Eddie Robson will, I hope, forgive me for the lateness of this post. To say that the last few months for this poor photographer have been tumultuous would be a gross understatement.
(Plus, I swear my blog ate at least 3 drafts of this post. That’s basically the adult equivalent of “the dog ate my homework,” isn’t it? I am suitably ashamed. But enough about me.)
It was by fortunate chance that I met the illustrious Eddie Robson at a BBC event for comedy writers just up the road from my home at the time, in a shining and labyrinthine building amid the television things at Media City in Manchester. Eddie, a Lancashire-dweller himself, was invited because comedy writing happens to be a thing he knows quite a bit about, he’s written for That Mitchell and Webb Sound, worked for many seasons on Newsjack, and he’s the writer behind the brilliant Radio 2 series Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully.
Readers of this blog in particular will, of course, be aware of Mr. Robson’s contributions to the world of Doctor Who: he’s written a host of Short Trips and Big Finish audios, for a number of Doctors and companions (including a few for my very favourite companion Charley, yay!), as well as Bernice Summerfield. And he’s a very nice chap to boot.
After the event wound down, we chatted further about writing and life over the tram journey back into town. I assume that my directions to the train station were clear, as he safely arrived home and has been quite happily living and working since. I sent him on his way with a supply of muesli cookies I’d baked that morning, to share with his children. Apparently they got a thumbs-up from everyone. Good times.
Louise Jameson is one of those people who just radiates kindness and joy. The first time we met was in Manchester at the very sadly now-defunct Lass O'Gowrie pub, ahead of a performance that evening at the Lowry theatre. In hindsight, I can’t recall now whether or not I let her know that when I poked into the used bookstore later that afternoon, I found an impressive collection of Target novelisations, and all adventures featuring Leela, whom lovely Louise brought brilliantly to life opposite Tom Baker’s Doctor on television, and subsequently on audio with Big Finish, both as companion again to the Fourth Doctor, and in the series Gallifrey, which may well be my very favourite thing about the Doctor Who world. She’s also a highly accomplished outside the realm of Who, with credits such as Tenko, Bergerac, and The Omega Factor under her belt, as well as a stint on Eastenders, and many appearances in the theatre. Recently, she’s also lent her voice to the character of Jackie in the wonderful Big Finish adaptation of Survivors.
I first met Jameson just ahead of the release of what was to be the sixth and final series of Gallifrey. Lamenting its end, I told her I would miss it when it was finished. She suggested I write more. Oh, how very tempting!
(And yes, Louise, Gary DID give me the biggest hug when I showed him that Leela-and-Narvin-are-the-best-friends-ever tshirt of mine.)
Seán Carlsen is an absolute treasure, and someone I feel so blessed to know.
I still remember how he recognised me by my shirt the first day we met - granted, it was that shirt with his face on it. This is because the lovely Mr. Carlsen, familiar to the Doctor Who universe for some years now, is perhaps best known for voicing Coordinator Narvin in the brilliant, beautiful Big Finish audio series Gallifrey, and Narvin happens to be one of my favourite characters in the universe of Doctor Who, thanks in no small measure to his wonderful performance.
(I’m still sad that the series is over. I’d write series 7 myself if I thought I could bribe Big Finish into making it.)
I was chuffed to bits when he suggested we get a photograph with K-9, and even more so when K-9 agreed; after all, they were co-stars for six series.
You can find out all about what Seán’s up to on his website, and if you haven’t heard any of his audio adventures, go do it. Do it now. You won’t be disappointed.
It just so happened, the day I met David Warner, that I caught the beginning of a Miss Marple he just so happened to have been in on the television that morning.
“I won’t spoil the ending for you, then,” he said dryly, “because I don’t remember.”
Fair enough, sir. I wouldn’t reasonably expect someone with so extensive a CV to remember the minutiae of everything they’ve been in. (Plus, it turns out that the 80s music Professor Grisenko - his character in the Eleventh Doctor story Cold War - was so fond of, Warner himself was largely unfamiliar with. This is something I can just about forgive, given that he did give a masterful performance in one of the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes ever made. And Tron. I think we can cut him some slack about Ultravox.)
And what’s more, he starred as the Doctor opposite Nicholas Courtney in Big Finish’s Unbound stories Sympathy For The Devil and Masters Of War. That’s pretty awesome, as far as I’m concerned.
Not only is Andrew Smith a sparklingly talented writer, he’s also someone I’m blessed to call a good friend.
It is an overcast and fairly drizzly early autumn afternoon when he meets me in central London, the weather slightly forcing me to rethink the exciting photo locations I’d been considering, ducking instead into bookshops and out of the rain.
(But also, bookshops are totally wizard and it’s always fun to find the Doctor Who section and compare which Target novelisations you own, isn’t it?)
