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The Ninth Doctor Adventures #3.1
Doctor Who: Pioneers
The Doctor meets many remarkable people on his travels – those at the forefront of innovation and exploration. From a deep-space colony ship seeking safe haven, to the frozen Arctic wastes, and the foundation of ideas which will touch the lives of millions – the Doctor is there to lend a hand to the human race’s greatest pioneers!
1.1 The Green Gift by Roy Gill - Seeking a new home for Callen and Doyle, the Doctor lands on a vast spacecraft: The Greenwood. The ship is nearing the end of its long journey but what is the price of this voyage? Who is really in charge? And what legacies from Old Earth might be travelling with them?
1.2 Northern Lights by Robert Valentine - The Doctor crashes to Earth and finds himself in the Arctic – but not quite alone. The Aurora Borealis are even more unearthly than usual. Intrepid explorer Fridtjof Nansen is trying to get home as alien forces close in. The Doctor knows Nansen has a part to play in history – can he save the future?
1.3 The Beautiful Game by Katharine Armitage - The Doctor decides to treat himself and attend the historic meeting which founds the football league. But he arrives a week early! Instead, he must enlist the help of a hotel maid to battle an obsessive alien before it consumes everything that will ever be connected to the beautiful game.
1.1 The Green Gift by Roy Gill - Seeking a new home for Callen and Doyle, the Doctor lands on a vast spacecraft: The Greenwood. The ship is nearing the end of its long journey but what is the price of this voyage? Who is really in charge? And what legacies from Old Earth might be travelling with them?
1.2 Northern Lights by Robert Valentine - The Doctor crashes to Earth and finds himself in the Arctic – but not quite alone. The Aurora Borealis are even more unearthly than usual. Intrepid explorer Fridtjof Nansen is trying to get home as alien forces close in. The Doctor knows Nansen has a part to play in history – can he save the future?
1.3 The Beautiful Game by Katharine Armitage - The Doctor decides to treat himself and attend the historic meeting which founds the football league. But he arrives a week early! Instead, he must enlist the help of a hotel maid to battle an obsessive alien before it consumes everything that will ever be connected to the beautiful game.
Audio CD
First published May 10, 2023
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Roy Gill
49 books13 followers"Heady, wonderful stuff… I adored this novel" (Paul Magrs on "Daemon Parallel")
The manuscript for Roy’s first novel, Daemon Parallel, was shortlisted for both the Sceptre and the Kelpies prize, and won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. A sequel, Werewolf Parallel (“Clever, creative and fun.” Kirkus Reviews) completed the duology.
Roy's recent short stories have appeared in The Myriad Carnival, Out There and the British Fantasy Society Journal.
As a scriptwriter, Roy has worked on several of Big Finish’s acclaimed audio drama series including The Confessions of Dorian Gray, The Omega Factor, and the Worlds of Doctor Who. His epic Dark Shadows 50th Anniversary Blood & Fire script won the 2017 Scribe Award for Best Audio Drama.
The manuscript for Roy’s first novel, Daemon Parallel, was shortlisted for both the Sceptre and the Kelpies prize, and won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. A sequel, Werewolf Parallel (“Clever, creative and fun.” Kirkus Reviews) completed the duology.
Roy's recent short stories have appeared in The Myriad Carnival, Out There and the British Fantasy Society Journal.
As a scriptwriter, Roy has worked on several of Big Finish’s acclaimed audio drama series including The Confessions of Dorian Gray, The Omega Factor, and the Worlds of Doctor Who. His epic Dark Shadows 50th Anniversary Blood & Fire script won the 2017 Scribe Award for Best Audio Drama.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 11, 2024
The Ninth Doctor Adventures is by far one of my favorite ranges that Big Finish is currently producing, so when they announced they would be doing a series 3, I was beyond excited to see what adventures await The Ninth Doctor!
The Green Gift:
The Doctor trying to find a new home for Callan and Doyle arrives at The Greenwood. A spacecraft dedicated to hopefully one day continuing humanity's existence on a new earth. However whilst Callen and Doyle seem to be moving on having found new partners for themselves, it seems that something far more sinister is going on for an old enemy of The Doctor's is here...
Roy Gill has written a brilliant opening story to this new series of Ninth Doctor Adventures, it concludes Callen and Doyle's story magnificently. It's such a heartwarming piece with a romantic subplot and a story surrounded by capitalism and terror. It's a terrific sequel to The Green Death and honors it spectacularly with plenty of references! 9/10
The Northern Lights:
After a nasty crash landing, The Doctor finds himself in the Arctic, but luckily for him, he's not alone. Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen are here as well, on a scientific expedition of a lifetime but something terribly hungry is hunting them down. Will they survive the harsh winter and from being eaten by an alien force or will they perish?
