Competition roundup

Friday, 18 November 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

A roundup of competitions from Doctor Who News that readers may enter:

DVD: The Power of the Daleks

Patrick Troughton's first full adventure as the Doctor comes to DVD:

The Power of the Daleks (Credit: BBC Worldwide)

Animated restoration of all six episodes from the 1966 serial of the BBC sci-fi show starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. The Doctor has regenerated into a new, younger self and while his companions come to terms with this sudden change, they make a terrible discovery at the human colony on the planet Vulcan. What the colonists had thought mere machines reveal their sinister intentions.

To be in with a chance to win the DVD, simply answer the following question:

Which modern series adventure is reported to have been inspired by elements of The Power of the Daleks?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-powerdvd@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Absolute Power!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 4th December 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

DVD: Mindgame Saga

The re-release of the spin-offs featuring Sophie Aldred, Miles Richardson, Toby Aspin, Bryan Robson and John Wadmore

MINDGAME A Human … a Draconian … a Sontaran … trapped in a prison cell. Who will survive when they are forced to fight for their lives? MINDGAME TRILOGY - Having escaped their fate in MINDGAME, the three warriors return to their respective timelines … a battlefield, a prison cell and a dying spaceship. Far more deadly situations than the one they just escaped from! Will any of them survive?

To be in with a chance to win the DVD courtesy of Koch Media, simply answer the following question:

Name the character played by Miles Richardson in previous Doctor Who spin-offs recently released by Koch Media.

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-mindgame@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Survival of the fittest". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 4th December 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Audio Download: The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 2

A new set of adventures with the third Doctor!

The Doctor and Jo arrive on the dying planet Ephros, where Galactux Power Inc is exploiting the world's remaining resources. But something is stirring beneath the surface... The Doctor and Jo then journey to Bramfield New Town when the husband of Jo’s cousin vanishes mysteriously. As magpies circle overheard, the Doctor discovers a terrifying alien plot...

The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 2 (Credit: Big Finish)

To be in with a chance to win a digital download of the audio adventure courtesy of Big Finish, simply answer the following question:

Name the third Doctor television story which also features Bernard Holley.

Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-bf3d2@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Not now, Jo!". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 4th December 2016. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

It is also still possible to enter competitions to win BBC Audio releases Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks and Tales from the TARDIS, open worldwide with the same closing date of 4th December - more details here.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish - Blu-ray/DVD - Competitions

The Lives of Captain Jack

Saturday, 10 September 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have announced further adventures for Captain Jack Harkness with a new series coming in June 2017.

The Lives of Captain Jack (Credit: Big Finish)

John Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow) returns to the Doctor Who universe as Captain Jack Harkness in The Lives of Captain Jack, a set of four full cast audio adventures from Big Finish, made under licence from BBC Worldwide.

Captain Jack - an immortal adventurer with a wicked sense of everything - has led an extraordinary set of lives. We all know he travelled with the Doctor, we all know he ran Torchwood - but what else did he get up to? The four adventures in this full cast series from Big Finish provide some of the answers.

Starring John Barrowman, and guest starring Russell Tovey (Doctor Who, Being Human and Looking), Camille Coduri (Doctor Who, Him & Her), Alexander Vlahos (Merlin, Versailles, The Confessions of Dorian Gray), Sarah Douglas (Superman I, Superman II, Space 1999, V, Strippers vs Werewolves), Scott Haran (Wizards vs Aliens), Aaron Neil (Class) and Katy Manning (Doctor Who) the four adventures see Captain Jack in different times and on different planets, doing battle with a variety of strange and horrible enemies, from Mother Nothing to the Council Of Three.

John Barrowman laughs:

I find it really easy to slip into Captain Jack. There’s a bit of Jack in John and vice versa. What’s great about these stories is that they’re the kind of episode we didn’t have time for on TV – exploring aspects of Jack that you’ve never seen before in a timey-wimey way. And getting to work with Camille was amazing. If you’re a fan of Captain Jack, or Torchwood or Doctor Who, then I say get them.

Producer James Goss says:

We love John. He understands Captain Jack like no-one else, and easily provided the various versions of him – having just spent three days playing Torchwood Jack, he suddenly delivered preppy Time Agent Jack, Satellite 5 Jack, End of Time Jack, and effortlessly locked horns with Jackie Tyler. Watching him together in the studio with Camille was genuinely one of the happiest days of my life. We were so lucky to get John, and can’t wait to get him back.

