Torchwood returning for official series 6 at Big Finish – with twists in store

Torchwood is returning for an official sixth 'series' courtesy of Big Finish – and there are some serious surprises on the way.

John Barrowman will reprise his role as Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood – God Among Us, a new set of audio plays which pick up where the previous Aliens Among Us left off.

Released in August 2017, Aliens Among Us was presented as an official fifth series of Torchwood, with approval from creator Russell T Davies and following the events of the last TV outing, Miracle Day.

God Among Us will pit the Torchwood team against an alien god and kicks off a few days after the Aliens Among Us finale, but not everyone has made it out alive...

Joining Barrowman as Captain Jack will be Tracy-Ann Oberman as the resurrected Yvonne Hartman, Paul Clayton as Mr Colchester, Alexandria Riley as Ng, Samantha Béart as Oor, Jonny Green as Tyler Steele, Rachel Atkins as Ro-Jedda and Tom Price as Sergeant Andy Davison.

Notice any significant omissions from that list? *starts trembling with fear and anticipation*

"They are really great stories in series 6, they really move the narrative forward," said Barrowman. "I find all over the world, from Puerto Rico to Paris, from London to Pensacola Florida to South America, there are huge Torchwood fans and the audience is always growing."

The new set will comprise four stories: 'Future Pain' by James Goss, 'The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood' by Guy Adams, 'See No Evil' by John Dorney and 'Night Watch' by Tim Foley.

"We had such a great reaction to series 5, it's been a delight getting the cast back together to do more," producer James Goss said. "Now things are established the stories are more standalone, seeing Torchwood face some tough challenges – a plague of sleep, a city that goes blind, organising a funeral, and then there's an alien god to deal with!"

Torchwood: Series 6, Part 1 launches this next set of adventures in October 2018. Part 2 will follow in February 2019, and part 3 will complete the season in June 2019.

All three parts can be pre-ordered today from bigfinish.com – either individually for £25 on download or £28 on CD, or you can save money in a specially-priced Torchwood series 6 bundle with all three parts at £60 on download or £75 on CD.

Source: Digital Spy

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Georgia Tennant revisits Doctor Who's Jenny – and explains why she wasn't satisfied with her TV episode

Whatever happened to the Doctor's daughter? It's a question that Doctor Who fans will have to ponder no longer, as the character of Jenny (Georgia Tennant) returns in a new series of audio plays from Big Finish.

Jenny – a genetic anomaly artificially created from the Doctor's DNA – debuted in the 2008 TV episode 'The Doctor's Daughter'. But while her Time Lord genetics allowed Jenny to escape a brush with death, the character hasn't been seen since she hijacked a rocket and jetted off into outer space at the episode's climax.

Looking back on her TV debut as the character, Georgia told Digital Spy that she wasn't totally satisfied with her performance, explaining that – as the daughter of fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison – she felt overwhelmed by the pressure of appearing in the iconic BBC sci-fi series.

"It's been such a massive part of my life, and then to get to the point where I'm in it, I just thought, 'If I can just get through this, it'll be fine. If I can just say the words in the right order and put one foot in front of the other...'

"Now of course I look back and go, 'Oh, I could've done so much more with that!' I think it would've been really great if I'd done that character now. I felt such pressure back then to just sort of get through it."

A decade later and Georgia is reprising the role, having recorded four stories for a new boxset release in December of last year. "I've enjoyed it much more than I thought I was going to enjoy it," she admits. "The pressure that I felt back then has lifted, and I've just had a bit of a laugh!"

Jenny – The Doctor's Daughter has the character as a universe-trotting "Time Lord in training", with Harry Potter's Sean Biggerstaff cast as Noah, "Jenny's mysterious, unknown, but knowing companion".

Big Finish explores various realms of the Whoniverse on audio, from Torchwood to Class to the further adventures of Lady Christina de Souza (Michelle Ryan) and had been trying to secure Georgia to appear in a Jenny spin-off for "quite a long time".

"Enough time needed to have had passed after the TV episode, so that I felt like I could put my own mark on her," she explains. "Because obviously she was effectively born at the beginning of the TV episode, so by the end of it, she's not formed a massive personality.

"I wanted to make sure that I could create a well-rounded, interesting, fun version of her that I would be happy to commit to. It's a slightly weird thing in that you're reprising a role, but actually you're sort of creating it fresh, because she wasn't particularly fully-formed [on television]."

As part of that process, Georgia was also involved in Jenny's new adventures as an associate producer – advising on story ideas, scripts and casting. "It's a power thing!" she jokes. "They didn't at any point say, 'Step back, madam!' so that was good."