Robert Valentine has written a fun little atmospheric story that, while it does have an alien threat in the story, is instead very much focused on the historical angle which I appreciated. It's a nice little character piece with some heartwarming moments but nothing too special, it's just an enjoyable but engaging adventure. 8/10
The Beautiful Game:
The Doctor decides to treat himself to attending a historical meeting that develops the football league and is disappointed to find he's arrived one week too early. However a creature from another world has also arrived and it's terribly hungry, its species clings to an obsession and devours it and The Doctor with the help of Daphne needs to save the future of football.
Katherine Armitage has written an interesting story about football that honestly taught me quite a lot, considering I'm not a fan of the game personally. I like how she presents its history in a very two-sided way showing all the positives football has given us, but also the negatives such as misogyny, violence, and other prejudices. A very complicated history that whilst challenging is handled very effectively. 8/10
Overall: 25/30
The Green Gift:
The Doctor trying to find a new home for Callan and Doyle arrives at The Greenwood. A spacecraft dedicated to hopefully one day continuing humanity's existence on a new earth. However whilst Callen and Doyle seem to be moving on having found new partners for themselves, it seems that something far more sinister is going on for an old enemy of The Doctor's is here...
Roy Gill has written a brilliant opening story to this new series of Ninth Doctor Adventures, it concludes Callen and Doyle's story magnificently. It's such a heartwarming piece with a romantic subplot and a story surrounded by capitalism and terror. It's a terrific sequel to The Green Death and honors it spectacularly with plenty of references! 9/10
The Northern Lights:
After a nasty crash landing, The Doctor finds himself in the Arctic, but luckily for him, he's not alone. Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen are here as well, on a scientific expedition of a lifetime but something terribly hungry is hunting them down. Will they survive the harsh winter and from being eaten by an alien force or will they perish?
Robert Valentine has written a fun little atmospheric story that, while it does have an alien threat in the story, is instead very much focused on the historical angle which I appreciated. It's a nice little character piece with some heartwarming moments but nothing too special, it's just an enjoyable but engaging adventure. 8/10
The Beautiful Game:
The Doctor decides to treat himself to attending a historical meeting that develops the football league and is disappointed to find he's arrived one week too early. However a creature from another world has also arrived and it's terribly hungry, its species clings to an obsession and devours it and The Doctor with the help of Daphne needs to save the future of football.
Katherine Armitage has written an interesting story about football that honestly taught me quite a lot, considering I'm not a fan of the game personally. I like how she presents its history in a very two-sided way showing all the positives football has given us, but also the negatives such as misogyny, violence, and other prejudices. A very complicated history that whilst challenging is handled very effectively. 8/10
Overall: 25/30
August 21, 2025
9.1 The Green Gift - This was good start for this volume. It definitely felt inspired by the various Space Ark episodes from the original series, not in a bad way or anything. . (4/5)
9.2 Northern Lights - The (Ninth) Doctor gets a “historical” episode, well almost. Quite enjoyed this one, but I’ve always been a fan of the historicals. (4/5)
9.3 The Beautiful Game - The dawn of organized football leagues in the UK are the backdrop of this one, sort of. While it starts out as another potential “historical” episode, it quickly becomes just another monster of the week. It’s not bad, but didn’t grab me. The suffragettes story might have been more of interest to me, but footie? Nah. (3/5)
There is also the usual bonus features like isolated music tracks and conversations with cast and crew.
9.2 Northern Lights - The (Ninth) Doctor gets a “historical” episode, well almost. Quite enjoyed this one, but I’ve always been a fan of the historicals. (4/5)
9.3 The Beautiful Game - The dawn of organized football leagues in the UK are the backdrop of this one, sort of. While it starts out as another potential “historical” episode, it quickly becomes just another monster of the week. It’s not bad, but didn’t grab me. The suffragettes story might have been more of interest to me, but footie? Nah. (3/5)
There is also the usual bonus features like isolated music tracks and conversations with cast and crew.
May 5, 2025
Three standalone stories featuring the Ninth Doctor, loosely on the theme of the collection’s title. Unusually, we get two with a historical setting and just one in the future.
The Green Gift – The first story combines elements of two classic-era serials that are thematically very different. One is the Hartnell story The Ark, with the setting here being almost indistinguishable apart from the absence of the Monoids (although whether it’s literally set in the same time period is intentionally ambiguous). The other, as will be apparent from the cover, is The Green Death, with the infamous maggots turning up even before the title music. Not only that, but it’s a sequel to the last audio story of the previous Ninth Doctor collection, Red Darkness, so that we once get the joy of the uplifted Border Collie and his partially sighted human companion. The plot itself doesn’t break any new boundaries or anything, but it is well done, transposing the ecological themes of the Pertwee story to a new setting and aligning them with modern sensibilities. (The latter requires very little change, which is a testament to the original). The result is a great mix of classic and modern flavours, although not absolutely relying on knowledge of the former. 5 stars.
