Starring Anna Friel, Colin Salmon, Alexander Siddig, Philip Glenister, Marc Warren, Michelle Ryan, William Hope

By Christopher Golden, adapted and directed by Dirk Maggs

Audible, out now

What really happened on Acheron, aka LV426, in the days before the Colonial Marines arrived accompanied by Ripley?

For the second year on the trot, Alien Day (4/26 in the US calendar) has been immeasurably enlivened by the arrival of an audio adaptation of one of Titan’s trilogy of novels that spun connective tissue between the first and second films in the saga – and I really can’t think of a better way of reimmersing yourself in the universe before Alien Covenant hits screens in a couple of weeks.

I reviewed Chris Golden’s novel when it was released three years ago (here) and everything I said about the book applies to the audio in terms of the storyline. Golden weaves his way in and out of the “established” texts – scenes that appear in the extended cut of Aliens are reprised here, and wherever possible, he’s also incorporated material from the various comic books that have dealt with this particular period (Newt’s Tale, for example). Maggs’ version retains the datelines for each section, which initially feels slightly intrusive in an audio, but becomes a very useful tool for understanding quickly how things are escalating.

Maggs has once again assembled a fantastic cast for the audio – the names listed above are but a small proportion of the huge cast – and each brings a distinctive tone to the piece. Colin Salmon and Anna Friel’s characters are at the story’s core, and both rise to the challenges of the piece. Having deliberately not looked too closely at the cast list before listening, there were more than a few surprises in store – Marc Warren and Philip Glenister are unrecognisable with the former making his character simultaneously annoying but deserving of pity, while Michelle Ryan was excellent. Alexander Siddig seems to be having great fun with a character at the diametric opposing end of the Hippocratic scale from his Star Trek doctor, and those recreating roles from the original Aliens (and for those who don’t know the novel, I won’t spoil who they are) capture the inflections and tones of the screen incarnations without it ever feeling like mimicry. One lovely touch is William Hope reprising his role as Lieutenant Gorman (although no one gets to call him an asshole!)…

The battle sequences work extremely well: if you think that would be easy to do (just chuck the pulse rifle sound in and a few Xenomorph screeches and human screams), then just listen to one of the scenes in Aliens without the pictures and try to work out what’s happening. It’s always clear here who’s attacking and who’s being attacked and Maggs brings that cinematic scope to the entire production – including extreme close-ups for moments that require them.

The best compliment I can give both book and audio movie is that they feel exactly right – for me at least, we now have the full Aliens extended cut. And once you’ve finished this, go watch the movie… again…

Verdict: An excellent production of a terrific Alien tale. 10/10

Paul Simpson

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