Doctor Who And The Cave Monsters

By: Malcolm Hulke

Narrated by: Caroline John

All is not well at the Wenley Moor underground atomic research station: there are unaccountable losses of power-output; nervous breakdowns amongst the staff; and then - a death! UNIT is called in, and the Brigadier is soon joined by Doctor Who and Liz Shaw in a tense and exciting adventure with subterranean reptile men – Silurians – and a 40 ft. high Tyrannosaurus rex, the biggest, most savage mammal which ever trod the Earth! Caroline John, who played Liz Shaw in the original TV serial Doctor Who and the Silurians, reads Malcolm Hulke’s complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1974. ‘They’re well-written books – adventure stories of course, but with some thought... the creation of the character of the Doctor had a touch of genius about it.’ - Westminster Press.©1974 Malcolm Hulke; (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd

What you want from a Target adaptation

To me the best adaptations of Dr Who shows are those that add something to the original without significanty changing it. Some target authors, especially Terrance Dicks just do a direct conversion of the script to a book format without an additions that deepen the charater development or story background. This book does that as well as any I have listened to so far. You learn more about some characters, particularly the SIlurians and otherwise the story follows the script.

Quite different but interesting retelling.

What made the experience of listening to Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters the most enjoyable?

Caroline John's performance is good and the music between chapters is very cool and atmospheric. Sounded very "Doctor Who"! Made me wish there was more of it and also wonder who the composer was.An interesting listen as it differs a lot in places from the original program and goes into more detail.

If you’ve listened to books by Malcolm Hulke before, how does this one compare?

Book is well-written. This is one of my favourite stories from the third Doctor era so it was good to hear this expanded telling that includes many interesting descriptions from the point of view of the monsters.

Have you listened to any of Caroline John’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

She gives a lively performance at times and does the different voices and accents well. I see she also reads another of my favourites, "Inferno", so might check that one out next.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I managed it in two listens as I usually find audio-books quite long and rarely listen to the whole thing in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Overall a worthwhile, interesting expansion of one of the best third Doctor stories.

Fantastic!

A great, classic story read by an amazing actress. Goes by very quickly. 5/5 stars.