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"Doctor Who" - Pest Control (Dr Who)

Author: Peter Anghelides
Creator: David Tennant
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł9.99~~
Buy New: Ł3.32
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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3 reviews
Sales Rank: 537

Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4

ISBN: 1405678194
EAN: 9781405678193
ASIN: 1405678194

Publication Date: May 8, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new - mint condition. Normally dispatched same day.

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

Masterfully written `military' Doctor Who story July 25, 2008
Barcode: 9781405678193

Throughout Doctor Who's history `military' stories have cropped up many times. The classic situation being the Doctor and his companion finding themselves in the middle of a conflict between two factions. It's his inquisitiveness and dislike of violence put up against the brash actions of the military forces that make for such powerful storytelling and with `Pest Control', writer Peter Anghelides shows how this concept works just as well on audio.

Take the recent series 4 of Doctor Who for example - In that alone you had the Sontaran two-parter as well as the Doctor's Daughter - both encompassing strong military themes. Thus, `Pest Control' fits very well into the overall feel of series, also in the way it encompasses the grander scale and darker feel of that series. What you immediately notice though is that within the audio format, there is complete freedom to create wondrous worlds and alien races without limitations of budget and this really shows here, the story having an epic feel to it.

Things kick off with the Doctor and Donna landing on a desolate, war-torn planet, caught in a conflict between the centaur-like Aquabi and the human soldiers, the insectoid Serfians being introduced shortly later. The human soldiers are the key focus here, ranging from the down-to-earth grunts, a sneaky reporter type, an uncaring leader and downright sinister medical advisor. Each is explored in fascinating detail, tempers obviously reaching fever point as differing attitudes bounce off each other. Donna herself even gets conscripted up into the armed forces!

On the whole, this is quite a gritty story, featuring themes of racism, descriptions of injuries (neck broken, limbs almost severed), a pretty high death toll and plenty of destruction on a large scale. Another important theme picked up on by the Doctor himself is the very best and very worst that humans can showcase and this idea becomes in many ways the crux of this story.

Of course, as Doctor Who always does so well, this grim backdrop is perfectly balanced against lovely little dashes of lightness with loads of great comedy moments from the Doctor and Donna featuring in this story along with some quaint references to Star Trek and Harry Potter too. It's also interesting to note that that the two actually spend most of this story apart (a good two-thirds at least). This works to the story's strength though, allowing the characters to play to their own personal strengths and really shine.

Another important part of Doctor Who is its absorbance of various influences and working them into new, exciting visions. In `Pest Control' there's a whole host of touchstones, ranging from previous elements of the show itself (there's even a giant robot in this story) to classic sci-fi films like Aliens in the way the insectoid aliens burst out from the unwitting human hosts as well as the clear conflict within the human military itself.

This story flows really well, hooking you right from the start and is excellently paced. Maybe because it was written specifically for audio, this story feels cinematic by the and before long you've reached the terrifying track 11 of part 2, kickstarting an awesome finale.

In terms of production, David Tennant as an absolute joy to listen to as he narrates, conveying the Doctor just as well as he does on TV as well as supplying us with voices for a whole host of memorable supporting characters. There's also lots of nice atmospheric backing music and little touches of sound effects that just really bring out the realism in this story like the scary hisses and clicks of the Serfians.

So, all in all, whether you're a long time fan of Doctor Who or if this is your first taste of the show's audio range, you're in for a real treat with this story!

1 out of 5 stars

A terrible waste of money July 14, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful

I bought this audio book because I enjoy David Tennant's readings. He does a wonderful array of voices and accents in everything he does. However, the story was just awful. This author has never been a particular favorite of mine, but has been in the past, passable. Tennant's talent wasn't enough to pull this tiresome, BORING story out of the morass. Don't waste your money on this one.

4 out of 5 stars

bugging out May 15, 2008
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

a talking book doctor who cd. read by david tennant, who plays the doctor on tv. This runs for two and a half hours spread over two cd's. It's not an audio play, it's more like one of the current range of doctor who novels, being read out by someone.

The story involves the doctor and current companion donna arriving on a world where humans and a race of alien centaurs are fighting a war. strange things are happening to some of the humans, who are turning into monsters. the tardis is lost. and there's a big robot on the loose that seems intent on killing absolutely everything. can the doctor rescue the tardis, stop the war, and find out what's really going on?

This is not a classic story but it's fine for what it is, and hits all the notes you'd expect in regards to things that happen to the tardis crew. david tennant is an excellent reader and very good to listen to. he narrates in his normal tone, but does the doctor's voice for when that character is talking, and provides different voices for all the other characters. one of them I found slightly too comedic but the rest are very good. his impression of donna does slightly sound like her with a blocked up nose, but it's very good indeed.

there are roughly twenty two tracks on each cd but there are no part breaks in the story so it can be a bit long to listen to in one go. and whilst it's a bit slow to start the pacing does really pick up in the second half. so this is nothing special, but it's a good listen, and it's worth 4/5