Doctor Who Tapestry Update - The missing months

So I've been a bit quiet on here of late, but I have been busy stitching away on the top right panel of the tapestry. Rather than post some of the work in progress I've completed the top row of figures, as these form a special collection.

So here goes...

This top area has been dedicated to some special characters, mainly originating in print, before being brought to life by Big Finish. 

When Benny found herself in the Unbound Universe with David Warner's version of the Doctor I couldn't get enough of their adventures, and I felt it was only right to honour David's Doctor with a place on the tapestry. 

Benny was a character I loved in print, so much so that I originally added Benny to the tapestry even before Big Finish had started recording audio adventures, and that Benny was based on the cover art work. I've always wanted to add Lisa Bowerman's Benny to the tapestry and I felt that the best partnership was to include her alongside David's Doctor and I based them on one of the boxset covers, hence the blue tint to the hair,  there remains a little remedial work to do for Benny.

I had only seen Iris Wildtyme briefly in print before she was brought to life by Katy Manning, and then she developed a life of her own. Who wouldn't want to climb aboard her double-decker bus and dash off on an adventure, and maybe just give the Doctor a few headaches along the way.

And Iris couldn't go anywhere without her trusty companion Panda.

DrWho Tapestry - Ancient One Update Part II

Ongoing work with the Ancient One on the tapestry part two - so, time taken for this character 

Here's the progress so far: 32 hours 41 minutes, timed by the duration of the audio books played during the stitching reported on the previous update.

Add to that...

Doctor Who - Gallifrey Time War Volume 4 

 (Big Finish, 5 Hours)

Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Adventures

Series 10 Part One (4 Hours)

Total running time: 9 Hours

Callan Volume 2 

(Big Finish) - 4 hours

The Diary of River Song - Series 8

(Big Finish) - 4 hours

Torchwood - Drive

(Big Finish) - 60 mins

Total running time - 9 Hours

The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice

17 Hours 20 Minutes Running Time

Therefore, since last blog post update another

35 hours 20 minutes have been added to the time taken to stitch the Ancient One

Additional Update for the chin

Classic Companion Chronicle 1.1 Frostfire

(Big Finish) 60 mins

Space 1999 Vol. 1 (Big Finish) - 3 Hours

Fourth Doctor Adventures

Series 10 Part 2 (Big Finish) - 4 Hours 

Bringing the total number of hours so far up to:

43 Hours 20 minutes work on the Ancient One

Next Update

#ThrowbackThursday

This post jumps aboard the time ship and travels back to 1975 before jumping forward to 1979. 

So what happened in 1975 and why this post? 

Me, Mum & Auntie Darkie, July 1975

There’s no great weather report to speak of, the hot summer of the 1970s that gets mentioned by those of a certain age is a year later, 1976. If you want a list of events for 1975 then try Wikipedia although nothing jumped out at me when I took a quick scan through the list. Maybe a couple of interesting birthdays might pop up. In Doctor Who Tom Baker was already the Doctor, having débuted in the first episode of “Robot” a few days before the start of the year. So why this trip back in time? 

Oh by the way, this was me back in 1975.

The reason is because Big Finish has recently released a couple of audio drama box sets based on a couple of other TV series from back then.  Their second series of new stories for Survivors and the first of a series for The Omega Factor have had me gripped to my CD player.

Their releases for both series begin with an audio book reading of the original novels written by the two show’s creators. In the case of Survivors this was Terry Nation, he of the Daleks fame who would later go on to create Blake’s 7, and for The Omega Factor, Jack Gerson. Both audio books are read stunningly by the show’s original female leads, Carolyn Seymour and Louise Jameson.  These stories really pulled me in and made me eager to not only move on to the new audio drama ranges but to seek out those original TV episodes on DVD.  These dramas were designed for adults, and as you can see from the photo above I was certainly not old enough to be allowed to stay up and watch. Whilst shopping for these I did discover a DVD release of a children’s series I remembered from then, one which I will admit, at the time, certainly freaked me out.  More on that later.

