Big Finish: Torchwood - Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4

Wednesday, 8 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4, read by Sir Michael Palin (Credit: Big Finish)

Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4 (Credit: Big Finish)

Big Finish have released the latest in their regular range of Torchwood audio dramas, but this time in the form of a spoken-word relaxation tape, narrated in the warm, expensive tones of Sir Michael Palin!

You are listening to a self-help tape. You are hearing a soothing voice. You have always wanted to do something with your life, haven't you? Oh, how you've ached to be a better person.

Well now. This is your chance. Go on. Sit back. Close your eyes. Relax. You're going to learn all about Captain Jack Harkness. You're going to learn all about Torchwood.

You're going to change the world.

Narrator, Sir Michael Palin said:

I enjoy doing radio and I enjoy doing recordings because you have to try to create a picture for people. And especially something like Torchwood: Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4 as it's catchily called, because there's lots to it. It works on lots of different levels.

It's a very sustained piece. It's a long piece of narration to do. There are lots of different ideas and the pace changes abruptly, and very quickly, from larky- jokey, to very dark and rather violent. Anyone who likes reading stuff, you want to be given something that tests you a bit and this certainly tested me.”

Writer, Tim Foley added:

It was pure joy to watch Sir Michael Palin sink his teeth into the script. He delighted in its weird comedy and revelled in its wonderful menace. I sat there in the studio mesmerised by his delivery. What a lovely voice! What a lovely man!

Torchwood: Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4 is now available as a collector’s edition CD, or can be downloaded from the Big Finish website. Subscribers to the Big Finish Torchwood range can save money by pre-ordering a bundle of six or all twelve of the forthcoming stories.

Please note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mailout of collector’s edition CDs will be delayed, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish - Torchwood

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Copy/Paste

Tuesday, 7 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books has announced its latest free-for-download short story:

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Copy/Paste (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Copy/Paste
Written by Jonathan Macho

It's 2020 and Lucy Wilson is stuck at home, locked down with her family and feeling glum. She's used to being the hero, but this particular type of heroism is hard and slow. Luckily, her friend Hobo is just a few clicks away. Isn't modern technology amazing?

But why does the video keep glitching? Who's that smiling with Lucy's face? And can she really save the world when she can't even leave her house?

The story also includes a special message from the Brigadier (as recently discovered by author Richard Brewer)

The Serpent’s Tongue and The Two Brigadiers author, Jonathan Macho, has written this story especially for fans in lockdown:

When Shaun at Candy Jar asked me to work on this story I was honoured. I’ve been enjoying and appreciating the work of some of my favourite writers and other creative professionals while stuck at home, including the team at Doctor Who, so I know how magic an escape right now can be. The chance to contribute something small to that brilliant effort was pretty special.

Jonathan’s story also recognises the important job our key workers are doing for us in these difficult times:

Shaun already had a lot of great ideas for how to tell the story, including the new menace our heroes have to face, and getting it written was a lot of fun. I took the chance to grapple with my own lockdown demons, some sock related, take a moment to appreciate the marvels of modern technology, and of course salute the people who are working so hard to keep us safe right now, including all of you at home. I hope you enjoy Lucy and Hobo’s new adventure, and thanks to Candy Jar for giving me the opportunity to do my little bit.

For Doctor Who fans that are unaware of Lucy Wilson, she is the granddaughter of the iconic Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, one of Doctor Who’s longest running characters. The Copy/Paste free story also includes a message from the Brigadier, with Head of Publishing at Candy Jar, Shaun Russell, commenting:

When Richard Brewer sent us the message from the Brig we contacted him straight away to ask if we could share it with our readers. Richard agreed and we are pleased to present this long-lost UNIT message to Doctor Who fans.

To download The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Copy/Paste visit the Candy Jar Books website.

