New companion Hebe Harrison joins Old Sixie and Mel for Water Worlds.
Classic Doctors and new faces are all the rage at the moment, with the incoming RTD2 era filming scenes for Doctor Who‘s 60th Anniversary celebrations on the streets of London (spoilers!) However, it will be a long time until we see the fruits of those labours on the television.
Meanwhile, Doctor Who audio producers Big Finish today debut a shiny new boxset featuring three tales for another vintage pairing; Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford. The pair star in Water Worlds and a new companion boards the TARDIS too: Hebe Harrison. Played by Ruth Madeley (Years and Years), Hebe is a marine biologist. She’s also the show’s first companion to use a wheelchair.
And what better way to introduce her than with a singing preview (themed for a 1980s children’s television programme)?
♬♪ All of time and space is a happy place… ♪♫
That bizarrely wonderful effort comes with vocals by Helen Goldywn (and Colin Baker). Lyrics are by Jacqueline Rayner, with music by Howard Carter. The video was created by Rob Ritchie.
Water Worlds
Here’s the premise for the new boxset:
The Sixth Doctor’s brand-new TARDIS team makes waves in an exciting box set of incredible full-cast audio dramas, released today by Big Finish Productions.
Joining Colin Baker’s Doctor and Bonnie Langford’s Mel is the BAFTA-nominated Ruth Madeley as marine biologist Hebe Harrison — the Doctor’s first-ever wheelchair-using companion.
As the trio explore wondrous water worlds, they find an ocean on the moon, befriend a fish-like alien, and encounter a flooded town with survivors resorting to desperate measures.
Popular Australian actor, presenter and comedian, Rove McManus, guest stars in The Rotting Deep as Jonah Strong — a fainthearted TV star. And in the closing story, Coronation Street actress and disability rights advocate Cherylee Houston MBE debuts as Hebe’s best friend, Elise.
The three stories included are as follows:
The Rotting Deep by Jacqueline Rayner
A mysterious SOS summons the Doctor and Mel to an oil rig in the North Sea where a dwindling group of survivors awaits rescue from a lethal menace. One of their number is Hebe Harrison, a wheelchair-using marine biologist who is definitely more than she seems. Can our heroes escape the rig? And just what is killing off the rig’s beleaguered crew?
The Tides of the Moon by Joshua Pruett
For Hebe’s first trip in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Mel take her to the nearest available ‘water world’ – the Moon, two billion years in the past! Its advanced humanoid inhabitants, the Gilleans, are terrorised each night by their monstrous enemies, the Sheega. Even more worrying is that in a matter of hours, this ocean world will be laid waste by the gravitational interference of the blue-green planet next door…
Maelstrom by Jonathan Morris
The Doctor, Mel and Hebe visit the archipelago world of Veludia, only to discover a planet beset by electromagnetic storms where three survivors traverse the seas in a ramshackle ‘township’. These survivors are ‘corps’ – bodies used as hosts for minds stored in the vessel’s ‘mind-drive’ – and the Doctor, Mel and Hebe are seen as welcome replacements. But there’s something lurking in the waters below, something of rage and power that wishes to destroy them all: the Maelstrom!
Another new companion for Old Sixie
Speaking about her new role, Ruth Madeley said: Ruth Madeley said:
“I loved my first trip in the TARDIS. It’s a dream of mine that’s finally been realised. I’m very excited about it. As a disabled actor, it’s always really exciting when things are authentic. To have a disabled actor to play Hebe was always going to be key. She has so many different layers to her. I think she’s a very exciting character to add into the mix and I feel very honoured that I get to do that.”
“It’s great for the fanbase and young kids to see themselves represented in a world they love and cherish. It’s fantastic to be a part of that. I have fallen head over heels in love with Hebe – I think she’s fantastic. I just want to know more about her. It’s really fun to be able to play around with that. I particularly love her relationship with Mel and the Doctor. I think she brings a lot to the story.”
The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Water Worlds is available both a Collectors Edition CD boxset and as a download from Big Finish.
Additionally, purchasers will also receive a bonus download audiobook in the Doctor Who – Interludes series, entitled ‘The Dream Nexus’, written by Adam Christopher and narrated by Toby Hadoke.