In February 2013, Big Finish Productions announced that, following the conclusions of the Lost Stories and the monthly Companion Chronicles, they would be launching The Early Adventures, a series of brand new stories featuring the first and second Doctors. The four-part plays star surviving lead actors from the original series, and follow a similar structure to the Lost Stories set in this era, mixing dialogue and narration.
Contents
Series 1
The first series consist of stories featuring the First Doctor. William Russell reprises the role of Ian Chesterton in the first two stories, while Peter Purves reprises the role of Steven Taylor in the second two. Carole Ann Ford plays Susan Foreman in the first story, Maureen O'Brien plays Vicki in the second and third stories, and Jean Marsh plays Sara Kingdom in the fourth. Additionally, Russell and Purves perform the Doctor's dialogue in their respective stories, while Ford and O'Brien perform the dialogue of Barbara Wright in the first two stories.
Series 2
The second series consists of stories featuring the Second Doctor, played in all four stories by Frazer Hines, who also reprises his original role from the series as the Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon. Anneke Wills reprises her role as Polly Wright in the first two stories, Deborah Watling reprises the role of Victoria Waterfield in the third story, and Wendy Padbury reprises the role of Zoe Heriot in the fourth. In addition, the first two stories feature Elliot Chapman as Ben Jackson, originally played by the late Michael Craze.
Series 3
The third series of the Early Adventures will see Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves and Jean Marsh reprising their roles as the companions of the First Doctor, joined by Jemma Powell as Barbara Wright, who had previously portrayed the role of original Barbara actress Jacqueline Hill in the 2013 drama An Adventure in Space and Time, and Dan Starkey as the Sontarans. The second story also features actor James Joyce in the role of a new companion, Jospa.
Series 4
It was confirmed that another two series of The Early Adventures had been commissioned for 2017 & 2018.