The Northern Lights – The second story in the collection is unfortunately, less effective. It sees the Doctor arriving in the Franz Josef Islands north of Siberia and encountering Fridtjof Nansen, overwintering there with Hjalmar Johansen during his famous trek away from the Fram. Dramatic as that might be as a tale of human endurance, it’s basically two men stuck in a hut, so the story adds in a science fiction element with unusual aliens trailing the Doctor. They are, however, almost a sidenote in the story, which is more interested in recounting Nansen’s deeds and role in history. We end up with something that feels more like a hagiography of the real man than a sci-fi tale, but which is still trying to be both. The mix doesn’t work as well as it might, and the end – for all of its thematic resemblance to those of some modern-era TV stories – feels overly drawn out and tacked on. Nansen doubtless deserves to be better known outside of his native Norway, but this is something of a missed opportunity. 3.5 stars.
The Beautiful Game – I don’t know about US audiences, but those from most other countries will probably know that “the Beautiful Game” is a nickname for football (actual football, not gridiron) and have some idea what this story is going to be about. More specifically, it sees the Doctor visiting Manchester in 1888 to witness the formal launch of the Football League – the first of its kind in the world. An alien threat naturally gets involved and the Doctor joins forces with hotel staff and League co-founder William Sudell to try and stop it. The result feels pretty thin to me, although it may just be may lack of interest in the sport that makes all the verbal and historical references to it seem forced in and intrusive, rather than amusing/interesting in the way that they are probably supposed to be. It’s interesting that Sudell, for all the lauding of his achievements, is given a warts-and-all portrayal that’s likely true to the era, and there is also a decent subplot about the suffrage movement, but those are about the only plus points for me. It works, but there’s nothing special about it. Football fans may feel differently. 3 stars.
The Green Gift – The first story combines elements of two classic-era serials that are thematically very different. One is the Hartnell story The Ark, with the setting here being almost indistinguishable apart from the absence of the Monoids (although whether it’s literally set in the same time period is intentionally ambiguous). The other, as will be apparent from the cover, is The Green Death, with the infamous maggots turning up even before the title music. Not only that, but it’s a sequel to the last audio story of the previous Ninth Doctor collection, Red Darkness, so that we once get the joy of the uplifted Border Collie and his partially sighted human companion. The plot itself doesn’t break any new boundaries or anything, but it is well done, transposing the ecological themes of the Pertwee story to a new setting and aligning them with modern sensibilities. (The latter requires very little change, which is a testament to the original). The result is a great mix of classic and modern flavours, although not absolutely relying on knowledge of the former. 5 stars.
The Northern Lights – The second story in the collection is unfortunately, less effective. It sees the Doctor arriving in the Franz Josef Islands north of Siberia and encountering Fridtjof Nansen, overwintering there with Hjalmar Johansen during his famous trek away from the Fram. Dramatic as that might be as a tale of human endurance, it’s basically two men stuck in a hut, so the story adds in a science fiction element with unusual aliens trailing the Doctor. They are, however, almost a sidenote in the story, which is more interested in recounting Nansen’s deeds and role in history. We end up with something that feels more like a hagiography of the real man than a sci-fi tale, but which is still trying to be both. The mix doesn’t work as well as it might, and the end – for all of its thematic resemblance to those of some modern-era TV stories – feels overly drawn out and tacked on. Nansen doubtless deserves to be better known outside of his native Norway, but this is something of a missed opportunity. 3.5 stars.
The Beautiful Game – I don’t know about US audiences, but those from most other countries will probably know that “the Beautiful Game” is a nickname for football (actual football, not gridiron) and have some idea what this story is going to be about. More specifically, it sees the Doctor visiting Manchester in 1888 to witness the formal launch of the Football League – the first of its kind in the world. An alien threat naturally gets involved and the Doctor joins forces with hotel staff and League co-founder William Sudell to try and stop it. The result feels pretty thin to me, although it may just be may lack of interest in the sport that makes all the verbal and historical references to it seem forced in and intrusive, rather than amusing/interesting in the way that they are probably supposed to be. It’s interesting that Sudell, for all the lauding of his achievements, is given a warts-and-all portrayal that’s likely true to the era, and there is also a decent subplot about the suffrage movement, but those are about the only plus points for me. It works, but there’s nothing special about it. Football fans may feel differently. 3 stars.
