Doctor Who

Exterminate! Exterminate! For this observer, the full-skirted, clunky Daleks are even more laughable than bandy-legged, toy-Tokyo-trampling Godzilla. But to the gazillion fanatics of BBC-TV's stubbornly enduring "Doctor Who" series, they are the dreaded, ruthless, (snicker) cunning aliens intent on cosmic mayhem. This audio skillfully joins excerpts from the episodes with narration by the current Dalek voice, Nick Briggs, to form a history of their numerous (losing) skirmishes with the Doctor. The seamless, quick-paced interweaving of well-chosen elements contributes an excitement and spectacle that the individual episodes themselves did not always possess. The skillful compilers have thus produced a nostalgic, swashbuckling tribute and first-rate sci-fi audio drama. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Of the 10 actors who have played "The Doctor" since the series began in 1963, Tom Baker held the job the longest (1974-1981) and is the best-known face of the Doctor among fans. So it's appropriate that BBC Audiobooks enlisted Baker to narrate the novelization of his first appearance on the show. After his apparent death in PLANET OF THE SPIDERS the Doctor regenerated into his fourth incarnation (played by Baker on the television program). The Doctor joins with Sarah, Harry, and the Brigadier to protect humanity from a conspiracy that uses stolen technology to achieve world domination. Although Baker is 20 years older than he was when he played the Doctor, he still has the playful energy, the acting talent, and the voice to regenerate once again. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine