Doctor Who: Tales of Terror

By: Jacqueline Rayner, Mike Tucker, Paul Magrs, Richard Dungworth, Scott Handcock, Craig Donaghy

Narrated by: Sophie Aldred, Rachael Stirling, Adjoa Andoh, David Bailie, Derek Jacobi

Penguin presents the audio download edition of Doctor Who: Tales of Terror, read by Sophie Aldred, Adjoa Andoh, Rachael Stirling, David Bailie and Derek Jacobi.

A new spine-chilling collection of 12 adventures packed with terrifying Doctor Who monsters and villains, just in time for Halloween.

Written by Jacqueline Rayner, Mike Tucker, Paul Magrs, Richard Dungworth, Scott Handcock and Craig Donaghy, each story stars an incarnation of the Doctor on a brand-new adventure in time and space.

Each also features a frightening nemesis for the Doctor to face, plus appearances from favourite friends and companions such as Sarah Jane, Jo, Ace and Donna.

©2017 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Tales of Terror (with varying degrees of success)

Chapters 1, 6, and 9 were exemplary, and full of Halloween charm. Chapter 6 had an amazing twist I wasn't expecting, and was a pleasantly unexpected bit of cosmic psycholigical horror. Chapter 12 was also perfectly in line with that incarnation of the Doctor. Sadly, the other stories ranged from passible to pretty darn unremarkable. Chapter 4's ear piercing narration and stupid villains was just torture. The narrator of Chapters 1 & 6 was easily the best of them, and the narrator for Chapter 12 did the best Doctor impersonation.
Sadly, the other narrators struggled to sound anything close to their respective doctors, which was really off putting given how distinct some of their voices are.
It's like a mixed bag of Halloween candy -- sometimes you get a king sized Hershey bar, and other times you get a melted jolly rancher. However, even jolly ranchers are okay treats. In other words -- I highly recommend it.

Fun from start to finish

Really enjoyable stories. Loved them all from start to finish, though of course some were better than others. If you're looking for something scary as the title might suggest, you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for enjoyable Doctor Who stories, as I was, then you'll probably be happy with this one. I know I was.

Halloween Who

A good little series of scary stories covering each incarnation of the Doctor. The Celestial Toymaker twist was quit good and i didn't see it coming. Kid friendly for all ages althogh it may frighten younger kids, my eight year old self would have loved this. Narration was very good although some of the voice actors sometimes go a little over the top, but like a good panto the kids will enjoy it.

A true mixed bag

First of all, the stories are a wide range of quality, and the narrators’ impressions of the doctors are never quite accurate (except for stories 10 and 12).

Story 1 is genuinely creepy, and I love the twist. The narrator is a treat to listen to, and the doctor impression is alright. 9/10

Story 2 is a sort of Midnight situation, as we never quite find out what the monster was. Narration is good, plot is eerie, and I like the claustrophobia of it all. 7/10

Story 3 is lacking in story and narration, but the character dynamic, especially between the Doctor and the enemy, makes up for all of that. 6/10

Story 4. Hate the doctor impression. Witches made my ears bleed. Harry Sullivan is an impeccable.
No/10

Story 5 is OK. Love the idea, feel nothing for the execution. 5/10

Story 6 is a sequel to story 1. I will spoil nothing of this masterpiece. 400/10

Story 7 is lackluster but the villain is genuinely creepy and the Doctor and Ace are nice. 5/10

Story 8 is the most disappointing. The Doctor can’t go three minutes without describing the “horrible mutation”, and the monster itself is your basic 1960s Hollywood flop scary. It gets good at the end, though. 5/10

Story 9 is really creepy, and the twist villain was genuinely awesome. I wish this was a real episode. 8/10

Story 10 is the sequel to a story I prayed would never get one, and really shouldn’t. However, it has respect for the original episode and is played off really well. Anticlimactic at the end, though. 8/10

Story 11 is a family drama gone dark. The Doctor is likable in here, the family is nice and the villains are terrifying. Pretty good. 8/10

Story 12 is the last and honestly pretty awesome. The villain is creepy, it has the best Doctor impression, but the end is, sadly, anticlimactic. Loves the concept, but the resolution is cheap. Still, 9/10

All in all, this is a fantastic bundle and well worth your money and time.

Loved it!

These are great stories read by great narrators. Enjoyed them all. Highly recommend this for Whovian fsns like myself.

Varying Degrees of Spooky

I'm a casual Who fan and a casual horror fan, so the intrigue for me here was pretty substantial. I'm not very familiar with the Doctors before the reboot in 2005, so I can't judge them based on accuracy, but as far as the stories go, some are great fun, some are spooky and some are so-so.

Story One was one of the few with a really creepy Halloween feel to it with an exciting build-up of tension and a satisfying victory on the Doctor's part in the end. Story Six is its sequel and has a truly psychologically discomforting sensation to it, once again with the Doctor outsmarting his enemy in a way only the Doctor can. The two stories share a narrator and he does a masterful job of filling you with a sense of discomfort.

Story Two has a bit of a low-budget horror movie feel to it with a satisfying shock at the end, but there's very little of the Doctor in it, and mostly focuses on his companions.

Story Three is not particularly spooky at all but is a solid short story featuring the Doctor playing mental chess with one of his oldest classic enemies.

Story Four is the weakest. Again, not very much of The Doctor at all, it mostly involves Sarah Jane being distressed by three VERY annoying-sounding witches that I'm pretty sure is a tie-in from a Tenth Doctor TV episode. Not particularly spooky.

Story Five is a fun adventure, mildly spooky, and kind of ties itself up in a neat bow a bit quicker than I would have expected.

Story Seven mostly excels with its exchanges between the Doctor and his companion. Again, mildly spooky at best.

Story Eight has a "Deep Rising", action adventure on a cruise ship feel that is more Hollywood Blockbuster than a slow-burn horror thriller.

Story Nine definitely returns to the more traditional spooky Halloween-type story. The Ninth Doctor tackles a classic villain that he never encountered in the show with a clever emotional gut punch.

Stories Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are all great fun. None are very creepy but are all fantastic stories that each terrifically portray the Doctors and tie into previous stories and creatures referenced in the show.