Hornet's Nest on BBC Radio 4 Extra

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 - Reported by Marcus

BBC Radio 4 Extra has begun broadcasting The Hornet's Nest, the BBC Audio Play which saw Tom Baker return to the role of the Doctor after nearly 30 years.

The series will be broadcast in 10 parts over the next two weeks and thanks to the BBC iPlayer it will be available globally for 7 days after each transmission. Each episode is first broadcast at 1800GMT and 0000GMT.

The series from BBC Audiobooks is written by Paul Magrs and also stars Richard Franklin as Mike Yates, Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey, Rula Lenska as the Hornet Queen and Stephen Thorne.

Doctor Who: Hornet's Nest – The Stuff of Nightmares

Responding to an advert apparently worded for him alone, Captain Mike Yates (retired) is reunited with a ghost from the past. But why has the Doctor, that mysterious traveller in Time and Space, sent for his former UNIT acquaintance?

Trapped by a horde of vicious creatures in an apparently innocuous English country cottage, the two old friends are on the brink of an enormous adventure.

As the Doctor relates his recent escapades, it becomes clear to Mike that they – and the Earth at large – are facing an enemy of unimaginable power and horrific intent. The nightmare is only just beginning.

Hornet's News will be followed by the BBC Audiobook version of Pyramids of Mars, read by Tom Baker.

FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker - Broadcasting

Series 6 CD Track List

Friday, 25 November 2011 - Reported by Marcus

Silva Screen have released the tracklisting for the soundtrack to Series Six of Doctor Who, due for release in the UK on 19th December, 2011.

The two-disc set includes music from throughout the series, composed by Murray Gold and played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Ben Foster. The CD is available to pre-order on Amazon.

DISC ONE

The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon

I Am The Doctor In Utah
1969
The Impossible Astronaut
Trust Me
Help Is On Its Way
Another Perfect Prison
Greystark Hall
Apollo 11
Day Of The Moon
I See You Silence

The Curse of the Black Spot

You’re A Dead Man
Deadly Siren
Perfect Reflection
All For One
The Curse Of The Black Spot

The Doctor’s Wife

I’ve Got Mail
My TARDIS
Run, Sexy
Locked On

Rebel Flesh / The Almost People

The Chemical Castle
Which One Is The Flesh?
Scanning Me
Ransacked
Always With The Rory
Double Doctor
Tell Me The Truth
Loving Isn’t Knowing (The Almost People Suite)

A Good Man Goes to War

River’s Waltz
Pop
Tell Me Who You Are
Melody Pond

DISC TWO

Let’s Kill Hitler

Growing Up Fast
The Blush Of Love
Terror Of The Reich
The British Are Coming
A Very Unusual Melody
When A River Forms
Pay Attention Grown Ups
The Enigma Of River Song

Night Terrors

Bedtime For George
Tick Tock Round The Clock
A Malevolent Estate
Night Terrors

The Girl Who Waited

Apalapucia
36 Years
Lost In The Wrong Stream

The God Complex

The Hotel Prison
Room Of Your Dreams
Fear Enough
What’s Left To Be Scared Of?
Rita Praises

Closing Time

Stormageddon, Dark Lord Of All
Definitely Going
Over Your Shoulder
Ladieswear
Fragrance
My Time Is Running Out

The Wedding of River Song

Tick Tock (Vocal Track)
5:02 PM
The Head Of An Enemy
My Silence
Brigadier Lethbridge – Stewart
Forgiven
Time Is Moving
The Wedding Of River Song

Day of the Moon

The Majestic Tale (Of A Madman In A Box)

FILTER: - Murray Gold - Audio - Series 6/32

Big Finish: Jago and Litefoot Series 1 Offer

Friday, 18 November 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish are to offer the first series of the popular spin-off Jago and Litefoot for a special discount this weekend:

The acclaimed Doctor Who spin-off audio Jago and Litefoot has triumphed in the Doctor Who Magazine poll, with Series Two voted as the Best Big Finish Audio of 2010. Series One is close behind, coming in at joint Fifth.