FILTER: - Candy Jar Books

Big Finish: The Fifth Doctor Adventures – Wicked Sisters

Tuesday, 7 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The Fifth Doctor Adventures - Wicked Sisters, with Peter Davison, Louise Jameson, Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington (Credit: Big Finish)

Big Finish have released details on a new boxed set to be released in November 2020: The Fifth Doctor Adventures – Wicked Sisters sees the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) reunited with an earlier companion Leela (Louise Jameson) as he reencounters Grace sisters Abby (Ciara Janson) and Zara (Laura Doddington).

The Doctor is recruited by Leela for a vital mission on behalf of the Time Lords. Together, they must track down and destroy two god-like beings whose extraordinary powers now threaten all of space and time. Their names are Abby and Zara...

The characters Abby and Zara were created by pan-dimensional beings the Grace to assist – and sometimes hinder – the Doctor in the Key2Time Trilogy, and then went on to their own time-spanning adventures in the spin-off series, Graceless. After centuries of their own wanderings through time and space, Abby and Zara are about to meet the Time Lord again...

The new full-cast Doctor Who audio drama box set will feature three linked adventures: The Garden of Storms, The Moonrakers, The People Made of Smoke. The stories are all written by Graceless’ creator and writer, Simon Guerrier, who wrote the very first appearance of Abby and Zara in Doctor Who: The Judgment of Iskaar.

Producer Mark Wright said:

It’s been ten years since we first took Abby and Zara off on their own adventures, and it’s fun to get the team that’s worked on every episode of Graceless together every couple of years.

Simon Guerrier’s scripts always take us into unexpected territory, and Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington bring something new to their performances each time Abby and Zara are back together. As it’s been a decade since the first series of Graceless, we thought it was time to bring things full circle and take the sisters back to where it all began – with the Fifth Doctor.

Simon added:

It’s been a thrill to write for the Fifth Doctor and Leela, and put them up against Abby and Zara. You don’t need to know anything about Graceless - that was part of the brief from my masters - but they’re sisters with extraordinary powers that threaten all of time and space.”

They’re very different from the women the Doctor first met all those years ago when we did the Key2Time series. Back then, he wasn't required to kill them...

The three days we had in studio just before Christmas were the highlight of my working year. A dream cast, a lot of laughter, and Lisa Bowerman ably marshalling everyone as we faced the collapse of the universe.

Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Adventures – Wicked Sisters is available for pre-order exclusively from the Big Finish website.

FILTER: - Audio - Big Finish - Fifth Doctor

Honor Blackman 1925 -2020

Monday, 6 April 2020 - Reported by Marcus

Honor Blackman _ Terror of the Vervoids (Credit: BBC)

The actress Honor Blackman, best-known for playing Bond girl Pussy Galore and Cathy Gale in The Avengers, has died at the age of 94.

Honor Blackman enjoyed a career spanning eight decades, appearing in many films and television series. She appeared in Doctor Who in 1986 playing Professor Lasky in the Sixth Doctor story Terror of the Vervoids.

Honor Blackman was born in East London in 1925, the daughter of a Civil servant. For a 15th birthday present, she was given acting lessons, a gift that would lead to her becoming one of the hardest working and most successful actresses of her generation.

Her film debut came in 1947 with a non-speaking part in Fame Is the Spur Other films include in 1948 Quartet based on short stories by W. Somerset Maugham and in 1950 So Long at the Fair in which she appeared with Dirk Bogarde. In 1958 she appeared in the film based on the Titanic disaster A Night to Remember.

Her breakthrough came in 1962 when she was cast as leather-clad crimefighter Cathy Gale in the hit British show The Avengers, playing alongside Patrick Macnee as John Steed. Her action role, which required her to learn judo, endeared her to the nation and with her distinctive dress sense, she quickly became a British icon. One side effect, a top ten single, Kinky Boots, recorded in 1964 with Macnee.

It was her performance in The Avengers which led to Albert R. Broccoli casting Blackman as Pussy Galore, opposite Sean Connery in the James Bond franchise, despite the show not being well known in America. He said, "I knew the Brits would love her because they knew her as Mrs Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good, it was a perfect combination".

