The adventures of the Seventh Doctor (1987-1989), and companions Mel and Ace continue in The Blood Furnace!

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Ace and Mel to a recently reopened shipyard in Merseyside. It's 1991, the hardest of times – but now they're shipbuilding once again, thanks to the yard's new owners, the Dark Alloy Corporation. A miracle of job creation – but is it too good to be true?

While the Doctor and Ace go in search of an alien assassin at loose in the yard, Stuart Dale, discoverer of the near-magical Dark Alloy material, has an extraordinary proposition to make to his old college friend, Mel.

But who is the Corporation’s mysterious client? Who does she really represent? And what's the secret of the Blood Furnace? Seeking answers, the Doctor and friends are about to find themselves in very deep water…

We chatted to writer Eddie Robson about this next adventure for this trio, first seen together in Doctor Who TV episode Dragonfire, back in 1987.

“The brief for (The Blood Furnace) was "contemporary", and I decided to make it contemporary for Ace and Mel rather than our present day now - it's set in 1991, so shortly after the TV series ended. Because of how Mel was introduced into the series, she has less of a backstory than any other companion except possibly Dodo, so I thought it might be interesting to fill that in. I figured she probably went to college, she probably had a college boyfriend - and the shape of the life she'd have had without the Doctor started to suggest itself. What if she had the opportunity to step back into it?"

"The Blood Furnace was a contemporary setting that Doctor Who hadn't done before, which is a tall order but I don't think a shipyard has been done. When I settled on that I decided to set it on Merseyside. It can be precisely dated as I planned to set it in autumn of 1991, and discovered that Ace's beloved Charlton Athletic played Tranmere Rovers, just up the road, that September!”

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Next up, The Silurian Candidate, the final chapter in our trilogy of Sylvester McCoy stories!

Following the next adventure for the Seventh, we have the highly anticipated Time In Office, also written by Eddie Robson. The Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison, must resume his role as High Lord President of Gallifrey, but can he evade his responsibilities? ALL HAIL PRESIDENT DOCTOR!