Released in June 2017, The Lives of Captain Jack is written by Guy Adams and James Goss. The stories include:

THE YEAR AFTER I DIED: Set in the year 200,101, on an Earth ravaged by the Daleks, we see Jack struggling to save humanity from its oldest enemy.
WEDNESDAYS FOR BEGINNERS: Jack and Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri) must unite to rescue the Powell Estate from a force whose name Jackie can never say.
ONE ENCHANTED EVENING: Captain Jack and Alonso Frame (Russell Tovey) have only just met. But why did the Doctor want them to be together?
MONTH 25: He’s the young star of the Time Agency, and his whole life is about to fall apart. But that’s not going to stop him winning.

The Lives of Captain Jack is available to pre-order from the Big Finish website.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish - John Barrowman - Torchwood

Competition Roundup

Tuesday, 6 September 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

A roundup of competitions from Doctor Who News that readers may enter:

The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Pursuit of History/Casualties of Time

The fourth Doctor concludes his latest set of adventures alongside Romana and K-9:

On a brisk winter’s morning in 1850s Yorkshire, Cuthbert, head of the intergalactic business known as 'The Conglomerate' prepares to hijack a very special train. In the far future, his assistant, Mr Dorrick is awoken by howling alarms. There is a problem with the Quantum Gateway. In the TARDIS, the Doctor, Romana and K9 detect strange distortions in the Vortex, an energy stream coming from a strange creature called a Laan. The threads of a plan centuries in the making are coming together. But who is behind this plan? And can anyone possibly escape when history is against them?

The Pursuit Of History (Credit: Big Finish)

To be in with a chance to win a digital download of the audio adventure courtesy of Big Finish, simply answer the following question:

David Warner has his own history with time shenanigans - name the the film in which he played a character coveting a map depicting holes in the space-time continuum.

Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-bf4d@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Time Traps". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 18th September 2016. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

BBC Books: Doctor Who - The Official Cookbook

BBC Books offer you the chance to make a culinary impression on your Doctor Who friends!

Whether you’re planning a party to watch the latest episode, need a showstopping cake that’s bigger on the inside, or want a taste of the TARDIS at teatime, this is the ultimate collection of dishes from across space and time. Keep the munchies at bay with a fleet of Atraxi Snax, and serve an Ood Head Bread with your dinner. Create your very own Picnic at Asgard, or invite the Zygon Pie into your house. And say ‘Hello, Sweetie’ to a deadly-delicious Dalektable Army, a Peek-a-Boo Pandorica cake, or some simple jelly babies. Each easy-to-follow recipe has step-by-step instructions to show how you can make meals, snacks, cakes and sweets that are truly out of this world.

To be in with a chance to win the book courtesy of BBC Books, simply answer the following question:

What meal did a newly-regenerated Doctor cook up in Amelia's kitchen?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-cookbook@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Yum!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 18th September 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: Doctor Who and The Sontaran Experiment

The classic novelisation adaptation from BBC Audio sees the fourth Doctor finding out Earth is not as uninhabited as he expected ...

Landing on Earth - now a barren, desolate planet - Sarah, Harry and the Doctor are unaware of a large, watching robot. The robot is the work of Styr, a Sontaran warrior, who uses all humans landing here for his experimental programmes. What has happened to the other space explorers who have come here? Why is Styr so interested in Earth, and in brutally torturing humans, including Sarah Jane? Will the Doctor be able to prevent an invasion, and save both Earth and his companions?

Doctor Who and The Sontaran Experiment (Credit: BBC Audio)

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

Having survived solar flares, the Earth then had to endure being moved two light years in space and enveloped by a solar fireball ... but who orchestrated this second devastation?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-experiment@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Trafalgar Square should be that way". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 18th September 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: Doctor Who: The Macra Terror

The classic novelisation adaptation from BBC Audio sees the second Doctor discovering something sinister in the shadows ...

