A Vintage BBC Radio Thriller

Kill the Pharaoh!

A suspenseful archaeological thriller full of secrets, lies and mysteries from acclaimed writer and producer Victor Pemberton 
 
Best known as a TV producer, writer and script editor for Doctor Who, Victor Pemberton created the Doctor's most iconic gadget, the sonic screwdriver. A prolific dramatist, he also penned a wide variety of plays for BBC Radio including this gripping 8-part adventure, first broadcast in 1968. 
 
Elizabeth Warwick, the daughter of a famous archaeologist, travels to Egypt's Valley of the Kings to explore the mysterious tomb her father discovered before his death. Following in his footsteps, she hopes to find out what secrets lurk within. Is it an empty shell, or the final resting place of a Pharaoh? 
 
But her investigations lead her further and further into danger. Sir Richard Warwick had enemies, and now they are pursuing her. Embroiled in intrigue and unsure who to trust, she embarks on a quest that will take her from the Temple of Luxor to Cairo's City of the Dead... 
 
Among the cast of this thrilling serial are Sheila Grant, John Humphry, David Spenser, Rolf Lefebvre, Nigel Anthony and Marion Mathie. 
 
 
NB: Contains some dated references. Due to the age and nature of the recording, the sound quality may vary 
 
Cast 
Elizabeth Warwick - Sheila Grant 
Mahmoud - James Thomason 
Mr Wilder - John Humphry 
Fuad - David Spenser 
Charles Villiers - Rolf Lefebvre 
Margaret Villiers - Marion Mathie 
Achmed Araby - Haydn Jones 
Abdullah - Antony Viccars 
Bertie Pringle - Barry Lowe 
O'Hara - Denis McCarthy 
Captain Aziz - John Justin 
Achmed Araby - Haydn Jones 
The stranger/Michael Warwick - Christopher Bidmead 
Dr Fawzad - Nigel Anthony 
 
Other parts played by Anthony Jackson, Ian Thompson, Barbara Mitchell, Margaret Robertson, Rosalind Shanks, Douglas Hankin, LeRoy Lingwood, Alexander John and members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company 
 
Written by Victor Pemberton 
Produced by John Tydeman 
First broadcast BBC Radio 2, 30 May-24 June 1968 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

3rd, 4th & 6th Doctor Audio Dramas

Doctor Who: The BBC Radio Episodes Collection

A new edition of the collection featuring each of the Doctor's full-cast BBC radio adventures - and more. 
 
In The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space, the Third Doctor reunites with Sarah Jane Smith and UNIT for adventures on Earth and beyond, first broadcast on BBC Radio in the 1990s. 
 
In Doctor Who and the Pescatons, made for LP release in 1976, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah fight alien invasion on present day Earth. 
 
The duo return in Exploration Earth: The Time Machine, for BBC Schools Radio, in which they witness the Earth's early development. 
 
Whatever Happened To...Susan? is a tongue-in-cheek look at how Susan Foreman's life might have turned out after her adventures with the Doctor, and Slipback is a full-throttle adventure for the Sixth Doctor and Peri, first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1985. 
 
Also included in this new edition is a 45 minute conversation with Elisabeth Sladen, recorded exclusively for BBC Audio in 2004. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

A new edition of the collection featuring each of the Doctor's full-cast BBC radio adventures - and more. 
 
 In The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space, the Third Doctor reunites with Sarah Jane Smith and UNIT for adventures on Earth and beyond, first broadcast on BBC Radio in the 1990s. 
 
In Doctor Who and the Pescatons, made for LP release in 1976, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah fight alien invasion on present day Earth. 
 
The duo return in Exploration Earth: The Time Machine, for BBC Schools Radio, in which they witness the Earth's early development. 
 
Whatever Happened To...Susan? is a tongue-in-cheek look at how Susan Foreman's life might have turned out after her adventures with the Doctor, and Slipback is a full-throttle adventure for the Sixth Doctor and Peri, first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1985. 
 
Also included in this new edition is a 45 minute conversation with Elisabeth Sladen, recorded exclusively for BBC Audio in 2004. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Three full-cast supernatural thrillers

Vintage BBC Radio Horror: The Slide, Night of the Wolf & Dark

A trio of terrifying radio tales starring Roger Delgado, Vincent Price and Honor Blackman 
 
Author, playwright and TV producer Victor Pemberton was probably best known as a script editor and writer for Doctor Who, and as the inventor of the Doctor's trademark sonic screwdriver. But he also created numerous dramas for radio, among them the three cult classics included here. 
 
The Slide - In the Kent new town of Redlow, the residents are shocked by a sudden earthquake. But a worse subterranean threat is still to emerge. When a torrent of mud oozes from the fissure and the local wildlife begins to die, expert seismologist Professor Gomez is called in. His analysis reveals the awful truth: the mud is sentient, intelligent - and lethal... Roger Delgado and Maurice Denham star in this thrilling seven-part sci-fi serial. 
 