Having listened to the original books then watching the programmes I found they differed in many ways, so the audio readings are certainly worth a listen if only to gather what the show’s original creators saw as their direction for their creations.

Survivors

The first two box sets from Big Finish have brought back the original leads from the first series of the show and introduce new survivors in the same way as the show often did. Carolyn Seymour departed from the original show after the first series, but is now back giving Abby a new lease of life. The TV series ran for three years on the BBC, from 1975 to 1977 and having watched all three series back to back it did feel like it began to run out of steam. It must be noted that Terry Nation only ever wrote for the first series of the TV programme.

After the survivors had faced the great plague that had wiped out around ninety percent of the population and had gone on to face the worst of human kind could offer that the BBC would dare to feature back then there really was not a lot of direction for the series to go. In their second series Big Finish have been a lot braver in their material, maybe this is because we live in more enlightened times. The series is certainly a lot darker and as such I would say more believable than the later offerings of the original.

The Omega Factor

This series launched on the BBC in 1979 and promptly ended after one series. Which was a bloody shame. It fell at the wrath of Mary Whitehouse, the self appointed moral guidance councillor that oversaw all that was broadcast. The DVD release today actually makes a point of noting on the cover that she described it ‘Thoroughly evil’.  There was nothing evil about it. The only thing it could be accused of was being ahead of its time.  Having watched the series today, with one special effect not quite up to scratch the rest of the series could easily still be aired today as a supernatural investigation drama set in the late 70s. When Journalist Tom Crane (James Hazeldine) discovers he has psychic powers he is recruited by Department 7 and finds himself working alongside Doctor Anne Reynolds (Louise Jameson). The stories keep a very open approach to their subject matter, not everything is unexplained and not everything is as it seems, plus with a darker thriller aspect on top.

The Big Finish version, unlike Survivors which is set in and around the events of the original TV series, this picks up three decades later. Anne Reynolds once again played splendidly by Louise Jameson is contacted by the son of the recently departed Tom Crane. When Adam Crane (John Dorney) , contacts Anne he finds himself drawn into the problems of Department 7 and the reawakening of many dangers for the team. Again this series is not aimed at younger listeners and certainly appeals to the darker side of many of its listeners. John and Louise make an excellent team, long may this series run, and having heard both John and Louise’s scripts for other Big Finish ranges I would hope they would both be persuaded to contribute to future releases in this series.

The Changes.

And finally on to the last of the throwback DVDs I recently purchased. This is reported in the supporting booklet as being, “the oldest surviving BBC science fiction TV serial developed and scheduled exclusively for children.” Produced in 1975 it dramatised the three Peter Dickinson young adult novels, The Weathermonger (1969), Heartsease (1969) and The Devil’s Children (1970). Now that young me shown at the start of this post watched the series, or some of it, back in 1975 and was freaked out by it. I carried with me for some time a mental image of the electricity pylons and a strange sound that was associated with them. I have a feeling that maybe I did not watch the whole series. Watching this back now, obviously I’m not going to have the same reaction to it, although I was able to pick out the scenes from two of the episodes that fixed those memories for me.

However, unlike the two other shows I watched, this one released by the BFI rather than the BBC on DVD does not stand the test of time so well. Whether this is because it is a children’s production, or the story which felt patchy and inconsistent, or the fact that the release felt the need to apologise for not being 100% politically correct in every episode - I don’t know.  We know a lot of TV back then would fail that test; we have to accept that as historical fact, learn from it and move on rather than dwell on it. It is hard to put my finger on what exactly grated but something certainly did. The premise was another society in meltdown, but the cause, despite the final episode, for me is never satisfactory explained. After a freak weather pattern, you could not even call it a storm, society goes mad and smashes up all machinery and declares it as ‘wicked’. Nicky Gore is separated from her parents as they try to escape England for France, in a crowd of about ten people and sets out on her own journey to try and find them.  Very quickly she changes her mind and begins her own crusade to try and find out what caused this break up of society’s sanity in the first place.

