| The Sixth Doctor Adventures | |
|---|---|
| Big Finish Productions audio drama | |
| Series | Doctor Who |
| Featuring | |
| Executive producers | |
| Release date |
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The Sixth Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series Doctor Who . It sees the return of Colin Baker reprising his role as the Sixth Doctor.
In 1999, beginning with the story The Sirens of Time , Big Finish Productions began producing a series of audio adventures featuring the Fifth Doctor, Sixth Doctor and Seventh Doctor. For 22 years these stories continued collectively known as Big Finish's Main Range. [1] [2] In May 2020, Big Finish announced the main range would conclude in March 2021 and subsequently replaced with regular releases of each Doctor's adventures continuing in their own respective ranges. [3] [4] Several previously released special titles were retroactively reallocated into these new ranges by Big Finish.
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least one season.
| Actor | Character | Appearances | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sp. | The Last Adventure | 6D & Peri | The Eleven | Water Worlds | Purity Undreamed | Purity Unleashed | Purity Unbound | TQD | TTOATL | TCAMC | BT | ||
| Colin Baker | The Doctor | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Nicola Bryant | Peri Brown | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| India Fisher | Charley Pollard | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| Lisa Greenwood | Flip Jackson | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| Miranda Raison | Constance Clarke | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Bonnie Langford | Melanie Bush | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| Michael Jayston | The Valeyard | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Mark Bonnar | The Eleven | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Lucy Gaskell | Miskavel | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Ruth Madeley | Hebe Harrison | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||
| Cherylee Houston | Elise | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||
| Imogen Stubbs | Patricia McBride / Purity | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| Toby Hadoke | Ron | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Ratings War" [5] | Gary Russell | Steve Lyons | Sixth Doctor, Beep the Meep | January 2002 |
| 2 | "The Maltese Penguin" [6] | Gary Russell | Robert Shearman | Sixth Doctor, Frobisher | June 2002 |
| 3 | "Real Time" [7] | Gary Russell | Gary Russell | Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe, Cybermen | December 2002 |
| 4 | "Her Final Flight" [8] | Gary Russell | Julian Shortman | Sixth Doctor, Peri | December 2004 |
| 5 | "Cryptobiosis" [9] | Gary Russell | Elliot Thorpe | Sixth Doctor, Peri | December 2006 |
| 6 | "Return of the Krotons" [10] | Nicholas Briggs | Nicholas Briggs | Sixth Doctor, Charley Pollard, Krotons | December 2008 |
| 7 | "Trial of the Valeyard" [11] | Barnaby Edwards | Alan Barnes and Mike Maddox | Sixth Doctor, The Inquisitor, the Valeyard | December 2013 |
The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure is a British audio drama based on the series. Within the narrative of the series, the Doctor, its principal character, is a time-travelling alien known as a Time Lord, whose biological characteristics allow him to regenerate into a new form to circumvent an otherwise deadly experience; the device has been used to allow for a change in lead actor every few years in the production of the televised series. [12] The sixth such instance was depicted in 1987 at the very beginning of Time and the Rani , but due to the firing between seasons of Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker, the episode gave the event very little screen time and didn't explain what had caused it.
Big Finish Productions producer David Richardson approached Baker in 2014, after seeing "The Time of the Doctor", which had depicted (on television) the regeneration of the Eleventh Doctor into the Twelfth: "I felt very strongly that regeneration stories, and each Doctor’s final end, are very important to Doctor Who fans – these are stories that allow us to see the Doctor at his most courageous, making a sacrifice that only makes us love him more." Baker, who had been working with Big Finish since 1999, agreed to participate, saying that his depiction of the Doctor "did not benefit from" the difficult circumstances the show faced in the 1980s, and that the quality of Big Finish's work was "the only reason [he had] agreed to bring [his] Doctor to an end." [13]
The audio drama consists of four one-hour episodes, each by a different author and each pairing the Doctor with a different companion and taking place at a different point in his life, but all unified by the presence of the villainous Valeyard, a potential future version of the Doctor introduced in Baker's last television serial, The Trial of a Time Lord . Besides Baker, Michael Jayston and Bonnie Langford reprised their roles from The Trial of a Time Lord, respectively as the Valeyard and as the Doctor's companion Mel.
