 |  |  |
 | Reviews for The Edge of Destruction |
|
| | |
There is 1 review so far. To add a review of your own for this item, visit the voting page.
| | |
| Quite disturbing and dark |
|
| | |
| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
|
| Date: | Friday 24 June 2011 |
|
| Rating: |  10 |
The TV screen version of the Edge of Destruction always was a brilliant Doctor Who two parter. It had a sense of real drama to it, and considering it only boasted the TARDIS crew, they all acted their socks off and brought it all to life so well. So I am not usually one to state that a novel of the story is better than the TV version, but with Nigel Robinson's adaptation here, read by the ever great William Russell, we have a novel reading that is something truly truly special. There are many things within this novel that are even more disturbing and bold than the TV adventure.
The way Nigel seems to get deep into the heads of all the crew members is something not many other target novels boast. I feel especially Ian and Barabara are treated in such an deeply pleasing fashion, from the deep descriptions of their waking first to think theyre back at Coal Hill School, to the intense little extras that Nigel has added that really help make this novel stand out above many other ones.
And what also adds to the mood of this reading is the quite freaky and unnerving score, this time the BBC has outdone themselves, for i found the score frankly chilling in the extreme here, one of the most unsettling scores ever. It really adds such layers to the sense of doom that is present so powerfully all the way through this startling novel.
The extra scenes included here in this novel too are excellent. Particularly Barabara's near death scene in the Doctor's laboratory, which is highly imaginative and fearful. Although Ian's getting lost in the corridors then nearly suffocating is highly charged with tension in buckets. And one does feel wether it was the Doctor who deliberately left him in there to die, and then the TARDIS saved him there too, despite the fact that it too was nearly facing death.
And William Russell has such an easy voice to listen to, and his channeling of all the characters is flawless so much as to be uncanny, particularly his rendition of the Doctor and Barbara. He is a first class story teller, and it benefits this audio reading so well to have such a great actor reading it. Well done William
So all in all I would have to say that this is definitely one of the strongest novelisations of any of them. Laiden with menace, fear and a brilliant haunting score, this is one novel reading that is even more fulfilling than its TV counterpart. Absolutely brilliant reading.
