Doctor Who: Pest Control

By: Peter Anghelides

Narrated by: David Tennant

Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

An exclusive audio adventure read by David Tennant. The Doctor and Donna face monstrous insects and a ruthless robot exterminator in this thriling, exclusive audio story.

The TARDIS is lost in battle on a distant planet. When the Doctor sets off in pursuit, Donna is left behind, and finds herself accepting a commission in the Pioneer Corps. Something is transforming soldiers into monstrous beetles, and she could be the next victim.

Featuring the Doctor and Donna, as played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate in the hit series from BBC Television, this story has been written specially for audio by Peter Anghelides, and is read by David Tennant, with additional music and sound effects.

©2008 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2008 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

I have to wonder what Cathrine Tate thinks...

I really love this story. It's cute and a little bit weird. Not as clever as the average Dr. Who script, but not terrible. David Tennant is one of the best audiobook readers I've ever heard. The way he swaps between accents is seamless, and his Donna Noble voice is spot-on, and hilarious. The reading is entertaining enough for the price. I don't usually use my credit on short audiobooks, but I've listened to this twice, and I really enjoyed it.

One of my favorite stories. Donna Noble.

Has just enough of that Donna Noble attitude and her growing awareness of the universe to keep me listening. The centaur immobilized by the Doctor was one of my favorite parts.

The Doctor Reads

Dr Who actually read by the man currently playing Dr who. For a fan, I think that alone is worth the price of the book. The story itself is only fair. It sounds a bit to much like the plot from a comic, rather then Dr who. But its entertaining, if not terrible original.

what is not to like?

I've listened to this story through twice. It was a bit confusing at first because there are a lot of characters and a number of actual or potential villains, and I don't always concentrate fully when I listen to audiobooks (i.e. my confusion was not the fault of the story or the narration). The first time I was a bit disappointed because the Doctor and Donna are separated for a lot of the story. But the second time I knew that was going to happen, so I really enjoyed their little bickering conversation at the beginning, and how they dealt with the separate and somewhat bewildering situations they each found themselves in. The story was quite interesting as it unfolded. I anticipated certain plot developments but others came as a surprise. I absolutely loved the Doctor's speech on what he will and won't bear. It is classic, pure Doctor.

Tennant does a brilliant array of accents, including American and Russian, and of course it's a delight to hear the Doctor's dialogue in the Doctor's own voice. There are excellent sound effects for certain of the creatures. Overall, really great!

Great Doctor Who fun

For anyone who can’t get enough of the 10th Doctor! David Tennant does a great job with the narration, really giving voice to all the characters.

Loved this Story!

I love the way David Tennant narrates audiobooks! This Doctor Who story is a fantastic Doctor & Donna story that has two parts, the first part is more of a slow buildup to the second part. But the story is really involved and plays out nicely, just like a good TV episode would. I definitely recommend this ones for fans of Doctor Who and the 10th Doctor!

A fascinating story but not everybody's genre

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

Emotional, adventurous, wonderful.

Would you be willing to try another book from Peter Anghelides? Why or why not?

I'm not sure. His writing was good but the topic wasn't really mine so I would have to see what the other book would be about.

What about David Tennant’s performance did you like?

Everything, as usual. His wonderful voice, his ability to create atmosphere and build up tension, his various characters and accents. Great performance.

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

Yes, it was. It was a well told story full of tension and I was curious about how it would procede. The story evolves around war and soldiers which I don't normally like (hence my three stars for the story) but it was well told.

Military Story

I liked this one for the most part. I didn't like the dramatic music playing in the background. I don't think it needed it, and it made it 10 times as creepy, especially since I usually listen at night. If you like to be super creeped out and a little grossed out, go ahead and listen.

Several "driveway moments" with this one

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

I listened to "Pest Control" on a cross-country drive from Denver to Chicago recently. Found myself repeatedly lingering at rest stops because I didn't want to disengage from the story long enough to turn off the player while I got back on the highway. I guess that says a lot about how engrossing the story, how spot-on the characterizations and how engating the narration were!

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

Two points, the first of which is fairly obvious: The Doctor is being read by The Doctor! The second point being that David Tennant is as marvelous and consummate a voice actor as he is in film, on television and on the stage. It is clear from the amount of characterization he puts into each role he voices that he treats story narration with the same care and thoughtfulness that he puts into roles with visual as well as audio components.

Craftsmanship, whether it is evidenced in handcrafts, stagecraft, wordsmithing, or any other art form is an instantly recognizable quality when it is there; and it is most definitely "there" in Mr. Tennant's masterful narration.

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

Yes. And, happily, I did!

Wonderful narration, regretful sound effects

Any additional comments?

6 stars for David Tennant's narration, but 1.5 stars for the sound effects that are meant, I'm sure, to add dimension to the listening experience; however David Tennant, as any good narrator does, provides more than enough animation and dimension with his performance and the added mood music and robot voices and animal sounds and other noises are all just very distracting and really disturb this whole experience for me. Might have been a 5-star audiobook if only the added sounds weren't there.