In the far future a group of humans is living an idyllic existence on a distant planet. Their colony is run like a gigantic holiday camp, and nothing seems to trouble their carefree existence. When one of them claims that the colony is being invaded by hideous monsters, no-one takes him seriously. But the Doctor's suspicions are immediately aroused. What is the terrible menace that lurks at the heart of this apparent paradise? Why are the colonists unaware of the danger that lies before their very eyes? And what is the Macra Terror?

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

Name the televised story that featured an unexpected return of the Macra some forty years later...

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-macra@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "There is no such thing as Macra!". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 18th September 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: Illegal Alien

This BBC Books adaptation from BBC Audio sees the seventh Doctor caught up in World War II antics...

The Blitz is at its height. As the Luftwaffe bomb London, Cody McBridge, ex-pat American private eye, sees a sinister silver sphere crash-land. He glimpses something emerging from within. The military dismiss his account of events - the sphere must be a new German secret weapon that has malfunctioned in some way. What else could it be? Arriving amid the chaos, the Doctor and Ace embark on a trail that brings them face to face with hidden Nazi agents, and encounter some very old enemies ...

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

Name another Doctor Who story set in London during the Blitz.

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-illegalalien@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Put that light out!". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 18th September 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: Tenth Doctor Tales

A collection of audio adventures featuring the tenth Doctor.

Join the Tenth Doctor on these seven adventures in Time and Space, written specially for audio: Pest Control, The Forever Trap, The Nemonite Invasion, The Rising Night, The Day of the Troll, The Last Voyage and Dead Air. David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Michelle Ryan read this exclusive collection of original audio adventures.

To be in with a chance to win the audio collection courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

The Rising Night reader Michelle Ryan is better known as which of the tenth Doctor's associates?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-10d-tales@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Oral Encounters". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 18th September 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

FILTER: - Audio - BBC Audio - BBC Books - Big Finish - Books - Competitions

BBC reveal midnight announcement

Tuesday, 6 September 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have posted a teaser for a forthcoming announcement at midnight tonight via their Facebook page:

Visit Doctor Who News after midnight UK time for more details.

FILTER: - Audio - BBC Audio - BBC Books - Big Finish - Books - Competitions

June Competition Roundup

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

A roundup of competitions from Doctor Who News that readers may enter:

The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Trouble with Drax

The fourth Doctor continues his adventures alongside Romana and K-9:

Altrazar. The temporal Atlantis, a place lost to time. Believed by many to be a myth, it has long been the perfect location for the rich and powerful to hide away their most dangerous secrets. Until now. Because the somewhat crooked, not exactly honest, wheeler-dealer cockney Time Lord known as Drax has found a map that leads to its location. And, at the behest of a manipulative businessman, he's going to use it. When the TARDIS is dragged out of the space-time vortex, its crew aren't best pleased to see the Doctor's old school friend, even less when he pressgangs them into joining a raid on the most secure safe-house in history. However with Romana and K9 held hostage, the Doctor has little choice but to agree. With Drax in tow, he heads for the planet. Which is where the trouble starts.

The Trouble With Drax (Credit: Big Finish)

To be in with a chance to win a digital download of the audio adventure courtesy of Big Finish, simply answer the following question:

What is Drax's nickname for the Doctor?

Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-bf4d@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "No, Drax, no!". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 3rd July 2016. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

BBC Audio: Doctor Who and The Claws of Axos

The latest classic novelisation adaptation from BBC Audio sees the third Doctor encounter vampires from space ...

When an Unidentified Flying Object arrives in England, the Doctor, Jo and UNIT are quickly on the scene. Inside the strange craft they meet the Axons, beautiful golden creatures who offer a fantastic gift to humanity. Governments around the world are soon clamouring to get their hands on it. Only the Doctor remains suspicious. What is the real reason for the Axons' sudden arrival on Earth

Doctor Who and The Claws Of Axos (Credit: BBC Audio)

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:? And is the evil Master a passenger on their spaceship? He very soon finds out ...

What was the name of the first victim to encounter Axos upon its arrival on Earth?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-axos@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Axos calling Earth". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 3rd July 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: Scream Of The Shalka

BBC Audio's latest novel adaptation introduces us to the first official Ninth Doctor ...

When the Doctor lands his TARDIS in the Lancaster town of Lannet in the present day, he finds that something is terrifyingly wrong. The people are scared. They don't like going onto the streets at night; they don't like too much noise; and they certainly don't like strangers asking too many questions. What alien force has invaded the town? Why is it watching barmaid Alison Cheney? And what plans does it have for the future of the planet Earth?

