Big Finish has released Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles – Families, a brand-new box set consisting of four dramatised readings that follow each of the companions of the First Doctor. The box set, available from the Big Finish website, features adventures for Steven, Dodo, Vicki and the Doctor’s granddaughter.
In this new box set Peter Purves reprises his role as Steven, Carole Ann Ford once again takes on the Doctor’s granddaughter and Maureen O’Brien plays Vicki. Stephen Noonan plays the First Doctor, Lauren Cornelius makes her Companion Chronicles debut as Dodo and Duncan Wisbey plays various characters.
The four new adventures are:
‘The Temple of Light’ by Jonathan Morris finds the TARDIS and time itself, frozen, and Vicki in the presence of an entirely unfamiliar civilisation. With the Doctor, Ian and Barbara nowhere to be seen, can Vicki find her friends and find a way for time to run normally again?
Maureen O’Brien, who plays Vicki, said: “I don’t know how people write Doctor Who scripts – they are always enormously inventive. This one was delightful. Vicki has her usual spirit of defiant adventurousness, refusal to be beaten by anything, enormous curiosity, and extraordinary humanity.”
Carol Ann Ford and Duncan Wisbey
‘Stardust and Ashes’ by Ian Potter has Susan recounting a story of long ago, when he and her family were trapped by a machine intelligence. There’s always something to be learnt from people’s circumstances and from those around them: ‘even in the ashes of hope, we can sometimes see stardust’.
Peter Purves (Steven) & Stephen Noonan (First Doctor)
In ‘The White Ship’ by Paul Morris, the Doctor and Steven arrive in Normandy at the time of Henry I’s departure for England. It also happens to be the day that the White Ship sank and somehow Steven gets mistaken for Stephen of Blois, future king of England.
Peter Purves said: “I thought, what a great story. It wasn’t a piece of history I’d ever heard. When I was in the TV show, I always loved the history stories. When it was a historical script, it was always much more fun to do.”
Lauren Cornelius (Dodo) and Stephen Noonan (The First Doctor)
Finally, in ‘The Y Factor’ by Christopher Cooper, the First Doctor and Dodo Chaplet, assisted by septuagenarian jujitsu expert Edith Garrud, discover an alien fungus that has the terrifying ability to warp evil thoughts into evil deeds.
Doctor Who – The Companion Chronicles: Families is available to purchase now from the Big FInish website as a download for £24.99 or as a limited Collector’s edition 4 CD box set for £30.99.
