The BIG Finish Listener Survey

Sunday, 23 March 2014 - Reported by Marcus

Big Finish want to know your thoughts on the audio range and are offering a prize of £250 worth of Big Finish digital products to encourage people to take part in the BIG Survey.

There are 50 questions and the survey will take around 10-15 minutes. The answers are confidential. The survey will run until the end of March and one person will be selected at random, from all returns, to receive their choice of £250 worth of Big Finish digital products.

Click the link below to start the survey.

Survey

FILTER: - Competitions - Big Finish

Philip Hinchcliffe Presents ...

Tuesday, 11 February 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have announced a new set of adventures featuring Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor with Louise Jameson as Leela, written by the pair's original producer Philip Hinchcliffe alongside Ghost Light writer Marc Platt.

Philip Hinchcliffe Presents (Credit: Big Finish)

Philip Hinchcliffe Presents
Starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson
Written by Philip Hinchcliffe and Marc Platt
Released September 2014

Former Doctor Who producer Philip Hinchcliffe has been reunited with his stars, Tom Baker and Louise Jameson, for ten brand new episodes of Doctor Who made for audio at Big Finish.

Doctor Who: Philip Hinchcliffe Presents will consist of two epic full-cast stories, filled with all the drama and chills that marked Hinchcliffe’s era of the TV show.

The Ghosts of Gralstead is a six-part adventure, and it finds the Doctor and Leela returning to Victorian London, in the year 1860:

At St Clarence’s Hospital, respected surgeon Sir Edward Scrivener requires the bodies of the dead… At Doctor McDivett’s Exhibition of Living Wonders and Curiosities, miracles are afoot… And in Gralstead House, the ghost will walk again. Mordrega has come to Earth...

Carolyn Seymour – who is known for Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager and, notably, for playing Abby Grant in the original Survivors – plays Mordrega. Sir Edward is played by Gethin Anthony (Game of Thrones).

The second, four-part adventure is called The Devil’s Armada:

The TARDIS materialise in Sissenden Village in the sixteenth century. Catholic priests are hunted, so-called witches are drowned in the ducking stool, and in the shadows the Vituperon are watching… and waiting...

Doctor Who: Philip Hinchcliffe Presents also includes a special hour-long documentary featuring interviews with Tom, Louise, Philip and the cast, and is released in September.

The CD boxed set will be launched at Big Finish Day 5 in Slough on Saturday 13th September, which Tom, Philip and Carolyn are attending.

FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Tom Baker - Fourth Doctor - Big Finish

Big Finish win Drama Award

Sunday, 26 January 2014 - Reported by Marcus

Big Finish at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2014 (Credit: Big Finish)

Big Finish Productions won the award for Best Online or Non-Broadcast Audio drama at the 2014 BBC Audio Drama Awards this evening.

The award is for Dark Eyes, a four-part story written and directed by Nicholas Briggs and starring Paul McGann as the Doctor. The drama also featured Ruth Bradley as Molly O'Sullivan and Peter Egan as Straxus, as well as the Daleks, with Briggs providing the Dalek voices, as he does for the TV series.

The awards pay tribute to the cultural importance of audio drama, on air and online, and are intended to give recognition to the actors, writers, producers, sound designers and others who work in the genre.

In addition, Claire Rushbrook was voted Best Supporting Actress in an Audio Drama for her portrayal of Jules in the BBC Radio 3 production King David.

This year's winners were announced at a ceremony in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House in central London, hosted by Lenny Henry and BBC Director General Tony Hall.

The Awards cover audio dramas first broadcast in English in the UK between 1 October 2012 and 31 October 2013 – or first uploaded/published for free listening online in the UK during the same period.

FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Big Finish

Big Finish: Doctor Who adventures range sale

Monday, 6 January 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

To finish off their 2012/13 festive offers, Big Finish are offering adventures 51 to 75 of their regular Doctor Who range at a special price until the 13th January for both CD and download.

For full details and to order any of the adventures, visit the Big Finish website.

FILTER: - Special Offers - Big Finish

The Ninth Day of Big Finish-mas

Thursday, 2 January 2014 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The Nicholas Courtney Memoirs - A Soldier in Time (Credit: Big Finish)

The ninth day in Big Finish's special offers for Christmas is for The Nicholas Courtney Memoirs, which is available to purchase for download at a special price for the next couple of days only.

