Sontarans, Rutans, Sea Devils and the Seventh Doctor’s Last Day are all on the 2024 Big Finish schedule.
Big Finish have enjoyed a busy 2023, including their celebrations for Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary. However, the ever-industrious audio producers have plenty lined up for the new year too.
Here’s five release we’re excited for…
Star Cops: Blood Moon
The latest series of Star Cops, the fourth since it was revived on audio, enjoys a format change. Six episodes will drop monthly from January 2024, with the team investigating the brutal murder of a leading neuroscientist.
With legacy characters Commander Nathan Spring, acting Superintendent Pal Kenzy and Inspector Colin Devis all present and correct, they’re joined by Inspector Paul Bailey and recent recruit Inspector Alice Okoro.
January’s episode is titled ‘I Was Killed Yesterday’…
Investigating the brutal murder of a prominent neuroscientist at a South American spaceport, Nathan and Kenzy find themselves questioning an unusual witness – the murder victim himself. The trail leads to the Moon, where a recent arrival comes under suspicion. The new courier for Lunar Logistics may not be all she seems – but is she a killer?
Further details for the series are available here.
Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures: Fugitive of the Daleks
January also promises the return of a former Doctor Who companion as The First Doctor Adventures continue.
Recently seen reprising her role for Tales of the TARDIS, Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) is reunited with the First Doctor (Stephen Noonan) for ‘Fugitive of the Daleks’.
Years after ending her travels with the Doctor, Vicki finds herself back in the TARDIS. The Doctor desperately needs her help, and she’s only too happy to oblige. But in the process, the two of them fall into a series of perilous encounters, with the dreaded Daleks never far behind them.
What is the mysterious presence inside the TARDIS? And precisely what damage do the Daleks and their agents intend to cause to the flow of Earth’s history?
The Doctor and Vicki must call upon all their guile and bravery to discover the truth and save the day.
Doctor Who: Sontarans vs Rutans
Another series of monthly releases from January sees Doctor Who explore the endless war between the clone warrior Sontarans and the shape changing jellyfish Rutans.
The conflict will be explored across for adventures, each with a different TARDIS team. The first, ‘The Battle of Giant’s Causeway’ stars Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor, with India Fisher as Charlie Pollard. Plus, it sees a return appearance for Conrad Westmaas as C’rizz who last played the character in 2007.
The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans has been going on for millennia. And is likely to continue for millennia more.
A terrible conflict with no care for consequences or collateral damage. Billions have died with no end in sight. Its reach can encompass ancient Ireland and a forest world in the far future.
A temporal tidal wave leads the Doctor, Charley and C’rizz to the Giant’s Causeway, Ireland 55BC, where the TARDIS drains of power and they encounter Sontarans who believe they’re Roman Legionnaires. What has caused this and what is the strange secret in the rocks?
The other instalments in Sontarans vs Rutans will star Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor, Tim Treloar’s Third and Jonathon Carley as the young War Doctor.
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 13
With Big Finish working ahead with Tom Baker, this series of the box sets has been in the can since 2020.
The reunite Harry Sullivan (Christopher Naylor) and introduce UNIT’s Naomi Cross (Eleanor Crooks), a pair who we’ve heard travelling later on with the Seventh Doctor. Volume 1 promises the Sea Devils and an encounter with Alan Turing.
Storm of the Sea Devils
Surgeon Lieutenant Harry Sullivan is supposed to be on holiday. But his arrival in Calcutta is intercepted by someone from the local branch of UNIT – a staff member called Naomi Cross.
A businessman in the area has mysteriously cancelled the opening of his new hotel… and local villagers have reported sightings of ‘devils’ in the swamps. Devils that look very familiar from the UNIT files…
The businessman requires medical aid so UNIT have decided to send him a doctor. Unfortunately, when Harry and Naomi arrive on site they find a different Doctor has got there ahead of them… And that’s just the start of their troubles.
Worlds Beyond
The Doctor, Harry and Naomi have arrived on a luxury resort world where custom-made holidays are provided for every visitor. Their minds are scanned and their ideal getaway is planned.
Naomi gets an activity break by the sea, Harry explores a crumbling ruin and the Doctor ends up playing chess with Alan Turing.
All seems idyllic… but every paradise must have a snake… mustn’t it?
The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 13 is released across three volumes in March, June and September.
Doctor Who – The Seventh Doctor Adventures: The Last Day
Thanks to the BBC’s curtailment of his era in 1989, Sylvester McCoy never got a grand finale as the Seventh Doctor. He reappeared to welcome Paul McGann to the role, but it was hardly a fitting send off for his incarnation. Back in 2015, Big Finish granted the Sixth Doctor an epic finale with ‘The Last Adventure’, now it’s the Seventh’s turn to experience his in ‘The Last Day’.
There is always injustice to fight. There is always a new danger for the universe. But what if the Doctor found a way to put things right, once and for all? Would it really be so terrible to take a stand? Would the end justify the means? And would his friends agree? The Seventh Doctor’s last day is coming…
The two-boxset epic promises appearances from all of the Seventh Doctor’s companions as well as a number of familiar foes.
It’s a bit of a cheat on this list as Part One is released this month – but we’ll doubtless be listening to it in 2024. Part Two follows in June.