Christopher Eccleston returns in a brand-new box set of full-cast audio dramas, marking the beginning of a third series of Ninth Doctor adventures from Big Finish Productions.
He’s back in the TARDIS for another trip of a lifetime. Christopher Eccleston stars alongside a galaxy of stars – including Gerard Kearns (Shameless), Raymond Coulthard (The Muppet Christmas Carol), and Louise Jameson (Emmerdale) – in three new fantastic Doctor Who stories, released today.
The Doctor meets many remarkable people on his travels – those at the forefront of innovation and exploration.
From a deep-space colony ship seeking safe haven, to the frozen Arctic wastes, and the foundation of ideas which will touch the lives of millions – the Doctor is there to lend a hand to the human race’s greatest pioneers!
The adventures in this box set are as follows:
The Green Gift by Roy Gill
Seeking a new home for Callen and Doyle, the Doctor lands on a vast spacecraft: The Greenwood.
The ship is nearing the end of its long journey but what is the price of this voyage? Who is really in charge? And what legacies from Old Earth might be travelling with them?
Writer Roy Gill said: “It’s always good to be asked to bring back or revisit a character: I take it as a sign that something clicked or went right with the original story! I was really happy to bring back Callen and Doyle, especially. I loved writing them and their dynamic, and I think it was clear that [cast members] Adam Martyn, Harki Bhambra and Chris bounced off each other well in the studio.
“I’ve been lucky to write for Louise Jameson before in The Omega Factor and as Leela – though this is another sort of performance entirely. Hearing her and Chris spar verbally was an absolute joy. They’re both powerhouses of actors!”
Northern Lights by Robert Valentine
The Doctor crashes to Earth and finds himself in the Arctic – but not quite alone. The Aurora Borealis are even more unearthly than usual…
Intrepid explorer Fridtjof Nansen is trying to get home as alien forces close in. The Doctor knows Nansen has a part to play in history – can he save the future?
Writer Rob Valentine said: “Chris is one of the nation’s finest actors and simply getting to write anything for him is incredible, full stop. It’s not something teenage me would have dreamt of happening when watching him in Cracker back in the day!”
“The other thing, of course, is that writing Northern Lights has been an education on a man I previously knew nothing about, and that’s one of the best things about being a writer.”
The Beautiful Game by Katharine Armitage
The Doctor decides to treat himself and attend the historic meeting which founds the football league. But he arrives a week early!
Instead, he must enlist the help of a hotel maid to battle an obsessive alien before it consumes everything that will ever be connected to the beautiful game…
Writer Katharine Armitage said: “Football is etched into my heart. This is partly because of the game itself which I grew up watching and has always filled me with joy and despair!”
“I don’t think anyone in this country has a simple relationship with football: it allows us to feel such powerful emotions, to be part of a mass of humanity, but it also has a dark side which can make you feel very scared and small. I wanted to try to capture some of this in the story.”
Eccleston said: “This series is brilliantly varied in tone and content. It feels just as fresh as when we started on the first audio series. We’re a well-oiled machine now.”
Producer David Richardson said: “Picture this: we’re on a short break in recording The Ninth Doctor Adventures. Chris pops over to the control desk and asks our engineer to put some Barry White songs on the speakers. Out blares the music, and Chris starts dancing around the room. Our director, Helen Goldwyn, then joins in, dancing away at the director’s station, while gradually everyone else gets with the rhythm and starts to sway. For a good five minutes, the Ninth Doctor studio is lost in music.
“I share this because it sums up for me what it’s like working on these productions – everyone is so relaxed, and there’s just an infectious sense of fun and energy. If we want to dance then we’re going to dance! I think it’s significant because all of that energy and joy ends up right there in the episodes. We’re just having the time of our lives.”
Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Pioneers is now available as a collector’s edition 4-disc CD box set (+ download) or as a digital download only from www.bigfinish.com.