Nicholas Courtney, aka Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, looks back over his time working with multiple Doctors on many eras of Doctor Who.

The offers continue tomorrow with a puzzling case for the first Doctor ...

FILTER: - Special Offers - Big Finish

12 Days of Big Finish-mas

Thursday, 26 December 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish are running a number of special offers over the twelve days of Christmas as part of the festive celebrations, selected from a many of their range of series.

Today's offering is the The Butcher of Brisbane, a Fifth Doctor tale that acts as a "prequel" to The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and is available to download from the Big Finish website at a special price for the next couple of days.

The Butcher of Brisbane (Credit: Big Finish)

The Butcher of Brisbane
Starring Peter Davison as The Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan, Mark Strickson as Turlough, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Angus Wright as Magnus Greel

Adopting the alias of Weng-Chiang, the 51st century war criminal Magnus Greel will one day arrive in Victorian London by Time Cabinet – only to meet his doom, his plans undone by the Time Lord known as the Doctor.

The Doctor never believed he'd meet Greel again. But when a TARDIS trip to companion Tegan's home town goes wrong, the Doctor ends up in the younger Greel's heyday – in a world on the brink of all-out war.

With the Doctor at the mercy of Greel's alien associate Findecker and his army of mutations, Tegan is about to learn just why they called Greel 'The Butcher of Brisbane'...

FILTER: - Audio - Special Offers - Fifth Doctor - Big Finish

Big Finish: December releases

Wednesday, 25 December 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Afterlife
Starring Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor, with Sophie Aldred as Ace and Philip Olivier as Hex

Hex is dead. And a distraught Ace holds the Doctor responsible.

She forces him to take a trip to 21st century Liverpool to break the news to Hex's beloved nan and, to pay tribute to Thomas Hector Schofield, the pair seek out his family and friends to tell them of his adventures. They're helped by Private Sally Morgan, who has her own peace to find.

The Doctor, Ace and Sally must each face the fallout of the loss of their friend - to commemorate him, remember him, and finally to move on. But can they do it together, or will their attempts drive them apart?

Producer David Richardson says:

It’s the end of one era, and the beginning of another as the Doctor must face the consequences of his own actions, and mourn a fallen friend. I think, in this story, Sylvester McCoy delivers his best performance at Big Finish - in fact,it’s one of THE very best performances I’ve ever heard at Big Finish. So delicate, and powerful and memorable… it will break your heart.

The Dying Light (available to order)
Starring Frazer Hines as Jamie, Wendy Padbury as Zoe, with Terry Molloy as Quadrigger Stoyn

The TARDIS materialises on a dying world circling a dying sun, where the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are welcomed to Sanctuary - an entire monastery carved out of a mountain.

But little here is quite what it seems.

Quadrigger Stoyn has waited through the centuries. And it is time for the Doctor to pay for his first terrible mistake.

David Richardson says:

The second in the Stoyn Trilogy, which tells the story of an abandoned Time Lord from key points in the Doctor’s lives. This time we are directly before The War Games, as the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe find Stoyn on a dying world. With Frazer playing both the Doctor and Jamie, and with Wendy Padbury and Terry Molloy with him, this feels very much like an authentic story from the late 1960s.

Night of the Stormcrow (available to order)
Starring Tom Baker as The Doctor, Louise Jameson as Leela

High atop Mount McKerry sits the observatory. For years now it's been watching the skies. Now something's watching back. Something dark and huge that blots out the stars. Something with giant wings. Something that kills.

When the TARDIS is struck mid-flight, the Doctor and Leela crash-land on the mountain to find they are not the only aliens to be visiting. Beings of nothing infest the complex, staff members are dead or mad. As the survivors argue amongst themselves and attempt to take advantage of the situation, a creature vast and terrible is coming ever closer.

A creature called... Stormcrow.

David Richardson says:

We asked writer Marc Platt to give us a scary story and that’s precisely what he did, as the Doctor and Leela arrive at a remote observatory that has discovered a creature that appears in the early hours of the morning. Gothic and doom-laden, this is one to listen to with the lights off.

