A millennia-long war reaches 20th-century England in Sontarans vs Rutans: The Children of the Future, a full-cast audio drama released today from Big Finish Productions.
Marking 50 years since the Sontarans first appeared in Doctor Who television story “The Time Warrior,” Sontarans vs Rutans is a four-part audio mini-series exploring the seemingly endless war against their shapeshifting foes and the scars it has left across the universe.
The second instalment, The Children of the Future, brings the story right back to where Doctor Who fans first encountered Robert Holmes’ potato-headed warmongers – during the Third Doctor’s exile on Earth.
The Children of the Future stars Tim Treloar as the Doctor, alongside Sadie Miller (daughter of original series actor Elisabeth Sladen) as Sarah Jane Smith and Jon Culshaw as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
Doctor Who – Sontarans vs Rutans: The Children of the Future is written by Tim Foley and is now available to own for just £10.99 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £8.99 (download only), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.
The Brigadier is used to the Doctor acting strangely, but this time there’s something decidedly different about the whole affair. As he looks into the Time Lord’s odd activities outside of UNIT, there’s a mystery that’ll take Lethbridge-Stewart to a site very familiar to Sarah Jane Smith.
Can the Brigadier trust his old friend? Who are his new mysterious allies? And is the future of humanity really at stake? A Sontaran threat could spell the end of their long-standing friendship… and the entire planet!
Actor Treloar said: “It’s always fantastic to work with Sadie and Jon, and this is a wonderful script by Tim Foley. It’s quite unusual; usually with the Third Doctor, you get the sense that he’s a man in control, but on this particular occasion, he’s somewhat perturbed and baffled. And then we find out that there’s the possibility that it’s not the Doctor at all…”
Culshaw added: “It’s fascinating to revisit the Sontarans, and the Rutans as well, with a delicious harking back to one of my favourite stories of all time, The Time Warrior.“The Brigadier and Sarah have some fabulous scenes in this story, and Sadie Miller really brings the energy, the gumption, and the investigative verve of Sarah Jane. It’s so wonderful and very
moving to hear her playing as her dear, wonderful mum.”
The cast also includes Nicholas Boulton (Captain Saint), Lucy Goldie (Sergeant Moss) and Jeremy Ang Jones (Stanley).
Doctor Who – Sontarans vs Rutans is being released in monthly parts between January and April 2024, with a story which weaves through the lives of the Third, Sixth, Eighth and War Doctors.
The series cast also includes Paul McGann (the Eighth Doctor), Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor) and Jonathon Carley (the War Doctor), with Dan Starkey playing a variety of Sontarans.
The complete Doctor Who – Sontarans vs Rutans series bundle is available to pre-order for just £40 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £32 (download only), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.
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 |
