Doctor Who- The Lost Stories

[SiHart]

BF have just released details of their missing stories collection:

Big Finish is to launch a new series of audio adventures in January 2010 with Doctor Who: The Lost Stories. Colin Baker stars as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri in these adaptations of scripts that were commissioned but never made for television in the mid-80s.

“It’s well known that, when Doctor Who was given an enforced hiatus in 1984, plans were very advanced on the upcoming Season 23,” says Lost Stories producer David Richardson. “None of those scripts ever made it to the screen.

“Some of them - like The Nightmare Fair by Graham Williams and Mission to Magnus by Philip Martin - were novelised. Others, however, have remained locked away in their respective writers lofts for well over 20 years. It’s taken a lot of (very enjoyable) detective work, but I’ve managed to source seven unmade adventures that will now finally come brilliantly to life on audio.

“When I phoned Colin Baker to propose the idea he couldn’t have been more delighted. In fact, he’d actually planned to suggest the very same thing to me a couple of weeks beforehand during the recording of The Raincloud Man, but had just been distracted by the day’s work.
“The writers too responded enthusiastically, without exception. Many of them said that these scripts represented unfinished business, and this was a welcome chance to finally air them to an audience of Doctor Who fans.”

The full line-up will be revealed in a forthcoming issue of Doctor Who Magazine, but Richardson has confirmed that the first two entries in the Lost Stories will be the aforementioned The Nightmare Fair (which features The Celestial Toymaker) and Mission to Magnus (in which profit-hungry slug Sil allies himself with the Ice Warriors).

Mission to Magnus has been adapted for audio by original author, Philip Martin. However, as the author of The Nightmare Fair, Graham Williams is sadly no longer with us, the adaptation has been handled by Big Finish director, John Ainsworth. “Working on the script has been great fun. I have made every effort to remain true to the original TV script but have also been able to include extra material from Graham’s own novelisation of the story. Hopefully listeners will get a good sense of what the story would have been like had it been made for TV.”

News of the project broke first in DWM, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I’ve spent the last week fielding emails from many people, all desperate to know what the final five stories are!” says Richardson. “And, you know, I’d love to tell them. I’d just like to get it off my chest! But for now we can’t say I’m afraid - not until final scripts are delivered, and studio dates are booked, and everything is set in stone. But keep looking at the DWM news pages, as we’ll be announcing the Final Five in there first!”

So Nightmare Fair, Mission to Magnus... what are the other 5? The Ultimate Evil? Paradise Five? Pinacotheca? Yellow Fever? Speculate people, speculate!

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

Hmm, I wonder if any scripts were part-completed for Season 27?

I can't think that they'd go back to do stuff from before the Davison era though, so no Masters of Luxor. Unless they remake that with Colin or something.

The Ultimate Evil doesn't even get mentioned in the article, does it? There's not a lot of love for that story.

So what could it be? Eric Saward's Trial of A Time Lord part 14?

[stuartdg]

They can easily do Masters Of Luxor Unbound style with Bayldon...

Here's hoping they do The Dark Dimension-Adrian Riglesford has done a BF already...

[Andrew Curnow]

I certainly read it as being seven Colin/Nicola stories, not just seven 'any old Doc' tales.

How far some of them got to being made, though, I wouldn't like to say - I thought popular wisdom had it that only the first three (the ones that got Target-ed) were at final script stage, with Bob Holmes & CHB's stories little more than storylines, and with a possible Pip 'n' Jane one floating about.

[shada pavlova]

They can easily do Masters Of Luxor Unbound style with Bayldon...

But doesn't the story require three companions?

[stuartdg]

Surely if its done Unbound style the same rules don't apply

[Si Hunt]

He's back!!!



http://www.denofgeek.com/television/...completed.html

[Andrew Curnow]

Thank goodness - there's no way they could have really got somebody else for Sil. Shame Magnus isn't that hot a story... although maybe now he's done one, BF will get Nabil's Sil in the main range as well!

[Si Hunt]

It's frankly a mystery why it's taken them so long. He always seemed to love Doctor Who and people have always raved about Sil.

Colin looks really pissed off in that photo!

Si.

[Simon R]

I might try and read the novel again before this. I couldn't get to the end last time I tried.

[Rob McCow]

Perhaps you should skip straight to the end? Read the first chapter and the last.

[Pip Madeley]

Tenner says we get a Sil vs McGann audio for 2010.

[Martin Penny]

I shall look forward to hearing these. I've always liked Sil, so it's nice to see them finally doing a story with him in.

[Andrew Curnow]

Who's doing the Ice Warrior voices? Or is it actually physically impossible for BF to hire somebody other than Nick Briggs to do that sort of thing?

[shada pavlova]

Tenner says we get a Sil vs McGann audio for 2010.

You're on!

In fact, twenty says we get McCoy vs. the Foamasi!

[SiHart]

But Sil was killed at the end of Mindwarp, wasn't he? Wasn't HE?

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

No, that was a matrix lie! Or else the young woman Purplegreen Brown didn't become a Queen of King Ycarnos.

Si.

[SiHart]

Oh well. It'd still be wrong for Sil to meet any Doctor other than old Sixie.

Si xx

[shada pavlova]

Besides, Mission to Magnus is set before Mindwarp, in both the Doctor and Sil's timelines, so why couldn't we have another story that is set (for Sil) between Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp? Or perhaps one containing an explanation/retcon that the bit where Sil was killed was part of the fake "Peri's Death" scenes.

[Simon R]

Since they're going down the "blast from the past, please the fans, no project too shameless" avenue, Big Finish may as well do a story set seconds after "Trial" where the Doctor drops off Mel, goes back to see Peri and sorts out all that jazz.

[Dirk Gently]

Since they're going down the "blast from the past, please the fans, no project too shameless" avenue, Big Finish may as well do a story set seconds after "Trial" where the Doctor drops off Mel, goes back to see Peri and sorts out all that jazz.

I thought that said "...goes back to see Peri and sort out all her Jizz"
I really need to sort out my mind.

[shada pavlova]

Since they're going down the "blast from the past, please the fans, no project too shameless" avenue, Big Finish may as well do a story set seconds after "Trial" where the Doctor drops off Mel, goes back to see Peri and sorts out all that jazz.

Sorry, but Gary Russell's already got it covered.

[Simon R]

Yes that's the first story he meets Mel and very good it is too and I'd actually like BF to adapt that one. But I don't think it's literally straight after "Trial" as the Doctor has been travelling on his own at the start.

In other news, I read "Mission To Magnus" this week. It wasn't as bad as I remember but it's nothing special and feels like a pastiche of the Colin Baker seasons. It's all young men, feisty women, an old enemy, a Time Lord here or there and lots of running down corridors. It's literally like "Timelash", "Mindwarp", "The Twin Dilemma" and "Varos" all rolled into one with a bit of "The Monster of Peladon" and a side order of "The Happiness Patrol". There's lots of potential for females with big hair though so it may have been for us.

What will save it on audio will be if Nabil can re-capture Sil and if they get someone big to camp it up as the Rana (NOT the Rani alas) and the Anzor characters...even if the latter does disapear fairly early on without really contruibuting to the story.

[Rob McCow]

In a stunning SFX exclusive up today, it's revealed that Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant will be recording some unmade scripts for the TV series.

Back in the mid-1980s a season of Doctor Who was planned and written, but never made for television (it fell victim to Michael Grade’s dictate to "rest" the show during the Colin Baker era). These stories are now being brought to life on audio by Big Finish, using the original cast and many of the original writers. Producer David Richardson gives SFX an exclusive preview of the Lost Stories, which begin release in November 2009 with "The Nightmare Fair"

How did the Lost Stories come about?
The idea of making the cancelled Season 23 was something I wanted to do since first walking through the doors of Big Finish 18 months ago. My own private crusade was helped by the fact that other people were writing into our forum and suggesting the same thing, and I think our audio adaptations of the three Doctor Who stage plays paved the way for us doing non-original stories. Imagine my delight when, about eight months ago, [executive producers] Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs said, ‘Let’s do it!’

What was the next stage?
Well, I had to present the case to our contacts at the production office in Cardiff and at BBC Audio, and as ever they were brilliantly supportive of the project. I then approached Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant and some of the writers, and pretty much got the same response from everyone. Each of the writers said the script was still in their loft, that they felt that it was unfinished business, and they were delighted to finally let their work see the light of day, with the original stars back in their roles.

What can you reveal about the stories?
As an exclusive to SFX I can reveal that we are doing eight stories, not seven as originally planned. As fate would have it, once we announced the Lost Stories I had a call from a writer whose late father had written a full script for Season 22 - he sent it to me, and we jumped at the chance to add it to the line-up.

We’ve already recorded "Mission To Magnus" by Philip Martin, for which the brilliant Nabil Shaban returns as Sil, teaming up with the Ice Warriors (as played by Nick Briggs and James George). As those who have read the novelisation will know, the story of Magnus splits pretty much into two distinct halves - so we had one day recording with Sil, the Time Lord Anzor and the matriarchs of the planet, and a second with the Doctor’s young ally Vion and the Ice Warriors.

"The Nightmare Fair" is recording on March 9 and 10. We plan to announce most - if not all - of the line-up for the rest of the series in April.

But how come there are eight stories? Surely the season was only going to be six stories long?
While all the stories star Colin and Nicola, only half of them were intended for Season 23. Others were likely "floating" scripts that failed to find a slot during the Sixth Doctor’s era, possibly due to budgetary concerns and the like. I’ve been delighted by just how good these scripts are – and how well they stand the test of time.

Will Michael Gough be returning as the Toymaker?
No. Michael is a sprightly 96 years old now and has earned his retirement from the acting profession. So we’ve got a new Toymaker in the form of a brilliant actor who will be known to most fans of Doctor Who. I can’t wait to see what he does with the role.

Do any of the other scripts feature returning old monsters?
Yes, there’s a surprise return for one old monster.

Is that the Autons in "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It"?
No. I know there’s a lot of anticipation that we will make that story, but it doesn’t exist - Robert Holmes wrote just a plot synopsis for episode one. Nothing else. No scripts. If we tried to make "Yellow Fever" from that, we’d be making something new and different - and that would move away from what I see as the whole point of doing the Lost Stories.

What are your hopes for the series?
I just hope that people enjoy it as much as we’re enjoying making it. Together these stories really do feel like a lost season of Doctor Who, and that’s tremendously satisfying. I’m hoping that people support the Lost Stories by buying them, and I’m hoping that if they are successful we may possibly do more.

If they're successful we may possibly do more... it's the trap we fall into every time! And now there are over 30 BF Doctor Who related releases a year! It's enough to make a grown accountant weep.

[Si Hunt]

they were delighted to finally let their work see the light of day

"they were delighted to get paid once again for stories that wern't good enough to be made".

Si.