Tom Baker is getting a new companion in latest Doctor Who spin-off from Big Finish

Tom Baker's incarnation will be joined by Naomi Cross, " an impetuous UNIT secretary", for a new series of full-cast audio dramas.

Played by Eleanor Crooks, Naomi is described as "eager to earn her stripes; top of the class, trained in karate, and very bored of pen-pushing in a London office".

In Big Finish's 13th series of Fourth Doctor adventures, Naomi takes on an assignment "babysit" Surgeon-Lieutenant Harry Sullivan on an investigative trip to Calcutta and Naomi soon encounters the thrills and spills she’s been seeking... courtesy of a strange man who wears a long scarf and carries a sonic screwdriver.

Alongside Baker and Crooks, Chris Naylor will play Harry Sullivan, the Fourth Doctor companion originally played on television by the late Ian Marter.

This new TARDIS trio will come up against an old threat in the opening story of the new boxset, Storm of the Sea Devils by David K Barnes, which will reintroduce the amphibious warrior reptiles first seen on TV in 1972.

"Naomi is very much like me," said Crooks. "She's very feisty and says what she wants to say. And her weakness, if you will, is that she's quite headstrong. So it's good that she has Harry there to balance her out a little bit."

Nicholas Briggs, Big Finish’s Creative Director, added: "Naomi Cross has a really interesting route to the TARDIS, via the very old-fashioned Harry Sullivan. Almost all her reactions to space-time adventures are the complete opposite of what we've come to expect from a Doctor Who companion. And Ellie breathes fantastically energetic life into the role."

Though Naomi's official debut won't be released by Big Finish until 2024(!), Senior Producer David Richardson has hinted that fans "may meet her in unexpected places", adding that the character has a "huge arc that will play out in the coming years" – intriguing!

Doctor Who fans can catch their first glimpse of Eleanor Crooks, discussing her impending role as the Fourth Doctor’s new friend, by joining Virtual Big Finish Day, on the Big Finish YouTube channel, which kicks off at 4pm (UK time) on Saturday 1st August.

Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures – Series 13 is now available for pre-order exclusively at the Big Finish website.

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