Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Science Fiction

From the moment they land on the planet Androzani Minor, everything goes wrong for the Doctor and his new young companion, Peri. They become involved in the struggle between brutal gun runners, ruthless Federation troops, and the hideously mutilated Sharaz Jek, who lurks in the depths of the caves with his android army. Key to the struggle is spectrox, the most valuable substance in the universe. Suitably processed, spectrox is an elixir of life, but in its raw state it is a deadly poison - a fact which will cost the Doctor another of his Time Lord lives.... 

Reporter Tom Lambert decides to reinvestigate the bizarre events of a decade earlier concerning the ‘cosmic noise’. Believing the whole truth was never revealed, he tracks down the one man who knows it: retired astrophysics professor Dr Hayward Petrie. Told in flashbacks, the story unfolds from Petrie’s recordings of the time when he experienced things that made him doubt his own sanity. Invited to visit his old colleague Campbell McLaren, who is in charge of a radio telescope on a remote Hebridean island, Petrie asks students Clifford Brown and Elizabeth Ryder to join him.

In Marco Polo, by John Lucarotti, the TARDIS breaks down in Central Asia in the year 1289, causing the travellers to meet an intrepid Venetian explorer. In The War Machines, by Ian Stuart Black, the Doctor senses a powerful and sinister force around London's newly built Post Office Tower. In The Faceless Ones, by Terrance Dicks, the Doctor and his friends are drawn into a web of intrigue and deception at Gatwick Airport. In The Ambassadors of Death, by Terrance Dicks, the Doctor and Liz investigate the disappearance of three astronauts after their space capsule returns to Earth empty. 

An unabridged reading of this classic novelisation of a 1972 TV story featuring the Third Doctor, as played on TV by Jon Pertwee. Mysterious humans from 22nd-century Earth time jump back into the 20th century so as to assassinate a high-ranking diplomat on whom the peace of the world depends. The Doctor, Jo Grant and the Brigadier are soon called in to investigate. Jo is accidentally transported to the future; the Doctor follows, eventually to be captured by his oldest and deadliest enemies: the Daleks!

The first nine volumes of 'Doctor Who at the BBC' form this unique collection of behind-the-scenes interviews, set reports, lively discussions, comedy skits and drama. Presented by Elisabeth Sladen, Anthony Head, Louise Jameson, Russell Tovey and Nicholas Courtney, the collection also includes three full-cast radio plays—Regenerations, Blue Sands and Golden Veils, and Dalek I Love You—plus the Radio 2 documentaries Project Who? and Who Is The Doctor?

An alternative history of the US space programme, dramatised by Dirk Maggs. What if John F. Kennedy survived the assassination attempt and developed the space programme? President Nixon, with the help of former president JFK, has just green-lit NASA’s first manned expedition to Mars. Aboard the expedition is Natalie York, a geologist who risks everything she loves for the chance to go to space; Phil Stone, former X-15 test pilot; and Ralph Gershon, a Vietnam War hero intent on being the first African American to reach another planet.

Saleem Sinai is born on the stroke of midnight on 14th-15th August 1947, at the exact moment that India and Pakistan become separate, independent nations. From that moment on, his fate is mysteriously handcuffed to the history of his country. But Saleem's story starts almost 30 years earlier, when his grandfather, Dr Aadam Aziz, falls in love with a woman concealed behind a perforated sheet. That pivotal moment in Kashmir in 1919 sparks a series of bizarre events that will lead to the birth of a boy with an extraordinary destiny.

Often referred to as the father of science fiction, Victorian author Jules Verne is renowned for his fantastical adventures imagining extraordinary voyages to strange new horizons. Prolific and prophetic, he wrote over 50 novels and numerous short stories, in which he foretold the skyscraper, the submarine, space missions and even the Internet. Featured here are contemporary adaptations of four of his most famous tales, as well as a special episode of The Forum examining the long-lasting appeal of his work.

The Doctor is enjoying the sun on a holiday island, until things get hotter than he bargained for. The young American, Perpugilliam Brown, brings to the TARDIS a mysterious object that her archaeologist step-father has found in a sunken wreck. When the Doctor’s robot friend Kamelion reacts to the object unexpectedly, it has bewildering consequences for the TARDIS crew.

Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen star in this classic audio adventure from 1976. The TARDIS' arrival on a lonely stretch of beach at night is closely followed by a slithering sound and a chilling roar. It marks 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 amphibians are led by the mighty Zor, whom the Doctor has encountered before. Soon the creatures have invaded London, wreaking death and destruction. 

In present day England, a group of scientists are intent on analysing an impossibly ancient skull. But when the ultra-modern technology of their Time Scanner combines with the ancient evil of Fetch Wood, it brings to life a terror that has lain hidden for twelve million years. Arriving in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Leela must fight to destroy the Fendahl, a recreated menace that threatens to devour all life in the galaxy. Louise Jameson, who played Leela in the BBC TV series, reads this classic novelisation of Chris Boucher's 1977 serial. 

An unabridged audiobook of this classic novelisation of a Fourth Doctor TV adventure from 1975. Landing on Earth - now a barren, desolate planet - Sarah, Harry and the Doctor are unaware of a large, watching robot. The robot is the work of Styre, a Sontaran warrior who uses all humans landing here for his experimental programmes. What has happened to the other space explorers who have come here? Why is Styre so interested in Earth and in brutally torturing humans, including Sarah Jane?

A thrilling new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Jules Verne's classic novel. 'Descend, bold traveller into the crater of the Jokul of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July and you will attain the centre of the earth. Which I have done.'

The TARDIS arrives in Gaul in AD 451, on the eve of battle between the forces of Attila the Hun and those of the crumbling Roman Empire. But the Doctor soon finds that both sides are being helped by sinister supernatural creatures. While Graham makes allies in the Roman camp and Ryan is pursued by the enigmatic Legion of Smoke, the Doctor and Yasmin are pressed into service as Attila’s personal sorcerers. But the Doctor knows there is science behind the combat magicks - and that the true war will pit all humanity against a ruthless alien threat.

An unabridged reading of this classic novelisation, based on a BBC TV adventure featuring the Third Doctor. A mysterious power loss strands the TARDIS on Exxilon, a sinister fog-shrouded alien planet. The Doctor meets the survivors of a beleaguered expedition from Earth, while Sarah finds a mysterious super-city and becomes a captive of the savage Exxilons. Worst of all, the Doctor's greatest enemies, the Daleks, arrive on a secret mission of their own.

The Doctor has a unique bond with their TARDIS. They’ve always loved the ‘old girl’ for the way she’s gone looking for trouble anywhere in the universe. The Doctor says they stole the TARDIS from Gallifrey. The TARDIS disagrees…she stole them. It hasn’t always taken the Doctor where they want to go, but it’s made sure to take them where they needed to be.

In this vintage six-part serial, first shown on BBC TV in February and March 1965, a strange magnetic force pulls the TARDIS down to the craterous surface of Vortis. The Doctor and his friends learn that the planet has been invaded, and the parasitic Animus is slowly enveloping it in a web-like domain. The giant ant-like Zarbi are under its control, whilst the butterfly-like Menoptra are battling to reclaim their planet.

The TARDIS materialises on a remote island, set in a sea of acid, on the planet Marinus. The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara meet Arbitan, keeper of a vast computer which rules and balances the gentle life of Marinus. Yet peace on the planet is threatened by the sub-human Voord, who wish to take control of the Conscience. Arbitan enlists the travellers to find the five crucial Keys of Marinus in various locations across the planet. Thus begins a series of terrifying adventures for the Doctor and his friends, who must find the Keys if they wish to ever to see the TARDIS again.

While travelling on the London Underground one afternoon, Alice meets the gaze of a man standing on the platform of a mysterious 'ghost station'. As her train hurtles into a tunnel, he's gone. She's convinced that the man was her brother Alan who has been missing presumed dead for the past five years. This fleeting encounter is the beginning of Alice's increasingly bizarre, desperate and labyrinthine search for her missing brother, a journey that leads her back through time into London's past. 

It is AD 79, and the TARDIS lands in Pompeii on the eve of the town's destruction. Mount Vesuvius is ready to erupt and bury its surroundings in molten lava, just as history dictates. Or is it? The Doctor and Donna find that Pompeii is home to impossible things: circuits made of stone, soothsayers who read minds and fiery giants made of burning rock. From a lair deep in the volcano, these creatures plot the end of humanity—and the Doctor soon finds he has no way to win.