Feb 11, 2015
@bigfinish #bigfinish #doctorwho #drwho #gally1
DOCTOR WHO - THE SIXTH DOCTOR: THE LAST ADVENTURE
September 2015 sees the release of a very special story from Big Finish, as Doctor Who - The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure at last provides a heroic exit for Colin Baker’s much-loved Time Lord...
It's with some delight we can confirm some tweets and posts, photos and rumours, that something very extra special is coming for fans of the Sixth Doctor at Big Finish, with the September release of Doctor Who - The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure.
Colin’s last outing in the Doctor Who role on television was The Trial of a Time Lord in 1986, but there was no proper handover story to Sylvester McCoy when he joined the series in 1987. Now, 28 years later, the full details of the Sixth Doctor’s death will be revealed - and it’s part of an epic battle that spans many sections of his life, and involves many of his companions.
‘I spoke to Colin not long after Matt Smith’s final outing, The Time of the Doctor, was broadcast on television,’ says producer David Richardson. ‘I felt very strongly that regeneration stories, and each Doctor’s final end, are very important to Doctor Who fans - these are stories that allow us to see the Doctor at his most courageous, making a sacrifice that only makes us love him more. And so I asked Colin if he might finally consider doing the Sixth Doctor’s final story with us. To my huge delight, he said yes.’
‘I owe a lot to Big Finish,’ says Colin. ‘They have given my Doctor the opportunity to live beyond those few episodes on television which were recorded during a time when the programme was under siege from various quarters. My Doctor did not benefit from that time. However at Big Finish the Sixth Doctor has lived and breathed anew and developed in a way that I am extremely happy with.
‘That would be the only reason I have agreed to bring my Doctor to an end - although it’s not really an end, because Big Finish plucks stories from the whole era of every Doctor. But because I never actually filmed a regeneration, and left poor Sylvester floundering around in my empty clothing with a blond wig on, I have resolutely maintained the lie that I am still the Doctor and all the rest are imposters because I never regenerated!' (He laughs) 'So it’s a tribute to the smooth talking people at Big Finish and the standard of the work completed thus far that I have cast aside my reluctance and joined all the other Doctors in actually having a regeneration.
‘And I can promise you: it’s a cracker.’
Doctor Who - The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure will be released in a lavish book-sized box set that contains special photography, bespoke illustrations and behind the scenes interviews, as well as four hour-long episodes. The stories are connected by the presence of Michael Jayston as the Valeyard, the entity that exists between the Doctor’s twelfth and thirteen incarnations.
The Sixth Doctor won't be alone in battle though, as he'll be joined across the adventures by Constance (Miranda Raison), Charlotte Pollard (India Fisher), Flip (Lisa Greenwood) and Mel (Bonnie Langford), as well as those dedicated detectives, Jago & Litefoot (Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter, alongside Lisa Bowerman as Ellie Higson!)
The saga opens with The End of the Line by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris, in which the Doctor and his latest companion Constance (Miranda Raison) investigate a commuter train that has lost its way…
In The Red House by Alan Barnes, the Doctor and Charlotte Pollard (India Fisher) arrive on a world that is populated by werewolves.
Stage Fright by Matt Fitton takes the Doctor and Flip (Lisa Greenwood) to Victorian London, where investigators Jago (Christopher Benjamin) and Litefoot (Trevor Baxter) explore theatrical performances that have echoes of the Doctor’s past lives…
Finally, time is running out in The Brink of Death by Nicholas Briggs, as the Doctor and Mel (Bonnie Langford) face the final confrontation with the Valeyard - and the Doctor must make the ultimate sacrifice.
‘It’s been such a pleasure to work with Colin on these, giving him a whistle-stop tour of his era,” says Nick, who is also directing. “I felt privileged to write his final moments too. But the wonderful thing for us at Big Finish is that even though this is the end of the Sixth Doctor, we have the luxury of continuing to tell as many stories about him for as long as the BBC allow us.
AND
UNIT - EXTINCTION
Big Finish is delighted to announce that Kate Stewart and her UNIT team from the Doctor Who TV series will be starring in a brand new series of audio dramas, in a licensing deal with BBC Worldwide.
Kate is the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and Head of Scientific Research at the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, which investigates and confronts alien attacks on the planet Earth. The role is portrayed by Jemma Redgrave (Dracula, Frankie, Cold Blood) who has appeared opposite Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi on television, and returns for the audio series.
“We’re thrilled that Jemma is on board for our brand new UNIT adventures,” says series producer David Richardson, “and we feel privileged to work within the universe of New Series Doctor Who for the first time. UNIT: Extinction will showcase all the excitement, drama and wit that viewers of Doctor Who love.”
“Having worked with the greatly missed Nicholas Courtney and his magnificent portrayal of the Brigadier since the early days of Big Finish, it is wonderful to see the return of UNIT under the Brig’s daughter,” says executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. “We are all very excited about bringing UNIT back to Big Finish with the next generation and look forward immensely to working with Jemma again, who appears in this month’s Doctor Who main range release Doctor Who - Mistfall.”
“I’m really excited to hear Jemma and her team battling to save the Earth,” says executive producer Nick Briggs. “They’ve been such an important part of the many exciting things to come out of the Doctor Who TV series in recent years.”
Additional cast members for the first box set, UNIT: Extinction, will be revealed later. This first box set release comprises four hours of adventure, in which Kate and her team confront an alien invasion by the Nestene Consciousness and its army of plastic Autons.
UNIT: Extinction will be released in November 2015, and is available for specially-priced pre-order, with all pre-orders getting a copy of Nicholas Courtney's memoirs A Soldier in Time as a free download as Supplementary content in Big Finish accounts.
Three additional box sets will be available at six monthly intervals, with all four available for a Bundled pre-order. For many more details, watch this space in coming months.