Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Science Fiction

Geoffrey Beevers reads this exciting novelisation of a 1980 TV adventure featuring the Fourth Doctor, as played by Tom Baker. The Doctor, Romana and K9 - and a young stowaway called Adric - are trapped in the alternative universe of E-Space. Seeking help, the land on an unknown planet. There...

Drawn into 'the nexus of the primeval cauldron of Space-Time', the Doctor and Peri are somewhat surprised to find themselves at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Is it really just chance that has brought them to the funfair? Or is their arrival somehow connected with the sinister presence of a rather familiar Chinese Mandarin?

Victorian adventure writer Henry Rider Haggard is most famous for his novel King Solomon’s Mines, which launched the ‘Lost World’ genre of SF, featuring the discovery of long-forgotten or legendary civilizations. His follow-up, She, was also hugely successful, and has been hailed as ‘one of the great classics of fantasy fiction’. The radio dramatisations of both tales are collected here, with casts including Tim McInnerny, Adjoa Andoh, Finlay Robertson, Oliver Chris and Mia Soteriou.

Fabulous tales from the vintage pages of Doctor Who Annual, brought to life by a host of Doctor Who voices. Dan Starkey, Geoffrey Beevers, Anneke Wills, Jon Culshaw, Louise Jameson and Colin Baker are our guides through these weird and wacky stories.

An unabridged reading of this novelisation of a classic 1984 TV adventure for the Fifth Doctor. Far into the future, the TARDIS hovers over the planet Frontios, refuge of survivors from Earth who escaped the disintegration of their home planet. The Doctor is reluctant to land, not wishing to intervene in a moment of historical crisis; the colonists are still struggling to establish themselves, and their continued existence hangs in the balance.

Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra. Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran. The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers. How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all?

In the year 2030, when the world is hit by a series of terrible natural disasters, only one man seems to know what action to take. Salamander’s success in handling these monumental problems has brought him enormous power. But what more lies behind his public persona? From the moment the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on an Australian beach, they are caught up in a struggle for world domination - a struggle in which the Doctor’s startling resemblance to Salamander plays a vital role.

Adjoa Andoh reads a dynamic new story featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose, as played on TV by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. When the Doctor diverts an asteroid from its collision course with Earth, the TARDIS is invaded by an ancient menace: a Solonite. Racing to save her friend's life...

Martin Jarvis reads this exciting novelisation of a classic TV adventure for the Sixth Doctor, introducing the slug-like Sil. The TARDIS has stalled in midflight, and it is only on the planet Varos that the Doctor can find the precious Zeiton-7 ore he needs to continue his travels through time and space. Arriving on the planet, he saves the rebel Jondar from execution, and incurs the wrath of Sil, the sadistic representative of the Galatron Mining Corporation on Varos. 

An unabridged reading of this novelisation of a classic 1960s TV adventure for the First Doctor, as played by William Hartnell. Following a skirmish in deep space, two alien spacecraft have crash-landed on a barren planet in Galaxy Four. The Drahvins are a race of beautiful females led by the imperious Maaga. The Rills are hideous tusked monstrosities accompanied by their robotic servants, the Chumblies. When the Doctor arrives with Vicki and Steven in tow, he discovers that the planet will explode in two days' time.

Scientist Ralph Exon, working for an international fertiliser corporation, has created a new strain of soya bean: a mutation which he hopes will help eliminate Third World famine. But in that plant, known as the Exon strain, there lurks the Destruction Factor. As it rapidly grows - shooting up from six inches to two feet in mere hours - the plant produces oxygen at massively increased levels, sparking uncontrollable fires. 

Nicola Bryant reads a brand new story featuring the Sixth Doctor and Peri, set in the far future. The TARDIS lands aboard the Sun God, a vast spaceship carrying executives from a powerful 35th century energy company. Peri is menaced by deadly cat-like robots, whilst the Doctor discovers that Spalding Revere, the company's founder, has set the ship on course for the heart of a sun. Spalding's last wish is to take his acolytes with him to the afterlife, and unless the Doctor can intervene, he and Peri will be going with them.

The TARDIS brings its occupants to Calico Three, an Earth-like planetoid where industrial foundries are worked alongside sophisticated technology. The Doctor is staggered to learn about the Resurrection Plant, which re-births anyone mortally wounded in the line of work. While Jamie is put to work in the foundry, Zoe and the Doctor investigate the Plant—but when the machine goes terribly wrong, they must work with the locals to combat a horrifying monster. The Doctor also uncovers a shameful secret that, for him at least, hits close to home.

In 1890s Cardiff, reporter James MacFarlane is intrigued by rumours of ‘anaesthesia frolics’, at which gatherings the latest frontier in pain relief is demonstrated to influential guests. After he speaks to someone who attended several such ‘frolics’—and left with a hand and two fingers missing—James realises that the events have a dark side. Contriving an invitation, he is astounded to find another guest also investigating—it’s his old friend the Doctor! Reunited in mystery, the Doctor and James enter the murky underbelly of polite Cardiff society.

Dan Starkey reads a brand new audio adventure for the Eighth Doctor, set in Victorian Edinburgh. It's the late 1890s, and newspaper journalist James MacFarlane is on the trail of a supernatural entity. He's joined in his investigations by a mysterious stranger, who calls himself the Doctor and professes to know a lot about vampires.

An unabridged reading of this classic novelisation of an adventure featuring the Third Doctor, as played on TV by Jon Pertwee. 'Axos calling Earth, Axos calling Earth....' The creatures stood before them, offering friendship and their priceless Axonite, in return for - what? Only the Doctor remains suspicious. What is the real reason for the Axons' sudden arrival on Earth? And why is the evil Master a passenger on their spaceship? He very soon finds out....

The TARDIS lands in the Lancashire village of Bilehurst Cragg in the 17th century, and the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz soon become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner. Fear stalks the land, and the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But the Doctor soon realises there is something more sinister than paranoia and superstition at work. Tendrils of living mud stir in the ground, and the dead lurch back to horrifying life as an evil alien presence begins to revive.

Outside the bounds of this world lives Kronos, the Chronivore - a mysterious creatures that feeds on time itself. Posing as a Cambridge professor, the Master intends to use Kronos in his evil quest for power. To stop him, the Doctor and Jo must journey back in time to Ancient Atlantis and to a terrifying confrontation within the Time Vortex itself. But can even the Doctor save himself from the awesome might of the Time Monster?

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.

It is 4 March 1215, and the TARDIS materialises in England during a jousting match held in the presence of King John. It soon becomes apparent to the Doctor that something is very wrong. Why does John express no fear or surprise at the time travellers' sudden appearance and indeed welcome them as the King's Demons? And what is the true identity of Sir Gilles, the King's Champion? Very soon the Doctor finds himself involved in a fiendish plan to alter the course of world history by one of his oldest and deadliest enemies.