We’re bringing together people we’ve worked with quite a lot over the years. We know they’re fun and enjoy recording, so it’s a great group of people - both characters and actors.”

It’s lovely to make these connections, and of course we have classic UNIT represented in Sarah Jane tying in with modern UNIT. That’s always fun to do! 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.” Now, the cover and cast details have been revealed for the fourth episode, ‘Two’s Company’, which lands in August. 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.I had two main thoughts, though, which you could consider part of my ‘brief to self’. It needed to deal with a significant part of the series mythology – it couldn’t be ‘just another Doctor Who story’. And rather than being written in the style of the Seventh Doctor’s era it had to be a contemporary piece because it’s not only a celebration of the past, it’s a celebration of the fact that it’s still going.” The bonus artworks are specially-commissioned B-movie style poster artworks by Oliver Arkinstall-Jones to illustrate each of the stories in Doctor Who: Once and Future. 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.

We now also know the full cast list, with Abi Harris playing the Roboguide, John Telfer and Toom, and Messrs Baker (Colin), Noonan, McCoy, Treloar and Troughton (Michael) as their respective Doctors.It’s not the first encounter for the Fifth Doctor and Jenny, the Doctor’s Daughter, as the pair met for The Legacy of Time. The Curator appears here in Colin Baker form, as adopted the final volume of Stranded, part of The Eighth Doctor Adventures. That makes it a multi-Doctor adventure of sorts, even if the Doctor himself doesn’t realise it! 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... Time Lord Immemorial’ follows on directly from the plot thread left dangling; the Ninth Doctor follows up on the clue thrown to him by Missy in ‘The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50’, seeking “The Union” – a planet rich in psionic sand.

Despite having a lead role in the previous chapter, it’s a shame that the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) wasn’t featured at all with the remaining incarnations. Considering that Once and Future was originally conceived as a six-part story arc, long before Time Lord Immemorial was written and recorded, I can only assume it was down to availability and scheduling. But in hindsight, an appearance from Eccleston would’ve been a fantastic addition, completing the set of Doctor cameos in one story; like with The Day of the Doctor. 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. Part of the draw here for Eccleston, we understand, was the chance to work with the late David Warner whom he held in high esteem. A titan of both stage and screen, with numerous genre roles to his name, Warner gave memorable performances on audio as the alternate-universe Doctor. First he was paired with Nicholas Courtney’s Brigadier in the Doctor Who: Unbound series. In latter years, he enjoyed New Adventures with the first lady of Big Finish, the futuristic archaeologist Bernice Summerfield. 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.”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...”

Before I resume, by disobeying River Song, I would like to warn you that there will be a number of spoilers ahead in this review.) Doctor Who – Once and Future: Two’s Company, from writer Lisa McMullan, will see the Doctor re-visit his sixth incarnation. Once and Future producer David Richardson said: ‘An astonishing array of talent has come aboard to be a part of this epic eight-hour anniversary story. It’s a huge Doctor Who party and a massive celebration that has been years in the making.’ However, there’s more than just a meeting of Doctors afoot. Here’s what we made of ‘ Time Lord Immemorial’… Now, audio producers Big Finish have now confirmed details of the second release too. Here’s the synopsis for ‘The Artist at the End of Time’:With two releases in the month of October, the main narrative of Big Finish’s Doctor Who: Once and Future draws to a close (save for a Coda due in November 2024.)