Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks

By: Terrance Dicks

Narrated by: Nicholas Briggs, Richard Franklin

Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

An unabridged reading of this classic novelisation of a 1972 TV story featuring the Third Doctor, as played on TV by Jon Pertwee.

Mysterious humans from 22nd-century Earth time jump back into the 20th century so as to assassinate a high-ranking diplomat on whom the peace of the world depends. The Doctor, Jo Grant and the Brigadier are soon called in to investigate.

Jo is accidentally transported to the future; the Doctor follows, eventually to be captured by his oldest and deadliest enemies: the Daleks! Having submitted the Doctor to the fearful Mind Analysis Machine, the Daleks plan a time-jump attack on Earth in the 20th century!

Duration: 4 hours 30 mins approx.

©2016 BBC Worldwide Ltd. (P)2016 BBC Worldwide Ltd.

Disappointing

The story was great i enjoyed the DVD of this but the narrator was very disappointing his tone,the accents etc were annoying and it made it difficult to listen to. Would not recommend this book

Better than the real thing

Stuuning narration, a virtuoso performance. The daleks as we love them. Buy it, highly recommended.

Who doesn’t like Dr Who?!

Loved this. Great book that took me back to my younger days when I read all the Dr Who books in the town library. I’ll be getting more, for sure!

Before the Terminator...

The recently late, great Terrence Dicks wrote fast paced adaptions of Who scripts that lacked the world building and depth of, say, Malcom Hulke's novelisations but worked like espresso's; short, speedy hits that got Who quickly into the bloodstream. This is no exception, a pre-Terminator take on homicidal robots going back to the past to ensure history goes their way, fought by small bands of human resistance fighters. The third Doctor and Jo are called in to address a confused sighting of Ghosts by prominent politician Reginald Styles, who is about to hold a conference of world leaders to hopefully avoid world war 3. This 'ghost' is a time travelling resistance fighter erroneously believing that Styles caused world war 3 (spoiler, he didn't) and so eliminating mutually assured destruction at source. But said guerrilla's time travelling tech is wonky so he shimmers out before he can do the deed. But the Daleks want this to happen so they can later take over the Earth in its weakened post apocalypse state. The Doctor and Jo get pulled into this grim future where they find a Dalek subjugated humanity, where the Daleks' rule helped by a slave hierarchy of humans. At the top of the slave caste is a controller, who is one of the most satisfying characters in the book. His barely repressed self-loathing and journey to redemption is a satisfying character act to follow. The rest is pretty much by the numbers. Richard Frankilin (Who's Mike Yates) clearly enjoys narrating this tale and his enjoyment and love for Who is infectious. His voice is full of glee at times, and you have to love him for it. Stranger is his odd slurring of his third Doctor's lines and his Jo can be jarring and shrill indeed, and then there is the Controller's comedy German accent. But all told his reading remains a delight.

Dales conquer and destroy!!

Another great addition to the Dr Who range . one of the best Dalek and Pertwee stories with a solid narration from Richard Franklin who of course played Mike Yates in the original TV broadcast of this story.