Survivors, All 3 Series on DVD is released by BBC Worldwide Ltd.

The Omega Factor on DVD is released by Simply HomeEntertainment under licence from the BBC.

The Changes on DVD, is released by the BFI, made available to the BFI by the BBC.

The Omega Factor & Survivors Audio Books and Audio Drama series are produced and released by Big Finish Productions.

 Oh go on then, another photo of me from 1975.

Book review July / August 2013

After reading the original Frankenstein a couple of months back, this period I turned my attention to two ‘sequels’ .

The Revenge of Frankenstein

By Shaun Hutson

Published by  Hammer House of Horror

978-0-099-55623-7

The first is an actual sequel, picking up after the original story as originally adapted by the Hammer House of Horror group into a film. This was their sequel to their film with Dr Frankenstein awaiting execution for his crimes. Somehow he manages to escape, we he would otherwise there would be no story that’s not really a spoiler. He then relocates and begins to rebuild his experiments with terrifying results.  This story does not try to be anything that it’s not, it was made a commercial follow up to a successful film, and I actually enjoyed it.

Monster (A Novel of Frankenstein)

By Dave Zeltserman

Published by Duckworth Overlook 

978-0-715-64509-3

The second book also takes up the story of Dr Frankenstein but this time attempts to reconstruct the original story this time from the monster’s point of view. I admit this book started off for me on the wrong foot, by setting out to announce that Mary Shelly got it wrong, turning Mary Shelly almost into a fictional character who narrated her own book.  Let’s face it, if Mary Shelly had not written the book you would not have anything to work with – so don’t be so arrogant to begin with. It also attempts to accuse the original as depicting the creature created by Frankenstein as being nothing more than a monster but the original certainly gave the creature far more character than I expected.

Towards the middle I started to warm to the book but overall I felt it did not enrich the mythology for me.

Two more autobiographies this period, one a well known Doctor Who companion and the other a much loved actress from Blake’s 7 and a Doctor Who guest star. Both books very revealing.

Fantom Films Limited

From Byfleet to the Bush

By Jacqueline Pearce

978-1-906263-87-4

Jacqueline Pearce will always be known for playing the Federation’s President in the popular cult series Blakes’ 7. Servalan had the glamour and the screen presence but as you read Jac’s own personal account of this period of her life, she neither enjoyed the recognition she deserved as an actress nor the glamour either. This is a very personal and very emotional account of somebody who never really knew who they were because of parental issues so very early in life and never fully found her feet until more by chance as the title implies, she swaps everything for a life looking after monkeys in the South African Bush. Here you will not find funny anecdotes of life on Blake’s 7 but you will find a very personal life exposed.   

http://www.fantomfilms.co.uk/books/jacqueline_pearce.htm

Hines Sight

By Frazer Hines

978-1-84583-997-0

Previously published as Films, Farms and Fillies by Boxtree in 1997

Frazer was not only Jamie in Doctor Who, and Joe Sugden in Emmerdale Farm (Yes it was about a farming community at one time) but he is also a qualified Jockey, and has quite a claim to fame on the cricket pitch as well.  Ok it’s quite well known Mr Hines has an eye for the ladies, and he does not deny it, but here you get to see the other side of the story and the lessons he learnt regarding relationships along the way. Nice one Frazer.

 http://www.frazerhines.com/

The Best British Fantasy 2013

Series Editor Steve Haynes

Published by Salt Publishing 

978-1-907773-35-8

A curious collection of short stories paraded as the best of British fantasy, the introduction admits to being quite loose with the definition of fantasy but I feel it was also been quite loose with the definition of British and Best.

I did enjoy a few of the stories in the collection, but there were several that I found it very hard to care for at all. Stories like ‘The Last Osama’ have me wondering what they are doing in this collection as it certainly does not represent the British aspect of the suggested offering. In other cases I would question dark, being used for 'poor taste'.