Did I mention he’s a fantastically good writer? You may remember that time when he, as a young gentleman, wrote the Tom Baker serial Full Circle. You may also more recently remember that he’s written quite a bit for Big Finish. If you haven’t listened to The First Sontarans, for instance, do correct this. It’s brilliant.
It is with an adventurous twinkle - or rather, since I’m pretty sure he mentioned it in an email, I like to imagine there was an adventurous twinkle as he typed - that he mentioned having discovered, of all things, a Canadian-themed pub in London. Neither of us felt quite brave enough to try what passes for poutine in England that day, however, and we chatted instead over an afternoon pint.
I love how in Neverland after the Doctor tells Romana she has a brilliant plan she responds with “you don’t end up as President with a head full of turnips you know” like Romana I know you’re President at the time but you’re also talking to the very same ex president that you insulted for barely passing their academy exams when you first met.
I made a drawing for Erasure, an amazing short audio where Narvin tells Leela a truly heartwarming story-
(This may be a false advertisement XD Check it out, it’s very good!)
I was also inspired by the Three Body Problem and how similar Time Lords and Trisolarians are. Both very advanced civilizations, with powers that vastly go beyond the ones many others have. And if you make the mistake of being noticed by them, or you start being a threat just by existing, Time Lords really have no mercy
Under the command of the Celestial Intervention Agency under Prime Minister’s Livia’s reign, a team of highly-trained and qualified individuals are under the direct order to infiltrate the High Council of the Time-Lord’s and assassinate President Rassilon. Sex, violence, drugs, and lies are mere obstacles in the path of the infamous five. The mission is titled Operation Gallifrey. Meet the team below:
☞Irving Braxiatel: Previously the owner of the famous Braxiatel Collection, Irving Braxiatel is the mastermind and chessplayer behind the mission. He knows the people of the High Council best, harbouring his own resentment for Rassilon. He’s is a sly, ruthless and cunning Time-Lord and he often puts the little things such as how other people might feel in his chess games aside and has a penchant for doing things the hard way. Any rumour you hear about Irving Braxiatel is probably true.
☞ Romana Trey: As the smartest member of the squad, Miss. Trey was assigned to the facts of the mission, the logistics. She takes the plans of both Livia and Braxiatel and translates them into reality. However, her brains aren’t her only useful abilities and she can prove it with a solid left hook. She is very fond of her dog, K9 and will more than likely kill you in your sleep if you make fun of its name.
☞ Leela Sevateem: Leela was quick to discover that her body was just as useful as the knife that’s strapped to her hip. She has a niche in bringing the influential to their knees (literally) and drawing from them their deepest secrets. In her spare time, she likes to tease Narvin relentlessly.
☞ Narvin: He speaks best in code and knows the exact buttons to press that will bring an entire corporation (or government) to his feet. No security camera, algorithm, man, or woman, are too complex for him to break completely. He is also a brilliant engineer and has a knack of spying. Blink twice and he’s in. Your body, mind, thoughts, everywhere.
☞Dorothy “Ace” Mcshane:Ms Mcshane is otherwise known as Ace. Call her Dorothy to her face and you’ll find yourself blown to pieces. When she was a young child, she quickly learned she liked to figure out how to blow things up. The bigger, the brighter, the better. She’s utterly unafraid to get her hands dirty and primarily busies herself with inventing new explosives. Notable for her knowledge of fifty efficient ways of how to dispose a Dalek.
I’m very very excited to share this (the DT portrait is one of the best I’ve ever made, if I can say so myself! Pity downsizing everything causes loss of details!)
One of my most favorite things in the entire universe is Big Finish’s Doctor Who audios. Fifteen years ago this month, they released their first Doctor Who play, and now they’re celebrating with a daily deal for each year they’ve been in business. Today’s deal (Day 2; good until Friday at 7pm BST, at which point a new sale for Day 3 begins) includes six £/$1 downloads, which means that for one pound/dollar each, you can have two hours of quality Doctor Who goodness. I want to draw attention to three of these stories, because they’re among my favorite Doctor Who stories in any medium, and they can all work as introductory stories for those new to Big Finish.
Jubilee by Rob Shearman - Russel T Davies asked Shearman to adapt Jubilee into the Ninth Doctor episode Dalek. While it’s easy to identify the TV story’s roots in the audio, Jubilee is also a much darker, much funnier, and more fulfilling story (and I say this as someone who easily counts Dalek as among her top New Who episodes).
Spare Parts by Marc Platt-Spare Parts was the inspiration for the Series 2 Cyberman 2-parter, Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel (if you watch the credits, you’ll see Platt’s name). Spare Parts, however, is a very different story, one RTD considers “some of the finest drama ever written for any genre, in any medium, anywhere.”