Scream of the Shalka (Credit: BBC Audio)

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

Shalka features several actors who later went on to appear in the revived series, but which one went on to play the Doctor himself?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-shalka@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Johnny alien is going to get a good seeing to". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 3rd July 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Books: The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who (paperback)

BBC Books are re-issuing their book exploring science in Doctor Who on 7th July:

Doctor Who tells many amazing science fiction stories - but how much of the science is actually real, and how much is really fiction? The Scientific Secrets Of Doctor Who shows how its storytelling has always been intricately linked to science, and how close it has come in predicting future discoveries. With fifteen all-new Doctor Who stories as starting points, Simon Guerrier and Dr Marek Kulula investigate the latest and most boggling scientific ideas through the prism of the series. Everything from TARDIS physics to the possibility of life on other planets is explained, delving into the lore of the show, and the scientific laws it both adheres to and gleefully ignores.

The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who (paperback) (Credit: BBC Books)

To be in with a chance to win the book courtesy of BBC Books, simply answer the following question:

Who was the unofficial scientific advisor to the series during the 1960s around the time of the first Doctor's regeneration?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-secrets@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Science, not sorcery, Miss Hawthorne!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 3rd July 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

FILTER: - Audio - BBC Audio - BBC Books - Big Finish - Competitions

Big Finish: Adric returns to the TARDIS in 2017

Wednesday, 15 June 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have announced that Matthew Waterhouse will be reprising his role as Adric in three new adventures alongside Peter Davison as the Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa:

Matthew Waterhouse rejoins the 5th Doctor TARDIS team for 2017 (Credit: Big Finish)

2017 will find the Fifth Doctor joined by Adric, Nyssa and Tegan for three new adventures set within Season 19 of the classic television series!

Thirty-five years since they parted ways on television, Matthew Waterhouse will rejoin his TV co-stars Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding for three new Big Finish releases, following an appearance together in the critically-acclaimed Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Box Set.

Doctor Who main range script editor Alan Barnes said:

I've got a huge amount of affection for Adric and the whole of Season 19. It's the series that was on TV when I was 11, turning 12, which is a great moment to be a Doctor Who fan, when you're madly enthusiastic but not yet so insanely critical that you can't enjoy it!

The new trilogy begins with Doctor Who: The Star Men by Andrew Smith; who made his writing debut with Adric's introductory adventure Full Circle. Barnes continues:

The first thing I wanted to do was to get Andrew writing Adric again, because he'd been such a huge part of the character's development. So with The Star Men I asked Andrew to write something significant for Adric, something to serve the character well and perhaps show him in a slightly different light. I wanted a cosmically big sort of story, too, “full of spacey stuff”. I think it's a bit of a shame that Season 18's script editor Christopher H Bidmead didn't do Season 19 as well, so that was part of the thinking: “What would Bidmead do...?

The trilogy continues with Doctor Who: The Contingency Club by Phil Mulryne – set within an exclusive Victorian gentleman's club - and Doctor Who: Zaltys by Matthew J Elliot.

Zaltys came about because it struck me that there are a few hints in Season 19 that some of the directors have been looking at pop videos of the day – in the “Tegan's mind” bits of Kinda, for example, and in the Adam Ant-like “chandelier jump” in Castrovalva – so I asked Matthew to think about the sort of story that could have been told in the language of the pop video circa 1981/2. Yes, obviously, we don't have the visuals, but every story needs a starting point, and that can be almost anything. You'll have to wait to work out which particular videos we were looking at!

The three stories will be released by Big Finish from January next year, and can be pre-ordered from their website.

FILTER: - Big Finish - Fifth Doctor

Competition Roundup

Tuesday, 24 May 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

A roundup of competitions from Doctor Who News that readers may enter:

The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Gallery of Ghouls

The fourth Doctor continues his adventures alongside Romana and K-9:

When the TARDIS lands in Brighton the Doctor and Romana have the chance to spend some time at the seaside. But with it being too early for the opening of the Pavilion, they have to look elsewhere for their entertainment - perhaps Madame Tissot's travelling waxworks, recently arrived in town? But they're not the only ones interested in her Exposition. When an unusual thief commits an unusual theft, the time travellers are on the case. What exactly is the sinister secret of Goole's Gallery? Is Tissot's heading for a meltdown? And what does it all have to do with the head of Marie Antoinette?

