‘The Androids of Tara’ (TV)

 

‘THE ANDROIDS OF TARA’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Double Trouble

‘The Androids of Tara’ by David Fisher is the fourth story in ‘The Key to Time’ season. It is a four-part adventure on one disc. This is my third favourite story from ‘The Key to Time’ season. It’s full of swashbuckling proportions, humour and adventure.

This story is based on the classic novel ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ by Anthony Hope. I’ve not read the book and I’ve not seen the 1937 film, but I was instantly captivated into this swashbuckling adventure with androids.

The Fourth Doctor and Romana visit the planet Tara, where Romana finds the fourth segment of the Key to Time very quickly. But they’re soon caught in a power struggle, as Count Grendel intends to be the King of Tara.

The fourth segment of the Key to Time happens to be a stone statue of an animal’s head. It’s lucky that Romana managed to find the segment so quickly with the tracer, especially in ‘Part One’ of the story.

This is a story about double trouble, as androids get used in a medieval-alien setting to duplicate another person. This story focuses on Mary Tamm’s Romana, as Grendel uses her in his evil schemes.

The story is well-directed by Michael Hayes, who makes his first contribution to the TV series. The sunny atmosphere for Tara fits well to the action-packed plot and the beauty of this medieval world.

Mary Tamm delivers a wonderful performance as three characters. She plays Romana, Princess Strella and android copies of Romana and Strella. The android Romana is serious and quite creepy.

Tom Baker delivers a superb performance as the Fourth Doctor with his eccentric humour and ‘bonkers’ manner. He gets involved in the power struggle of Tara, when he knows how to mend androids.

K-9, voiced by John Leeson, gets a huge amount to do in this story. As well as tracking Romana at Grendel’s castle, K-9 helps the Doctor when he detects the android Romana and cuts through a wall to escape.

The story’s guest cast includes the great Peter Jeffrey as the villainous Count Grendel. Peter clearly relishes playing Grendel and is great in delivering the balance of menace and humour in the character.

There’s Neville Jason as the charming and heroic Prince Reynart. Neville Jason also plays an android copy of the Prince that becomes the King, whilst the real Prince is locked up in a dungeon with Romana.

There’s Simon Lack as Swordmaster Zadek and Paul Lavers as swordsman Farrah. Paul as Farrah shamefully cuts up the Doctor’s scarf with his electric-powered sword. Gasp, shock! 😮 That’s sacrilege!

There’s Lois Baxter as Lamia, Grendel’s android-maker and Martin Matthews as Kurster, Grendel’s captain of the guard. There’s also Declan Mulholland as Till and Cyril Shaps (who I’ve seen in an episode of ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Them’ as well as other ‘Doctor Who’ stories) as the Archimandrite.

There’s a marvellous sword-fight between the Doctor and Count Grendell. I was thrilled to see Tom Baker’s Doctor do some sword-fighting and you can see where the Tenth Doctor got his sword-fighting from. 😀

The DVD special features are as follows. There’s a making-of documentary called ‘The Humans of Tara’; the ‘Now and Then: The Androids of Tara’ featurette and the ‘Double Trouble’ documentary. There’s a photo gallery of the story and an audio commentary with Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and director Michael Hayes. There’s also an info-text commentary option and a ‘Radio Times Listings’ PDF of the story. There’s a coming soon trailer for ‘Planet of Evil’ with Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen.

‘The Androids of Tara’ is a fantastic story in ‘The Key to Time’ season. I enjoyed every minute of it with the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9 as the heroes and Peter Jeffrey as the villainous Count Grendel.

‘The Androids of Tara’ rating – 10/10

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‘DOCTOR WHO – THE ANDROIDS OF TARA’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The Story of Tara

For David Fisher

David Fisher returns with another novelization/audiobook of a classic ‘Doctor Who’ story! 🙂

After the success of ‘The Stones of Blood’ audiobook novelization in 2011, David Fisher was commissioned again to write another audiobook novelization on his second ‘Doctor Who’ story called ‘The Androids of Tara’ in 2012. I was looking forward to hearing this story novelized for audio.

‘The Androids of Tara’ is my third favourite story from ‘The Key to Time’ season of ‘Doctor Who’ with Tom Baker and Mary Tamm. I didn’t instantly purchase the audiobook when it was released on CD. I was still pleased to find that it was available, and I was looking forward to the chance of hearing it. 🙂

I purchased ‘The Androids of Tara’ audiobook novelization as a download via Audible in 2017. The story was first novelized by Terrance Dicks for the Target novelization range of ‘Doctor Who’ books in 1980. I’ve yet to discover Terrance Dicks’ ‘Stones of Blood’ and ‘Androids of Tara’ novelizations. 🙂

Whilst it’s a pity that Terrance Dicks’ versions of ‘The Stones of Blood’ and ‘The Androids of Tara’ haven’t received the audiobook treatment, it’s great David Fisher novelized his first two ‘Doctor Who’ stories on audio for fans to enjoy. It was thrilling to be initially hearing them as audiobook novelizations.

