Davros

Big Finish Productions have announced that after a break of six years, Terry Molloy will be returning to the role of Davros in a Big Finish Productions audio drama in January 2012.

"The Curse of Davros ", by Jonathan Morris, will find the Sixth Doctor, played by Colin Baker) and his new companion Flip (aka Philippa) Jackson (played by Lisa Greenwood) setting course for the Battle of Waterloo, and facing the combined might of the Daleks and their evil creator.

‘I was delighted to hear that Davros was to return to the Big Finish fold in a new adventure with the Sixth Doctor’, Terry Molloy has revealed, ‘and I was thrilled to be asked once more to don the mantle of the Doctor's nemesis. "The Curse of Davros " is a an exciting return for the creator of the Daleks, and will deliver some unique surprises and thrills for the fans of Davros...’

Terry Molloy first played the part of Davros in the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Resurrection of the Daleks". He then played this iconic role a further two times in the television show (in "Revelation of the Daleks" and "Remembrance of the Daleks"). He then returned to this role for Big Finish Productions - starting with "Davros" in August 2003

Big Finish Productions have announced that its licence to make Doctor Who on audio has been extended for another two years, up to December 2014.

‘Doctor Who and the associated spin-off series have always been the cornerstone of the Big Finish audio ranges', Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery has stated. ‘We all greatly enjoy working on Doctor Who and it is great to see that AudioGO have shown such confidence in our contribution to the franchise by giving us this two year extension on our license’.

‘We've had a fantastic working relationship with AudioGO’, Executive Producer Nicholas Briggs has added. ‘So we're very much looking forward to continuing that’.

With this news Big Finish Productions have announced that they can plan for the next three and a half years and they have promised that there is so much to look forward to.

In addition to the Doctor Who main range and Companion Chronicles, there will be a fourth season of The Lost Stories and they will be launching a brand new Doctor Who spin-off series too.

Plus there’s The Fourth Doctor Adventures starring Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Mary Tamm and John Leeson.

Tom Baker

Big Finish Productions have announced that Tom Baker has agreed to play the Fourth Doctor in a number of audio adventures to be released from the beginning of 2012.

It is understood that storylines and scripts are already at an advanced stage, and that Big Finish Productions plan to start recording early in the summer. The producers across the Fourth Doctor adventures are Nicholas Briggs and David Richardson.

Big Finish Productions have revealed that there will be two seasons. The first season will be six single-disc releases which will begin in January 2012, with a second season of seven single-disc releases to follow at a date to be confirmed. There will also be a five-disc box set entitled "Doctor Who: The Lost Stories – The Fourth Doctor Box Set" available in January 2012.

Big Finish Productions Executive Producer Nick Briggs has stated: ‘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’.

Leela

Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery has added: ‘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’.

It has also been confirmed that the companions in these productions will be Louise Jameson as Leela and Mary Tamm as the first incarnation of Romana. Some familiar monstrous faces from the past will be popping up too.

Romana

Season One will include Louise Jameson, as Leela, and is set immediately after "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". While Season Two will include Mary Tamm, as Romana, and is set immediately after "The Armageddon Factor".

The five-disc box set, entitled "Doctor Who: The Lost Stories – The Fourth Doctor Box Set", will include a six-part story and a four-part story, both with Louise Jameson as Leela.

This is very exciting news - especially to listeners of the Doctor Who audios who have been waiting a very long time for the Fourth Doctor to be represented in this range of Doctor Who audio adventures.

Robophobia (Nicholas Briggs)

The Seventh Doctor, played by Sylvester McCoy, returns in July 2011 in a brand new three-part mini-series in which he will be meeting up with some familiar, impassive faces - the Robots of Death - in the first story, "Robophobia".

A Robot of Death

‘In many ways, "Robophobia" picks up where "The Robots of Death" left off in 1977’, Executive Producer, writer and director of this new story, Nicholas Briggs, has revealed. ‘However it goes in an entirely new direction, and I don't just mean out into space...’.

