The eighth volume of Doctor Who – The Third Doctor Adventures, with a duo of daring adventures featuring Draconians, Devon and a devil in disguise, was released today.
Announced back in August, Doctor Who – The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 8 is available as a collector’s edition box set (on CD for just £24.99) or a digital download (for just £19.99), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.
“Conspiracy in Space” reunites the Third Doctor (Tim Treloar) with Jo Grant (Katy Manning), as they find themselves on Draconia, where a fight for the survival of the whole galaxy awaits them…
“Conspiracy in Space” by Alan Barnes – When the TARDIS is diverted to Draconia, the Doctor and Jo fall foul of the hawkish Lady Zinn. War with Earth seems imminent. The Draconian military are on high alert and rumours of a super-weapon are rife. Execution, assassination, intrigue and a mysterious faction known only as ‘The Eyes’ are all part of a deadly mission the Doctor and Jo have no choice but to accept. But as they fight to survive, the peace of the entire galaxy hangs in the balance.
The cast for this adventure is completed by Sam Stafford (The Box of Delights, The God of Phantoms), Imogen Church (Callan, Blake’s 7), Barnaby Edwards (Doctor Who, Gallifrey), Aurora Burghart (There She Goes, Masterful) and Issy Van Randwyck (Fascinating Aïda, The Paternoster Gang).
And “The Devil’s Hoofprints” finds the Third Doctor with Sarah Jane Smith (Sadie Miller) and the Brigadier (Jon Culshaw), as they uncover a story of elusive secrets… but do they really want to know the answers?
“The Devil’s Hoofprints” by Robert Valentine – Long ago, in Devon in 1855, a mysterious event occurred. Overnight, during a terrible blizzard, thousands of hoofprints appeared in the snow. The tracks led on for miles… and no-one ever identified out who or what caused them. Many years later, the Doctor, Sarah and the Brigadier have come to Devon themselves, to visit a controversial scientific establishment in the wake of a mysterious death and rumours of strange occurrences in the vicinity. But things are just about to get much, much stranger. Because they’re about uncover the origins of the Devil’s Hoofprints… but is this one mystery that should have remained unsolved?
And the cast is completed by Derek Griffiths (Coronation Street, Play School), Barnaby Kay (Wallander, New Tricks), Robert Daws (Poldark, The War Master), Carolyn Seymour (Survivors, Star Trek) and Nicholas Briggs as the Icewalker.
“Conspiracy In Space” producer Heather Challands said: “It’s thrilling and I couldn’t be prouder of it. We’ve got a great cast with some wonderful performances, and Nicholas Briggs has, once again, done a fabulous job directing and supporting me at the same time.”
“And a total highlight hearing actors Katy and Tim say their words! I was home in my flat listening over the internet to these iconic actors say the lines of a script I’d commissioned. It was also the first recording day I’d run intentionally, rather than filling in for another producer or shadowing. I don’t think I quite thought it was real until that happened! But Tim and Katy are so fabulous and dedicated to their roles. It was a very pleasurable couple of days.”
“The Devil’s Hoofprints” writer Robert Valentine added: “I’d wanted to write an adventure involving the Devil’s Footprints mystery for years, and basing a Doctor Who story on it was an obvious thing to do. But the big highlight, really, was getting to write a Third Doctor and UNIT story incorporating real-world legends, mysterious laboratories in remote settings, colourful characters, high-speed chases and a complete heel of a villain. I had a great few weeks putting it together.
“With The Third Doctor Adventures, Big Finish does an amazing job of evoking that period of the show so one of the things I’m really looking forward to hearing is the score. I’m a writer who gets quite specific with certain music cues when it’s warranted, and it’s something that’s very much part of my thinking during the writing process.”
Of the adventure, Katy Manning said: “I thought the plot was really terrific, and I thought it was really representative of that era. Jo has a tremendous understanding and passion for people, and I think that comes through quite a lot in everything she does. What the Doctor likes about her was that she has a lot of gumption and bravery, although she’s a bit cheeky sometimes and that comes over in the script here and there which is lovely.
“Big Finish is the best thing for so many actors, and they just keep producing the most brilliant stuff – you’re always excited to go to work with Big Finish. It’s one of those jobs you just know is going to be good, they’re going to be great and the scripts are going to be terrific, and that’s a great freedom for actors.”
Sadie Miller said: “There’s this great mythology around these Devonshire mysteries, where it’s just so spooky as well as being science fiction. I really enjoy the stories where the Doctor goes back to Earth’s past, and gets to interact with tangible characters whilst still having that alien element – so it’s a lovely mix of things, this adventure.
“It’s very Dickensian in the way that A Christmas Carol is, where you have a character who goes on their own redemptive journey. It has lots of layers to it that a good Christmas story does, with cosy moments between characters and the thrills and chills, but you also get to really go on a journey with a character and really see them come full circle.”