To be in with a chance to win a digital download of the audio adventure courtesy of Big Finish, simply answer the following question:

The Doctor, Romana and K9 have spent time on Brighton Beach before - or, rather, as is typical with time travel, they will do so later! - name that story.

Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-bf4d@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Deja Vu". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 12th June. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

BBC Audio: The King's Demons

The latest classic novelisation adaptation from BBC Audio sees the fifth Doctor arrive in medieval Britain:

It is 4 March 1215, and the TARDIS materialises in England during a jousting match held in the presence of King John. But it soon becomes apparent to the Doctor that something is very seriously wrong. Why does John express no fear or surprise at the time-travellers' sudden appearance, and indeed welcome them as the King's Demons! And what is the true identity of Sir Gilles, the King's Champion? Very soon the Doctor finds himself involved in a fiendish plan to alter the course of world history by one of his oldest and deadliest enemies.

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

This isn't the first time the Doctor has encountered the Plantagenet family - which incarnation met John's rather more fondly remembered brother Richard?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-demons@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "We sing in praise of total war". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 12th June 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio: Shakedown

BBC Audio's latest novel adaptation is Shakedown, originally released as part of the Virgin New Adventures range in 1995:

For thousands of years the Sontarans and the Rutans have fought a brutal war across the galaxy. Now the Sontarans have a secret plan to destroy the Rutan race - a secret plan the Doctor is racing against time to uncover. Only one Rutan spy knows the Sontarans' plans. As he is chased through the galaxy in a desperate bid for his life, he reaches the planet Sentarion - where Professor Bernice Summerfield's research into the history of the Sontaran/Rutan war is turning into an explosive reality...

To be in with a chance to win the audiobook courtesy of BBC Audio, simply answer the following question:

The novel Shakedown is based upon the script Terrance Dicks originally wrote for the direct-to-video release Shakedown - Return of the Sontarans in 1994; name one of the main cast from that release who also has a strong connection to Doctor Who on television.

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-shakedown@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Moth to the flame". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 12th June 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Character: Missy figures

It is still possible to enter our competition to win a Character figure of Missy, which runs until 31st May. See the main competition article for full details.

FILTER: - Audio - BBC Audio - Big Finish - Competitions

The Tenth Doctor's Adventures: Volume One - now available from Big Finish

Monday, 16 May 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Today sees Big Finish release the first trilogy of their all-new adventures featuring the tenth Doctor and Donna, as played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate. The three stories will be available exclusively from the Big Finish website for the next few months, before going on general release at the end of August.

Technophobia
Written by Matt Fitton [order from Big Finish]

When the Doctor and Donna visit London’s Technology Museum for a glimpse into the future, things don’t go to plan.

The most brilliant IT brain in the country can’t use her computer. More worrying, the exhibits are attacking the visitors, while outside, people seem to be losing control of the technology that runs their lives.

Is it all down to simple human stupidity, or is something more sinister going on?

Beneath the streets, the Koggnossenti are waiting. For all of London to fall prey to technophobia...

Time Reaver (Credit: Big Finish / Tom Webster)

Time Reaver
Written by Jenny T Colgan [order from Big Finish]

Calibris. The spaceport planet where anything goes. Where anyone who doesn't want to be found can be lost, and where everything has its price. Where betentacled gangster Gully holds sway at the smugglers’ tavern, Vagabond’s Reach.

The alien Vacintians are trying to impose some order on the chaos. Soon the Doctor and Donna discover why. An illegal weapon is loose on the streets. A weapon that destroys lives… Slowly and agonisingly.

The Time Reaver.

Death and the Queen (Credit: Big Finish / Tom Webster)

Death and the Queen [order from Big Finish]
Written by James Goss

Donna Noble has never been lucky in love.

So when, one day, her Prince does come, she is thrilled to have the wedding of all weddings to look forward to. Though the Doctor isn’t holding his breath for an invitation. And her future mother-in-law is certainly not amused.

But on the big day itself, Donna finds her castle under siege from the darkest of forces, marching at the head of a skeleton army.