Night of the Wolf - March, 1883, and a monster is on the loose in the East Anglian Fens... Concerned about his missing son, Robert, Judge Mathew Deacon travels from Pennysylvania to Cambridge to find out what has become of him. His inquiries lead him to the remote Northcott Manor, deep in the marsh country, where he finds a family hiding dark secrets - and comes face to face with a werewolf... This Gothic horror play stars Vincent Price and Coral Browne. 
 
Dark- Virginia's lover was murdered and her husband hanged. Then, years later, inexplicable events occur in the room where the murder took place. Summoned to investigate, medium Simon Elliott becomes possessed by people from the past. Can the dead really return to exert control over the living? Honor Blackman, Bessie Love and Nigel Anthony star in this suspenseful paranormal thriller. 
 
 
Produced by John Tydeman 
 
The Slide 
Professor Josef Gomez - Roger Delgado 
Hugh Deverill MP - Maurice Denham 
Janet Marshall - Elisabeth Proud 
Dr Ken Richards - David Spenser 
Anna Deverill - Marion Mathie 
'Tug' Wilson - Stephen Jack 
Mrs Wilson - Miriam Margolyes 
Sergeant Johnson - Wilfred Babbage 
Inspector Baxter - Geoffrey Matthews 
Constable/First Journalist/Pilot - Anthony Jackson 
Professor Landers - Rolf Lefebvre 
Professor Lippert - Allan McClelland 
Newscaster/AC2 Gibbons - Nigel Graham 
Mrs Luke - Noel Hood 
Nursing Sister - Eva Haddon 
Sorensen - Fraser Kerr 
RAF Corporal - Anthony Hall 
Barry - Glyn Dearman 
Nurse - Patricia Leventon 
Dr Robeson - Michael Kilgarriff 
Second Journalist - Hector Ross 
Third Journalist/Policeman/Ground Control - Brian Hewlett 
American Journalist - Peter Marinker 
Vicar - Noel Howlett 
Margaret Griffiths MP - Joan Matheson 
TV Interviewer - Henry Stamper 
Special effects: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop 
First broadcast BBC Radio Light Programme, 13 February-27 March 1966 
 
Night of the Wolf 
Judge Mathew Deacon - Vincent Price 
Robert Deacon, his son - Peter Whitman 
Mrs Northcott - Coral Browne 
Sybil, her daughter - Sheila Grant 
Dorothy, Sybil's daughter - Elizabeth Proud 
Nicholas, Sybil's son - John Rye 
Griffin, an undergraduate - Michael Cochrane 
Professor Forrester - Hugh Manning 
Sir Richard Burnett - Haydn Jones 
Morris - Paul Gaymon 
Jessie - Norma Ronald 
Technical assistants Jock Parrell, Marsail MacCuish, David Bitchinson and Alister Wilson 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 August 1975 
 
Dark 
Virginia Preston - Honor Blackman 
Mother - Bessie Love 
Simon Elliott - Nigel Anthony 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 February 1978 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Second Doctor TV Soundtracks

Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection Five

Six narrated TV soundtrack adventures starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor - plus bonus features. These thrilling recordings of TV episodes, largely absent from the BBC archives, have been remastered with additional linking narration by original cast members. 
 
This set also includes bonus interviews with Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines. 
In The Enemy of the World, recently returned to the film archives, the time travellers meet the Doctor's murderous double. 
 In The Web of Fear the Doctor and friends find the London Underground tunnels overrun by Yeti! 
In Fury from the Deep something nasty is lurking in the gas pipelines of the North Sea. 
In The Wheel in Space the Doctor and Jamie confront some old adversaries in the far future. 
In The Invasion the Doctor battles to prevent the Cybermen from invading present day Earth. 
In The Space Pirates the TARDIS crew encounter the Interstellar Space Corps and a gang of murderous bandits. 
 
 The collection also includes PDF files featuring high quality scans of the original BBC TV camera scripts. 
 
Duration: 15 hours 30 mins 
(P) &amp; © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution 
For cast and credits see accompanying PDF booklet

4th Doctor Audio Original

Doctor Who And The Pescatons

Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen star in this classic audio adventure from 1976.

