Doctor Who: Hunters of Earth

The first of a series of audio books released for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and each read by an actor associated with the show. This first story is read by Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan.

The first thing to be said is that, although this was produced by Big Finish, it was made for AudioGo, and, as such is a little different from BF's usual fare. Firstly, rather than a play, it's an audiobook, told in third person, albeit one with sound effects and incidental music. Secondly, AG's one-off licence allowed references to events of the modern series, which the regular audio play license didn't at the time - it's a fairly minor reference in this story, but nonetheless there.

The story is set during the period that the Doctor and Susan spent on Earth in 1963 prior to the events of the first TV episode. This has been used in a number of short stories and the like, but does have a couple of problems as a setting: the Doctor isn't yet the hero that he will become, and it's hard to believe that anything much dramatic happened immediately prior to An Unearthly Child, given the way that everyone acts in that episode. The first problem is dealt with well enough by creating a story in which the Doctor has little opportunity to be pro-active anyway, but the second proves less surmountable.

Having said that, taken in isolation, it's a decent tale, with a good mix of action and historical detail. The explanation for what's going on is a bit vague, but it's not just a single threat either, which adds some depth to the story - the characterisation of guest star Cedric, in particular, is quite good. Susan's telepathy is a key element of the story, but is arguably over-stated, given that, in the TV series, it only seemed to work at all when artificially boosted. But, despite such misgivings, I think it's worth the full 4 stars as a decent evocation of the era, and a good portrayal of Susan and the Doctor as they first appeared on the show.