Showing results by narrator "Sophie Aldred" in All Categories

A struggling silhouette artist in Victorian Bath seeks out a renowned child spirit medium in order to speak to the dead - and to try to identify their killers - in this beguiling new tale from Laura Purcell.

Moscow, 1967. The Doctor and Ace have arrived behind the Iron Curtain, and the Soviet Union is seeking a new weapon that will give it mastery in the Cold War. What is the secret of the Martian relics? As the legendary War Lord Sezhyr returns to life, the Doctor is faced with some of his oldest and deadliest enemies. The fate of Earth - and the future of Ace - are now intertwined....

An unabridged reading of this original novel featuring the Seventh Doctor, as played on TV by Sylvester McCoy, and Ace in an encounter with the Cybermen. The Blitz is at its height. As the Luftwaffe bomb London, Cody McBridge, expat American private eye, sees a sinister silver sphere crash-land. He glimpses something emerging from within.

The military dismiss his account of events - the sphere must be a new German secret weapon that has malfunctioned. What else could it be?

The absence of Flavia DeLuce’s mother, Harriet, has always cast a shadow, since her presumed death in a mountaineering accident in Tibet. Now, astonishingly, a specially commissioned train is bringing Harriet back to Buckshaw. But rather than putting the past finally to rest, Harriet's return is set to trigger a further series of bizarre and deadly events, as a most curious group of individuals converge on Buckshaw to pay their respects…

Christmas can mean anything.... For Missy, it's solving murders in 1909. For a little girl in Dublin, it's Plasmavores knocking at the door. For Davros, it's a summons from the Doctor, who needs the mad inventor's help.

George and his best friend, Annie, have been selected as junior astronauts - part of a programme that trains up young people for a trip to Mars in the future. This is everything they've ever wanted - they get to be a part of up-to-the-minute space discoveries and meet a bunch of new friends who are as fascinated by the universe as they are. But when they arrive at space camp, George and Annie quickly learn that strange things are happening - on Earth as well as up in our skies.

Aura and Nick don’t talk about what happened in England. They’ve bought a chateau in France to make a fresh start, and their kids need them to stay together - whatever it costs. The expat community is welcoming, but when a neighbour is murdered at a lavish party, Aura and Nick don’t know who to trust. Someone knows exactly why they really came to the chateau. And someone is going to give them what they deserve.

Laura thinks she knows her mum pretty well. It's been just the two of them since Dad left. But then Mum brings home a boyfriend and, even worse, starts acting very strangely. She's obviously keeping something from Laura. But what? As Laura digs deeper she begins to suspect the secret might be more terrible than she first thought... An exciting story about family relationships, jealousy and secrets from bestselling author Gwyneth Rees.

A sinister school where graduation means death.... A monstrous mystery lurking below a quiet London street.... A desperate plea for help delivered by...hang on. A potted plant? The Doctor has been summoned. The galaxy is in terrible danger, and only a Time Lord can save it. But to do so, she must break in to an ancient vault on a remote and frozen world - from which nobody has ever returned alive.... Can the Doctor and her friends Yaz, Ryan and Graham uncover the shocking secret in Vault 13?

This book was written at a time when foot-and-mouth was very much in the news, as farmers across the UK fell victim to an outbreak that was to leave potent images of blazing carcasses deeply embedded in many minds.

Cosmo the witch-cat is delighted that evil Sybil - the most terrible of witches - is safely in prison. In fact, she's even been fitted with a special tag, which means that if she tries to escape she will be turned into a frog. But then mysterious goings-on are reported on Witch News. Baby witches are being visited by strange midwives and having their toenails clipped and stolen. Cosmo is sure something sinister is afoot. Could a highly wily witch be brewing a spectacularly spooky spell?

Cadmium Casson is 12 years old the summer that everything changes. Not only are her closest friendships in jeopardy, but her mum is expecting a baby. And when the baby arrives early, Caddy's world turns upside down. Her mother spends all her time at the hospital, and her father takes over the household, which of course turns into one chaotic (though hilarious) crisis after the next. When her charmingly dense boyfriend dumps her, Caddy is at her wits' end. Then she discovers that the fragile baby she is so afraid of losing is not an ending, but a beginning for her whole family.

October 1944: as World War II draws towards its conclusion, a Nazi defeat begins to seem almost inevitable. But that might be about to change.... Two intruders are captured in the grounds of Colditz Castle, the most secure POW camp in Germany. At first the guards think they're dealing with British spies. But the strangers arrived in an advanced travelling machine, the likes of which they've never seen before. With this Tardis in their hands, the Third Reich might triumph after all.

“You frighten me,” the Gypsy said. “Never have I seen my crystal ball so filled with darkness.” For Flavia de Luce, the old gypsy's words open up old wounds and new possibilities. Is she a faker, or is there some truth to her powers? And when the village is rocked by another ghastly murder, how will a growing fascination with gypsy lore help Flavia to solve it?

The TARDIS lands in the Lancashire village of Bilehurst Cragg in the 17th century, and the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz soon become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner. Fear stalks the land, and the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But the Doctor soon realises there is something more sinister than paranoia and superstition at work. Tendrils of living mud stir in the ground, and the dead lurch back to horrifying life as an evil alien presence begins to revive.

Creepy. That's what Ace thinks of clowns. But the Doctor insists on entering the talent contest at the Psychic Circus, the self-proclaimed Greatest Show in the Galaxy, on the planet Segonax. What has reduced Segonax to an arid wasteland? Why have the happy-go-lucky circus folk stayed here so long? And why are they no longer happy? Above all, what is the dreadful truth about the 'talent contests' run by the sinister Ringmaster and his robot clowns?

Welcome aboard the space vessel Vancouver. Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safenesthome. Its Captain is called Ace. She seems a little unsure of herself. In fact, some might almost think she was new to the job...Its medical officer is called simply 'The Doctor', and he's perhaps not all he seems either. When mysterious ships target the Vancouver, Ace and the Doctor are pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there's something nasty in the grain containers. And it's not very happy....

On a school trip to Wickworth Manor, the local stately home, Curtis finds a portrait in his bedroom of a young black servant dressed in livery. But why is the portrait hidden in the bedroom? Then Paige finds an intriguing letter which mentions the portrait, written over 200 years ago by Miss Verity Burton, who used to live at the Manor. There is a mystery begging to be unravelled!

The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and...the summoning of the scourge. The Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that's come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host and a threat from another universe that's ready for every trick the Doctor's got up his sleeve. This time, has the Doctor gone too far? Written by Paul Cornell. Directed by Gary Russell.

On 19th century Earth artist Edvard Munch hears an infinite scream pass through nature. Centuries later his painting of that scream hangs in a gallery on the barren dust world Duchamp 331. Why is there a colony of artists on a planet that is little more than a glorified garage? What is the event that the passengers of the huge, opulent pleasure cruiser 'Gallery' are hoping to see? And what is hidden in the crates that litter the cargo hold?