Doctor Who: The Paradise of Death

Doctor Who BBC Audio Dramas

by Barry Letts, Jon Pertwee (Narrator), Nicholas Courtney (Narrator)

Doctor Who - The Paradise of Death was the first Doctor Who drama made specifically for radio. Written for BBC Radio 2 by producer Barry Letts to celebrate the Doctor's 30th anniversary, it stars third Doctor Jon Pertwee, reunited with Sarah Jane and the Brigadier, in a dangerous return to Earth.

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

3 pages, Audio CD

First published September 24, 1993

About the author

Barry Letts was a British actor, television director, writer and producer. He was most associated with the television series Doctor Who for many years, with active involvement in the television series from 1967 to 1981, and later contributions to its spin-offs in other media.

Reviews

[Graham Barrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Listened to in 2020)
Listened to this one during my intial kick of Big Finish Doctor Who stories. It's not Big Finish but I guess it could be considered a precursor to BF's Doctor Who phenomena. This one is about The Third Doctor, Sarah Jane and the Brigadier (with all their actors returning) on an adventure together in a story that more resembles a Classic Who story than BF. I thought the story started fine when it was set on Earth at an alien-themed amusent park before it transferred to an alien world. At this point the story lost me as it tried doing too much in too short a time. Maybe worth listening to if you're a fan of the Third Doctor era of the show but there's not much here.

[DrAshleyWho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from the music being reminiscent of the fan Audio Visuals series (the Peter Howell theme from 1980-85 is used for some reason) and the virtual reality elements which should tell you this was written in the 90s, this is an earnest attempt to replicate the feel of the Pertwee era, no surprise given how Barry Letts is the writer here; with its themes of capitalist greed reminiscent of Colony in Space/The Green Death and the villains and alien backdrop which call to mind Carnival of Monsters/Planet of the Daleks (we even get the jungle SFX of the latter and Who guest actor stalwart Peter Miles appears as the villain Tragan), it’s easy to picture this as something that could’ve aired in ‘74. Despite its pacing feeling drawn out like a usual six-parter and Jeremy being one of the worst characters ever to be in Doctor Who, it’s worth it just to hear Pertwee, Sladen and Courtney together for one more time, though not necessarily the last…

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

First broadcast August-September 1993 - Considering when this originally came out, one would have to look at this as a precursor to the entirety of the Doctor Who output from Big Finish. While the format tries to maintain the serialized aspect of the original TV series, the presentation is definitely an inspiration for the audio-dramas from Big Finish. As for this narrative itself? It is absolutely wonderful to have Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, and Nicholas Courtney all back in their respective roles as The (Third) Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and the Brigadier. The adventure itself is a rollicking yarn that could never have actually been budgeted on film. It’s a lot of fun, but short on substance, and the characterizations are pretty stereotypical with little to no nuance. Nothing wrong with the performances though, typical British production narrative leaves a lot to be desired, but the acting is brilliant.

This is included in The BBC Radio Episodes Collection: 3rd, 4th & 6th Doctor Audio Dramas.

[Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of two audio dramas from the mid-1990s, The Paradise of Death was written by Pertwee-era producer Barry Letts and stars Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney. Set during Season 11, it sees the Doctor and Sarah Jane invesigating some mysterious deaths surrounding a new theme park. However, it turns out that the theme park is run by aliens whose planet is obsessed with gladitorial combat and is using a planet for all their food needs. It's decent enough, but not necessarily outstanding. It's nice to get an audio with these three leads since they've all since passed and thus are unable to feature in the ongoing Big Finish audio dramas (Sladen and Courtney featured in a handful of Big Finish, but Pertwee never did). An enjoyable story if nothing special. A historical curiosity full of voices of the past.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Paradise of Death 4/5
The paradise of Death is a good story with the Third Doctor, told over five, 30 minute parts. The plot, in the beginning, feels like an era appropriate story, then from part 3 it becomes larger and grander. While I think the middle is a little long, it does serve the story well and come back around. The themes explored are enjoyable, and wouldn't be out of place in any era of the show. It was great to hear Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, even if you can tell that 20 years had passed. Elisabeth Sladen and Nicolas Courtney also give great performances as Sarah Jane Smith and The Brigadier, respectively. All the classic performers slip back into their roles, and give performances that take you back into the Third Doctor era. Overall, I think this is a good story, that is a little let down by its length.

[Danny Welch · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a mess, but an enjoyable one at that. This story is heavily inconsistent with it changing every couple of episodes. But there are good ideas here that could have been done much better and I feel like it should have had only one message. However, Barry Letts has written a fast-paced story with some good scenes and excellent characterization of The Doctor, Sarah, and The Brigadier. It's nice to see The Brigadier travelling with The Doctor and Sarah and it's exciting to hear Jon Pertwee on audio! I don't think Jeremy was annoying as such but he didn't really add anything to the general storyline. Overall a messy story that comes out as being an enjoyable quick 5 parter (which has its flaws) that's provided by excellent performances from the cast and an okay production. 4/10

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This radio broadcast of Dr. Who fits in nicely with existing episodes of 1970's Who. This should not be surprising as it stars three of the actors featured in early 70's Who. Notably, Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, and Nick Courtney.

[Paweł Dembowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best Doctor Who audio story out there, but it's a pleasure to hear the late Jon Pertwee again in the role.

[Luiz Santiago · Rating 1 out of 5]

QUE COISA HORROROSA!!!

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must for all fans of Jon Pertwee as The Doctor
Considerably darker than the TV series....

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the very least, it was nice to experience Jon Pertwee Doctor Who content I hadn’t encountered before.