The Androids of Tara (audio story)

The Androids of Tara was a direct-to-audio novelisation based on the 1978 television serial The Androids of Tara.

Publisher's summary
''The Count embraced the android enthusiastically. "You see before you", he told Romana "the perfect killing machine. She's as beautiful as you are, my dear, and as deadly as the plague. If only she were a real woman, I'd marry her tomorrow."''

In search of a segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive on the planet Tara, whose population has long mastered the art of android engineering. Romana is apprehended by the ambitious Count Grendel, who seeks to overthrow the king in waiting, and the Doctor is coerced into helping those loyal to the crown. With Reynart locked away in Grendel's dungeons, the Doctor must perfect an android that can be crowned in his place. Yet Reynart is not the only one of Grendel's prisoners to have a double: the captive Princess Strella is Romana's doppelganger. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues as Grendel seeks to destroy the Doctor in his race to the Taran throne...

With original sound design, this brand new novelisation is written specially for audio by David Fisher. It is read by John Leeson, who was the original Voice of K9 in the BBC TV series.

Chapter titles

 * Chapter 1: The Rhino-bear
 * Chapter 2: The Doctor Goes Fishing
 * Chapter 3: Princess Strella
 * Chapter 4: The Pervillion of The Summer Wind
 * Chapter 5: The Duel

Deviations from televised story

 * The wood beast is a rhino-bear; Grendel was expecting a robot one to fight not the genuine article.
 * The Gracht family tree and Tara are explored in detail - the Doctor considers Tara a hopeless hellhole of psychotic backstabbers whose regency look hides the truth.
 * The Doctor gets Reinhart to pay for his services by giving him a fishing licence.
 * Dicks explanation for the Doctor getting past the locked door in the passage is left intact.
 * Strella is contemplating suicide.

Writing and publishing notes

 * The original novelisation was written by Terrance Dicks. David Fisher, the original writer of the television story, was commissioned to write a new novelisation by AudioGo expanding on the story.

Reissue
This audio novelisation was reissued as part of the audio anthology The Second Alien Worlds Collection on 6 December 2018.

Target Book
This audiobook was released as a novelisation on 14 July 2022 by Target Books with new cover art by Anthony Dry.