The highlight of this collection for me was ‘The Scariest Place in the World’, a clever twist on the ghost story and it is probably no surprise why this story stood out above the rest, having been written by Mark Morris whose Doctor Who novels and audio dramas have entertained for many years. I would recommend those who like Mark’s work to track this little gem down outside of this collection.

Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural

Dracula's Guest & Other Stories               

By Bram Stoker

Published by Wordsworth Editions

978-1-84022-627-0

I read Dracula earlier in the year, this edition was a bumper double book not only containing the original masterpiece of Bram Stoker but the previously publish separate collection of short stories. Now I’m turning my attention to the Dracula’s Guest and Other Stories.

Dracular’s Guest is presented as a separate short story but one that was lifted out of the original due to making Dracula too long, and being too much of a distraction to the original. Some have tried to work out where it would fit into the original story, but as a separate story it returns anyone who has read Dracula back into the Count’s dark world with ease.

The other stories in the collection go on to show an even darker side to Bram Stoker, and the fact the even then he did not pander to delivering a story necessarily for moralistic value. The Dualitists is not a supernatural story but certainly shows Stoker at his more darker side with his protagonists progressing from wanton destruction of property to vicious coldblooded murder and being praised and awarded for their deceit, certainly a story that should be read with great warning still today.

Finally I’m going to finish this review with another audio book. Having raved previously about the Mervyn Stone books by Nev Fountain I was delighted when Big Finished released a new adventure for our reluctant detective.

The Mervyn Stone Mysteries
The Axeman Cometh 
By Nev Fountain
Published by Big Finish Productions

The Axeman Cometh takes Mervyn into the recording studio for an audio re-launch of the drama ‘Vixens from the Void’.  Nothing goes to plan for Meryn’s new script, and that is only the start of things, as he has been warned by ‘a friend’ that to prevent a murder he must attend the recording. Let’s just hope this really isn’t Mervyn’s Last Adventure.

This drama comes over as a full cast audio drama, but with the two leads played by John Banks and Nicola Bryant with other parts played by members of the cast it is really a two hander that give these two performers a chance to really shine and prove what they can do. Listen to it; you would not believe that just two people provide 99% of the voices. The only additional voice comes from Big Finish production but I’ll leave you to spot that.

More details and to order visit the Big Finish website http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/addtobasket/the-axeman-cometh-908

Book review May / June 2013

My pick of the blog this month comes from a Kindle edition, now not owning one of these I had to read the book using the downloaded app, you can get it for iphone, ipads and computers. This is the first e-book I’ve actually read. Although, call me old fashioned if you like, still prefer the physical book I’m sure I’ll be reading others in the future.

Jack and the Lad
By Mickey Mayhew
Kindle Books

Meet Jack and Jamie, the Woodfield twins, although you would not think it to look at them, brothers yes but Jack you would assume was the much older brother. Jack is fit, muscular and well educated doing his degree, Jamie is slight, more immature and struggles to read and sells second hand books on the market.  Neither really gets on. The Woodfields are a large, old family that date back to the days when witchcraft was rife. Set in Barking, Essex and the surrounding area the story pulls a lot from the history of the area, some artistic licence, as well as the modern day setting. As a local to the area I found it particularly entertaining. 

If all the family issues aren’t enough, and the Woodfields are a large colourful family, then the cloud that hangs over the alpha male of the family in the guise of a sex crazed spirit gives the moments of comedy a much darker twist especially as the book rides to the dramatic cliff-hanger in this supernatural romance that spans generations.

Come on Mr Mayhew, don’t make us wait too long for the next part.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jack-Barrow-Boys-Barking-ebook/dp/B00C4D8CCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366974247&sr=8-1&keywords=jack+and+the+lad

 

Hammer House of Horror -

Countess Dracula

By Guy Adams

978-0-09-955386-1

This Hammer’s take on the legend of the woman who became known as Countess Dracula from the middle ages who bathed in virgin blood to maintain her youth.

Lifted to Hollywood, where a failing former silent film star tries to regain her youth and career, well you can practically guess the rest.

Wordsworth Classics -

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Merry Men & Other  Stories

By R.L. Stevenson

978-1-85326-061-2

The main story in this collection I remember very well as I had an abridged LP recording read by Tom Baker when I was very much younger, and from the moment I read the opening line, ‘Mr Utterson the lawyer was a man of rugged countenance...’ I could hear Tom’s voice in my head as I read the full story.  This is another of the timeless tales that gets reinvented from time to time, dramatised in many ways leaving you thinking you know the story but not quite. It is only when you read the original do you truly get the despair of Doctor Jekyll and the addiction that Mr Hyde became.

Robert Louise Stephenson investigated the dark side of human nature in some of the other stories in this collection, two of which are very heavy in dialect making them difficult to read. For me none of the other tales came close to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in this collection.

http://www.wordsworth-editions.com

Bernice Summerfield

from Big Finish  

             

The Weather on Versimmon

By Matthew Griffiths

978-1-84435-618-8

The Slender-Fingered Cats of Bubastis

By Xanna Eve Chown     

978-1-84435-635-5

Filthy Lucre

By James Parsons & Andrew Stirling-Brown

978-1-78178-114-2

These three novels are designed to accompany some of the recent audio adventure releases, fitting in between box sets. This is the 2011 reboot of the Bernice range, the four available box sets being  Epoch (Sept 2011), Road Trip (Feb 2012), Legion (Sept 2012) & New Frontiers (April 2013).

I listened to the audios before reading the books, so I was already aware of some things before starting the books, however that did not really matter the books can be ready separately, although some understanding of the characters from the audios is recommended.

For me the first was no so inspiring, I felt the The Weather on Versimmon was a story that had been done before and better. An ancient collection of cultural significance is buried on Versimmon, there are those that want it opened up and those that don’t.  The result a lot of running around trying to work out who are the good guys and who aren’t.

The Slender-Fingered Cats of Bubastis that some say can be seem from space however told quite a different story and here the characters from the audio came back to life. I could hear Lisa Bowerman’s voice as I read Bernice’s quips. Indeed here the main players Bernice, Ruth and Jack all capture the audio characters a lot better.  The story has the right amount of craziness that fits a Summerfield adventure along with the suspense to keep you wanting to know just if they really can pull it off. The library of the future says Bernice will write a book of poetry and have it published in a week’s time, but first she must find a missing girl, and possibly save a site of historic significance from the scariest so called archaeologist of all time.

Filthy Lucre – Once again Bernice is in trouble, but then it wouldn’t be an adventure if she wasn’t. This one is slightly more complicated in that you’re not quite certain about the sequence of events until the end, as the chapters start to jump back and forth between what you think is the current time with Bernice and co in trouble on a hijacked freighter to periods she spends with the tycoon of the new vegetable crispy chips company and his passion for archaeology. A good rendition of the characters, including Brax, again you can hear the original voices as you read. I don’t mind stories that switch time period, I do it myself, but I would like to be able to know clearly which order events take place in, which are flash backs and which are current.

Where they fit in:

The Slender-Fingered Cats of Bubastis accompanies Legion

Filthy Lucre accompanies New Frontiers

http://www.bigfinish.com/hubs/v/bernice-summerfield

Afternoon tea with Miss Marple

The Complete Miss Marple Radio Dramas

By Agatha Christie

Staring June Whitfield as Miss Marple & Cast

978-1-4084-6849-4

BBC Audio Go

http://www.audiogo.com/uk/browse-categories/crime-thrillers-mystery/agatha-christie/miss-marple

June Whitfield stars as the interfering busy body Miss Marple, the old girl with a taste for murder, as created by Agatha Christie in these radio adaptations originally produced for BBC Radio. A full supporting cast brings each of the twelve adapted stories to life and keeps you hooked as the mystery becomes all the more perplexing and all the while Miss Marple is determined to keep it simple.

