October 2008 | NEWS
News stories are listed below in chronological order (oldest stories at the top, newest stories at the bottom). Updates are posted regularly, so check this page frequently for the most recent information. We use a variety of sources for our reports, and are not responsible for any inaccurate information posted.
01 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Extract from Tate-narrated CD
The Forever Trap, an audio-exclusive Doctor Who story featuring the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, is now available for download from Audible.co.uk. The story, by Dan Abnett, follows the success of the debut audio-only adventure Pest Control earlier this year.
The story will also be available on a double-disc CD in a few days' time, priced £9.99, and published by BBC Audio.
Catherine Tate narrates the adventure, and a sample of her reading can be heard on the Audible website - it features background music, and Tate's impression of the Tenth Doctor. [→]
Source: DoctorWhoForum.com
Link: The Forever Trap, Audible.co.uk
DOCTOR WHO | Darksmith Legacy details
DoctorWhoNews.com has more details about The Darksmith Legacy, an ongoing series of books which first appeared online a few months ago. [→]
An official press release reveals that readers can enjoy a level of interactivity with the series thanks to a website - TheDarksmithLegacy.com - and that each book will end on a cliffhanger leading into the following volume.
Source/Link: "Multi-Platform DW Book Range On Way", DoctorWhoNews.com
04 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Audio bargains and new trailers
The Big Finish website has been updated with trailers for Empathy Games, a Companion Chronicles story narrated by Louise Jameson as Leela [→], and Time Reef, starring Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. [→]
In addition, both seasons of the popular spin-off Sarah Jane Smith are available for a discount price. All nine CDs from the two seasons are available in one bundle for £30 - a saving of almost £64. [→]
Source: What's New, BigFinish.com
Links: Time Reef, BigFinish.com; Empathy Games, BigFinish.com; Sarah Jane Smith Seasons 1 & 2, BigFinish.com
DOCTOR WHO | BF damaged by illegal downloads
The startling extent of illegal downloading, and the effect it has on Big Finish Productions, has been revealed on the company's official website.
In a discussion thread on the Big Finish forum, Barnaby Edwards - who works in various capacities on numerous BF projects - posted statistics about Doctor Who audio piracy. [→]
"It is disheartening that a production that cost us maybe £35,000 and eight months of work is being downloaded by a quarter of a million people for free," he said, quoting The Condemned as an example, "but bought by just over 1% of that.
"Since internet pirate copies of our productions came on the scene a few years back," he continued, "our sales have halved although our listenership has increased by nearly 10,000% - make of that what you will."
He also explained that the cost of the audio plays would drop dramatically if they didn't lose so much potential income to illegal downloaders. "It would make a vast difference if we could recoup [just] 1% of what we're missing out on," he explained. "At 5%, we could offer all our productions for £2.99 a CD.
"It's the modern disease, I suppose: people don't see CD or DVD piracy as anything wrong. They assume that their illegal download is like nicking a packet of crisps from Tesco: an insignificant loss of profits. What it's actually equivalent to is nicking everything in Tesco apart from the crisps."
Source/Link: Posts in "A Budgetary Question", BigFinish.com
05 OCTOBER
THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES | New CD covers & plots revealed
The cover images from The Ghost House and The Time Capsule, the two new audiobook-only stories read by Elisabeth Sladen, have been revealed. Both can be viewed at the TARDIS Newsroom blog. [→] [→]
BBC Audio originally revealed the covers a few days ago, when they sponsored the Bath Festival of Children's Literature. Sladen was present, and took part in a Q&A session, and a promotional disc with excerpts from both stories was handed out.
Nabu from the Sarah Jane TV blog was present; photos from the event and summaries of the exclusive excerpts have been posted there. [→]
Source: DoctorWhoForum.com
Links: The Time Capsule, tardisnewsroom.blogspot.com; The Ghost House, tardisnewsroom.blogspot.com; "SJA audiobook exclusive", sarahjanetv.blogspot.com
06 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Writer's Tale coverage continues
Stories about Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook's The Writer's Tale continue to crop up in the national press in the UK, many of which are also available online.
Darren Scott of gay newspaper Pink Paper has reviewed the book, calling it "a fascinating insight into the making of Britain’s biggest drama series". [→] The Independent also reviewed the book, and has combined its thoughts with an exclusive interview with Russell. [→]
Another impressed newspaper was The Guardian, whose review praises the book as a "wizard enterprise". [→] Their website also features a promotional column from Russell, in which he discusses his "lucky desk". [→]
Benjamin and Russell also appeared briefly on BBC Breakfast [→], and are due to begin their series of book-signings around the UK on Wednesday evening.
