Marco Polo, The Dalek Audio Annual and more! Doctor Who releases from BBC Audio for December
December sees the release of a range of brand new Doctor Who audiobooks from BBC Audio.
December’s publication of Marco Polo is bittersweet, as it was the last professional engagement for reader Zienia Merton, who died in September. In spite of her illness, Zienia was determined to read John Lucarotti’s novelisation of the 1964 TV serial in which she played Ping- Cho, and she did so beautifully. Be transported to far and distant lands in her company.
The Doctor’s arch enemies are to be found marauding and conquesting — this time without their nemesis in sight — in The Dalek Audio Annual, a fabulously full-bodied collection of adventure stories taken from World Distributors’ mid-1970s Dalek annuals. Nicholas Briggs, Louise Jameson and Matthew Waterhouse are on hand to fight them off — or go down trying. This is a spin-off from our two previous Doctor Who Audio Annuals which have been popularly received by nostalgic older fans.
The Second Alien Worlds Collection brings fantastic value in a digital-only package, as no fewer than five unabridged Target Book readings are made available under one title. This collection takes listeners on a giddying ride through the Universe via the voices of some of BBC Audio’s most popular readers: William Russell, Geoffrey Beevers, Mark Gatiss and John Leeson.
Scroll down for further details about what’s available this month!
Zienia Merton reads this captivating novelisation of an epic ‘lost’ historical TV adventure featuring the First Doctor
The young Venetian, Marco Polo, is on his way to the Emperor’s court in Peking when he meets four intrepid time travellers: the elderly Doctor, his granddaughter Susan and their companions Ian and Barbara.
The TARDIS has broken down whilst on Earth in the year 1289. Marco Polo recognises in it a means of winning favour with the Emperor, and he insists that the travellers accompany his caravan to Cathay.
The journey is fraught with sandstorms, drought, bandits, would-be assassins and many other hidden dangers. Even if they do arrive safely at the court of Kublai Khan, the Doctor and his friends have no guarantee of ever seeing the inside of the TARDIS again…
Zienia Merton, who played Ping-Cho in the original BBC serial, reads John Lucarotti’s novelisation of his own 1964 TV adventure. Duration: 4 hours approx.
Doctor Who: Marco Polo (First Doctor Novelisation) will be available on Amazon and Audible from 6th December.
The Daleks rampage in this collection of vintage stories from Terry Nation’s Dalek Annuals of the 1970s
Urgent message to all Anti-Dalek Force agents: the Daleks are coming! Defend yourself with The Dalek Audio Annual, packed with exciting tales of galactic terror, global invasion and the adventures of plucky human resistance fighters.
Special ADF agents Nicholas Briggs, Louise Jameson and Matthew Waterhouse read five stories of battlefield reportage – Terror Task Force, Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!, Timechase, The Doomsday Machine and Report from an Unknown Planet – alongside factual updates on the Dalek War: Dalek Genius, Mark 7 Humanoid Robot, Special Report: Secret Meeting on Skaro and more. All material is authenticated from Terry Nation’s Dalek Annuals of the 1970s.
++ ORDER YOUR COPY NOW ++ It is your duty to remain informed of progress in the ongoing battle between humans and Daleks! Duration: 2 hours 30 mins.
The Dalek Audio Annual will be available on Amazon and Audible from 6th December.
Five classic novelisations of exciting TV adventures set on distant planets!
In The Sensorites, the First Doctor is forced into an uneasy alliance with a race of telepathic creatures from the Sense-Sphere. In Doctor Who and the Space War, the Third Doctor finds that a full-scale war between Earth and the planet Draconia seems inevitable. In Planet of the Daleks, the Third Doctor and Jo discover a vast army of Daleks waiting to mobilise and conquer on the planet Spiridon. In The Ribos Operation, the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 embark on a quest for the first missing segment of the Key to Time, and in The Androids of Tara they become entangled in the politics of a planet on which androids are a vital commodity.
Read by William Russell, Geoffrey Beevers, Mark Gatiss and John Leeson. Duration: 22 hours 20 mins approx. Each purchase is accompanied by a PDF booklet featuring full cast and credits, chapter-by-chapter navigation, and sleeve notes for each book by David J. Howe.
Doctor Who: The Second Alien Worlds Collection (First, Third and Fourth Doctor Novelisations) will be available on Amazon and Audible from 6th December.
All titles are available from Amazon and Audible in December. Check back here next month for a roundup of BBC Audio’s January releases.