The Doctor Who audio producers have also released the winner of 2024’s Paul Spragg Memorial Script Opportunity.
We’re still in the Christmas season but the universe of Doctor Who never rests. Onscreen, we’ve enjoyed The War Games in colour, 2024’s Doctor Who Prom and the Christmas Special ‘Joy to the World’.
From the world of audio, Big Finish Productions have two festive treats to offer – the latter of which is released for free.
The Curse of Time
Released to celebrate 50 years of Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, ‘The Curse of Time’ takes place at the end of his first season.
With Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan in tow, played by Sadie Miller and Christopher Naylor, the story sees the trio brought back to Earth for some sinister shenanigans…
After being dragged through a rip in the time vortex, the TARDIS returns the Doctor, Sarah and Harry to Earth. They are in medieval times, but something strange is afoot.
The villagers live in fear of the sinister Brotherhood, an order of monks that upholds the sacred laws. Then there’s Faustus Black, with his troupe of travelling players. What connects them is a terrible secret hidden in the Forbidden Forest… a cave from which nobody has ever returned…
On this severely changed Earth, they encounter the creepy magician Faustus Black (Angus Dunican) and the megalomaniacal scientist Zaphiel Ixon (Terence Wilton) – two sinister villains whose schemes put the TARDIS crew in grave danger.
A full-length tale from writer Jonathan Morris, the story’s guest cast also includes Scarlett Courtney as Arnica, Rosemary Ashe as Mother Cassava, Andrew French as Brother Voss and George Naylor as Winterbird.
Reflecting on his time as the Doctor, Tom Baker said:
“It changed my whole life. And it also marked a time of pleasure and laughter and excitement and everything like that, which has lasted right the way through. When I came to record this special anniversary story, I feel just as enthusiastic as I did all that time ago. It just comes back to me and it makes me so happy. When I start learning these lines, I become the Doctor.”
The company have also dropped a charming trailer for The Fourth Doctor Adventures range, featuring Baker in character…
You can purchase Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Curse of Time now on collector’s edition double CD with slipcase + download, or download only, exclusively from Big Finish.
War Stories
Also freshly out is the winner of the 2024 Paul Spragg Memorial Writers’ Opportunity. The annual competition celebrates the life of the late Big Finish staffer by encouraging fresh writing talent.
This year’s theme was the Time War – the devastating universal conflict between the Doctor’s own people and the Daleks, and the winner is ‘War Stories’ by Patrick Ross. Alan Cox performs the 42-minute story which features the characters of the Twelfth Doctor and Bill Potts.
The Intergalactic Fringe Festival spans a whole planet. Its programme offers millions of shows, so the Doctor and Bill can choose anything from anti-grav acrobats to the quantum cabaret.
But the Doctor is alarmed when he attends a play about the Time War. It’s not just that it tells his personal history – its performance could unravel the universe.
You can download Doctor Who – Short Trips: War Stories for free from the Big Finish website, along with the writers’ original submission, the final script and a short behind-the-scenes featurette. There’s also a Q&A with the winner here.
Previous winners
Check out our reviews of the previous winners: Forever Fallen, Landbound, The Last Day at Work, The Best-Laid Plans, Free Speech, The Lichyrwick Abomination, The World Tree and The Hoxteth Time Capsule. They’re all still available to download for free from Big Finish.