Big Finish News: Christmas Day release for ‘The First Doctor Adventures’!
By James Aggas
‘Twice Upon a Time’ won’t be the only helping of David Bradley as the Doctor that we’ll be getting on Christmas Day, as Big Finish will also release ‘The First Doctor Adventures’ for download the same day!
Every month, Big Finish release their own free magazine in PDF form on their website called Vortex. Each issue usually includes details and interviews for some of the month’s releases. For the December 2017 issue, there’s of course focus on the upcoming War Master box set.
However, what caught my attention in the current issue was an article on the upcoming box set, The First Doctor Adventures: Volume 1. After all, this set isn’t due until January.
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I quickly saw why it was featured. One of the details included in the issue is a release date for the box set. The CD release for the box set is still set for January. The download release, however? December 25th.
That’s right: along with David Bradley featuring in the Christmas special Twice Upon a Time, we also get to hear more of his Doctor the same day on audio format.
This isn’t the first time that Big Finish have planned such a huge release to coincide with a TV special. In 2015, on Christmas Day, they released the first box set of their spin-off series The Diary of River Song. This was of course the same day as the broadcast of The Husbands of River Song. As far as Christmas presents go, they certainly know how to pick the most appropriate ones.
The First Master
Something else that grabbed my attention from the Vortex issue were details about the First Master. Played by James Dreyfus, this will be the first time officially that we’ll be seeing an incarnation of the Master chronologically set before Roger Delgado. (At least, with the brief exception of William Hughes as the very young Master seen in The Sound of Drums). It’s quite a bold and exciting choice to hear.
However, as revealed in Vortex, this won’t be the only time we’ll be hearing from him. As producer David Richardson has revealed:
"There’s actually a plan behind this incarnation of the Master. Let’s just say that James Dreyfus has recorded the role for us before – twice! But you’ll have to wait and see in what and when those other two productions pop up!"
That’s quite a bit of major news, and certainly something that I’m already excited about! But in what other releases will Dreyfus’s Master appear in?
I suspect that it’s not as simple as another First Doctor release. At least, not yet. And, in both Big Finish and the TV series, it’s not uncommon for the Master – or other Time Lords – to meet out of order.
Could he also be appearing in the regular monthly releases, meeting either the Fifth, Sixth or Seventh Doctors? Could he be in one of next year’s Eighth Doctor box sets? Or even in one of the spin-offs, such as UNIT?
Either way, this is one piece of news that I’m keen to find out more on, and I’m excited to see what Big Finish have planned for the character.
Next: NEWS: A new trailer for Twice Upon a Time has been released