Penned by Lance Parkin, who used to write for EMMERDALE FARM and has drafted several DOCTOR WHO-related books, this 2-CD adaptation is an abridged reading of his novel, set in the Tennant-era ( sans companion) but the many references to (recent) DOCTOR WHO continuity, while amusing, reek of desperation; as if citing the shows history will give this effort some credibility.
It's read by young Russell Tovey, who we know from TINTIN (on stage), THE HISTORY BOYS (the theatre and movie versions), and the Kylie/ DOCTOR WHO hybrid VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED and BEING HUMAN. Russell does a good job here -- his Tennant is spot-on, and the Professor sounds a bit like Anthony Head in learned mode -- and he generally brings a lot of energy to this story - but his diction is all over the place ("attackin'", "circlin'"; and, at one point, I swear I heard "breff" instead of "breath").
It's not a bad story but, like all media tie-ins, it suffers from a business-like (perfunctory) tone perhaps because the writer is milking a cash cow to a deadline rather than steering his own creation. The Doctor arrives to track down an 'ultimate' weapon and has to race to secure the device before a band of aliens, the Eyeless, can retrieve it. They are the 'baddies', a key element in any DOCTOR WHO tale, and so serve as a convenient litmus test when trying to convey how worthwhile the story may be: while a striking visual ("glass men" albeit with pot bellies) they do not add up to much (they enjoy the novelty of emotions.).
Nevertheless, the tale has its moments: the psychic paper does not work because "No one reads!" And one of the non-readers is Elsa, the 13-year-old girl who challenges the Doctor shortly after his arrival. Faced with a future as a mum and not a lot else, she determines to do something about it; and what she does represent the best moments in the story, because they have human resonance. Still, as interesting as Elsa's story is, it could all be written off as crass satire: an embarrassingly dated view of the lot of modern women.
The story feels like a McCoy era tale (think PARADISE TOWERS; both feature near-feral kids running wild) but its influences include PLANET OF THE APES (a society regresses following a global catastrophe and rejects its past) and STAR TREK's THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE (a weapon so dangerous it destroys all traces of an enemy). And there lies the problem : the McGuffin, the object of desire, the device on which the plot is hinged, the weapon everyone is after -- comes across as silly rather than dangerous because its scope feels like something proposed by Douglas Adams! But that may be just me. When Russell reads the description of how thorough this ultimate weapon is in destroying an enemy, I flashed on the scene in THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (the Gilliam version) where Vulcan explains how devastating his latest weapon, a bomb, is: it will kill everything including 'all the dogs and cats'.
If you're a fan of Russell Tovey, then this is a must-buy because he is good.
But otherwise, give it a miss.
