Jo Jones returns to her Doctor’s side; to him, they’ve only just parted! 

One of the great gifts of the Russell T Davies penned ‘Death of the Doctor’, a two-part story for The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2010, was the reintroduction of Jo Jones.

Returned to the Whoniverse, we found her still fighting the good fight and as the matriarch of a family of eco-warriors. Most recently, Jo popped up again in a gorgeous trailer for the upcoming Doctor Who Season 9 Blu-Ray boxset.

On audio, Katy Manning has been reprising her role since 2010 in various projects, primarily as the young Jo Grant. Since 2015, she’s appeared opposite Tim Treloar’s take on the Time Lord in The Third Doctor Adventures.

Now, the audio producers are reuniting the older Jo with her Doctor. She stars in a new boxset of three adventures, released today, which bear her name: The Return of Jo Jones. Together, the pair will face bird attacks, an autocratic regime of robots and a cursed wet dock on an alien planet.

Here’s the synopsis for The Return of Jo Jones:

Katy Manning is back as Jo Jones (née Grant), decades after her travels with the Doctor (originally played on TV by Jon Pertwee). Jo’s had a lifetime of activism, marriage, children and even grandchildren when she runs into her old friend in the modern-day Isle of Wight.

But for the Third Doctor, now voiced by Tim Treloar, he’s only just said goodbye to Jo in the emotional conclusion of the 1973 Doctor Who story, The Green Death.

In three new two-part stories, the time-travelling duo face bird attacks, an autocratic regime of robots and a cursed wet dock on an alien planet.

The three stories are:

‘Supernature’ by Matt Fitton

After a spate of terrifying bird attacks, Jo Jones is called to the Isle of Wight by an old friend. Something has thrown the natural order out of balance – but Jo’s own world has also changed forever.

It turns out she is not the only one investigating. Soon it’s like old times, facing down arrogant scientific ambition, as danger grows. The Doctor and Jo have been reunited just when they need each other most.

Writer Matt Fitton said: “We knew this was going to be an emotional story – bringing these two TARDIS travellers back together again after all of this time for Jo. I wanted to do something quite contained in a single location so we could focus on their relationship and the circumstances they both find themselves in.”

‘The Conservitors’ by Felicia Barker

On the planet Viltris in the 49th Century, a regime obsessed with statistical analysis of risk has created a force of robots to protect its citizens. But when Jo Jones arrives with the Doctor on her first space-time voyage for decades, she discovers that long-held grudges from a past conflict are about to bubble over into outright rebellion.

Writer Felicia Barker said: “I was thinking of a story that would foreground the difference between Jo Jones and Jo Grant. Here, Jo is in a position that is perhaps closer to the position the Doctor used to have to take towards her.”

‘The Iron Shore’ by Lizzie Hopley

Landing on the troubled, sea-faring planet Mercator, the Doctor and Jo encounter Callis, a ‘cursed man’, the last surviving member of his family line – and the curse is keen to find new victims.

Nearby, a condemned wet dock, a deep rectangle of unmoving water, is the source of mystifying rumours. As Jo lifts the lid on the tensions within the local community, the Doctor finds himself in deep trouble.

Writer Lizzie Hopley said: “This is my first story for the Third Doctor – it was a real treat and a challenge. It was also lovely to write for Jo, as in Jo Jones, who is much more independent and grounded here. She’s lived a little more and their relationship is built on so much trust at this stage.”

Doctor Who – The Third Doctor Adventures: The Return of Jo Jones is now available to own as a collector’s edition CD box set + download, or on download only from Big Finish.

We look forward to bringing you a CultBox review soon.