Five classic novelisations of exciting TV adventures set on the planet Earth!

Doctor Who: The Earth Adventures Collection

…this always excellent range continues to delight in its pursuit of committing the entire Target Books library to audio.

Five classic novelisations of exciting TV adventures set on the planet Earth! 
 
In Fury from the Deep, the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria discover sentient seaweed threatening a gas refinery on the South Coast of England. In Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah arrive in 1920s England, where plans are being laid to free Sutekh the Destroyer from his prison on Mars. In The Stones of Blood, the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 confront an ancient villainess on Bodcombe Moor. In The Awakening, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough become enmeshed in sinister events in the village of Little Hodcombe. In Ghost Light, the Seventh Doctor and Ace visit Perivale in the 1880s and find a terrible secret lurking at Gabriel Chase… 
 
Read by David Troughton, Tom Baker, Susan Engel, Nerys Hughes and Ian Hogg. 
 
Each purchase is accompanied by a PDF booklet featuring full cast and credits, chapter-by-chapter navigation, and sleeve notes for each book by David J. Howe. 
 
“…this always excellent range continues to delight in its pursuit of committing the entire Target Books library to audio.” Doctor Who Magazine 
 
Sound design by Simon Power 
TARDIS sound effect by Brian Hodgson 
Executive producer: Michael Stevens 
Cover illustration by Chris Achilleos 
 
(p) BBC Worldwide 2019 © BBC Worldwide 2019 
BBC logo © BBC 1996 
Doctor Who logo © BBC 2018 
A stereo recording 
MCPS

Doctor Who: The Awakening

Nerys Hughes reads this exciting novelisation of a classic Doctor Who story.

May Day is approaching in the English village of Little Hodcombe, scene of an ancient Civil War battle. When the TARDIS arrives, the Doctor’s companion, Tegan, is hoping to visit her grandfather. Yet the travellers learn that he has mysteriously disappeared, and the planned re-enactment of the battle has taken on a menacing tone. Local schoolteacher Jane Hampden knows how the county squire plans to celebrate May Day: with the May Queen meeting a grisly end. Can Jane make the villagers see sense, or are they all under the influence of some unseen force? The village church holds the clues to what is happening in Little Hodcombe, and soon the Doctor is facing an ancient alien foe. Can he and his friends triumph against it? Eric Pringle’s novelisation of his own TV serial is read by Nerys Hughes, who played Todd in the Doctor Who episode ‘Kinda’. ‘BBC Audiobooks has chosen well with its books and has taken the right approach with its readers... they benefit from new music and sound effects’ - Doctor Who Magazine.

William Holland

Eric Pringle

Ronald Pickup

Rosemary Martin

Rowena Cooper

Gavin Muir

Gordon Gostelow

Tessa Worsley

David Collings

Andrew Branch

Margaret Courtenay

Full Cast

A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama

A BBC Radio dramatisation of the real-life diaries of a West Country village parson, writing at the turn of the 19th Century 
 
'A good diary can provide an unsurpassed entry into society, and the diary of William Holland is a very good diary indeed' The Spectator 
 
On October 25th, 1799 - his 18th wedding anniversary - cantankerous Somerset parson William Holland begins his diary, chronicling events at the vicarage and in the small farming community of Over Stowey. He would keep it for the next 19 years, candidly recording the small trials of day-to-day life - from chaotic church services and unruly locals to lazy servants and irksome in-laws. 
 
As the new century dawns, he finds himself dealing with parish problems and domestic dramas: including a madman in the poorhouse, a drunkard in the pulpit, and his wife's prattling cousin in the house. At harvest time, he has his work cut out collecting tithes from the local farmers, and his troubles are further compounded by an escaped cow, some curious medical complaints, and an audacious plum-plunderer... 
 
Paying a social visit to Bath with his family, the hectic pace has him longing for the relative peace and quiet of home. And back at the parsonage, his life is transformed when his manservant Robert resolves to give up drinking and womanizing. But will it last? 
 
Full of humorous observations and comic incident, this delightful journal paints a unique picture of a wonderful collection of characters, and the entertaining and often hilarious things that happen to them. Dramatised by Eric Pringle, it is brought to life by a full cast of well-known actors, and stars Ronald Pickup as William Holland, Rosemary Martin and Rowena Cooper as his wife, Mary, and Gavin Muir as Robert. 
 
Production credits 
Written by William Holland 
Dramatised by Eric Pringle 
Directed by Cherry Cookson 
 
Cast 
William Holland - Ronald Pickup 
Mary - Rosemary Martin/Rowena Cooper 
Robert - Gavin Muir 
Miss Dodwell - Tessa Worsley 
Mr Amen - Gordon Gostelow 
Farmer Morle - David Collings 
William Frost/Farmer Landsey - David Timson 
Rector Reekes/Ben Hunt - John Hartley 
Thomas Poole/Farmer Trant/Porter - Stephen Critchlow 
Mrs Southcomb - Margaret Courtenay 
Farmer CottleMr Lewis - Andrew Branch 
Margaret/Hannah/Betty/Little Will - Jane Whittenshaw 
Sally Hill/Grace - Caroline Strong 
With Tilly Gaunt, Giles Fagan and Ben Crowe 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 7-21 February 1996 (Series 1), 29 October-12 November 1999 (Series 2) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Eric Pringle

Books by Eric Pringle

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter