Scary Poppins Returns! Doctor Who: the Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen Are Back on Earth, but This Time There’S No Escape…
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ISSUE: 136 • JUNE 2020 WWW.BIGFINISH.COM SCARY POPPINS RETURNS! DOCTOR WHO: THE EIGHTH DOCTOR, LIV AND HELEN ARE BACK ON EARTH, BUT THIS TIME THERE’S NO ESCAPE… DOCTOR WHO ROBOTS THE KALDORAN AUTOMATONS RETURN BIG FINISH WE MAKE GREAT FULLCAST AUDIO WE LOVE STORIES! DRAMAS AND AUDIOBOOKS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO BUY ON CD AND OR ABOUT BIG FINISH DOWNLOAD Our audio productions are based on much-loved TV series like Doctor Who, WWW.BIGFINISH.COM Torchwood, Dark Shadows, @BIGFINISH Blake’s 7, The Avengers, THEBIGFINISH The Prisoner, The Omega Factor, Terrahawks, Captain BIGFINISHPROD Scarlet and Survivors, as BIG-FINISH well as classics such as HG BIGFINISHPROD Wells, Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the SUBSCRIPTIONS Opera and Dorian Gray. If you subscribe to our Doctor We also produce original BIG FINISH APP Who The Monthly Adventures creations such as Graceless, The majority of Big Finish range, you get free audiobooks, Charlotte Pollard and The releases can be accessed on- PDFs of scripts, extra behind- Adventures of Bernice the-go via the Big Finish App, the-scenes material, a bonus Summer eld, plus the Big available for both Apple and release, downloadable audio Finish Originals range featuring Android devices. readings of new short stories seven great new series: ATA and discounts. Girl, Cicero, Jeremiah Bourne in Time, Shilling & Sixpence Secure online ordering and Investigate, Blind Terror, details of all our products can Transference and The Human be found at: bgfn.sh/aboutBF Frontier. BIG FINISH EDITORIAL WE’RE CURRENTLY in very COMING SOON interesting times, aren’t we? The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all our lives in recent ABBY AND ZARA months, with lockdown becoming a part of our everyday routine. WICKED SISTERS Personally, as I write this, I’m on furlough from my day job Abby and Zara are sisters who have been doing which has meant I’ve had more it for themselves since they rst met the Fifth spare time on my hands than Doctor in the third Doctor Who: The Key 2 Time usual. Ideal for Vortex, of course! A real highlight this month trilogy released in March 2009. has been interviewing Rufus Hound in his returning role as the Meddling Monk in the THEY CONTINUED their of space and time. Their second Missy box set. He’s always adventures in four series names are Abby and Zara... made me laugh on television so of their own spin-off Three new adventures having the chance to chat with range, Graceless, as well written by Simon Guerrier, him has been a real highlight. as making an appearance The Garden of Storms, The I’ve also been able to spend some in the special 2015 release, Moonrakers and The People time in the garden to get it in shape The Worlds of Big Finish. Made of Smoke have been for the summer. I’ve loaded up my Created by pan-dimensional directed by Lisa Bowerman and phone with Big Finish adventures beings the Grace to assist – produced by Mark Wright. and have been listening to the and sometimes hinder – the Simon says: “As it’s been a things I would normally play on Doctor in his second quest decade since the first series my daily driving commute to the for the key to time, Abby of Graceless, we thought it office. And I know, going by my (Ciara Janson) and Zara (Laura was time to bring things full Twitter feed, that I’m not alone in Doddington) are about to circle and take the sisters listening to Big Finish output to meet the Time Lord again in back to where it all began get me through this tough time. Doctor Who: Wicked Sisters. – with the Fifth Doctor.” Thank you Big Finish! VORTEX The Doctor is recruited by He adds: “Abby and Zara Leela for a vital mission on are very different to the behalf of the Time Lords. women the Doctor met all Together, they must track those years ago when we down and destroy two god-like did The Key 2 Time series. beings whose extraordinary Back then he wasn’t required powers now threaten all to kill them…” VORTEX KALDOR’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS LIFE ON KALDOR IS FAR FROM SIMPLE FOR LIV CHENKA… FOR A planet which only Walker) returns to spend a year very happy with it but you never appeared (in part) in four on her homeworld with her know if others will like it!” television episodes of sister Tula (Claire Rushbrook). Roland Moore’s The Robots Doctor Who in 1977, The first box set of three of War opens the second box Kaldor has made a huge stories was released last autumn, set, and John