Big Finish News

Nick Briggs Goes Live!

On Saturday night at 8pm, Big Finish's very own Nick Briggs (voice of the Daleks - we have to put that in, it's in his contract) will be taking questions from you, yes you the listening public, in a live chat. After you've downloaded and had a listen to the conclusion of Orbis, come online and log in (you need to be registered on the site to take part) and you'll be able to put your questions on any part of Big Finish's output to Nick. Simply submit your questions in chat, where they'll be moderated and sent on to Nick, who will do his best to answer as many as he can. The chat is scheduled to conclude at 9pm.

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The Lost Stories Update - The Nightmare Fair

Production on The Lost Stories, the audio versions of unmade scripts from the 1980s era of Doctor Who, continues with The Nightmare Fair by Graham Williams which is recording on March 9 and 10. The story, which is set in Blackpool, finds the Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) threatened by the Celestial Toymaker, an immortal being who makes playthings of those he defeats in his games.

The role was originally played by Michael Gough in The Celestial Toymaker by Brian Hayles (1966), but has been recast for this production. Big Finish is delighted to announce that David Bailie (who played Dask in the 1977 story The Robots of Death, and more recently starred in the three Pirates of the Caribbean films) has stepped into the vacated Mandarin costume.

“We spent a lot of time thinking of who we wanted for the Toymaker,” says producer David Richardson, “because this is an iconic role and we wanted to get it right. It’s a demanding part: whoever plays it needs to be charismatic and charming, authoritative and threatening. All sorts of names were suggested, but when the idea of David came up, director John Ainsworth and I were in absolute accord and immediately approached him. Thankfully, he said yes immediately.”

“I was thrilled to be offered this role,” says Bailie. “I read the script and it really appealed to me. The Toymaker is an interesting part because he’s dangerous and deadly, but he’s not really violent – and if he kills people he does it in a really fantastical way. I don't like real violence in films and television today – in my mind, there’s way too much of it.”

The Nightmare Fair will be released in November 2009, and will be available for pre-order from April.

In other casting news, we can reveal that Lost Story Mission to Magnus features Maggie Steed as Rana Zandusia, the leader of the titular female-dominated planet, while Malcolm Rennie portrays Time Lord bully Anzor.
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Companion Chronicles: Season Four!

Following the success of the third run of The Companion Chronicles, the talking books performed by the Doctor’s assistants, a fourth season of monthly releases has been confirmed. It begins in July with The Drowned World by Simon Guerrier, a direct sequel to his story Home Truths, starring Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom.

“The response to Home Truths was sensational,” says series producer David Richardson. “I’d always hoped we would make a follow-up story, and Simon sent me a number of suggestions. He detailed a few new different ways of resurrecting Sara Kingdom, but I felt that we’d already found a window back to the character, and it was one that was worth exploring further. So those who enjoyed the first story should be delighted with this sequel.”

Next up in August is The Glorious Revolution by Jonathan Morris, in which Frazer Hines returns to the role of Jamie McCrimmon. The TARDIS materializes in the year 1688, where Jamie discovers a political situation that will have grave repercussions for his own time…

While the September release cannot as yet be named, Richardson reveals, “It will be a Third Doctor story that sees the return of a popular guest character from the era.” Lalla Ward is back as Romana in October in The Cholarian Effect, in which the travellers meet a race searching the cosmos for a mythical figure from their own history – the Doctor himself.

In November, Ringpullworld by Paul Magrs is a quirky tale for Turlough, as played by Mark Strickson, while Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman) teams up again with the Seventh Doctor for her own – as yet unnamed – Companion Chronicle in January.

Big Finish

News Catch Up

Comic Relief - SJA snippet


Behind The Scenes


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!!
(Belated)

John Scot Barrowman was 42 on the 11th March.

Born in Mount Vernon, Glasgow, Scotland in 1967. His father worked for the Caterpillar heavy machinery company in nearby Uddingston, and the company relocated the family to the USA in 1976. John was 8 years old.

He spent the next few years of his life in Joliet, Illinois, where his father was a manager at the Caterpillar tractor factory. Barrowman graduated from Joliet West High School in 1985. While still in high school, he won parts in several musical productions even as a freshman. Between 1983 and 1985 he performed in productions of Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, Camelot, Li'l Abner and Anything Goes. He also spent a summer working for an Illinois power company, a job arranged by his father to give him experience of manual labour. He attended university in San Diego, and returned to the United Kingdom in 1990.

For more info, go here

Tennant Tapes 3

New Companion for Season 31 ??

According to News of the World, Hannah Murray (Skins) is to be companion to Matt Smith's Doctor in 2010.

Hannah Murray is best known as Cassie Ainsworth in Skins (who suffers from anorexia nervosa, bulimia, self harm, drug addiction and low self esteem) and is apparently considered - by one of those BBC insiders - to be a perfect choice to follow in the footsteps of Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate.

