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Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright travel with the mysterious
Doctor and his granddaughter Susan to the planet Skaro in
the space-time machine, the TARDIS. There they strive to save
the peace-loving Thals from the evil intentions of the hideous
Daleks. Can they succeed - and will they ever again see their
native Earth...?
This
MP3-CD is a very special product indeed: a pivotal piece of
Doctor Who's past has gone all hi-tech. Not only is
this reading of the first ever Who novelisation - which
is still one of the best - complete and unabridged at over
five hours long, but it is performed by the very actor who,
in the television series, portrayed the character from whose
first-person perspective the book is told: William Russell,
alias Ian Chesterton.
Written
by the series' original story editor, David Whitaker, this
adaptation of the second Who serial - the first Dalek
story - was first published in 1964 by Frederick Muller, under
the title Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the
Daleks. It was republished as the first of the long-running
Target range in 1973, with cover art by Chris Achilleos, whose
beautiful work is reproduced on the CD cover.
In order to introduce the time-travelling characters to the
reader, but lacking the rights to adapt the programme's introductory
episode - An Unearthly Child by Anthony Coburn - Whitaker
concocted his own beginning for the adventures of Ian, Barbara,
Susan and the Doctor. Instead of meeting Susan as one of their
pupils at Coal Hill School, Ian and Barbara are brought together
by a horrific road accident on Barnes Common.
A
few aspects of An Unearthly Child remain, however,
such as the Doctor's claim that one day he will return to
his own world and the fact that he and Susan have spent the
last several months in 1960s London. There are also elements
of Whitaker's own two-part serial Inside the Spaceship,
in particular the striped medicated bandages. Once the travellers
have arrived on Skaro, the plot proceeds pretty much as it
did in Terry Nation's original seven-part Dalek story. If
you must shoehorn this narrative into a wider continuity,
you can think of it as Ian's own "fictionalised" account of
his experiences, a novel that he wrote following his return
to Earth.
The
first-person viewpoint is not as restrictive as you might
think. Though Susan's account of her solo expedition beyond
the Dalek city has to be reported to Ian after the fact, most
of the rest of the original serial placed Ian in the thick
of the action, so it seems only natural for the tale to be
told from his point of view. All in all, the device makes
for dramatic storytelling, which is made all the more effective
by Russell's compelling narration.
Whitaker's
writing is surprisingly adult in tone. The opening segment,
in the aftermath of the crash, is very grim indeed, as are
the subsequent mutated horrors encountered on Skaro. Ian stops
for a ciggie at one point, and there are hints at the possibility
of romance between he and Barbara. So all those who have ever
said that Who books shouldn't deal with adult topics
can stick that in their pipes and smoke it!
The
CD also contains a short - very short - interview with
Russell, and PC and Mac users can view Arnold Schwartzman's
original interior illustrations from the novel. The recording
is also punctuated by authentic sound effects from the TV
series.
As
Doctor Who embarks upon a new beginning with Christopher
Eccleston in the title role, let this special reading transport
you back in time to an alternative account of the programme's
origins.
Richard
McGinlay
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
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£19.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
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£19.99
(Countrybookshop.co.uk) |
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£16.99
(Studentbookworld.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
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