Posts tagged Big Finish
TheyMightBeGallifreyan
Alright all you hardcore doctor who fans, which audio dramas do you recommend?
I’ve listened to some eighth doctor ones and they’re brilliant!
So?Chimes of Midnight (Eight and Charley) and The Holy Terror (Six and Frobisher) are two of my favorites (and they’re…
Phantasmagoria and Loup-Garoux are two of my favorite 5 and Turlough adventures! Also Whispers of Terror (7 and Ace) is disturbing and Thatchery and great.
Avoid story arcs, plays which introduce new companions are good. My first stories were Cobwebs, The Holy Terror, and Omega and all three were very good but a little confusing if you’re not a seasoned time traveller.
Following the recent release of New Frontiers, Big Finish Productions is pleased to reveal details for the forthcoming Bernice Summerfield box set Missing Persons: a bumper five-story release that marks the end of an era for the archaeologist and her friends.
‘When Scott Handcock and I took over the reins of Benny’s adventures five series back, we wanted to create a set of stories that could be enjoyed one at a time, but with tiny beats and moments seeded throughout that, with hindsight, form a bigger picture,’ says outgoing co-producer and directorn Gary Russell. ‘Missing Persons is the culmination of that, as everything we’ve been dripfeeding in comes to fruition here. Fingers crossed, listeners believe we’re leaving on a high, and created a nice level playing field for someone new to come along and take Benny in a direction all of their own. I love Bernice Summerfield passionately and hope we’ve done her proud!’
The set kicks off with Big Dig by new writer Hamish Steele, where Bernice and her friends find themselves embroiled in an archaeology documentary series gone wrong, as a lost civilisation makes its presence known in a less than pleasant way. Philip Bird (Sapphire and Steel, The Fades) and Paul Copley (Torchwood: Children of Earth, Spare Parts) guest star as Big Dig’s long-standing presenters Shepton Rothwell and Jimmy Deel.
The Revenant’s Carnival by Martin Day takes Bernice and her son Peter to a masquerade ball on a world ruled by benevolent tyrant Willem van der Heever. Can they head off an assassination attempt, or will Van der Heever’s secrets compromise their position? David Warwick (Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet and Army of Ghosts) and Susan Vidler (Amy Pond’s Aunt Sharon in Doctor Who) appear as Van der Heever as his associate Doctor Krige.
The Brimstone Kid arrives at the White Rabbit bar in the third instalment, written by David Llewellyn. Bounty hunters galore are in pursuit, and when they hear of the presence of a certain Irving Braxiatel, events take an unexpected turn. Red Dwarf’s Mac MacDonald and Doctor Who’s John Schwab lead a guest cast including David Menkin (Zero Dark Thirty) and Katharine Mangold (Dark Shadows: Speak No Evil).
The penultimate story in the series - The Winning Side by James Goss - finds Bernice lost in the ruins of an alien world, where she uncovers the story of the great King Theon and his adviser Meriol, and learns the truth of how their world was destroyed by a mysterious sky-witch. Hugh Skinner (Les Miserables, The Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Heart That Lives Alone) and Geoffrey Beevers (The Master in Doctor Who) star alongside Lisa Bowerman in an intimate tale of war and love on a dying world.
‘The final adventure - In Living Memory - is a typical Bernice Summerfield story,’ says co-writer and producer Scott Handcock. ‘It celebrates our magnificent regular cast, wraps up all the loose threads, and tells a frankly bonkers Benny tale all at once… and the script certainly kept our actors guessing right until the very last page!’
Missing Persons will be released on CD and download in September 2013, and will be accompanied by an original novel: Adorable Illusion by Gary Russell. Both are available to pre-order now, either separately or as a bundle at a reduced price.
Hey! Last year a Bernice Summerfield story of mine was recorded by Big Finish! It’s a great series, a Doctor Who spin off series with lots of connections but an entirely different show in its own right!
Be sure to check it out if you’re a fan of big, bold and silly sci-fi. (Well, MY story is silly, I’ve not heard the others this series!)
I haven’t really listened to much of Benny but I’ll be sure to check out your story.
172 Plays
Doctor Who 50th Anniversary
More clips of The Light At the End from a recent Big Finish podcast.
(Source: bigfinish.com)
New details have emerged about The Light at the End, the two-hour full cast audio drama from Big Finish that will celebrate fifty years of Doctor Who. Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann will be together playing the Doctor, and are accompanied by companions Louise Jameson as Leela, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Nicola Bryant as Peri, Sophie Aldred as Ace and India Fisher as Charley. Flying the flag for the forces of evil is Geoffrey Beevers as The Master, who has devised his most cunning plan yet.
