Doctor Who: The Deviant Strain

By: Justin Richards

Narrated by: Stuart Milligan

Stuart Milligan reads this thrilling adventure featuring the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack.

The Novrosk Peninsula: the Soviet naval base has been abandoned, the nuclear submarines are rusting and rotting. Cold, isolated, forgotten.Until the Russian Special Forces arrive - and discover that the Doctor and his companions are here too. But there is something else in Novrosk. Something that pre-dates even the stone circle on the cliff top. Something that is at last waking, hunting, killing....

Can the Doctor and his friends stay alive long enough to learn the truth? With time running out, they must discover who is really responsible for the Deviant Strain...

.Featuring the Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston, together with Rose and Captain Jack as played by Billie Piper and John Barrowman in the hit series from BBC Television.

©2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

couldn't get through it

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I'd like to change the narrator. It did seem like he was trying, but he simply wasn't getting the accents right. It would have been better to not do them at all. I still could have listened to the story.

What was most disappointing about Justin Richards’s story?

I can't say about the story, I only heard 20min of it.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Stuart Milligan?

No. Would found out if he can accurately copy the diverse accents BEFORE completing the project.

A great story

A great tale of the Doctor in a remote location with strange goings on. Of course, that describes just about every Doctor Who story, but this one raises the bar and is quite well performed.

Good story, TERRIBLE narrator

Would you try another book from Justin Richards and/or Stuart Milligan?

I would buy another Justin Richards book, but I would NEVER listen to Stuart Milligan ever again if he was the last audio reader on earth.

How could the performance have been better?

If someone, anyone else read it. Note to BBC Audio: NO MORE AMERICAN READERS!

Any additional comments?

I'm about two hours into the book and I had to stop and write this review - while I'm enjoying the story, I have to say that just because Captain Jack is in the book is absolutely no excuse for having an American reader. Especially one who has hands down the WORST British and Russian accents humanly possible. The fact that he's even trying to do accents is an insult to accents everywhere. I probably could have eventually (and against my will) adapted to Milligan's American voice if he didn't attempt the accents, but this is SO awful, I'm not sure how it even got made - much less, why the BBC hired him AGAIN to read another Dr Who audio (Blackout). But I guess I'll put up with a lot for Dr. Who because I am enjoying the story enough to finish the audiobook. Zero stars for Milligan (if only negative stars were possible) and four stars for Richards

An interesting story... Horrific narration

This story depicts Jack, the Doctor and Rose answering a distress beacon. The signal takes them to Russia and of course there is a mystery to solve. The story is fine and entertaining enough. Unfortunately the narrator is so off target and his accents so terrible that I nearly quit as soon as I started. The Doctor sounds more like Doolittle than Who. Rose's accent waivers all over the British Isles and Jack's is passable. The Russians in the story often sound more Mexican than Russian. I don't know if he was unfamiliar with the characters, was not given enough time to prep, or this is just not a good venue for Stuart Milligan. I have to say that without a doubt this is the worst voice work I have ever encountered in a Dr. Who audio book which is really to bad because Milligan has a very nice voice when not trying to do the characters. I tend to listen to Doctor Who books repeatedly while driving. I like a familiar story in the car. This one I got through twice, barely.

A good story

I couldn't stop picturing the Eleventh Doctor throughout the story, otherwise it was pretty good.

Finally finished it.

I could never get around to finishing this story. The narrator is just aweful. Completely wrong accents, I don't think he's even heard what the ninth doctor sounds like.

The story however is interesting. Not the best mind you but not bad.

I really wish I hadn't saved this for last

The Ninth Doctor is my favorite and I've relished the novels in which he is featured, but The Deviant Strain was the absolute worst way for me to wrap up Nine's stories. It broke my heart to rate this as low as I did.

Poor Stuart Milligan has been torn apart in the reviews, and unfortunately, I can't defend him. It was a gamble to have an American narrate something so quintessentially British, and that gamble was lost. Captain Jack is the only person in this book who is supposed to have an American accent, but Mr. Milligan failed to capture even Jack's voice. I'm no connoisseur of British accents, but even I can tell that the accent Mr. Milligan used for the Doctor in no way resembles the Northern accent of Christopher Eccleston. None of the characters sound like themselves and it really pulled me out of the story.

Speaking of the story, I didn't care for it, either. The setting is interesting, but the plot and motivations have left me cold (no pun intended). Full disclosure: I have not finished this story, and with 90 minutes left to go, I probably never will.

I would recommend this book only to people who feel compelled to have complete collections. It is not enjoyable in the least.

This is an AMERICAN narrator

I'm sorry, but Doctor who is ENGLISH. Having someone doing the most APPALLINGLY bad English accent for both Rose and The Doctor DOES NOT WORK!!!!! I have only listened for 10 minutes and I really don't know if I can be bothered listening to the rest.

Love the show - hate the books

The reading of the books are horrible and does nothing to cover up the shallow plot lines. Should stick with what works - TV shows. Books is not Dr. Who's strong point.

As some of the others have said ...

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Anyone with a tin ear who can't tell a decent accent from a lousy one.

Would you recommend Doctor Who: The Deviant Strain to your friends? Why or why not?

No. Anyone who's never listened to Doctor Who books before would be put off for good, and anyone who has listened before would be appalled.

How could the performance have been better?

The voices of Doctor Who characters are very, very well known to their fans. Not all narrators attempt to capture each character's voice, and fair enough. Stuart Milligan *attempts* it, but does not succeed. His accents are all over the board -- the Russians sound more like Mexicans, Rose sometimes has the same accent as the Doctor, and the Doctor, well, he sounded more like a caricature of an Englishman. Milligan's intonational patterns were likewise bizarre, as if he were reading the book for the first time aloud and didn't realize how the sentence was going to end. I don't want to be harsh, but as an aficionado of audio books and Doctor Who books in particular, it just wasn't good enough, and I will not listen to Milligan again.

I have, however, listened to several other Justin Richards books and enjoyed them very much. This time, I really didn't, but I believe that's down to the performance more than the writing, although it's difficult to separate one from the other.

What character would you cut from Doctor Who: The Deviant Strain?

The narrator, sorry.