Big Finish Audio Dramas

[DigiFluid]

!!!!!!!!!!



GALLIFREY: INTERVENTION EARTH ON EARLY RELEASE!

A special early release for this chilly February morning; Gallifrey: Intervention Earth is available to download now!

Here at Big Finish, we're always looking for new ways to reward the loyal listeners who order through our website; so we've hoped in our Time Machine, and brought forward the download release of Gallifrey: Intervention Earth, before the CD follows later in the month!

Starring Juliet Landau as Romana, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Sean Carlsen as Narvin, Gallifrey: Intervention Earth is a special four part story, continuing the politics and intrigue of the Doctor's home planet; and bringing our heroes face to face with that most legendary of legendary Time Lords - Omega (Stephen Thorne)!

Gallifrey: Intervention Earth is available now; and is still able to order for it's pre-order price of £14.99 CD/£12.99 Download, for the rest of February.

[Flyboy]

!!!!!!!!!!



GALLIFREY: INTERVENTION EARTH ON EARLY RELEASE!

A special early release for this chilly February morning; Gallifrey: Intervention Earth is available to download now!

Here at Big Finish, we're always looking for new ways to reward the loyal listeners who order through our website; so we've hoped in our Time Machine, and brought forward the download release of Gallifrey: Intervention Earth, before the CD follows later in the month!

Starring Juliet Landau as Romana, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Sean Carlsen as Narvin, Gallifrey: Intervention Earth is a special four part story, continuing the politics and intrigue of the Doctor's home planet; and bringing our heroes face to face with that most legendary of legendary Time Lords - Omega (Stephen Thorne)!

Gallifrey: Intervention Earth is available now; and is still able to order for it's pre-order price of £14.99 CD/£12.99 Download, for the rest of February.

OMFG!!! Delighted about this news! Gutted that due to my current routine I probably won't get to listen to this today!

[Blencathra]

I wish I could listen to it. But I've only got as far as Gallifrey IV and I don't want to spoil V & VI. I can't afford to buy them yet either, as I treated myself to S1 & 2 of The Professionals on Bluray at the weekend. (Absolutely stunning restorations BTW. They look like they were filmed yesterday).

[Flyboy]

Blen, don't read! Rest assured though, when you do get round to it, you'll LOVE it!

Spoiler:

I LOVED this audio. Very different from usual Gallifrey and definitely more a spy thriller than political drama, but absolutely brilliant. I think I'll have to relisten. But the ending... OH the ending... To think I have to wait till Feb 2016 for some more Gallifrey action?! Really loved how Omega was handled, the homages to The Three Doctors grew dangerously close to regurgitation but pulled back at the last minute and produced something nicely different. Ace was good, though still doesn't clear up her timlineline, annoyingly... and Romana... not to be crude... but Romana III's voice is extremely sensual... I think there's many a man (and indeed woman) who would go weak at the knees to her voice...

Really loved the theme music too, it's starting to feel more like what i'd expect from Gallifrey, a shift I first noticed with Gallifrey VI. Much better than the awful theme from the first series.

[Blencathra]

I've got my hands over my ears & got my eyes closed.

Here's the news Big Finish were talking about during Big Finish Day 6.


Doctor Who - The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/comi...last-adventure

September 2015 sees the release of a very special story from Big Finish, as Doctor Who - The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure at last provides a heroic exit for Colin Baker’s much-loved Time Lord...

It's with some delight we can confirm some tweets and posts, photos and rumours, that something very extra special is coming for fans of the Sixth Doctor at Big Finish, with the September release of Doctor Who - The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure.

Colin’s last outing in the Doctor Who role on television was The Trial of a Time Lord in 1986, but there was no proper handover story to Sylvester McCoy when he joined the series in 1987. Now, 28 years later, the full details of the Sixth Doctor’s death will be revealed - and it’s part of an epic battle that spans many sections of his life, and involves many of his companions.

