PLOTLINE  

The TARDIS is lost in battle on a distant planet. When the Doctor sets off in pursuit, Donna is left behind, and finds herself accepting a commission in the Pioneer Corps. Something is transforming soldiers into monstrous beetles, and she could be the next victim. Meanwhile, the Doctor steals a motorbike and stages a jailbreak.

well, how hard can it be to find the TARDIS, rescue Donna, and negotiate a peace? But that's before the arrival of a brutal and remorseless mechanical exterminator, bent on wiping out the insects. It may be that nothing can stop it, because this robot's solution for the infestation is very simple: kill everything.

COMMENT

This could be a very short review.

Very short.

Gushing with praise and joy.

DOCTOR WHO - PEST CONTROL is an enigmatically perfect, and therein lies the problem with reviewing the (first) exclusive BBC AUDIO adventure to by-pass the printed page (or even a TV broadcast).

Reviewers like to be critical, highlight failings & incongruous issues within the plotline. It is easier to do that than heap positive comments so high that a reader will believe that the reviewer is in the "back-pocket pay" of BBC AUDIOBOOKS; "We'll give a you a copy if you write a good review" could be assumed by some cynical readers. However, eyeofhorus.org.uk - the independent organ of DOCTOR WHO commentary - continues to provide a typically honest & unprejudiced comment and with DOCTOR WHO - PEST CONTROL we can state, without peer pressure from the publisher, author or reader, that it is stunningly faultless.

An unmitigated success. A war-based storyline that is both predictable yet takes the listener into the realms of science-fantasy that could be - just could be - recorded as part of the NEW SERIES, believable characterisation that are suitably fleshed-out and, not least, there is David Tennant's one-man repertory company performance that verges on inhuman magnificence.

The low thud thud thud and drone of death is singular, and the first sentence is unashamedly exquisite in ensuring that the listener would be hooked:

Narrator: "Field Medic Harrison was doomed."

Peter Anghelides' breadth of characters & settings has provided Tennant with a veritable Christmas Day "selection box" of cocoa mass delicacies that he devours every single one with ravenous relish. If any listener/viewer had any doubt that he is a rare talent then this CD release will assuage any possibility.

His characterisations are precisely rationalised; the nasally challenged news reporter, Nash, is more like the equally nasally challenged Kenneth Williams than Kenneth Williams was ever was; and Surgeon Levova is eloquently distilled from Yorkshire-born Alan Bennett and Tory MP, Anne Widdecombe; General Brudge is, unlike many on-screen CLASSIC SERIES misguided baddies, subtly underplayed that gives him a menacing authority.

Naturally, as expected, the characterisations (aided by the creatively executed script by Anghelides) of the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble are pitch perfect. The verbose yet calmingly reassuring Time Lord continues to be challenged as he is drawn into the human-centaur war that raged across Planet Resention, whilst Donna (upgraded to "Captain Kirk" by the Doctor's "Doctor McCoy" in a split second) is commissioned unceremoniously into a battalion - loud and armed with an weapon. I am not too sure what is worse . With Donna, Tennant has created a post-THE RUNAWAY BRIDE version of the Chiswick Temp, less abrasive but still wittingly spunky with a hint of mature compassion (that has developed through SERIES 4).

Donna: I look a right mess, Doctor.
Doctor: Well, the uniform isn't very flattering.
Donna: Hey, are you saying that it makes my bum look big. Eh?
Doctor: No good answer to that kind of question.
Donna: Just watch it "beanpole". Besides you look like you've dragged through a hedge backwards. More than normal that is.
Doctor: Funny you should say that. That's the last time I hitch a life from a Shar-bac integrated pest management droid. I just grabbed on and held on.
Donna: You could have been "squished"!

The reading is enhanced with a magnificent music score, punctuating accordingly whilst the metamorphosing sound effect is chillingly brilliant (a cabbage being torn apart, or a plastic balloon being rasped with wet sandpaper?) and will give younger listeners nightmares for weeks to come.

As a launch presentation, DOCTOR WHO - PEST CONTROL represents the very best of Russell T Davies' re-imagineering of the drama series. Cohesive & intelligent storyline, characters with depth, motive & heart, and a professional realisation & production that will stand the test of time to become a firm fan favourite (with a petition heading toward BBC WALES demanding that Anghelides is added to the list of writers for SERIES 5).

Oh, there is something critically inept about DOCTOR WHO - PEST CONTROL . The "sleeve notes" failed to notice that Ron Grainer should have been credited for the DOCTOR WHO theme music and not Murray Gold.