To celebrate, for one weekend only, Big Finish is providing a special discount offer. On Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th November, the Series One box set will be available for just £20 on CD and download only at www.bigfinish.com

Jago and Litefoot stars Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter, reprising their iconic roles from the 1977 story The Talons of Weng-Chiang. In the first series, which also features Lisa Bowerman, Conrad Asquith and Toby Longworth, the infernal investigators take on the sinister Doctor Tulp.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish

Big Finish: The Lost Stories - Fourth Doctor Box Set

Wednesday, 16 November 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have released the cover art for their forthcoming Doctor Who: The Lost Stories - The Fourth Doctor Box Set.

To be released in January 2012, the six disc audio collection will feature two unmade stories from the 1970s, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela:

The Foe from the Future
A six part story devised by Robert Banks Stewart and adapted by John Dorney

The Grange is haunted, so they say. This stately home in the depths of Devon has been the site of many an apparition. And now people are turning up dead. The ghosts are wild in the forest. But the Doctor doesn’t believe in ghosts.

The TARDIS follows a twist in the vortex to the village of Staffham in 1977 and discovers something is very wrong with time. But spectral highwaymen and cavaliers are the least of the Doctor’s worries.

For the Grange is owned by the sinister Jalnik, and Jalnik has a scheme two thousand years in the making. Only the Doctor and Leela stand between him and the destruction of history itself. It’s the biggest adventure of their lives – but do they have the time?

The Valley of Death
A four part story devised by Philip Hinchcliffe and adapted by Jonathan Morris

A century after his Great-Grandfather Cornelius vanished in the Amazon rainforest, Edward Perkins is journeying to the depths of the jungle to find out what became of his ancestor’s lost expedition. Intrigued by what appears to be a description of a crashed spacecraft in the diaries of that first voyage, the Doctor and Leela join him on his quest. But when their plane runs into trouble and ends up crash landing, everyone gets more than they bargained for.

The jungle is filled with giant creatures and angry tribesmen, all ready to attack. But in the famed lost city of the Maygor tribe, something far, far worse is lurking. Something with an offer to make to mankind. Who are the Lurons and can they be trusted? Will the Doctor defeat the plans of the malevolent Godrin or will he become just another victim of the legendary Valley of Death?

Guest cast includes Paul Wheeler, Louise Brearley, Blake Ritson, Dan Starkey, Anthony Howell and Jane Slavin.

As well as the two stories, the set will also include a 70 minutes behind-the-scenes documentary, plus additional extras.

The boxed set is available for pre-order via the Big Finish website.
(with thanks to David Richardson)

FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker - Big Finish

Big Finish: Cherie Lunghi - The Emerald Tiger

Friday, 11 November 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have announced that Cherie Lunghi will join Peter Davison for their forthcoming audio adventure, The Emerald Tiger. The actress joins the Fifth Doctor team of Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Mark Strickson for the story that opens a new mini-season in April 2012.

Writer and director Barnaby Edwards said:

I wrote the part of the brittle and beautiful Lady Adela with Cherie in mind. Her husky, experienced and emotional voice seemed to fit the part perfectly. Of course, I didn't think I'd get her, but I spoke to her agent on the off‐chance. Cherie read the script and, much to my delight, said yes!

It's always a pleasure to work with this particular TARDIS team. They're just as fun and sparky off‐mic as they are when we're recording. That magical dynamic established in the TV episodes is still as strong today as it was thirty years ago – if anything, more so!

The cast also includes Sam Dastor, Neil Stacy, Vincent Ebrahim, Vineeta Rishi, Trevor Cooper and Gwilym Lee.

The adventure is available to pre-order from Big Finish.

FILTER: - Audio - Peter Davison - Big Finish

Big Finish: Counter-Measures

Sunday, 23 October 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Pamela Salem, Hugh Ross, Simon Williams, Karen Gledhill

Big Finish have announced a new spin-off from Doctor Who based on characters from the Seventh Doctor adventure Remembrance of the Daleks: Counter-Measures will be a four-part series of hour-long episodes based around a new specialist group formed by the British Government in 1964 to investigate unexplained phenomena and dangerous new technology, leading on from the RAF Regiment's encounter with the Daleks some months beforehand.