‘I spoke to Colin not long after Matt Smith’s final outing, The Time of the Doctor, was broadcast on television,’ says producer David Richardson. ‘I felt very strongly that regeneration stories, and each Doctor’s final end, are very important to Doctor Who fans - these are stories that allow us to see the Doctor at his most courageous, making a sacrifice that only makes us love him more. And so I asked Colin if he might finally consider doing the Sixth Doctor’s final story with us. To my huge delight, he said yes.’

‘I owe a lot to Big Finish,’ says Colin. ‘They have given my Doctor the opportunity to live beyond those few episodes on television which were recorded during a time when the programme was under siege from various quarters. My Doctor did not benefit from that time. However at Big Finish the Sixth Doctor has lived and breathed anew and developed in a way that I am extremely happy with.

‘That would be the only reason I have agreed to bring my Doctor to an end - although it’s not really an end, because Big Finish plucks stories from the whole era of every Doctor. But because I never actually filmed a regeneration, and left poor Sylvester floundering around in my empty clothing with a blond wig on, I have resolutely maintained the lie that I am still the Doctor and all the rest are imposters because I never regenerated!' (He laughs) 'So it’s a tribute to the smooth talking people at Big Finish and the standard of the work completed thus far that I have cast aside my reluctance and joined all the other Doctors in actually having a regeneration.

‘And I can promise you: it’s a cracker.’

Doctor Who - The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure will be released in a lavish book-sized box set that contains special photography, bespoke illustrations and behind the scenes interviews, as well as four hour-long episodes. The stories are connected by the presence of Michael Jayston as the Valeyard, the entity that exists between the Doctor’s twelfth and thirteen incarnations.

The Sixth Doctor won't be alone in battle though, as he'll be joined across the adventures by Constance (Miranda Raison), Charlotte Pollard (India Fisher), Flip (Lisa Greenwood) and Mel (Bonnie Langford), as well as those dedicated detectives, Jago & Litefoot (Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter, alongside Lisa Bowerman as Ellie Higson!)

The saga opens with The End of the Line by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris, in which the Doctor and his latest companion Constance (Miranda Raison) investigate a commuter train that has lost its way…

In The Red House by Alan Barnes, the Doctor and Charlotte Pollard (India Fisher) arrive on a world that is populated by werewolves.

Stage Fright by Matt Fitton takes the Doctor and Flip (Lisa Greenwood) to Victorian London, where investigators Jago (Christopher Benjamin) and Litefoot (Trevor Baxter) explore theatrical performances that have echoes of the Doctor’s past lives…

Finally, time is running out in The Brink of Death by Nicholas Briggs, as the Doctor and Mel (Bonnie Langford) face the final confrontation with the Valeyard - and the Doctor must make the ultimate sacrifice.

‘It’s been such a pleasure to work with Colin on these, giving him a whistle-stop tour of his era,” says Nick, who is also directing. “I felt privileged to write his final moments too. But the wonderful thing for us at Big Finish is that even though this is the end of the Sixth Doctor, we have the luxury of continuing to tell as many stories about him for as long as the BBC allow us.’

[DigiFluid]

^ and just to be clear (I asked and the Big Finish Twitter replied), Colin Baker is not retiring. They're just writing the last chapter before going back to work on the middle, so to speak

[DigiFluid]

Blen, don't read! Rest assured though, when you do get round to it, you'll LOVE it!

Spoiler:

I LOVED this audio. Very different from usual Gallifrey and definitely more a spy thriller than political drama, but absolutely brilliant. I think I'll have to relisten. But the ending... OH the ending... To think I have to wait till Feb 2016 for some more Gallifrey action?! Really loved how Omega was handled, the homages to The Three Doctors grew dangerously close to regurgitation but pulled back at the last minute and produced something nicely different. Ace was good, though still doesn't clear up her timlineline, annoyingly... and Romana... not to be crude... but Romana III's voice is extremely sensual... I think there's many a man (and indeed woman) who would go weak at the knees to her voice...

Really loved the theme music too, it's starting to feel more like what i'd expect from Gallifrey, a shift I first noticed with Gallifrey VI. Much better than the awful theme from the first series.

I also really dug it!