Source: News & Reviews, TheWritersTale.com
Links: The Writer's Tale, Reviews, PinkPaper.com; "After the TARDIS - Russell T Davies", The Independent; The Writer's Tale, Reviews, The Guardian; "Doctor Who screenwriter shows his lucky desk", My Space, The Guardian; "Russell and Benjamin appear on BBC Breakfast", News & Reviews, TheWritersTale.com
THE 4400 | Wet Work excerpt online
An exclusive extract from Wet Work, the upcoming 4400 novel by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, has been posted on the publisher's website. [→]
The novel will be available towards the end of this month.
Source: "Wet Work excerpt on SimonSays.com", daytonward.livejournal.com, with thanks to Jens
Links: Wet Work excerpt, SimonSays.com
07 OCTOBER
STAR TREK | Extract from Destiny Book 2
TrekMovie.com have an excerpt from the second Star Trek: Destiny book, Mere Mortals. [→]
The book is the middle segment of the crossover trilogy, penned by David Mack, and should be available in November.
Source/Link: "Excerpt: Star Trek Destiny Book II: Mere Mortals", TrekMovie.com
11 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Short Trips tidbits
The latest episode of A Podcast of Impossible Things is now available, with a special focus on the latest Short Trips anthology, How the Doctor Changed My Life. [→]
The anthology contains the winning stories from a special contest launched by editor Simon Guerrier, and the podcast talks to the overall winner (Michael Coen) as well as featuring contributions from other writers. There's also the opportunity to win a copy of the anthology.
Additionally, the interview with Coen is available in text form [→], and podcast presenter Caleb Woodridge was recently featured in the South Wales Echo, talking about his own contribution to the book. [→]
Source: DoctorWhoForum.com
Links: "Big Finish Special: How the Doctor Changed My Life", A Podcast of Impossible Things; "Short Trips Winner Interview: Michael Coen speaks", A Podcast of Impossible Things; "South Wales Echo: Short Trips article", calebwoodridge.blogspot.com
DOCTOR WHO | Big Finish bits
The Big Finish website has been updated with the cover and cast information for Forty-Five, the celebratory release planned for November. [→]
The cover of the Companion Chronicles story The Darkening Eye has also been released. [→]
Source: What's New, BigFinish.com
Links: Forty-Five, BigFinish.com; The Darkening Eye, BigFinish.com
TORCHWOOD & SARAH JANE | Anghelides' author updates
Author Peter Anghelides has updated his official website with pages for upcoming Torchwood novel Pack Animals, which is available now [→], and his Sarah Jane Adventures audiobook The Time Capsule, due for release in November. [→]
Source: Anghelides.org
Links: Pack Animals, Anghelides.org; The Time Capsule, Anghelides.org
14 OCTOBER
STAR TREK | Trek Mag previews Destiny III
Star Trek Magazine's editor, Paul Simpson, has revealed that the next issue of the magazine features an excerpt from the third and final Star Trek Destiny novel. [→]
"The latest issue is about to hit newsstands in the States (and will be out in the UK early November)," he revealed in a post on the TrekBBS message board. "Of particular interest is an extract from the final Star Trek Destiny novel, which chronicles a fateful meeting between Captains Picard, Riker, Dax and... well, at this stage, that would be telling too much."
More information on STM can be found on Titan Magazines' website. [→]
Source: Post in "Destiny Book 3 extract in new Star Trek Magazine", TrekBBS.com
Link: Star Trek Magazine, TitanMagazines.co.uk
19 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Assorted audio announcements
Some new information about Big Finish's range of Doctor Who audio products has been announced over the last few days.
On Thursday, issue #401 of Doctor Who Magazine was published, containing the news that episode 3.12 of The Companion Chronicles will star Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin as Professor Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. Whilst not traditional companions, the two characters have been phenomenally popular since their appearance in the Fourth Doctor episode The Talons of Weng-Chiang. The title of the story is not yet available, but the author is confirmed as Andy Lane. [→]
A bonus Companion Chronicles story - entitled The Three Companions, and written by Marc Platt - has also been announced. The story will be divided into twelve ten-minute episodes, which will be available as extra material on twelve consecutive releases from the main range. It will unite three separate eras of Doctor Who history, and Anneke Wills (Polly) is the only confirmed star at this stage.
A two-page preview feature for Brotherhood of the Daleks includes conformation that the Sixth Doctor and Charley Pollard will part ways in the middle of next year, ending in the previously announced three-part Sixth Doctor mini-series. The pair were originally due to split this December, but the schedules were rearranged as a result of positive listener feedback. [→]
DWM also announces that Big Finish have had their licence to produce Classic Doctor Who on audio has been renewed, now expiring at the end of 2010. There's also an extensive preview of the Eighth Doctor's second season of adventures with Lucie Miller, which are now airing on BBC7.