The Lost Stories: The Mega (Credit: Big Finish)

The Mega (available to order)
Starring Katy Manning as Jo Grant and Richard Franklin as Mike Yates

"This is a warning. Your aggression cannot go unchecked. The West must disarm. We will make you disarm."

When an assassination follows the first demonstration of a deadly new weapon, it appears that an alien race has fired the opening salvo in a new war – a war… for peace.

But is that truly their intent? The Doctor is unsure. The answer lies deep in the heart of a distant country. A place where a man might be a hero or a traitor. Where a man has to face the menace… of the Mega.

David Richardson says:

The end of The Lost Stories, which has been close to my heart for four years. The Mega is our sole Third Doctor outing, as Katy Manning and Richard Franklin tell a story full of action, suspense… and hideous alien monsters that would have been made with CSO. Earthbound 1970s Who revisited!

In addition, subscribers to the main range will also received the bonus story below:

Trial of the Valeyard (Credit: Big Finish)

The Trial of the Valeyard
Starring Colin Baker as The Doctor), Michael Jayston as The Valeyard, and Lynda Bellingham as The Inquisitor

There is some evil in all of us – even the Doctor. Transported aboard the Time Lords' orbiting courtroom, the Doctor once again encounters the Valeyard, an amalgamation of the darker sides of his nature. This time, however, the Doctor isn't in the dock. This time, the Valeyard is the defendant, accused of a crime so terrible that the presiding Inquisitor is forbidden to reveal it even to the court, nor even to his counsel for the defence… the Doctor.

If the Valeyard is found guilty, he'll be executed. Execute the Valeyard, and the secret of his origins dies with him. A secret that the Doctor is desperate to know… and which the Time Lords will stop at nothing to protect.

David Richardson says:

This one plays almost like part 15 of The Trial of the Time Lord, as the Sixth Doctor is reunited with the Valeyard and the Inquisitor in the Time Lord courtroom, to unravel some mysteries of the Valeyard’s existence. This one is a very contained drama that allows Colin Baker, Lynda Bellingham and Michael Jayston to fly - and it was wonderful to see them back together again.

FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Tom Baker - Sylvester McCoy - Colin Baker - Big Finish

Predict the Christmas Ratings

Tuesday, 24 December 2013 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who News, in association with Big Finish Productions, is offering three signed script fronts from recent Big Finish releases, to the person who can most accurately guess the BBC One ratings for the UK premiere of The Time of the Doctor

The aim is to guess the final consolidated viewing figure, as reported by BARB to the nearest 10,000 viewers (i.e. two decimal places). This figure includes all those watching the episode within a week of broadcast, but does not include those watching on iPlayer.

The Time of the Doctor is being broadcast in the UK on Christmas Day at 7.30pm, later than recent Christmas Doctor Who episodes.

Previous Ratings:

For comparison, the ratings for the previous Christmas Day episodes are as follows: The Snowmen (9.87m), The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe (10.77m), A Christmas Carol (12.11m), The End Of Time: Part One (12.04m), The Next Doctor (13.10m), Voyage of the Damned (13.31m), The Runaway Bride (9.30m), The Christmas Invasion (9.84m), The Feast of Steven (7.90m).

Entering The Competition:

To enter the competition, please send the following details to comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net:

Your name and email address
Your country (full address will only be requested if you are a winner)
Your guess for the final viewing figure!

Terms And Conditions:

The competition closes at 7.30pm GMT, 25th December 2013.
Only one entry will be accepted per person.
The competition is open worldwide.
BARB figures are expected around 10 days after transmission; we will contact the winner once they have been published.

FILTER: - Ratings - Time and the Doctor - Competitions - Big Finish

Big Finish release The Time Machine

Monday, 18 November 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The status of the last part of the Destiny of the Doctor series, The Time Machine, had been uncertain since the series publisher AudioGo entered administration last month; however, the series producers Big Finish have now announced that they will be releasing the final adventure on CD and download, completing the collection which kicked off in January with Hunters of Earth.

Destiny of the Doctor: The Time Machine (Credit: AudioGo)

Destiny of the Doctor: The Time Machine
Starring Jenna Coleman, Michael Cochrane (Chivers), and Nicholas Briggs (The Creevix) (pre-order)

23 November 2013. In an Oxford laboratory, graduate Alice Watson helps Professor Chivers assemble the final pieces of an impossible machine. A time machine.

