Doctor Who: Day of the Cockroach

BBC Doctor Who: New Series Audio Exclusives #17

by Steve Lyons, Arthur Darvill (Narrator)

The TARDIS materialises in a pitch-dark tunnel, where the Doctor, Amy and Rory stumble on the dead body of a soldier. Questioned by his superior officer, Colonel Bowe, they learn that they’re inside a British nuclear bunker, in the middle of an atomic war – in 1982. Amy and Rory weren’t even born then, but they know the bomb didn’t drop that year, and so does the Doctor. The friends also know they had nothing to do with the death of Sergeant Trott – so who, or what, was the killer? And why does the Doctor’s psychic paper not work on the Colonel? The Doctor, Amy and Rory soon learn that something else is lurking in the shadows. Something deadly... Written specially for audio by Steve Lyons, Day of the Cockroach features the Doctor, Amy and Rory as played by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in the acclaimed hit series from BBC Television. It is read by Arthur Darvill, who plays Rory.

1 CD. 1 hr 16 mins.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Media Tie In, Fantasy

Audio CD

First published May 3, 2012

About the author

Steve Lyons is a science fiction writer, best known for writing television tie-ins of Doctor Who for BBC Books, and previously, Virgin. The earliest of these was Conundrum in 1994, and his most recent was 2005's The Stealers of Dreams. He has also written material for Star Trek tie-ins, as well as original work.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating is 3.5 stars.

This is an audiobook based on the television series. This one has the Eleventh Doctor and his companions of Amy and Rory. The actor of Rory actually is the one of reads this audiobook. In this one, our traveling teams arrive in a bunker during a post apocalypse during the 1980's. Obviously, something is amiss as this never happened.

This is your basic episode where our cast is in a enclosed area and is being threatened by overgrown mutations of insects. In this episode it is cockroaches. As for the narration Arthur Darvill once again proves he is top notch. His Amy isn't the best but he does a terrific job with the Doctor as well as the new characters. I thought the author does a commendable job with the atmosphere of the underground bunker as it supports the dreadfulness of the entire situation. The twist at the end wasn't that big of a surprise because that was the only actual way that it could have played out. I gave this an extra half star because I did like how the author captured the underlying fear of nuclear attack during this time.

This is a quick listen audiobook that entertains. It isn't the most memorable story but anytime I get to listen to Arthur Darvill read a Doctor Who story is a plus in my eyes. It is definitely worth a one time listen.

[Melenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio Book via Audible

2nd read: April 17, 2018 -- Good read

Audio book via CD

1st read: April 9, 2018 -- Story is great. Subject matter is not for me. Audio is lovely.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur Darvill's narration totally makes this short little story!

[Trent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another perfectly average Doctor Who audio adventure.

I need to stop listening to these back-to-back, the tropes become far too obvious and start to distract me from enjoying the story. Like SO MANY times before, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory arrive on the scene just as someone is killed and get blamed for it... again.

Nevertheless, I did like this story. The characters were nicely developed with legitimate fears and personalities.

Take the opportunity to listen to this story if you get a chance. It's a good way to pass the time waiting for the Doctor Who hiatus to end.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version of this. Let me say, it was spectacular! It felt like listening to an episode of Doctor Who and immediately brought a smile to my face. From opening in the direct action to the added sound effects, I didn't even realize my walk was supposed to be finished while listening to this.

I definitely recommend to fans of Doctor Who!

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

If i didn't get so distracted while trying to listen to this I am sure I would of given it a better rating. However, Arthur Darvill (who plays Rory in the show) read this and that alone is amazing! He needs to do more voice acting!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is perfectly decent, but not all that memorable. Worth listening to just to hear how well Arthur Darvill does Matt Smith's voice, but the plot itself has a few interesting points.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had giant cockroaches, so ew, but I love that it was narrated by Arthur Darvill.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed this story. The premise was an interesting one and I liked how they eventually figured out what was going on. Having said that, Doctor, Amy, and Rory are my least favorite dynamic, something about their interactions irk me a lot of the time. Thankfully these stories are short enough that I don't mind them so much.

