Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

With the Season 13 Blu-ray Collection copies arriving on fans’ doorsteps this week, what better time to announce new adventures for the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart?

Tom Baker and Sadie Miller meet old friends – and old enemies – in The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Ministry of Death, due for release March 2026.

2026 will see the release of three brand-new box sets of full-cast audio drama adventures set during Season 13 of classic Doctor Who, starring Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Miller as journalist Sarah Jane Smith.

In the first of these sets, titled The Ministry of Death, the Doctor and Sarah are brought back down to Earth, where they help out the Brigadier (Jon Culshaw) and Harry Sullivan (Christopher Naylor) with two tricky cases.

First, UNIT need their help investigating a bizarre death. Then, before the time travellers get chance to leave, another dangerous situation arises – one involving an old enemy of the Doctor’s…

The Ministry of Death by Robert Valentine (four parts)

When the Brigadier uses the Space-Time Telegraph to summon the Doctor and Sarah Jane from their travels, they know it’ll be for something unusual. But neither could possibly expect something quite this strange.

An electronics expert has died after being struck by lightning. But how could this possibly happen in his office? And that’s only the first death they discover.

A wild scheme is underway. A case of twisted science and revenge. That’s about to hit closer to home than they could possibly anticipate.

The Inhuman Empire by Phil Mulryne (two parts)

Sarah is contacted by an old friend who knows her predilection for ‘rum goings on’, asking her to investigate unusual activities at the National Museum. Sarah agrees to look into it, with the Doctor tagging along – but they soon discover things are worse than they thought.

Because the Museum is host to alien activity – very familiar aliens at that. And if they don’t stop these relic hunters quickly, then humanity itself might not survive.

The box set’s guest cast includes Carolyn Seymour (Survivors), Carla Mendonça (Coronation Street), and John Heffernan (Dracula).

Producer David Richardson said: “Now this is my era! I was 12 years old when the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry were flying out into the universe, and those years remain some of my most treasured Doctor Who memories.

“How brilliant that, at last, 15 seasons into The Fourth Doctor Adventures, we can bring those characters back together again for new stories. This season has been sitting ‘in the can’ for a while now – we made it at the height of lockdown, and it proved the most joyous diversion from bleak times. Imaginative, brilliant escapism – just what Doctor Who should be.”

The Ministry of Death writer Robert Valentine added: “There is a certain magic to these lead characters of the Fourth Doctor, Sarah, Harry and the Brig. The Fourth Doctor is a far less clubbable personality than the Third Doctor was, and he’s this chaotic force who wants to leave, and the Brig is a force of order who wants him to stay.

“And stuck between them are Sarah and Harry, who are a very different couple of characters, who nevertheless get on extremely well. But Harry is a throwback to an earlier time, not unlike John Steed in The Avengers, and Sarah is a thoroughly contemporary woman who’s bang up to date for the 1970s. Or is it the 1980s?”

Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Ministry of Death is now available to pre-order for just £19.99 (download to own) or £24.99 (download to own + collector’s edition 3-disc CD box set) exclusively at http://www.bigfinish.com.