At the time of ‘The Androids of Tara’ audiobook novelization’s release in 2012, there was no paperback version of the novelization to read with it. Years later in 2022, David Fisher’s audiobook novelization was released in paperback by Target Books with brand-new cover art by Anthony Dry. 🙂

It was lovely to revisit both ‘The Stones of Blood’ and ‘The Androids of Tara’ audiobooks with the novelization paperbacks to read along with them. Like ‘The Stones of Blood’ novelization, most of the text from the audiobook translated into novelization form is still the same as you’re reading it. 🙂

However, there are some noticeable changes in terms of how David Fisher’s novelization for audio was translated into print form. This is acknowledged by Target Books’ project editor Steve Cole in the ‘A Note on the Text(s)’ section at the end of the novelization paperback, which I found very intriguing.

Steve Cole shares what David Fisher said about writing ‘The Androids of Tara’ for TV as well as for audio, which would have been included in the CD inlay notes, I believe. There are also details given about the history of the Key to Time, which includes the implication that the Time Lords created it. 😐

Whilst I’m not sure how valid that is in terms of the ‘Doctor Who’ history, it showcases an interesting insight that the Time Lords might have been responsible for the Key’s creation as opposed to the Guardians or the Grace, as established in the Big Finish audio trilogy (plus one ‘Companion Chronicle’) called ‘The Key 2 Time’.

Going back to the changes made in translating from audiobook to paperback, Steve Cole highlights differences between the televised version of the Doctor hiding Romana from Grendel at the end of ‘Episode Three’ with the 1980 novelization by Terrance Dicks and the 2012 novelization by David Fisher.

Clearly, Terrance Dicks and David Fisher saw issues with Romana being hidden away from Grendel when it was televised, and they handled it in different ways when depicting it prose/audio form. Terrance Dicks had Romana taken to a balcony before the Doctor rejoined the others in the lodge. 😐

David Fisher has Romana still in the room before Grendel creates his distraction and takes her away in front of everyone. This was interesting to discover when reading the ‘A Note on the Text’ section by Steve Cole, and one I wouldn’t have noticed when I first checked out the audiobook novelization.

There’s also the difference addressed by Steve Cole, where in the TV version, Reynart offered one thousand gold pieces to mend the android in ‘Episode One’ before the Doctor offered to have five hundred instead. That ad-lib was apparently conceived by Tom Baker, according to Steve Cole. 🙂

In Terrance Dicks’ and David Fisher’s novelizations, that ad-lib isn’t included. In fact, I believe it’s switched the other way round, particularly in David Fisher’s novelization, where Reynart offered five hundred gold pieces and the Doctor suggested a thousand instead. Clearly, the Doctor has priorities. 😐

I honestly would have preferred Tom Baker’s televised ad-libbed line in any novelization of ‘The Androids of Tara’, since the Doctor doesn’t need money when traveling the universe. Having him lessen the price of his payment to mend Reynart’s android fits his character better in my opinion. 🙂

When it came to checking out the 2012 audiobook novelization in 2017, I expected the same quality of detail and enjoyment that I had with ‘The Stones of Blood’ 2011 audiobook novelization. In some respects, I did gain some enjoyment from when it came to hearing the 2012 audiobook novelization.

In checking out both audiobook and paperback versions of the novelization, I was amazed to find how much I was delving into the alien Zenda-like world of Tara. David Fisher clearly knows how to construct history concerning the life and traditions of Tara, which were so enjoyable and refreshing.

Mind you, I did feel that the audiobook novelization on its own went by swiftly. There wasn’t enough time to absorb all the details from hearing it as well as reading it. This is because the audiobook novelization was divided into 5 lengthy chapters. In the paperback, it’s a prologue and four chapters.

I believe the audiobook was released on audio CD as a four-disc set, but it’s like you’re listening to each of the four individual episodes of ‘The Androids of Tara’ in narration form. I believe it’s less a challenge to find a place to stop in CD form compared to when you’re hearing the story via Audible.

