Two sets of Earth colonists set out for the planet ND492. One crew takes the long route, sleeping for 1,000 years, in secret, on a ship called The Human Frontier. The other crew sets off hundreds of years later at hyper speed. When the sleepers wake as they approach the planet, the hyper-speed crew has been living there for 300 years already – and they have no clue the ‘sleepers’ are about to arrive.

If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you’re likely already familiar with Big Finish Productions. The company has been telling stories with all 13 Doctors – in audio form – for more than 20 years, and there are currently hundreds of audio dramas to choose from (many starring actual Doctors Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, and David Tennant)!

Though Big Finish certainly concentrates their output on Doctor Who and its spinoffs (Torchwood, Class, The Sarah Jane Adventures), it’s also produced audiobooks and full-cast audio dramas set in other established universes, such as Dark Shadows, Space: 1999, The Avengers, Blake’s 7, and more.

On top of that, they also produce a handful of original titles and stories, which is why we’re here. Out today is The Human Frontier, an epic science fiction story spanning hundreds of years of future history, written and directed by Big Finish’s creative director (and voice of the Daleks), Nicholas Briggs.

The Human Frontier is a 4-hour full-cast audio drama starring Pepter Lunkuse (Exographer Anna Swift) and Genevieve Gaunt (Commander Daisy Bailey) as two pioneers of future space colonization. The ensemble cast also features Mark Elstob (Pilot Robert Harrigan), Lucy Briggs-Owen (‘Nilly’), Clive Wood (President Triton), and Nicholas Briggs (Hans Dendrick).

Listen to the trailer for The Human Frontier here…

The story – which is ostensibly the last in the Big Finish Originals line – is available now as a digital download. It’s composed of four hour-long episodes:

• Part 1: “The Possibility of Life”: Anna and Daisy wake up at two different points during their 1,000 year journey. Once for an alien encounter and once for a dire emergency. But sleeping for centuries can affect the mind in strange ways. Meanwhile, on the planet Triton, a president is about to fall from grace.
• Part 2: “Nowhere Near Neptune”: Anna is glad of her implanted AI ‘Nilly’ for company. How else will she get through the coming ordeal?
• Part 3: “Machine Minds”: A devastating conflict in Earth’s past has ramifications, even centuries later.
• Part 4: “Control”: With The Human Frontier now in orbit, is the past about to repeat itself?

According to Briggs, “A phrase I overuse, but it is true, is that for me it’s beyond exciting. I felt such joy and fear simultaneously. I’m not one for white-knuckle rides but I’ve done a couple, and this felt rather like that. The experience in the studio was fantastic. Everyone picked up on the amount of emotion I had invested in this, and all of them ran to my aid, fully supportive. Our great producer Emma Haigh was also there at every moment to help. It was one of the most heartening experiences of my life so far.”

The Human Frontier is available now as a digital download from Big Finish for $17.