[Kathryn Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

very creepy but great!

[Zee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd rather have cockroaches than spiders but enough with the creepy crawlies...

[Isha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one, I liked the silly antagonists, and as always, arthur darvill is a fantastic reader.

[osoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

СВЯТЫЕ УКУРКИ! Когда я подписывалась слушать докторские аудиокнижули, я и знать не знала, что в одном из приключений Эми, Рори и Доктору придется столкнуться с гигантскими ТАРАКАНАМИ. Брезгливость по отношению к насекомым level up.
Ребятам предстоит тусить в бункере в компании с истеричными персонажами и тараканами-мутантами, что полностью оправдывает название. Денек в компании с таракашкой под землей, что может быть лучше?

Я страдаю антипатией к Eleven, потому что сама идея тысячелетнего хипста-таймлорда, который путается в своих собственных ногах, строит из себя идиота, только и делает, что развлекается, к тому же ведет себя тупо несерьезно (тупо И несерьезно), вызывает у меня, мягко говоря, сомнение. Придурок, одним словом, который путешествует и устраивает всякую хрень просто от нечего делать, а проблемы решает только когда уже совсем припрет. Замечу, что я обхожусь без сравнений. Но блин, так и хочется встряхнуть эту тушку иногда, мол, харе тусить, вали уже мир спасать. Не преувеличивая, это самый незрелый и undeveloped персонаж в новой вселенной.
Вот и тут он проявляет чудеса безалаберности, просто гуляя по бункеру и смешивая коктейль неясного генеза против тараканов. Что он туда намешал? Для незнающих и детей можно было бы и пояснить. Его роль в этой книге заключается в беготне туда-сюда и выяснении обстоятельств. Единственную внятную речь от него можно услышать только один раз – когда он поясняет, «как оно все на самом деле было».

Понды милые, с этим утверждением тяжело поспорить. Чего стоит только эпизод, когда загипнотизированный Рори стреляет в Эми, думая, что она – это гигантский таракан. А наша рыжуля находит только один способ спасти его от иллюзии – то есть поцеловать. Бедняга Рори, каково ему быть зацелованным таракашкой))))

История, хм. Типичный замут, когда ребята находят чье-то бездыханное тельце, их берут в оборот, обвиняя в убийстве, и тут уж некуда деваться, кроме как находить реального убийцу.
Способы, с помощью которых спасаются герои, кажется, иссякли уже давно, поэтому тут весь набор баналитис – открутить крышку вентиляции монеткой, посветить фанариком, убежать, позвать Доктора.

Самое ужасное, что я даже не сразу опознала в чтеце Артура Дарвилла. Этот чувак проделал отличную работу, а так как я всегда придираюсь к чтецам, то вдвойне отличную. Чаще всего я даже забывала, что это читает один человек!

Боже, а эта обложка. Доктор сейчас высунет язычок от усердия, Эми заработает еще морщинок, а Рори в рот залетит муха. Ну это я так, от большой любви.

annikeh.net

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthur Darvill, Rory on Doctor Who, does a marvelous job narrating this audiobook, THE DAY OF THE COCKROACH. He nails the voices of Amy and the Doctor to the best of his availability. His Doctor is slightly off but he gets his enthusiasm and speech pattern down. The secondary characters done by Darvill are superb. I quiet forgot that he is doing their voices as well because they are all so different and distinct.

Whoever mixed this audiobook decided it would be cool to add sound effects to the track. So as the trio are running through the bunker, you hear the thump thump of their footsteps or when the cockroaches come around you hear a cicada-like sound. It is a complete distraction and not needed.

The plot is ridiculously easy to see through. How easy? I am listening to this again as type up this review and my hubby, who has never listened to this book before, is also in the room. He correctly guessed the ending when I was around chapter five. If someone barely listening to the audiobook could guess what was going on in the beginning of the book, then you got a problem.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. Nothing spectacular though. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory are in a 1980s British bunker in which a few humans have been tucked away for a few days now after the "4 minute warning" of nuclear war sent them into hiding underground. But someone has been sabotaging their equipment and lights; and someone or something has been killing and dragging them off, one by one. When our intrepid crew lands; they stumble upon a body and, as usual, are suspected of murder and sabotage...

