The Wormery and Inside Story

Thursday, 23 October 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
At right: the new cover illustration from The Wormery, the November 2003 Big Finish audio starring Colin Baker with Katy Manning as Iris Wildthyme (click on the thumbnail for a larger version). Also at the BF site - a preview of the forthcoming The Inside Story book with PDF copies of the pages for two stories, "The Sirens of Time" and "The Spectre of Lanyon Moor". Visit the Big Finish website to view them.




FILTER: - Audio

Resistance is Futile

Thursday, 23 October 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
More on that special Doctor Who anniversary album we reported some time ago: it's called Resistance is Futile and includes "a series of remixes, modern interpretations and re-workings of Radiophonic Workshop material and classic Doctor Who music." Says BBCi: "Artists, which include Lemon Jelly, The Orb, Radioslave, 808state, Unkle, Howie B, Coldcut, Mark B and St Etienne were all given access to parts of the extensive archive of material which help shape the sound of modern dance music. The results are a unique insight into how artists of today were influenced by this groundbreaking music of the past. The album ... is out at the start of 2004, and all attendees to Panopticon 2003 will receive a free limited edition 3 track promo sampler. Numbers are limited so make sure you don't miss out." A small version of the cover is at right. (Thanks to BBCi)




FILTER: - Audio

Marco Polo MP3

Wednesday, 22 October 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
We've just learned that the forthcoming BBC Radio Collection audio release of Marco Polo will, like the "Daleks' Master Plan" relase, contain MP3 files of the "clean" soundtrack, without William Russell's narration. The package
will also contain a fold-out colour map, on which the caravan's journey can be traced as the story progresses, and this will also be included as a jpeg file. The "extras" will be on the first of the three discs. (Thanks to Stephen James Walker)




FILTER: - Audio

Big Finish Updates

Monday, 20 October 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The 2004 Big Finish limited series taking place on Gallifrey will be called... Gallifrey! Big Finish recently confirmed that the audio series, which features Lalla Ward as Romana, Louise Jameson as Leela and John Leeson as K-9, will be four parts; parts one and four are written by Alan Barnes, part two by Stephen Cole and part three by Justin Richards. Also recently confirmed: the special one-shot CD featuring the single-episode story Living Legend will be attached to the cover of Doctor Who Magazine #337, and includes both the story and interviews with much of the cast of "Zagreus", BF's 40th anniversary story due in November. Finally... could there be more Doctor Who Unbounds? No plans as yet for a second series, according to John Ainsworth, who would not be producing one if there were, he says. However, Ainsworth does mention one interesting possibility: "Having said that we MAY do one more Unbound as a one-off special which I will both produce and direct. We'll see what happens." More of the interview with John Ainsworth is at the Total Telly site. (Thanks to DWM, Brian Edwards, John Ainsworth)




FILTER: - Audio - DWM

Fielding comments on BF

Saturday, 4 October 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Janet Fielding to TSV on why she's not doing Big Finish audios: "If you don't shut the door behind you at some point in your life, you'll never move on... I've been there, I've done it. On to adventures new."




FILTER: - People - Audio

Big Finish Licence Renewed

Tuesday, 30 September 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Big Finish announced today that it has signed a new agreement to license production of Doctor Who audio dramas through 2007. Says Jason Haigh-Ellery of Big Finish: "This agreement will run through to 2007 and will be active during the launch of the new Doctor Who series on television, which Big Finish will heartily support. We would like to thank our loyal regular purchasers for their support over the past four years and hope that they enjoy the next four just as much." Good news for all fans of the audio adventures.




FILTER: - Audio

Big Finish Update

Monday, 29 September 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Big Finish have updated some information about the forthcoming 40th anniversary audio Zagreus; in addition to confirming the cast of the story (while careful to make note "but who are they playing?") they've added several names including Anneke Wills (Polly), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane) and Stephen Perring (who has played a variety of BF roles including Sebastian Grayle in "Seasons of Fear"). A photo gallery from the recording of the audio is online at their website. Meanwhile, the cover illustration for the audio release of Shada has been revealed; click on the thumbnail at right for a larger version. Also, on Big Finish's spinoff series, Bernice Summerfield, a new audio has been confirmed: Simon A. Forward's The Bone of Contention, released in June and featuring the Galyari from the Doctor Who audio serial "The Sandman" which Forward penned. (Thanks to Big Finish)




FILTER: - Audio

Big Finish Update

Sunday, 28 September 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Big Finish has released several new cover illustrations for its forthcoming fall releases. At bottom left is the cover illustration for Zagreus, the 40th anniversary three-CD set starring Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Peter Davison and a host of other Doctor Who performers. Next is the cover illustration for Exile, the final Unboundserial starring Arabella Weir as the Doctor. The "Zagreus" cover art is duplicated on the Doctor Who: The Inside Story hardcover book release featuring an inside look at the making of all of the Doctor Who audios; and finally, the cover for the next Short Trips short fiction anthology, Short Trips 5: Steel Skies, for which the cover blurb is available below. Click each thumbnail for a larger version.