The magazine is on sale in the UK now, priced £3.99.
Source: Doctor Who Magazine #401
Links: Companion Chronicles 3.12, BigFinish.com; Brotherhood of the Daleks, BigFinish.com
DOCTOR WHO | New Series novel news
Doctor Who Magazine has announced three more Tenth Doctor novels, due for release in autumn 2009.
They are The Taking of Chelsea 426 by David Llewellyn, Autonomy by Daniel Blythe and The Krillitane Storm by Christopher Cooper. All three authors are new to the New Series Adventures line.
Source: Doctor Who Magazine #401
DOCTOR WHO | Third audio-exclusive planned
Details of a third direct-to-audio Doctor Who novel have emerged.
Following on from Pest Control and The Forever Trap, a new release has been listed online for some time, but an author and title have now appeared on Amazon UK. [→]
Entitled The Nemonite Invasion, the story is written by David Roden, who co-authored the spoof episode Dimensions in Time, and is a contributor to The Story of Martha.
Priced £9.99, it will be available on double-CD and as a download on January 12th 2009.
Source/Link: The Nemonite Invasion, Amazon.co.uk
TORCHWOOD | 2009 novels announced
Amazon UK has details of three new Torchwood novels due for release on May 21st 2009. All three are set after the second season of the show, featuring Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones.
Into the Silence by Sarah Pinborough: "The body in the church hall is very definitely dead. It has been sliced open with surgical precision, its organs exposed, and its vocal cords are gone. It is as if they were never there or they've been dissolved... With the Welsh amateur Operatic Contest getting under way, music is filling the churches and concert halls of Cardiff. The competition has attracted the finest Welsh talent to the city, but it has also drawn something else - there are stories of a metallic creature hiding in the shadows. Torchwood are on its tail, but it's moving too fast for them to track it down. This new threat requires a new tactic - so Ianto Jones is joining a male voice choir..."
Bay of the Dead by Mark Morris: "When the city sleeps, the dead start to walk... Something has sealed off Cardiff, and living corpse are stalking the streets, leaving a trail of half-eaten bodies. Animals are butchered. A young coupe in their car never reach home. A stolen tugboat is brought back to shore, carrying only human remains. And a couple of girls heading back from the pub watch the mysterious drivers of a big black SUV take over a crime scene. Torchwood have to deal with the intangible barrier surrounding Cardiff, and some unidentified space debris that seems to be regenerating itself. Plus, of course, the all-night zombie horror show. Not that they really believe in zombies."
The House the Jack Built by Guy Adams: "Jackson Leaves - an Edwardian house in Penylen, built 1906, semi-detached, three storeys, spacious, beautifully presented. Left in good condition to Rob and Julia by Rob's late aunt. It's an ordinary sort of a house. Except for the way the rooms don't stay in the same places. And the strange man that turns up in the airing cupboard. And the apparitions. And the temporal surges that attract the attentions of Torchwood. And the fact that the first owner of Jackson Leaves in 1906 was a Captain Jack Harkness..."
Source/Link: Amazon.co.uk
22 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Audio stars in the news
Two actresses from recent Doctor Who audio releases are currently in the spotlight for other reasons.
Katy Manning, who reprised her role as Jo Grant in The Doll of Death for Big Finish Productions [→], is due to star in four new spin-off adventures. She has already appeared as transtemporal adventuress Iris Wildthyme in two Doctor Who audio dramas, and two special Iris releases under the New Worlds banner, but a four-part Iris Wildthyme season has now been announced. [→] The adventures will be available monthly from February, or can be purchased early in a collector's box set, from Big Finish. [→]
Catherine Tate, who made her Doctor Who audiobook debut this month with the release of The Forever Trap, is at the centre of a controversy amongst fans of the series. She is nominated in the National Television Awards in the UK, in the same category as co-star and audio veteran David Tennant. In previous years, male and female actors were nominated separately, and fan groups believe that the change has lessened Tate's chances.
"ITV have stupidly lumped the two categories together," a member of the "Disciples of Donna" group explained. "Catherine was magnificent this year. We think she should be rewarded." [→]
The Doll of Death is on sale now from Big Finish [→], and The Forever Trap is currently available from BBC Audio. [→]
Source: News, BigFinish.com; What's New, BigFinish.com
Links: The Doll of Death, BigFinish.com; "More Wildthymes for Katy", News, BigFinish.com; Iris Wildthyme, BigFinish.com; NationalTVAwards.com; The Forever Trap, BBCShop.com
24 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Darksmith Legacy contest
The press launch for the Doctor Who: The Darksmith Legacy series is on November 6th, and SpineBreakers.co.uk are offering young readers the chance to attend and report on the event.
