In my twilight years, I am looking forward to a tremendous Big Finish and the sooner the better.

I'm delighted at the possibility of working with Tom again. I've always rated him as a brilliant and unique actor with the most marvellous voice, Big Finish must be over the moon that he has agreed to re-visiting the sci-fi world.

As many of you will know, we've been talking to Tom for a long time, David Richardson and I went to visit Tom at his home not long ago to chat about it all. We had a really great time. At that point, I sincerely felt that had we taken a microphone with us, Tom would have started there and then - but, of course, there are always finer details to sort out. Now that our plans are in place, and Tom has enthusiastically told the world that we're going ahead, we thought it best to follow-up with our own announcement. Rest assured that in the coming months we will be releasing news on this as soon as we are able.

I am delighted that Tom will be joining the Big Finish audio adventures of Doctor Who. As a small child, I remember how charismatic and engaging his performance was each Saturday tea time - and we are all looking forward to recreating that era again.

As a special thank you to all our listeners, and in the spirit of the festive season, we're offering the first Short Trips story (from Doctor Who: Short Trips Volume I - out now) as a free podcast download.

The story, entitled Rise and Fall, is written by George Mann, read by William Russell and features the first incarnation of the Doctor. Doctor Who: Short Trips Volume I features seven other stories, featuring Doctors 2 to 8, read by David Troughton, Katy Manning, Louise Jameson, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sophie Aldred and India Fisher. The second volume, featuring another eight stories, will be available in February 2011.

'Naturally we hope this might whet the appetite of those who haven't yet ordered the first volume of Short Trips,' confesses executive producer Nick Briggs. 'But in any case, I just wanted us to share this rather special story with all our listeners at what is, for many people, a very special time of year. Writer George Mann has really captured the essence of Doctor Who in a truly engaging, moving tale. I'd particularly like to pay tribute to William Russell's brilliant reading and Martin Montague's lovely sound design.'

I'm so excited by these plays, They are an opportunity for us to develop new projects with the talent we have already worked with at Big Finish, and they explore some important themes. They're funny and tragic, clever and profound, dark and intelligent.

Prison in Space was originally commisioned for Season Six but, despite Dick Sharples’ script being completed, the story was never made. The audio production is adapted by Simon Guerrier and performed by Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury and Susan Brown.

The Daleks: The Destroyers was originally planned by Terry Nation to be the pilot for a US series. The script has been adapted for audio by Nicholas Briggs and John Dorney, and is performed by Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom, with Alan Cox as Mark Seven, Chris Porter as Jason Corey, Alex Mallinson as David Kingdom, and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks.

Thin Ice
Written by Marc Platt; Directed by Ken Bentley

Starring: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Ricky Groves, John Albasiny, Beth Chalmers, Nigel Lambert, John Banks and Nicholas Briggs

Moscow 1967. The Doctor and Ace have arrived behind the Iron Curtain, and the Soviet Union is seeking a new weapon that will give it mastery in the Cold War.

What is the secret of the Martian relics? As the legendary War Lord Sezhyr returns to life, the Doctor is faced with some of his oldest and deadliest enemies.

The fate of Earth – and the future of Ace – are now intertwined...

In the blistering heat of the Egyptian desert Howard Carter and his team search for the lost tomb of Userhat, a servant of the god Amun. What they discover sheds new light on the history of the world as we know it.

Written by Mark Morris, the story stars Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Philip Olivier as Hex, with Benedict Cumberbatch as Howard Carter, Lucy Adams as Jane Templeton, Paul Lincoln as Robert Charles, Jon Glover as Creodont, and Paul Lincoln as Robot.

While Bernice waits to see what Braxiatel is planning, she's getting back to her roots - investigating the site of a previously undiscovered civilization. It isn't long however, before she's being pursued through the ruins by an implacable foe.

On her own, light-years from rescue, she must rely on her wits to survive and discover who wants her dead and buried.