says: “The Robots impact. The Robots of Death and the final scene featured a of War involves looking at the by Chris Boucher is regularly voice familiar to fans of The military of Kaldor and how cited as one of the best stories in Robots of Death – actor Pamela they have Robots and what the show’s history, and even Salem playing Lish Toos. they do. It’s possibly the most though Kaldor never appeared Script editor John Dorney says: traditional of the three stories.” again on TV, such was the depth “We included that last scene in Roland explains: “The brief of the world created on screen The Robots Volume One as we for this one was fairly open. We that it has continued to resonate thought it would be an intriguing knew the relationship between through the years. little hook for the second series. Liv and Tula and the sort of Big Finish’s new series The “Listeners are very fond of the adventures we wanted to tell Robots is set on the planet, where first series – we have a fantastic following series one of The the Eighth Doctor’s companion cast with two phenomenal leads Robots. So I pitched The Robots Liv Chenka (played by Nicola in Nicola and Claire. We were of War. It was based on an article VORTEX | PAGE 4 IT WAS BASED ON AN Above (l–r): David Collings and V12 ARTICLE I’D READ IN A SCIENCE MAGAZINE ABOUT I’d read in a science magazine HOW THE AMERICAN about how the American military was using artificial intelligence MILITARY WAS USING in combat situations. One of the biggest hurdles was teaching ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE the AI so it knew how to cope with the choices you’d have IN COMBAT SITUATIONS. to make on the battlefield. ROLAND MOORE “One of these choices was prioritising the life of a higher ranking human officer over lower ranking ones. And that’s the bit that fascinated me. I wondered as the title already implies, is the what would happen if the Voc reintroduction of Pamela Salem Robots – although unable to and David Collings into the world fight themselves – were used of Kaldor. Poul has to use his for strategising during war. investigator skills once again to And what would happen if they discover the details behind a had to prioritise the survival crime. Bringing them back was an of a senior human officer? idea we had during our original discussions of the range. Both THE SECOND story, Toos and characters were still alive at the Poul by Andrew Smith, end of The Robots of Death, so it felt features Pamela Salem as Toos like a no-brainer, really. And we’ve and David Collings as Poul, worked with both of the actors recorded just a few months before – regularly with Pamela on before David sadly passed Counter-Measures, and she is away. John reveals: “Toos and Poul, always a delight to have along.” VORTEX | PAGE 5 Andrew, who previously wrote is unusual – I just liked it so much. Toos and Poul into the story. The Sons of Kaldor for The Fourth I love what Nick did with the Early on I pitched the idea of Poul, Doctor Adventures, reveals: “I Robots – it’s very interesting. I’ve having suffered robophobia in the was absolutely delighted to be written for the Robots before for TV series, adopting the life of a asked to be involved as The Robots the Tom Baker adventure, The Sons hermit and living a very solitary of Death is one of my all-time of Kaldor, and now Toos and Poul life. We made sure that would favourite Doctor Who stories. I so the Robots are finally getting fit with the rest of the series. remember it very well from when their time in the spotlight. “Liv and Tula don’t feature in it was first broadcast, and they “We had an initial get together, this adventure which is nice in did a repeat where it was edited myself, Matt Fitton, John Dorney a way as it gave me a bit more into two 50-minute episodes. and Ken Bentley, for a discussion freedom and meant I didn’t have I devoured it – it’s just a great about the series. Then we went to concentrate too much on the adventure by Chris Boucher, where away and came up with some continuity of it all. I could just the story, direction, costume and ideas of how we would incorporate look at developing the story, Above (l–r): Ian Conningham, Indra Ové, Andrew Smith and Satnam Bhogal which is a bit of a whodunnit. It’s been quite a good thing, not to I’M VERY introduce Poul and Toos too early, to keep them back for the second INTERESTED series which is clever, clever stuff. “Toos and Poul has got a kind of a IN AI AND Western vibe to it, as there’s a town QUESTIONS out by the forest next to the plains, Above (l–r): Nicola Walker far away from society – a part and Claire Rushbrook of Kaldor that regards itself as a AROUND world apart from the city dwellers.