Doctor Who legend Paul McGann is officially back for more adventures in the TARDIS, as his new Big Finish audio series begins!
The new boxset, Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways, sees McGann team up with Coronation Street star Natalie Gumede and Vikings: Valhalla actor Sam Stafford.
The adventures mark a new era for McGann, 30 years after he appeared as the Eighth Doctor in the Doctor Who TV movie. The three stories are: Chase by Alan Ronald, Magic of the Sycorax by Katharine Armitage, and Blast from the Past by Robert Valentine.
Joining McGann, Gumede and Stafford is a whole host of guest cast-members, including Susan Aderin, Ben Fox, Barnaby Edwards, Harriet Kershaw, Alexandra Mathie, Lara Lemon, Nicole Deon, Sara Powell, Derek Griffiths, Richard Goulding, and Nicholas Boulton.
The synopsis for the series reads: "Chase Moyo (Natalie Gumede) is an out-of-work film and TV gaffer, stuck in a call centre job, who accidentally connects to a police box. Alfie (Sam Stafford) is a kindly gym-loving kid from the mid-21st century who is already aboard. Their first adventures take them to an asteroid mine under attack from the Sycorax, and then to Burnley in 2096, where Chase meets her great-great-grandchildren in a fascist Britain's underground resistance."
Check out the trailer below!
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McGann said of his new adventures: "It’s one of the great strengths and advantages of Doctor Who, that you can go forward. It's exciting, because it's a shot in the arm. You get two new performers, two new characters. And if feels like it’s a new beginning."
Writer Robert Valentine added: "Alfie has been travelling with the Doctor for a little bit of time. Chase is new to the TARDIS, but because she’s lived the Doctor's adventures vicariously, she thinks she knows it. And what's lovely about that is that we get to see the Eighth Doctor for the first time all over again through their eyes.
"Alfie and Chase get on really well, which is a nice dynamic to begin with. But they're also experiencing the Doctor together. And that gives me a chance to have a different run at writing the Eighth Doctor as well. What's always fun about any companion combination is the little micro differences that creates in the Doctor and the way he behaves with them."
Following his appearance as the Doctor in 1996, McGann has reprised his role a number of times. On screen, he returned for the 50th anniversary special The Night of the Doctor in 2013, and for Jodie Whittaker's final episode, The Power of the Doctor, in 2022. He has also been voicing the Eighth Doctor for Big Finish productions since 2001.
The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways is available to buy from Big Finish's website.
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