Explore New Pathways today

It’s thirty years since the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) made his debut in the Doctor Who TV movie, and his life continues to be full of surprises. Today, a new era begins, as the audio drama box set The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways introduces two fantastic companions.

In the first of the three full-cast audio episodes, the Doctor is already travelling with Alfie (Sam Stafford), a kindly but strong gym-loving kid from the mid-21st century. The two of them are then joined by Chase Moyo (Natalie Gumede), an out-of-work film and TV gaffer who’s making ends meet in a call centre job when she somehow connects to the Doctor – at various points in his Eighth lifetime.

Together, this latest TARDIS trio then encounter the bloodthirsty Sycorax on an asteroid mine, before heading to the 2090s, where they find the UK has gone down a very dark path.

The three stories featuring the Eighth Doctor and his new friends are:

Chase by Alan Ronald

Chase had hoped for a different life... She sees no escape from her soul-sucking call centre job. But when she is accidentally connected to a mysterious police box, and the extraordinary Doctor Smith – who is just beginning one of his many long lives – her entire world will change forever.

Magic of the Sycorax by Katharine Armitage

It’s time to put Chase through her paces and so the TARDIS follows a distress signal to a remote mining base, beset by powerful forces.

The Doctor’s defeated the Sycorax before but, this time, they seem to have more magic, more darkness, and everyone has much more to lose...

Blast from the Past by Robert Valentine

When the TARDIS starts playing up, the Doctor accidentally brings Chase and Alfie to Burnley in 2096, only to discover that the UK has become an authoritarian dictatorship under fascist leader Bastian Clore.

Chase in turn discovers that her descendants, the Moyo family of No. 19 McKellen Drive, are major players in the underground resistance movement. Beyond the obvious, something is seriously wrong with history.

Has the past been rewritten by more than just the propaganda wing of Clore’s jingoistic regime? And can Chase live up to the idealised memory her great-great-grandchildren hold of her?

 

All purchasers of the box set will also be able to download The Eighth Doctor - A New Pathway, a 110-minute behind-the-scenes audio documentary exploring the Eighth Doctor’s life so far and the creation of this new era, with contributions from the cast and crew.

The guest cast of New Pathways includes Susan Aderin, Ben Fox, Barnaby Edwards, Harriet Kershaw, Alexandra Mathie, Lara Lemon, Nicole Deon, Sara Powell, Derek Griffiths, Richard Goulding, and Nicholas Boulton.

Lead actor Paul McGann said: “It’s one of the great strengths and advantages of Doctor Who, that you can go forward. It’s exciting, because it’s a shot in the arm. You get two new performers, two new characters. And if feels like it’s a new beginning.”

Writer Robert Valentine added: “Alfie has been travelling with the Doctor for a little bit of time. Chase is new to the TARDIS, but because she’s lived the Doctor’s adventures vicariously, she thinks she knows it. And what’s lovely about that is that we get to see the Eighth Doctor for the first time all over again through their eyes.

“Alfie and Chase get on really well, which is a nice dynamic to begin with. But they’re also experiencing the Doctor together. And that gives me a chance to have a different run at writing the Eighth Doctor as well. What’s always fun about any companion combination is the little micro differences that creates in the Doctor and the way he behaves with them.”

Big Finish listeners can purchase The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways together with the following box set, Fear the Reapers (due for release in December 2026), as a multibuy bundle for just £38 (as digital downloads to own) or £47 (downloads + collector’s edition CDs), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.

Alternatively, listeners can buy the two volumes as part of a bundle of 15 Classic Doctor Who box sets for just £285 (download to own).

Please note: the collector’s edition CD box set is strictly limited to 1,500 copies and will not be re-pressed.

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.