Appearances followed in series such as Never the Twain, Bridget Jones's Diary, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, Casualty and even a stint in Coronation Street where she played Rula Romanoff

In 1990, she was cast in a regular role in the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand, playing the glamorous mother of the lead female character. Blackman expressed her fondness for the role, saying it "made women who’d just retired and felt they’d been put on the backburner realise they had a lot of life left to live".

Blackman was a political activist and a member of the Liberal Democrats. She was a committed republican declining an honour from the Queen in 2002, as she felt it would be hypocritical to accept.

Honor Blackman's death was announced today by her family.

It’s with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Honor Blackman aged 94. She died peacefully of natural causes at her home in Lewes, Sussex, surrounded by her family. She was much loved and will be greatly missed by her two children Barnaby and Lottie, and grandchildren Daisy, Oscar, Olive and Toby.

As well as being a much-adored mother and grandmother, Honor was an actor of hugely prolific creative talent; with an extraordinary combination of beauty, brains and physical prowess, along with her unique voice and a dedicated work ethic, she achieved an unparalleled iconic status in the world of film and entertainment and with absolute commitment to her craft and total professionalism in all her endeavours she contributed to some of the great films and theatre productions of our times

FILTER: - Classic Series - Obituary

#DoctorWhoLockdown: In The News

Saturday, 4 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The recent global DoctorWhoLockdown initiative organised by Doctor Who Magazine's Emily Cook was reported by BBC News in the lead-up to last night's The Eleventh Hour - you can watch the report via the DoctorWhoLockdown YouTube channel.

This is the second time the initiative has been reported on, with entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba reporting on the simulcast viewing of Rose back on its anniversary on the 26th March (online version).

BBC News | Friday 3 April 2020 (YouTube)
Doctor Who's online viewing convention 26 Mar 2020 (BBC iPlayer)

The next planned DoctorWhoLockdown is for The Doctor's Wife on Saturday 11th April from 8:00pm BST.

FILTER: - BBC - Broadcasting

Time Space Visualiser: Missing Episodes

Saturday, 4 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

After the success of their first online convention last weekened, Fantom Events will be presenting another this afternoon (Saturday 3rd April), this time focusing on the missing episodes of Doctor Who.

Running from 2pm to 5pm, Time Space Visualiser will include a mixture of new interviews archive material and some specially recorded features for the afternoon, with each hour following a theme:

The first hour looks back at the making of The Savages, with a 2013 stage interview with Andrew Lodge (First Assistant) and Peter Thomas (Captain Edal) together with an interview recorded this week with Kay Patrick (Flower).
The second hour looks at family connections with a specially recorded interview with David Troughton, and an archive interview with Carole Ann Ford and Jessica Carney looking at the parallels of being and playing the Doctor’s Granddaughter.
The final hour sees Andy Futter talking to Peter Purves in a brand new interview shot for this event, followed by an archive stage panel with William Russell and Anneke Wills from 2013.

You can watch the event live from the Fantoms Events YouTube channel, where you can also find the complete event from last weekend, plus individual interviews including its own "missing" recording with Nicola Bryant!

Time Space Visualiser will be followed in the evening by what's becoming a regular pasttime for Doctor Who fans, a planned worldwide simulcast viewing of a story to tweet along to; tonight's will be the most recently recovered complete story, The Enemy of the World, which will also includes tweets from Philip Morris, the discoverer of the long-lost Patrick Troughton adventure in Nigeria.

To join in, simply pop in your DVD of The Enemy of the World, or access a streaming service such as iTunes or Britbox, and then hit play at 6:00pm BST / 1:00pm EDT / 3:00am AEST / 5:00am NZST and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #Salamander

To tie in with the 'watchathon', Fantom have also made the first episode of their alternative commentary for the story available for free to listen to this weekend via YouTube.