The guest cast for Doctor Who: The Light at the End includes Oliver Hume as an early incarnation of Straxus (a Time Lord who has appeared several times before in the audio dramas, most recently in Dark Eyes), John Dorney as Bob Dovie, and Nicholas Briggs, who plays the mysterious Vess.
Briefly dropping in will be (deep breath) William Russell as Ian, Carole Ann Ford as Susan, Maureen O’Brien as Vicki, Peter Purves as Steven, Jean Marsh as Sara, Anneke Wills as Polly, Frazer Hines as Jamie, Wendy Padbury as Zoe, Katy Manning as Jo, Janet Fielding as Tegan and Mark Strickson as Turlough!
Nick Briggs: “Though we wanted to include every surviving actor from the Doctor’s past, it wasn’t possible – but we did manage to get nearly everyone!”
Doctor Who: The Light at the End Cast Update
They seem completely intent on having us OD on awesome.
(via hardlyalec)
Oh my goodness I’m so happy, briggsy I love you
(via mizpollard)
Let me tell you Moffat, Big Finish don’t disappoint.
(Source: theheroheart, via timelordsandkittens)
BBC’s Doctor Who 50th Celebration: A One hour episode featuring Matt Smith (11th Doctor), David Tennant (10th Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) and Jenna Louise Coleman (Clara Oswald).
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Big Finish’s Doctor Who 50th Celebration: A Two hour episode featuring Tom Baker (4th Doctor), Peter Davison (5th Doctor), Colin Baker (6th Doctor), Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor), Paul McGann (8th Doctor) Louise Jameson (Leela), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Sophie Aldred (Ace) and India Fisher (Charley).
I wonder how the BBC feels knowing an independently started audio company with no mainstream press is about to hand their asses to them…
Yeah, but the BBC should be used to it by now.
yep
(via timelordsandkittens)
Big Finish: special one-day 10% sale
Big Finish have announced a special 10% discount across all of their ranges for one day only:
_Doctor Who, Blake’s 7, Stargate, Dark Shadows, Sherlock Holmes, Highlander, Vienna, Bernice Summerfield, The Confessions of Dorian Gray, Drama Showcase, Graceless, Sapphire & Steel, 2000AD_ - everything! And that includes all subscriptions and bundle offers too! Please note that this is the only time all subscriptions will be discounted!
Simply choose your items, head to the checkout, type in discount code mayday and your order will be reduced by 10%. Don’t miss this amazing offer - today only (1st May), midnight to midnight UK time.
Type in the discount code mayday for 10% your entire purchase on Big FInish’s website!
Amazing to see everything on sale but 10 per cent is not enough to tempt me at this moment in time. Signal boost.
New to Big Finish? // Doctor Who: UnboundWhat if the Doctor never left Gallifrey?
What if the Valeyard won in The Trial of a Time Lord?
What if the Doctor was a woman?
Have you ever wondered what the Doctor could have turned out in other circumstances? Unbound gave us the answer in these standalone stories, which spin their own unique tales with a few other actors who take the mantel of the Doctor. All of them are a treat to listen to with each of them having a distinctive tone.
You can get all 8 stories for $25 if you buy them as a subscription, and also go for a fiver each.
New to Big Finish? // Iris Wildthyme
What if the Doctor was a woman?
Wait, actually let me rephrase that…
Imagine the Doctor was a mad old woman who loves gin and tonics, has a posh sentient panda (don’t call him a bear) plush toy as a companion, and drives a time machine that looks like a double decker bus?
Oh, did I mention that she’s voiced by Katy Manning?
Originally Paul Magrs’ spoof on the Doctor, Iris Wildthyme origins popped up in the Doctor Who novels (mainly encountering the Eighth Doctor). It was much later when Big Finish saw the opportunity to test out Magrs’ character on audio and the rest is history. (She also now has a few solo books of her own!)
Iris has encountered the Doctor on a few occasions and even Bernice Summerfield that one time. Eventually, Iris finally got her own audio series and it’s been running strong with 3 full seasons* (with a fourth one on the way in August 2013).
*[Note that Season 1 is only available on CD. The rest of her stories are available for download.]
I really, really love it when I listen to an episode that I know absolutely nothing about in advance, and it turns out to be incredibly well-written.
