The Fourth Doctor and his companions will be pitted against powerful foes old and new in three new full-cast audio dramas, due for release in June 2024 from Big Finish Productions.
The Metamorphosis box set takes the Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companions, Surgeon Lieutenant Harry Sullivan (Christopher Naylor) and UNIT secretary Naomi Cross (Eleanor Crooks), to the recent past and the far future, where they are caught in a deadly game.
Recently defeated on screen by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors in Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials, the Toymaker is resurrected on audio, this time played by Annette Badland (Doctor Who: Aliens of London, Ted Lasso). And Geoffrey Beevers returns to the role of the Master, to face the Fourth Doctor for the first time since 2015’s Death Match.
The box set’s star-studded cast also includes Lydia West (It’s a Sin, Years and Years) as Cahlo, Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Dracula) as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Nicholas Briggs as Padro.
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Metamorphosis is now available to pre-order as a collector’s edition 3-disc CD box set (+ download for just £19.99) or as a digital download only (for just £16.99), exclusively at www.bigfinish.com. Please note: the collector’s edition CD box set is strictly limited to 1,500 copies and will not be repressed.
The three tales in this set are:
“Matryoshka” by Aurora Fearnley
When a strange force drags the TARDIS to Earth, it’s clear that the Doctor, Harry and Naomi are up against an incredibly powerful being. And when they encounter Lord Pearson, inventor of games and toys, searching for his vanished daughter… it becomes clear exactly who that being might be. Hide and seek is one of the simplest games devised by man… but in the hands of The Toymaker… it may also become the deadliest.
“The Caged Assassin” by Matthew Sweet
It’s very unusual to find a tiger in the TARDIS. But it’s even more unusual to find one heavily dosed in radiation. But this is far from the most unusual occurrence the Doctor, Naomi and Harry are going to encounter today. Because they are about to meet Charles Jamrach, supplier of exotic animals to the rich and royal, who is unaware that his famous menagerie conceals a deadly terror. A strange creature out for blood…
“Metamorphosis” by Lisa McMullin
The people of the planet Jaxus are vanishing. When the Doctor and his friends land, Naomi is snatched away by a mysterious fog and taken to a prison run by a very old foe of the Doctor’s. The Master is here and he has, as ever, a sinister scheme underway… but neither Naomi nor Harry know who he is… Can the Doctor stop his plans and rescue the prisoners? Or will his companions inadvertently aid his enemy’s plans?
Director Jamie Anderson said: “Some of the Doctor’s enemies have an ‘I’m smarter than you‘ vibe about them and it’s always nice to beat villains who really think a lot of themselves. I’m very glad that the Doctor has got another chance to come up against the naughty Toymaker.”
Actor Annette Badland added: “I really engaged with this script and was intrigued from the outset by the idea of Russian dolls and changing personalities. The Toymaker is quite fascinating – complex, unpleasant, seductive!”
Guest star Lydia West added: “It’s great to work with Big Finish again – there’s something about working with audio that’s really powerful, and the privilege of working with Tom is just dreamy!”
All three of 2024’s Fourth Doctor Adventures box sets (including March’s Storm of the Sea Devils, Metamorphosis, and a third, Title TBC, due September) can be pre-ordered together in a bundle for just £54 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £48 (digital download only).
A 15-release bundle (including all of 2024’s Classic Doctor Adventures) is also available to purchase for just £318 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £264 (download only).
Big Finish Productions’ Doctor Who audio drama releases
| Range | Title | Starring | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sontarans vs Rutans | “The Battle of Giant’s Causeway” | Paul McGann, India Fisher, Conrad Westmaas | Jan. 10, 2024 |
| First Doctor Adventures | “Fugitive of the Daleks” | Stephen Noonan, Maureen O’Brien | Jan. 23, 2024 |
| Doctor Who audio novels | “The Chaos Cascade” | Dan Starkey, Beth Chalmers, Rebecca Root | January 2024 |
| Eleventh Doctor Adventures | “Victory of the Doctor” | Jacob Dudman, Safiyya Ingar | Feb. 6, 2024 |
| Ninth Doctor Adventures | “Buried Threats” | Christopher Eccleston, Lisa Bowerman | February 2024 |
| Third Doctor Adventures | “Revolution in Space” | Tim Treloar, Sadie Miller | Feb. 13, 2024 |
| Sontarans vs Rutans | “The Children of the Future” | Tim Treloar, Sadie Miller, Jon Culshaw | Feb. 8, 2024 |
| Torchwood | “Another Postcard from Mr Colchester” | Paul Clayton | February 2024 |
| Torchwood | “Sabotage” | Sophie Aldred, Paul Clayton | February 2024 |
| Master! | “Planet Doom” | Eric Roberts, Chase Masterson | February 2024 |
| Twelfth Doctor Chronicles | “You Only Die Twice” | Jacob Dudnan, Bhavnisha Parmar | March 2024 |
| Sontarans vs Rutans | “Born to Die” | Colin Baker, India Fisher | March 2024 |
| Sixth Doctor Adventures | “The Quin Dilemma” | Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, Miranda Raison, Lisa Greenwood) | March 2024 |
| Fourth Doctor Adventures | “Storm of the Sea Devils” | Tom Baker, Christopher Naylor, Eleanor Crooks | March 2024 |
| Fifth Doctor Adventures | “The Dream Team” | Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse | April 2024 |
| Torchwood | “I Hate Mondays” | Tracy-Ann Oberman, Gareth David-Lloyd, Tim Bentinck | May 2024 |
| Missy | “Bad Influence” | Michelle Gomez, Paterson Joseph, Natalie Gumede, David Shaw Parker | May 2024 |
| Eighth Doctor Adventures | “Echoes” | Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Hattie Morahan | May 2024 |
| Fourth Doctor Adventures | “Metamorphosis” | Tom Baker, Christopher Naylor, Eleanor Crooks | June 2024 |
| The Novel Adaptations | “Goth Opera” | Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, | July 2024 |
| Fourth Doctor Adventures | TBA | Tom Baker, Christopher Naylor, Eleanor Crooks | September 2024 |
