Doctor Who: Fourth Doctor comic adaptations announced!
By James Aggas
The second of two special releases announced today by Big Finish, two classic Doctor Who comic strips with the Fourth Doctor will be adapted into an audio release next year.
Following our look at the Seventh Doctor New Adventures announcement, we’ve got another special Doctor Who audio release to look forward to. In 2019, fans of the Fourth Doctor can look forward to brand-new audio adaptations of two classic comic stories: The Iron Legion and The Star Beast.
I’m hugely excited about this, for two reasons. The first is that the Fourth Doctor’s comic strips were bonkers. They included so many amazing ideas in each and every story. Because the writers were unrestricted by budget, these stories would not only match the tone of the TV series at the time, but were also far bolder in their strangeness, not to mention more epic!
The Iron Legion, the first ever comic strip of Doctor Who Magazine (or Doctor Who Weekly as it was known back then), is instant proof of this. You’ve got robot Roman soldiers, colorful aliens, and incredibly powerful beings, all in one story.
Nicholas Briggs, director of the Fourth Doctor Adventures, has commented on how different these stories were:
"These Fourth Doctor comic strip adaptations have a whole different feel to them. It’s like they’re from a parallel universe vision of Doctor Who. Tom Baker spotted it straight away, emailing me the moment he’d read The Iron Legion, commenting that this was ‘a bit DIFFERENT’ – actually typing ‘different’ in capitals! But he rose manfully to the challenge and entered into the spirit of it all wonderfully. And that spirit is that they are, essentially, wackier."
It’s not surprising that stories like these two were so imaginative: they were both originally written by Pat Mills, arguably one of the greatest writers of British comics.
For the audio medium, they’re being adapted by Alan Barnes. Along with writing many audios over the years, Barnes has also written many comics too. It’s fitting that someone who knows the strengths and weaknesses of both mediums is adapting these iconic comics for audio. And it’s clear that Briggs thinks the same way.
"There’s a feeling of ‘we could do anything because there are no budget restrictions’ in the original comic strips, and our adaptor, Alan Barnes, has captured this perfectly. Crazy characters, extravagant action sequences. And Alistair Lock has done a superb job with his sound design and music."
Fourth Doctor Tom Baker with director Nicholas Briggs for the audio adaptations of the Fourth Doctor’s comics.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Beep the Meep
The second reason I’m excited? Beep the Meep. One of the first audios I ever listened to was The Ratings War. Originally a bonus CD included with an issue of Doctor Who Magazine, The Ratings War was a direct sequel to The Star Beast, and gave me an idea of both the audios and the comic’s vast history.
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Also, Beep the Meep is such a great character. Outwordly cute, but utterly dangerous, he’s a very different kind of monster. He’s the kind of Doctor Who villain that’s both hilarious and horrifying, so he matches that distinctive era of the Fourth Doctor really well.
At the same time, however, The Star Beast was also ahead of its time, as Briggs explains.
"The Star Beast has a slightly different feel. The alien monster craziness is contrasted sharply with a dash of kitchen sink drama and a touch of Grange Hill, which predated the TV series exploring more domestic settings.It’s interesting how the brilliant comics writer of these strips, Pat Mills, kind of anticipated this. Alan has a great love for Pat’s work, and he was absolutely the right fit to adapt these beautiful, bonkers adventures of an extra-eccentric Fourth Doctor."
We can look forward to hearing these two adaptations on CD or download in March 2019. The original comics themselves are also well worth checking out, if you can find them.
Next. New Seventh Doctor audios inspired by New Adventures novels announced!. dark
Are you excited by these adaptations? Are there other comic stories you’d like to see adapted into audio? If so, which ones? Let us know in the comments below.