The series will see all three lead actors reprising their roles from the original 1988 story, Simon Williams as Captain Gilmore, Pamela Salem as Rachel Jensen, and Karen Gledhill as Allison; the latter said of the new series:

Remembrance of the Daleks was one of the first television productions I ever took part in back in 1988, so it was a very exciting event for me. I couldn’t believe I was working with the likes of Simon Williams, Pamela Salem and Sylvester McCoy! It turned out to be the best possible introduction to team playing on television as we spent eight weeks together in the studio and on location and had a really fantastic time.

I had no idea that 23 years on the story would still be so popular, and that some of us would be getting together again to recreate our characters and tell another story! I love the new scripts – Allison has really come into her own in these stories, and I am looking forward to meeting her again and having fun with her. The best bit will be being back in my 20s!

The Counter-Measures team will be joined by Toby Kinsella, their liaison with Whitehall; the character is played by Hugh Ross. Alastair Mackenzie also features as Julian St Stephen, Allison’s boyfriend of five years, and other cast members include Vernon Dobtcheff, Adrian Lukis and Stephen Greif.

Producer David Richardson said:

Gilmore, Rachel and Allison are very fondly remembered by fans. They also have a great dynamic, and it’s easy to imagine that they had a life beyond the one TV story in which they appeared. So it’s been relatively painless for script editor John Dorney and myself to sit down over the course of several months and fashion a brand new series format centered on these characters that were originally created by Ben Aaronovitch.

I was really inspired by the era in which the series is set. It’s long before digital technology… even before colour TV. The UK is relatively not long out of the Second World War, nuclear power is new and society is changing. We’re feeding into that – the audio will feel ‘black and white’. The composer for the project, Nicholas Briggs, will even be making use of 1960s style stock music tracks in his music.

The tone is part 60s Doctor Who, part Quatermass, part Doomwatch, and a lot completely new...

The four episodes comprising the first series will be released in July 2012 as a boxed set, which will also include an additional behind-the-scenes documentary; it is available for pre-order on CD or for download at the Big Finish website.

(with thanks to David Richardson)

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish

Big Finish: Companion Chronicles Day

Saturday, 8 October 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish are to hold a special sale on the 22nd October to celebrate their Doctor Who spin-off audio adventures, The Companion Chronicles, with the first series being made available for a large discount on the day.

Executive Producer Jason Haigh Ellery said:

The Companion Chronicles has been a success story for us, and this one-day sale should allow those who’ve never heard one to jump aboard and find out what the fuss is about. Sadly, due to contractual reasons, we’re only able to offer this first series on CD – there will be no downloads of the stories.

The special day will see the individual stories priced at £5.00, or all four at £16.00.

1.1 - Frostfire, by Marc Platt
with Maureen O'Brien as Vicki
and Keith Drinkel as The Cinder

Vicki has a tale to tell. But where does it start and when does it end?

1.2 - Fear of the Daleks, by Patrick Chapman
with Wendy Padbury as Zoe
and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks

Why has Zoe Heriot been having nightmares about the Daleks? And who is the Doctor, a mysterious man from her past?

1.3 - The Blue Tooth, by Nigel Fairs
with Caroline John as Liz Shaw
and Nicholas Briggs as the Cybermen

When Liz Shaw's friend goes missing, she discovers a potential alien invasion that will have far-reaching effects on her life...

1.4 - The Beautiful People, by Jonathan Morris
with Lalla Ward as Romana
and Marcia Ashton as Carna

The Fourth Doctor and Romana discover that all is not well at the Vita Novus Health Spa.

Meanwhile, the Companion Chronicles series is now within its sixth season. This month sees Katy Manning in The Many Deaths of Jo Grant, and in November Peter Purves returns as Steven Taylor in The First Wave. Finally, the year is seen out with the return of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor in a sequel to the stageplay adaptation The Ultimate Adventure; original script writer Terrance Dicks continues the tale with Beyond the Ultimate Adventure, where the Doctor and his companions Crystal (Claire Huckle) and Jason (Noel Sullivan) are called back to the Bar Galactica ...