I’ve never actually read any of the books myself, I really should do. The police come of worse that the Yard do in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, for their complete bewilderment and often bumble around being told to clear off by some of those they want to question – that is if a doctor has not got there first and administered a sedative to keep the suspect from being questioned.

Oh, and if anyone offers you a drink say no, there is bound to be cyanide in there.

Book Review May / June

Not so much reading these last couple of months, been a bit otherwise occupied.

Hollow Earth     

by John & Carole E. Barrowman

978-1-907-15164-4

Published by Buster, £6.99

Further Details, The Hollow Earth website

Aimed at the slightly younger reader, this is the first book in a series, a fact which I was not aware of when I started it but at the end I really did want to know what was going to happen next and I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment. An interesting concept about a group of people who are able to animate artwork, and the resulting notorious power struggles which inevitably surround a group of gifted people. This shows how the politics of a group of adults can have dire consequences for the children dragged into their power struggles. Well worth a read.

   

Sherlock Holmes & The Titanic Tragedy        

by William Seli

978-0-857-68710-4          

Titan Books £6.99

Further Details - Titan Books

Sherlock Holmes & The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner
by Jonathan Barnes
Audio Book, Staring Nicholas Briggs & Richard Earl
Big Finish Productions.
http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-adventure-of-the-perfidious-mariner-693

Just when you thought there was only ever one going to be one Titanic Holmes adventure, they arrive in pairs. My first Holmes and the Titantic encounter came with the Big Finish audio book 'Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner', here Holmes does not actually get on board the ship but instead the owner of the White Star line comes seeking his help after the tragedy. This story takes the form of a suspected supernatural entity plaguing his life, and with Holmes setting out to solve the mystery. These stories work well for Holmes and this is a very enjoyable original Sherlock Holmes story. 

The second encounter actually put Holmes on board to guard secret government documents, although it was entertaining it did smack too much of trying to copy previous original Holmes adventures, you'll see what I mean if you read it. I don't want to give too much plot away but there weren't really many surprises you hadn't already began to suspect just by certain players being introduced to the plot. The book also has to handle the 'how do we get Holmes off the sinking ship' scenario which in their CD extras Big Finish said they wanted to avoid because it wouldn't work satisfactorily for the Holmes and Watson characters and I think I agree with them.

               

The Leaping

by Tom Fletcher

978-1-84916-135-0          

Quercus £7.99

I selected this as I fancied a werewolf story, but the wolf antics didn't really occur until quite late in the book. The story is presented from two first person scenarios, Jack and Francis, alternating between the two. They work in a call centre and the first part of the book is really about how crap their lives are and their jobs are. There also seems to be some attempt at demanding pity for call centre workers - I find myself wondering if the author ever worked in one. Although a long time is taken setting up the characters, we can believe in them even if we are not one hundred percent sympathetic to them.

The promise of mystery that is set around fell House only starts to occur in the second part of the story. For me it was a bit slow to start and the end seemed to try and pack in too much. I would have liked the mystery to have started sooner and have interwoven a bit more into the earlier part of the story. The title of the book 'The Leaping' again only comes into play at the very end and felt like a bit of an anticlimax. 

The Sookie Stackhouse Novels (True Blood)

Dead to the World

by Charlaine Harris

978-0-575-08942-6

Orion Books £6.99

http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/dead-to-the-world-paperback2

As I've said previously I am only going to read the Sookie books after I've seen the True Blood series that gets made based on the book. Series 4 is based on 'Dead to the World', where Jason vanishes at the start and returns at the end, almost as if he has been written out for the sake of it. In the series where we follow more than just Sookie's POV we know what has happened to him as we experience his misery and suffering.

This one introduces the witches, and we are told they are really nasty, being shifter witches stoked up on vamp blood, intent on taking over the businesses of the supernatural residents of Bon Temps and surrounding areas. There is no mention of the history of witch burning, the possession and depth that was written into the tv series. Instead these witches really seem a pale imitation of their TV counterparts.

