The latest release in The Fourth Doctor Adventures range from Big Finish is Dominant Species.
Tom Baker’s thirteenth audio series draws to a close with the Dominant Species box set, out today.
The beloved long scarf wearing incarnation of the Doctor has been travelling with his old friend Harry Sullivan (Christopher Naylor) and a new one, Naomi Cross (Eleanor Crooks).
This latest pair of stories draw their time with this Doctor to a close and sets them up for further encounters. Harry and Naomi’s exploits continue with the already released Sullivan and Cross: AWOL and the UNIT: Nemesis series.
Dominant Species draws its title from the second tale which sees the Time Lord encounter some old foes.
Met by the Second Doctor back in 1968, The Dominators are a race of augmented humanoids who terrorise the universe with the help of (rather cute looking) robots called the Quarks.
The other story in this set, ‘The Face in the Storm’, is based on the true story of the Maycrest, a ship in the Second World War stuck in Atlantic ice with the West Indies Regiment on board.
The story details are as follows…
‘The Face in the Storm’ by Sarah Grochala
1916 and the TARDIS has landed in the cargo hold of the SS Maycrest, a ship transporting soldiers across the Atlantic.
Except that’s not all that’s being transported across the ocean. Because the Doctor and his friends find a strange crate in the hold, a crate that’s unnaturally cold.
But the contents of the crate are not the ship’s biggest secret. Nor its deadliest threat…
‘Dominant Species’ by John Dorney
It has been a long time since the invasion of Taleeria. The population is enslaved and subject entirely to the will of the conquerors – the Dominators and their deadly robot servants, the Quarks.
The Doctor, Harry and Naomi stumble into this perilous scenario and are soon separated… but freeing the people of Taleeria should be business as usual, shouldn’t it?
Where the Dominators are concerned, things may not be so simple…
Joining the regular TARDIS crew playing the Dominators are Clive Wood (Press Gang), Clive Hayward (The Windsors), and Joseph Kloska (The Crown).
Also in the box set’s guest cast are Indra Ové, Rosalyn Landor, Polly Kemp, Kayi Ushe, Reece Pantry, Christopher Weeks, and Emily Woodward.
Actor Christopher Naylor said:
“Recording this run of stories has been wonderful. Harry was a very iconic character for me as a very young Doctor Who viewer. Ian Marter’s performance was so subtle, sympathetic, funny, and intelligent. Being able to play Harry Sullivan has been an extraordinary experience that I could never had imagined would happen.
“These stories feel so faithful to the tone of those stories from way back, very respectful of the characters, and they have a lovely completeness, it’s very pleasing the way it wraps up. I hope people enjoy them; we’ve had such a great time recording them.”
Tom Baker added:
“I’ve been making an absolute feast of Dominant Species! This is a wonderful composition of violence and ambition and skullduggery and cheating and horror. It’s right up to the minute actually, all this duplicity and search for power, and overriding it all is the Doctor, who’s trying to make sense of the tumultuous struggle. There are some great villains.”
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Dominant Species is out now. It’s available on Collector’s Edition CD (+ download), or download only, from Big Finish.
Catch up on our reviews of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, including recent encounters with the Sea Devils and the Toymaker.