Producer David Richardson said: “This episode is a glorious collision of much-loved characters. It’s chalk meets cheese in the Once and Future universe, and there’s so much fun to be had…”

Doctor Who: Once and Future: Past Lives begins its story in a familiar location from the 50th anniversary special, The Time War. The War Doctor is injured, exhibiting extreme levels of regeneration energy. But that can’t be right, we saw The War Doctor ( John Hurt) regenerate in the 50th anniversary special. So what the hell is going on? With an explosion of energy, The Doctor begins regenerating, however, instead of moving forward through new faces, the Doctor begins cycling to his past regenerations.

Reviewed: Big Finish’s Doctor Who, Once and Future – Time Lord Immemorial

With only one instalment left in the eight-part story arc, we’ll have to wait until November 2024 for Coda – The Final Act. Whatever Big Finish has planned for the epilogue, I’ve no doubt it’ll feature a certain incarnation from a very recent era. Guess it has something to do with the rights? But still, we should be grateful that The Union has been released exactly a month before The Star Beast, which will begin the run of the 60th anniversary specials. Exciting times ahead! As the conflict with the Daleks rages on, the Time Lords have received an offer they dare not at least consider. Incarcerated by his own creations, Davros is reaching out – he asks for liberation from Skaro’s prison moon of Falkus but insists on the identity of his rescuer: the Doctor. Once united, the four realise that there’s a threat to the very fabric of the multiverse itself… Two for the Price of One

Meanwhile, a Time Lord renegade has duped Harry Sullivan into helping him stop the Doctor’s travels before they begin – and all are set on a collision course. The first release, ‘Past Times’, sees Tom Baker’s incarnation take the lead. The story reunites him with Sarah Jane Smith and his modern UNIT allies and dealing with the Meddling Monk.

Doctor Who - Once and Future

Tom Baker clearly sounds like he’s having a ball and it we enjoyed his interactions with the new UNIT team. Osgood’s sheer excitement at travelling in the TARDIS is a highlight. We loved Rufus Hound’s Monk too – he also sounds like he’s having far too much fun. Credit must also be given to the hard-working Ewan Bailey and Dan Starkey who voice the villains and other side-characters. Directly continuing from Time Lord Immemorial, the Doctor listens to Susan’s distress call in the midst of his degeneration crisis, switching between the First (Stephen Noonan), Second (Michael Troughton), and Third (Tim Treloar) incarnations, before settling into his Eighth. He arrives at the Diamond Array, a multidimensional space station, and encounters a cybernetic Operator Zero (Michael Maloney) whom he somehow recognises behind the mask. Big Finish’s Doctor Who 60 th anniversary series continues with Once and Future: Time Lord Immemorial . Despite a healthy degree of scepticism, the mission goes ahead with the Doctor aided by the Time Lord General (Ken Bones) and Veklin (Beth Chalmers)… Epic Scale

However, there’s more than just a meeting of Doctors afoot. Here’s what we made of ‘ Time Lord Immemorial’… Sylvester McCoy is on buoyant from throughout and with no companion in tow, Veklin fulfils the role admirably. For his part, Terry Molloy delivers another blistering performance as the scheming Dalek creator. While Davros begins the tale as a prisoner in orbit (the Napoleon comparison is made) we know he has schemes within schemes, and it is great to hear them unfurl. It’s also fun to have him pitted against the Seventh Doctor, who is no stranger to a scheme or two himself, redressing the minimal screentime the pair shared in ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’. Once and Future also attempts to balance the individual story while connecting to the larger story, which is totally typical for many series and stories. However, with the tight run time of just under an hour, and will no visuals to help facilitate the story, it felt difficult to fully appreciate both the microsphere of the individual story and the microsphere of the larger picture of Once and Future. I think the series will be even more enjoyable after all parts are out and I can binge-listen to them. The Time War. The Doctor has been injured and brought to a Time Lord field hospital. His body glows with energy, but this is no regeneration into a future form – instead, the Doctor’s past faces begin to appear as he flits haphazardly between incarnations…

Reviewed: Big Finish’s Doctor Who, Once and Future – The Union

The Doctor responds to a distress call from his granddaughter, Susan, taking him to the Diamond Array: a huge multidimensional space station. Once there, his instability increases, as the Fourth and Eighth Doctors discover the Array’s terrible purpose. With a terrific score, and despite seemingly adding nothing to the overall storyline, ‘A Genius for War’ is the strongest Once and Future tale so far. It also deposits Davros in an interesting place, which we’d love to be the focus of a further story. Special Edition Christopher Eccleston’s appearance in a Doctor Who anniversary story feels rather unexpected – but then, he’s reprised the role for three audio series, more than we would have ever believed just a few years ago.

This story comes from writer Matt Fitton, who has script-edited the series, and will hopefully provide answers to the Doctor’s predicament. It also serves as a family reunion, as the Doctor shares the adventure with both his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford) and his future wife, River Song (Alex Kingston). Big Finish begin their audio celebration of Doctor Who’s 60 th anniversary with Once and Future: Past Lives, a Tom Baker led tale that involves the Meddling Monk and modern-day UNIT. Michelle Ryan added: “I love that I got to work with Colin. He's great. He's got that wisdom in his voice. I love the new dynamic (working with his Doctor), it's a totally different dimension that I didn't anticipate.” Of course, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and David Tennant all reunited already this year for ‘ The Power of The Doctor’, but it will be the first time Christopher Eccleston has joined them, or returned to the Whoniverse since his audio series The Ninth Doctor Adventures launched in 2021. It’s also Tom Baker’s first return to Doctor Who since he appeared in a rewritten story, ‘Return of the Cybermen’, for the Big Finish series Doctor Who Lost Stories last year.We listened to the Special Edition version of ‘Time Lord Immemorial’ which comes with 36 minutes of extras featuring contributions from the whole cast, as well as the writer and the production team. There’s a genuine camaraderie between them, with talk of early Doctor Who memories and the show’s enduring appeal. Former Hartnell-era companion actor Maureen O’Brien voices the mini-series’ big bad The Union and it sounds like she’s having a blast! Additionally, there’s a reunion for Susan (Carole Ann Ford) and River Song (Alex Kingston), who first met in one of River’s audio adventures (albeit with Susan played by Claudia Grant from An Adventure in Space and Time.)