“The Game” was one of those episodes for me - what started out as a silly sports parody turned into an intensely well-written political intrigue plot. The episode has a ton of interesting characters, a really good script and (very surprisingly) a sort of proto River Song character played by William Russell. And it’s even completely standlone. Definitely one of my all-time favourite Doctor Who stories.
Big Finish episode link: “The Game”
I loved “The Game” but it was so incredibly dark (unexpectedly so) that I have trouble recommending it to people, particularly as a first audio. People should definitely check it out, though.
Big Finish is having a Doctor Who audio sale in celebration of their Big Finish Day 3 event this weekend, and also made it for those who cannot attend the event. Each release is £/$5 for download and CD, with the exception being Jago and Litefoot:Series 1 for £/$20 for download).
But with all of these releases, are you having trouble what you want to buy? Here’s my suggestions:
Looking to try out an audio companion, but don’t know where to start? Are you also excited for the upcoming Ice Warriors NewWho episode, but maybe don’t know much about the Ice Warriors?
The Judgement of Isskar (5, Amy (Abby))
The first of the Key 2 Time Trilogy, the Fifth Doctor gets thrust into a quest to retrieve the segments to the infamous Key to Time (first introduced in the Fourth Doctor’s era). He’s paired up with the newly born Tracer, Amy (this audio was a couple of years before Amy Pond appeared on TV; she is now re-named as Abby in her spin-off series: Graceless) and sent to Mars, where they get thrown into more trouble with the Martians - soon to be the Ice Warriors – and Amy’s ‘twin’, Zara.
Want a pure historical episode of Doctor Who on audio?
Son of the Dragon (5, Peri, Erimem)
The female ex-Pharaoh Erimem was the third audio companion to be introduced to Big Finish (starting with Eye of the Scorpion) and she’s a ball of fun with Peri and the Fifth Doctor. This is actually the third to last story in her run, but it’s a really good one. A pure historical, something that the Fifth Doctor scarcely had in his TV run, featuring none other than the real Dracula himself – Vlad the Impailer. Pretty heavy on the violence, but really well executed.
Would you like some nightmare fuel in your Doctor Who story?
The Eternal Summer (5, Nyssa)
The second story in the Stockbridge Trilogy, Five and Nyssa find themselves flung back into the village of Stockbridge after somehow escaping death from an exploding Rutan ship back in the previous story: Castle of Fear. However, something evil is lurking in the village as time constantly shifts and winds back on itself, and the Doctor and Nyssa will not believe who is behind it all. This also introduces Maxwell Edison from the Doctor Who comic story: The Stars Fell on Stockbridge (with a nice little homage to it when he meets the Doctor again), and is played by Mark Williams (best known from Harry Potter as Arthur Weasley and also Brian Pond from New!Who!).
Cradle of the Snake (5, Tegan, Turlough, Older!Nyssa)
An older Nyssa reunites Five, Tegan and Turlough 50 years after she parted in Terminus, when she is trying to discover a cure for a lethal galaxy plague. This being the third story with this TARDIS trio, it all kicks off when the Mara resurfaces within Tegan’s subconscious and the Doctor tries to fight it within her own mind. Tegan is cured, but the Mara has found a new host: the Doctor! Fans of Kinda and Snakedance will enjoy this story, thanks to Marc Platt being very conscious about the original source material. Also, Peter Davison gets to play around in his role as a deliciously evil Mara-posessed Doctor. He really gets under your skin with the uncomfortable creep factor alone, and it’s totally worth your time and money.
Have you wanted to complete and then restart your Charley Pollard experience?
The Girl That Never Was (8, Charley)
This marks the final story featuring the Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard (Eight’s first audio companion, introduced in Storm Warning), as they part ways after the devastating loss of C’rizz in the previous story, Absolution. Their 6 year run concludes with a ghost ship, a time disruption, a woman claiming to be Charley in the future, and Cybermen. What lies in store for Charley in the end is something that she didn’t quite expect …
The Condemned (6, Charley)
Old companion, new Doctor! Yup, Charley meets old Sixie in their first story together in an unusual twist of fate. It’s hard to sit through at first when you’re still recovering from Charley’s last adventure with Eight, but it’s over slightly quick when things get a little bit messy when both Charley and Six find themselves in the middle of a murder! This also marks the introduction of reoccurring character: D.I. Patricia Menzies, who is sure to win you over with her charm which feels reminiscent of the Brigadier.
Looking for an amazing story and an amazing acting range that tugs at every emotion?