In terms of structure, Chapter 1 (the prologue in the paperback) details Tara’s history and sets up Count Grendel and Madam Lamia’s relationship. Chapter 2/I covers ‘Episode One’, Chapter 3/II covers ‘Episode Two’, Chapter 4/III covers ‘Episode Three’ and Chapter 5/IV covers ‘Episode Four’. 😀

Mind you, it makes senses to divide the audiobook with a prologue and four episodes in five chapters, since this was initially direct-to-audio. Listeners can treat this as a four-part story like it was for TV. But for me, it was a challenge to take everything in both audio form and paperback form.

I like a story in novelization form to be broken up into many chapters in order to absorb each aspect of the plot. There can be exceptions to this, as the ‘Black Orchid’ novelization contains lengthy chapters. But at least that’s an extension of what was a two-part story and it’s become a four-part story. 🙂

The chapter titles in audiobook and paperback are as follows. Chapter 1/the Prologue is called ‘The Rhino-Bear’, Chapter 2/I is called ‘The Doctor Goes Fishing’, Chapter 3/II is called ‘Princess Strella’, Chapter 4/III is called ‘The Pavilion of the Summer Wind’ and finally, Chapter 5/IV is called ‘The Duel’.

The audiobook novelization is read by John Leeson, who voiced K-9 in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. I was pleased to hear John read this story. Mind you, I’m surprised Paul Lavers didn’t read the audiobook with John Leeson as K-9, since he was enthusiastic about the story in the behind-the-scenes DVD interviews.

Despite that, John Leeson is engaging and easy to listen to throughout whilst reading/hearing the novelization/audiobook. Beforehand, John provided the linking narration for the TV soundtrack of ‘The Pirate Planet’. It was nice to hear him read ‘The Androids of Tara’ and voice K-9 simultaneously.

In the audiobook, John Leeson gets to voice many characters in ‘The Androids of Tara’ story, such as the Fourth Doctor, Romana, Count Grendel and more. I don’t think John does exact impersonations of these characters, but he does get the tone of what they sound like in the TV version of the story. 🙂

With that said, I don’t think John’s interpretation of Prince Reynart was that convincing for me. Prince Reynart sounded like an old man in the audiobook compared to the suave elegance that Neville Jason gave him. But I did like John Leeson’s interpretation of Count Grendel in the audiobook.

As I said before, the first chapter/prologue focuses on the history of Tara before the actual story starts. This was interesting to listen to and read. There are certain things about Tara’s history I didn’t know about, including the plague that killed many of the peasantry and to which the nobles avoided.

It’s clear in the TV story as well as the novelization/audiobook that ‘The Androids of Tara’ is based on ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ by Anthony Hope. I’m not sure how many influences David Fisher used from ‘Zenda’ into ‘Tara’, but I assume he elaborated more of this inspiration when writing his novelization.

The relationship between the aristocracy and the peasantry is expanded upon in the novelization/audiobook. This was touched upon in the TV story, but it was intriguing how characters like Romana and the Doctor responded to nobles like Prince Reynart who dismissed the peasantry. 😐

Interestingly, more is given about the history of the Gracht family tree to which Count Grendel came from. One of the family members included happens to be called Zagreus. This surprised me when I heard it. Zagreus’ name gets repeated several times whilst listening to the audiobook novelization. 😐

It can be forgiven that David Fisher didn’t know there was a Zagreus in Gallifreyian history, including a Big Finish audio drama under the same name. Then again, there was the seal of Rassilon on the planet Voga in ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’, so maybe there’s a connection between the two, right? 🙂

I enjoyed the relationship that was developed between Count Grendel and Madam Lamia in audiobook and paperback forms. Madam Lamia clearly loves Grendel, and it was interesting how much depth there was to that relationship. Grendel however is dismissive of Lamia, despite their past.

In Chapter 2/I of the story, Romana gets chased by a wood beast called a rhino-bear. I could easily imagine the rhino-bear being more convincing compared to what it ended up as in the TV version. Romana finds herself being chased by it, before she locates the fourth segment of the Key to Time. 🙂

Also in the story, Count Grendel had set out to fight a robot rhino-bear in the woods, which was built by Madam Lamia. This was detailed in Chapter 1/the prologue before Grendel fought a real one in Chapter 2/I. Grendel attempted to say “Excelsior!” to shut the robot beast down, but it didn’t work.

Chapter 3/II of the story concludes with an overlap from ‘Episode Two’s ending into ‘Episode Three’s opening. This is due to the fact that the coronation scene in the Taran throne room is the same in the transition from ‘Episode Two’ into ‘Episode Three’. Thus, the cliffhanger ending is removed here.

I did find whilst listening/reading the audiobook/paperback, many of the characters’ dialogue and action scenes are paraphrased compared to what’s shown in the TV story. This was disappointing. I expected more action when the Doctor, Zadek, Farrah and android Reynart journeyed in the tunnel.

