Doctor Who: Cover and details revealed for upcoming First Doctor: Companion Chronicles box set
By James Aggas
More stories of the First Doctor and his companions will be told in September in The Companion Chronicles: The First Doctor: Volume Three!
(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
More stories of the First Doctor and his companions will soon be told in upcoming Doctor Who box set The Companion Chronicles: The First Doctor: Volume Three, out later this year!
The Companion Chronicles has always been an extremely strong range of Doctor Who audios for Big Finish. The mix of both narration and small-cast drama has given the series a rather distinctive flavor, and has given us many fantastic stories over the years.
September will see the release of a brand new box set in the series. The First Doctor: Volume Three will feature stories told from the perspectives of several First Doctor companions, namely Susan, Vicki, Steven and Polly. The last box set in the series for the First Doctor gave us some extremely strong stories, particularly Across the Darkened City, an absolutely fantastic Dalek story that captures the flavor and darkness of that period.
Here’s what we can expect from the next volume.
The episodes
"E is For… by Julian RichardsAll is not right on the planet Malkus. Every day more and more monstrosities are born; people with powers and abilities far beyond those of normal men and women. They call these people “the Gifted.” And Susan has become one of them. Separated from her friends in a Police State dedicated to hunting people like her, Susan finds herself in a prison which has destroyed countless lives. And at its centre, at its heart, waiting, is the most dangerous monster of all…Daybreak by John PritchardEveryone knows their story. They were heroes, who struck a blow for freedom at the cost of their own lives. Vicki grew up reading of their exploits. She’s always hoped to be as brave as them.Now the TARDIS has brought her to their dark and desperate era. The war is still unfinished, and the story’s end has not been written yet. Can Vicki play her part in the struggle for a better future? Or is the past more complicated than she’s bargained for?The Vardan Invasion of Mirth by Paul Morris and Ian AtkinsThe Doctor and Steven think they’ve arrived in London 1956, but the TARDIS disagrees. When both the Doctor and his craft are lost, it’s down to Steven to solve a mystery that holds his fate in its grasp. With the help of comic Teddy Baxter, Steven’s going to have to find a way into television…The Crumbling Magician by Guy AdamsThe TARDIS has crashed, its passengers in a bad way. The Doctor – not in the best of health anyway, his old body wearing somewhat thin – is in a coma; Ben is unconscious. As for Polly, she’s been affected worst of all. Time is running in the wrong order for her and she’s seen the future, a future in which she’s mortally wounded. But will Continuity allow her to die?"
Guy Adams once again writes for Polly and Ben, as portrayed by Anneke Wills and Elliot Chapman, for the third volume of The Companion Chronicles: The First Doctor.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
What to look forward to
It’s fantastic that we’re getting another story that focuses on Susan. With the exception of her special guest role in The First Doctor Adventures: Volume Three – stories that are normally told with the cast of An Adventure in Space and Time playing the original TARDIS team – we haven’t had any new stories with Carole Ann Ford playing the Doctor’s granddaughter for a while. I’m curious to see how E is For… unfolds, especially with the idea that it explores.
I’m also a big fan of Vicki, too. Both because of the character and because of Maureen O’Brien’s performance in the role. (For a good example of why both are so fantastic, makes sure to check out The Crash of the UK-201 if you haven’t already.)
I also love stories that explore heroes, both the myth and the truth behind it. So Daybreak sounds like a perfect story for me. A story where Vicki is caught up in history – or at least, history to her – and has to face the reality of it.
Big Finish have done wonders for the Vardans over the years. Despite being a far from effective enemy in The Invasion of Time, Big Finish have told quite a few strong stories with them, particularly in The Companion Chronicles.
The Vardan Invasion of Mirth sounds like a lighter Vardan story compared to previous ones, at least with stories set during the First Doctor’s era. But it’s nice for him to face the rather ruthless and incredibly dangerous foe once more.
Continuity
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The Crumbling Magician meanwhile looks set to explore a gap established in the previous First Doctor box set. Namely, a gap specifically created to give Ben and Polly a few more adventures with the First Doctor. While their first trip on the TARDIS in The Smugglers seemed to lead directly into The Tenth Planet – the First Doctor’s final adventure – both The Bonfires of the Vanities and The Plague of Dreams very cleverly established a clear gap for those two stories to take place in.
The Plague of Dreams was also written by Guy Adams, and was an excellent story, so I’m interested in hearing how The Crumbling Magician unfolds. I’m particularly intrigued by the idea of Continuity itself being an enemy. Us fans are always obsessed about continuity in general, so hearing it used as an opponent for one of the companions is a brilliant idea.
The First Doctor: Volume Three will be out on CD and download in September. You can pre-order it now directly from Big Finish’s website.
Next. Why we’re surprisingly lucky with the Eighth Doctor. dark
Are you a fan of The Companion Chronicles? Excited for more First Doctor stories? Which story intrigues you the most? Let us know in the comments below.