Doctor Who's Paul McGann to reunite with key companion for a new adventure with a twist

Ahead of his 30th anniversary in the role, Paul McGann is set to return as the Eighth Doctor, reuniting with a very familiar face (or voice!) for a new series of Doctor Who audio adventures.

McGann will reprise his role for the new boxset, titled Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Branches, and will reunite with actress Daphne Ashbrook, who starred alongside him as Dr Grace Holloway in the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie.

Interestingly though, Ashbrook is not reprising her role as Grace Holloway – but will play Hieronyma Friend, a shady temporal diplomat who takes the form of the Doctor’s past companions.

The adventures also feature classic Who icon Carole Ann Ford as Susan, plus Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks, with four new episodes by John Dorney, Alison Winter, Tim Foley and Patrick O’Connor.

Ashbrook said: “It was wonderful to be working with Paul again. The script was beautifully written and it was so much fun to play a villain to his Doctor. It does make me long for the days when I can be his friend – no pun intended!

"Thirty years it’s been since we shot the Doctor Who movie – I’ve recently watched it for the first time in many years, and I couldn’t believe how young we all were.

"Paul’s a fabulous actor, and he loves doing these audio dramas. His talent and the scripts Big Finish write for him is a match, and it’s kept his character going. He’s been able to experience much of what other Doctors got to experience on TV – what a gift, and it’s wonderful to be a part of that."

So far in the Time War Uncharted series, the Eighth Doctor has been travelling with his great-grandson Alex (Sonny McGann) and starship pilot Cass (Emma Campbell-Jones), exploring a strange new universe and attempting to avoid an escalating conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords.

All the while, he's has multiple encounters with Hieronyma Friend, somehow not realising that the temporal diplomat has been taking the form of his companions – but now, he's about to realise what's going on.

The four new episodes starring McGann are: The Only Girl in the World by John Dorney, False Dawn by Alison Winter, Council of Susan by Tim Foley, and All Over by Patrick O'Connor.

Doctor Who – Time War Uncharted: Branches is now available to pre-order for just £24.99 (download to own) or £35.99 (download to own + collector’s edition CD box set), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.

Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.

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