"Doctor Who": Hornets' Nest: Stuff of Nightmares v. 1 (BBC Audio) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

I've just finished listening to The Stuff of Nightmares and was surprised to find myself having enjoyed it! I say I was surprised because of the amount of negativity this story has been receiving both here and elsewhere on the internet. I'd actually like to address this first.

There seems to be a huge backlash against this at the moment. Firstly, the BBC seem to have made a bit of a mistake in the publicity by indicating that this was going to be a full cast audio drama which people assumed would be in the same vein as Big Finish (who produce licensed Doctor Who audioplays with Doctors 5 through 8). It's not. It's closer to an Audiobook with several actors and some dramatised sections. Judging from other reviews you might think this format doesn't work. The thing is, it does. In fact I think it works very well, particularly for this story. Looking at the other reviews I believe a lot of the negative feeling is coming from people who wanted a full cast audio play and are lashing out because the BBC publicity machine made a mistake.

Secondly, this is a release that has had a ridiculous level of anticipation. Tom Baker is usually cited as the most popular Doctor. Big Finish were never able to persuade him to do something with them and most people assumed that Tom Baker would never reassume the role on audio. When news of this project came along people were understandably excited. And high expectations often lead to disappointment. Yes, he doesn't sound the same as he did in the 70's and 80's, and yes some of his dialogue is a little on the stiff side (particularly during his scenes with Mike), but not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the story and surely he can be forgiven for taking a little while to warm up to a character he hasn't played in such a long time?

The basic framework of the story is that the Doctor has invited Mike Yates to his cottage. Here he tells Mike of his most recent adventure. As mentioned above, Baker does sometimes seem a little stiff, but when he really gets his teeth into the part he shines. Richard Franklin and the other cast members also do excellent jobs.

The story itself is intriguing. Some fantastic ideas are included and some very visual elements are handled extremely well in the audio medium (the Doctors description of a "paper brain" for example). There were some genuinely creepy moments in this too and I recommend listening to it with the lights out. The sound effects when used are also very good (the hornets in particular). However, I felt the sound design occasionally could have been better. A discussion between the Doctor and Mr Noggins in a natural history museum cafeteria didn't work for me as there was a distinct lack of background effects, a murmur of voices and the chinking of crockery would have been very effective.

I can't say I was one of the people desperate to see Tom Baker return to the role. He was my favourite Doctor for a very long time when I was younger and I still love him in the role today. But I was happy with Doctors 5 to 8 via Big Finish. Now he has returned to Doctor Who I'm relieved to find that the negative comments about this play are, in my opinion, largely unfounded. I had cancelled my pre-orders of the rest of the series due to comments being made, but today I'm going to pre-order them again.

As long as you're aware of the format of this adventure and realise that Tom Baker is older and is just getting back into his stride I suggest you give this a whirl. At this price how can you not?

Dr who's are like Bond actors. Everyone has their Dr Who and their Bond. And Tom Baker was mine. I grew up with him on a Saturday night. Wishing it was a Daleks episode every week and then glad it wasn't as was a touch scary.

You get right into the story for the first words. Tom Bakers voice is rich and comforting from start to finish. So if you are of that age and want to feel like a child again this is the CD for you. Stick it on the in the car and enjoy the drive home from work and get lost in the story.

I absolutely loved this - to be fair, I'm completely biased in favour of Tom Baker - to me, he is The Doctor; but trying to be impartial, I still think this has an awful lot going for it.

The story is complex and interesting - and entertaining as well, which is one of the most important factors in any audio story. I carefully saved up this audio cd until I had all five in the series, and am listening to each one straight after the other - now on the second one, so thought I would review the first.

And it is what it purports to be - an audio story - not a full blown audio drama complete with special effects. It is a story, read as such, some as action between characters, and some as a story being told after the fact. I think the mix is good of 'live' action and recapping the story. And it is of a nature that it doesn't need too many characters involved to be effective.

Richard Franklin is great as Captain Yates - both his and Tom Baker's voices are instantly recognisable as their well-remembered selves. While Captain Yates left the original series under a bit of a professional cloud from UNIT, it is good to see that the character seems to have redeemed himself.

And it is fantastic to hear Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor - still, in this series, the Doctor from the 1970s with the floppy hat, toothy grin and long scarf. And you can hear the toothy grin in his reading of this part. It's just wonderful to be able to 'hear' his facial expressions in his great voice with the gruff growls as he gets bad-tempered, the laughing tones of his witty remarks and the lecturing tones as he tells Mike the story so far.

Totally loving it! Wouldn't it be great to have Tom Baker do more Fourth Doctor stories? Well, yes, it would.