FILTER: - Broadcasting - Conventions - Fantom - International Broadcasting - Patrick Troughton - Special Events - William Hartnell

#RTWatch: Q&A with John Barrowman and Naoko Mori

Friday, 3 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Yesterday evening saw the Radio Times present its own "tweetalong", this time for the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness; this was followed by a live Q&A with its stars John Barrowman and Naoko Mori, and is available to watch via their YouTube channel:

Radio Times: Torchwood Q&A with John Barrowman and Naoko Mori

FILTER: - Broadcasting - International Broadcasting - John Barrowman - Special Events - Torchwood

#DoctorWhoLockdown: The Eleventh Hour

Thursday, 2 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

#FishCustard The Eleventh Hour watchathon 3 Apr 2020 (Credit: DoctorWhoLockdown/Emily Cook)

The next in the Doctor Who Lockdown global 'watchathon' events will be in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Eleventh Doctor to our screens this coming Friday 3rd April!

To join in, simply pop in your DVD or Bluray disc of The Eleventh Hour, or access a streaming service such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play or Netflix, and then hit play at 7:00pm BST / 2:00pm EDT / 5:00am AEDT / 7:00am NZDT and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #FishCustard

Once again the episode's writer Steven Moffat will be contributing to the Twitter discussion during this episode; speaking on his Instagram account, he also hinted:

There was a scene I cut I really liked. I’m trying to find it. Cliffhanger.

Update: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and director Adam Smith will also be participating to the Twitter discussion.

Beforehand, at 5pm BST there will also be a Q&A session, with organiser Emily Cook tweeting:

At 5pm on Friday #DoctorWho costume designer Ray Holman will be revealing the secrets and processes behind the Eleventh Doctor's outfit! Join him on Twitter for a live Q&A and celebration of the Doctor's tweed! (Did you know? 3 April is also National Tweed Day!)

The Eleventh Hour: Global Simulcast Trailer

You can also support the creative industry behind our entertainment at this time through JustGiving as detailed below:

'Vincent and the Doctor' demonstrates the power of TV. If you'd like to support the creative industry at a difficult time, please donate to the @FilmTVCharity's COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. #DoctorWhoLockdown has a JustGiving page to fundraise... https://t.co/lKPhu94UnI
— Emily Cook #FishCustard (@Emily_Rosina) March 30, 2020

FILTER: - Broadcasting - Doctor Who - International Broadcasting - Karen Gillan - Matt Smith - Series 5/31 - Special Events

Candy Jar Books: Short Story Competition 2020

Sunday, 29 March 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

South Wales Story Competition 2020 (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

Following the success of the first two Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Competitions, Candy Jar is presenting a third competition, again open to previously unpublished writers both in and outside the UK.

Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell, said:

In these trying times, we all need something to focus on, to keep us all sane. For a lot of people that’s writing. So it’s seems the perfect time to run another competition, give people something to aim for; a chance to write something for potential publication.

Andy Frankham-Allen, editor of the Lethbridge-Stewart range, added:

This time we’re opting for a theme, something to combat the doom and gloom that threatens to overtake us all at the moment. And that theme is The Perfect Day. The challenge is, what can you do with such a theme? What kind of story does it suggest to you? How would such a story work for our characters (the Brigadier, Anne, Bill, Lucy, Hobo, etc)? And, like in the previous entries, everyone is free to use any original character from both the Lethbridge-Stewart and Lucy Wilson Mysteries ranges, plus our licenced characters. But, and I can’t stress this enough, not characters owned by the BBC or any other creator, without express permission (proof will be required).

The winning entry will receive a Kindle Fire and Lethbridge-Stewart or The Lucy Wilson Mysteries publishing deal. All shortlisted entries will be published in The Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Collection Vol 3.

Shaun continued:

Our two previous winners are Sean Alexander and Megan Fizell, and we look forward to publishing their new Lethbridge-Stewart stories very soon (subject to world events, of course).

With the opportunity to enter the brand-new writing competition, and a much wider scope for creativity, this is an exciting opportunity for any writer or fan of the Lethbridge-Stewart world.

The entry fee is £5. Visit here to register.
Please include: Your name, age, email, address and telephone number.

Submissions can be entered from 29 March 2020 to 24 September 2020.

