Doctor Who And The Zarbi

By: BBC

Narrated by: William Russell

Doctor Who lands his space-time machine TARDIS on the cold, craggy planet of Vortis. The Doctor and his companions, Ian and Vicki, are soon captured by the Zarbi, huge ant-like creatures with metallic bodies and pincer claws. Meanwhile, Barbara falls into the hands of the friendly Menoptera who have come to rid Vortis of the malevolent power of the Zarbi... William Russell, who played the role of Ian in the original television series, reads Bill Strutton's complete and unabridged novelisation, first published in hardback in 1965. The book went on to become part of the Target Books range of Doctor Who titles, and is one of the much-loved novelisations based on the programme. This release also features a bonus interview with William Russell, in which he recalls his memories of recording the original television serial The Web Planet, and of the time he spent on Doctor Who.

Re: Superior Story

This audio renders a superior tale to the existing television episodes because it allows the listener's imagination to fill in the gaps the early 1960's story couldn't convey upon it's modest budget, with it's small studio spaces and lack of mobile alien costumes. I recommend listening to this a year or so after having seen the television episodes to gain the fullest experience. The narrator, Ian in the series, does a wonderful job with the various voices.

Classic Doctor Who at its best.

Great story by Bill Strutton . Great narration by William Russell, who played Ian on the show. He also gives some insight into the making of the story in the last 8 minutes of the audiobook. This book was also one of the earliest novelizations of a Doctor Who serial. It set the trend for all the future novelizations of Doctor Who stories to come. Good stuff.