Victor Pemberton's career started in radio when his flatmates challenged him to write a play because he was criticising another. The result was The Gold Watch in 1961, the first of many radio scripts. His first television script was for Associated Rediffusion’s Send Foster (1965), concerning the exploits of a junior reporter on a local newspaper. He also worked as an actor to supplement his writing income and this led to director Morris Barry casting him in Doctor Who (The Moonbase). After a brief stint writing and script-editing Doctor Who in the mid-Sixties, Victor contributed to Timeslip and Ace of Wands and wrote numerous other scripts for radio and television. He produced Fraggle Rock in the 1980s, as well as setting up a Writers’ Television Workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, and working in Kuwait on a drama series about the daily life of a Gulf Arab family (Bait Abu Khaled). In 1990, Headline books invited Pemberton to write a novelisation of a BBC Drama series he had penned called Our Family. This was published in 1991 and led to a successful career as a novelist, and to date he has published fifteen ‘family saga’ novels, including Where the Swallows Come Again (2008).

Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen star in this classic audio adventure from 1976. The TARDIS's arrival, on a lonely stretch of beach at night, is closely followed by a slithering sound and a chilling roar. It marks the beginning of a terrifying adventure on present day Earth for the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. 
 
 The deadly Pescatons have arrived! Refugees from their own dying planet, these towering amphibians are led by the mighty Zor, whom the Doctor has encountered before. Soon the creatures have invaded London, wreaking death and destruction. The Doctor and Sarah must draw upon all their reserves of courage and ingenuity. 
 
 Doctor Who and the Pescatons is the original made-for-audio Doctor Who adventure, first released on vinyl LP in 1976. In an exclusive bonus interview, the late Elisabeth Sladen recalls her portrayal of the ever-popular Sarah Jane Smith, and what it was like to be part of the Doctor Who team in the 1970s.

Five classic novelisations of exciting TV adventures set on the planet Earth!

Doctor Who: The Earth Adventures Collection

…this always excellent range continues to delight in its pursuit of committing the entire Target Books library to audio.

Five classic novelisations of exciting TV adventures set on the planet Earth! 
 
In Fury from the Deep, the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria discover sentient seaweed threatening a gas refinery on the South Coast of England. In Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah arrive in 1920s England, where plans are being laid to free Sutekh the Destroyer from his prison on Mars. In The Stones of Blood, the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 confront an ancient villainess on Bodcombe Moor. In The Awakening, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough become enmeshed in sinister events in the village of Little Hodcombe. In Ghost Light, the Seventh Doctor and Ace visit Perivale in the 1880s and find a terrible secret lurking at Gabriel Chase… 
 
Read by David Troughton, Tom Baker, Susan Engel, Nerys Hughes and Ian Hogg. 
 
Each purchase is accompanied by a PDF booklet featuring full cast and credits, chapter-by-chapter navigation, and sleeve notes for each book by David J. Howe. 
 
“…this always excellent range continues to delight in its pursuit of committing the entire Target Books library to audio.” Doctor Who Magazine 
 
Sound design by Simon Power 
TARDIS sound effect by Brian Hodgson 
Executive producer: Michael Stevens 
Cover illustration by Chris Achilleos 
 
(p) BBC Worldwide 2019 © BBC Worldwide 2019 
BBC logo © BBC 1996 
Doctor Who logo © BBC 2018 
A stereo recording 
MCPS

Doctor Who: Fury From The Deep (Classic Novels)

David Troughton reads this exciting novelisation of a classic Doctor Who adventure.

One of the stand-out triumphs from the entire Target line, and another hit for AudioGo!

Victor Pemberton was a British script writer, novelist and one-time Doctor Who script editor.

In the dark, uncharted depths of the North Sea it has lurked, growing in strength, growing in size, and striking terror into the hearts of mariners down the untold centuries.   Landing near a North Sea gas refinery off the east coast of England, the TARDIS crew are immediately accused of sabotage. Several rig crews have mysteriously vanished, strange pressure build-ups have been detected, and in the refinery’s pipelines the Doctor can hear the steady, rhythmic beat of – what?   Soon the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria will find themselves at the unrelenting mercy of the deadliest and most terrifying foe they have ever encountered...   David Troughton reads Victor Pemberton’s complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1986.

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Drama Trilogy

Our Family: The Edginton’s Wars

Three semi-autobiographical plays by Victor Pemberton telling the story of one family across the 20th century 
 
Novelist and playwright Victor Pemberton was best known for scripting Doctor Who and working on Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock. His many plays for BBC Radio included The Slide, Kill the Pharaoh. and this three-part family saga, a love story inspired by the lives of his own parents and starring Nerys Hughes, Nigel Anthony, Sheila Grant and Wendy Richard. 
 
The Trains Don’t Stop Here Any More – 1916. When 18-year-old Letty Edginton goes to work in a munitions factory, she meets and falls for Oliver Hobbs, a young man whose leg was severely wounded at the Somme. Despite their different backgrounds and her snobbish mother’s objections, they marry and set up home – but married life proves more challenging than Letty had expected. 
 