Sarah Jane Adventures - Comic relief

Mini Monster Munch

Is Ronnie Corbett out to steal David Tennants time traveling thunder? In another brilliant sketch for Comic Relief, he joins former Doctor Who Companion Elizabeth Sladen and company - including K9 - in what Russell t Davies calls "Sarah Jane Smith's most extraordinary adventure yet". Ronnie Corbett plays a monster called - Sorry, were not aloud to tell you!

The episode should be shown somewhere between 7.00-7.30pm on Friday March13th.

The Sarah Jane Adventures has also been nominated for Royal Television society award for best children's Drama along with MI High and Summerhill. The ceremony takes place on Tuesday 17th March 2009.

K-9 Series News - Press Release

Originally created for the 1970s DOCTOR WHO series by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, K9 has long been an iconic television character. Now comes a brand new adventure series featuring everyone’s favourite robot dog!

K9 is a children’s sci-fi/adventure series combining comedy, action and suspense “X Files” meets “Men in Black” with a zany dash of “Ghostbusters”. K9 mixes live action characters with stunning visual-effects.

London, in the future: STARKEY (14) orphan and rebel ultimately plans to bring down the system but for the time being he is prepared to simply slip through the cracks. While evading the police he takes refuge in a large detached house, now the residence of reclusive scientist, Professor GRYFFEN. He is followed by JORJIE (14) an adventurous girl who partly admires Starkey’s dissident stance, but mostly wants to share whatever excitement is afoot.

Inside the dilapidated mansion, they see Gryffen absorbed in an experiment with a strange piece of alien technology, a Space Time Manipulator (S/TM). DARIUS (15) an artful dodger who, among his many occupations, runs errands for Gryffen, confronts the pair, but at that moment a portal opens and through the hole torn in the fabric of space/time burst two reptilian warrior JIXEN. The Jixen attack Starkey. The teenager is saved from certain death by a small dog-like robot, K9 Mark I, who follows the Jixen through the portal and places himself between the monsters and boy.

In the ensuing battle, the only way K9 can defeat the Jixen is to blow himself and them to pieces. One surviving Jixen limps out of the mansion. Before expiring, K9 is able to give instructions that allow Starkey to initiate a regeneration program. A new, more sophisticated and futuristically designed K9 is regenerated.

K9 and Starkey, with the assistance of Jorjie, Darius and Gryffen, become the earth’s front line defence against dangers threatening from anywhere and anytime in the galaxy. They will have a lot of fun, action, adventure, and some scares along the way, saving the earth from alien creatures, monsters and more than a few human threats.

The logo for the new Doctor Who spin-off series K9 has now been revealed. The logo has been taken from the title sequence of the show, and Paul Tams, the co-creator and co-associate producer of the show said that the new logo is based on K9's old-type font of Westminster, but with an update. The font is also going to used on K9's new body. K9 will be on screen as an animatronic prop and in CGI form in his new series, due to air later this year.

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The show is being made by Jetix Europe and Park Entertainment. As the character of K9 is owned by Bob Baker and Dave Martin the show will have no connection with the BBC unless they buy the rights to show it.

It is planned to be shown late 2009. The series will be made up of 26 half hour episodes. The show will be a mixture of live action and computer animation. K9 will be animated.

This is rumoured to feature the original Mark 1 K9 but with an updated look, it is also rumoured to feature references to past Doctor Who adventures.

Dalek dredged from pond

EXCAVATE! A deadly Dalek invasion has been thwarted – by a pond.

Excavate ... the Dalek is pulled from the pond

This Doctor Who baddy was found by shocked volunteers digging out debris from the pool near Beaulieu, Hants.

Dalek experts believe the body could have been in the murky water for more than 30 years – but the head and eye stalk were still intact.

Daleks are the Time Lord's oldest enemies and attack foes using a lethal 'death ray'.

Terrified Marc Oakland, 42, made the startling discovery.

The sales executive said: "I'd just shifted a tree branch with my foot when I noticed something dark and round slowly coming up to the surface.

"I got the shock of my life when a Dalek head bobbed up right in front of me.

"It must have been down there for some time because it was covered in mould and water weed, and had quite a bit of damage.

"One of the dome lights was smashed, but the eye-stalk was intact and the head and neck stayed in one piece as I carefully lifted it out."

The BBC took Daleks out on location for filming, and travelled to Hampshire on at least one occasion in the 1980s, when Colin Baker played the Timelord.

Jon Pertwee also made a number of Doctor Who episodes in the county during the 1970s.

Pond warden Tony Brown, 70, said: "We've dredged up everything from shopping trolleys, toys, and bicycles. But this is the first time a Dalek's appeared.

"We've all agreed it best to keep the pond's exact location under wraps. The last thing we want are sci-fi fans descending on the pond frantically searching for other Dalek parts.

"Who knows, this might be the remains of one of the originals from the old TV series. I'm told they they were built to last."

(By VIKKI THOMAS The SUN)