Doctor Who: Dead Air

By: James Goss

Narrated by: David Tennant

Length: 1 hr and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

This is an exclusive, original adventure for the 10th Doctor, read by David Tennant. Featuring additional music and effects, Doctor Who: Dead Air has never been previously published.

Hot on the heels of a creature that exists through sound, the Doctor lands on a pirate radio station boat in the late 1960s. The creature has already killed some of the DJs, and the Doctor befriends the survivors. But then the lights go out, and a desperate race for survival begins. Who can the Doctor trust in the dark?

©2009 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2009 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Vacuous villain

When adapting Doctor Who for audio presentation, it makes great sense to use a audio-centric setting, as “Dead Air” does with it’s 1960’s pirate radio station floating off the coast of England. The format also lends itself to suspenseful “In the dark” scenes where the listener is just as blind as the characters. Despite these in-built advantages, however, the story drags a bit for want of relatable characters to identify with or even a sufficiently menacing villain to overcome. Told from the first person perspective of the Doctor himself, the story right off precludes any hope of fully relating to the protagonist’s fear or dread; David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor doesn’t really suffer from these. The only way for the author to provide any exposition into the threat is for the Doctor to explain it to other characters, or directly to the listener through a clever "narration for posterity” trick. Companionless, he takes on the temporary acquaintance of a mostly helpless young lady named Layla, who he spends the story attempting to protect from an Alien weapon that has achieved some degree of sentience and (therefore?) bloodthirst. In between these moments of terror-filled tension, he provides a sympathetic, “girlfriendy” shoulder for Layla to unburden her unrequited love sob-story on to. While there are only four characters in this brief adventure, it was enjoyable to hear Tennant narrate the additional voices, which I felt were memorably done. The most off-putting element for me was deus ex machina provided by that sonic screwdriver, the crutch of lazy writers since 1968.

Dead Air delivers

The story is smart and has some great twists. It feels a bit rushed to me. It also feels a bit hollow at the end, but I can't say more without spoilers. The "rules" of the creature are never defined, so it just feels a bit contrived at the end. But still very enjoyable and an absolutely excellent performance by Tennant.

great fun

Would you consider the audio edition of Doctor Who to be better than the print version?

These little episodes are meant to be listened to...not read. It is a challenge to longtime Dr. Who fans like myself to discover that the 'universe (of Dr Who) has expanded'. I will never ever get through them all....but it is great fun trying!!!!

Decent Short Story

Any additional comments?

I'm a huge fan of DW, and thought this would be just as exciting. I was only slightly disappointed. I thought the storyline was great, although it felt more like a horror story than the usual adventure story, which was fine, just not what I was expecting. Also, I had a hard time visualizing a lot of the scenes, however, that may be because they were mostly in the dark. This story was narrated by David Tennant himself, so that is a definite bonus!

I would try another DW book before I decide to just stick with the television series!

Pretty good....and short. Damnit...

Where does Doctor Who rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Doctor Who always ranks high. Why? Because he's DOCTOR WHO! Seriously though the story was okay. The performance was excellent.

What about David Tennant’s performance did you like?

When he played The Doctor.

Any additional comments?

I got this one on the daily deal for 3.95 or some such. THAT is the price any audio book that is 2 hours or less deserves. Not 9.95. Not 7.95.

One hour deserves 3.95. Two hours deserves 5.95. Three deserves 7.95 AT MOST. Seriously Audible. You will sell a lot more copies. At those prices. I would buy them.

Okay rant done.

For now...

Can't go wrong with Doctor Who

Any additional comments?

All I'm going to say was that it plays out like a normal doctor who episode. The only complaint I had was Tennant's voice for one of the two male characters (aside from his own, of course) was a little iffy for me.

Made for the Medium

it's not everyday I find a story like this on Audible. a story written from the very beginning to be listened to. audiobooks often feel a bit like an after thought for most stories and that's because they are. but this fun little episode of a doctor who radio play was made to be heard and it's so refreshing. David Tennant did a wonderful job narrating ofc, but the story here is just- so wonderfully classic who and perfect for the medium. loved it.

Brilliant story and well crafted audiobook

This is amongst the best few of the Dr Who audio books to date. The story is very good and sufficiently different from the myriad others it joins in the Dr Who universe to include a few surprises. What make it a stand out is how the story is written as though the narrative is a retrieved 'audiotape' made by the Dr. This of course lends itself perfectly to the audio book format, and the opportunity it presents was not wasted in the audio book production. Thus, whilst not quite an audio-play (as are a few of the Torchwood audio books) Dead Air is more than just a narration of the book/script.

As with all recent Dr Who scripts & books, Dead Air is a little derivative of the types of plot elements that have worked in the past. This is manifest in the type and nature of the alien foe, local human characters and setting for the story. This is fine though... The formula makes it a classic style Dr Who story with a new and interesting storyline. If anything, my only disappointment was that the story was so short. Yes it was priced accordingly, but a story this good could have been built upon and improved.

Of the dozens of Dr Who stories on audible, this is one for any listener. A good one-off for a non-Dr Who fan's collection, or a key addition for someone who enjoys the genre.

Alien Takeover

If you could sum up Doctor Who in three words, what would they be?

Intelligent, fast-paced, entertaining

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character has been and always will be The Doctor because of the way he talks to solve the problem instead of resorting to violence, however it is done in a manner that isnt boring.

Which character – as performed by David Tennant – was your favorite?

Still the Doctor, i've always loved david Tennant on television and on audio books for the same reasons as above

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

of course not to long and kept me interested from the first sentence onward.

Any additional comments?

A must for any Doctor Who fan!!!

So good I wish it were longer!

I love these Doctor Who books! It is a cool way to be able to get extra stories of The Doctor and be able to "read" them at work. These are so good the only bad thing is that they go too fast. I was listening to this one at work and was shocked when it ended & it was already my lunch time. They make my day go so fast. These are priced just right too so you don't feel so bad getting them without using a credit.

David Tennant is my favorite of the narrators for the Doctor Who books. I could listen to him read just about anything and be entertained! His range of voices is incredible and makes an already good book even better.