Product Description

Bernard Cribbins reads this gripping story of a new star and an ancient alien threat. Donna Noble is back home in London, catching up with her family and generally giving them all the gossip about her journeys. Her grandfather is especially overjoyed - he's discovered a new star and had it named after him. He takes the Doctor, as his special guest, to the naming ceremony. But the Doctor is suspicious about some of the other changes he can see in the Earth's heavens. Particularly that bright star, right there. No, not that one, that one, there, on the left...The world's population is slowly being converted to a new path, a new way of thinking. Something is coming to Earth, an ancient force from the Dark Times. Something powerful, angry and all-consuming...Featuring the Doctor and Donna as played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate in the hit series from BBC Television, "Beautiful Chaos" is read by Bernard Cribbins, who played Donna's grandfather in "Doctor Who".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88030 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-09
• Format: Audiobook
• Binding: Audio CD

About the Author
Gary Russell is one of the script editing team for Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the author of many novels and reference books in the Doctor Who range. A former editor of Doctor Who Magazine, he also was the producer of Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish Productions for eight years. He lives in Cardiff.

Customer Reviews

A noble read
A cracking story with the unexpected return of a particularly nasty enemy memorably encountered by the 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane. The adventure belts along very satifactorily and the stakes are as high as ever for the human race, but the highlight for me was the interesting exploration of the Noble family at home. Gary Russell offers a particularly sympathetic treatment of Donna's Mum, Sylvia, and provides some understanding of her harsh demeanour towards the world and Donna. Wilf is such a marvellously well drawn character, thanks to Bernard Cribbins, he just leaps off the pages. The family interactions together and with the Doctor were as interesting as the adventure. It makes Donna's departure even sadder.

One of the more mature entries in the range
As a Doctor Who writer Gary Russell has produced some great stories and can be relied upon to come up with an entertaining and thought-provoking read that comes straight out of the blocks and immediately captures the readers' imagination. Beautiful Chaos however, starts slowly, as The Timelord and his companion Donna return to Earth so that she can spend some time with her Mum and her Grandad; although the living legend that is Bernard Cribbins made was superb on TV as Donna's Grandad, these scenes seemed to me to drag on and to lack any real pathos. Meanwhile, a mysterious computer-based entity known as Madam Delphi is using the technology to either destroy or enslave members of the human race, in order it would seem, to build an army that will enable her to take over the world. It soon becomes clear that this entity has been thwarted by one of The Doctor's previous incarnations, as an ancient evil reawakens and threatens the cosmos once more.

As well as the return of a great Doctor Who villain, there are some nice moments that are reminiscent of the classic series: An archaeological dig becomes a nightmare as the diggers are gradually taken over, an electrician is reduced to ashes as he repairs a socket that is a conduit for madam Delphi's deadly energy and a ruthless businessman serves as recruiter for the alien's burgeoning army...
I also liked the fact that the cataclysmic events soon to overtake Donna in the TV series are hinted at here, giving the story some real tension, and The Doctor himself is unusually sober and ill-at-ease as he spends time in the company of Donna's family and attends an astronomy dinner with Wilf, his companion's Grandad. The book has a depth and a classic Doctor Who feel that will no doubt strike a chord with older readers, although I think this makes it less accessible for younger ones, especially the overly wordy middle section. Overall though it is a great addition to the collection and I look forward to the audio version which I feel has the potential to do the story greater justice.

Doctor Who Beautiful Chaos
These stories fill the gap beween each season on television. The stories are read by people who have performed on the programme.

Beautiful Chaos is a great story which follows on from a story that is over thirty years old from the Tom Baker era, I will leave you all to guess so that I do not spoil the surprise.

Buy this CD play it and enjoy. Those of you who enjoy the programme will not be disappointed.