Big Finish just released more information about the third in their Doctor Who Unboundaudio series, Full Fathom Five by David Bishop. As noted yesterday, actor David Collings ("Sapphire and Steel") stars as the Doctor; he is joined in this story by Ed Bishop, whose many roles include Commander Ed Straker in "UFO," voices for the animated "Star Trek" series and guest shots in series such as "The Professionals" and "Highlander", and Siri O'Neal, who starred in the popular BBC children's TV serial "Moondial". "The story is set in two time periods, twenty-eight years apart," says producer John Ainsworth, "in a military base at the bottom of the ocean. To reveal much more about the story would perhaps spoil the enjoyment, but unlike the previous two Doctor Who Unbound adventures, there will be no re-working of familiar Doctor Who continuity. This is quite a different approach to the Unbound concept." At right is the Collings promotional art; the blurb and full cast are below. "Full Fathom Five" is due in late July. (Thanks to Big Finish)

Further details about Derek Jacobi's appearance in Deadline, the Doctor Who Unbound story due in October, are now available at the Big Finish website, including a downloadable trailer for the production. Among the notes presented are comments by the director, Nicholas Briggs. "I think all of us are a bit cynical about production companies issuing what seems like self-congratulatory quotes about how wonderful, marvellous 'darling, luvvie' everything was during 'the show/film/recording'," says Briggs. "But, you know, it's not for nothing that Sir Derek is up there in the top rank of British actors. He brought so much commitment, invention and receptivity to the studio session. He was an absolute delight to work with, not just because his portrayal was a brilliant and moving piece of work, but because he's a team player in every sense of that description. He was more than willing to work with me and the rest of the cast to create something that I felt may just be extraordinarily good. ... There are rare times in your career when you feel that everything has miraculously come together to raise you and those working with you up to a level where you all get a feeling of intense fulfillment. This was one of those times." Also featured in the cast are Genevieve Swallow (Susan), Peter Forbes (Philip), Jacqueline King (Barbara), Ian Brooker (Sydney) and Adam Manning (Tom). (Thanks to Big Finish)

Big Finish has announced that, contrary to its earlier report, they will allow fans to choose which of the two covers for Project: Lazarus they wish to receive, either the Sylvester McCoy or Colin Baker cover. (For both covers, visit the releases page here at OG.) "When ordering the play on-line, please specify if you would like the Sixth Doctor cover or the Seventh Doctor cover in the Special Instructions / Requests box on the ordering page. If you have already pre-ordered the play or have a subscription and would now like to choose which cover you would like, please e-mail Big Finish at bigfinish@easynet.co.uk with your choice no later than Thursday 19th June." Meanwhile, hot on the heels of the cover for Short Trips 4: The Muses, which we published a few days ago, confirmation has been received for the publication of Short Trips 5: Steel Skies, edited by John Binns, which is due out in hardcover in December. Stories in the fifth Doctor Who anthology volume include "Bruklose" by Peter Anghelides, "Oh, Darkness" by John Binns, "Eternity" by Jonathan Blum, "Reversal of Fortune" by Graeme Burk, "House" by Jeremy Daw, an untitled story by Matthew Griffiths, "A New Life" by Simon Guerrier, "The Slaves of Zondar" by Matt Jones, "Monster Season - A Poem" by William Keith, "Dust" by Paul Leonard, "Cold War" by Rebecca Levene, "In a Nutshell" by Lance Parkin, "The Ruins of Heaven" by Marc Platt, "Deep Stretch" by Richard Salter, "Inmate 280" by Cavan Scott, an untitled story by Huw Wilkins, and "Light at the End of the Tunnel" by Mark Wright. Finally, BF's The Bellotron Incident, the next audio featuring Bernice Summerfield (the former Doctor Who books companion), has been released; the story by Mike Tucker features Rutans from "Horror of Fang Rock". (Thanks to Big Finish)