Mind you, it makes the story pacier by not detailing too much of the action scenes, since the audiobook and the paperback crack on with the plot. But with ‘The Androids of Tara’ being an action-packed adventure, I did expect the action scenes to be as detailed as the plot-driven scenes. 😦

There’s a flashback scene that I liked in the audiobook/paperback. It reveals how Princess Strella got kidnapped by Count Grendel. It was also intriguing to learn how Strella and Grendel knew each other as children and how Strella grew to regard Grendel as the lowest of men that she’s ever met in her life. 🙂

Even in the scene between her and Count Grendel in her prison cell, Strella immediately shouts angrily at him before he speaks. This didn’t happen in the TV story, as Strella remained silent before Grendel spoke to her. I suppose David Fisher was making Strella feistier compared to her TV counterpart.

The story’s climax in both audiobook and paperback is different compared to what’s in the TV version. In both audiobook and paperback, when the Doctor and K-9 get into Count Grendel’s castle via boat, K-9 drifts away quickly in the boat once the Doctor is inside. This removes the comedic ending with K-9.

I actually prefer the comedic ending where K-9 is drifting in the boat in order for Tom Baker’s Doctor to find him at the end of the TV story. Granted, Tom Baker’s laughter at the end might have been unnecessary, but it showcased the fun-filled spirit of the story that was still present by the end.

Mind you, after Count Grendel escaped his sword fight with the Doctor by jumping into the castle moat, K-9 does get to stop him getting into the boat by firing his nose-laser at him. This is unusual and it wasn’t featured in the TV story. I wonder why David Fisher changed that in his novelization.

There’s also a moment where the Doctor rang a bell to signify the death of Count Grendel. This is heard by the gathering in the wedding scene between Romana and Reynart. It was interesting how Grendel reacted to this, as he prompted the Archimandrite to marry the Prince and Romana at once.

The sword fight between the Doctor and Grendel is slightly different in the novelization/audiobook compared to the TV story. The Doctor has his sword already, and is ready to fight Grendel. This wasn’t in the TV story, as the Doctor clearly was trying to avoid having a sword fight with Grendel. 😐

In fact, in both audiobook and paperback, Tom Baker’s Doctor takes the sword from Farrah, whereas in the TV version, he refused to take it. He said, “Too complicated for me.” Again, why would David Fisher change this from the TV version in his novelization? It doesn’t match the Doctor’s character.

The sword fight also seems to be swift in the storytelling in the audiobook and paperback, which is disappointing. The Doctor also asks Reynart where the door controls are to let Zadek and his men into the castle. This was different in the TV version, as it was Reynart who opened the doors, not the Doctor.

The story ends rather differently compared to how it is in the TV version. Instead of Reynart reuniting with Stella in her prison cell, which doesn’t happen in both audiobook and paperback at all, Romana returns from the cell to reunite with the Doctor and has the fourth segment of the Key to Time.

No concern for Strella anyone?! I mean, maybe David Fisher ran out of time to tell everything he wanted to tell in the story’s climax, but it ruins the novelization/audiobook experience when everything you want from the TV version to be in both book and audio form doesn’t come through.

Also, when the Doctor gets Reynart to pay for his services on Tara, the scene changes to a new day, where the Doctor is fishing again, and he has a fishing licence for it. Again, this didn’t happen in the TV version of the story, so why did David Fisher decide to end the story on that note? It’s a mystery.

By the way, in both audiobook and paperback versions of David Fisher’s novelization, Kurster, Grendel’s captain of the guard, is renamed Kürsten. Not sure why David Fisher made that minor change to the character’s name, but Kürsten does sound like he’s a German with that name change. 😀

‘Doctor Who – The Androids of Tara’ by David Fisher has been an enjoyable novelization/audiobook to read and listen to. It’s not as good as ‘The Stones of Blood’ novelization/audiobook, but it’s great to have more depth to the world of Tara. I’m pleased I revisited the audiobook with the paperback.

There’s clearly noticeable differences between the novelization/audiobook and the TV story. I prefer the TV version of the story more, but it’s great that David Fisher has provided more history and backstory to the places and characters that appear in the audiobook and paperback forms of his novelization.

‘Doctor Who – The Androids of Tara’ rating – 8/10

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The previous story For the Fourth Doctor was ‘Tales From The Vault’ (Audio) For Romana was ‘Tales From The Vault’ (Audio) For K-9 Mk II was ‘Heart of TARDIS’ (Book)	The next story For the Fourth Doctor is ‘The Glarn Strategy’ (ST) For Romana is ‘The Glarn Strategy’ (ST) For K-9 Mk II is ‘The Armageddon Factor’ (TV)
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