The Holy Terror by Rob Shearman - Oscillating between farcical and supremely creepy, this is Steven Moffat’s favorite Sixth Doctor story. (Moffat’s favorite Eighth Doctor story, The Chimes of Midnight, was also written by Rob Shearman. Basically, Sherman writes fantastic stuff.)
For a full list of today’s deals, check out Big Finish’s Day 2 news item here, and check back for new deals every day.
Even if you don’t have the money to spend on any audios right now, you can still experience Big Finish through the offerings on their SoundCloudpage,one of the free downloadable features previously published with Doctor Who Magazine, or their podcasts, which include interviews, behind the scenes peeks, and occasionally even a free “taster” episode.
And if you’re mostly just disappointed that this post has no gifs, check out the series of posts I did last year about people who have worked both with Big Finish and on the new series of Doctor Who, originally done in honor of the announcement of Big Finish’s 50th Anniversary audio special, The Light at the End:D
[ID: the first image is the icon for a slideshow app called “slides”, with text that reads “Second Doctor fans be like / this is my favorite episode”
The second image is of a completely blank white background with text that reads “Eighth Doctor fans be like / this is my favorite episode”. ]
{Joke Explanations:
Many of the Second Doctor’s episodes were lost by the BBC, and only exist as hilariously bad, disjointed screenshots that then have the original audio overlayed on them as the screenshots are zoomed in and out on, rotated, or almost worse, just sit still on the screen while screeching sound effects turn it into a parody of itself. For viewing examples, please look up the scene where the First Doctor Regenerates into the Second Doctor, and Two’s first few minutes on screen. Sound warning for the video. It’s hilariously bad.
For the Eighth Doctor joke, it is a reference to the Audio Drama “Scherzo” where the Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard are trapped in a blank white universe. It is a fantastic horror episode with the main monster being a creature made entirely of sound, perfectly mixing existential horror with the emotional turmoil of the characters having to talk about their feelings and deal with the emotional/physical fallout of the previous episode. }
“So tell me, Doctor Jones, why do you want to come back and work for us again?”
Martha Jones never thought she’d return to UNIT, not after leaving them following the business with Davros and the Daleks stealing the Earth. She and Mickey had got together, married even, and run around the place fighting aliens independently of either UNIT or Torchwood and Martha had, rashly it turned out, believe that this would be her life hereafter. Instead, she’d lost both Mickey and their son August to an attack by a lone Sontaran and finding herself unable to settle as a regular doctor, she’d decided to apply for a post with UNIT again. She’d been able to discover, through contact with Sarah Jane Smith’s adopted son, Luke, that UNIT were now under new management – one Kate Stewart, daughter of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, whom she’d known in her previous UNIT days, and who had adopted the motto ‘Science Leads’ for UNIT, which Martha found vastly more appealing than the militaristic ethos they’d had before.
“I’ll be honest with you, Ms Stewart, I can’t settle as a regular doctor and, without wishing to boast, I think you could use my unique skills and experiences as one of the Doctor’s former companions.”
Kate Stewart (tall, blonde, and gorgeous, in Martha’s eyes) smiled, but it wasn’t a particularly warm smile. “I thought that you were done with UNIT?” she asked, glancing down at the tablet in front of her. “You reported that you had had enough of the military mindset.”
“I had,” Martha agreed, knowing it was better to be honest. “But I’ve heard that UNIT’s ethos has changed and that ‘Science Leads’, now. Your father told me once, that he’d learned that from the Doctor and I know the Doctor would approve that you’ve been changing UNIT’s thinking.”
A little more warmth crept into Kate’s smile at that, although Martha wasn’t sure if it was the reference to her father or the Doctor. “Still, though, what does your husband think? I understood you and Mickey Smith were happy in your role as freelancers.” She glanced back down at the tablet. “And what about your son? He’s four now, isn’t he?”
She looked back up and Martha wasn’t sure what her face was doing, but she’d bet her expression was fairly stricken, despite her attempts to keep it neutral. “Mickey and August are dead.” Martha managed to choke the words out without actually bursting into tears, but it wasn’t easy. It’d only been six months, after all.
“Oh Martha, I’m so sorry.”
To her surprise, Kate got to her feet, grabbed a box of tissues off the top of the filing cabinet, then set them on her desk in front of Martha before crouching down beside her, one hand clasping her forearm.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I had no idea. I thought our files were up-to-date.”
Martha grabbed a couple of tissues from the box and tried to stem the tears that had begun to flow. Part of her was surprised that Kate remained exactly where she was, her hand warm through Martha’s sleeve, but another part wasn’t. Martha discovered that she felt comforted by the older woman’s obvious care and concern for her.
