The latest box set in the Fifth Doctor Adventures range comprises one epic audio adventure, starring Peter Davison as the Doctor, alongside his iconic trio of companions – Tegan (Janet Fielding), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), and Adric (Matthew Waterhouse). 

The Doctor has found himself locked up in many prisons over his lifetimes, but none like Beyond, where he and his friends now find themselves. Isolated in the far reaches of space, the inmates sent here must endure a terrifying new form of imprisonment. 

Told in six episodes over one three-disc box set, The Great Beyond is bigger than any of the Fifth Doctor’s stories from his television run. This expansive adventure is written by James Kettle, who’s known as a writer of TV comedy including Travel Man and Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back. 

Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: The Great Beyond is now available to own for just £22.99 (collector’s edition CD box set + download) or £18.99 (digital download only), exclusively here. 

The Doctor has been sent to Beyond – for the rest of his natural lives.    

In the years after a devastating intergalactic war, a prison facility was set up on a distant planet. To preserve the fragile peace, the most dangerous former combatants are sentenced to life in Beyond. Like the notorious Starclair sisters, whose involvement on both sides of the war is the stuff of legend – as well as a certain Time Lord with a reputation for interfering in things that don’t concern them.    

But there’s something else on the planet too. Something that adds an infinite variety of agony to a life sentence on Beyond, and makes the inmates wish for the relative comfort of death. Because what’s coming to those that stay too long in Beyond is almost too hideous to contemplate. Alive and conscious, deprived of your senses and all movement. Just locked in, alone in a darkness that lasts forever. 

Doctor Who – The Fifth Doctor Adventures: The Great Beyond has a talented guest cast including Philip Hurd-Wood (known to Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures fans as the voice of the Graske), who plays Ivan, the prison governor on the edge of madness. 

And, Maggie Service (Good Omens), Anna Crichlow (Sense & Sensibility), and Paksie Vernon (Angels in America) feature as the infamous Starclair sisters, alongside John Hopkins (Masters of the Air) as Fairfield and Andrew Wincott (The Archers) as Beyond and Jardan. 

Writer James Kettle said: “When I'm asked to come up with a Doctor Who story, I always think about fusing different influences together. Here there's quite a bit of Christopher Priest’s novels, and a dash of John Carpenter as well. Then I was thinking about prisons, the aftermath of war, and the long-time fascination I've had with the Mitford sisters.    

“I also wanted to come up with a new kind of threat, something primal that lurks in all of humanity's deepest fears. So, while robots and zombies are among the enemies in this story, really the enemy at the heart of it is mortality. I’m possibly making it sound gloomier than I mean to – don’t worry, there are also jokes in it!” 

The Great Beyond can be purchased in a multibuy bundle with 2024’s previous The Fifth Doctor Adventures box set, The Dream Team, for just £44 (collector’s edition CD box set + download) or £36 (download only). 

All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release.

Please note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mail-out of collector’s edition CDs may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.