The first series of Big Finish’s Fourth Doctor Adventures is airing on BBC Radio 4 Extra, meaning you can enjoy them completely free!
The range is currently on its seventh series, but we’re sure there will be readers here who have never listened to the Fourth Doctor Adventures or indeed just this debut series, which was first available in 2012. The season ran for 6 episodes, and paired Tom Baker’s incarnation of the Doctor with Louise Jameson’s wonderful “savage”, Leela.
Each serial airs on Saturdays at 6pm, then is repeated at midnight. However, if you miss them, UK residents can catch up on iPlayer at any time – each hour-long episode remains on the streaming service for a month after initial broadcast. We’re not sure if the radio station will continue with Series 2 (with Mary Tamm as Romana) after The Oseidon Adventure brings Series 1 to a close, but we can only hope!
At the time of writing, the first three stories have aired, with Energy of the Daleks to be broadcast on 10th February 2018 (presumably with Trail of the White Worm on 17th). You’ve got less then a fortnight, however, to listen to Destination Nerva, the season opener, so don’t hang about! Here are all the synopses for The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 1:
Destination Nerva
After saying their goodbyes to Professor Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago, the Doctor and Leela respond to an alien distress call beamed direct from Victorian England. It’s the beginning of a journey that will take them to the newly built Space Dock Nerva… where a long overdue homecoming is expected. A homecoming that could bring about the end of the human race.
Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.
The Renaissance Man
To continue Leela’s education, the Doctor promises to take her to the famous Morovanian Museum. But the TARDIS lands instead in a quiet English village, where they meet the enigmatic collector Harcourt and hisfamily.
When people start to die, reality doesn’t appear quite what it was. There’s something sinister going on within the walls of Harcourt’s manor, and the stakes are higher than they can imagine.
The Doctor is about to discover that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Written by Justin Richards and directed by Ken Bentley for Big Finish.
Wrath of the Iceni
Britain. The height of the Roman occupation. The Doctor has brought Leela to ancient Norfolk to learn about her ancestors… but has no idea how much of an education she is going to get.
Because this is the time of Boudica’s rebellion. When the tribe of the Iceni rises up and attempts to overthrow the Roman masters.
As Leela begins to be swayed by the warrior queen’s words, the Doctor has to make a decision: save his friend… or save history itself?
Written by John Dorney and directed by Ken Bentley.
Energy of the Daleks
The Doctor and Leela find themselves in the middle of London at the time of a new energy crisis. The GlobeSphere Corporation seems to have all the answers – but several thousand protestors beg to differ.
What is the connection between the National Gallery and a base on the Moon? Has radical thinker Damien Stephens simply sold out, or does he have a more sinister agenda?
The Doctor has detected a mysterious energy reading. Could it be that the most evil creatures in the universe have returned to claim ultimate victory once and for all?
Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.
Trail of the White Worm
The legend dates back to Roman times, at least: a great White Worm, as wide as a man, slithers out of the rocks of the Dark Peak Gap to take animals, sometimes even children, for its food.
When the Doctor and Leela arrive in the wilds of Derbyshire, only to get caught up in the hunt for a missing girl, they soon discover that the legend of the Worm is very much alive – even now, in 1979.
Worse still, it seems that the Doctor isn’t the only renegade Time Lord on the trail of this deadly and mysterious Worm…
Written by Alan Barnes and directed by Ken Bentley.
The Oseidon Adventure
The first time the fearsome Kraals attempted to take over the Earth, with the help of their android agents, things didn’t go quite according to plan – thanks to the time-travelling alien Doctor and his allies at UNIT.
This time, Marshal Grinmal and his belligerent cohorts are ready for them. This time, they’ll make no mistakes. This time, Chief Scientist Tyngworg has not just one plan, but a back-up plan, and a back-up back-up plan worked out…
With the Doctor a prisoner on the Kraals’ radiation-blasted home planet of Oseidon, only his companion Leela can save the day – alongside a most unlikely ally.
Written by Alan Barnes and directed by Ken Bentley.
Head over to iPlayer to enjoy these release now, and don’t forget to support Big Finish’s Fourth Doctor Adventures!
(Thanks to Simon Danes.)