The scientist and his assistant believe they are making history, little suspecting that the project’s completion will threaten the existence of the entire universe. But someone has sensed the danger, and when the mysterious Doctor arrives, Alice is taken on a desperate race from libraries and dreaming spires all the way to the nightmare world of Earth’s future. The monstrous Creevix are coming. They seek control of time itself and are certain that the Doctor is already too late to stop them. But can the key to saving the future lie in the Time Lord’s past lives?

For more details, see the Big Finish website.

FILTER: - Audio - Eleventh Doctor - WHO50 - Big Finish

Big Finish: September releases

Friday, 27 September 2013 - Reported by Chuck Foster

This month's Doctor releases from Big Finish feature the start of the 1963 trilogy, an adventure for the First Doctor, Steven and Vicki, a further "lost" adventure for the First Doctor, and a new set of adventures for the Victorian investigators Jago and Litefoot.

Fanfare of the Common Men (Credit: Big Finish)

Fanfare for the Common Men (available to order)
Starring Peter Davison as The Doctor, with Sarah Sutton as Nyssa

If you remember the Sixties, they say, then you can’t have been there.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. That’s why he’s taking Nyssa on a trip back to November 1963. Back to where it all began. Back to the birth of the biggest band in the history of British music. Back to see those cheeky lads from Liverpool...

Mark, James and Korky. The Common Men. The boys who made the Sixties swing with songs like Oh, Won’t You Please Love Me?, Just Count To Three and Who Is That Man.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. And there’s something very wrong with the Sixties, if the Beatles no longer exist...

The Companion Chronicles: Upstairs (Credit: Big Finish)

Upstairs (available to order)
Starring Peter Purves as Steven and Maureen O'Brien as Vicki

When the TARDIS lands in a dilapidated attic, the Doctor, Vicki and Steven discover they are on Earth, in London… in Number 10 Downing Street.

However alien forces are at play here, affecting the very fabric of the building… and adjusting the very essence of history itself.

The Lost Stories: The Dark Planet (Credit: Big Finish)

The Dark Planet (available to order)
Starring William Russell as Ian Chesterton and Maureen O'Brien as Vicki

Somewhere far back in the early days of the universe the TARDIS lands on a world lit by a dying sun. Missing from the Doctor's star maps and dotted with strange crystalline statues, it is a world ripe for exploration. But it is also a world of destruction.

Venturing out onto its surface, the time travellers find themselves drawn into an age-old conflict between the two species residing on the planet - people of Light and Shadow. Proving a catalyst for the escalation of the conflict, the Doctor and his friends need either to create a peace or to pick a side.

Because in times of war, nothing is ever black and white.

Jago and Litefoot - Series Six (Credit: Big Finish)

Jago and Litefoot - Series Six (available to order)
Starring Trevor Baxter as Professor George Litefoot and Christopher Benjamin as Henry Gordon Jago

After returning to Victorian London, Jago and Litefoot are approached by the enigmatic Colonel and offered a role they cannot refuse – investigators by Royal Appointment to Queen Victoria!

Their missions include a mystery on the Suffolk coast where strange things lurk in the sea mist, an encounter with Freud and a threat to the realm itself… But who can save Professor Litefoot when he is accused of murder, and no one can be convinced of his innocence?

6.1 The Skeleton Quay by Jonathan Morris
6.2 Return of the Repressed by Matthew Sweet
6.3 Military Intelligence by George Mann
6.4 The Trial of George Litefoot by Justin Richards
PLUS! An extra bonus CD of behind-the-scenes material.

Win a copy of Upstairs

This month's competition thanks to Big Finish is to win one of five copies of Upstairs. To be in with a chance to win, please answer the following question:

The Doctor has encountered Prime Ministers past, present and future over the course of his adventures, but which one was forecast by him to be the architect of Britain's "Golden Age"?

Send your answer to comp-upstairs@doctorwhonews.net with the subject line "Yes, I know!", along with your name, address, and where you saw the competition (the news website, twitter, facebook, etc.). Only one entry per postal address will be accepted. The competition is open worldwide, and the closing date is 6th October 2013.

FILTER: - Audio - Competitions - First Doctor - Fifth Doctor - Big Finish

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