Ninth and Unbound Doctors unite …
R.I.P., David Warner…
Big Finish Productions’ anniversary audio epic, Doctor Who – Once and Future nears its endgame in Time Lord Immemorial, released today — and featuring the last Who performance of acting icon David Warner.
“I would’ve run through a brick wall for David Warner. I loved him. An inspirational man and actor.” – Christopher Eccleston
Two Doctors meet in the latest episode of the diamond anniversary audio drama series, as Christopher Eccleston (the Ninth Doctor) and the late David Warner (the Unbound Doctor) star in Doctor Who – Once and Future: Time Lord Immemorial.
Suffering from the effects of a degeneration weapon and slipping between bodies, the Ninth Doctor finds his TARDIS caught between universes as the cosmos starts to break down. A Doctor from another reality arrives and they join forces with Liv Chenka and the Lumiat to find the cause.
Someone has desecrated the mythical Hall of the Time Lord Immemorial, where the sands of time from the multiverse are held. And those sands are running out…
Doctor Who – Once and Future: Time Lord Immemorial is now available as a single-disc collector’s edition CD (+ download for just £10.99), or digital download only (for just £8.99), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.
Writer Lisa McMullin said: “This particular set was a real gift because I got to make two characters that you might not expect to be able to interact because they’re in different universes, and then converge those universes and have them collide. There’s a whole heap of fun where they’re trying to decide which universe they’re in. The Ninth and Unbound Doctors were so much fun and a joy. They worked together really well, and bounced beautifully off each other.”
Script editor Matt Fitton said: “I know Christopher Eccleston loves Lisa McMullin’s writing, so when he said that he wanted to do one of these 60th anniversary adventures, we immediately got her on the job, and threw together some more old friends as well.
“We have Nicola Walker turning up as Liv Chenka, and Gina McKee as the Lumiat. The Lumiat is Lisa’s creation who is, in a way, the Master’s version of the Valeyard in that she’s the opposite of everything the Master stands for. The Lumiat is an insufferably good version of the Master or Missy!”
The impressive roster of guest actors in this adventure is completed by Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth, The Thirty-Nine Steps) as the Time Lord Immemorial himself.
Big Finish listeners can purchase all eight Once and Future audio adventures together in a bundle for just £72 (on collector’s edition CD and download) or £60 (download only).
A special edition series bundle, which contains extended behind-the-scenes extras and music suites for each story, is also available to pre-order for just £62 (as a digital download only).
All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release.
Eccleston said: “It was quite emotional for me to work with David Warner, an actor I grew up as a child watching and admiring. To share the Doctor with him was special. If ever there was an actor who should have played the Doctor, it was David Warner.”
Producer David Richardson added: “Bringing the Ninth Doctor and the Unbound Doctor together was inspired by the friendship between Chris and David. They have known each other well for some years and it was a treat to bring them together in the studio. To benefit from these two greats acting opposite each other was irresistible.”
