This year’s story is the Doctor Who Short Trip ‘The Hoxteth Time Capsule’, written by Paul Davis.
Since 2016, audio producers Big Finish have run a Memorial Script Opportunity to honour their late, much-missed colleague Paul Spragg. The competition invites submissions (a synopsis and script extract) from writers new to the company, with the chosen writer invited to complete their story, to be produced and released.
The process has generated some cracking tales over the years. The latest winner is ‘The Hoxteth Time Capsule’ by Paul Davis, a Sixth Doctor story which has been narrated by Colin Baker himself.
The Hoxteth Time Capsule
George White experienced exciting, sometimes dangerous escapades throughout his professional and personal life. Now he loves to arrange public talks to share memories and pictures from his adventures around the world. At an event in Hoxteth, he meets a colourful stranger for the very first time.
But if George can’t recall ever meeting this man before, how can it be that the Sixth Doctor clearly appears in so many of the photographs that George took more than a decade ago?
As with all seven previous winners, the story is released as a free download. This one comes with a stunning cover from artist Tom Newsom.
Big Finish Creative Director Nicholas Briggs said:
“This is always a very important time of year for us. We not only remember Paul Spragg’s vital contribution to Big Finish, but also his legacy of encouraging new talent. This time, the winning story gives us a timely opportunity to feature the Sixth Doctor, and it’s really delightful that my old friend Colin Baker was available to record this one.”
Producer/Script Editor Peter Anghelides added:
“I realised that our previous seven winners had, by happy coincidence, each featured different Doctors as their protagonist. So this year, we asked people to propose stories for one of the other five. Paul’s story captures the Sixth Doctor wonderfully, and it was an additional pleasure to have the authentic voice of the Sixth Doctor to perform our 2023 winner.”
Doctor Who Short Trips: The Hoxteth Time Capsule is available to download free from Big Finish.
Previous Trips
The seven previous winners of the competition are still available for free download too. Check out our reviews of Forever Fallen, Landbound, The Last Day at Work, The Best-Laid Plans, Free Speech, The Lichyrwick Abomination and The World Tree.