Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor is reunited with Ace in major new story Dark Universe – out now!
By James Aggas
Today’s audio release is a pivotal one, as the Seventh Doctor is reunited with an old friend and faces an old enemy in Doctor Who: Dark Universe!
For many, the start of a new brand new series on television was set to be the most exciting event for Doctor Who fans this month. Especially on New Year’s Day, when we were greeted with a brand new incarnation of the Master.
But, for myself – and, I suspect, for many other fans of a certain era – it’s today’s release that’s the most exciting event. Because today sees the release of a brand new Seventh Doctor story: Dark Universe.
What makes Dark Universe so special? Well, for one thing, when it was announced back in June last year, it was revealed that the Seventh Doctor would be reunited with his former companion Ace. On the surface, this doesn’t sound so major, especially since Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred have been playing the Seventh Doctor and Ace on audio for a long time.
But in-universe, this is the first time they’ve met in twenty years. Ace has responsibilities of her own, now that she’s the CEO of A Charitable Earth. (First mentioned in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor.) How will she react to meeting the Doctor for the first time in two decades? Finding that out is one of the reasons why we’ve been eager to listen to this audio. But, in some ways, we’ve been waiting for this particular story for years…
(L to R) Mark Bonnar, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Lin Sagovsky and Glen McCready star in Doctor Who: Dark Universe.
Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions
The road to Doom Coalition
Flashback to over four years ago. Specifically, October 2015. Following the conclusion of the successful series Dark Eyes, the Eighth Doctor is about to start on a new epic journey in Doom Coalition. The series begins with a dangerous Time Lord criminal, the Eleven (played by Mark Bonnar), escaping from his imprisonment on Gallifrey. The Doctor feels personally responsible for getting him back – after all, he was the one who captured him in the first place…
How the Doctor captured the Eleven has largely remained a mystery. We got a brief glimpse of the Seventh Doctor seeing the Eleven imprisoned, but nothing has been revealed on the events leading up to that moment. Until now.
Considering how this key event essentially set up the whole of Doom Coalition, many have been eager to find out more. Not just the listeners, but even producer David Richardson, as he reveals how Dark Universe came to fruition.
"I’d long planned that if ever I was in a position to make it happen, we’d do a story with the Seventh Doctor and the Eleven, and tell the lead-in to the first scenes in the Eighth Doctor series, Doom Coalition. So when Emma Haigh and I took over as joint producers on the Seventh Doctor stories this year, I leapt at the opportunity and asked script editor Matt Fitton to commission a script."
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“A pivotal release”
I’m definitely glad that we’re finally finding out the events that lead up to Doom Coalition. But Richardson also reveals that this story is connected to so much more.
"There’s a lot in Dark Universe – not only does it return to the Eleven’s story, it also shows what happens to Ace in her later life. And it features Ollistra and Rasmus, two characters who are important to our ongoing Time War series, plus it sets up other things too… It’s actually a pivotal release, for so many reasons."
But what makes Dark Universe such a pivotal release? Is this story more than just a prequel to Doom Coalition, or even a Seven and Ace reunion? Does Doom Coalition‘s flashback scene provide a clue as to where this story is ultimately heading? We’re certainly eager to find out.
Dark Universe is available now on CD and download, exclusively from Big Finish’s website.
Next. Tom Baker’s third season is coming to Blu-Ray, and we’re hugely excited about it. dark
Are you excited to hear the reunion between Seven and Ace? Or to find out how the Seventh Doctor captured the Eleven? Let us know in the comments below.