EXCLUSIVE!   Sir Derek Jacobi, one of BritainÆs most respected actors, star of the BBC series, "I, Claudius" and "Cadfael," many stage roles and such films as "Gladiator," "Gosford Park," "Othello," "Hamlet," "Henry V" and "Dead Again," this week recorded his role in the forthcoming sixth and final chapter of Big Finish's "Unbound" series, Deadline by Rob Shearman. Big Finish informed Outpost Gallifrey of the actor's participation in the final "Unbound" chapter... but is Sir Derek really playing the Doctor? "Well, yes and no," says producer John Ainsworth. "All of the Doctor Who Unbound plays have been quite 'experimental' in a variety of ways, but this final play almost certainly stretches the boundaries the most. 'Deadline' is more of a play about Doctor Who rather than an actual Doctor Who story in the traditional sense. The 'what ifà' is effectively 'what if Doctor Who never quite made it to our TV screens!' But, rest assured, Sir Derek will take on the role of the Doctor and be at the controls of the TARDIS for at least some of the play." The single CD story will be directed by Nicholas Briggs and will be released in October. Details on the third, fourth and fifth plays are yet to be released; the first (already released) and second feature Geoffrey Bayldon and David Warner, respectively. (Thanks to John Ainsworth and Big Finish)

Big Finish has revealed more details on its forthcoming 'season' of Paul McGann audios. No mention has yet been made as to who stars in these audios other than Paul McGann as the Doctor (leaving the fate of Charley Pollard, aka actress India Fisher, up in the air) and Conrad Westmaas as new companion C'Rizz. Also released today: the cover illustration for Jonathan Morris' Flip-Flop starring Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford, with cover illustration by Lee Binding (with Slithergee CGI by Chris Gregory); and two covers, not one, for Project: Lazarus by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright... instead of the one cover (which has been online for a while), two different covers will be offered, one with Sylvester & one with Colin. All three covers are below; click on each for a larger version. Further details on the new McGann stories:

• Scherzo by Rob Shearman "has no incidental music at all," says producer Gary Russell. "Only Rob could give us a music-themed play with no music!" This story was recorded last in the batch and was recorded completely in order in one session, and looks to be quite unusual indeed.
• The Creed of the Kromon by Philip Martin (note the slight variation in the title) stars Brian Cobby (the Oroog), Stephen Perring (the Croaker), Jane Hills (L'da) and Daniel Hogarth & Stephen Perring (Kromon voices). Cobby "for the last fifteen or more years has been the voice you hear when dialing the Speaking Clock here in Britain." The story is a "four-part Doctor Who romp with insectoid aliens. My only other criteria was that I didn't want it to feature Sil."
• Jim Mortimore's The Natural History of Fear was recorded first, and was according to McGann "one of the best scripts he'd ever read." It features Geoff Searle, Alison Sterling, Sean Carlsen, Wink Taylor, Jane Hills and Ben Summers.
• The final story, Will Shindler's The Twilight Kingdom features special guest stars Michael Keating (Vila of "Blake's 7") as Koth and Alan Rothwell ("Picture Box") as Janto, with Ann Carus-Wilson (Vayla), Dale Ibbetson (Quillian), Jeremy James (Bryn), Vivien Parry (Tysus), Alison Sterling (Koth's Wife) and Stephen Perring (the Croaker, returning from "Kromon").
• A new bit of information: Doctor Who Magazine will release Living Legend in November, their fourth CD special featuring the Eighth Doctor. The one-episode CD, written by Scott Gray (DWM comic strip author) and starring Paul McGann, will be on the cover of issue #336.

The next "season" of Big Finish stories starring Paul McGann has been revealed in issue 331 of "Doctor Who Magazine". The new group of stories stars in December (following McGann and the other Doctors in the anniversary story "Zagreus") with Scherzo by Rob Shearman ("Jubilee"). In January, Philip Martin -- best known as the author of the television stories "Vengeance on Varos" and "Mindwarp" -- returns to Doctor Who writing The Creed of Kromon. In February, author Jim Mortimore ("Campaign") pens The Natural History of Fear while new-to-BF author Will Shindler (script editor for the drama "Born and Bred" and formerly of Radio 5) pens the March 2004 serial The Twilight Kingdom. The DWM article mentions, meanwhile, that "anyone expecting the cliffhanger from 'Neverland' to be wrapped up by the end of 'Zagreus' will be disappointed" and that the story arc running through this forthcoming "season" will be a slender one.