There's nothing really new here and the Doctor is really light on the specific details of what's what; offering a few "options" but no real answer to what was fully going on and the solution after all the running around and fighting was not hugely satisfying. This is good for a simple hour of running and fighting monsters this one was passable with no great reader accents to note (Arthur Darvill still can't do a great Amy voice but does nicely with Rory's voice ;)) but no annoying speaker quirks either.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is an audio exclusive, meaning it is a very short story, I felt that the story was carried out to its full potential. The story had a nice suspenseful pace and the characterization of the Amy and Rory were really well done.

Right at the start this story captures your attention. It takes place in an underground facility in 1982 and there is a nuclear holocaust above ground. I don't remember that bit of history! you excalim to yourself and are instantly hooked to see how the past has been altered and what the Doctor is going to do about it.

Darkly dramatic with a humorous twist, really enjoyable.

[Cole Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have preferred an altered timeline tale, but the story ends up being a metaphor for online conspiracy forums- the idea that the planetary elite have been misinformed about a future hellish future, thus building bunkers. As mentioned in The God Complex. Then alien creatures living under London feast on the elite as they mourn the dead above, whom are actually perfectly fine.

The Doctor mistakes 1982 for a decade earlier feminism-wise. There's an army official named Boe, so I kept picturing Jack Harkness.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the setting for this story - the 11th Doctor, Rory and Amy find themselves in a nuclear bunker in post-apocalyptic 1982. However, unsurprisingly given that it was a single CD, it felt a bit too slight and my son and I were conferring over the ending as we thought we'd blinked and missed something. We hadn't. A pity because it was a clever idea with some nice details - the smell of cockroaches and I felt a real sense of horror when Rory finds himself in a room with a big hole in the floor.

[Mary Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite lines in a book belongs to Maggie Stiefvater's Dream Thieves: "In the end, the only thing left will be secrets and cockroaches."

Anywho, this adventure is exactly what it sounds like -- THE COCKROACHES HAVE TAKEN OVER. It's another witty, wonderful adventure with The Doctor and the Ponds, and Arthur Darvill does a great job narrating, particularly with imitating The Doctor. Anyone who enjoys Doctor Who will certainly enjoy this little adventure. Personally, I enjoy the hour long length. You can finish the whole story in a single lunch break or a long run/walk.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a neat little story! It's a short, audio-only Doctor Who story, read by Arthur Darvill...only a little over an hour long. Arthur does a great job with the different voices -- especially the Doctor's! In many ways, I almost felt like I was watching the show. I've just recently started getting interested in DW books/audios/short stories/etc., but finding that many of them really maintain the feel of the actual show. They're a great supplement to my "Who addiction". : P Overall, really enjoyed it...5 stars.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2014708...

a classic base-under-siege story, the sub-genre that Lyons has made his own. It has the Doctor, Amy and Rory arriving in England in the immediate aftermath of a 1980s nuclear war, or so it seems; an idea used about the same time by Big Finish in Protect and Survive. It's fairly obvious from an early stage how things will work out, but Lyons has a very competent style and Arthur Darvill does a decent effort at the other characters' voices.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story quite a bit but it wasn't particularly well written which was a shame. Also the BBC's production was a bit poor with sound effects, music, etc. It felt a little slapped together compared to other productions.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was suffering from post-Pond sadness and this really brought back those memories.

[C.W. Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was creepy.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, it was a pleasant divergence. It is only an hour long, we'll worth the time. Listen to it on your lunch break. It's like a Doctor Who episode that's being read / acted out loud.

[Emily Wrayburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This probably would have only got 3 stars except for the fact that Arthur Darvill was reading it and he was brilliant.

[Farina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad as far as Doctor Who books go and I love the Rory/Amy/Doctor dynamic. But the story could have been stronger.

[Katy W · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much better than the last Doctor Who tie-in we listened to in the car... I'll encourage my son to look for more by this author.