Big Finish Day 2

Once again I’ve fallen behind with my postings, sorry. I didn’t get much model work down last weekend, Saturday I spent all day at Big Finish Day 2 in Barking. Lucky old me, I live locally to where Tenth Planet Events run some of their conventions, and this one run in conjunction with the company BigFinish was no exception. For those of you not in the know, Big Finish release audio drama on CD. Some of their work has also been broadcast on BBC Digital Radio station 4 More (Formally known as Radio 7)

A horde of CDs, 55 Hours worth of listening.

Big Finish have quite a catalogue of productions these days which span enough titles to warrant their own convention. They have or have had licences covering Doctor Who (Classic series Doctors 1 to 8), Sapphire & Steel, Dark Shadows, The Tomorrow People, Stargate, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes to name but a few. Recently they have started a range for Blake’s 7 as well featuring many of the original cast.

At the event last Saturday the 4^th Doctor, Mr Tom Baker was in attendance, promoting his first appearance in their range, along with Louise Jameson (Leela), Katy Manning (Jo Grant) and Anneke Wills (Polly).

Paul Darrow (Avon from Blake’s 7) was there to promote the new Blake’s 7 range, along with a myriad of writers, directors, sound designers, artists and other contributors to the range. Not forgetting the voice of the current Daleks and Cybermen, exec producer for Big Finish and star of their Sherlock Holmes range Nicholas Briggs.

These events are really great, you get a chance for autographs and a chance to chat with the stars in person and ask questions during their panels. Also several of my favourite authors whom I mentioned in recent posts were there, as they also write for the Big Finish ranges, John Dorney, Joe Lidster, James Goss and Jonathan Morris to name just a few - seriously I could go on all day. There is a great list of names at the bottom of this posting with Twitter accounts. Please #FF some of these guys if you're on.

I listen to a lot of these audio productions whilst model making, doing house work and whilst engaged in the great tapestry. I did actually over spend a tad, I bought another 55 hours worth of audio. I’ll be reviewing a few later along with some of the book reviews. 

There are a couple of promos I'd like to give. 

First I'd like to point you in the direction of the Companion Chronical, The Rocket Men, by John Dorney. An audio I've recently listened to staring one of the original Doctor Who cast William Russell (Ian Chesterton). Here he tells a tale of new adventure for the first Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicky. 

Yes I am biased on this I will admit, as John is also one of the semi-regular players in our D&D games. For more on the games please see Big Lee's game postings.

'Magic of the Angels' latest
book from Jac Rayner

The other is for Scott Handcock, one of the talented writers who is running the Edinburgh Marathon in May and is taking sponsorship in aid of Invest in ME. If you saw my last book review, you'll see that I mention another of my favourite authors from many of the Doctor Who books and audio range is Jac Rayner. Jac is a sufferer from this condition and will tweet on the state or lack of research and understanding for this disease. along with news on Doctor Who stuff. You can follow both Scott and Jac on Twitter. If you'd like to sponsor Scott then please follow this link  to the Just Giving Website where the funds go straight to the charity.  

http://www.justgiving.com/scott-handcock

For Twitter followers here is a big #FF call out for those mentioned above, either by name or reputation. Apologies to any I may have missed.

As the Brig would have said, "Splendid chaps, all of them."

Stars of Stage & Who,
Louise Jameson @Lou_Jameson
KatyManning Official @ManningOfficial
Anneke Wills @AnnekeWills
Nicholas Briggs @BriggsNicholas
Toby Hadoke @TobyHadoke

The Organisers,
10th Planet Events @10thplanetevent
Big Finish @bigfinish

The Writers (in no particular order),
John Dorney @MrJohnDorney
Jac Rayner @GirlFromBlupo
Joe Lidster @joelidster
Justin Richards @JJCRichards
Gary Russell @twilightstreets
Scott Handcock @scott_handcock
Mark Morris @MarkMorris10
James Goss @gossjam
Robert Shearman @ShearmanRobert
Nev Fountain @Nevfountain  & Mervyn Stone @mervynstone
Jonathan Morris @jonnymorris1973
Simon Guerrier @0tralala