by Paul Mount
Over the decades, Doctor Who fans have demonstrated the most remarkable capacity for embracing and devouring the most peculiar, arcane pieces of merchandise. This admittedly-impressive new vinyl package from Demon Records is absolutely a case in point. In 1976 publishers World Distributors, responsible for the official Doctor Who Annuals since 1964, published a special slim hardback book to coincide with a Typhoo Tea picture card promotion. The book was comprised of a selection of Tom Baker stories from their 1976 Annual, plus a few new photo features recounting the history of the Doctor and his most famous adversaries. Nearly five decades later, the book has been brought back to life in audio form with familiar names from the world of Doctor Who’s current audio spin-off life – Dalek voice artist Nicholas Briggs, actors Louise Jameson (Leela in the TV series in the 1970s), Geoffrey Beevers (the withered Master in 1976’s Deadly Assassin) and erstwhile latter day Sontaran actor Dan Starkey – doing their best to make stories that in written form bore little resemblance to TV Doctor Who sound a little bit more palatable.
It’s a very odd listening experience indeed. Supported by an excellent sound design, the actors work hard to infuse these often silly stories with some proper drama; this tends to involve spirited impersonations of Tom Baker (and let’s face it, anyone trying to capture Baker’s rich tones is on to a bit of a loser from the start) and his then-TV companions Sarah Janer Smith and Harry Sullivan. The problem is with the original writing, as the stories are all over the place. Baker’s Doctor is hard to recreate on the page, and the anonymous writers of these stories don’t come anywhere near. The stories themselves are a mixed bunch, but The Vampires of Crellium and The Sinister Sponge have a certain narrative pace that keeps them interesting, if nothing else. The text ‘features’ are charmingly naïve, breathless canters through the life and times of the Doctor and his most persistent and memorable foes.
The Amazing World of Doctor Who is almost certainly a one-time listen, two vivid red/orange vinyl discs (it’s also available on CD) presented in a lavish gatefold sleeve opening out to display reprinted illustrations from the original book. Charmingly quirky and surely as niche as Doctor Who merchandise is likely to get, The Amazing World of Doctor Who is destined to become an odd little collector’s item.
