Doctor Who audio producers Big Finish have announced they will not be moving forward with the release of the story Torchwood: Absent Friends.
Originally set for release this month, the story would have reunited John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor.
Interactive adventure Doctor Who: Time Fracture is set to go live later this month following COVID-related delays. Torchwood star John Barrowman was originally scheduled to reprise the role of Captain Jack Harkness for the live event in the form of a pre-recorded clip, but has since been dropped following allegations of exposing himself.
BBC Studios have today announced a brand new audio in their Doctor Who audio range K9 Audio Annual.
BAFTA has suspended the membership of actor Noel Clarke, along with his recent Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award following numerous sexual harassment and bullying allegations made in a Guardian report published Thursday.
David Bradley and John Barrowman are reprising their roles as the First Doctor (first played by William Hartnell) and Captain Jack Harkness, in pre-recorded cameo appearances for the immersive show Time Fracture!
Review by Jacob Licklider
Hype is an interesting phenomenon. When Big Finish Productions announced Dalek Universe, of course there was going to be hype: it’s three whole box sets starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, the return of Anya Kingdom, and a two-hour Fourth Doctor prologue with Leela and K9 to boot. This is the type of release that is designed to build hype, yet now that it is April and the first release is out, The Dalek Protocol starring Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, and John Leeson, and some of the trouble with extreme hype is that is can actually put off listeners. For The Dalek Protocol it is imperative that before you purchase or listen, you understand that it was never actually intended to be part of a bigger series. Recorded in 2018, the behind the scenes on the release are enlightening as Nicholas Briggs was simply commissioned to do what he loves and tribute Death to the Daleks while bringing back Anya Kingdom. This means that the ending of the story feels final, the Doctor and Anya don’t get to reunite which is important as the Doctor hasn’t even met her yet, and that there really aren’t apparent threads which will be carrying over to Dalek Universe proper. As a part of the series, it seems the most disconnected which is fine as it was never written to be a part of a greater whole, so listeners should be wary of those expectations before going in as you will not enjoy it nearly as much when that is in play.
Demon Records presents the narrated TV soundtrack of a partially ‘lost’ six-part adventure The Ice Warriors set in a future Ice Age, starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor.
Review by Jacob Licklider
With David Tennant joining Big Finish in 2016, and the recent return of Christopher Eccleston in a series of four box sets, the New Series representation at Big Finish increased; yet Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor has thus far been relegated to Short Trips and The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles due to only Alex Kingston’s participation in Big Finish. However, an announcement of a two volume spin-off following the Auton Rory Williams while he guards the Pandorica in a now deleted universe brings Arthur Darvill back to the worlds of Doctor Who in a release that nobody was quite expecting. Rory Williams is one of those characters which you really don’t know what to expect, often taking a back seat in episodes and only given companion status by the start of Darvill’s second series in the role. Rory is essentially comic relief and on the surface relegated to supporting roles, so The Lone Centurion is something which doesn’t actually have anything to go on in terms of what it can accomplish, complicated by the fact that as an Auton Rory is more difficult to kill as this takes place in between The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. The premise is intriguing: the Pandorica has gone missing meaning that Amy has gone missing, and Rory is attempting to find it, shenanigans ensue.
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Review by Jacob Licklider
With the acquisition of Eric Roberts returning to the role of the Master in The Diary of River Song, Ravenous 4, and Masterful, it became a matter of time before Big Finish Productions gave him his own spin-off box set. Announced in 2020, Master! is essentially a precursor to Big Finish’s new three disc box set model for releases going forward. Eric Roberts’ Master is also a character who does not actually have a fully fleshed out character. He is a character who was over the top and camp in his one television appearance, under the guidance of a director who simply did not understand who the Master was and didn’t allow Roberts to actually give any menace in his performance. Big Finish obviously worked to correct this in his first three appearances, but giving him a full length box set audiences finally get the chance to explore just what this version of the Master is and what he actually stands for. Master! contains three stories from three writers, all telling an overarching story of how Eric Roberts’ Master escaped the time vortex and was eventually tracked down by an assassin and the Daleks, and of course escaped. Interestingly unlike The War Master and Missy where the Master is a protagonist, Master! actually plays it with the Master directly the role of the antagonist, with each story essentially following other characters interacting with the Master and essentially trying to stop him from succeeding in each episode’s plan as things escalate towards the eventual conclusion.
The Collection range of Doctor Who will begin re-issued in standard packaging!
The first titles to join this range will be Season 12 and Season 19, which are available to pre-order now.
Indie Mac User 