Thursday, April 29, 2021

55. JOE SIMS - Seven of Mark

It is our privilege to welcome Joe Sims as our guest, who stars alongside David Tennant and Tom Baker in Doctor Who: Dalek Universe, a 10-part epic audio adventure that premiered in April 2021 with prequel Fourth Doctor story "The Dalek Protocol" and the first part of a 3-part box set series featuring the Tenth Doctor, all under the banner "Dalek Universe".  

Joe speaks passionately about his acting career including his breakthrough television part in Broadchurch, and he speaks in depth about working in the audio medium.   


Philip recommends Doctor Who: Planet of the Spiders (audiobook read by Elisabeth Sladen)    

Dwayne recommends Daleks: The Destroyers (audio adaptation by Big Finish)


Listen to Dwayne's guest appearance on The Doctor Who Show - Primary Sources.


Dwayne appeared on the All of Time and Space podcast this week, talking about classic series 2 episode, The Rescue.


Mark Seven image by Simon Holub



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Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Volume 5 of The First Doctor Adventures is OUT NOW

All the world’s a stage in the fifth volume of Doctor Who – The First Doctor Adventures, two brand new full-cast audio dramas released today from Big Finish Productions.


David Bradley returns as the first incarnation of the Doctor, along with companions Susan (Claudia Grant), Barbara Wright (Jemma Powell) and Ian Chesterton (Jamie Glover) in a pair of stories that take them from the sewers of a desperate planet to the great Globe itself, where rebellion is in the air!



Alongside the previously announced Wendy Craig and Lauren Cornelius, the cast is completed by Nicholas Asbury (Space: 1999, The Paternoster Gang), Ian Conningham (The Robots, The Diary of River Song), Susie Emmett (Gallifrey: Time War, Doctor Who: Ravenous), Amanda Hurwitz (Derry Girls, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Phil Mulryne (The Avengers, The Omega Factor), Phyllida Nash (Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures), Clive Wood (Doctor Who: Stranded, The Human Frontier) and Big Finish newcomer Liane-Rose Bunce.


Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures – Volume 5 is now available as a collector's edition box set (on CD at £24.99) and as a digital download (at £19.99), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.


The two TARDIS tales are as follows:


For the Glory of Urth by Guy Adams


The TARDIS has barely landed in an alien sewer when a distant scream sends Susan racing to give aid, and the crew split up. 


Trying to reunite, the travellers find themselves in something resembling a monastery led by a man half-way between an Abbot and a warlord. They discover that they are in Urth, a barbaric place clinging on to its former glory. 


It's somewhere its populace are never allowed to leave, somewhere keeping many secrets from its people. 


And today those secrets will be revealed...


The Hollow Crown by Sarah Grochala


When the TARDIS lands in Shoreditch, 1601, the Doctor suggests going to see a play at the Globe Theatre and his friends readily agree. 


But this is a turbulent time. There is violence in the street, plots against the Queen, and rebellion is in the air. At the centre of it all stands the most famous playwright in British history - William Shakespeare - who is having troubles of his own. 


As tensions mount and wheels turn within wheels, the travellers are about to discover if the play really is the thing...


Of writing The Hollow Crown, Sarah Grochala said: “I loved writing for [Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I], they’re two characters that I’m fascinated with! It was also interesting writing for them within the context of what other writers have done for Doctor Who. There is a nod to Elizabeth’s previous relationship with the Doctor and to the fact that Shakespeare has met the Doctor before. The First Doctor, however, looks very different to the Tenth Doctor so neither of them recognise this incarnation.”


Writer of For the Glory of Urth Guy Adams added: “When I’m writing for the First Doctor, the voice in my head is somewhere between William Hartnell and David Bradley. I find it very hard not to let my ears get a little bit infected by the performance, and David’s is brilliant – it’s his performance of the First Doctor as well as a beautiful channelling of William Hartnell. 


“David’s a great actor, and great actors don’t just do impressions. They can’t – the quality will always shine through and it will become something more multi-layered and textured. Listen carefully and you will hear the delightful elements that are more Bradley than Hartnell.”


Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures – Volume 5 is now available exclusively from the Big Finish website.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

54. Turlough & Torchwood // Randomoids 2 - The Selectortron Strikes Back

In our second episode of stories picked by the Big Finish Randomoid Selectortron, we review Doctor Who Short Trips: Gardens of the Dead featuring Mark Strickson as Turlough and Torchwood: One Rule featuring Tracy-Ann Oberman as Yvonne Hartman. 

Plus, Dwayne's heart is broken as he shares an email from a listener who doesn't appreciate his humour. 

Of course, the burning question on everyone's lips is.... which stories will the Randomoid Selectortron throw up next? 


Recommendations

Philip recommends Torchwood: Lease of Life (Big Finish Audio)

Dwayne recommends Doctor Who: The Paradise of Death (3rd Doctor, Sarah Jane and Brigadier story, BBC)



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Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Torchwood: Gooseberry OUT NOW

Three’s a crowd in April’s monthly full-cast Torchwood audio adventure from Big Finish Productions. 

 Released today, Gooseberry sees Burn Gorman and Tom Price reprising their roles as dynamic duo Dr Owen Harper and PC Andy Davidson in a thrilling tale of love, deception and, of course, aliens. 


The cast is completed by Lois Chimimba (The One, Trust Me), Daniel Llewellyn-Williams (EastEnders, Torchwood), Betsan Llwyd (Keeping Faith, Young Dracula), Joanna Van Kampen (The Lone Centurion, Casualty) and Big Finish newcomer Lowri Gwynne. 

 Torchwood: Gooseberry is now available as a collector’s edition CD at £10.99 or on download at £8.99, exclusively at www.bigfinish.com

 Andy has a girlfriend. She's called Caite and she's utterly lovely. And then she meets Owen. 

 Owen finds out that Caite has a secret. One that he's desperate to understand. But, the more he discovers, the more dangerously close to Caite he becomes.  

 What's going to happen when Andy finds out? 

 Writer and producer James Goss said: “One of the benefits of lockdown has been getting to record more with Burn and Tom Price. Burn himself suggested this story - what if PC Andy gets a girlfriend and Owen has issues with the situation? Lois Chimimba puts in a great performance as Andy's sweetheart. Not everything is what it seems, obviously, but it's a privilege working with them on this during the recording.” 

 Torchwood: Gooseberry is now available as a collector’s edition CD at £10.99 or on download from the Big Finish website at £8.99. 

 Please note that Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners. 

Friday, April 16, 2021

Time Lord Victorious Finale OUT NOW

Big Finish, in association with Demon Records and BBC Studios, today releases the long-awaited conclusion of the Time Lord Victorious multi-platform event, starring David Tennant and Paul McGann. 


Echoes of Extinction comprises two separate adventures that listeners can play in any order and each features a different incarnation of the Doctor as they battle the dastardly Network (Torchwood’s Burn Gorman). 

The star-studded cast includes Kathryn Drysdale (Bridgerton, Doctor Who), Arthur Darvill (The Lone Centurion, Legends of Tomorrow), Mina Anwar (The Sarah Jane Adventures, The War Master), Paul Clayton (Torchwood, Cicero), Jack DeVos (The Outpost), Melanie Stevens (Torchwood: God Amoung Us), Jacob Dudman (The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles, The Lives of Captain Jack), Stephen Critchlow (Torchwood, Gallifrey: Time War) and Inès de Clercq (The Lone Centurion, Broadchurch).

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious – Echoes of Extinction is now available as a digital download (at £8.99) at www.bigfinish.com

Trapped, a haunted monster waits to consume new victims. It needs help. It needs a doctor. Unfortunately, it also needs to kill whoever it meets. Thrust into immediate danger, and on the back-foot, it will take all of the Doctor’s ingenuity to triumph. 

Two interlinked adventures. Two Doctors. One foe.

Director Scott Handcock said: “Alfie Shaw’s done a brilliant job producing the audio adventures for Time Lord Victorious and his script for Echoes of Extinction is no exception. It’s a single story told from two perspectives, balancing two different Doctors, and introducing a host of fantastic guest stars. It’s great to hear David Tennant and Paul McGann tackle opposite aspects of one adventure, with Burn Gorman unifying the two strands as the menacing Network.”