When it looks like even the Doctor can’t save the day, what will Queen Donna do to save her people from Death itself?

Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble (Credit: Big Finish)

The three adventures are also available as an exclusive boxed set, The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Volume One from Big Finish, which will be released as a limited 4-disc edition of 5000.

As well as the stories themselves, the box includes exclusive artwork, photography, articles, a one-hour documentary featuring interviews with the stars and production team, plus a bonus documentary examining the worlds of Doctor Who at Big Finish.

You can read our review of the release here.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish - David Tennant - Merchandise - Tenth Doctor

Big Finish: Eighth Doctor 20th Anniversary Special Offer

Saturday, 14 May 2016 - Reported by Mark Pattison

Storm Warning (Credit: Big Finish / Clayton Hickman)

As Paul McGann's Eighth incarnation marks 20 years since waking up on a mortuary slab in San Franciso, Big Finish is running a series of special offers this weekend in celebration.

In the Doctor Who Main Range, starting with Doctor Who: Storm Warning, the first eleven titles are permanently reduced at £2.99 each to download, including the 40th Anniversary spectacular Doctor Who: Zagreus. You can even get the behind-the-scenes CD release on how these early stories were made with Big Finish Talks Back: The Eighth Doctor Authors, for only £5 this weekend.

The Eighth Doctor's further Main Range adventures continue with the Doctor and Charlotte teaming up with alien C'rizz (Conrad Westmaas) in the Divergent Universe. These are just £5 each on both CD and download this weekend, with selected bundles of stories also reduced.

The Eighth Doctor Adventures are hour-long audio dramas that see the Doctor travel with the feisty Lucie 'bleedin' Miller (Sheridan Smith) across four series. All 34 adventures are £5 each on CD and to download, with discounted series bundles also available.

The critically acclaimed Doctor Who: Dark Eyes series, sees the Doctor meet volunteer nurse Molly O'Sullivan (Ruth Bradley) in the trenches of the First World War. All four boxsets in the Dark Eyes saga can be enjoyed for just £20 each this weekend, or together in a bundle with free UK postage.

The Eighth Doctor's latest release is Doctor Who: Doom Coalition. The first two box-sets have been reduced back to their pre-order price of £20 each. All four box-sets can be purchased in one Doomwood Coalition bundle, which as with the majority of Big Finish releases, contains complimentary digital copies with all CD orders.

Paul McGann returns to the Main Range in Doctor Who: The Company of Friends, a special anthology teaming him with New Adventures companion Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman), BBC Books' Fitz Kreiner (Matt di Angelo), Doctor Who Magazine's Izzy Sinclair (Jemima Rooper) and Frankenstein author Mary Shelley (Julie Cox), who then joins the Doctor for a Main Range trilogy. These are all £5 on CD and download.

The Doctor unites with old friends Romana (Lalla Ward) and K9 (John Leeson) in Doctor Who: Shada, discovers new family members in Doctor Who: An Earthly Child, almost meets his future love in The Diary of River Song: Series 1 and unites with his former incarnations in Doctor Who: The Light at the End (available in both standard and Limited Edition).

The Eighth Doctor's Companion Chronicle adventure Doctor Who: Solitaire and his Destiny of the Doctors instalment Doctor Who: Enemy Aliens are at special offer prices. Two new Doctor Who Short Trip adventures Doctor Who: Foreshadowing and Doctor Who: The Curse of the Fugue, are also permanently at £2.99 each.

The single episode adventure Doctor Who: Klein's Story can be downloaded for free, starring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, Tracey Childs as Elizabeth Klein and Paul McGann as the mysterious Johann Schmidt. The footbal-themed Doctor Who: Living Legend is also available for free.

The Eighth Doctor's journeys will continue in Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 3 and Doom Coalition 4, Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 1 and Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor – The Time War. Pre-orders on each box-set are £20 each on both CD and to download.

For the true collectors out there, you can pre-order the acclaimed Doctor Who: The Chimes of Midnight Limited Vinyl Edition, strictly limited to 500 copies and available for £79.99.

And for this weekend only, the ultimate Eighth Doctor 20th Anniversary Bundle, contains over 90 Eighth Doctor adventures, including those available to pre-order! The CD Bundle is £640 with free UK postage and includes downloads for those stories not available on CD. The Download bundle is £555.