February 12, 2024
The Green Gift - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
After a long run of really poor stories, finally the 9DAs deliver a flawed but ultimately decent story. A sequel to The Green Death, it’s all about BOSS and the maggots, this time on a spaceship. Eccleston is great in this and finally he gets some dramatic scenes to work with rather than the constant upbeat chirpiness, at last making the character resemble his on screen portrayal. The story carries over a character from the previous set as the temporary companion, some guy played by a not very good actor and a talking dog because so quirky… Thankfully he leaves in this one, a love interest who is just sort of a background character so his departure bolsters my opinion of the story a fair bit. Louise Jameson is a major character in this and she really shows her acting strength playing two characters really well, and her scenes playing against Eccleston are really enjoyable. The plot is the weak element here as it is basically just a rehash of the TV story but this time in space with oh so quirky side characters, so it does add a real element of predictability to it but its merits do make it quite an enjoyable listen.
Northern Lights - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story was again leaps and bounds ahead of previous 9th Doctor adventures, but did suffer due to its lack of originality. The story essentially follows the same beats as the television story ‘Vincent And The Doctor’ except with a different famous character in the north pole. The villain is not actually evil twist, the Doctor showing them the future so they see they are remembered, and so on. I found myself able to predict almost all of the story as it went along. A positive note was that the dialogue was strong and did keep my attention throughout but as usual this ridiculous chipper tone of the 9th Doctor being the complete opposite of his TV character grated on me. Essentially the story has its merits and shortfalls which leave it as a pretty decent but forgettable adventure that I’m not likely to revisit. I am glad to see however that the plots and scripts of these stories are getting stronger which is a great sign.
The Beautiful Game - ⭐️⭐️
Doctor Who saves the history of football. Maybe one in every thousand Dr Who fans give the slightest sh** about football so the entire premise of the story is draining. The villain is incredibly irritating and not in a deliberate way as part of the narrative, just really annoying and essentially pointless as it does nothing but make someone poorly for a bit. The main character of focus is a lady who is pivotal in stopping football being kept amateur (whatever that means) and she is just so tiring. All she does is complain and whine and only in the final 5 minutes or so actually contribute to the narrative in a useful way. Eccleston clearly loves the script as there is a lot of energy and passion in his performance but at the end of the day is all for nothing. This story is inconsequential and so uninteresting that it feels like all this time and energy has been put in is wasted. By far the weakest of this boxset, it really drags and meanders for about 40 minutes before the Doctor gives some men a telling off (as if we haven’t had a thousand stories about how men were mean to women back in the 1900’s) then it ends. The positive there is that it actually does end.
After a long run of really poor stories, finally the 9DAs deliver a flawed but ultimately decent story. A sequel to The Green Death, it’s all about BOSS and the maggots, this time on a spaceship. Eccleston is great in this and finally he gets some dramatic scenes to work with rather than the constant upbeat chirpiness, at last making the character resemble his on screen portrayal. The story carries over a character from the previous set as the temporary companion, some guy played by a not very good actor and a talking dog because so quirky… Thankfully he leaves in this one, a love interest who is just sort of a background character so his departure bolsters my opinion of the story a fair bit. Louise Jameson is a major character in this and she really shows her acting strength playing two characters really well, and her scenes playing against Eccleston are really enjoyable. The plot is the weak element here as it is basically just a rehash of the TV story but this time in space with oh so quirky side characters, so it does add a real element of predictability to it but its merits do make it quite an enjoyable listen.
Northern Lights - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story was again leaps and bounds ahead of previous 9th Doctor adventures, but did suffer due to its lack of originality. The story essentially follows the same beats as the television story ‘Vincent And The Doctor’ except with a different famous character in the north pole. The villain is not actually evil twist, the Doctor showing them the future so they see they are remembered, and so on. I found myself able to predict almost all of the story as it went along. A positive note was that the dialogue was strong and did keep my attention throughout but as usual this ridiculous chipper tone of the 9th Doctor being the complete opposite of his TV character grated on me. Essentially the story has its merits and shortfalls which leave it as a pretty decent but forgettable adventure that I’m not likely to revisit. I am glad to see however that the plots and scripts of these stories are getting stronger which is a great sign.