A Death in the Family (7, Ace, Hex)
[WARNING: DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS AUDIO UNTIL YOU LISTEN TO THE FORGE STORIES (Project Twilight, Project Lazarus, Project Destiny), Forty-Five (mainly The Word Lord) AND MOST OF HEX’S STORIES] This is the epic that should go down as one of the best and well planned Doctor Who stories/story arcs outside of television. It’s very complicated to explain without giving away too many spoilers, but it will definitely play with your heartstrings enough to make you cry at least a few times.
Peri and the Piscon Paradox (5, 6, Peri)
The Companion Chronicles have a wonderful range of stories which are read by past companions in an audiobook format. They’re usually about an hour or so long, but this one is the same length as a main range story. Peri and Five find themselves on a hunt for a rogue fish alien who wants to steal all the water on Earth, when Peri apparently bumps into her ‘future’ self. Nev Fountain’s quirky writing brings a lot of laughs and also lots of tears. A great deal, considering that this is usually priced as a main range story!
Did you know that there were Doctor Who stories that were planned but were never made it to TV?
The Elite (5, Nyssa, Tegan)
Imagine if Five had Nyssa and Tegan along for a few more episodes in Season 20 before they met Turlough. Taking place right after Arc of Infinity, Five decides to take the girls to a holiday planet, but wind up in a war-torn planet run by a military way of life. The reveal on the person pulling the strings will surprise you. (This was written by Barbara Clegg, who had written Enlightenment – the final installment of the Black Guardian trilogy in Season 20).
Want to try something in the spirit of Doctor Who?
Jago & Litefoot: Series 1
Victorian paranormal shenanigans, anyone? Making their return from The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Big Finish brought the duo back into fame with the pilot/Companion Chronicle: The Mahogany Murders. It got enough praise and reception to spawn an ongoing series with fun and fantastic adventures set in Victorian London. Series 1 pits the two Investigators of Infernal Incidents with a blood-draining beast, an undead warrior, creepy séances, and the mysterious Dr. Tulp, who was previously mentioned in the pilot. The talents of Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter make this series worth every penny; though if you’re still unconvinced, pick up The Mahogany Murders as well to complete the Series 1 experience.
In honor of Big Finish Day 3 this weekend, BF is having another sale (YAY). This time it’s “10 of the Best,” with David Richardson, Nick Briggs, Paul Spragg, Jason Haigh-Ellery, and Kris Griffin each choosing two of their favourite stories to be put on offer (£/$5 for download and CD). The sale starts later today, but they’ve announced what will be available:
- The Judgment of Isskar [Main Range; 5/Amy; first story in the Key 2 Time trilogy] by Simon Guerrier
- A Death in the Family [Main Range; 7/Ace/Hex/Evelyn] by Steven Hall
- Son of the Dragon [Main Range; 5/Peri/Erimem] by Steve Lyons
- The Girl Who Never Was [Main Range; 8/Charley] by Alan Barnes
- The Condemned [Main Range; 6/Charley] by Eddie Robson
- The Eternal Summer [Main Range; 5/Nyssa] by Jonathan Morris
- The Cradle of the Snake [Main Range; 5/Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough] by Marc Platt
- Peri and the Piscon Paradox [Companion Chronicles; 5/6/Peri] by Nev Fountain
- The Elite [The Lost Stories; 5/Nyssa/Tegan] by Barbara Clegg and John Dorney
- Jago and Litefoot Series 1 by Justin Richards, Alan Barnes, Jonathan Morris, and Andy Lane (£/$20)
These are all great stories — you really can’t go wrong with any of them (especially if you’re a Fifth Doctor fan — lots of Fivey this time around).
(via magiifox)
Nope nope nope
It’s gone to straight up terrifying.
Jubilee
This story is really giving me some emotions, I don’t know whether I’m amused, sad, or terrified, likely all three in intervals.
This story is so good.
171 Plays
Big Finish Productions
BF45 - Project Lazarus
Huge spoilers for Project Lazarus. It was just so fun listening to this scene.
This is what made me finally REALLY like Colin Baker - as the Doctor and an actor. So much raw emotion that we rarely see from the Doctor in general, that it freaking make me sob when this happened.
(Source: theheroheart)
So Charley, quite possibly my favourite companion, first travels with Eight. But then drama happens, and he thinks she’s left him. So she tries to get hold of him, but it’s Six who recieves the message, so she ends up traveling with him instead. It’s really depressing for Eight, but really adorable with Six and Charley. And I love mixed emotions. So I quickly sketched up this.
(Source: theheroheart)
