This post was originally published on Audible.com.
Sci-fi mainstay Doctor Who has been a major pillar of pop culture for literal decades. The television series first kicked off all the way back in 1963 with the First Doctor, portrayed by William Hartnell, and ran until 1989. There was a brief attempt at a return in 1996 with Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor, but it wasn’t until 2005 that the series really came back in a big way, with the Ninth Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston.
The iconic series has been through multiple incarnations of the Doctor and their many companions, all connected by the same intriguing central storyline. As of 2023, we’re on our 15th Doctor, played with endless charm by Ncuti Gatwa, and their companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson. And this year, we're being blessed with fresh additions to the canon with a number of new audiobooks based on the 15th Doctor. In honor of these exciting releases, here are 20 of the very best Doctor Who audiobooks across all of time and space.
The best 15th Doctor audiobooks
When the Doctor and Ruby Sunday receive a distress call, they travel to medieval Russia to help Ranavere, an alien girl who is caught up in a conflict between Estonian and Novgorodian armies. But Ranavere's cry for help also summoned her warrior sisters, who, driven by their determinion to preserve family tradition, are hungry to get involved in the barbaric fray. In Doctor Who: Ruby Red, there are even more terrifying dangers than humans at war—beneath the icy surface of Lake Peipus, something monstrous is growing. This audiobook is a special treat for Doctor Who fans as it's read by Millie Gibson, who portrays Ruby Sunday in the show's current season.
Bonnie Langford, who played companion Melanie Bush in seasons 23 and 24 of Doctor Who, returns to the Whoniverse to narrate this 15th Doctor audiobook, Doctor Who: Caged. In this listen, Doctor and Ruby arrive in Cavia to discover mysterious meteors popping up in the sky, strange robots hiding in the forest, and a local who is certain she's been abducted and studied by alien creatures. But what exactly is going on in Cavia—and who is watching them, and why?
This forthcoming audiobook sees the Doctor and Ruby traveling to the Gardens of Kubuntu on the planet of Yewa. The gardens are said to be one of the most peaceful places in the universe, but when the Doctor and Ruby arrive, they find a planet on the brink of war. In the face of a Yewan rebellion, Doctor Who discovers some disturbing secrets about the planet's past. The Gardens of Kubuntu may have never been the idyllic Eden people thought it was.
The best New Who audiobooks, regenerations Nine through 14
This audiobook mirrors the debut of Nine, and it's narrated by Camille Coduri, who notably played the inimitable Jackie Tyler, Rose Tyler's mother. Rose Tyler is just an ordinary shop girl getting ready to work an ordinary day when suddenly she finds herself in the middle of an alien plot to end humanity. Mannequins all over London are coming to life, and they're prepared to attack. With the fate of the world at stake, Rose teams up with the Ninth Doctor, the only man who seems to know what's truly going on.
Only Human is a Ninth Doctor audiobook narrated by master of stage and screen Anthony Head, who himself is no stranger to the Doctor Who universe. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor once auditioned to play the role of the Eighth Doctor before going on to guest star in Doctor Who webcasts and audio series. He has also narrated multiple Doctor Who audiobooks. This audiobook sees the Doctor, Rose, and Captain Jack Harkness heading to modern-day Earth to track down a person who has been meddling with time itself. As the past, present, and future become intermingled, the Doctor must discover the truth behind the Osterberg experiment before the history of mankind is forever altered.
The Stone Rose is a 10th Doctor audiobook narrated by none other than the 10th Doctor himself, the universally beloved David Tennant. When the TARDIS takes the Doctor and his companion Rose to Ancient Rome, they are hoping to find answers to why there is a 2,000-year-old statue of Rose in a museum in the present. But when in Rome, Rose encounters a girl who is able to predict the future, and the Doctor finds himself seeking out a missing boy. Yes, Rose will discover the truth behind the mysterious statue—but will she like the answer?
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.
This audiobook is truly special because it features three different Doctors, it's written by Doctor Who show-runner Steven Moffat, and it's narrated by Nicholas Briggs, who has voiced several Doctor Who monsters since the show's resurgence in 2005. As the 10th Doctor hunts shape-shifting Zygons in Elizabethan England, the 11th Doctor investigates a space-time rift happening in the present. Meanwhile, the War Doctor fights Daleks in the Time War. On one fateful day, these disparate incarnations of the Doctor will all have to work together to save the world.
Touched by an Angel is an audiobook featuring the 11th Doctor, Amy, Rory, and—you guessed it—time travel. In 2003, Mark Whitaker's wife Rebecca died in a tragic accident. In the present, Mark receives a letter from the past that includes instructions for how he can go back in time and save her. And while Mark is trying desperately to save his wife, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory are fighting to save the world from the Weeping Angels.
