The Twelfth Doctor, portrayed on TV Doctor Who by Peter Capaldi between 2013 and 2017, encapsulates all of the time traveller’s past selves – he’s acerbic and irritable, but has a vast lifetime of experience that’s left him bursting with compassion and a determination for putting things right across time and space. 

This iconic incarnation will return for a new adventure this Halloween, voiced for the first time by Jon Culshaw, in a full-cast audio drama as part of the horror-themed anthology box set Halloween - Sea Smoke and Other Stories. 

Best known as an impressionist in TV series including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers, Culshaw is also recognisable to Big Finish listeners as the voice of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, among many other audio roles across the worlds of Doctor Who. 

On being cast in the role, Culshaw said: “I remember Nicholas Briggs asking me, ‘Do you do a Peter Capaldi? How would you fancy being the Twelfth Doctor for us?’ And before I’d even thought about it, I grabbed it, and I thought, wow, delicious! 

“What a blessed and treasured era of Doctor Who that really is. It has the best of everything. There are so many different facets to Capaldi’s Doctor. A great, moral character, a beautiful, supremely witty sense of impatience at times, but desperately, desperately caring.  

“The Twelfth Doctor has such mystery and so many aspects of the earlier Doctors. The irascibility but lovability of the First. The wit and merriment of the Second and the Fourth. The warmth and charm of the Third and Tenth. Every little aspect is like a beautifully cut diamond and it catches the light in its own way. 

“And to watch that era over and over to prepare for playing the Twelfth Doctor with Big Finish – you couldn’t wish for better homework than that!” 

Doctor Who: Halloween - Sea Smoke and Other Stories is now available to pre-order for just £24.99 (download to own) or £30.99 (download to own + collector’s edition CD box set), exclusively here. Please note: the collector’s edition CD box set is strictly limited to 1,500 copies and will not be repressed. 

The four full-cast tales, set across the spookier corners of the Doctor Who universe, are: 

Sea Smoke – a First Doctor and Dodo adventure by Jonathan Sims

The First Doctor and Dodo arrive on the Scottish isle of Ulfsay during the height of the 19th-century boom in kelp burning. They quickly realise something is wrong as the smoke from the latest batch of ‘kelp’ begins to cause horrific transformations on the island. 

Party Favours – a Kate Stewart and Osgood adventure by Georgia Cook 

All Bev wants to do is host her yearly Halloween party and heal her fractured relationship with her girlfriend, Annika. Unfortunately, her reclusive upstairs neighbours have been invited to the festivities, and all they want to do is feast. 

Bramble King – an Eighth Doctor and Audacity adventure by Noga Flaishon 

The Doctor and Audacity encounter a strange vision which leads them to Walpurgis-9, a cargo ship drifting powerless through space. In their attempt to assist the ship’s crew, they become entangled in their secrets and encounter the malevolent entity known as ‘The Bramble King’. 

Merlin’s Trap – a Twelfth Doctor adventure by Hannah Kennedy 

When Lainey leads an expedition into the ancient Merlin’s Cave System, the group is warned by Merlin's ghostly voice to explore no further. As Lainey and her team push deeper into the mysterious cave, they encounter things far beyond their comprehension, including Merlin himself. 

Alongside Jon Culshaw, Halloween - Sea Smoke and Other Stories stars Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor, Lauren Cornelius as Dodo, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, Ingrid Oliver as Osgood, Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, and Jaye Griffiths as Audacity. 

This box set will be followed in December by a second set of festive specials, Doctor Who: Christmas - It’s a Wonderful War and Other Stories. The Halloween and Christmas box sets can be pre-ordered together in a multi-buy bundle, for just £48 (download to own) or £58 (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 2025. 

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.