Doctor Who: The Rising Night, An Exclusive Audio Adventure (Audio)

by Scott Handcock

read by Michelle Ryan

-Doctor Who, Series 4-

(London: BBC Audiobooks, 2009)

MP3 Audiobook, 62.9 MB, 2.2 Hours, Fiction

ISBN: 9781602837638, US$24.95

ABCD Rating: ACQUIRE

From the Cover: When Harry Winter goes out collecting rocks to repair the wall around his father’s farm, he makes a fatal mistake. He disturbs Lucifer’s tombstone, and awakens something demonic and dreadful. The TARDIS arrives in the 18th-Century village of Thornton Rising in the Yorkshire Moors—a village cut off from the world by an all-consuming darkness, where the sun has not risen for three weeks. Farm animals have been attacked, people have gone missing, and strange lights have been seen in the sky. The Doctor soon becomes involved in a nightmarish adventure, helped by a young local woman named Charity. But who is feeding on the blood of the locals, and where will the carnage stop?

My Review: Over New Year’s 2009-2010 I said good-bye to a “friend.” David Tennant signed off as the tenth incarnation of The Doctor. Since taking over the role five years ago, Tennant quickly became a fan favorite and became the most popular Doctor of the series (supplanting perennial fan favorite Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor). (As an aside, I first became acquainted with Doctor Who through Tom Baker’s Doctor on PBS reruns and Baker was “my Doctor” until Tennant stole me away. I’m sorry, is my Geek showing?) Anyway, it was sad to see Tennant go, and while I will give Doctor #11 Matt Smith the benefit of the doubt, he certainly has big shoes to fill (bigger on the inside at least).

So, that brings me to the Doctor Who audiobooks. What better way to relive Tennant’s Doctor than to join him (and sometimes Rose, Martha or Donna) on brand-new adventures? I have listened to five of these audiobooks to date (six including this one), and it never ceases to amaze me how well these authors are able to capture the personality of Tennant’s Doctor, and then how well the various readers (excluding Tennant himself, of course) are able to then convey Tennant’s energetic and manic personality into the audio format. Michelle Ryan is no exception. (Perceptive (and geeky) readers will better know Ryan as Lady Christina de Souza from the Easter 2009 special “Planet of the Dead”).

I think that what I loved best about this story was that it was very reminiscent of the David Tennant Specials (such as “Voyage of the Damned,” “The Next Doctor,” “The Waters of Mars” or “The End of Time”) in that the Tenth Doctor is travelling alone (this particular adventure having happened sometime after having to leave Donna Noble behind) and is gallivanting around Time and Space before landing in 18th-Century Yorkshire and among the events in Thornton Rising.

It is a really fun story and Handcock does a wonderful job of situating this adventure within the established Tennant canon. Even more, though, is that Handcock has created an incredible companion for the Doctor in the character of Charity. She is easily the equal of any of Tennant’s other companions (and, in the case of Rose, an even better companion). I would have liked to have seen more stories with Charity, but alas, the character arc as written by Handcock doesn’t allow for it … or does it? Now that I think about it…

I cannot recommend these audiobooks enough. I have yet to be disappointed by a single one I have listened to, and The Rising Night is no exception. So grab your headphones, cue up your iPod or whatever, and with a hearty allons-y join the Doctor on his latest adventure … you won’t regret it.