An Uncanny Planet

The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) are exploring the far reaches of the universe together. In their next adventure, False Friends by Timothy X Atack, the TARDIS receives a distress call which leads to a distant planet. But when they arrive, the Doctor and Rose find the world bears a startling similarity to Earth... 

False Friends guest stars Máiréad Tyers (known for BBC/RTÉ comedy drama The Walsh Sisters and for leading the cast of Disney+ superhero comedy Extraordinary) and Joe Pitts (seen in Apple TV’s The New Look). They play Minnie McKeith and Gary Purdue, two residents who have noticed something strange about their world and have summoned the Doctor to help. 

As the time travellers and their new friends investigate this false Earth, trying to find the truth of its strange inconsistencies and unusual quirks, they discover a familiar threat lurking behind it all... 

Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: False Friends is now available to pre-order for just £9.99 (download to own) or £11.99 (download to own + collector’s edition CD), exclusively here. Please note: the collector’s edition CD is strictly limited to 1,500 copies and will not be re-pressed. 

Minnie and Gary are trapped on a planet of robots, a fake Earth, and they’re the only humans – hoping no-one spots their humanity. So they summon the one person they know will answer their call for help. 

But can the Doctor and Rose save Gary and Minnie from this false Earth – and who has built this very bad copy of human civilisation in the first place? 

The guest cast of False Friends also includes Nicole Davis as Minnie’s friend Alice JNKL50 and Glen McCready as Gary’s boss, the motivational speaker Peter Ampersand Hashtag. 

Writer Timothy X Atack said: “I love writing for the Ninth Doctor and Rose. The gift of these stories being set in between Father’s Day and The Empty Child is that, somewhere in that space, the Doctor has become happier for Rose to do her own thing, to pursue her own investigations. And so I figure the question to be answered is, what’s the process that led to Rose’s confidence, skills, and that growing unflappability? 

“I really love Imitation Earth adventures, where the world is not quite right, like a dream. Doctor Who is full of them – Android Invasion, Amy’s Choice, Wish World, Carnival of Monsters. I wondered what would happen if an alien force tried to perfect its imitation of humans, but still got it a bit wrong, enough for any genuine human to spot. It also became a lot about the information panic that we’re all living under at the moment.” 

Director Helen Goldwyn added: “The great thing about Timothy X Atack as a writer is that he always comes up with characters that are legendary in their quirkiness. And what he’s done in this script is he’s created a whole environment that is slightly off, slightly quirky in every sense. All of the voices and all of the features are just a bit wonky. 

“The two characters that really draw us into this story are Minnie and Gary – they’re such beautifully drawn original characters. We were so lucky to get these two actors. Joe Pitts has done one Big Finish recording before, but this was Máiréad Tyers’ first time. Their voices were magically perfect together, and their style of delivery was very aligned.” 

False Friends is the eighth of twelve new audio adventures for the Ninth Doctor and Rose. A complete series multibuy bundle of all twelve releases is also available to pre-order at the specially discounted price of £102 (download to own), exclusively from the Big Finish website. 

Additional three-release multibuy bundles are available from just £27 (download to own) and £33 (download to own + collector’s edition CD). 

All the above prices (including pre-order and multibuy bundle discounts) are fixed for a limited time only and guaranteed no later than 31 December 2026. 

Please note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mail-out of collector’s edition CDs may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.