Well before the Time War, three Doctors came together to defend the universe from an ancient threat—and if the title of Doctor Who’s new media saga is anything to go by, none of them are going to come out unscathed.
The BBC has officially unveiled a new transmedia initiative stretching across multiple mediums—including “audio, novels, comics, vinyl, digital, immersive theatre, escape rooms, and games”—called Time Lord Victorious, which will see Paul McGann, David Tennant, and Christopher Eccleston’s incarnations of the Doctor united alongside Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler to face an unknown threat from the dawn of time itself.
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Set during “Dark Times at the start of the universe, when even the Eternals were young,” Time Lord Victorious will see the Doctors battle the Daleks and the Ood as well as “a terrible race” that has yet to be revealed—with more monsters set to join the party as more elements of the story are revealed.
Aside from the fact that it’s a surprise multi-Doctor team-up seemingly without Jodie Whitaker’s current incarnation of the Doctor joining in on the fun, what makes Victorious so fascinating is just how it’s being told. Doctor Who’s no stranger to being a part of all these different narrative mediums outside of the TV show itself, but attempting to tell a singular saga across books, magazines, comics, live-action experiences—how that will work, given the state of the world right now, remains to be seen!—and audio drama releases. The latter is especially interesting. The BBC will partner once again with Big Finish for new audio dramas set within Victorious’ story but is currently being tight-lipped about just who will be part of them.
Paul McGann’s Doctor seems to be a given, considering his long, triumphant history with Doctor Who audio dramas. Tennant has precedent, having returned as the Tenth Doctor alongside both Piper’s Rose and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble for new adventures. But given Christopher Eccleston’s less-than-magnanimous exit from the series—something that he has only recently been able to open up about considering the great mental stress his behind-the-scenes treatment at the time put him through—it would seem that the Ninth Doctor’s involvement in all this is probably going to be more from the book and comic side of things than anything else.
Time will tell. Time Lord Victorious is set to begin later this year, kicking off in September for a 12-week period of new releases until January 2021.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/04/watch-the-stars-of-doctor-who-spend-time-together-remotely/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/tues7lpbk6ssk2ru0gjg.png” title=”Watch The Stars Of Doctor Who Spend Time Together (Remotely)” excerpt=”The BBC and charities Comic Relief and Children in Need hosted a special fundraising event called The Big Night In to raise money for U.K. healthcare workers currently on the front lines of the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. So, of course some Doctors of an altogether different sort showed up, too!”]