Doctor Who - The Early Adventures: Series 2 and Beyond
The Second Doctor and all of his companions will return in the second run of Doctor Who: The Early Adventures...
As revealed today in the latest Doctor Who Magazine, there are more of the popular Doctor Who - The Early Adventures stories coming:
Frazer Hines will appear in each of the four-part stories, not only as Jamie McCrimmon but also giving an uncannily authentic performance as the Doctor. He'll star alongside Anneke Wills, Deborah Watling, Wendy Padbury and new recruit Elliot Chapman, who will be taking on the role of Ben Jackson, originally portrayed on television by the late, great Michael Craze.
The series opens in September with The Yes Men by Simon Guerrier, in which the Doctor, Jamie, Polly and Ben arrive on New Houston, an Earth colony in the Fourth Sector, which the Doctor previously saved from an alien invasion. He wishes to pay his respects to his late friend Meg Carvossa, but something is not quite right with New Houston’s subservient robots...
“Everyone loved Simon’s script,” says producer David Richardson. “It’s a clever, dark thriller in the style of The Enemy of the World that really plays to the strengths of all the regular characters. And we had all of the characters there - not only Frazer as the Doctor and Jamie, but also Anneke Wills reprising the role of Polly, and Elliot Chapman making his debut as Ben Jackson. Elliot has big shoes to fill, but he does a smashing job - these three actors really do sound exactly like that early TARDIS team.”
Next up is The Forsaken by Justin Richards, which brings together the same lead cast. The TARDIS lands on an island off Singapore during the Japanese invasion of 1942. The travellers are found by some British soldiers - among them a certain Private James Jackson, who just happens to be Ben’s father.
November’s release is The Black Hole by Simon Guerrier, and the line-up shifts to the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria (Deborah Watling). On a research station near a black hole, time keeps standing still. Investigating the phenomenon, the Doctor discovers a power far greater than any of the monsters that challenge him on his travels... Guest stars for this story are David Warner, who serves as narrator, Rufus Hound and Janet Dibley.
Finally, December’s release is The Isos Network by Nicholas Briggs, and again the TARDIS team shifts - this time focusing on the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe (Wendy Padbury). Set immediately after the TV story The Invasion, The Isos Network reveals that the Cybermen threat is far from over...
“Patrick Troughton is my favourite Doctor,” confesses Briggs. “So this was a sheer delight for me. In a way, I treated it like a Target novelisation of a story-that-never-was from that era, so the narrative style is slightly different from the others in the series, allowing for a more visual dimension in this full-on battle with the dreaded Cybermen!”
“We’re so happy that The Early Adventures have been such a success,” says David. “They were an experiment to see how far we could go in recreating the style of a TV soundtrack with the surviving cast members, and the results have been extraordinary. There will be more as we return to the First Doctor in 2016, and then I’m delighted to say we’ve been commissioned for at least two further seasons beyond that!'
The second series of the Early Adventures is now available to pre-order, either individually, or as part of a subscription.
2014's acclaimed Series 1 is available, featuring the First Doctor and his companions who will return in 2016 for Series 3.
Two further seasons of four releases each are available to pre-order from today, with Subscriptions available for all across both CD and Download formats.