Doctor Who Class Big Finish Originals Now I Have My Plus
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ISSUE: 114 • AUGUST 2018 WWW.BIGFINISH.COM INSIDE THIS ISSUE! DOCTOR WHO Impressions of the new Eleventh Doctor Chronicles… CLASS Big Finish heads back to school as the pupils of Coal Hill come to audio… BIG FINISH ORIGINALS Shilling & Sixpence Investigate… NOW I HAVE MY MAGIC BUS LADY CHRISTINA DE SOUZA RETURNS FRESH FROM THE PLANET OF THE DEAD… WE GO BEHIND-THE- SCENES OF THE NEW AUDIO ADVENTURES! BERNICE SUMMERFIELD It's 20 years of audio adventures for PLUS! the intrepid archaeologist!* * OH NO, IT ISN'T… We make great full-cast audio dramas and audiobooks that are available to buy on CD and/or download WE LOVE STORIES! SUBSCRIBERS GET Our audio productions are based on much- MORE! loved TV series like Doctor Who, Torchwood, If you subscribe, depending on the Dark Shadows, Blake’s 7, The Avengers, The range you subscribe to, you get free , , , Prisoner The Omega Factor Terrahawks audiobooks, PDFs of scripts, extra Captain Scarlet and Survivors, as well as behind-the-scenes material, a classics such as HG Wells, Shakespeare, bonus release, downloadable audio Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera readings of new short stories and and Dorian Gray. We also produce original discounts. creations such as Graceless, Charlotte Pollard and The Adventures of Bernice Summerfield, plus the Big Finish Originals Secure online ordering and details of range featuring seven great new series all our products can be found at: including ATA Girl and Cicero. www.bigfinish.com WWW.BIGFINISH.COM @ BIGFINISH THEBIGFINISH VORTEX MAGAZINE • PAGE 2 COMING SOON TORCHWOOD: GOD AMONG US Clayton as St John Colchester, IME TRAVEL is a strange Alexandria Riley as Ng, thing. I’m writing this Samantha Béart as Orr, Jonny T whilst visiting family near Green as Tyler Steele and Salisbury, on a blazing hot Saturday Tom Price as Sergeant Andy afternoon in June. This issue will be Davison. John Barrowman released in August, with many of the says: “They are all great stories productions being previewed in series six – they really coming out in September. move the narrative forward. One of those is Bernice I find all over the world, from Summerfield. It’s hard to believe Puerto Rico to Paris, from Benny is 20. I was one of those London to Florida, to South fans who bought all of the New America, that there are many Adventures novels in the 1990s huge Torchwood fans and the and followed Benny’s career with LIENS AMONG Us, the audience is always growing.” interest. And I carried on when the fifth series of the Series producer James Goss Doctor left the New Adventures and A Torchwood special has written the first episode, remained with her throughout releases, saw the team return to Future Pain, and reveals: “We the rising of the gods on Dellah. Cardiff and encounter an alien had such a great reaction I was really pleased when I read in occupation, terrorists and the to series five, and it’s been a Doctor Who Magazine that Bernice resurrection of Yvonne delight getting the cast back was being brought to life as an Hartman. All in a day’s work together to do more. Now audio series by some company for Captain Jack Harkness and things are established the or other called Big Finish, and I his friends. stories are more standalone, immediately pre-ordered Oh No Big Finish have been with Torchwood facing It Isn’t. I’ve stuck with Big Finish producing the official some tough challenges – a ever since then, as a fan first and continuation to Russell T plague of sleep, a city that foremost, and been with Benny on Davies's Doctor Who spinoff, goes blind, organising a virtually every step of her journey and things have been ramped funeral, and then there’s an through life, through the Braxiatel up a little for series six, as alien god to deal with!” Collection, through the Epoch, and this year they face an alien The other three stories into the Unbound universe (to very deity in God Among Us. The in this box set are The Man briefly sum up her Big Finish life!). story continues with John Who Destroyed Torchwood I’ve been lucky enough to speak Barrowman as Captain Jack by Guy Adams, See No Evil to the woman who is Benny, Lisa Harkness, Tracy-Ann Oberman by John Dorney, and Night Bowerman, on many an occasion, as Yvonne Hartman, Paul Watch by Tim Foley. and it’s always a pleasure to chat with her. Like everyone at Big Finish, she’s passionately ISSUE 114 • AUGUST 2018 committed to what she does, and keeping Benny true to character. Managing Editor: Jason Haigh-Ellery Looking back, my only Benny Executive Producer: Nicholas