The Valeyard returns

Michael Jayston returns to the role of The Valeyard in the fourth Doctor Who Unbound play, He Jests at Scars.

The Valeyard first appeared as the Sixth Doctor's prosecutor in the 1986 adventure, The Trial of a Time Lord, where it was revealed in the final instalments that the Valeyard was in fact a distillation of the darker aspects of the Doctor's personality, somewhere between his twelfth and thirteenth incarnations.

Gary Russell's He Jests at Scars explores what might have happened if the Valeyard had not been defeated at the end of the Sixth Doctor's trial.

Michael didn't find it difficult to slip back in to the role even after all these years. "I've got the video box set of Trial of a Time Lord,' he explains, "And I thought, 'Shall I see what I was doing?' and I knew exactly what I was doing with it… hopefully!"

"As all Doctor Who fans know, I am one of the Doctors. I'm the evil side of the Doctor. I'm still playing the Valeyard fairly menacingly, although he doesn't know where he is at the end. I won't let you in to the secrets of it, but it's a very well written script."

Bonnie Langford was also delighted to return to play Mel:

"Mel is a little bit more gritty a little tougher. Yes, we like this. It gives you more scope to enjoy it more. It's nice to have a Mel who's a little bit more realistic and a little less goody-two-shoes."

He Jests at Scars will be released late August, click on the link above for the full back cover text.