When the 11th Doctor, Amy, and Rory arrive on the Maintainers' turf, they find a planet inhabited by people who have long been hard at work, fighting to make their world as inhabitable as Old Earth. But when the Ice Warriors threaten the planet, the fight for survival will only become more intense. This audiobook is narrated by actor Michael Maloney, a veteran voice artist who has narrated multiple audiobooks and stories in the Whoniverse.
Here's another excellent 11th Doctor audiobook narrated again by the skilled Nicholas Briggs. The TARDIS has been damaged, and now the Doctor is trapped living backwards. Meanwhile, Amy and Rory are being hunted in the Doctor's future. Will the Doctor be able to unravel the secrets of Appletown before time gets the best of him?
This audiobook is the story of the 12th Doctor's final adventure, narrated by celebrated screenwriter and actor Mark Gatiss, who has written multiple Doctor Who episodes. As the First Doctor nears his inevitable regeneration, he comes across a blue police box and a figure who calls himself the Doctor. Now the 12th Doctor and the First Doctor must work together to figure out why snowflakes are hovering in the air, why a Captain from WWI has been lifted from his time stream, and how the Glass Woman has learned their true names. But will the First Doctor find the answers he seeks before his impending regeneration?
This audiobook is written and narrated by Sophie Aldred, who played Ace in Doctor Who in the late 1980s. In this story, Ace and the Doctor meet again after decades (and six regenerations) have passed. Ace now goes by Dorothy McShane, and she has since become a millionaire heading a global organization called "A Charitable Earth." But when Dorothy starts having vivid, horrifying nightmares about being abducted into an alien world, she teams up with the 13th Doctor to uncover a plot that would destroy thousands of lives.
The best classic Doctor Who audiobooks
This audiobook is an adventure featuring the first five incarnations of the Doctor. All five Doctors have been pulled from their time streams and are faced with many deadly obstacles—Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti—but who is doing this to them? And will they be able to defeat the threat and return home? This audiobook is narrated by actor Jon Culshaw, who has become a famous presence in the Whoniverse through multiple audiobooks and series.
Tom Baker played the much-adored Fourth Doctor—so who better to write and narrate a novel about the fan favorite, Jelly Baby-loving incarnation? The Doctor, Harry, and Sarah Jane Smith are having a holiday on a remote Scottish island when they discover strange, malevolent scarecrows are terrorizing the locals. The Scratchman is coming for them, and he knows the Doctor's greatest fears. Will the Doctor be able to save the islanders? Or will he be destroyed by an entity who claims to be the Devil himself?
Jon Culshaw and Nicholas Briggs return to narrate this novelization of the Fourth Doctor's adventure in Skaro and the birth of the Daleks. Daleks have been created to feel no remorse nor pity. They are simply programmed to destroy. Now, the Doctor travels back in time to destroy the Daleks before they were ever created.
Science fiction legend Douglas Adams is best known as the author of the essential The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but over the course of his career, he also wrote multiple scripts for the Doctor Who series. In Shada, the Fourth Doctor, Romana, and K-9 assist Time Lord Professor Chronotis, who has found himself in possession of a dangerous artifact. If The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey falls into the wrong hands, it would mean certain catastrophe. But the sinister Skagra is searching for the book, and he wants to find out the truth behind Shada. This audiobook is narrated by Lalla Ward, who played companion Romana II during the Fourth Doctor’s run.
Here's another excellent Fourth Doctor audiobook written by Douglas Adams and narrated by Doctor Who regular Jon Culshaw. The key to time has been split into six different segments and spread out, hidden, throughout time and space. Now, the Doctor, Romana, and K9 have been tasked with finding all six segments. Their hunt sends them to the seemingly perfect planet Zanak. But nothing is ever quite what it seems.
This audiobook about the Seventh Doctor sees the Doctor traveling to Hulton College in Norfolk right before the start of the first World War. But while all of the boys in the school are preparing to become military officers, no one is expecting a war. Meanwhile, the Doctor's friend, Benny, meets a future version of the Doctor and finds herself in the middle of an alien attack.
This Seventh Doctor adventure follows the Doctor and Ace in Perivale on a seemingly peaceful summer day. But the peace is disrupted when pets start going missing and the Doctor discovers strange hoof prints. When Ace is taken to a distant planet, the Doctor wonders if he is stepping into a trap. He suspects the Master is behind this, but what is his motive?