Customer Reviews
Creepy crawlies, centaurs, killer robot and war...how can you go wrong? - By: R. Wood, 05 Oct 2008 
Audiobooks are a great thing. Only recently, have I started getting into them, when the Radio Times gave away free copies of Dr. Who: The Resurrection Casket (without any background music/sound effects). Interested, I put it on my iPod & really enjoyed listening to it.
Wanting to listen to more audiobooks as a result, I learned of Dr. Who: Pest Control (written by Peter Anghelides) & decided to give it a hear. And yet again, I really enjoyed listening to an audiobook & putting it on my iPod.
Set sometime during Series 4 of the TV series, the Doctor & Donna Noble arrive on a distant planet, caught in-between the warring forces of humans & centaur-creatures known as the Acquarby. Unfortunately, things get even more complicated with the arrival of monstrous beetles, that were once human & Acquarby soldiers. If that's not bad enough, the Doctor then loses the TARDIS & gets separated from Donna, who (with nowhere else to go) is forced to fight with the human forces. Then a remorseless, robotic exterminator arrives to destroy the planet infestation, not at all caring who or what getsin its way.
What makes this particular audiobook unique is that it isn't a direct reading from any Doctor Who novel. Pest Control is a story done exclusively for audio, & that makes it all the more special.
Starting with the story, Peter Anghelides has crafted an excellent Who tale, with everything we come to expect featuring the Doctor; excitement, danger, clash of ideals, dark secrets & history, the test of the Doctor's companion`s courage, likeable guest characters & suspicious, insidious adversaries.
Highlights of Anghelides' story include the Acquarby, who are an interesting species. Their leader, Commander Perdova is a stern, but good-hearted character & there are funny moments between him & the Doctor, who makes some bad horse-gags at the Acquarby's expense. Perdova's annoyance with the Time Lord's humour makes for good laughs & I really liked how eventually, he warms to the Doctor's chirpy, joking nature.
For the human side of things, General Brudge remains a fierce, bullish, tyrannical character & ergo, not THAT interesting. On the other hand, the journalist Nash & surgeon Lenova remain deeply enigmatic characters with their own agendas, & are thus excellent. Lieutenant Yovich is also a good character with likeable humour & a sense of honour.
The background of the giant insects & their robotic terminator is also a fascinating one & made believable by the circumstances, & the Doctor remains as excellent as ever, but the highlight of the whole story I would say...is Donna. Her situation here provides a true test for her ability to cope & to help those around her. And as such, she handles herself brilliantly here, once again showing how effective & brilliant a companion she truly was, noticing things even the Doctor can't & being brave & supportive throughout. Her befriending of one of the soldiersin the platoon makes for a real, heart-warming & ultimately tragic moment. It all makes Pest Control a superb tale.
David Tennant once again shows his remarkable gift for narration. He performs the Doctor just as he does on television & also does a rather good impersonation of Catherine Tate when voicing Donna. As well as giving all the other characters greatly distinctive voices, Tennant will have you hooked on every word when narrating the story. Be it action or interaction, he makes it all so captivating & exciting.
The music & sound effects are also something to praise this CD for. They really do add to the drama of the story, particularly during the moments when the robot exterminator attacks, the insect transformations occur & the conflict between the humans & the Acquarby. The music themes sent chills down my spine, & that coupled with David Tennant's narration, compliments Peter Anghelides' story, resultingin a thrilling audiobook.
I would really recommend Doctor Who: Pest Control. Fans of these audiobooks won't be disappointed, &in my opinion, neither will those who haven't exposed themselves (much) to audiobooks before. Brilliant stuff.
David Tennant Is A Genius - By: Tennant Fan, 19 Sep 2008 If you're a fan of Doctor Who or David Tennant then you MUST get this amazing audio adventure!
David's superb narration & acting is simply a wonder!
bloody brilliant job - By: tv is my friend, 04 Aug 2008 
while this isn't the best storyin the history of the new who novels, it certainly kept my interest. i thought david tennant was FANTASTIC at the accents & mannerisms of each character, especially the doctor (of course) & as donna.
i purchased this after series 4 ended to cheer myself up & this book did the trick. if you want to spend some time with donna & the doctor & enjoy a good story, i highly recommend this.
Masterfully written `military' Doctor Who story - By: L. Green, 25 Jul 2008 Barcode: 9781405678193
Throughout Doctor Who's history `military' stories have cropped up many times. The classic situation being the Doctor & his companion finding themselvesin the middle of a conflict between two factions. It's his inquisitiveness & dislike of violence put up against the brash actions of the military forces that make for such powerful storytelling & with `Pest Control', writer Peter Anghelides shows how this concept works just as well on audio.
Take the recent series 4 of Doctor Who for example - In that alone you had the Sontaran two-parter as well as the Doctor's Daughter - both encompassing strong military themes. Thus, `Pest Control' fits very well into the overall feel of series, alsoin the way it encompasses the grander scale & darker feel of that series. What you immediately notice though is that within the audio format, there is complete freedom to create wondrous worlds & alien races without limitations of budget & this really shows here, the story having an epic feel to it.
Things kick off with the Doctor & Donna landing on a desolate, war-torn planet, caughtin a conflict between the centaur-like Aquabi & the human soldiers, the insectoid Serfians being introduced shortly later. The human soldiers are the key focus here, ranging from the down-to-earth grunts, a sneaky reporter type, an uncaring leader & downright sinister medical advisor. Each is exploredin fascinating detail, tempers obviously reaching fever point as differing attitudes bounce off each other. Donna herself even gets conscripted up into the armed forces!
On the whole, this is quite a gritty story, featuring themes of racism, descriptions of injuries (neck broken, limbs almost severed), a pretty high death toll & plenty of destruction on a large scale. Another important theme picked up on by the Doctor himself is the very best & very worst that humans can showcase & this idea becomesin many ways the crux of this story.
Of course, as Doctor Who always does so well, this grim backdrop is perfectly balanced against lovely little dashes of lightness with loads of great comedy moments from the Doctor & Donna featuringin this story along with some quaint references to Star Trek & Harry Potter too. It's also interesting to note that that the two actually spend most of this story apart (a good two-thirds at least). This works to the story's strength though, allowing the characters to play to their own personal strengths & really shine.
Another important part of Doctor Who is its absorbance of various influences & working them into new, exciting visions. In `Pest Control' there's a whole host of touchstones, ranging from previous elements of the show itself (there's even a giant robotin this story) to classic sci-fi films like Aliensin the way the insectoid aliens burst out from the unwitting human hosts as well as the clear conflict within the human military itself.
This story flows really well, hooking you right from the start & is excellently paced. Maybe because it was written specifically for audio, this story feels cinematic by the & before long you've reached the terrifying track 11 of part 2, kickstarting an awesome finale.
In terms of production, David Tennant as an absolute joy to listen to as he narrates, conveying the Doctor just as well as he does on TV as well as supplying us with voices for a whole host of memorable supporting characters. There's also lots of nice atmospheric backing music & little touches of sound effects that just really bring out the realismin this story like the scary hisses & clicks of the Serfians.
So, allin all, whether you're a long time fan of Doctor Who or if this is your first taste of the show's audio range, you'rein for a real treat with this story!
A terrible waste of money - By: 8th Doctor Fan, 14 Jul 2008 
I bought this audio book because I enjoy David Tennant's readings. He does a wonderful array of voices & accentsin everything he does. However, the story was just awful. This author has never been a particular favorite of mine, but has beenin the past, passable. Tennant's talent wasn't enough to pull this tiresome, BORING story out of the morass. Don't waste your money on this one.
