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Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor to Take on the Judoon in Big Finish’s Stranded 3

This December, Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor returns in the pencultime Stranded boxset from Big Finish, and will take on new series foe, the Judoon (who first appeared in Smith and Jones).

Stranded finds the Doctor and his companions living in London in the 21st Century, they must cope with new and unfamiliar threats, both domestic and alien, not to mention the neighbours.  

In Stranded 3, the TARDIS team faces the Judoon for the first time, in box set opener Patience, and wrestles with a narrative that runs backwards from devastating consequences to their cause in the final episode What Just Happened? – as we hurtle towards the end of the Stranded saga… 

The four fantastic stories feature the return of companions Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker), Helen Sinclair (Hattie Morahan), Tania Bell (Rebecca Root) and Sergeant Andy Davidson (Tom Price) in the midst of adventure, as follows:  

  • Patience by Tim Foley 
  • Twisted Folklore by Lizzie Hopley 
  • Snow by James Kettle 
  • What Just Happened? by John Dorney 

Producer David Richardson said:

“The scripts for Stranded 3 are works of beauty. It’s all about characters and ideas; how people react to the extraordinary. Here we have the Eighth Doctor and his four (count them) companions, Liv, Helen, Tania and Andy, still stranded and facing a mysterious, unknown enemy that has caused terrible damage to Earth’s timeline. Amid this larger picture there are some stunning standalone adventures. A story that runs backwards. A house where snow falls in summer. And Judoon!  

“As producer, it’s my job to sit back and listen to these amazing actors play with the brilliant scripts. This series is, without a doubt, one of my favourites.” 

Paul McGann added:

“It seems another age entirely, when there was just the Doctor and one companion! Recording this has been like getting the band back together – we’re having a hoot, and putting our heart and souls into it. 

“It’s fun and I’m enjoying it but you still feel there’s a slight sense of jeopardy – there’s never the sense of permanence, things are always in flux, as they should be.” 

Stranded 3 is available as a CD at the special pre-order price of £24.99, and as a digital download (again, at the discounted pre-order price of £19.99), exclusively from the Big Finish website.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor to Take on the Judoon in Big Finish’s Stranded 3

by Philip Bates time to read: 2 min
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