Details of the competition, and cover images from the first two books of the ten-part series, are available on the website. [→]
Source/Link: "Doctor Who Competition", SpineBreakers.co.uk
DOCTOR WHO | Cook and Davies on air
Benjamin Cook and Russell T Davies have appeared on two national radio shows to promote The Writer's Tale in the last few days, and the interviews are now available online via the iPlayer service.
Their BBC 6 Music interview with Nemone Metaxas can be heard until October 27th [→], and their chat with Simon Mayo from BBC Radio 5 Live is available until October 29th. [→]
(The official website for the book has also reported on Unreality SF's recent interview with the pair. [→] )
Source: "News & Reviews", TheWritersTale.co.uk
Links: Simon Mayo: 22/10/2008, BBC iPlayer; Nemone: 20/10/2008, BBC iPlayer; "Unreality SF intervies Russell and Benjamin", TheWritersTale.co.uk
DOCTOR WHO | Big Finish updates
Big Finish Productions have added the recent news stories about their audio licence being renewed to their website [→], also announcing that William Russell will reprise his role as Ian Chesterton in The Companion Chronicles 3.7: The Transit of Venus [→] in a longer news article about the range. [→]
The cover for The Raincloud Man, the upcoming story starring the Sixth Doctor and Charley Pollard, has also been released online. [→]
Source: News, BigFinish.com; What's New, BigFinish.com
Links: "Licence Renewed", News, BigFinish.com; The Transit of Venus, BigFinish.com; "New Companion Chronicles", News, BigFinish.com; The Raincloud Man, BigFinish.com
STAR TREK | Destiny #3 extract
TrekMovie.com now have an extract from Lost Souls, the third and final book in the Star Trek Destiny series, by David Mack. [→]
Source/Link: "Excerpt: Star Trek Destiny III: Lost Souls", TrekMovie.com
30 OCTOBER
DOCTOR WHO | Cover: The Betrothal of Sontar
The cover image for The Betrothal of Sontar, a graphic novel featuring the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler, has been made available online. [→]
The book is a collection of comic strips from Doctor Who Magazine, with bonus commentary from the writers and artists, in the style of the Classic Series graphic novels which are also available from Panini Books.
Source/Link: The Betrothal of Sontar cover, "Doctor Who Magazine", Groups, Facebook.com
DOCTOR WHO | Big Finish listeners survey
An independent survey is looking into the listening habits of Big Finish fans, focusing particularly on their Doctor Who plays. [→]
The survey, which was the brainchild of a listener on popular message board DoctorWhoForum.com, asks how much fans spend on the audio plays, and investigates whether or not the changes introduced since the "relaunch" are positive or negative.
The voting will close at midnight on Sunday, and the results will be made available online.
Source: "A Big Finish Survey!", DoctorWhoForum.com
Link: Big Finish Survey
STAR TREK | Blurb: A Singular Destiny
The back cover text for A Singular Destiny, the forthcoming follow-up novel to the Destiny trilogy, has been posted online: [→]
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
The cataclysmic events of Star Trek: Destiny have devastated known space. Worlds have fallen. Lives have been destroyed. And in the uneasy weeks that follow, the survivors of the holocaust continue to be tested to the limits of their endurance.
But strange and mysterious occurrences are destabilizing the galaxy's battle-weary Allies even further. In the Federation, efforts to replenish diminished resources and give succor to millions of evacuees are thwarted at every turn. On the borders of the battered Klingon Empire, the devious Kinshaya sense weakness - and opportunity. In Romulan space, the already-fractured empire is dangerously close to civil war.
As events undermining the quadrant's attempts to heal itself become increasingly widespread, one man begins to understand what is truly unfolding. Sonek Pran - teacher, diplomat, and sometime adviser to the Federation President - perceives a pattern in the seeming randomness. And as each new piece of evidence falls into place, a disturbing picture encompassing half the galaxy begins to take shape... revealing a challenge to the Federation and its allies utterly unlike anything they have faced before.
In an online discussion, author Keith R.A. DeCandido teased fans with a very brief extract from the book [→], whilst clarifying the origins of Sonek Pran - a character who has already been the subject of much speculation.
"Sonek is what used be called a quadroon," he revealed. "He's a quarter human, a quarter Vulcan, a quarter Betazoid, and a quarter Bajoran."
The novel also features some elements from the author's highly-acclaimed Articles of the Federation.
Source: "A Singular Destiny backcover text!!!", TrekBBS.com
Links: A Singular Destiny, SimonSays.com; Post in "A Singular Destiny backcover text!!!", TrekBBS.com
