not have enough time to develop and called the Monoids "somewhat ludicrous", though he did praise the direction, music, and effects. DVD Talk's John Sinnott gave the serial three and a half out of four stars, writing that the first half was "slow" but became interesting when the TARDIS crew returned. Arnold T. Blumberg of IGN rated the serial an eight out of ten, highlighting the "snappy and exciting" pace and the "surprisingly top-notch" production values, aside from the Monoids. SFX reviewer Ian Berriman rated it three out of five stars, describing it as "quaint" with the Monoids being "laughable" villains. However, he did note the ambition of the story, that it was faster-paced than others at the time, and the "positively epic" sets. Brian J. Robb of Dreamwatch praised the direction but wrote that the "ambitious story that fails miserably thanks to the less-than-stellar Monoids". Charlie Jane Anders of io9 listed the cliffhanger of "The Plague"—in which the TARDIS crew leave and return in the future—as one of the greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers in a 2010 article. Commercial releases In print A novelisation of this serial, written by Paul Erickson, was published by Target Books in October 1986. Home media This story was released on VHS, in 1998. It was later released on CD with linking narration by Peter Purves. The CD also includes an interview with Peter about this story and his time on Doctor Who. This CD is available as an audio book on the iTunes Store. The Ark was released on DVD on 14 February 2011 in region 2, and on 8 March 2011 in region 1. References External links Target novelisation Doctor Who serials novelised by Paul Erickson First Doctor serials 1966 British television episodes Fiction set in the 7th millennium or beyond