In fact, Georgia is now regularly working as a producer alongside her acting gigs, having most recently put out the romantic comedy You, Me and Him, co-starring her on-screen father and off-screen husband David Tennant.

She's not sure if future Jenny boxsets will reunite the character with the tenth Doctor or even see her cross paths with the fifth, with the focus right now being on cementing the series as a standalone. "[The Doctor] gets referred to every now and again," she says. "But Jenny is very much a separate character in her own right."

One thing's for certain, though: having experienced a wealth of enthusiastic reactions from fans when her spin-off was officially announced back in November, she's keen to keep carving out adventures for Jenny for the foreseeable future.

"I only saw positive things, which is good – I didn't delve into the depths of the internet to find the negatives! But the fans are really excited to see what she's been up to. And that's really nice. There's no fans quite like the Doctor Who fans!"

Jenny – The Doctor's Daughter is available to buy now on CD and as a digital download from Big Finish.

Credit: Digital Spy

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Doctor Who spin-off Class returning at Big Finish

Doctor Who spin-off Class may have been axed after one series, though fans can now breathe a sigh of relief that it will continue in one form.

The show will be back as six audio adventures for Big Finish in August 2018, telling the further adventures of the students at Coal Hill Academy, with all of the original cast members returning to reprise their roles.

Doctor Who Magazine originally confirmed the news and further information was released on May 31. The six new adventures will see the student cross paths with characters from the Doctor Who universe, including Seventh Doctor companion Ace (Sophie Aldred).

The six adventures and their writers are as follows:

1.1 Gifted by Roy Gill

1.2 Life Experience by Jenny T Colgan

1.3 Tell Me You Love Me by Scott Handcock

2.1 Everyone Loves Reagan by Tim Foley

2.2 Now You Know… by Tim Leng

2.3 In Remembrance by Guy Adams

"It's a real thrill having brought Torchwood back on audio, to do the same all over again with another slice of the Doctor Who universe, and to play in a world created by Patrick Ness," enthused director and producer Scott Handcock.

"The characters and their relationships are key to the success of a series like Class, and the intimacy of the audio medium allows us to bring that to the fore. We've had a great deal of fun reuniting the original cast for the audio series, telling brand-new stories set within the TV run, whilst tackling a host of alien menaces.

"Of course I couldn't resist linking up to the Doctor Who universe, and bringing Ace and the Daleks into the world of Class has been an absolute treat. And for full authenticity, we're lucky to have series composer Blair Mowat return to the world of Class as well."

Class: The Audio Adventures is available to pre-order now at £23 on CD or £18 on download from the Big Finish site, with prices rising to £25 and £20 when they are released. The two volumes can be purchased as a bundle at £44 on CD and £34 on download, with all CD purchases unlocking a download exclusive from the Big Finish website and app.

Last year, it was confirmed that Class would not be returning as a BBC Three series. 

Source: Digital Spy

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Michelle Ryan returns to Doctor Who as Lady Christina With Big Finish

Michelle Ryan is returning to Doctor Who as Lady Christina de Souza makes a comeback to the Whoniverse.

In September 2018, the EastEnders and Merlin actress will star in four new Big Finish audio productions.

The mysterious thief appeared in the Doctor Who episode Planet of the Dead in 2009 alongside David Tennant, and these new audio adventures will reveal what happened after she flew off on a double decker bus.

Ryan said: “Being asked to revisit the role of Lady Christina was a very easy decision. Adventure, a sunny climate and mind-boggling scenarios are included in the scripts, everything I remember of my Doctor Who experience.

“Alas no David Tennant, but there’s a host of new characters to help along the way. I love that we get to see a little more of her heart in the stories, that she does care about the greater good whilst also satisfying her curiosity for life.”

Luther actor Warren Brown will co-star alongside Ryan in the audio adventures, as well as Jacqueline King who reprises her role of Donna’s mum Sylvia Noble.

The four new stories will be called: It Takes a Thief by John Dorney, Skin Deep by James Goss, Portrait of a Lady by Tim Dawson and Death on the Mile by Donald McLeary.

Source: Radio Times

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Doctor Who Wins at BBC Audio Awards

Doctor Who has won a BBC Audio Award for its Dark Eyes production.

The Big Finish Productions audio drama - starring Paul McGann and Toby Jones among others - won the Best Online or Non-Broadcast Audio Drama prize at the annual ceremony.

BBC director general Tony Hall said: "The BBC is unique in realising the power of radio drama. It is something we have believed in for 90 years - and continue to champion. Britain is famous for the quality of its writers, actors and directors. My congratulations to everyone involved."

Source: Digital Spy

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