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Samuel West’s Morbius will be facing off against Jonathon Carley’s War Doctor in the first of the latter’s new series later this year, as The War Doctor Rises moves his story into the next phase in Tim Foley’s Morbius the Mighty.

In the series’ first volume, he’s recuperating from a poisoning and pursued by Morbius, the dictator of ancient Gallifrey. Morbius the Mighty also serves as a sequel to Dark Gallifrey: Morbius, as the tyrannous Time Lord emerges into a very different era and seeks bitter revenge on his foe. Meanwhile, a third power with their own agenda watches from the shadows.

The War Doctor has been forced out of the fight and the battle has moved on in his absence. There are new powers, new anomalies, and new excuses from him to keep his distance. With only Cora, his nurse, to keep him company on the forest planet of Lull, the War Doctor is content to leave his old life behind.

But something is stirring in the depths of a twisted planet. An old, embittered foe nurses a terrible grudge against the Doctor. And when a chance encounter gives this enemy the chance to escape, nobody is safe in his quest for vengeance.

From the depths of the stormy Valley, Morbius will rise…

Returning to Big Finish to portray Morbius on audio is BAFTA-nominated actor Samuel West (Slow Horses, All Creatures Great and Small). Jonathon Carley once again gives voice to the War Doctor, originally created by John Hurt on television.

Morbius the Mighty also features Sheila Ruskin (Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken, I, Claudius) as Cora, Gareth Armstrong (Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora, Blake’s 7) as Judd, Pamela Nomvete (Andor) as 1-8-1, Theo Solomon (Temple) as Herving, and regular Doctor Who monster voice Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks.

Writer Tim Foley said: “With Dark Gallifrey, I really got my teeth into Morbius – the way he approached everything, that ego of his that was bubbling out over the script. There was just so much of him that I wanted to write another script to put more of him in. So I asked, please let me write for Morbius again!

“Because Dark Gallifrey: Morbius was inspired by Frankenstein, it felt like a natural fit to put Morbius in another epic story. A large part of Morbius the Mighty is inspired by The Wrath of Khan, which itself has its genesis in Moby Dick. Both are fabulous revenge stories, and basically boil down to a one-on-one. I thought about what Morbius was angry at the War Doctor about, what was driving him, and that’s where the drama stems from.”

The War Doctor Rises: Morbius the Mighty is now available to pre-order for just £22.99 (collector’s edition CD box set + download) or £18.99 (digital download only), exclusively from http://www.bigfinish.com.