The First Doctor and his companions head to medieval England in today’s brand-new audio drama. Here, famed nobleman Simon de Montfort is laying the foundations for British democracy – but all that could be at risk thanks to a troublesome friar known as Roger Bacon. 

The Doctor soon discovers that this friar is in fact a meddling individual from his own alien race. Can the Time Lord and his friends stop the Monk and keep history on track? 

Knights of the Round TARDIS, written by LR Hay, is the first in a trilogy of audio adventures, which are set aside from the main Doctor Who continuity and inspired by the epic, colourful 1960s movies starring Peter Cushing. 

The three new stories star the actors from the 2013 William Hartnell biopic An Adventure in Space and Time – David Bradley plays the Doctor (a role he also played on TV in Twice Upon a Time and The Power of the Doctor), alongside Claudia Grant as his granddaughter Susan, Jamie Glover as Ian and Jemma Powell as Barbara. 

Doctor Who – The First Doctor Unbound: Knights of the Round TARDIS is now available to purchase for just £12.99 (download to own) or £15.99 (download to own + collector's edition 2-disc CD), exclusively here. Please note: the collector’s edition CD is strictly limited to 1,000 copies and will not be repressed.  

Thirteenth Century Oxford – courtly love, jousting knights and a golden age of Academia. What a treat for the Doctor and his companions! A chance to meet precursor of English democracy Simon de Montfort, as well as scientist, visionary and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon – a man truly ahead of his time. 

Truly ahead of his time. If the TARDIS team can’t stop him, this time-meddling wolf in Monk’s clothing will alter the course of Earth’s history. 

Keith Wickham plays the Monk, and Joseph Millson plays Simon de Montfort. The guest cast also includes Sophie Matthew as Chamberlain, Ewan Goddard as Miles, Robert Gill as Henry III, Adam Howden as Baron, and Mathew McQuinn as Robert Greene. 

David Bradley said: “It can be a challenge having to paint a picture with your voice, but not if you’ve got a story that’s as vivid as these on this series and so well written. In fact, when I first started doing these, I thought, where did they dig these old scripts from? Because they were so much of their time, and I didn’t realise they’d been specially written in the style of that time!” 

Jamie Glover, who plays Ian, added: “Unbelievably it is over ten years since we all did An Adventure in Space and Time, which was a great job, recreating such a key moment of British television history. It’s lovely to come back, to get the gang back together. And luckily on these stories, it’s extremely good writing – we are plunged straight into the world, and the characters we meet are very vivid.” 

And, Jemma Powell, who voices Barbara, said: “I love these historical ones because it’s like having a history lesson weaved in with the Doctor Who story. When she’s experiencing the historical moments, Barbara’s quite know-it-all, but it’s always quite fun to explore the slightly scared side of her too!” 

The second and third volumes of The First Doctor Unbound are due to be released in January 2026 and May 2027, respectively, and are now available to pre-order for £13.99 (download to own) or £16.99 (download to own + collector’s edition 2-disc CD), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com. 

Big Finish listeners can save money by pre-ordering volumes two and three together in a bundle for just £26 (download to own) or £32 (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 30 November 2025. 

Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mailout of collector’s edition CDs will be delayed, 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.