SHORT TRIPS 5: STEEL SKIES edited by John Binns

There are many places that most of us can never see: places that are sheltered, locked away, cordoned off from the outside world. But to the Doctor, and those who travel with him in his TARDIS, there is no such thing as a locked door. Anywhere in space and time is open to them to visit even if sometimes it might be better to leave such places well alone.
     Steel Skies is a collection of stories based in enclosed and artificial environments: places constructed to keep the dangers of the universe outside, perhaps, or to keep their inhabitants locked in. It is divided into four sections, each exploring a different kind of confinement:
     Section One, Flight, comprises four tales of travellers who left their homes for far-away destinations to explore, to start a new life, or to fight for the survival of their species.
     Section Two, Frontiers, explores the corridors, living quarters and ventilation shafts of four futuristic environments designed to shelter men, women and children from harsh natural forces, or from the threat of nuclear war.
     Section Three, Incarceration, tells four stories of punishment and imprisonment, from San Francisco?s infamous Alcatraz, to the cage of a flightless angel in the dilapidated ruins of Heaven.
     Section Four, Isolation, deals with the loneliness and despair of being cut off from the world outside, by physical or mental incapacity, by the ravages of war, or caught between destinations aboard the TARDIS itself.
     A recurring theme in all four sections is the effect of the Doctor's arrival in these enclosed environments sometimes positive, sometimes less so.
     Featuring "Corridors of Power" by Matthew Griffiths, "A Good Life" by Simon Guerrier, "Reversal of Fortune" by Graeme Burk, "Monitor" by Huw Wilkins, "Dust" by Paul Leonard, "Light at the End of the Tunnel" by Mark Wright, "No Exit" by Kate Orman, "House" by Jeremy Daw, "Deep Stretch" by Richard Salter, "Inmate 280" by Cavan Scott, "Doing Time" by Lance Parkin, "The Ruins of Heaven" by Marc Platt, "Cold War" by Rebecca Levene, "Oh, Darkness" by John Binns, "Greenaway" by Peter Anghelides, and "Eternity" by Jonathan Blum.




FILTER: - Audio

Death Doesn't Come to Time

Sunday, 21 September 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Doctor Who was one of 19 award-winning titles being celebrated by BBC Audiobooks at this yearÆs Spoken Word Awards ceremony, hosted by Clive Anderson at the Dorchester Hotel in London last Thursday evening. A Gold Award for Best Drama was given to the remastered BBC Radio Collection CD release of Doctor Who û Death Comes to Time, the full-cast audio drama first webcast on BBCiÆs Cult website. Producer Dan Freedman, sound engineer Jon Taylor and actor John Sessions were present to collect the award. This is the second year running that BBC Radio Collection has had success with Doctor Who; last year The DaleksÆ Master Plan took Bronze in the Best TV/Film Adaptation category. Overall BBC Audiobooks won 8 Gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze awards this year, as well as Performer of the Year for Michael PalinÆs reading of Sahara. The awards are given by the Spoken Word PublisherÆs Association and judged by a panel of independent experts including journalists, producers, writers and retailers. (Thanks to Michael Stevens of BBC Audiobooks)




FILTER: - Audio

Zagreus Casting

Tuesday, 16 September 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The newest issue of Doctor Who Magazine spills the beans on the cast for the forthcoming audio story Zagreus, due in November from Big Finish, a three-disc 40th anniversary story. Paul McGann and India Fisher return as the Eighth Doctor and Charley, alongside Lalla Ward as Romana and Don Warrington as Rassilon. The report also confirms participation by the following actors (though we should point out that these aren't necesssarily the roles they will be playing in the story): Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy (the Doctors), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier), Louise Jameson (Leela), Bonnie Langford (Mel), John Leeson (K-9), Mark Strickson (Turlough), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Maggie Stables (Evelyn), Robert Jezek (Frobisher), Caroline Morris (Erimem), Lisa Bowerman (Bernice), Stephen Fewell (Jason Kane), Miles Richardson (Braxiatel) and Conrad Westmaas (soon to be the new Eighth Doctor companion, C'Rizz). Further details hopefully soon on Big Finish's website.




FILTER: - Audio