Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth review (audiobook)

There are no surprises for fans of the original TV story, but Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth is still a highly enjoyable audiobook to listen to.

With the recent release of Doctor Who: The Dalek Collection – five novelizations in audiobook form, all focused on the Doctor’s worst enemies – I decided it was time to give the Target audiobooks a try. If they’re all as strong as the opening story Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth, then it’s going to be a joy catching up.

Like many fans of the Classic Series, The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a story that I’ve watched numerous times. Not only is it full of striking imagery, particularly with the pepper pots themselves, but it’s also a considerably grim story that’s extremely post-apocalyptic. While the Doctor would eventually become someone who stops alien invasions on a regular basis, in this instance, he’s arrived far too late for that.

When it comes to the novelization, how well does Terrance Dicks adapt the story to the page? Well, it’d be surprising to no one that Dicks – one of Doctor Who‘s most popular writers, especially for the Target novels – translates Terry Nation’s story extremely well.

Due to the generally short length of the Target books, there was very little he added to the story. But it still flows extremely well – indeed, I listened to the whole audiobook in less than a day. Despite knowing all the key story points in advance, Dicks’s writing still felt like a fresh way to enjoy it. And of course, there was how well the audiobook worked on its own terms…

The original TV serial was a strong Dalek story, and the same is true of the novelization, too.

(Photo by Ronald Dumont/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Excellent narration

For the audiobook version of the story, William Russell was chosen to narrate it. He’s an excellent choice, for many reasons. Not just for the fact that he played First Doctor companion Ian Chesterton himself, and therefore, along with Carole Ann Ford, remembers and understands the era better than anyone.

But he’s also just a brilliant narrator in his own right. He really throws himself into every character in his reading, and helps to make the story come alive in a way that feels completely fresh and faithful to both the original serial and Dicks’s novelization.

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An extra layer of this production is the sound design. Throughout Russell’s reading, there’s plenty of music, sound effects, and other little enhancements to the story. So moments like the characters being stuck in a mine feel more claustrophobic, or battles against the Dalek feel a lot more epic and exciting. It’s handled just right, helping to add an extra level of immersion to the story while taking nothing away from either the writing or the narration.

Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth is a simple retelling, but it’s still extremely effective. A strong example of not just why Terrance Dicks was considered to be one of the best writers for Target, but also of how strong the Target audiobooks from BBC Audio work on their own terms, too.

Have you read or listened to Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth? Do you think it was a strong adaptation of the story? What do you think worked better in the book than on television, or vice versa? Let us know in the comments below.