The Sixth Doctor joins Dark Shadows

Colin Baker, the sixth actor to play Doctor Who on television (why don't we count Peter Cushing?) has signed up to appear in Big Finish's next Dark Shadows adventure, The House by the Sea. If you're a Dark Shadows fan and haven't  listened to these audio dramas you're really missing out.

My favorites so far are The Skin Walkers and The Crimson Pearl, though The Night Whispers is worth a listen just to hear Jonathan Frid back in the role of Barnabas Collins.

Here's the press release from Big Finish:

 Big Finish are pleased to announce that Sixth Doctor Colin Baker will be taking the starring role in March's Dark Shadows release, The House By the Sea.

“It was Colin who came to us,” says director Joseph Lidster. “He'd heard about Nicola Bryant appearing in The Blind Painter and so he spoke to David Richardson about it. We were already thinking about doing what's effectively a single-hander, so it was perfect timing really.”

The House By the Sea also serves as a perfect introduction to anyone who might not have yet experienced Dark Shadows as it features Colin's character moving to Collinsport and discovering its inhabitants and their secrets for himself.

“Colin was fantastic,” says writer James Goss. “If you've never heard Dark Shadows before, start here – it's about a stranger encountering all the terrible people and events of Collinsport.... and gradually realising he's on the worst holiday ever. And, wonderfully, Colin really got into it perfectly – it's possibly the quickest recording we'll ever do.”

“Colin is stunning in it,” continues Lidster. “As I said to him on the day, we could actually release the story with no sound effects as his performance is so good. He also does some pitch perfect impersonations of the people he meets – including Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman and Elizabeth Stoddard Collins.”

The cover and trailer for both this release and February's The Voodoo Amulet are now available. Details for the rest of this year's releases will be available soon, and you can hear a trailer for The House by the Sea at the end of the new podcast, which will be arriving later today...