The final part (The Brink of Death) explains that the Sixth Doctor dies due to the radiation of the planet Lakertya as part of his sacrifice in order to stop the Valeyard from taking over existence.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The End of the Line" [14] | Nicholas Briggs | Simon Barnard and Paul Morris | Sixth Doctor,Constance Clarke,the Master,the Valeyard | August 2015 |
| 2 | "The Red House" [14] | Alan Barnes | Sixth Doctor,Charley Pollard,the Valeyard | ||
| 3 | "Stage Fright" [14] | Matt Fitton | Sixth Doctor,Flip,Jago &Litefoot,the Valeyard | ||
| 4 | "The Brink of Death" [14] | Nicholas Briggs | Sixth Doctor,Mel Bush,the Valeyard,Seventh Doctor | ||
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Headless Ones" [15] | Scott Handcock | James Parsons &Andrew Stirling-Brown | Sixth Doctor,Peri Brown | August 2020 |
| 2 | "Like" [15] | Jacqueline Rayner | |||
| 3 | "The Vanity Trap" [15] | Stuart Manning | |||
| 4 | "Conflict Theory" [15] | Nev Fountain | |||
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "One for All" [16] | Ken Bentley | Lizzie Hopley | Sixth Doctor,Constance,the Eleven | September 2021 |
| 2 | "The Murder of Oliver Akkron" [16] | Nigel Fairs | |||
| 3 | "Elevation" [16] | Chris Chapman | |||
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Rotting Deep" [17] | Helen Goldwyn | Jacqueline Rayner | Sixth Doctor,Melanie Bush,Hebe Harrison | May 2022 |
| 2 | "The Tides of the Moon" [17] | Joshua Pruett | |||
| 3 | "Maelstrom" [17] | Jonathan Morris | |||
| – | "Interlude:The Dream Nexus" [18] | Read by :Toby Hadoke | Adam Christopher | Sixth Doctor,Melanie Bush,Hebe Harrison | May 2022 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Mindless Ones" [19] | Helen Goldwyn | Paul Magrs | Sixth Doctor,Mel,Hebe,Elise,Ron,Patricia | August 2022 |
| 2 | "Reverse Engineering" [19] | Jonathan Morris | Sixth Doctor,Mel,Hebe,Patricia | ||
| 3 | "Chronomancer" [19] | Robert Valentine | Sixth Doctor,Mel,Hebe,Elise,Ron,Patricia / Purity | ||
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Broadway Belongs to Me!" | Helen Goldwyn | Matthew Sweet | Sixth Doctor,Mel | May 2023 |
| 2 | "Purification" | Chris Chapman | Sixth Doctor,Mel,Purity | ||
| 3 | "Time-Burst" | Ian Potter | Sixth Doctor,Mel,Purity,Hebe,Ron | ||
| – | "Interlude:The Doctor and His Amazing Technicolour Nightmare Coat" | Read by :Rosie Baker | Gary Russell | Sixth Doctor,Mel | May 2023 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Girl in a Bubble" | Helen Goldwyn | Jacqueline Rayner | Sixth Doctor,Mel,Hebe,Purity | August 2023 |
| 2 | "The Corruptions" | Mark Wright | |||
| 3 | "The Wrong Side of History" | Robert Valentine | |||
On 30 June 2023,two boxsets were scheduled for 2024. [20] The first is scheduled for March 2024. [21] Big Finish's Senior Producer John Ainsworth teased that it would follow "the Sixth Doctor celebrates his 40th anniversary by encountering some old acquaintances". [20]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Exaltation" | Samuel Clemens | Jacqueline Rayner | Sixth Doctor,Mel | March 2024 |
| 2 | "Escape from Holy Island" | Chris Chapman | Sixth Doctor,Peri,HG Wells | ||
| 3 | "Sibling Rivalry" | Robert Valentine | Sixth Doctor,Constance,Flip,Sontarans | ||
| 4 | "Children of the Revolution" | Robert Valentine | Sixth Doctor,Constance,Flip,Sontarans | ||
| 5 | "The Thousand Year Thaw" | Chris Chapman | Sixth Doctor,Peri | ||
| 6 | "The Firstborn" | Jacqueline Rayner | Sixth Doctor | ||
| – | "Interlude:The Ultimate Poe" | Read by :David Monteath | Andrew Collins | Sixth Doctor,Mel,Edgar Allan Poe | April 2024 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Part One" | Jonathan S Powell | Rochana Patel | Sixth Doctor,Peri,Mel,Cyber Leader,Davros | August 2024 [22] |
| 2 | "Part Two" | Rochana Patel | |||
| 3 | "Part Three" | Katharine Armitage | |||
| 4 | "Part Four" | Katharine Armitage | |||
| 5 | "Part Five" | Stewart Pringle | |||
| 6 | "Part Six" | Stewart Pringle | |||
On 23 May 2024,Big Finish announced their slate of boxsets for 2025. Senior Producer John Ainsworth said “The Sixth,Seventh and Eighth Doctors will feature in two box sets each,as in previous years. I shan't give too much away but expect companions old and new,some classic series monsters that haven't featured on audio for a decade,and a name that's been hiding in plain sight (and it's time to go there...).” [23] The first boxset is scheduled for May 2025. [24]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Story Demon" | Samuel Clemens | Julian Richards | Sixth Doctor,Constance Clarke,Iris Wildthyme,Daleks | May 2025 |
| 2 | "The Key to Many Worlds" | Paul Magrs | |||
| 3 | "Inconstancy" | Ian Potter | |||
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Saiorse of the Seven Seas" | Samuel Clemens | Nina Millns | Sixth Doctor,Peri Brown | August 2025 |
| 2 | "Red for Danger!" | Nev Fountain | |||