May 16th, 2024 3 comments

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Big Finish 8th Doctor Echoes

Available to order from www.bigfinish.com

Echoes of the Eighth Doctor

Paul McGann, Nicola Walker and Hattie Morahan star in Echoes, a brand-new box set of full-cast audio dramas, now available from Big Finish Productions.

The fan-favourite TARDIS trio of the Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen have been through a lot together, from uncovering the mystery of the Doom Coalition to being stranded in modern-day London.

Now, as we catch up with them for the first time since 2022 release Connections, they’re off on three further trips in time and space, taking in a world plagued by birdsong, a meeting with ghost hunters in the 1900s, and one of the great wonders of the universe.

Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Echoes is now available to own as a collector’s edition 3-disc CD box set (+ download for just £22.99) or as a digital download only (for just £18.99), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.

The three new adventures for the Eighth Doctor and his companions are:

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 & 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 naïve 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.

The first episode, Birdsong, guest stars Jane Asher, known for her roles in classic films including Alfie and The Masque of the Red Death. And Slow Beasts features Derek Griffiths, who listeners may remember from classic children’s television series including Play School as well as more recent TV acting appearances such as Man Down and Small Axe.

The guest cast of The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Echoes also includes regular Doctor Who monster actor Dan Starkey, as well as Fiona Button (The Split, Truelove), Steve Brody (After Life, Things You Should Have Done), Joe Pitts (The New Look), and Tim Bentinck (The Archers).

This box set marks the Big Finish writing debut of acclaimed theatre and radio playwright Dan Rebellato. 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.

He continued: “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.”

Big Finish listeners can save money by purchasing Echoes in a bundle with the next Eighth Doctor Adventures box set (entitled Deadly Strangers) due to be released in December, for just £44 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £36 (download only).

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

Categorised under: Big Finish, CD, The 8th Doctor