The Beautiful Game - ⭐️⭐️
Doctor Who saves the history of football. Maybe one in every thousand Dr Who fans give the slightest sh** about football so the entire premise of the story is draining. The villain is incredibly irritating and not in a deliberate way as part of the narrative, just really annoying and essentially pointless as it does nothing but make someone poorly for a bit. The main character of focus is a lady who is pivotal in stopping football being kept amateur (whatever that means) and she is just so tiring. All she does is complain and whine and only in the final 5 minutes or so actually contribute to the narrative in a useful way. Eccleston clearly loves the script as there is a lot of energy and passion in his performance but at the end of the day is all for nothing. This story is inconsequential and so uninteresting that it feels like all this time and energy has been put in is wasted. By far the weakest of this boxset, it really drags and meanders for about 40 minutes before the Doctor gives some men a telling off (as if we haven’t had a thousand stories about how men were mean to women back in the 1900’s) then it ends. The positive there is that it actually does end.
March 11, 2024
another boxset from big finish.
1. the green gift - 4.5/5
this was really good. by far the strongest story of the set, with the return of the giant maggots due to climate change, which was their origin, essentially. loved hearing louise jameson in an entirely different role... i’m glad callen and doyle found a place to settle <3
2. northern lights - 3/5
i think this lost its way in the middle. but the beginning was gripping, tense, funny and the end was very special indeed. eccleston is just the best!
3. the beautiful game - 3.5/5
this one was interesting. not a fan of football, but this story was fun and i learnt something to the history of football, how classist and misogynistic it was/is. really loved the suffrage movement serving as the backbone and a b-plot to this story, whispers in the background.
overall: 3.6/5
goodreads score: 4/5
1. the green gift - 4.5/5
this was really good. by far the strongest story of the set, with the return of the giant maggots due to climate change, which was their origin, essentially. loved hearing louise jameson in an entirely different role... i’m glad callen and doyle found a place to settle <3
2. northern lights - 3/5
i think this lost its way in the middle. but the beginning was gripping, tense, funny and the end was very special indeed. eccleston is just the best!
3. the beautiful game - 3.5/5
this one was interesting. not a fan of football, but this story was fun and i learnt something to the history of football, how classist and misogynistic it was/is. really loved the suffrage movement serving as the backbone and a b-plot to this story, whispers in the background.
overall: 3.6/5
goodreads score: 4/5
December 30, 2024
1. The Green Gift: 4/5
I really liked the companions and setting in this one. The talking dog was great.
2. The Northern Lights: 3.5/5
There wasn’t much of a threat in this one honestly, but it was really cool to have a Doctor Who story really focus on the history side of things. I also liked the “epilogue” style of ending.
3. The Greatest Game: 3/5
The football history is obviously kind of niche, but the feminism aspect was well done if a little in your face,but the monster that focuses on obsessions is funny, and I appreciate a niche story.
I really liked the companions and setting in this one. The talking dog was great.
2. The Northern Lights: 3.5/5
There wasn’t much of a threat in this one honestly, but it was really cool to have a Doctor Who story really focus on the history side of things. I also liked the “epilogue” style of ending.
3. The Greatest Game: 3/5
The football history is obviously kind of niche, but the feminism aspect was well done if a little in your face,but the monster that focuses on obsessions is funny, and I appreciate a niche story.
May 11, 2023
For a little while, we weren’t certain that there would be a third series. So it was exciting when it was announced. I’ve definitely enjoyed earlier installments more than this one though. There are insteresting callbacks (and call forwards I guess?).
May 24, 2023
The Ninth Doctor audio adventures continue to excel.
May 26, 2023
Fantastic!
November 1, 2023
I really enjoyed this release - the three stories all offered something different and were perfectly suited to 9th.
October 20, 2025
la pire chose que puisse être Doctor Who c'est oubliable.
+ rien à foutre du football dsl
+ rien à foutre du football dsl
December 2, 2025
Very sweet that two of these stories are about personal interests of eccleston's
January 30, 2024
The Green Gift ****
Northern Lights ***
The Beautiful Game ****
Northern Lights ***
The Beautiful Game ****
August 10, 2023
Since they were able to convince Christopher Eccleston to join the Big Finish team, Big Finish has been making the most of it. Pioneers is the first release of Series 3 and features three individual stories. The first story, The Green Gift is a continuation of the last story from the previous set (Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Shades of Fear), and sees the Doctor looking for a safe place to leave Callen and and his dog Doyle. What they encounter is . It's a pretty good story that gives Eccleston some great scenes. The second story, Northern Lights, the Doctor helps two arctic explorers survive against an alien aurora. It's fine, but is probably the weakest of the set. The last story, The Beautiful Game, sees the Doctor fighting an obsesive alien that threatens to destroy league football (read as soccer to American listeners) in its infancy. Despite my having no interest in soccer, this story was a lot of fun. So, despite not being outstanding, this was still a solid set. I'm looking forward to where the Ninth Doctor goes next.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews