Christopher Eccleston returns to Doctor Who For Big Finish

Sunday, 9 August 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Christopher Eccleston  (Credit: BBC)

Big Finish Productions, in association with BBC Studios, today announced the long-awaited return of Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor in a brand new series of audio adventures.

First seen on screen in 2005, Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor introduced a whole new generation of fans to Doctor Who.

Now he's back, with a brand-new series of twelve full-cast audio adventures in space and time, due to be released across four box sets, starting with volume one in May 2021.

Christopher Eccleston said:

After 15 years it will be exciting to revisit the Ninth Doctor's world, bringing back to life a character I love playing.
Story details, writers and additional guest cast are being kept under wraps at present but this Doctor Who audio series promises to be, once again, the trip of a lifetime.

Big Finish’s Chairman, Jason Haigh-Ellery said:

I first talked to Christopher about returning to the role of the Doctor at the Gallifrey One convention in February this year. Christopher said he was enjoying meeting the fans and was pleased that his Doctor was remembered so fondly. I am so pleased that Christopher has decided to return to the role with us – and I'm excited to welcome him to the Big Finish family as we discover the new adventures of the Ninth Doctor.

 

Big Finish’s Creative Director, Nicholas Briggs, added:

Working with Chris was a very special time for me. The beginning of my Doctor Who TV career. So, writing for and directing him feels incredibly exciting. He’s such a powerful performer and it’ll be amazing to work with him again.

Doctor Who fans worldwide can now pre-order all four volumes, which are available in three formats – collector’s edition CD, digital download or limited edition gatefold triple LP vinyl – exclusively from the Big Finish website.

Each of the four volumes in Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures will be released as a 4-disc collector’s edition box set or download containing three brand-new full cast audio adventures, plus a selection of behind-the-scenes extras.

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures is now available to pre-order. Find out more and get your copy exclusively at the Big Finish website

 

 





FILTER: - Ninth Doctor - Christopher Eccleston - Audio - Big Finish

David Tennant / Paul McGann On Double Vinyl Doctor Who

Thursday, 6 August 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Time Lord Victorious - Echoes of Extinction (Credit: Big Finish)

Big Finish has today revealed its final contribution to the Doctor Who multi-platform adventure Time Lord Victorious with a new limited edition vinyl – starring David Tennant and Paul McGann

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious - Echoes of Extinction comprises of two separate adventures that listeners can play in any order and form a greater narrative.  

This very special double-A side vinyl Doctor Who release features a different incarnation of the Doctor on each side and will be released on split red/blue vinyl.  

Trapped, a haunted monster waits to consume new victims. It needs help. It needs a doctor. Unfortunately, it also needs to kill whoever it meets. Thrust into immediate danger, and on the back-foot, it will take all of the Doctor’s ingenuity to triumph.  

Two interlinked adventures. Two Doctors. One foe.  

The supporting cast also includes Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), Burn Gorman (Torchwood, The Expanse), Mina Anwar (The Thin Blue Line, The Sarah Jane Adventures), Kathryn Drysdale (Benidorm, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) and Paul Clayton (The Crown, Him and Her).  

David Tennant said:

The Doctor in Time Lord Victorious is a different character. He's slightly lonelier, slightly scratchier, when he doesn't have one of his pals to hold him back.  

But it's nice to tell stories from different times of his life. You just have to try and make sure you're in the right mindset. The script is fascinating. I've only got one side of it, but I'm very aware there's more to this story, that there's another Doctor on the other side of the disc. I look forward to getting my LP so I can listen to it all.

Paul McGann added:

I've read this script twice through and I'm still none the wiser. I'm more confused after the second time than I was after the first. It's only while working on it that I've become aware of how it's going to be structured.  

It really appeals to me, the idea that it's in two parts, on two sides of vinyl. I think it's fun for people listening. Part of the excitement is when the different incarnations meet... or nearly meet.

Writer and Producer Alfie Shaw said

Director Scott Handcock has pulled together an amazing who’s who of Doctor Who for the cast. We’ve got alumni from the series as well as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

It’s been an honour to create Big Finish’s first commissioned-for-vinyl story, and utterly thrilling to write for both the Eighth and Tenth Doctors.

The vinyl will launch in selected UK ASDA stores on 27 November 2020.  

A digital download of the story will be released from the Big Finish website on 04 December 2020, and is now available for pre-order at £8.99.  

Time Lord Victorious - Echoes of Extinction (Credit: Big Finish)




FILTER: - Big Finish - Audio - Time Lord Victorious - Tenth Doctor - Eighth Doctor

Time Lord Victorious #1

Wednesday, 5 August 2020 - Reported by Marcus

Titan has released the covers for the first in their upcoming contribution to the Time Lord Victorious series. 

