Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor companions past, present and future will unite in Ravenous 3!
By James Aggas
Some of the Eighth Doctor’s many companions will be working together to stop a very dangerous villain, in the third volume of the Doctor Who audio series Ravenous!
On Big Finish Day 2018 on Saturday, Big Finish made a very special announcement. For the third volume of their current Eighth Doctor series, Doctor Who: Ravenous, some very familiar voices will be returning.
Joining the Eighth Doctor’s current companions Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker) and Helen Sinclair (Hattie Morahan) will be River Song (Alex Kingston), who they had previously met in Doom Coalition; Bliss (Rahkee Thakrar), who is actually from the Eighth Doctor’s future in the Time War series, and, last but not least, one of the Eighth Doctor’s greatest companions – the Edwardian Adventuress herself, Charlotte Pollard (India Fisher)!
As if all of these companions coming together wasn’t exciting enough, we’ve also got the return of the Nine, as played by John Heffernan! I’m actually both surprised and delighted that the Nine is coming back. An earlier incarnation of the psychotic villain known as the Eleven, the Nine is a Time Lord with all of his previous personalities trapped inside his head.
This particular incarnation seems to have a love of stealing and having everything he can. He also has no problem murdering people on a whim. So while he’s different to the Eleven in some ways, he’s certainly no less dangerous.
He last appeared in Doom Coalition 3, but since then, the Eighth Doctor and his companions have been more focused on dealing with his later incarnation. So it’s great to see him finally return.
The last time the Eighth Doctor and Charley were together was in The Girl Who Never Was back in 2007. Will the pair finally be reunited in Ravenous 3?
(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
So many companions, but no Doctor
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All of these characters will feature in a story called Companion Piece by John Dorney. Currently listed as the second episode of the box set, it’ll be an episode where the Eighth Doctor’s companions have to unite to fight the Nine – without the Doctor’s help! Producer David Richardson describes exactly what to expect from this episode.
"One of our actors described this episode as, ‘The one in which all the ex-girlfriends show up.’ That made me laugh, though really it’s the one in which some of the Eighth Doctor’s companions past, present and future find themselves caught in an impossible and deadly situation – and the Time Lord isn’t even around to save them… Expect twists, surprises and some joyous Easter Eggs to make your jaw drop."
That sounds like quite the story. It’s interesting knowing that the Eighth Doctor won’t be there to help his companions.
I’m in two minds about this. On the one hand, I really want Charley and the Eighth Doctor to be reunited. There’s a great deal of unfinished business between the two after their final story together The Girl Who Never Was, and there’s a lot of potentially great drama that could happen from the two meeting each other again.
So it’s just a little sad that, for this episode, at least, the Eighth Doctor isn’t even in the episode with Charley. (Still, there are three remaining episodes left to be announced, at least…)
In Doom Coalition 4, River said goodbye to the Eighth Doctor. Will they be meeting again, or will be meeting more of her husband’s friends?
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
A River diverted?
On the other hand, I’m also glad that Eight won’t be meeting River Song again. Not that the unusual pairing didn’t work in Doom Coalition. But the pair had been given such a beautiful goodbye scene, one that subtly hinted at her own ending in Silence in the Library. So it’s nice that to know that they’ll be avoiding any further interactions.
Regardless, Companion Piece sounds like a very exciting episode. Not just for the companions, but also because of the Nine, who was a great villain in his own right in Doom Coalition 3. It’s great to know that they’ve decided to bring him back. And I can’t wait to find out what we can expect from the other remaining episodes of Ravenous 3.
Doctor Who: Ravenous 3 will be out on CD and download in April 2019. You can catch up on the series now from Big Finish. (Which is definitely recommended, as volume two was excellent, and it’s got the perfect story to listen to this Christmas.)
Next. The First Doctor Adventures Volume Three – new trailer and details revealed!. dark
Are you excited about so many of the Eighth Doctor’s companions working together? How do you think Charley will return? Do you think she’ll meet the Doctor once again? Let us know in the comments below.