Marking 20 years of the Eighth Doctor at Big Finish, Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Charlotte Pollard – The Further Adventuress is now available as of Jan. 19, 2022, from Big Finish Productions:
In October 1930, Charlotte ‘Charley’ Pollard smuggled herself aboard the R101 airship, in search of adventure. She found it in the form of a Time Lord and his space/time machine. Since then, she’s ridden a Vortisaur bareback, she’s fled Cybermen aboard a star destroyer, she’s cruised the canals of future Venice, she’s dallied with the Devil himself… and still she wants more!
Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Charlotte Pollard – The Further Adventuress is available as a collector’s edition CD box set or digital download from www.bigfinish.com.
This special box set contains four brand new full-cast audio dramas:
“The Mummy Speaks!” by Alan Barnes — The Carnaval de Paris, 1841. Amid the sideshow tents, the Doctor and Charley discover something truly novel: an Ancient Egyptian mummy that speaks – despite being dead for more than 4,000 years! But what the mummy has to say translates into terror for the TARDIS twosome… and proclaims doom for the world entire.
“Eclipse” by Lisa McMullin — The collective noun for a swarm of moths is an eclipse. And when the chittering, nightmarish Hellstrung descend from the forest canopy of planet Pteron, they threaten to snuff out the lives of the human settlers below. Wanting to know what’s stirred up the Hellstrung, the Doctor and Charley venture deep into the woods… as darkness falls.
“The Slaying of the Writhing Mass” by Eddie Robson — The Doctor and Charley become trapped in a temporal traffic jam, caused by time tourists come to witness the pivotal event in the history of the planet Ileiko: the Slaying of the Writhing Mass, the alien entity that enslaved the Ileikans in their infancy. The legendary hero Salan killed the Mass with a single stone, setting the Ileikans free. But what was the Mass, exactly? And what if the legend was wrong?
“Heart of Orion” by Nicholas Briggs — The TARDIS intercepts a strange signal, returning the Doctor and Charley to the Garazone System – where once they had a terrifying encounter with the Cybermen, and foiled a bid to change the course of a terrible android-human war. Now, people are going missing from all over Garazone Central. The Orion War is far from over, and the Doctor and Charley have landed at the heart of it, again!
Joining Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard in these adventures is an all-star cast, including Cyril Nri (Cucumber), Rakie Ayola (The Pact), Chris Jarman (Thunderbirds Are Go) and Shiloh Coke (This Way Up). In the final episode, Michelle Livingstone reprises the character of Deeva Janson from the 2001 Doctor Who audio drama, “Sword of Orion.”
Fisher said: “It’s great to be back playing Charley, get her shoes back on and interact with Paul as the Eighth Doctor.
“Whenever I read new Charley stories, I sense the writers are as pleased to get back to her as I am. The scripts are always done so lovingly, and she has some really beautiful moments. I’m very grateful.”
Livingstone added: “Coming back to the role was a huge delight and a complete surprise. I never imagined I would be back to play Deeva. I have very warm memories of Sword of Orion and I love Deeva. The character came back to me very quickly, in fact, I’m not sure she ever left.”
Producer Emma Haigh agreed: “It’s been wonderful working with Paul and India for the first time, bringing the Doctor and Charley back together. What better way to celebrate 21 years of their adventures at Big Finish than having them meet mummies, moths, writhing masses, and an old adversary!”