The comic, which pits the Tenth Doctor against the Daleks will be released on 2nd September 2020

 

Time Lord Victorious #1

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Roberta Ingranata
 

A thrilling new adventure for the Tenth Doctor (as played by fan-favorite David Tennant) that sees the shocking return of his deadliest enemies: the Daleks! But things aren't what they seem - time is all wrong, and something is coming that terrifies even the Daleks... The first of two oversized issues kicking off the BBC's highly anticipated multi-platform Doctor Who epic, Time Lord Victorious!
Time Lord Victorious #1 - Cover A (Credit: Titan ) Time Lord Victorious #1 - Cover B (Credit: Titan ) Time Lord Victorious #1 - Cover C (Credit: Titan ) Time Lord Victorious #1 - Cover D (Credit: Titan ) Time Lord Victorious #1 - Page 1 (Credit: Titan ) Time Lord Victorious #1 - Page 2 (Credit: Titan ) Time Lord Victorious #1 - Page 3 (Credit: Titan ) Time Lord Victorious #1 - Page 4 (Credit: Titan )




FILTER: - Time Lord Victorious - Comics - Tenth Doctor

Peter Davison Spending Time Apart

Sunday, 2 August 2020 - Reported by Marcus

Time Apart (Credit: Big Finish)Big Finish have released the audio adventure Doctor Who: Time Apart starring Fifth Doctor Peter Davison

 

The Doctor puts some social distance between himself and his companions in this brand-new four-part full-cast audio drama from Big Finish. But can he survive without them?  

 

Although the Fifth Doctor is going it alone, without his regular TARDIS team, there’s no shortage of guest stars to join in the excitement. Peter Davison is joined by Kate Harbour (Bob the Builder, Shaun the Sheep), Laura Aikman (Gavin & Stacey, Casualty) and Wayne Forester (Captain Scarlet, Space Precinct) and Tim Blore in four separate adventures.  

 

Doctor Who: Time Apart is now available to own as a collector's edition boxset (on CD at £14.99) and as a digital download (at £12.99) exclusively from www.bigfinish.com

 

Separated from his companions, the Doctor attempts to find solace in the history of his favourite planet – Earth – but instead discovers new threats lying in wait. 

Travelling from twentieth-century East Berlin to sixteenth-century Strasbourg, the Doctor encounters creatures from other realities: monsters beneath the waves, and human beings determined to exploit their fellow man. 

But how long can he survive without a friend? 

 

Actor Peter Davison said

 

These are four different takes on the Doctor in the four different stories of this collection. In one I'm quite jaunty and jolly and in another one I'm slightly more baffled.  

But I've enjoyed all the four stories. They're very different. I've always been rather fond of the stories in which the Doctor fiddles in history. But of course it's also nice to meet the odd alien.

 

This anthology contains four half-hour adventures, as follows:  

 

  • Ghost Station by Steve Lyons  
  • Deep beneath the streets of East Berlin, Peter Meier patrols the border in an old underground station. But when the TARDIS materialises nearby, Peter realises he is far from alone. 
  • The Bridge Master by Jacqueline Rayner 
  • When the Doctor’s shadow is sacrificed by villagers, he brushes it off as medieval superstition —until he begins to grow weak. Can he uncover the truth behind the bridge master’s curse before it’s too late? 
  • What Lurks Down Under by Tommy Donbavand
  • On the waves of the Indian Ocean, all the prisoners aboard the Lady Juliana have fallen into a trance... except a single girl. Mary Wade desperately needs a doctor –and only one will help her. 
  • The Dancing Plague by Kate Thorman
  • Arriving in Strasbourg at the height of the Dancing Plague, the Doctor finds himself thrust into a world of paranoia. Can he bring peace to a city at odds with its own people? 

 

Doctor Who: Time Apart is now available to own as a collector's edition boxset (on CD at £14.99) and as a digital download (at £12.99) exclusively from www.bigfinish.com





FILTER: - Big Finish - Audio - Fifth Doctor

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Schizoid Earth: I, Alistair

Sunday, 28 June 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Candy Jar has announced the nexxt novel in their ongoing Lethbridge-Stewart range of novels:

Lethbridge-Stewart: I, Alistair (Credit: Candy Jar Books)Lethbridge Stewart: The Schizoid Earth: I, Alistair
Written by Robert Mammone
Cover art by Richard Young


HAIL THE LEADER!

Under the gentle guidance of the Leader, Britain has flourished after the removal of the dead hand of democracy and the old, corrupt aristocracy. Dominant in Europe, a Great Power around the world, the Republic stands as a beacon to wise, benevolent and firm leadership.

The team led by Column Leader Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart is the best and brightest of us all, ensuring that attempts to overthrow the natural order will be stamped into submission.

