Big Finish Productions is bringing back one of the most popular classic Doctor Who TARDIS teams this summer in three new audio dramatizations. Featuring Peter Davison as the Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, Mark Strickson as Turlough and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, these three plays hearken back not only to one of the best remembered eras of the show, but also bring back a popular monster from that time as well. Check out the details below!
The Mara, the snake-like demon from the 1980s stories Kinda and Snakedance, is returning in the forthcoming season of audio adventures featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa.
“The three stories were recorded just after Christmas,” says executive producer Nicholas Briggs, “and everyone was on brilliant form. It was quite thrilling to hear Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson and Sarah Sutton – who hadn’t acted together since 1983 – recreating their roles so authentically. These adventures sound just like they’ve fallen through a time warp!
“The mood during the recording was quite rambunctious and everyone had such a brilliant time that I wouldn’t be surprised to see this team reunited again some time in the near future…”
The season begins in July with Cobwebs by Jonathan Morris, in which the travellers land on a scientific base which they have clearly visited before. The only thing is, it hasn’t happened yet… The guest cast includes Helen Griffin (“Rise of the Cybermen”/”The Age of Steel”), Raymond Coulthard (Hotel Babylon) and Adrian Lukis (Pride and Prejudice, Peak Practice).
The Whispering Forest by Stephen Cole follows in August, and is set on an alien world where a colony has become obsessed with cleanliness – while strange creatures are prowling among the trees. Guest stars include Hayley Atwell (who stars in the remake of The Prisoner and appeared in the audio Doctor Who story Blood of the Daleks), Paul Shelley (“Four to Doomsday”) and Harry Melling (the Harry Potter films) – who just happens to be the grandson of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton!
Finally, the Mara returns in The Cradle of the Snake by Marc Platt, which sees the TARDIS crew return to Manussa, a planet that they last visited in 1983’s Snakedance.
“When we knew we could get these characters back together, we realised we wanted to bring back the Mara because it was an iconic monster from the Davison era,” says Nicholas Briggs. “Original writer Christopher Bailey gave us his blessing, and Marc Platt seemed the obvious choice to write it – because Marc does ‘weird’ so wonderfully!”
The story’s guest stars include Dan Stevens (The Line of Beauty, Dracula), Vernon Dobtcheff (“The War Games”) and Hugh Fraser (Poirot and the audio Doctor Who story Circular Time).