6.1 - Tales from the Vault, by Jonathan Morris
with Katy Manning as Jo, Wendy Padbury as Zoe, Peter Purves as Steven, Mary Tamm as Romana
and Daphne Ashbrook as Ruth Matheson, Yee Jee Tso as Charlie Sato

Welcome to The Vault – jokingly known as 'The Museum of Terrors' – a high security establishment where UNIT keeps all of its alien artifacts.

New recruit Warrant Officer Charlie Sato is given a guided tour by Captain Ruth Matheson, and the archive reveals some dark secrets. An army jacket, a painting, crystal and a wax cylinder all hold a grave significance, and their stories are told by the Doctor's companions: Steven Taylor, Zoe Heriot, Jo Grant and Romana...

6.2 - The Rocket Men, by John Dorney
with William Russell as Ian Chesterton
and Gus Brown as Ashman

The TARDIS has landed on Platform Five, a floating city in the sky of the planet Jobis, and for a time the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki get the chance to enjoy this idyllic place.

And then the Rocket Men arrive, led by the sadistic Ashman.

When the only other option to certain death is suicide, Ian Chesterton takes the gamble of his life...

6.3 - The Memory Cheats, by Simon Guerrier
with Wendy Padbury as Zoe
and Charlie Hayes as Jen

Zoe Heriot remembers everything. But she remembers nothing.

A genius with instant recall, Zoe’s mind has been purged of her memories of travelling with the Doctor and Jamie in the TARDIS. And years later she is in deep trouble – prosecuted by the mysterious company that has evidence that she has travelled in Space and Time.

Except Zoe knows they’re wrong.
Aren’t they?

But if that’s the case, why is there proof that Zoe was in Uzbekistan in 1919.

Can the memory cheat?

6.4 - The Many Deaths of Jo Grant, by Mark Wright and Cavan Scott
with Katy Manning as Jo Grant
and Nicholas Ashbury as Rowe

"I wasn’t going to let this happen. After all we’d been through, the Doctor wasn’t going to die like this, on his knees, in the mud."

When Jo Grant was very young, her grandmother told her that there was a time for everything. A time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to live and a time to die.

Since meeting the Doctor, Jo has laughed till she thought she might burst. She has also shed a few tears along the way, but has lived more than she ever thought possible.

But now, as a strange spaceship materialises over UNIT HQ and a heavily injured Doctor returns to Earth, it is Jo's time to die. Again, and again, and again...

6.5 - The First Wave, by Simon Guerrier
with Peter Purves as Steven Taylor
and Tom Allen as Oliver Harper

Caught in the inevitable path of its own history, the TARDIS arrives on the planetoid Grace Alone, where the Doctor, Steven and Oliver expect to face their fate. What they don’t expect to find is a massacred crew – and a race of alien invaders known as the Vardans.

When the Doctor is apparently killed, his companions attempt to survive against the odds. But those odds are narrowing. Their borrowed time has expired.

6.6 - Beyond the Ultimate Adventure, by Terrance Dicks
with Colin Baker as The Doctor
and Claire Huckle as Crystal, Noel Sullivan as Jason

A thrilling adventure in Time and Space!

The Doctor, Crystal and Jason have survived monsters, Madame Delilah and Mrs T, but then their former enemy Karl calls them back to the Bar Galactica. The mercenary has a cryptic message concerning Ultima Thule, where fabled treasure and a threat to the universe await...

The journey requires entering another dimension, where old enemies – and a brand new adversary – lie in wait...

FILTER: - Merchandise - Audio - Big Finish

Big Finish: Ian McNeice - Renaissance Man

Friday, 19 August 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Big Finish have announced that Ian McNeice has joined the cast for their forthcoming Fourth Doctor audio adventure, Renaissance Man.

McNeice is perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans as the Doctor's old friend Winston Churchill, as seen in last year's Victory of the Daleks and The Pandorica Opens; he also featured in an earlier Big Finish adventure, playing Zeus in the Eighth Doctor story Immortal Beloved.

Renaissance Man is the second adventure in this series starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson, and was recorded on 17th August: the story sees the Doctor and Leela aiming to visit the Morovanian Museum but instead arriving at an English village, where they encounter the mysterious Harcourt (played by McNeice) and his household.

Episode titles for this series are expected to be announced shortly.

