as UNIT patrols the Streets enforcing an emergency curfew. Their then follows a series of captures and escapes, a pattern with which you should now be familiar if you are following this season of Who, as the Doctor and Sarah, helped by their allies from UNIT, uncover a vast conspiracy involving mad Professors, (well maybe not mad, just sociopathically single minded), shoot-em-on-sight Generals, and scheming Politicians with insincere smiles (is there any other sort?), in a demented scheme to catapult a select group of humanity back in time so it can start a new 'Golden Age.' The dinosaurs are being dragged forwards in time using a 'time scoop' (two scoops and a chocolate flake please - part of the same technology that is going to rocket this select group back in time), to create panic and empty the streets, so the baddies can get to work in an uninterrupted fashion. Now I type this I see it makes no sense whatsoever.
No matter. This is vintage stuff, with Venusian Karate, some pretty high concept musings on the nature of time and the universe (what if time goes round in a circle rather than in a straight line, the Doctor tells a baffled Sarah in a baffling epilogue that also involves Chapter 1 of the Book of Ezekiel), roarsome monsters, lots of baddies and soldiers on the streets. There are some great set pieces that riveted me as a child seeing this on tv for the first time, including an imprisoned T Rex waking up in a bad mood in chains and breaking said chains, scaring the S**t out of Sarah.
We also get a story arc and fascinating character development with the character of Sergeant Mike Yates, who puts the 'm' into misguided.
This is a Hulke novelisation so it is top drawer quality. Hulke fills out on the backstory, does full justice to the characters, and gives us an intelligent use of linking narrative and perspective. In 'The Green Death' we had a maggot's view of the world. Here we get the dinosaur's perspective on a few occasions, including a Stegosaurus that thinks the Houses of Parliament is a monster (there's a metaphor in there somewhere).
This audio book is wonderfully read by Martin Jarvis, who captures the tv personas of the characters beautifully. There is an effectively sparing use of sound effects (roaring dinosaurs and thunderous footsteps etc.) and a brief martial music motif.

KKLAKing Hell

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Great stuff, bringing to life a story I long feared extinct. The special fx were amazing, the UNIT fam on point, Sarah Jane and the Third Doctor a rhapsody in TARDIS Blue. A return to the Golden Age indeed

The Incredible Hulke smashes it

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