The first full-cast, full-length Doctor Who audio drama to have been recorded entirely during lockdown caused by Coronavirus will be released next month.
Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, and John Leeson star as the Fourth Doctor, Leela, and K9 respectively in Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun, written by Rob Valentine, which boasts among its guest cast the brilliant Fenella Woolgar (The Unicorn and the Wasp). She plays the terminally bored socialite, Lady Malina Rigel-Smythe, one of many passengers on board a luxury liner with a difference.
This is the first full-cast Doctor Who audio drama to have been produced using Big Finish’s remote recording techniques. Here’s the synopsis:
After an accident, the TARDIS lands on a luxury star-liner. Leaving their ship to repair itself, the Doctor, Leela and K9 find themselves facing a great terror: mingling at a cocktail party.
Something seems awry behind the pleasantries, however. Guests are going missing, and equipment is breaking down. When the Doctor investigates further he discovers that the star-liner is literally on course for disaster.
But no one seems surprised by this information, still less troubled. What’s going on? And can the Doctor and his friends save everyone… when nobody wants to be saved?
Director, Nicholas Briggs says:
“In Shadow of the Sun, we have a great, well-made script by Rob Valentine. A lovely slice of science fantasy. It has a great central idea and a cast of superb characters. At its core, there’s a fanatical belief in something that is patent nonsense, but the Doctor, Leela and K9 find themselves to be the only people who know the truth. That’s a great set-up!
“And it also has a flavour of the often talked about ‘base under siege’ setting, which adds an appealing claustrophobia to the storytelling. It makes the situation more extreme and therefore more of an exciting ride for the audience.”
Robert Valentine adds:
“This is a story inspired by the modern trend of giving the same value to opinion as fact – including everything from climate change denial to the anti-vaccination movement – but specifically the recent (and ultimately fatal) rocket launch experiments intended to prove that the Earth is flat. The Doctor is about to find himself in a situation where the true enemy is pseudo-scientific hubris, and for once it might be an enemy he hasn’t the tools to overcome.”
Shadow of the Sun will be released on 12th May 2020, and is now available to pre-order exclusively at the Big Finish website, as a collector’s edition CD (priced at £10.99) or digital download (price at £8.99).
Note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mailout of collector’s edition CDs will be delayed, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.