Please note that both bundles contain the Limited Edition version of Doctor Who: The Light at the End instead of the standard version. Doctor Who: Shada, Big Finish Talks Back: The Eighth Doctor Authors and Doctor Who: The Chimes of Midnight Limited Vinyl Edition are not included in the download bundle.

These special offers end noon on Monday May 16th. You can explore the entire range on the Eighth Doctor Collected page.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish - Merchandise

Big Finish: The War Doctor 3: Agents of Chaos

Saturday, 14 May 2016 - Reported by Mark Pattison

Agents of Chaos Big Finish has announced further details for the third release in its War Doctor series, starring John Hurt and Jacqueline Pearce.

This Autumn, the Time War rages on with the War Doctor set to face Sontarans, an invasion of Earth and the Dalek Time Strategist.

The War Doctor: Agents of Chaos (Credit: Big Finish)

John Hurt returns as the War Doctor in September 2016, in three full cast audio plays from Big Finish productions. Doctor Who - The War Doctor 3: Agents of Chaos is the third volume in the ongoing saga, in which the War Doctor and Cardinal Ollistra (Jacqueline Pearce) are thrown deeper into the Time War.

The set opens with The Shadow Vortex by David Llewellyn, in which the Time Lords have detected that their quantum shield protecting Earth has been breached by the Daleks, and the War Doctor is sent to Berlin 1961, at the height of the Cold War, to investigate. There he finds that the Daleks have their own agent on the scene… That agent is played by Neve McIntosh, best known to Doctor Who fans as Madame Vastra of the Paternoster Gang, while the cast also includes Honeysuckle Weeks as Heleyna.

‘I was given a very open brief: Send the War Doctor to Earth,’ says David. ‘So then I started thinking, "Where on Earth (literally) can I picture the War Doctor?" and the first image that came to mind was Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in the early '60s - checkpoints in place, the boundary between East and West. Time War meets Cold War. Then I pictured a Dalek saucer landing right in front of it. Then I pictured the skies above Berlin swarming with Daleks. Then I got really, really excited and I started to write.’

In The Eternity Cage by Andrew Smith, the Sontarans continue their campaign to join the Time War - while the Time Lords and the Daleks refuse to allow them to join in. This may change, however, when the Sontarans score a victory over both sides…

The story will be Andrew's second set in Time War after the upcoming release of The Sontaran Ordeal in Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 1.

Dan Starkey (also known for playing the Paternoster Gang’s butler Strax) is the Sontarans, while Josh Bolt (Last Tango in Halifax, Benidorm) plays Kalan.

‘I was asked to write a story taking for its inspiration Alistair MacLean’s Where Eagles Dare,’ says Andrew. ‘So we have an apparently impenetrable fortress on a mountaintop, and the Doctor leading an elite group on a rescue mission. But instead of the German army trying to stop them, it’s Sontarans! With the Daleks not far away either.’

The fate of Gallifrey hangs in the balance in Eye of Harmony by Ken Bentley, in which the Daleks gain the upper hand, while the Doctor and his allies fight to stay alive against all odds.

‘I grew up watching war films,’ says Ken. ‘They were a staple of weekend viewing when I was a boy, so it was great to have the opportunity to explore the genre in Doctor Who, where we generally avoid anything too dark. But even more exciting is that fact that I've written a play for John Hurt. JOHN HURT!! If you'd told me that might happen when I first started working for Big Finish I wouldn't have believed you.’

The box-set also introduces a new player into the Time War - the Dalek Time Strategist, who is voiced, as with the Daleks, by Nicholas Briggs

‘At the end of Dark Eyes, and the defeat of the Dalek Time Controller, it was hinted that a new 'Time Strategist' would be created in its wake…’ explains script editor Matt Fitton.

‘Daleks never go to war without a plan, and a Time War needs a special kind of planner, capable of viewing the field of conflict through four dimensions and beyond. This is the Dalek Time Strategist: a time-sensitive war-leader, utterly dedicated to achieving Dalek victory over the Time Lords by any means it can.’

You can pre-order Doctor Who - The War Doctor 3: Agents of Chaos from the Big Finish website.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish - Merchandise

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