Writer Alfie Shaw added: “I mean, getting to write for Paul McGann and David Tennant is a highlight in and of itself! It was a really interesting challenge to create two stories that had to be both self-contained and also add-up to a whole, and that was something that we worked hard to achieve. Plus, when you’re writing for two Doctors, there’s the opportunity to do a bit of a back and forth between them. I’ve previously written a story which was basically two Doctors proactively bickering, so I wanted to go with a different direction for this one.”

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious – Echoes of Extinction is now available as a digital download (at £8.99), exclusively from the Big Finish website

Thursday, April 15, 2021

REVIEW | Doctor Who: Dalek Universe 1 starring David Tennant

In a world still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, television Doctor Who has been cut back and fans who rely on the Beeb for their fix won't be getting a full season this year. 

Big Finish, on the other hand, seem to have gone from strength to strength. Far from reducing their output due to the pandemic, remote home recording has kept actors and production teams running at maximum output. 

Even with their Monthly Range of adventures coming to an end in March, it still feels like Big Finish are focusing yet still increasing their output to hungry fans.

But will the stories meet fan expectations?


If Dalek Universe 1, a new boxset, the first of three, starring the ever popular David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor is anything to go by, your hunger for new Doctor Who is going to be regularly satisfied!

With companions Anya Kingdom, played by Jane Slavin, and Mark Seven played by Tennant's fellow Broadchurch star Joe Sims, the stage is set for an epic adventure for the ages. With nods to the past Tenth Doctor era and the ancient past with many elements from Terry Nations Dalek universe canvas, fans will be salivating for more. 

But what of the casual listener who rarely, if ever, dips into audio?

Although a 3-part set, it would be handy to hear the prequel story, The Dalek Protocol starring Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor with Slavin and Sims. But it's not vital to the enjoyment of Dalek Universe 1. 

Tennant feels as though he has never left the role and writer of the first two episodes, John Dorney, has captured his era perfectly. It's a sentimental banquet for anyone who was watching the show in the mid-noughties. The dialogue is delivered to perfection and it's difficult to believe that this cast was recording remotely from their laundry or clothes cupboards. 

As the mystery unfolds in the first episode, "Buying Time", we are submersed into the mystery of a tenth Doctor thrown into an adventure without his TARDIS, and meeting characters he knows from a much earlier incarnation. We're also introduced to a character played by Mark Gatiss, who has appeared several times in different roles in TV Doctor Who and on audio.

But hold your horses folks. Any belief that you're in for a typical run of the mill story will be dashed as we are treated to a cliff-hanger for the ages that will blow your mind and force you to listen to the second episode immediately. 

"The Wrong Woman" continues on from the previous story, but not in the way you were expecting. If you've had time to recover your wits from the insane cliffhanger, the ride is far from over as you take a timey-wimey roller-coaster ride that doesn't let up until the end. 

Andrew Smith takes writing duties for the third episode, "The House of Kingdom", a fascinating look into some more of Anya's backstory and a return for more of the creations of Terry Nation's universe from the 60's, including the Mechanoids, which always had the potential to be much more than that single episode in 1965. 

Despite the stress of lockdown, Ken Bentley has done a superb job directing this set. I suspect, however, that Ken would say his job was made easy by the extraordinary cast led by Tennant. 

If all the above ingredients were enough to set my imagination ablaze, it was Howard Carter's incredible score and sound design that officially blew my mind! Howard's work was a standout for me in last year's "Return To Skaro", and this set proves his versatility and adaptability when it comes to different ranges and settings. Incredible stuff! 

The main question on my mind after hearing this set? 

How am I going to bear the 3 month wait until the next set is released in July? 

Get Dalek Universe 1 today from bigfinish.com.

Dwayne Bunney

53. ANNETTE BADLAND - Behind The Mask

We are delighted to be joined by the multi-talented Annette Badland, who first appeared on the Doctor Who radar in 2005 as Margaret Blaine in season one of the revived series of Doctor Who. She was the first person to be asked back to play a recurring villain and appeared again in Boom Town with Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and John Barrowman. 

Since then she has appeared in numerous roles for Big Finish productions including the character of Margaret in an audio version of Torchwood. 

Annette speaks about her ongoing career which began in the 1970's, her love of theatre, Outlander and much, much more. 

Thank you Annette for being our guest.


Recommendations

Philip recommends Doctor Who: Suburban Hell (4th Doctor and Leela Big Finish Audio)

Dwayne recommends Torchwood: Sync (Big Finish Audio)



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