Doctor Who: New Details on Christopher Eccleston's Return to the Ninth Doctor

Big Finish Productions has revealed new details about Doctor Who -- The Ninth Doctor Adventures, which sees Christopher Eccleston reprising his role as the Doctor for the first time since departing the television series. The first installment is titled Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers, launching in May. It includes three stories written by Big Finish's Creative Director, Nicholas Briggs, and sends the Doctor on a voyage of discovery with new friends and adventures. The stories also star Camilla Beeput as Nova, Jayne McKenna as Audrey, Jamie Parker as Captain Halloran, Dan Starkey as Marcus Aurelius Gallius, Ben Lee as Lieutenant Farraday, and Clare Corbett as the terrifying Ravagers.

Fans can pre-order the set from the Big Finish website. Here's the synopsis:

"On the Sphere of Freedom, the Doctor is about to shut down an evil Immersive Games business empire. He's assisted by a valiant galley chef called Nova. But his plan spectacularly fails...

"Now, the Doctor must fight back to discover what could have caused everything to go so badly wrong. His journey takes him via Piccadilly Circus in 1959, Belgium 1815 and far flung future worlds where machine intelligences regard sentient life as mere biofuel.

Where does the mysterious old-timer Audrey fit in? Is the alien beverage Charganzi safe to drink? And is there really anything the Doctor can do to stop the entire universe from being devoured?"

Big Finish also offered summaries of the three stories. They are:

• Sphere of Freedom: On the Sphere of Freedom, the Doctor is about to shut down an evil Immersive Games business empire. He's assisted by a valiant galley chef called Nova. But his plan spectacularly fails... And who exactly is Audrey?
• Cataclysm: Nova is dislocated in time while the Time Eddies are out of control. Meanwhile, the Doctor is about to face the end of the universe. Or is that just the Battle of Waterloo?
• Food Fight: The TARDIS is starting to get a little crowded! Audrey finds herself haunted by a ghostly Doctor.

"I mean, it's Doctor Who, isn't it? It's iconic! It's very energetic, it's full of action which I really enjoy doing," Beeput said of working on the series. "And Nova is a very spunky, sparky character, she's got a lot of attitude, she's a lot of fun. And Chris is great, he's so warm and friendly – the kind of person that I instantly felt like I'd known for ages, he's got such an enveloping warmth about him. It's just such a lovely environment you feel very safe working with someone like Chris who's such a consummate professional – and that's what it's all about!"

McKenna added: "I loved the script – it's the first time I've been in something like this, it's just fantastic! What's lovely is working with people that are so invested in this, and having a chance to play a character at different stages of her life – that's a great gift to be given as an actor. Everybody we're working with, all the cast and the people that's working on this, are so brilliant and efficient at their jobs, that it's felt like we've been flying – everyone's loving doing it!"

Doctor Who -- The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers goes on sale in May.