Based on the iconic BBC television series Doctor Who, the new puzzle depicts some of show’s most infamous characters including the Doctor’s most fearsome enemies such as the Daleks, Weeping Angels and one of the most frightening ever The Silence. The designs show over 20 characters within a space setting, ensuring plenty of puzzling fun as fans assemble the scene!

The eye catching Bronze Dalek is a timely release for 2012 but actually first made an appearance in a much loved 2005 episode. The equally current silver Daleks are more at home in the swinging Sixties, first being seen in the episode ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ and again at the height of another sporting celebration, during the 1966 episode ‘Power of the Daleks’.

The Daleks of the Seventies and Eighties have not been forgotten either. Two silver and grey characters emerge from the 1970s episodes ‘Planet of the Daleks’ (1973) and ‘Death to the Daleks’ (1974) while a gold and white fiend is recreated from the ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ episode in 1985.

It's been a joy to work on the Bernice Summerfield range as we approach her twentieth year, and we always knew we wanted to do something special. As well as a few original dramas, we pitched the notion of a one-off Companion Chronicle to David Richardson - jokingly suggested we call it War and Love as a nod to her roots in the New Adventures. Then typically, as David does, he came back with an even better nod to her origins: a full-cast adaptation of the novel that spawned her.

And so, after conversations with Paul Cornell, Jac Rayner, Sylvester, Sophie and Lisa (of course), we found ourselves tasked with the daunting opportunity of bringing a much-loved slice of 90s Doctor Who to a brand-new audience... and I think we've done it justice!

Love and War (available to pre-order)
by Paul Cornell, adapted by Jacqueline Rayner
starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Lisa Bowerman

On a planet called Heaven, all hell is breaking loose.

Heaven is a cemetery for both humans and Draconians - a final place of rest for those lost during wartime. The Doctor arrives on a trivial mission - to find a book, or so he says - and Ace, wandering around Joycetown, becomes involved with a charismatic Traveller called Jan.

But the Doctor is strenuously opposed to the romance. What is he trying to prevent? Is he planning some more deadly game connected with the coffins revered by the mysterious Church of Vacuum and the unusual Arch that marks the location of a secret building below ground?

Archaeologist Bernice Summerfield thinks so. Her destiny is inextricably linked with that of the Doctor, but even she may not be able to save Ace from the Time Lord's plans.

This time, has the Doctor gone too far?

Carry’s death was a very sad blow for everyone at Big Finish, and the whole Doctor Who world. We deliberated for a long time as to whether we should hold back the release of this story until 2013, but Carry’s husband Geoffrey Beevers kindly suggested we should go ahead as planned. It is what Carry would have wanted.

Carry really enjoyed working on this script, and the chance to work with Rowena Cooper as Liz’s mother, Emily. It was such a happy recording day that we had made plans for a sequel, which was storylined. But sadly it was not to be.

The Last Post
by James Goss
starring Caroline John, with Rowena Cooper

People are dying. Just a few, over a period of months... but the strange thing is that each person received a letter predicting the date and time of their death.

Throughout her time as the Doctor’s assistant, Liz Shaw has been documenting these passings.

Her investigation ultimately uncovers a threat that could lead to the end of the world, but this time Liz has someone to help her.

Her mother...

There’s been a mystery haunting followers of the Seventh Doctor stories at Big Finish. Why is the TARDIS white? Why is there a black TARDIS? And where is the Doctor? All is revealed in Black and White, in which four companions collide – Ace (Sophie Aldred), Hex (Philip Olivier), Aristedes (Maggie O’Neill) and Sally (Amy Pemberton). And what they discover about each other, and the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), will rock their worlds...

Black and White is written by Matt Fitton, and guest stars Stuart Milligan (The Impossible Astronaut and The Day of the Moon) as Garundel.

Meanwhile, The Masters of Luxor by Anthony Coburn has finally been released 49 years after the script was originally written for television! Coburn, who wrote the very first Doctor Who story An Unearthly Child, originally devised Luxor as the second story, but it was ultimately replaced by Terry Nation’s The Daleks. Those original scripts have been adapted by Nigel Robinson as part of the Lost Stories range, and performed by William Russell and Carole Ann Ford with Joseph Kloska guest starring as Tabor and the Perfect One.

"This was such a momentous story to make," says producer David Richardson. "It really felt like an important piece of Doctor Who history. Anthony’s script is so dark and character-based, and it builds to a really doom-laden finale. If you enjoyed Farewell Great Macedon on our First Doctor Box Set, then you should love this – I was determined to reassemble the whole team from that story, from William and Carole, to Nigel, Lisa Bowerman as director and Toby Robinson on sound design and music. The results, I think, are quite heart-breaking."

Finally this month’s Companion Chronicle is The Uncertainty Principle, performed by Wendy Padbury as Zoe, accompanied by her daughter Charlie Hayes as Jen.

"We’re back with the older Zoe," says David, "as the mysterious Company tries to ascertain what she might remember of travelling through time and space – and they force her mind back to a journey to Earth, where nothing is certain."

Black and White (available to order)
by Matt Fitton
starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Philip Olivier

The TARDIS arrives in the land of the Danes, where a young warrior seeks to rid the kingdom of Hrothgar from a cruel and terrifying demon. The brave young warrior is Beowulf; the monster is Grendel... or so his name will one day be written. But what's written down in black and white is sometimes very far from the truth – as the Doctor knows, and his companions are about to discover.

The Masters of Luxor (available to order)
by Anthony Coburn, adapted by Nigel Robinson
starring William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, with Joe Kloska

The TARDIS is drawn to a mysterious signal emanating from a seemingly dead world. Trapped within a crystalline structure, the Doctor and his friends inadvertently wake a vast army of robots that have lain dormant for many, many years. Waiting… for the Masters of Luxor.

The Perfect One wants to become more than just a mockery of a man, and will stop at nothing to achieve it. But will the cost prove too great?

The travellers are about to uncover a horrifying tragedy. A tragedy that threatens to engulf them all.

The Uncertainty Principle (available to order)
by Simon Guerrier
starring Wendy Padbury, with Charlie Hayes

In the future, Zoe Heriot is a prisoner of the mysterious Company, which has evidence that she travelled through space and time with the Doctor. Zoe’s memories have been blocked by the Time Lords, but the Company is determined to break through this conditioning...

And so Zoe recalls a journey to Earth in the past, to the funeral of a young woman called Meg, who was involved in scientific experiments that are bringing forth sinister alien creatures. Only the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe can stop them...

The Doctor's Monsters
Meanings of the Monstrous in Doctor Who
By Graham Sleight
Published on 10th September 2012 (pre-order)

Doctor Who has been on global television screens for nearly fifty years, and many of its most memorable protagonists have been its monsters, The Daleks, Cybermen, Slitheen, the Sontarans, Ood, Wirrn, and others. Entertainingly and provocatively written, and introduced by Who scriptwriter Paul Cornell, The Doctor’s Monsters takes a new look at these and many other creatures, and asks what inspired them and what lies behind them. If the Daleks are based on ideas of genetic purity, and the Cybermen on fears of transplant surgery, what about the Autons, the Zarbi, or the Weeping Angels?

Science fiction critic Graham Sleight examines stories from the whole of Doctor Who’s history to give this unique perspective on the series. Why are we so scared of monsters? Why do they look and act the way they do? How do they reflect the time and place that the series is broadcast in? Along the way, the book provides a history - from an unusual angle - of how this most enduring of TV science fiction series has created and recreated itself. The book also contains a comprehensive glossary of the creatures seen in Doctor Who.