The guest cast for this story is led by Nicola Walker, best known for playing Ruth in Spooks, as Liv Chenka. ‘We’ve wanted to work with Nicola for ages’, Producer David Richardson has announced, ‘and suddenly everything fell into place and she was available for this story. And she was absolutely brilliant, and so lovely and funny. She really embraced the opportunity to appear in the audio adventures of Doctor Who’.

The cast also includes Toby Hadoke (Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf) and Dan Starkey (who plays Sontarans in the television series).

February 2012:

The Fourth Wall (John Dorney)

The Sixth Doctor's mini-season continues in February 2012 with "The Fourth Wall", by John Dorney, in which The Doctor and Flip Jackson arrive on the planet Transmission.

‘"The Fourth Wall" is a cautionary tale about not getting too involved with our entertainment!’, John Dorney has revealed, ‘and offers something of a baptism of fire for Flip as her tendency to not look before she leaps leads to her paying a heavy penalty. Saying anything more would spoil it... let's just add that you shouldn't get complacent when listening. The light tone is very much about leading you into a false sense of security. Make no mistake something awful is about to happen. It's a story that's been in my head for ages and it's great to finally get a chance to tell it. I came up with the concept for the monsters about 20 years ago and have never quite let them go. I'm delighted to be writing it for Colin, who I adored on TV and has always been my favourite audio Doctor, and the lovely Lisa, who's character is so fresh and vibrant and just plain fun to write for’.

The guest cast joining Colin Baker, as the Sixth Doctor, and Lisa Greenwood, as Flip Jackson, for this story includes Julian Wadham (The English Patient, Downton Abbey) as Augustus Scullop, while Yasmin Bannerman (Jabe the Tree in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The End of the World") plays Dr Helen Shepherd. Also starring are: Hywel Morgan, Martin Hutson, Tilly Gaunt, Kim Wall and Henry Devas.

This story has been directed by Nicholas Briggs and was recorded on the 14th and 25th June 2011.

Business is bad for intergalactic media mogul Augustus Scullop, whose Trans-Gal empire is on the rocks. But, having retreated to his own private planet, Transmission, Scullop is about to gamble his fortune on a new show, made with an entirely new technology. And the name of that show… is Laser.

Back in the real world, far from the realms of small screen sc-fi fantasies about monsters and aliens, the Doctor is interested only in watching Test Match cricket… but finds himself drawn into Scullop’s world when his new travelling companion, Flip, is snatched from inside the TARDIS.

So, while the Doctor uncovers the terrible secret of Trans-Gal’s new tech, Flip battles to survive in a barren wilderness ruled over by the indestructible Lord Krarn and his pig-like servants, the Warmongers. And the name of that wilderness… is ‘Stevenage’.

This story takes place between "The Trial of a Time Lord" and "Time and the Rani".

Wirrn Isle (William Gallagher)

March 2012:

The mini-season for the Sixth Doctor concludes in March 2012 with the release of "Wirrn Isle", by William Gallagher. The TARDIS travels to the Nerva colonies on Earth in a story set after the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "The Ark in Space".

‘The Wirrn had gone down so well with listeners in our Eighth Doctor story "Wirrn Dawn", that we were really keen to get them back’, Executive Producer Nicholas Briggs has revealed. ‘The trick was to find another strong story for them that wasn't just a reworking of "The Ark in Space" or "Wirrn Dawn", and I think William Gallagher has come up with an entirely new story, with lots of very real characters with the kind of emotional concerns that we can all identify with’.

Joining Colin Baker, as the Sixth Doctor, and Lisa Greenwood, as Flip Jackson, are: Tim Bentinck (David Archer in The Archers) who plays Roger Buchman, Jenny Funnell (from the sitcom As Time Goes By) is Veronica Buchman, while Dan Starkey (the Sontaran Commander Strax in the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "A Good Man Goes to War") is Sheer Jawn. Also starring are: Tessa Nicholson, Rikki Lawton, Helen Goldwyn and Glynn Sweet.

