By David Fisher

BBC Books, out 14 July

An ancient stone circle becomes a battleground as the Doctor must outwit the deadliest alien criminal this side of hyperspace.

As with the new Target release of The Androids of Tara, this is a novelisation of David Fisher’s audio version of his 1978 Season 16 serial, which was released in 2011 and read by Susan Engel with John Leeson. Terrance Dicks adapted it for the main Target range in 1980, although it was a somewhat slender volume.

Fisher’s version breathes more life into the characters that were beautifully played on screen, but lacked any great depth behind their dialogue. Professor Rumford, Vivien Fay and even De Vries are now far more rounded characters, and we also get more context around the stone circle itself, the Nine Dancers at Bodcombe Tor. A personal foreword by Fisher’s son, Nick, and afterword by the audiobook’s commissioner Michael Stevens bookend the lively prose.

Verdict: A stronger novelisation than Terrance Dicks’ take, this is also the best of David Fisher’s Doctor Who serials. 8/10

Nick Joy

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