Doctor Who: The Second Doctor faces the Master and the First Doctor in two brand new stories!
By James Aggas
Two very special Doctor Who stories have been released by Big Finish today, with the Second Doctor facing the Master before meeting the First Doctor!
Today, the Second Doctor faces not just his oldest enemy, but also his past in two brand new Doctor Who stories from Big Finish: The Home Guard by Simon Guerrier, and Daughter of the Gods by David K Barnes.
I have been eagerly anticipating these two stories since they were announced earlier this year. The Early Adventures has been an extremely consistent and brilliant range from Big Finish. Focused on telling stories with the first two Doctors, the series captures their eras perfectly, while still giving us fresh and exciting new adventures.
This year, we’re only getting two stories, but they both feature major ideas that are sure to appeal to fans. First, we have The Home Guard, in which the Second Doctor faces the Master!
"It’s the middle of the Second World War and Ben Jackson has returned to visit his married friends Polly and Jamie in their quiet English village. But they can’t quite shake the feeling that something’s not right…"
The Second Doctor has an Early Adventure with an old enemy in The Home Guard…
(Image Courtesy: Big Finish Productions)
The Home Guard
As many of you will know, the Doctor didn’t meet the Master on television until Third Doctor story Terror of the Autons. But unsurprisingly, it was clear that they had history, which is why we’re getting the first audio story of the Second Doctor with his oldest enemy.
James Dreyfus plays an earlier incarnation of the Master, perhaps the earliest. He was last heard in The Destination Wars, facing the First Doctor. But what is he up to now?
For this story, writer Simon Guerrier was inspired by a rather unusual source:
"I found out that when the first episode of Dad’s Army went out in 1968, James Beck (playing dodgy dealer Walker) invited a good friend round to watch it, and that good friend was Doctor Who story editor and writer David Whitaker. It was roughly around the time Whitaker was working on The Enemy of the World and The Wheel in Space, and so I started to think about how you’d do a Dad’s Army kind of Doctor Who story with that kind of baroque, complicated plotting…"
Eras collide when the Second Doctor meets the First in Daughter of the Gods!
(Image credit: Tom Webster/Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Daughter of the Gods
The other major story we’re getting today is Daughter of the Gods. This one is particular exciting for two reasons. First, it’s a multi-Doctor story, with the Second Doctor crossing paths with the First. Second, it features a companion who should really be dead…
"When Zoe reattaches an old piece of equipment to the TARDIS console, she, Jamie and the Doctor are very lucky to avoid a collision.But the place they find themselves in may be even more dangerous – because there they encounter another Doctor, a space pilot named Steven… and a young woman called Katarina who really shouldn’t be there…"
Along with Frazer Hines playing the dual role of both Jamie McCrimmon and the Second Doctor, Peter Purves also guest stars as both Steven Taylor and the First Doctor. Both give wonderful performances of their Doctors, and in some ways, they’re key reasons why The Early Adventures have been successful. So it’s fantastic to finally get a story with both of them featuring in a big way.
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
A fitting release
But why are we getting this multi-Doctor story now? Producer David Richardson reveals why:
"It was Big Finish executive producer, Jason Haigh-Ellery’s idea to do a story with the First and Second Doctors, and it seemed to me rather fitting we should release it in our 20th anniversary year a few months after our celebratory multi-Doctor story, The Legacy of Time."
This actually makes a lot of sense. The Legacy of Time was amazing, and a real highlight of the year. But it’s not exactly a multi-Doctor story. Although they do meet at one point, each episode in the box set stands out as an individual story for each Doctor.
So it’s nice that, in the same year as Big Finish celebrating such a major anniversary, we’re given a more full-on multi-Doctor story with Daughter of the Gods. Especially when it’s a story that explores a companion fated to die: Katarina, a companion who briefly traveled on the TARDIS before dying in The Daleks’ Master Plan. Now played by Ajjaz Awad, it’ll be interesting to see how the Second Doctor will react to her…
The Home Guard and Daughter of the Gods are available to purchase on CD and download directly from Big Finish’s website.
Next. David Bradley’s First Doctor will meet the Daleks next year!. dark
Which story are you more excited by? The Second Doctor finally getting his own Master story on audio, or meeting his previous incarnation? Let us know in the comments below.