Those who stand with the Leader ensure that Britain remains great, a Power to be reckoned with, and a dominant force across the globe.

UNITY IS STRENGTH!

The Schizoid Earth: I, Alastair is a semi-sequel to David A McIntee’s 2015 Lethbridge-Stewart novel The Schizoid Earth. Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:
We’ve been thinking of doing a follow up to The Schizoid Earth for quite some time. Of course, some of the threads set up in that novel have played a major role in other Lethbridge-Stewart novels, through the role of the Brigadier’s brother, James Lethbridge-Stewart. Since series seven is all about parallel realities, it seemed the perfect opportunity to do a novel set entirely within the Schizoid Earth. And Robert Mammone was the first and only author I considered for the task.
Robert Mammone said:
While daunting, writing a novel set on the Schizoid Earth opened up a lot of exciting possibilities. I've long been a fan of alternative history science fiction, particularly authors like Harry Turtledove and especially the darker fiction of SM Stirling. The chance to use familiar characters, in unfamiliar ways, in a setting way worse than the timeline of 'our' Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart was one I couldn't say no to. Of course, when you're dealing with a villain, as the Column Leader clearly is, you have to ensure you're not making them the hero of the piece, even if they are the lead. There's a lot of fantasy/science-fiction writing out there today that embraces the anti-hero as being someone to admire. While that has its place, in no way is the Lethbridge-Stewart of the Schizoid Earth a hero – he’s a broken man ill used by his father and a servant of a monstrous regime intent on ensuring the last remnants of resistance are stamped out.
As one might expect, with a book set in a parallel world, much like the Doctor Who serial Inferno which inspired it, The Schizoid Earth: I, Alastair features regular faces from the Lethbridge-Stewart range. Robert continued:
Like what SM Stirling did with his Draka books, he made one small change to history, and the result was worse than anyone could imagine. The Republic is led by vile men who do vile things, and while the Resistance is admirable in their intent, their methods tend to ape that of the Party. I had a lot of fun throwing in bits and pieces that call back to events in the Doctor Who universe. Andy is as always a font of information about the setting, and was a great sounding board when I found myself lost in the weeds. His work editing The Schizoid Earth: I, Alastair has made it an even better book (he also supplied the title – it is better than my choice 'I, Brigade-Leader'!), one I hope readers, new and old, of the range, will embrace and enjoy and celebrate!

Cover artist Richard Young said:
Evil Brig, who wouldn't want to draw him. Inferno has to be in my top ten Doctor Who stories, and I love parallel universe, what if scenarios. Added to this, who doesn't want to draw Big Ben blowing up?


Originally meant to be the sixth release in this seventh series of novels, the current COVID-19 pandemic has led to delays to the fourth book, The George Kostinen Mystery, leading to the decision to bump The Schizoid Earth: I, Alistair up the schedule, owing it it not being directly connected to the five-book Bloodlines sequence and so can be read indepedently to the others.

The book can be ordered from the Candy Jar website, and is inclueded in subscriptions.


The Schizoid Earth: I, Alastair will be followed by the delayed The George Kostinen Mystery and the final in the Bloodlines series, Back to the Past. A new novel, set between A Very Private Haunting and The New Unusual will be released later in the year, written by Michael Sloan, creator of The Equaliser.




FILTER: - Candy Jar Books - Lethbridge-Stewart

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 553

Thursday, 25 June 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine - Issue 553 (Credit: Panini)
This month's Doctor Who Magazine features a special visit to the set of 1970's Doctor Who in the company of Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen.

Highlights of the new issue include:
  • Newly discovered interviews conducted at the heart of production on Death to the Daleks and Planet of the Spiders.
  • The Doctor Who directing masterclass, featuring exclusive interviews with directors Joe Ahearne, Richard Clark, Graeme Harper, Douglas Mackinnon, Saul Metzstein, Jamie Magnus Stone and Rachel Talalay.
  • An exclusive preview of the Power of the Daleks Special Edition, including a selection of rare colour photos from the original 1966 production.
  • The previously untold story of three young Doctor Who enthusiasts at the dawn of fandom in the early 1970s. One would go on to play the Doctor
  • Carole Ann Ford and Sophie Aldred compare their Doctor Who experiences.
  • The results of DWM’s annual season survey.
  • The Fact of Fiction explores the 2013 episode Cold War.
  • The final instalment of DWM’s lockdown viewing, with a guide to stories available on DVD and streaming services.
  • A look at The Night Walkers, the landmark 1969 comic strip that depicted the Second Doctor’s regeneration.
  • Big Finish previews and reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser, The Blogs of Doom and much more.
Doctor Who Magazine Issue 553 is on sale from Thursday 25 June £5.99 (UK)




FILTER: - Third Doctor

Three Doctors Talking

Wednesday, 24 June 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Three Doctors – Jodie Whittaker, David Tennant and Matt Smith - have come together in a historic interview with IGN to celebrate the launch of  Doctor Who on HBO MAX. 

