Christopher Eccleston And Billie Piper Reunite For New 'Doctor Who' Big Finish Adventures
The franchise is ready for more fantastic adventures for the Ninth Doctor and companion Rose Tyler
For months, Doctor Who fans’ minds went wild wondering whether the franchise would do anything to mark the 20th anniversary of the show’s revival premiere. After all, they just finished celebrating the 60th anniversary of the show’s overall premiere in December 2023… which was itself about 14 months after celebrating the centenary of its home network the BBC. The TV series certainly would’ve had any announced by now. But hey, Big Finish Productions, the franchise’s audio drama home for as long as there’s been audio dramas has come through once again. In a post dated Thursday but released Saturday, the franchise announced that Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, who starred together as the Ninth Doctor and companion Rose Tyler for that initial 2005 series, will reunite for new audio adventures later this year.
The duo will star in the fourth series of The Ninth Doctor Adventures, comprised of twelve, hour-long, full-cast audio adventures that will begin releasing in August 2025. Releasing every other month, that adds a second year that will finish the volume in June 2027. The twenty years later is acknowledged but it is not specifically part of formal 20th anniversary celebrations. I’m sure the fandom is more than welcome to consider them such. The Saturday announcement on the website was supposed to be synced with that of a panel at the Los Angeles-based convention Gallifrey One, however the latter fell behind by a few minutes due to technical difficulties. The announcement also came the day before Eccleston’s 61st birthday, which is still worth noting even when there is no indication that it was intentionally timed to such.
Eccleston infamously left Doctor Who after that single series. The departure news got out just four days after the March 26, 2005 debut and under a year after his casting was announced. Originally reported due to fears of being typecast, it became clearer in the years since that it was due to an increasingly terse relationship with not only the BBC, but the production quartet of showrunner Russell T. Davies, and producers Jane Tranter, Phil Collinson, and Julie Gardner, who in 2022 all reassumed their positions within the franchise after varying lengths of time away. Without substantial healing by late 2012’s filming of “The Name of the Doctor” in leadup to the 50th anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor”, Eccleston declined and the role of the War Doctor, played by John Hurt, was created to fill the role Nine would’ve played. About this next phase of his audio drama journey, Eccleston said: “I am so happy to be back recording more adventures for the Ninth Doctor with Billie. I don't think my Doctor exists without Rose. He's a 'one man, one companion' kind of alien. We've explored him on his own at Big Finish, as a loner. But there's a resilience and a bravery and a deep empathy to Billie as Rose, that's why I do this. They complete each other.” And yes, this is just a next step because Eccleston was first announced to finally reprise the role in August 2020, with the first two volumes of The Ninth Doctor Adventures releasing from May 2021 and 2022 to February 2022 and 2023 respectively, and volume 3 from May 2023 to May 2024, stories that included teamups with Bernice Summerfield and River Song, each played once again by Lisa Bowerman and Alex Kingston respectively. Of course, audio is his best current avenue. He also partook in the audio dramas’ place in the 60th anniversary festivities, his Once and Future episode in particular being Time Lord Immemorial. Outside of Who, Americans probably know Eccleston for Thor: The Dark World, The Leftovers, and True Detective: Night Country. And the brief role in existenZ before all that.
Piper went on to stay as Rose for the second series alongside Tenth Doctor David Tennant, going on to appear in five episodes of the fourth series as well, with the actress’s last televised story being the 50th anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor” as The Moment, the sentient manifestation the greatest weapon of the greatest weapon of the Time War. Her audio adventures began in 2017 on The Tenth Doctor Adventures, reuniting her with Tennant. Most recently she’s starred in her own series Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon, with the most recent volume releasing in 2023. She added: “I can’t think of a better time for Rose to reunite with her first Doctor than now. Twenty years after she first ran into the TARDIS and towards adventure, here we are again, me and Chris, ready to have fun facing the universe – and the monsters – together.”
Producer Matt Fitton said: “Twenty years after the Ninth Doctor and Rose burst onto our screens, Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper are back with that brilliant dynamic – the Doctor showing Rose the universe, and Rose showing him the best of humanity. Across twelve episodes, slotting neatly into that 2005 series, we have more Jackie Tyler, more Powell Estate, plus friends and enemies old and new through time and space. Our writers have done an amazing job recapturing the spirit of that very special season, and Chris and Billie have embraced these scripts with delight and gusto. They're having a blast, back on that trip of a lifetime – and they sound fantastic!” Indeed, that will probably mean a return for Camille Coduri as well.
2025 is a year that has seen Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor and Sacha Dhawan’s Master enter the audio fray, and just before Nine and Rose head off again, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill will too, reprising their roles as the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan beginning in July.
Source: Doctor Who