P.R.O.B.E. (series)

P.R.O.B.E. was a multi-media spin-off series of Doctor Who.

The series started out starring Caroline John, playing an older version of television's Third Doctor companion Doctor Liz Shaw, and featuring her adventures working at the Preternatural Research Bureau, investigating unusual phenomena whilst struggling with the indifference and derision of the government and the police.

The series was originally released as direct-to-video films produced by BBV Productions, with four of its five instalments being released during the period of Doctor Who's cancellation.

In 2020, Arcbeatle Press made a publishing partnership with BBV and "revived" the series, starting with the release of Shadows of Doubt. The next year, BBV Productions themselves released two volume's worth of live-action P.R.O.B.E. shorts, the P.R.O.B.E. Case Files. By January 2022, Arcbeatle had released two P.R.O.B.E. print anthologies, Out of the Shadows and True Origins, as well as using the Preternatural Research Bureau in their anthology Cyberon; True Origins declared itself the final release from Arcbeatle that would use the Bureau or other licensed BBV concepts. Shortly after, BBV introduced a new subseries, P.R.O.B.E.: New Companions, beginning with the audiobook Maxie, which starred one of the characters introduced in Arcbeatle's prose material, Maxie Masters.

Premise
The series followed Liz Shaw some years after she left UNIT and the Doctor. As established in The Zero Imperative, Liz was headhunted to set up a department for the Ministry of Defence called the Preternatural Research Bureau (or P.R.o.B.e.) because of her work at the University of Cambridge. She accepted but was unaware that P.R.o.B.e. was to be grossly underfunded, understaffed and based in a single cramped office at Ashley House.

Unlike UNIT, P.R.O.B.E. was a small-scale organisation answerable to the British government — and its purpose was to investigate the strange and the out of the ordinary, rather than merely the extraterrestrial. Liz's only colleague in the original films was assistant Louise Bayliss, who was transferred by minister Brian Rutherford in a bid to have the organisation closed. However, permission was required from Liz's ministry liaison and later lover Patsy Haggard, who refused to do so and frequently went out of her way to assist Liz. Although mention of the Doctor and the events of season 7 was forbidden due to licensing restrictions, a number of Doctor Who actors featured in the series in new roles, notably Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, as well as Louise Jameson in the recurring role of Patsy.

The first four films were written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Bill Baggs. In 2010, Big Finish Productions released Shadow of the Past, a Companion Chronicle starring John as Liz. While not part of the P.R.O.B.E. series, it acknowledged its continuity, with Liz nodding to the "preternatural research" she had been working on in her absence from UNIT. After Caroline John's death in 2012, BBV surprised their audience by announcing a new film, designed as a tribute to John and farewell to the character of Liz. When to Die, where Hazel Burrows stepped in as an elderly Liz, was released in 2015. Jameson did not return as Patsy, who was instead played by Georgette Ellison.

Designed to wrap up Liz's adventures with P.R.O.B.E. and allow the series to continue with a fresh cast, the film also introduced two new members of the team: the eccentric technician Giles and the K9-esque portable computer Box. Later P.R.O.B.E. media starting from Shadows of Doubt featured a new P.R.O.B.E. team which had formed around Giles and Box, including Archie MacTavish, Az, Tasha Williams, Agamya and the alien refugee Maxie Masters. Liz (now Liz Haggard) was presented as retired and living in Spain with her now-wife Patsy, though she kept in contact with the new team.

Production team
All five P.R.O.B.E. films were directed by Bill Baggs, who also produced all of them bar The Zero Imperative which was produced by Andy Grant. Mark Gatiss wrote the first four films whilst Baggs wrote When to Die. Mark Ayres, who did music for season 25 and season 26 of Doctor Who, made original music for the first few films, with the fifth being done by Olivia Thomas.

Doctor Who actors
A number of actors from Doctor Who played the roles of other characters throughout the P.R.O.B.E. series. Louise Jameson (Leela) played Patsy Haggard in the first four films, Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor) played Jeremiah O'Kane, Peter Davison (the Fifth Doctor) played Patient One and Gavin Purcell, Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor) played Peter Russell, Sylvester McCoy (the Seventh Doctor) played Colin Dove, Sophie Aldred (Ace) played a public relations officer, Geoffrey Beevers played Brian Rutherford and Terry Molloy (Davros) played D.I. Burke. This tradition was resumed for the 2020s revival with P.R.O.B.E. Case Files - Volume 2 with Simon Fisher-Becker (Dorium Maldovar) being cast as Andrew Williams.