Don’t Talk to Me About Kids! – It’s 1939, and, like so many other Londoners, Letty and Ollie find themselves living through the horrors of another world war. As German bombs begin to fall on the city, their kids Eddie and Mick are evacuated to the countryside, and their eldest son Ron is called up to fight in the Royal Navy. But Letty is determined that whatever troubles and tragedies lie ahead, her family should survive and be reunited. 
 
Down by the Sea – 1963. Letty and Ollie have always dreamed of living by the sea and, having reached their sunset years, they’ve retired to a seaside bungalow bought for them by their children. After a long and happy marriage, they celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary in the company of family and friends, but back at home, they must face the problems of old age alone... 
 
Production credits 
Written by Victor Pemberton 
Pianist: Mary Nash 
 
1. The Trains Don’t Stop Here Any More 
Letty Edginton – Nerys Hughes 
Beatrice, her mother – Sheila Grant 
William, her father – Malcolm Hayes 
Oliver Hobbs – Nigel Anthony 
Violet – Wendy Richard 
Tom – Derek Seaton 
Frank O'Malley – Bill Monks 
Nicky/Bugle Boy – Adam Godley 
Bill Brooks – Kenneth Shanley 
Amy Lyall – Eve Karpf 
Mr Cotton – Eric Allan 
Mr Pearson/Gateman – Robert Trotter 
Directed by John Tydeman 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 8 July 1978 
 
2. Don’t Talk to Me About Kids! 
Letty Hobbs – Nerys Hughes 
Oliver Hobbs – Nigel Anthony 
Beatrice – Sheila Grant 
Sam – Philip Sully 
Violet – Wendy Richard 
Ron/Malcolm/Train Guard – Jonathan Tafler 
Florrie – Eva Stuart 
Colonel Meecham – Laurence Payne 
Bill Brooks/Warden – Michael Tudor Barnes 
Tilly Brooks – Emily Richard 
Mother Superior – Julie Berry 
Mick – Rickey Coombes 
Eddie – Nicholas Delve 
Janey/Doreen – Zelah Clarke 
Directed by David Spenser 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14 January 1989 
 
3. Down by the Sea 
Letty Hobbs – Nerys Hughes 
Oliver Hobbs – Nigel Anthony 
Beatrice – Sheila Grant 
Mick – Spencer Banks 
Eddie – Sean Barrett 
Mary – Karen Archer 
Jonathan – Rory McNicholl 
Bill Brooks – Michael Tudor Barnes 
Tilly Brooks/District Nurse – Emily Richard 
Fred Golding – Norman Bird 
Gladys Golding/Alice – Joan Matheson 
Cypriot man/Newsreader – John Baddeley 
Cypriot woman – Julie Berry 
Reporter/Charlie – Kim Wall 
Doctor/Brian – Steven Harrold 
Guests at the Golden Wedding played by members of the cast 
Dance band: Les Brown Trio 
Directed by David Spenser 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 21 January 1989 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Victor Pemberton's career started in radio when his flatmates challenged him to write a play because he was criticising another. The result was The Gold Watch in 1961, the first of many radio scripts. His first television script was for Associated Rediffusion’s Send Foster (1965), concerning the exploits of a junior reporter on a local newspaper. He also worked as an actor to supplement his writing income and this led to director Morris Barry casting him in Doctor Who (The Moonbase). After a brief stint writing and script-editing Doctor Who in the mid-Sixties, Victor contributed to Timeslip and Ace of Wands and wrote numerous other scripts for radio and television. He produced Fraggle Rock in the 1980s, as well as setting up a Writers’ Television Workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, and working in Kuwait on a drama series about the daily life of a Gulf Arab family (Bait Abu Khaled). In 1990, Headline books invited Pemberton to write a novelisation of a BBC Drama series he had penned called Our Family. This was published in 1991 and led to a successful career as a novelist, and to date he has published fifteen ‘family saga’ novels, including Where the Swallows Come Again (2008).

Victor Pemberton

Jon Culshaw

4th Doctor Novelisation

Jon Culshaw reads a thrilling novelisation of the 1976 audio adventure in which the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane face an aquatic menace. 
 
A scientific expedition has disappeared from the bed of the Thames Estuary, where a giant meteorite had previously landed. Nearby, the Doctor and Sarah Jane are attacked by a vast, roaring creature. 
 
The Doctor is reminded of his encounter with the marine denizens of the planet Pesca, and soon his worst fears are confirmed. 
 
Strange meteorites are landing all over the world, and the Pescaton invasion has begun. 
Jon Culshaw reads Victor Pemberton's much-expanded novelisation of his own original script, with accompanying sound design. 
 
Reading produced by Morrison Ellis. Sound design by Oliver Denman. Executive producer for BBC Audiobooks: Michael Stevens 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Doctor Who: The Pescatons

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

Victor Pemberton

Books by Victor Pemberton

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter