Doctor Who : Fourth Doctor

For ages past, the Union of Traken has lived in peace and harmony thanks to the power of the Source, controlled by generations of Keepers. But the current Keeper, his powers waning, senses some all-pervading evil about to invade his world. He summons the Doctor to his aid. To save Traken the Doctor fights the terrifying Melkur - only to find that this new enemy conceals an older and even deadlier foe - one the Doctor has encountered before.

John Leeson stars in this exciting novelisation of a classic adventure for the Fourth Doctor - and the introduction of K9. A mysterious cloud drifts menacingly through space, and the Doctor becomes infected with the Nucleus of a malignant Virus that threatens to destroy his mind. Meanwhile, on Titan, human slaves prepare the Hive from which the Virus will swarm out and infect the universe. In search of a cure, Leela takes the Doctor to the Bi-Al Foundation, where they make an incredible journey into the Doctor’s brain in an attempt to destroy the Nucleus.

Louise Jameson reads this suspenseful novelisation of a Fourth Doctor adventure. On a desert planet the giant sandminer crawls through the howling sandstorms, harvesting the valuable minerals in the sand. Inside, the humans relax in luxury while most of the work is done by the robots who serve them. Then the Doctor and Leela arrive - and the mysterious deaths begin. First suspects, then hunted victims, Leela and the Doctor must find the hidden killer - or join the other victims of the Robots of Death.

Susan Jameson reads a brand-new original story featuring the Fourth Doctor and his companion Mrs Wibbsey. In 18th Century coastal Italy, the local fishermen haul in an extraordinary catch: a gigantic serpent. The Doctor identifies it as an alien, but to the ailing locals this fabled sea creature has the capacity to heal them - if only Count Otto will share it with them. When Mrs Wibbsey comes under the influence of the Count, the Doctor finds himself snared by the wicked power of a seemingly immortal magician, the infamous Cagliostro!

The TARDIS materialises on a spaceship at the edge of the known universe, and the Doctor, Leela and K9 encounter a group of astronauts searching for the lost gene bank of the Minyan race. The craft plunges into the heart of a recently formed planet, wherein the Doctor discovers an awesome secret: the descendants of a previous Minyan expedition have become enslaved to a powerful computer!

The TARDIS lands in England and Sarah, the Doctor's companion, looks forward to going home. A freak accident in a quarry leaves the unconscious Sarah clutching an enormous stone hand. The only surviving remnant of Eldrad - an alien super-being expelled from his planet, Kastria - it has the power to control the human mind.

The place: Skaro. Time: the Birth of the Daleks. After a 1000 years of futile war against the Thals, Davros has perfected the physical form that will carry his race into eternity - the dreaded Dalek. Without feeling, conscience or pity, the Dalek is programmed to exterminate. At the command of the Time Lords, the Doctor travels back through time in an effort to totally destroy this terrible menace of the future. But even the Doctor cannot always win....

A mysterious plague strikes Space Beacon Nerva, killing its victims within minutes. When the Doctor lands, only four humans remain alive. One of these seems to be in league with the nearby planet of gold, Voga....

In this thrilling selection of weird and wonderful short stories, Jon Culshaw, John Leeson, Terry Molloy, Louise Jameson, Dan Starkey and Geoffrey Beevers read seven stories from the legendary Doctor Who Annual of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.