Intervention Earth talk:

Spoiler:

I really like how this release blended/juxtaposed the upper echelon politics of Lady President and CIA leadership power plays, against the more in-the-trenches aspects of Ace as a field agent and poor Lukas just trying to do his bodyguard duty if only people would just leave him be

I, too, found myself a bit frustrated (in a good way) by the lack of temporal clarity. You've already mentioned Ace (though I thought her narrative in the intro of Part 1 was a clever means of pushing that aside), but then there's also that we haven't seen how Romana II finally actually regenerated into Romana Trey. Leela and K-9 were also conspicuously absent, and maddeningly teased with that 'like how the savage betrayed you' line. With the return of Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson for Series 8 (not to mention the whopping cliffhanger), I'm really looking forward to seeing how the various unseen threads are resolved.

Performance-wise, I was pretty happy across the board. I found Sophie Aldred and Stephen Thorne to be particularly enthralling; her continuing to evolve Ace in compelling directions, and him playing the supremely villainous Omega. Juliet Landau's performance, likewise, was excellent. I was initially taken aback by how different she was than her previous appearance as a Matrix projection, but that kind of follows since one is real and the other not I liked how she was far more willing to get her hands dirty, and be more ruthless than Romana has been in the past. Her almost Machiavellian politicking contrasted beautifully against the smooth, sultry lilt of her voice. And, of course, Sean Carlsen. I love Narvin, I'll take more of him in any release I can!

The music in this one is mostly excellent, but also contains my one real complaint about the whole release. For the most part, it's just really good stuff. The theme music is terrific, the incidentals are spot-on, it just really generates the perfect mood for the story that's being told. The one exception, and my one complaint: the goofy-ass cue they used when the team was escaping from the anti-matter universe, near the end. I don't know whose stupid idea that was, but it turned a huge dramatic moment into a glorified Benny Hill chase scene. Just terrible, I can't believe nobody flagged it during editing.

Plotwise, I really dug the whole story. For me there really weren't any beats missed. It was well-paced, fast when it needed to be fast, and dialogue-heavy when that was required. Omega and his adherents making use of a (the) stellar manipulator was a perfect fit, and having them use Earth's sun as a connect-the-dots between Ace, Romana, and the Doctor tied this story into the broader Whoniverse beautifully.

Maybe it's just me, but did it strike you at all that maybe Romana knew more than she was letting on? Despite her darker turn here, it still seemed to me very slightly out of place that she would send Narvin on the mission alone with such a specific set of conditions (or more specifically, just in how she gave him his orders). I'm wondering if this is maybe that she's already aware of what's going on because the cliffhanger at the end leads into (and this is me guessing, I don't know more than any of you) Omega returning to Gallifrey in Series 8 at a sooner time than Series 7? That maybe Romana knows more than she's letting on because she's already lived it once, but has to keep it under wraps to protect the Web of Time?

Or maybe I'm just reading too much into things, who knows

Anyway long story short, I loved Intervention: Earth. Whatever minor niggles I have with it are clearly nothing at all, as it's only been out since Monday and I've already listened to it three times

[Flyboy]

Glad you liked Gallifrey!

Quite excited for The Last Adventure! It's about time he got a proper ending!

[Blencathra]

I'm excited about The Last Adventure as well. It's about time Sixie got a good regeneration story.

That's what is so good about Doctor Who. The end isn't the end. They can go back and still do lots of stories filling in the gaps.

[Flyboy]

Listening to Intervention Earth again, its THAT good!

[DigiFluid]

That's what is so good about Doctor Who. The end isn't the end. They can go back and still do lots of stories filling in the gaps.

And one of the huge strengths of Big Finish in particular! They have the ability to record a character's first and last stories, then spend as many years as they like fleshing out the middle. That plus (as you say) DW's natural ability to plug stories into the gaps between other stories...wonderful!

[DigiFluid]

Listening to Intervention Earth again, its THAT good!

Appropriate, as today's BF news is the physical release of it

[Blencathra]

Ooohhhh!

UNIT - Extinction

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/unit---extinction

http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/...xtinction-1208




Big Finish is delighted to announce that Kate Stewart and her UNIT team from the Doctor Who TV series will be starring in a brand new series of audio dramas, in a licensing deal with BBC Worldwide.

