Doctor Who: The English Way of Death

Doctor Who Novel Adaptations #4

by John Dorney (Adapted By), Gareth Roberts, Tom Baker (Narrator)

The Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive in 1930s London to return some overdue library books. They plan to take a rest after their recent adventures, but Romana detects a distress signal from the future and the Doctor is attacked by a suffocating green mist.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

John Dorney is a British writer and actor best known for stage roles including the National Theatre, the BBC Radio 4 sitcom My First Planet; and his scripts for the Big Finish Doctor Who range. His script 'Solitaire' was rated the most popular Doctor Who Companion Chronicle of 2010 on the Timescales website and was the runner up in Unreality Sci-fi net's poll for Story of the Year 2010-11.

As well as Doctor Who, he has written for Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel series and on radio co-wrote three series of BBC Radio 4's Recorded for Training Purposes. He won the BBC Show Me the Funny 'Sketch Factor' competition, was a finalist in the BBC 'Laughing Stock' competition, and has performed in Mark Watson's Edinburgh Comedy Award winning long shows as 'The Balladeer'. On stage, he has written plays for the Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead and Soho Theatres.

He trained at LAMDA.

Reviews

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

"How vulgar," replied the Doctor. "Nobody does anything of importance on a Tuesday."

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An audio that has been on my to be listened to pile for a while, and I finally got around to listening to. A fun little audio, featuring the Doctor, Romana and K9 in 1930's London. Zombies and an assassin are also involved.

I enjoyed this one, and thought it was fun. I loved that the women characters were in charge of the story here, and they had a lot of shining moments. Romana of course, was in charge rather than the Doctor.

I loved the similarities of the moment where K9 was possessed by the fog to save Romana and Percy Closed, and Romana was devestated by the idea of losing K9. A parallel to how she and Leela lose their K9's on Gallifrey.

I've not read the book of the English Way of Death so I cannot compare the two, but we will not talk about the original author.

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

So after really enjoying The Romance of Crime I've decided to continue on with these adaptations and see what I think of The English Way of Death.

The Doctor deciding to turn off the randomizer much to Romana's worry decides to drop off some overdue books in London. But they soon find themselves in trouble with time travelers from the future finding a luxury of retirement in the past and an army of zombies helping the sinister Zodall to destroy the world. A typical day for the Tardis Team, well it will be if they don't get their brains eaten.

This was a fantastic adaptation. John Dorney remains very true once again to the source material and the cast all do an amazing job bringing this story to life with some very exciting performances and jokes that just land so well. A very funny story but also one with plenty of gruesome horror to enjoy.

Overall: Another fantastic adaptation that proves the range while at its best can reinvigorate these stories for a modern and younger audience from those of the virgin missing adventures, whilst still remaining true to itself. 9/10

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brains!

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another lovely adventure with Romana and the Doctor. Listening to this I had some of the same thoughts as when I read the novel. It was a bit sad that the Doctor and Romana weren't together in it more. But it was fun hearing all the zaney characters brought to life, also John did a brilliant job as the possessed K9. There were some fantastic lines, some very witty moments and some hilarious insight into the characters and the way the characters interact. It does feel like a proper adventure between these two. Definitely recommended.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cosmic zombie and mad gaseous alien scientist romp

[Richard Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the novel but still very enjoyable. Particularly K9 getting possessed.