River Song Joins Big Finish

Big Finish has announced production of a new range of boxsets, featuring heroes and monsters from the recent era of Doctor Who, including River Song, the Judoon, the Sycorax and the Weeping Angels.

Big Finish Productions have been producing audio dramas based on the original Doctor Who series since 1999. However their access to characters from the post 2005 series has been restricted until now. In February it was announced that they had gained the rights to use characters from UNIT, and the latest deal expands their range further.

The new wave of adventures, due next year, will feature Alex Kingston as River Song, who first appeared in 2008's Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. River will be stepping into the era of the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) for Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 2, alongside Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker) and Helen Sinclair (Hattie Morahan).

Producer David Richardson says
River will then return later in 2016 in Doctor Who: The Diary of River Song, an epic four-hour adventure that takes River across space and time, seeking out the secret rulers of the universe. Paul McGann will reprise the role of the Eighth Doctor in the final instalment.

The New Series adventures will continue in Doctor Who: The Churchill Years, in which Ian McNeice returns as the fromer British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In the four-hour saga, Churchill relates a number of encounters with the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in his memoirs, battling alien incursions, metamorphosing creatures... and a Dalek! The stories are told by Ian McNeice, supported by a full cast of guest actors, including Danny Horn as Kazran Sardick, in a story taking place within the 2010 special A Christmas Carol.

Executive producer Nicholas Briggs says
Finally, the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors will face a new generation of monsters in Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, a brand new, four-story run featuring creatures from the New Series. Peter Davison takes on the Weeping Angels, Colin Baker encounters the Judoon, Sylvester McCoy will meet the Sycorax... and Paul McGann will face a new clone batch of Sontarans on the edge of the Time War.

Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery says
All four boxsets will be released across 2016, and are available to pre-order.