Doctor Who: Dead Air

By: James Goss

Narrated by: David Tennant

‘Hello, I’m the Doctor. And, if you can hear this, then one of us is going to die.’ At the bottom of the sea, in the wreck of a floating radio station, a lost recording has been discovered. After careful restoration, it is played for the first time – to reveal something incredible. It is the voice of the Doctor, broadcasting from Radio Bravo in 1966. He has travelled to Earth in search of the Hush – a terrible weapon that kills, silences and devours anything that makes noise – and has tracked it to a boat crewed by a team of pirate DJs. With the help of feisty Liverpudlian Layla and some groovy pop music, he must trap the Hush and destroy it – before it can escape and destroy the world... Written specially for audio by James Goss and read by David Tennant, Dead Air features the Doctor as played by David Tennant in the acclaimed hit series from BBC Television. It was crowned 'Best Audiobook of the Year 2010' in a public vote hosted by The Audiobook Store.©2009 BBC Audiobooks Ltd; (P)2009 BBC Audiobooks Ltd

Critic reviews

Loaded with tension and scares

there are some great lines and Tennant's voice work is a delight

Dead Air is a real delight – innovative, inspired and quite easily the pick of the tenth Doctor audio exclusives. (E. G. Wolverson)

Only one problem

It is not in the slitest long enough. It's way way way way too short.

Engaging story written as for radio

Not all Doctor Who radio performance are alike. Some are obviously attempts at TV scripts that didn't quite make the cut. Some are obviously books that didn't quite get made long enough. Dead Air is none of the above. This is made for radio through and through. It has a great starting and ending hook, and has the ability to keep you engaged throughout. Also, David Tennant has an amazing voice as a narrator, so how can you go wrong with TEN himself?

If you're looking through Doctor Who short audioprogramms ... get this one!

Who?

Dr. Who to the rescue in this BBC radio production with sounds and music. A sound creature is killing people and it is up to the Dr. to capture or as a last resort kill the sound creature before it gets to everyone else including himself. Dose Dr. Who outsmart the entity???

Dr Who Meets...The Silence

Would you listen to Doctor Who again? Why?

Yes. I enjoy the Dr Who stories, even though the Doctors sometimes seem a little...daft. :-D

What does David Tennant bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice, since he *was* one of the (imo better) Doctors. It was good to listen to him read it, although he voice differentiation of the characters wasn't super great. I'll listen to more by him, though, and see how he does with those characters.

Any additional comments?

Not a bad little Dr Who short story, a good 'fix' for having missed one of the recent new Dr Who episodes.

Vague Monster and neat frame device

Would you try another book from James Goss and/or David Tennant?

I love David Tennant's reading, and I read this story because I enjoyed one of his other works.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'm trying to find new authors to follow in speculative fiction.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed the David Tennant in stereo at the ending.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Really, this would lose all the charm it has in a visual medium.

Any additional comments?

The monster just doesn't work. It's too hazy and generalized to have cohesive internal logic.