He’s joined by another new companion too: get ready for the Eighth Doctor and Audacity.
Updated 13/10/23: While we’ve yet to hear the Doctor meet his newest companion, as Audacity is out in November, audio drama producers Big Finish have revealed the cover art and details for their second boxset together.
Landing in December, with a decidedly festive theme, The Eighth Doctor Adventures: In the Bleak Midwinter features three further stories for Audacity:
Midwinter is a magical time – a season of hope and renewal. A time to spend with friends.
But the season also brings cold and darkness, and the TARDIS travellers are about to experience three very different winter’s tales…
‘Twenty-Four Doors In December’ by John Dorney
The TARDIS land in London on the first of December, and the Doctor decides to treat his companion to a proper Christmas holiday… even down to dragging out the Baker Street Advent Calendar. But elsewhere in the city a department store Santa named Al Norton is starting to have a very unnerving month. He’s on a collision course with the time travellers. Is it going to be a Happy Christmas?
‘The Empty Man’ by Tim Foley
Eldridge Brinkwood, a scribe of scary stories, who is preparing to share another of his tales on Christmas Eve. Except this is a horror like no other. The Doctor and his new friend have stirred something in the dark, something ruthless and relentless. And the Empty Man must feast.
‘Winter of the Demon’ by Roy Gill
The TARDIS brings the travellers to Victorian Edinburgh. Industrialist Donald Shaw plans to transform the city with electric light, but people are dying, found horribly burned… What ancient power has Shaw summoned? Can the Doctor and co. prevent the Winter of the Demon?
The guest stars joining Paul McGann and Jaye Griffiths for this boxset include Jason Watkins, Natalie Gumede, David Robb and Nikolas Grace.
You can catch up with our thoughts on the Eighth Doctor’s exploits at the other end of his tenure in our review of Time War 5: Cass.
Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Audacity and In the Bleak Midwinter are available to pre-order now from Big Finish on Collector’s Edition CD (+ download) or download only.
Original article (of 22/05/23) continues…
Big Finish create another new era for Paul McGann’s Doctor
He’s joined by another new companion too: get ready for the Eighth Doctor and Audacity.
The image of Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor has changed markedly over the years. Introduced back in the 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie, he was a spontaneous, foppish Edwardian character in a frock coat.
His various adventures since, primarily on audio, have toughened the character up. These days, often found on the fringes of the Time War, he’s pictured with short-cropped hair and wearing a leather jacket.
However, with those flowing locks intact, plus an impossibly shiny waistcoat, audio producers Big Finish are taking the Eighth Doctor back to his roots.
This new era plays out over five tales, released across two boxsets in November and December 2023. For the run, Paul McGann gains a new companion: Jaye Griffiths debuts as the noblewoman, Lady Audacity Montague who’s about to be propelled from Regency-era England into the far future and the war between the Cybermen and Vogans.
Producer David Richardson says:
“We’re exploring a different era of the Eighth Doctor’s adventures, when he made a new friend. We’re long before Lucie Miller, the Ravenous, Baker Street or the Time War and we’ve got the wonderful Jaye Griffiths bringing Audacity to life brilliantly. Hang on? (I hear you cry) Didn’t Jaye recently play Hieronyma Friend in Time War: Cass? Ssshh… Spoilers…”
The two stories in The Eighth Doctor: Audacity are:
‘The Devouring’ by Lisa McMullin
Lady Audacity Montague – strong-minded and unconventional – has been gazing at the stars. But unfortunately for her – and everybody she knows – they’ve been staring back. She’s made inadvertent, intergalactic eye contact with a malevolence known as The Devouring. Now it wants to consume her. But Audacity is already consumed. With rage.
‘The Great Cyber War – Part One’ by Tim Foley
The Great Cyber-War. Humanity and her allies versus the horror of the Cybermen. This is no place for the Doctor to take his new best friend. But on the Aurum, the war seems far away. There are parties and cupcakes and all the gold of Voga – and not a Cyberman to be seen…
‘The Great Cyber War – Part Two’ by Tim Foley
The Cyber-War has come to the Aurum. The best hope of survival lies with the great Oberon Fix – the finest scientific mind of his generation, working to protect humanity. But the Doctor is worried that his own presence will affect history’s outcome. And for Audacity, life with the Doctor will never be the same again…
In December, three more follow in The Eighth Doctor Adventures: In the Bleak Midwinter:
‘Twenty-Four Doors in December’ by John Dorney
‘The Empty Man’ by Tim Foley
‘Winter of the Demon’ by Roy Gill
Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Audacity and In the Bleak Midwinter are available to pre-order now from Big Finish on Collector’s Edition CD (+ download) or download only.