As the Doctor, Liv and Helen explore the universe, they come across lost souls, troubled minds and long-kept secrets. From a lonely world with birdsong but no birds, to an English university whose undergraduates tell ghostly tales, and a distant galaxy where a utopian society lives in the shadow of enormous creatures, the TARDIS crew are haunted by echoes of past, present and future...
Birdsong by Tim Foley
The TARDIS arrives on an empty world where two scouts await the rest of their colony. Except this world may not be as empty as everybody thinks. There's a figure in the woods - and a strangely familiar sound...
As the Doctor and his friends learn more about the planet's inhabitants, the birdsong they hear becomes a deadly chorus.
Lost Hearts by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle
Michaelmas term, 1903. In one of England's ancient universities, strange apparitions float between quads and cloisters.
While Liv and Helen protect a naive undergraduate from a sinister society, the Doctor finds a ghost-hunting ally. One who happens to be the era's foremost chronicler of things that go bump in the night...
Slow Beasts by Dan Rebellato
The Doctor takes Liv and Helen to see one of the Wonders of the Outer Galaxy - to Ran-Zoan, where immense alien figures loom over the plains and settlements of the Renn.
But the Slow Beasts hide a secret - a secret that, once unleashed, spells doom for this entire world.
Recorded on: 16-19 October and 21 November 2023, and 29 January 2024
Recorded at: The Soundhouse and remote recording
Writer Dan Rebellato said: “Writing this was the fulfilment of an ambition planted in me when I was ten! Watching Doctor Who as a kid was the first time I really became aware of people who write stories. There is something slightly magical and joyful and ridiculous about sitting at my computer and typing “the TARDIS materialises” after all this time.
“This team is such a power trio. Helen’s wide-eyed openness is really nicely balanced with Liv’s hard-bitten wit, and both of them are great foils for this particular Doctor’s intensity and energy. The three of them together are a whirlwind.
“And that’s also true of them as actors, because Paul, Hattie and Nicola are so smart, creative, empathetic and precise that they can turn a scene emotionally on a pin, and send chills down your spine at the same time that they’re making you laugh. It’s a real privilege to work with actors like that.”
Writer Lauren Mooney said: “I love writing for Liv and Helen. They’re two of my favourite companions of the Big Finish range, and in fact overall. Their dynamic with each other and with the Doctor is really interesting. So of course, what a pleasure it is to torture and torment them by putting them into a quite bleak world!”
Actor Hattie Morahan added: “It’s so rare to have a character that lasts – it’s been almost ten years that I’ve been playing Helen. I’ve played her through so many different situations and so many stages of her growing friendship with Liv and the Doctor that it’s like slipping on an old jacket or pair of shoes.”
Hattie Morahan, Paul McGann, Nicola Walker
Steve Brody, Joe Pitts, Timothy Bentinck
Holly Jackson-Walters, Dan Starkey, Derek Griffiths, Maya Saroya
