In November 2017, the Eighth Doctor will star in his own Time War box set. The first of four box sets, in fact…
Back in October 2015, Big Finish announced that we would be getting a box set of stories set in the Time War with the Eighth Doctor. This is currently due for release in November this year. (Yes, October 2015 was when we heard this news. We’ve seriously been waiting this long, and we’ve still got a few months left to wait.)
We weren’t given many details about it. We knew the title, and we knew that Paul McGann would star. Perhaps the most interesting detail is that it’s billed as a “prequel” to the War Doctor’s own audio series. Unsurprising, really, considering they share the same conflict. But earlier versions of characters from the War Doctor audios will appear in the Eighth Doctor’s series, too. And that’s all we’ve known for the past year and a half.
Series 2, 3 and 4
Today, Big Finish announced some brilliant news in their regular podcast. Along with the box set of four episodes due in November, three subsequent volumes will also be released on a yearly basis.
The Eighth Doctor will also have a new companion for this first set, although no details on who the character is or who she will be played by have been confirmed at this time.
In some ways, I’m not entirely surprised by the series extension. For the past five years, the Eighth Doctor’s series has been broken into distinct arcs of four box sets each. These include the ranges Dark Eyes and Doom Coalition, both of which were very strong series. (The most recent box set, Doom Coalition 4, was released back in March, and as I mentioned in my review, it was totally awesome.)
Future Releases
Out of all the releases scheduled for this year, The Eighth Doctor: The Time War Series 1 is personally the one I’m most anticipated about. Don’t get me wrong, David Tennant and Billie Piper returning in The Tenth Doctor Adventures is exciting. And I’m hugely looking forward to Torchwood: Season 5.
But the Eighth Doctor in the Time War is just an incredibly exciting idea. For one thing, Paul McGann has always been my favourite Doctor, which is a big reason why I’ve recently been reviewing his stories in order.
For another, there’s a lot more that you can cover and develop with his Doctor. Especially compared to David Tennant’s, whose story and arc were heavily mapped out on screen.
Lastly, the Time War is an exciting part of Doctor Who’s vast mythology. Big Finish have finally been exploring it over the past couple of years, most heavily with The War Doctor box sets. We’ve also had a couple of stories of Eight in the Time War. These were included in the box sets The Diary of River Song: Series 1 and Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume 1.
But it’s fantastic that we’re going to get a nice, extended glimpse of the War. Not even for just four episodes, but across four whole box sets! There’s a lot of potential for wonderful storytelling right there. There are a lot of things I hope to see (figuratively speaking) in the Time War series, which I’ll cover at a later date. For now, I’m just going to remain super excited about this news.
Each series of The Eighth Doctor: The Time War can be pre-ordered individually or as a bundle directly from Big Finish.
Next: Doctor Who Presale: Season 10, part 1 and ‘Class’