The brilliant cover for Big Finish’s Doom Coalition 3 has been unveiled – and as you can see, it features River Song in quite an unusual get-up!
Paul McGann returns as the Eighth Doctor this October, alongside Liv Chenka (Spooks‘ Nicola Walker), new companion Helen Sinclair (Outnumbered‘s Hattie Morahan), and of course, his sort-of-wife-from-the-future, River Song (Alex Kingston). The boxset follows on from the disappearance of Mark Bonnar’s The Eleven, an insane Time Lord with his former personalities trapped in his head, in the previous Doom Coalition.
Somewhere in the depths of the Time Vortex, the Doomsday Chronometer is counting down; and if the travellers can’t find all eight of its pieces, they may never be able to uncover the truth behind the Doom Coalition. It’s a race against time through the fourth dimension, with the TARDIS travelling to England in 1998, 15th Century Prague, modern day Rome, and the court of King Henry VIII…
Written by John Dorney and Matt Fitton, and directed by Ken Bentley, here’s the official synopsis:
1. Absent Friends
Earth. The late 20th century. Across the world, the mobile phone is gaining popularity as more and more people decide to join the digital age. But for the residents of a sleepy English town sitting in the shade of a new transmission mast, that ubiquity has a troubling cost.
When the TARDIS veers off-course, the Doctor and his companions find themselves in the middle of a mystery. Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you. And sometimes the future does as well.
2. The Eighth Piece
15th Century Prague: in the castle dungeons, a prisoner raves about the end of the world. Outside, Liv Chenka seeks out the workshop of a strange Clockmaker to see what he is creating.
England, 1538: Lord Thomas Cromwell finds his duties interrupted by otherworldly forces – clockwork soldiers, an unusual nun, and a mysterious scholar calling himself ‘the Doctor’. Perhaps the truth can be extracted in the torture chamber of London’s Bloody Tower?
Rome, 2016: Helen Sinclair has an appointment with an enigmatic Professor, whose greatest work is almost complete. Only the Eighth Piece is missing…
3. The Doomsday Chronometer
While River Song takes Helen on an archaeological expedition like no other, the Doctor finds himself enlisted by an alien Queen to save her people.
Trapped and alone, Liv stares death in the face as she meets the enemy who’s been dogging the TARDIS travellers’ footsteps throughout Earth’s history.
The Doomsday Chronometer has been protected for five centuries: secret cults and societies jealously guarding its mystery. But what is their real purpose? The Doctor is about to discover the truth…
4. The Crucible of Souls
The date has been set.
The trap has been sprung.
A life has been taken and a maniac is on the loose.
With the TARDIS crew separated and in terrible trouble, will today be the day the bad guys win?
Spoilers…
The set features Richard Hope (who you’ll know primarily from The Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood), Jeremy Clyde (The Iron Lady, William Tell), Ian Puleston-Davies (Coronation Street, Revolver), Anna Acton (Casualty, EastEnders), John Shrapnel (Gladiator, Troy), Tim McMullan (Shakespeare in Love, The Queen), Nicholas Woddeson (Skyfall, John Carter), Robert Bathurst (Toast of London, Blandings), and Janie Dee (Alan Aycbourn’s Comic Potential, Carousel). Here’s a better look at the cover art:
Doom Coalition 3 is available from October 2016 exclusively from the Big Finish website for £20 on both CD or download.
