Doctor Who: Rhianne Starbuck cast as Fourth Doctor companion Sharon for the Comic Strip Adaptations
By James Aggas
Yesterday, Big Finish released more details on their upcoming adaptation of two Fourth Doctor comic strips – including the casting of Rhianne Starbuck as Sharon, the first PoC companion in Doctor Who!
Back in August, Big Finish announced details of several special releases to celebrate twenty years of their Doctor Who audios. These included The Legacy of Time, The Seventh Doctor New Adventures, and The Comic Strip Adaptations.
The last of these sounded very intriguing, as they would be adapting two major Fourth Doctor comic stories: The Iron Legion, the first ever comic strip in Doctor Who Magazine (or as it was originally known, Doctor Who Weekly), and The Star Beast.
I was particularly intrigued to see how this story would be adapted, as it was the first story to feature Sharon, a companion for the Fourth Doctor in the comics. What makes Sharon so notable is that, long before Martha Jones, (or, more accurately, Mickey Smith, even for just a couple of episodes,) she was the first black companion in Doctor Who in any media. So I was interested to see who Big Finish would cast in such a key role.
The cast and crew of Big Finish’s adaptation of The Star Beast, including Rhianne Starbuck and Tom Baker.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Rhianne Starbuck
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Yesterday, Big Finish finally revealed that Rhianne Starbuck will be playing Sharon. An interview with the actress herself was included with the announcement, and she certainly sounds excited to be playing the role.
"It’s one of the first voiceover works I’ve done, and everyone was so lovely. The cast were brilliant, [director and executive producer] Nick Briggs was amazing, and it was so much fun. We didn’t stop laughing – laughter all day long, even through the breaks. The atmosphere was electric."
In the interview, she also describes what it’s like working with Tom Baker, how she relates to the companion Sharon, and what it was like playing a character created in a different medium. You can read the full interview here.
I’m really excited to find out exactly what her take on Sharon is like. She’s a pretty major companion, in several key ways, so I’m curious to discover exactly how Rhianne plays her, and exactly how strong a team she is with Tom Baker. I’m really looking forward to giving these adaptations a listen, and hope they do the original amazing stories justice.
Doctor Who: The Comic Strip Adaptations will be release in March 2019.
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Have you read the original comics featuring Sharon? What was your take on the character? Are you excited that her introduction story is being adapted to audio? Let us know in the comments below.