First Doctor enters a new Unbound era
David Bradley returns as the Doctor, as he and his friends find themselves in a series of big, bold and bright Unbound audio adventures from Big Finish Productions.
“One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.” – The Doctor
Since April 2022, Big Finish has been producing full-cast audio adventures for the First Doctor with Stephen Noonan taking on the role originated by William Hartnell, and Lauren Cornelius as his companion, Dodo.
Now there are some new (old) faces back. The originals, you might say, yet slightly different. David Bradley (the Doctor) returns, joined by Jemma Powell (as Barbara Wright), Jamie Glover (as Ian Chesterton) and Claudia Grant (as Susan Foreman) in The First Doctor Unbound.
This quartet played the roles of Doctor Who’s very first cast of actors in the 2013 biopic An Adventure in Space and Time. Then, in December 2017, they began a series of audio adventures as the actual First Doctor and friends for Big Finish Productions.
From September 2025, they’ll be unleashed in new parts of the vortex, in a series that breaks free from established continuity to tell its own surprising stories.
The first volume of Doctor Who – The First Doctor Unbound is now available to pre-order for just £15.99 (collector’s edition CD box set + download) or £12.99 (download only), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.
Producer David O’Mahony said: “The Peter Cushing feature films of the 1960s were our stylistic inspiration here – the lighter tone, the spirit of high adventure, the true Technicolor nature of the storytelling. We want all these adventures to have that bank holiday or Sunday afternoon feeling.
“We combined this with the brilliant cast of the BBC’s anniversary special An Adventure in Space and Time, led by the legendary David Bradley. Working with such a wonderful cast and an exceptional creative team, we have created a time fracture leading to a separate universe… it might not be canon (or is it?), but it’s going to be brilliant!
“I cannot tell you how excited I am to be taking charge of The First Doctor Unbound. Similarly to the Lost Stories range, making these stories unbound to the television continuity of Doctor Who gives us a wonderful creative freedom to explore characters, stories and styles.
“The hunger to create new stories and be inspired by various parts of the Whoniverse has driven so many wonderful Big Finish productions – to bring in this Doctor and set him on these adventures is like unearthing a treasure trove of potential and exciting tales.”
All of time and space …
Big Finish Productions’ Doctor Who audio drama releases
| Range | Title | Starring | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sontarans vs Rutans | “The Battle of Giant’s Causeway” | Paul McGann, India Fisher, Conrad Westmaas | Jan. 10, 2024 |
| First Doctor Adventures | “Fugitive of the Daleks” | Stephen Noonan, Maureen O’Brien | Jan. 23, 2024 |
| Doctor Who audio novels | “The Chaos Cascade” | Dan Starkey, Beth Chalmers, Rebecca Root | January 2024 |
| Eleventh Doctor Adventures | “Victory of the Doctor” | Jacob Dudman, Safiyya Ingar | Feb. 6, 2024 |
| Ninth Doctor Adventures | “Buried Threats” | Christopher Eccleston, Lisa Bowerman | February 2024 |
| Third Doctor Adventures | “Revolution in Space” | Tim Treloar, Sadie Miller | Feb. 13, 2024 |
| Sontarans vs Rutans | “The Children of the Future” | Tim Treloar, Sadie Miller, Jon Culshaw | Feb. 8, 2024 |
| Torchwood | “Another Postcard from Mr Colchester” | Paul Clayton | February 2024 |
| Torchwood | “Sabotage” | Sophie Aldred, Paul Clayton | February 2024 |
| Master! | “Planet Doom” | Eric Roberts, Chase Masterson | Feb. 20, 2024 |
| Twelfth Doctor Chronicles | “You Only Die Twice” | Jacob Dudman, Bhavnisha Parmar | March 2024 |
| Sontarans vs Rutans | “Born to Die” | Colin Baker, India Fisher | March 2024 |
| Fourth Doctor Adventures | “Storm of the Sea Devils” | Tom Baker, Christopher Naylor, Eleanor Crooks | March 5, 2024 |
| Sixth Doctor Adventures | “The Quin Dilemma” | Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, Miranda Raison, Lisa Greenwood) | March 22, 2024 |
| Fifth Doctor Adventures | “The Dream Team” | Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse | April 9, 2024 |
| The Paternoster Gang | “The Casebook of Paternoster Row” | Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart, Dan Starkey, Tom Baker | April 12, 2024 |
| Dark Gallifrey | “Morbius – Part 1” | Samuel West, Hywel Morgan, Andrew French, Mina Anwar, Justin Avoth, Janet Henfrey, Tom Baker | April 3, 2024 |
| Sontarans vs Rutans | “In Name Only” | Jonathon Carley, Dan Starkey, Christopher Ryan, John Banks, Debbie Korley | April 2024 |
| Torchwood | “I Hate Mondays” | Tracy-Ann Oberman, Gareth David-Lloyd, Tim Bentinck | May 2024 |
| Missy | “Bad Influence” | Michelle Gomez, Paterson Joseph, Natalie Gumede, David Shaw Parker | May 2024 |
| Eighth Doctor Adventures | “Echoes” | Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan | May 2024 |
| Fourth Doctor Adventures | “Metamorphosis” | Tom Baker, Christopher Naylor, Eleanor Crooks | June 2024 |
| The Novel Adaptations | “Goth Opera” | Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, | July 2024 |
| The Lost Stories | “Deathworld” | Stephen Noonan, Michael Troughton, Tim Treloar | July 2024 |
| The Lost Stories | “Operation Werewolf” | Michael Troughton, Frazier Hines, Wendy Padbury | July 2024 |
| Sixth Doctor Adventures | “Trials of a Time Lord” | Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, David Banks | August 2024 |
| Fourth Doctor Adventures | TBA | Tom Baker, Christopher Naylor, Eleanor Crooks | September 2024 |