In other news, a new alien companion is introduced; named C'Rizz, played by stage actor Conrad Westmaas (who is also currently assistant editor of "Doctor Who Magazine") who also plays Tarpov in the upcoming serial "Omega"... where the new companion is said to make a "small but significant" contribution (perhaps the two are the same character). C'Rizz has a 'vestigial exoskeleton' and can "change skin colour at will" and can hide by blending against a background (effectively invisible). There is no word yet as to whether or not India Fisher ("Charley") returns for these stories as well. Big Finish will also be reopening their submissions policy to new authors for a short time. Further details on these stories are forthcoming. (Thanks to DWM)

Big Finish has revealed some details for some imminent projects. First, the cover illustration by Lee Binding for Music from the Seventh Doctor Adventures is available; this disc, forthcoming shortly, features the music from "Bang-Bang-a-Boom!" (music by Andy Hardwick), "Dust Breeding" (music by Russell Stone) and "The Rapture" (music by Jim Mortimore). Also now online is the cover illustration (by Clay Hickman) and cover blurb details (below) for A Universe of Terrors, the third in BF's "Short Trips" anthology series due out in June; details are below. Finally, BF today released the cast information for this May's Creatures of Beauty starring Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton; guest starring in this adventure is actor David Daker (whose many Doctor Who roles include Irongron in "The Time Warrior" and Captain Rigg in "Nightmare of Eden") as Gilbrook, David Mallinson as Brodlik, Jemma Churchill as Lady Forleon, Nigel Hastings as Quain, Michael Smiley as Seedleson, Philip Wolff as Murone, Emma Manton as Veline and Nicholas Briggs as The Koteem. (Thanks to Big Finish)




SHORT TRIPS 3: A UNIVERSE OF TERRORS
Edited by John Binns

'There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible thing...'

Join the Doctor on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe, from an alien world tyrannised by a god-like machine, to the British retreat from Afghanistan in 1842. Discover the secrets of the TARDIS's original owner, and of three faceless creatures stranded in 21st century Hollywood.

And finally, if you can, face the terrors that lurk in your own heart, and in your dreams...

Fourteen brand new adventures for reading after dark!

This collection features fourteen exclusive short stories from veterans of the Doctor Who universe including Marc Platt, Lance Parkin, Robert Shearman, Jonathan Morris and Trevor Baxendale and from several authors new to it, including acclaimed fantasy novelist Juliet E McKenna.

A Universe of Terrors is compiled and edited by John Binns who in the early Nineties edited the regular Doctor Who fiction collection Silver Carrier, in which many of today's Doctor Who novelists and television script-writers sharpened their teeth.

'We all have a universe of our own terrors to face'
Doctor Who: Ghost Light, by Marc Platt

For 40 years, the battered doors of a police telephone box have been our gateway to other times, and other worlds: worlds that have been at turns disturbing, frightening, horrific and surreal. Through several generations, a large part of the series’ appeal has been its ability to shock and scare us, defying the best efforts of well-meaning parents and censors.

In contrast to its rivals in the genre, Doctor Who has portrayed a universe peopled not with human-like cultures working their way towards peace, but with unspeakable demons and monsters, killer robots, and creatures that lurk in the dark. Where more conventional sci-fi series have used other worlds to explore the science of space travel or the human condition, Doctor Who followed the tradition of the B-movies of the Fifties and of the Quatermass television serials, in which the existence of space/time travel and alien life was not an intellectual curiosity but an excuse to frighten children and adults out of their wits.

A Universe of Terrors brings Doctor Who fiction back to those roots, and explores the darkest corners of the Doctor's universe. It is a journey that takes in not just alien and physical terrors, but also those of our own world, and of our own personal nightmares. It also depicts a progression in the Doctor’s own lives, from the moment he and his grand-daughter Susan first stepped aboard a stolen TARDIS, to an uncertain future in which the boundaries between good and evil become irrevocably blurred.

Stories include:

The Exiles by Lance Parkin
Mire and Clay by Gareth Wigmore
Ash by Trevor Baxendale
Face-Painter by Tara Samms
Losing Track of Time by Juliet E McKenna
The Discourse of Flies by Jeremy Daw
The Fear by Alex Leithes
Maurtiz by Jonathan Morris
The Comet's Tail by John Binns
Soul Mates by David Bailey
Long Term by Andrew Campbell
The Death of Me by Robert Shearman
Whiskey and Water by Marc Platt
Gazing Void by Huw Wilkins

The book also features original poetry by William Keith.