Mission to Magnus (Philip Martin)

A new series of audio adventures, Doctor Who: "The Lost Stories", is set for release next year. From January 2010 Colin Baker will star as the Sixth Doctor, with companion Nicola Bryant as Peri, in adaptations of television scripts that were commissioned, but never made, for television in the mid-1980s.

Back in 1985, production of Season 23 of Doctor Who was put on hold, and fans had to wait 18 months before a new series hit the screens. None of the scripts originally planned for the postponed season ever made it to the screen. Some of them, like "The Nightmare Fair", by Graham Williams, and "Mission to Magnus", by Philip Martin, were novelised. 4 others, however, have remained with their respective writers for well over 20 years.

The Nightmare Fair (Graham Williams)

David Richardson, producer of "The Lost Stories" for Big Finish Productions has revealed ‘It’s taken a lot of (very enjoyable) detective work, but I’ve managed to source seven unmade adventures that will now finally come brilliantly to life on audio’.

The full line-up has yet to be revealed but David Richardson has confirmed that the first two entries in "The Lost Stories" will be the aforementioned "The Nightmare Fair" (which features The Celestial Toymaker) and "Mission to Magnus" (in which profit-hungry slug Sil allies himself with the Ice Warriors).

"Mission to Magnus" has been adapted for audio by original author Philip Martin. However, as the author of "The Nightmare Fair", Graham Williams is sadly no longer with us. the adaptation has been handled by the audio’s director, John Ainsworth. ‘Working on the script has been great fun. I have made every effort to remain true to the original TV script but have also been able to include extra material from Graham’s novelisation. Hopefully listeners will get a good sense of what the story would have been like had it been made for TV’.

In the news released by Big Finish productions no mention of has been made of "The Ultimate Evil", by Wally K Dale, that was published by Target at the same time as "The Nightmare Fair" and "Mission to Magnus". So it is not clear if this story will be released on audio.