This story has been directed by Nicholas Briggs and was recorded on the 21st and 22nd June 2011.

The year is 16127. Four decades have passed since the colonists of Nerva Beacon returned to repopulate the once-devastated planet Earth – and the chosen few are finding the business of survival tough.

Far beyond the sterile safety of sanitised Nerva City, transmat scientist Roger Buchman has brought his family to an island surrounded by what they once called Loch Lomond, hoping to re-establish the colony he was forced to abandon many years before.

But something else resides in the Loch. A pestilent alien infestation that the Doctor, beaming in from Nerva City, remembers only too well from his time aboard the Beacon…

The Wirrn are back. And they’re hungry.

This story takes place between "The Trial of a Time Lord" and "Time and the Rani".

April 2012:

The release for April 2012 will be "The Emerald Tiger" and sees Peter Davison, in the first of three releases for 2012, as the Fifth Doctor once again reunited, in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio range, with his three companions: Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton; Tegan Jovanka, played by Janet Fielding, and Turlough, played by Mark Strickson.

This story has been written and directed by Barnaby Edwards and was recorded on the 8th and 9th November 2011.

Full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

May 2012:

The release for May 2012 will be "The Jupiter Conjunction" and sees Peter Davison, in the second of three releases for 2012, as the Fifth Doctor once again reunited, in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio range, with his three companions: Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton; Tegan Jovanka, played by Janet Fielding, and Turlough, played by Mark Strickson.

This story has been written by Eddie Robson, directed by Ken Bentley and was recorded on the 17th and 18th January 2012.

Full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

June 2012:

The release for June 2012 will be "The Butcher of Brisbane" written by Marc Platt whose previous work includes the 1989 Seventh Doctor story "Ghost Light".

This story sees Peter Davison, in the third of three releases for 2012, as the Fifth Doctor once again reunited, in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio range, with his three companions: Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton; Tegan Jovanka, played by Janet Fielding, and Turlough, played by Mark Strickson.

It also stars Angus Wright playing the part of Magnus Greel - aka the murderous Chinese god Weng-Chiang. The Fifth Doctor and his three companions get to face this old enemy in this story which is set before Robert Holmes' 1977 Fourth Doctor story "The Talons of Weng-Chiang".

As revealed by Script Editor Alan Barnes ‘Marc Platt has extrapolated a whole world from a few enticing phrases in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". So if you ever wanted to know more about the advance of the Filipino Army on Reykjavik, Findecker's discovery of the double nexus particle, or the murderous origins of the Peking Homunculus, you can't afford to miss "The Butcher of Brisbane"... which, as the title suggests, begins with Tegan's arrival in the ruins of her home town...’

"The Butcher of Brisbane" has been directed by Ken Bentley and was recorded on the 19th and 20th January 2012.

Full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

July 2012:

The release for July 2012 will be "Protect and Survive" and sees Sylvester McCoy, in the first of three releases for 2012, as the Seventh Doctor.

The writer, director, full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

August 2012:

The release for August 2012 will be "Black and White" and sees Sylvester McCoy, in the second of three releases for 2012, as the Seventh Doctor.

The writer, director, full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

Early September 2012:

The first release for September 2012 will be "Gods and Monsters" and sees Sylvester McCoy, in the third of three releases for 2012, as the Seventh Doctor.

The writer, director, full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

Late September 2012:

The second release for September 2012 will be "The Burning Prince".

The Doctor, writer, director, full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

October 2012:

The release for October 2012 will be "The Orpheus Pulse".

The Doctor, writer, director, full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.

November 2012:

The release for November 2012 will be "The Castle at the End of the World".

The Doctor, writer, director, full cast, production and plot details to follow as soon as they have been announced by Big Finish Productions.