The interview went live at 5pm today, and can be found on the Doctor Who YouTube channel. 

 In the interview Jodie, Matt and David talk about companions they’d like to travel with, the effect of Doctor Who on their careers, and even tease about the upcoming festive special!




FILTER: - Eleventh Doctor

Black Archive #44 - The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang

Saturday, 20 June 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Black Archive #44 - The Pandorica Opens (Credit: Obverse Books)The latest release from Obverse Books Black Archive series, deals with the final two episodes of Matt Smith's first series as The Doctor The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang

Who takes the Pandorica takes the universe.

The TARDIS explodes. The universe is cracked. Space-time is collapsing.

The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang typifies Steven Moffat’s ‘timey-wimey’ take on Doctor Who. It draws on the legend of Pandora’s Box and exhorts the power of memories. 

This Black Archive explores how time operates in the Series 5 finale, in Doctor Who as a wider narrative, and in real life. How do anomalies and paradoxes work in the show? What might the end and beginning of the universe actually look like? And what caused the TARDIS to blow up anyway?

Asked why he chose The Pandorica Opens for his first Black Archive, author Philip Bates said:
10 years since it was first broadcast, I still get goosepimples when the "hello Stonehenge" speech begins; I still get emotional when "The Life and Death of Amy Pond" kicks in; and I still feel a burst of excitement as the Doctor, Amy, and Rory disappear into time and space, ready for more adventures.

That's why I love The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang. It's a summation of everything good about Series 5, and about Doctor Who.
Philip Bates is a writer and critic and the co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion website.




FILTER: - Eleventh Doctor

Two Doctors on the Late Late Show

Friday, 19 June 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Jodie Whittaker and David Tennant both featured on the Late Late Show with James Corden a few hours ago.

The Doctor's surprised viewers by appearing in their Thirteenth and Tenth Doctor costumes and judged fans taking part in a hilarious cosplay challenge.

This appearance was in aid of Doctor Who series 1-11 launching on HBO MAX, a brand new streaming service available in the US.





FILTER: - Tenth Doctor

Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun - Release Date May

Wednesday, 29 April 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun - Tom Baker (Credit: Big Finish)The first full-cast, full-length Doctor Who audio drama to have been recorded entirely during lockdown will be released on 12 May.

Tom Baker, Louise Jameson and John Leeson star in Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun, a Fourth Doctor mystery adventure written by Rob Valentine.

This is the first full-cast Doctor Who audio drama to have been produced using Big Finish’s remote recording techniques, and it boasts among its guest cast Fenella Woolgar (Inside Number 9, Call the Midwife) as a terminally bored socialite, Lady Malina Rigel-Smythe. She is one of many passengers onboard a luxury liner with a difference.

Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun is now available to pre-order exclusively at the Big Finish website, from just £8.99.

After an accident, the TARDIS lands on a luxury star-liner. Leaving their ship to repair itself, the Doctor, Leela and K9 find themselves facing a great terror: mingling at a cocktail party.

Something seems awry behind the pleasantries however. Guests are going missing, and equipment is breaking down. When the Doctor investigates further he discovers that the star-liner is literally on course for disaster.

But no-one seems surprised by this information, still less troubled. What’s going on? And can the Doctor and his friends save everyone... when nobody wants to be saved?
Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun  (Credit: Big Finish)Director Nicholas Briggs said
In Shadow of the Sun, we have a great, well-made script by Rob Valentine. A lovely slice of science fantasy. It has a great central idea and a cast of superb characters. At its core, there’s a fanatical belief in something that is patent nonsense, but the Doctor, Leela and K9 find themselves to be the only people who know the truth. That’s a great set-up!

And it also has a flavour of the often talked about ‘base under siege’ setting, which adds appealing claustrophobia to the storytelling. It makes the situation more extreme and therefore more of an exciting ride for the audience.
Writer Robert Valentine added
This is a story inspired by the modern trend of giving the same value to opinion as fact – including everything from climate change denial to the anti-vaccination movement – but specifically the recent (and ultimately fatal) rocket launch experiments intended to prove that the Earth is flat. The Doctor is about to find himself in a situation where the true enemy is pseudo-scientific hubris, and for once it might be an enemy he hasn't the tools to overcome.
Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun is now available to pre-order exclusively at the Big Finish website, as a collector’s edition CD (priced at £10.99) or digital download (price at £8.99).

Please note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mailout of collector’s edition CDs will be delayed, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.




FILTER: - Big Finish - Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker