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The Doctor is in
trouble! No sooner has he dropped his friends Nick and Rob off for
some solo adventuring, than the TARDIS lands him on the spaceship of
ailing pilot Edward Bradley. The problem is, Ed can't even keep a
date with his girlfriend Jenny, let alone avoid the hideous space
faring organism that's suffocating his ship!
The Doctors problems mount when he discovers that the ruthless Space
Merchant Uxan-rani-us Hol-toy-toy Mal-phas-ius Gak-ra-throne Gemini
the four-hundred and sixteenth Beep (Uxan, to friends and
aquaintences) is also nearby. And he's given Edward Bradley the time
it takes to say his name again to clear the spaceways... or be blown
out of the sky.
Can the Doctor help his new friend Ed avoid death? What lies at the
root of the strange tree in space? And why is Uxan so interested in
a mysterious creature the rest of the Universe has long since
forgotten?
Pre-Production
"Heart of the Haniad" was written over a long weekend. Si Hunt phoned
Steven Alexander and asked him to write a new story that introduced a
new companion, to be played by Martin Penny! After a bit of head
scratching and a few days thinking, Steve agreed to take the
challenge and Si was able to hang up the phone. He's still paying
off the bill for that one.
The idea from the story came from writing down a few random words on
a bit of paper. 'Giant' 'Space' and 'Tree'. The other aim was to
make the production as difficult as possible, so the story featured
all kinds of freaky sci-fi stuff going on, from space-cars racing
down the branches of a giant tree to a monstrous being tearing it's
rib-cage open.
The character of Edward Bradley evolved out of other TV companions.
The idea was for the Doctor to turn up and annoy the new companion
as much as possible, while at the same time saving his life and
making friends. This set off a slightly peevish relationship between
the two.
In an early version of the script, Wayne Jeffries was to play Grexos,
with Ant Williams as the Chi-Haniad.
Production
The inspiration for the 'jazzy' music at the start of Episode 1 came
from "The Chase" and it's tinkly-jazz leanings. When the TARDIS goes
wrong in the same episode, the idea was to parody the scene in "The
Horns of Nimon" when the Doctor's ship similarly fails and makes
sounds including a horn and a fire engine. Si Hunt relished creating
his own version, including a baa-ing sheep. "I always try and push
against the perceived vision of the writer," babbled Hunt, with a
gleam in his eye. "In other words to annoy them."
P-Bal swept into studio to record his lines in a big hat, and
relished changing the script as much as possible. There are
out-takes lasting several hours while he initially tried to
pronounce his characters name, and to this day when asked to perform
in PS Audios he is heard to loudly ask "is it going to be another
one like that one with the Tree? What was that all about?".
David Barnes recorded his lines remotely, with plenty of passion,
and has since gained a 1st class Honours degree in Acting at a Good
University. The sounds of the tree all came from an ancient Sound
Effects CD - "I was going for a comic strip feel," lies Si Hunt.
"You know, like in Polly the Glot, the idea of a huge organism sort
of swimming through space... maybe howling, like a Whale. All very
Original Star Trek, too."
This story originated the "Computer Voice of the Future" that was
eventually to be introduced as the character Nathaniel Westbridge in
"Blood Money".
Quote/Unquote
ED BRADLEY: Ah. You’ve got a basic problem with comprehension,
haven’t you? Look matey boy, this ship is a Fiat Marvel! Roadtested
niftiest runnier on Top Flight six seasons running. I don’t have
‘instruments’, I have a dashboard with a fuel gauge, speedometer and
Video Screen, two Zyton Warp Motors and a furry dice. I could turn
on the lights if you think it’d help!
DOCTOR: I think it might. It looks like we’ll have to use our most
important instruments to tell us what’s going on then – our eyes and
ears!
ED BRADLEY: Sheesh, you’re irritating! Who are you anyway?
DOCTOR: My name’s the Doctor. And before you ask, it’s just the
Doctor.
ED BRADLEY: Fantastic. My name’s Edward Bradley. I’ve got two names
you see.
DOCTOR: Tell me exactly what happened here Mr Bradley.
Listener Response
"Well done to all concerned, a great start to the season, and I'm
looking forward to the Doctor's adventures in Logop-- sorry, in a
Megropolis (oh yes - Ed's To Do list made me laugh too). Tree-mendous!"
(Andrew Curnow)
"Just listened to it. Good stuff! Well done to the 'new' cast
members Penny, P-Bal & Barnes. I must admit, i did think the scenes
on the bridge of Uxan's ship were especially good. Complete with the
music & sound effects, it all sounded quite a professional
production, & even strangely had the feel of an early to mid Tom
story about it, somehow."
(Wayne Jefferies)
"The cast are all on top form (and I really like the character of
new companion Ed, as well as P-Bal and David as the villains of the
piece) and the script made me laugh a good few times too. As
mentioned above "You crushed my flowers" was a brilliantly delivered
line!"
(Alex Finch)
"I just want to say one thing Dallas, sometimes people can be
creatively edited to sound less affable than they are. I'm breezy,
BREEZY you hear? And I love everyone. And it was a joy to take part
in the wonderful audio adventure Doctor Who and the Cart of the
Hanniard."
(P-Bal)
Trivia
This story 'Could be the new Timelash!' according to popular fan
opinion.
At one point it was considered that the new companion could be a
magical Space Imp that would cause all sorts of problems for the
Doctor. This idea was ruled out in favour of something good.
Due to the production schedules, this was recorded prior to Doctor
Who and The Christmas Gnomes, but produced and released some
considerable time after Gnomes was released. Six months if fact!
Gravitic Anomalisers, Mergin Nuts and Sonic Screwdrivers are
available in all good branches of Space Halfords. They will also fit
plasma cannons to your Ford Galaxy for a reasonable fee. Come on
down!
The cover is a montage of images, picked out in refreshing orange,
showing the Doctor camping it up with new companion Edward Bradley,
while sinister Grexos looks on. And in the corner... well, that's
(popular Planet Skaro poster and Fantom Films events organiser)
P-bal isn't it? No hiding that one. Hat!
Existing Material
All episodes, scripts and original raw recordings exist. In
addition, an alternative unreleased Trailer exists, longer but
slightly less pacy than the version ultimately used and featuring
different clips.
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Episodes
Episode 1 (18.18)
Episode 2 (22.28)
CD Extras
Trailer
Interviews
Out-takes
"A Day In The Studio With P-Bal" featurette
Cast List and Production Credits
Doctor Who - Paul Monk
Edward Bradley – Martin Penny
Uxan - P-Bal
Grexos – David Barnes
Computer Voice – Simon Hart
Chi-Haniad – Phillip Madeley
Written by Steven Alexander
Production by Si Hunt
Cover by Pip Madeley
Originally released
July 12th (episode 1) and 19th (episode 2) 2008
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