(with thanks to David Richardson, Richard Brinck-Johnsen)

FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker - Big Finish

Doctor Who: Serpent Crest

Thursday, 11 August 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

AudioGo have announced the third series of audio adventures starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and written by Paul Magrs; Tsar Wars kicks off the Serpent Crest series, with the Doctor accompanied by Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey.

Tsar Wars (available for pre-order)
published 8th September 2011

The Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey are catapulted from present day Earth to a futuristic civilisation in a distant galaxy. At the Robotov Palace they find the Tsar and Tsarina ruling over their empire whilst human workers toil on satellite moons. The Doctor is mistaken for an old ally of the Tsarina's, but then suspected of treason when the Palace comes under attack. Dark secrets are lurking in the shadows, and the mysterious Father Gregory will set off a chain of events which have long-lasting consequences for the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey.

Featuring a dual role for Tom Baker, Tsar Wars features a superb line-up of guest actors including Michael Jayston, Simon Shepherd, Suzy Aitchison, Paul Chequer, Gabriel Vick, Grant Gillespie and Sam Hoare.

Future installments of Serpent Crest will see the return of the Doctor's previous companion in these series, Mike Yates as played by Richard Franklin, and will also include Terrence Hardiman, Joanna David, Geoff Leesley, Su Douglas and Andrew Sachs.

The release schedule for the series:

Tsar Wars, 8th September
The Broken Crown, 6th October
Aladdin Time, 3rd November
The Hexford Invasion, 8th December
Survivors in Space, 8th December

FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker

AudioGo: Doctor Who release update

Thursday, 11 August 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

AudioGo have announced the release of two more titles in their range of Doctor Who spoken stories, featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory. Plus the third collection of the 'lost' television adventures with linking narration has recently been released, alongside the Target adaptation of Fury From The Deep.

Blackout (available for pre-order)
by Oli Smith
read by Stuart Milligan
published 8th September 2011

November 9th, 1965. New York City is plunged into darkness, a taxi driver has bad dreams, and an invisible spacecraft hovers ominously above the skyline.

As an extra-terrestrial disease sweeps the populace, Amy and Rory must sabotage the city's water supply to slow the spread of infection, and a dying Doctor holds another man's life in his hands.

With the death toll rising, and his companions stalked through the streets by alien businessmen, the Doctor is forced to make a terrible decision.

How far must he go to save his friends?

Touched by an Angel
by Jonathan Morris
read by Clare Corbett
published 8th September 2011

In 2003, Rebecca Whitaker died in a road accident. Her husband Mark is still grieving. He receives a battered envelope, posted eight years ago, containing a set of instructions with a simple message: "You can save her."

As Mark is given the chance to save Rebecca, it's up to the Doctor, Amy and Rory to save the whole world. Because this time the Weeping Angels are using history itself as a weapon...

The Lost Episodes - Collection 3 (available to order)
published 4th August 2011

Dozens of Doctor Who TV episodes are lost as visual film recordings - but they survive as audio soundtracks, digitally remastered with additional linking narration by members of the original cast. This handsome box set collects together five adventures which are either wholly or partially lost from the TV archives, but which can be enjoyed in their entirety on audio.

Presented in chronological order of transmission, the stories in this collection are "The
Smugglers", "The Tenth Planet", "The Power of the Daleks", "The Highlanders", "The Underwater Menace" and "The Moonbase", and feature William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton as the first and second Doctors.

They are presented along with bonus interviews with Anneke Wills, who played Polly in the TV series, as well as a special BBC Radio 3 feature Dance of the Daleks which looks at the role of incidental music in Doctor Who.

Fury From The Deep (available to order)
by Victor Pemberton
read by David Troughton
published July 2011

In the dark, uncharted depths of the North Sea it has lurked, growing in strength, growing in size, and striking terror into the hearts of mariners down the untold centuries. Landing near a North Sea gas refinery off the east coast of England, the Tardis crew are immediately accused of sabotage. Several rig crews have mysteriously vanished, strange pressure build-ups have been detected, and in the refinery's pipelines the Doctor can hear the steady, rhythmic beat of - what? Soon the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria will find themselves at the unrelenting mercy of the deadliest and most terrifying foe they have ever encountered...

FILTER: - Audio

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