Submission guidelines for the Lethbridge-Stewart South Wales Short Story Competition:

Maximum of 3000 words.
You must include your name in the document, along with the title.
Word (or Word compatible) files only. We do not accept PDF submissions.
This competition is open to anybody, whether you’re a fan of Doctor Who and Lethbridge-Stewart or not. We’re looking for stories that utilise any character from the Lethbridge-Stewart and The Lucy Wilson Mysteries range of books (list of Lethbridge-Stewart characters here: http://www.lethbridge-stewart.co.uk/characters/). It is not necessary to fit within the timeline; these stories are out of the canon of the series, so feel free to let your imagination run wild!
A selection of free short stories will be sent to any applicant on request, should you need to see our characters in action.
Our license is with the Haisman Literary Estate only, therefore you CAN use any character from the Doctor Who serials The Abominable Snowmen, The Web of Fear and The Dominators, or any original character found Candy Jar Books’ Lethbridge-Stewart and The Lucy Wilson Mysteries series (except characters from Doctor Who that appeared in the ranges under express permission).
You can NOT use any other Doctor Who characters or monsters. (Unless you have proof of permission from the creator of the chosen monster/character.)
You can NOT use UNIT or any associated characters.
Any entries that feature a Doctor Who character not owned by the Haisman Literary Estate (and without express permission) will be instantly disqualified, with no refund.

FILTER: - Books - Candy Jar Books - Competitions

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Serpent’s Tongue

Sunday, 29 March 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books have announced the latest in their The Lucy Wilson Mysteries novel range, The Serpent’s Tongue, which this time is set during the William Shakespeare Jubilee celebrations of 1769:

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Serpent's Tongue (Credit: Candy Jar Cooks)

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Serpent’s Tongue
Written by Johnathon Macho

Lucy Wilson is really getting the hang of being a hero. She’s faced alien monsters, travelled through time and saved the world more than once! So when a school trip to Stratford-upon-Avon takes a turn for the weird, throwing her and Hobo back in time hundreds of years, she’s more than ready for another adventure.

That is, until the adventure follows her home...

With alien bears on the hunt, something massive lurking in the canals and two mysterious figures watching her every move from between the curtains, Lucy needs to face up to her responsibilities and make an impossible choice.
Take your seats. The show’s about to begin.

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries is a Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off adventure inspired by characters created for Doctor Who by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln.

Shaun Russell, head of publishing at Candy Jar, said:

Jonathan Macno is an exciting new talent from Cardiff. In 2014, at the age of 19, he was a runner-up in our second South Wales Short Story competition and was featured in the accompanying book Breaking the Surface. After that, in 2016, Jonathan wrote the Lethbridge-Stewart short story The Two Brigadiers. This was well-received by our fans, so I contacted him immediately and asked him to write for the Lucy Wilson series.

Jonathan, who is currently doing a Creative Writing MA at Cardiff University, continued:

When I first submitted work to the South Wales Short Story Competition back in 2014, which feels like forever ago, I had no idea all the brilliant opportunities that would follow. Telling a story in Lucy’s world is a privilege I’ve been working towards for a while and it’s thrilling to see the book, my first published novel, come together. The whole thing is surreal in the best possible way. The Serpent’s Tongue is special to me for a lot of reasons. I was given plenty of free reign and support from Shaun and everyone at Candy Jar, so I used the world of Doctor Who to give a platform to that most underrepresented of writers: William Shakespeare.

School kids can struggle with Shakespeare because of the way he’s often dropped on them without context, humour or fun, and that means they miss out on some wonderful worlds. I still remember the first Shakespeare I saw, a brilliant production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream my parents dragged me to that changed my life, no doubt about it. Lucy herself isn’t the Bard’s biggest fan, so this book is me trying to get her on board, and hopefully some of the readers too.

The novel is available for pre-order from the Candy Jar Books website.

Throughout the coronavirus isolation Candy Jar will be giving away free books on Kindle each Friday (and for 5 days afterwards). The first is The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Avatars of the Intelligence. To download visit Amazon Kindle.

FILTER: - Books - Candy Jar Books

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