Kate is the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and Head of Scientific Research at the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, which investigates and confronts alien attacks on the planet Earth. The role is portrayed by Jemma Redgrave (Dracula, Frankie, Cold Blood) who has appeared opposite Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi on television, and returns for the audio series.

“We’re thrilled that Jemma is on board for our brand new UNIT adventures,” says series producer David Richardson, “and we feel privileged to work within the universe of New Series Doctor Who for the first time. UNIT: Extinction will showcase all the excitement, drama and wit that viewers of Doctor Who love.”

“Having worked with the greatly missed Nicholas Courtney and his magnificent portrayal of the Brigadier since the early days of Big Finish, it is wonderful to see the return of UNIT under the Brig’s daughter,” says executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. “We are all very excited about bringing UNIT back to Big Finish with the next generation and look forward immensely to working with Jemma again, who appears in this month’s Doctor Who main range release Doctor Who - Mistfall.”

“I’m really excited to hear Jemma and her team battling to save the Earth,” says executive producer Nick Briggs. “They’ve been such an important part of the many exciting things to come out of the Doctor Who TV series in recent years.”

Additional cast members for the first box set, UNIT: Extinction, will be revealed later. This first box set release comprises four hours of adventure, in which Kate and her team confront an alien invasion by the Nestene Consciousness and its army of plastic Autons.

UNIT: Extinction will be released in November 2015, and is available for specially-priced pre-order, with all pre-orders getting a copy of Nicholas Courtney's memoirs A Soldier in Time as a free download as Supplementary content in Big Finish accounts.

Three additional box sets will be available at six monthly intervals, with all four available for a Bundled pre-order. For many more details, watch this space in coming months.

[DigiFluid]

Oh my... Right up FOB's alley

This is pretty exciting! Not only is it new UNIT, it also bodes very very well for the BBC renewing Bg Finish's DW licence when it expires next year. PLUS it's a step into revival Who...dare we hope that BF will soon be allowed to do nuWho stories?!

[Alan]

Ooohhhh!

UNIT - Extinction

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/unit---extinction

http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/...xtinction-1208




Big Finish is delighted to announce that Kate Stewart and her UNIT team from the Doctor Who TV series will be starring in a brand new series of audio dramas, in a licensing deal with BBC Worldwide.

Kate is the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and Head of Scientific Research at the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, which investigates and confronts alien attacks on the planet Earth. The role is portrayed by Jemma Redgrave (Dracula, Frankie, Cold Blood) who has appeared opposite Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi on television, and returns for the audio series.

“We’re thrilled that Jemma is on board for our brand new UNIT adventures,” says series producer David Richardson, “and we feel privileged to work within the universe of New Series Doctor Who for the first time. UNIT: Extinction will showcase all the excitement, drama and wit that viewers of Doctor Who love.”

“Having worked with the greatly missed Nicholas Courtney and his magnificent portrayal of the Brigadier since the early days of Big Finish, it is wonderful to see the return of UNIT under the Brig’s daughter,” says executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. “We are all very excited about bringing UNIT back to Big Finish with the next generation and look forward immensely to working with Jemma again, who appears in this month’s Doctor Who main range release Doctor Who - Mistfall.”

“I’m really excited to hear Jemma and her team battling to save the Earth,” says executive producer Nick Briggs. “They’ve been such an important part of the many exciting things to come out of the Doctor Who TV series in recent years.”

Additional cast members for the first box set, UNIT: Extinction, will be revealed later. This first box set release comprises four hours of adventure, in which Kate and her team confront an alien invasion by the Nestene Consciousness and its army of plastic Autons.

UNIT: Extinction will be released in November 2015, and is available for specially-priced pre-order, with all pre-orders getting a copy of Nicholas Courtney's memoirs A Soldier in Time as a free download as Supplementary content in Big Finish accounts.

Three additional box sets will be available at six monthly intervals, with all four available for a Bundled pre-order. For many more details, watch this space in coming months.

This is absolutely brilliant news!!! Could this be a taste of extended Doctor Who & Big Finish co-operation to come perhaps? I truly hope so!!! The possibilities!!!