There’s an encounter with Mervyn Peake as well as trouble with the Nine for Tom Baker as the new box set of adventures is released by Big Finish today.

In three full-cast audio dramas, the Doctor once again travels without a companion… but he’s never alone for long.  In the opening adventure, the Doctor must keep the Nine (John Heffernan) — a criminal Time Lord with nine different personalities — out of trouble. The last of the Abway species, Thana (Ronni Ancona), is also back causing chaos.

Alicia Ambrose-Bayly (ATA Girl, The Prisoner) guest stars as Hanna Schumann, a German nurse, in the World War 1 adventure Shellshock. And in the closing “celebrity historical” story, Peake Season, David Holt (Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, The Jungle Book) voices the famous artist and author, Mervyn Peake.

The three adventures in this box set are:

The Dreams of Avarice by Guy Adams 

The Nine isn’t your average robber. A ferociously intelligent and murderous kleptomaniac Time Lord with regenerative dissonance, he’s a far more dangerous adversary than most security details are used to. So it’s useful that the Doctor is on hand to stop him. This time more than ever – as the Nine is about to pull off the greatest heist of his criminal career. Though could the consequences be far worse than the crime?

Shellshock by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris 

When the TARDIS lands behind German lines at the height of the First World War the Doctor finds himself inadvertently transported to a hospital full of traumatised soldiers. They’re suffering from shellshock but also something else. Something causing vivid nightmares that chill the blood. Something not of this place. Things are not quiet on the Western Front.

Peake Season by Lizbeth Myles 

After an embarrassing encounter, the Doctor tries to make amends to Mervyn Peake by offering him a trip in the TARDIS. It’s a trip the famous author should never have accepted.  Soon he and the Doctor find themselves trapped in a nameless city and working as newspaper cartoonists. Where are they? More importantly, where is the TARDIS? And more importantly than that – can they escape with their lives?

John Heffernan said: “Tom Baker is a national treasure. It’s been a total joy and a huge privilege to see him play the iconic character for which he’s known and to see he’s still relishing it. It really has been a dream.”

Ronni Ancona added: “I’m literally in love with Tom. He was a real hero of mine when I was young and the only Doctor Who for me. He’s magnificent and hysterically funny. He’s a total inspiration.”

Alicia Ambrose-Bayly said: “I grew up watching the Doctor Who re-runs with Tom Baker so to me – there is no other Doctor. He’s got a twinkle in his eye and lots of good anecdotes from working as an actor. He’s great company.”

Script editor John Dorney said: “Mervyn Peake has often come up in conversations with Tom Baker as he was someone he likes the work of. So, it struck me that we should get the Doctor to meet Mervyn Peake as I knew it was something Tom would enjoy and have fun with.”

David Holt added: “Mervyn Peake was an exceptional talent with a cult following. He had the most extraordinary but brief life. What he left behind was a body of fantastical books [in which he showed great] imagination and skill for creating characters and worlds. He was a significant artist in his own right as well as an author.”

The cast of this box set also includes Nicholas Asbury (Alma’s Not Normal, Chewing Gum), Richard Dixon (Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?), Mark Elstob (The Prisoner), Jules de Jongh (The Canterville Ghost), Richard Hope (Gentleman Jack, The Ipcress File), Finlay Robertson (Unforgotten, Doctor Who), and Marc Silk (Thunderbirds Are Go).

Doctor Who — The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Nine is now available to own for just £24.99 (collector’s edition CD box set + download) or £19.99 (download only) exclusively from the Big Finish website.

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