Tom Baker to star in audio adaptation of two lost Doctor Who scripts

Big Finish recently rediscovered the episodes' original scripts and initial story outlines and will be adapting them into audio adventures as part of their series, Doctor Who – The Lost Stories.

A version of Doctor Who and the Ark originally aired in January 1975 as The Ark in Space, in which the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) explored a space station overtaken by alien insects The Wirrn, while Nation's story Genesis of the Daleks was broadcast in March, with the trio heading to Skaro to stop the creation of the Daleks.

Sadie Miller, daughter of Elisabeth Sladen, will play Sarah Jane Smith while Christopher Naylor voices Harry Sullivan.

"This is something very special: Doctor Who archaeology brought thrillingly to life," producer Simon Guerrier said in a statement.

"The Ark in Space and Genesis of the Daleks are among the best-loved TV stories ever. We’ve uncovered first draft scripts by John Lucarotti and Terry Nation that are exciting, surprising and very different."

"Genesis is a very visual script packed with striking, stark images – Nation even makes the stage directions exciting. In Doctor Who and the Ark, the directions were more functional so Jonathan Morris has carefully adapted the script for audio. Though we’ve kept the original episode titles, such as 'Puffball' and 'Camelias' – I think Tom Baker enjoyed recording those! Oh, and wait till you hear that cliffhanger."

Doctor Who and the Ark and Daleks! Genesis of Terror are both available for pre-order as a collector's edition four-disc box set on the Big Finish website.

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