The War Doctor (audio drama series)
The War Doctor, announced in October 2015, is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the TV show Doctor Who. It sees the return of Sir John Hurt as the War Doctor, a role he previously portrayed in the TV story "The Name of the Doctor" as well as more prominently in the 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor". The series consists of four box sets, each made up of three hour-long episodes, the first released in December 2015, the remaining three volumes followed across 2016 and into 2017.[1][2]
| The War Doctor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Big Finish Productions audio drama | |
| Series | Doctor Who |
| Featuring | War Doctor |
| Written by | various |
| Directed by | Nicholas Briggs |
| Produced by | David Richardson |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Music | Howard Carter |
| Release date | December 2015 – February 2017 |
Cast
- Sir John Hurt as The War Doctor
- Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra
- Lucy Briggs-Owen as Rejoyce / The Nursemaid
- Nicholas Briggs as The Daleks
- Honeysuckle Weeks as Heleyna
- Dan Starkey as General Fesk / The Sontarans (series 3)
- Louise Jameson as The Lady / Leela (series 4)
- Beth Chalmers as Veklin (series 1, series 4)
Episodes
The War Doctor faces the Daleks in four seasons of the Time War.
Series 1: Only the Monstrous (2015)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Innocent" | Nicholas Briggs | Nicholas Briggs | War Doctor, Rejoice, Ollistra | December 2015 | |
| The Doctor is discovered injured on the planet Keska and is nursed back to health by Rejoice. The planet comes under attack from an enemy and the Doctor assists with the defence. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Thousand Worlds" | Nicholas Briggs | Nicholas Briggs | War Doctor, Rejoice, Ollistra | December 2015 | |
| 3 | "The Heart of the Battle" | Nicholas Briggs | Nicholas Briggs | War Doctor, Rejoice, Ollistra | December 2015 | |
Series 2: Infernal Devices (2016)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Legion of the Lost" | Nicholas Briggs | John Dorney | War Doctor, Ollistra | February 2016[3] |
| 2 | "A Thing of Guile" | Nicholas Briggs | Phil Mulryne | War Doctor, Ollistra | February 2016[3] |
| 3 | "The Neverwhen" | Nicholas Briggs | Matt Fitton | War Doctor, Ollistra | February 2016[3] |
Series 3: Agents of Chaos (2016)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Shadow Vortex" | Nicholas Briggs | David Llewellyn | War Doctor, Ollistra | October 2016 |
| 2 | "The Eternity Cage" | Nicholas Briggs | Andrew Smith | War Doctor, Heleyna, Ollistra | October 2016 |
| 3 | "Eye of Harmony" | Nicholas Briggs | Ken Bentley | War Doctor, Helayna, Ollistra | October 2016 |
Series 4: Casualties of War (2017)
Sir John Hurt died on 25 January 2017. Recording of the series had been completed. It was released posthumously.[4][5]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pretty Lies" | Nicholas Briggs | Guy Adams | War Doctor, Ollistra | February 2017 |
| 2 | "The Lady of Obsidian" | Nicholas Briggs | Andrew Smith | War Doctor, Ollistra, Leela | February 2017 |
| 3 | "The Enigma Dimension" | Nicholas Briggs | Nicholas Briggs | War Doctor, Ollistra, Leela, the Enigma | February 2017 |
The Eighth Doctor: The Time War
| The Eighth Doctor: The Time War | |
|---|---|
| Big Finish Productions audio drama | |
| Series | Doctor Who |
| Featuring | Eighth Doctor |
| Directed by |
|
| Produced by | David Richardson |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Music |
|
| Release date | October 2017 |
The Eighth Doctor: The Time War, is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television programme Doctor Who and serves as a prequel to the previous series The War Doctor. It focused on the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) and his experiences in the war before having a change of heart and regenerating into his warrior form (as seen in the television mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor").
The series consists of four box sets, each made up of four hour-long episodes, the first was released in October 2017[2], the remaining three volumes follow yearly from 2018.
Cast
- Paul McGann as The Doctor
- Nicholas Briggs as The Daleks
- Rakhee Thakrar as Bliss
- Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra (series 1–2)
- Julia McKenzie as The Twelve (series 2 & 4)
- Adele Anderson as Major Tamasan (series 3–4)
- Michael Jayston as The Valeyard (series 3)
- Terry Molloy as Davros (series 4)
- Ken Bones as The General (series 4)
Episodes
Series 1 (2017)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Starship of Theseus" | Ken Bentley | John Dorney | Eighth Doctor, Sheena, Bliss, Daleks | October 2017 |
| 2 | "Echoes of War" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Daleks | October 2017 |
| 3 | "The Conscript" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Ollistra, Daleks | October 2017 |
| 4 | "One Life" | Ken Bentley | John Dorney | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Ollistra, Daleks | October 2017 |
Series 2 (2018)
This was the final box set to feature Jacqueline Pearce as Ollistra before her death in September 2018.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Lords of Terror" | Ken Bentley | Jonathan Morris | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Daleks | July 2018 |
| 2 | "Planet of the Ogrons" | Ken Bentley | Guy Adams | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Daleks, the Twelve, Ogrons | July 2018 |
| 3 | "In the Garden of Death" | Ken Bentley | Guy Adams | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Daleks, the Twelve | July 2018 |
| 4 | "Jonah" | Ken Bentley | Timothy X Atack | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Daleks, Ollistra, the Twelve | July 2018 |
Series 3 (2019)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "State of Bliss" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | Eighth Doctor, Bliss | August 2019 |
| 2 | "The Famished Lands" | Ken Bentley | Lisa McMullin | Eighth Doctor, Bliss | August 2019 |
| 3 | "Fugitive in Time" | Ken Bentley | Roland Moore | Eighth Doctor, Bliss | August 2019 |
| 4 | "The War Valeyard" | Ken Bentley | John Dorney | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, The Valeyard | August 2019 |
Series 4
This box set will see Ken Bones reprising his role of the General, a character who appeared in the Fiftieth Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" in 2013 and made one final appearance in the Series 9 episode "Hell Bent" in 2015.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Palindrome – Part 1"[6] | Helen Goldwyn | John Dorney | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Davros, Daleks | September 2020 |
| 2 | "Palindrome – Part 2"[6] | Helen Goldwyn | John Dorney | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, Davros, Daleks | September 2020 |
| 3 | "Dreadshade"[6] | Helen Goldwyn | Lisa McMullin | Eighth Doctor, Bliss, The General, the Twelve | September 2020 |
| 4 | "Restoration of the Daleks"[6] | Helen Goldwyn | Matt Fitton | Eighth Doctor, Daleks | September 2020 |
References
- "Doctor Who: The War Doctor". Big Finish Productions. 5 October 2015.
- "Doctor Who? John Hurt To Return As The War Doctor In New Stories". Forbes. Forbes. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- "John Hurt returns to battle the Daleks in new War Doctor trailer". Radio Times. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- "John Hurt's War Doctor Returns in Final Audio Tales". geek.com. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- "John Hurt's Final Performance As The War Doctor". Bleeding Cool. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- "The Eighth Doctor – The Time War Series 04". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 1 September 2018.