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| Time trio publicity antics for Louise Jameson as Leela, robot pooch K-9, and the mighty Tom Baker as the fourth DOCTOR WHO. Image: BBC. |
The world's most popular incarnation of DOCTOR WHO-so much so that in America I hear there are whole mountain canyons Mount Rushmore-like deservedly carved out with his features!- Tom Baker finally returns to play the legendary bohemian attired, scarf and fedora hat wearing, life loving Time Lord exile for a whole new series of exciting and ambitious original dramas on audio/download for the UK's BIG FINISH productions, available from next year.
Re-united with his 1977-1978 companion Leela-a fearless and intuitive warrior of the Sevateem Tribe (most remembered by the dads for her skimpy leather attire), once more played with charm by Louise Jameson, the duo make their welcome presence felt in six presumably K-9 less stories, including such intriguing titles as Destination: Nerva (presumably a sequel, or perhaps prequel, to Tom Baker's premiere 1974/75 season tale The Ark In Space), Trail of the White Worm (featuring the return of a decayed version of The Doctor's dreaded Moriarty figure, The Master, as played by Geoffrey Beevers), and a new battle against his ultimate Skaroan nemesis: Energy of the Daleks. Several unfilmed BBC commissioned stories from their time are also making their way to adapted realisation within BIG FINISH's popular strand: The Lost Stories, including BERGERAC creator Robert Banks Stewart's The Foe from the Future (a ghost story set in 1977 Devon) and ex-Classic WHO producer Philip Hinchcliffe's The Valley of Death, set in the Amazon Rainforest and involving a mysterious crashed spacecraft. Here's hoping that the equally aborted loony title sounding The Killer Cats of Gen-Singh gets its eventual deserved audio life, too! Top quality guests artists across the story platforms-of which you certainly need the best when in the presence of such a dominant figure as Mister Baker- include top names like Paul Freeman, Mark Benton, Rachel Stirling, Michael Cochrane, Ian McNeice and Raquel Cassidy.
If all that sounds good, then hold on to your Jelly Babies, as six further adventures are planned and in the works, as Tom teams up with another memorable lady companion from the 1978 era: the gorgeous Mary Tamm, once more playing the slightly aloof intellectual Time Lady, Romana. More news on all this as and when...
It's a big challenge, but let's hope that these new Fourth Doctor tales can actually live up to the fine calibre of previous memorable and inventive storytelling from that original on-screen WHO era, as well as giving the titular charismatic actor some worthy dramatic material to play with...
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| A few of the distinctive covers for the new Tom Baker story releases. |
