Read by Jon Culshaw and John Leeson

BBC Audio, out now

All things are possible – and here’s one possible way in which events at the Gateway played out…

You don’t hear anything about Warriors’ Gate for years… and then in the space of a few weeks, three different media present multiple diverse versions. With the release of the Season 18 Collection on Blu-ray, we got a remixed sound for Stephen Gallagher’s 1981 original; now we have an audio version of the novel that Gallagher originally wrote, but which was refused permission by John Nathan-Turner because it varied too much from the broadcast version; and coming up at the start of May is the Black Archive on the story, which discusses all the many iterations with input from those still around. It’s enough to make you want to find a friendly Gundan Warrior…

As Gallagher explains in the author’s notes, what we’re hearing now is what we should have been reading in 1982, with many of the changes made for the exigencies of production – and, it has to be said, the preferences of the producer, director and script editor – removed. It follows many, but by no means all of the same beats but the most sensible thing is to forget what you know of the story from the TV version and allow yourself to be enthralled by this new take.

Jon Culshaw’s Fourth Doctor and Rorvik feel spot-on (and of course K9 is, thanks to John Leeson, who gets a chance to give the robot a few different scenes), and Culshaw’s inflections for Romana and Adric conjure up the feel of Lalla Ward and Matthew Waterhouse’s performance. His vocal talents mean we are always clear which crewmen are which – including the two binmen, Aldo and Waldo, who return to this version.

Elements of the story are clearer via this novelisation (as they were in the bowdlerized version produced by Target back in the day), and for some this may help with understanding the broadcast episodes. It’s a strong novel in its own right, and I’m glad that finally we get to experience Gallagher’s own take.

Verdict: A terrific alternate version brought to life well. 9/10

Paul Simpson