Doctor Who's lost Tom Baker story Return of the Cybermen is finally being released
Big Finish has adapted the adventure originally intended for Baker's first season in 1974
One of Doctor Who's most famous unmade stories will finally see the light of day courtesy of audio drama producers Big Finish.
As part of their Lost Stories range, Big Finish is adapting Return of the Cybermen – an unused script by the monsters' co-creator Gerry Davis.
Originally submitted in 1974 for inclusion in Doctor Who's 12th season – Tom Baker's first run of episodes – Davis's scripts were substantially rewritten by script editor Robert Holmes, eventually becoming the very different story Revenge of the Cybermen.
Now, Big Finish's version (once again starring Baker) will see the original scripts brought to life for the very first time – and you can watch a terrifying teaser trailer for the production below...
Producer David Richardson said: "I’d known of Return of the Cybermen for many years, but it was only relatively recently that I was able to source Gerry Davis’s script thanks to some great detective work by archivist Richard Bignell!
"John Dorney’s adaptation stays true to the original script and the era, though there have been some very minor changes to bring it in line with the kind of amends we believe Robert Holmes would have asked for. Little things that make it sit comfortably in season 12.
"It’s rather different in tone to Revenge of the Cybermen - darker, scarier and more reminiscent of claustrophobic 1960s Cybermen tales like The Moonbase and The Invasion."
Doctor Who: Return of the Cybermen will be released in 2021 and is now available for pre-order as a collector’s edition 2-disc box set or download from just £12.99, exclusively at bigfinish.com.
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Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