Briggs regret is that I didn’t subscribe to Senior Producer: David Richardson the Time Ring trilogy in that first Editor: Kenny Smith series, as I would have had a physical Design: Mark Plastow copy of that now nigh on impossible Copy Editor: Stephanie Hornett to find CD of Buried Treasures! The Big Finish Team: So, as we preview Benny, let’s raise Ian Atkins, Sue Cowley, Emily de Fraine, our glasses to her, to her creator Hannah Peel, Paul Spragg Paul Cornell, to Lisa and Big Finish’s Marketing: Kris Griffin original production team of Jason and Paddy Freeland Haigh-Ellery and Gary Russell. BFP Administration: Cheryl Bly, Big Finish is getting bigger, and Brenda Smith, Alison Taylor there’s no sign of a finish… another Publisher: Big Finish Productions Ltd. thing worth toasting! KENNY VORTEX | PAGE 3 ALL ABOARD!SHE ESCAPED THE PLANET OF THE DEAD, AND NOW LADY CHRISTINA DE SOUZA IS BACK FOR MORE… HE FASCINATING thing And so Michelle Ryan is back document together with a " about Lady Christina is in the role for the first time brief on the character and T she’s one of those since 2009, when she appeared what we planned to do. characters whose narrative in the Easter special written by “Christina’s character just clearly stretches well before the Russell and Gareth Roberts. jumps off the screen – a posh lady Doctor Who episode in which David continues: “This is thief in the Lara Croft mould, but she appears, and goes on long one of those series where a bit more mercurial. You can after it too,” says producer David everyone involved fell in love see when she talks to the Doctor Richardson. “Russell T Davies is a with it. It just felt right – there’s a bit more edge to her master at creating brilliantly Michelle was so comfortable, and he brings that out of her. rich characters in a short so much fun and so great to “Getting the tone right was very amount of screen time, and I was work with in the lead role.” important – it had to be energetic really keen to follow Lady In charge of developing the and pacy, and one of the things Christina’s story after Planet of series from the concept was Russell T Davies suggested when the Dead – to see how she fared script editor Matt Fitton. He we ran the series by him was that without the Doctor.” says: “For this series, I put a it should be big and fun. And he VORTEX | PAGE 4 DOCTOR WHO LADY CHRISTINA Above: Michelle Ryan Above: Warren Brown perfect writer to kick it off, doing ongoing adventure, or just MAKE SURE something witty and fun.” start the story with her at the SHE USES John said: “Lady Christina beginning? A lot of my thinking is a lively and interesting was about what I would want a THE BUS! character, I really enjoyed series opener to feel like, and how Planet of the Dead – I thought I would introduce the threats. RUSSELL T DAVIES she was entertaining, so this “I was determined that gave me an excuse to watch it Christina’s first entrance had to again and make some notes. be big, brash, cool and exciting, also said, ‘Make sure she uses the “It’s quite cool getting the to get the listeners straight into bus!’ The fact that we have a big, opener to the box set and setting it, and to go with it. That led to a red flying bus helps define this up the series – but there’s also a lot of the structure of the story, mad, mad world – so we set off huge amount of responsibility, with a big opening scene.” on a globetrotting adventure.” to advance the character and make people think, ‘This is a N THE second story of the HE FIRST story of the set, series’, straight away. You want set, Christina crosses It Takes a Thief by John the listeners to feel excited I swords with another T Dorney, sets the tone for and comfortable for the rest character from the Tenth Doctor’s what follows. Matt explains: “At of the run. There’s a lot of era in Skin Deep by James Goss. the start, she’s a thief from the pressure which I’ve never had Matt explains: “It occurred to gentry, and I suggested to John before – I’d written other parts us, thinking about which other Dorney that he could do in a series or the finale in a box characters we could feature, that something on the French Riviera, set, but not done an opener. Sylvia Noble would be a good like To Catch a Thief. “You have that dilemma – do one to use. With all of Donna’s “It’s good to start with a safe you set things up so you join travels, she would likely have pair of hands and John was the Christina in the middle of an had an alien artefact or two VORTEX | PAGE 5 DOCTOR WHO LADY CHRISTINA around the house, and that’s she’s pretending that life’s all what Christina is looking for good fun – until actually it is.