Eventually her tears dried up and she blew her nose, then dropped several used tissues into the wastepaper bin that Kate offered her.
“Thanks,” she said, a little hoarsely.
“Do you want some water?” Kate asked. “As I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, it’s always better to rehydrate after crying a lot.”
Martha nodded and Kate moved over to a corner of the room where an elegant oak sideboard held a coffee machine. She opened a door and revealed that it concealed a fridge, from which she removed a bottle of still water.
“Do you want to tell me what happened to Mickey and August?” Kate asked gently after Martha had drunk about half the bottle of water.
So Martha told her, as succinctly as she could, and without further tears, to her immense relief.
“Was this when there was that flap on in Conwy Castle?”
Martha nodded. “You were all busy dealing with those Hoix.”
Kate frowned. “And you know this, how?”
Martha huffed a weak laugh. “Luke Smith and Mr Smith.”
Kate’s face cleared. “I should’ve guessed you’d still be in touch with them.”
“Well, yes,” Martha said with an actual grin. “Us freelance alien fighters stuck together, you know.” Her grin slipped the next moment. “If Sarah Jane had been around –” She shook her head, leaving that thought unfinished. She knew that Kate and Sarah Jane had been friends and the pained expression on Kate’s face told her that she wasn’t over Sarah Jane’s death any more than Martha or Luke himself, for that matter.
Kate heaved a sigh. “I’m truly sorry for your loss,” she said softly. “If you’re sure that this is what you want to do, then we would be very grateful to have you back working for UNIT.” She held out her hand, across her desk, and Martha shook it, trying to ignore the tingling in her own hand at Kate’s touch. Developing a crush on her ultimate boss would be an unwise move.
“Thank you,” Martha said. “And yes, I’m very sure.”
“Then let me give you the tour.”
Kate got to her feet again and Martha followed her out of her office and into a corridor where a young woman with black glasses, a white lab coat, and an immensely long scarf came rushing towards them.
“Ma’am!” exclaimed the young woman, her excited demeanour making Martha smile involuntarily.
“What is it, Osgood?” asked Kate, a smile in her voice.
“An alien ship’s about to enter Earth’s atmosphere. It was – I don’t know, cloaked I supposed – before this, which is why we didn’t pick it up and I’m not sure whoever’s flying it has it under control.”
“Do you have a landing zone?” asked Kate.
“Yes, ma’am. Somewhere near Hastings.”
“Alright. I want Colonel Shindi and a couple of his men, including Captain Carter, Sam Bishop, you, and Doctor Jones here ready to move out in twenty minutes.”
“Doctor Jones?” repeated Osgood. “The Doctor Jones?”
Martha laughed softly. “Good to meet you, Ms Osgood.”
She held out a hand and Osgood shook it energetically, then began asking questions faster than Martha could respond.
Kate clasped her shoulder. “Breathe, Osgood,” she said firmly. “Let’s get the team assembled, first. You can quiz Doctor Jones en route.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She pulled an inhaler from her pocket and used it, then squeaked, “The Doctor Jones!” before disappearing.
“I’m sorry about that. I’m afraid you’ll probably find yourself bombarded with questions during the trip to Hastings.”
Martha laughed softly. “It’s fine. Not sure that I’ve ever had a fan before.” She glanced at Kate. “Do I have time to grab my doctor’s bag from my car before we head off?”
“Of course,” Kate said warmly. “I need to grab some things from my office, too. Why don’t we meet down in the car park?”
“Sounds good,” Martha agreed. She turned around and following the route she’d memorised on her way in, as she made her way to the underground car park that served UNIT HQ.
As she fished her bag out of the boot of her car Martha was surprised to feel a thrill of excitement run through her and felt even more astonished when she realised how much she’d missed this.
Perhaps re-joining UNIT was the best thing she could do. It certainly felt serendipitous that on the very day of her interview there was a possible alien incursion and she got to go and assist Kate and her team.
She shook her head, then locked her car with a grin.
So in Torchwood: Miracle Day, we see that a group called “the Family”, including members called “the Cousin” and “the Mother”, cause all of humanity to become immortal by pouring Jack’s biodata into a mysterious crack running through the center of the Earth. I’m not saying it’s Faction Paradox messing around with Earth’s caldera - how could I? We see that the Family are just regular old humans! Though, come to think of it, Big Finish’s Torchwood audios do say that the Family was being controlled by a mysterious groups of aliens …
In fact, per The Torchwood Archive, the mysterious alien Committee controlling the Families later created a force capable of possession – a force which defeated its creators and waged a war against humanity, who forgot its name and called it only “The Enemy”.
Big Finish did a great job keeping Doctor Who alive during the wilderness years. But now, it seems to have transformed into “licensed official fanfiction”
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
