New PS Audio: 'Keepsake'

[Si Hunt]

Hopefully most of you have listened to "Soap of Fatal Death" by now - and will know that the story's end saw our companions Rob and Nick marooned on 21st Century Earth. If you'd like to know what happened to Rob next (the fate of Nick will be revealed later in the year), then now you can find out!

We've made a special mini-adventure called "Keepsake", bridging the gap between "Soap" and its sequel "Magical History Tour" (due to be recorded in June). "Keepsake" will be put on-line in two 15 minute downloadable episodes, the first available from this Friday, 13th April and the second on-line the following Tuesday (17th April). Also being put on the website with Episode 2 will be a full downloadable front and back cover so you can burn your own copy of the story to disc and create a cover for it if you wish. In addition, there will be a mini audio documentary "Making Keepsake" on the site on the same day, containing some cast interviews and a selection of out-takes from "Soap" and "Keepsake", narrated by P-Bal. All in all, it will add up to a nice 40 minute CD!

The introduction blurb for "Keepsake" is as follows:

Rob finds himself back home on Earth in 2007, but bumping into his old friend Ben brings its own share of troubles - there's been a dreadful accident involving Ben's old college master, and a strange space ship has recently crashed into a nearby lake.

Rob and Ben dive down to explore the ship, but unwittingly release a force which has been imprisoned for the good of the Universe. Is the offer it makes them too good to be true? Ben suddenly finds himself whisked backwards in time, and then the dead begin to walk... could it be up to Rob alone to save his friend, and possibly the Universe itself?

The story is a full-cast (albeit not the gargantuan one assembled for "Echoes" and "Soap"!), fully scored and produced audio play which came about during the latter stages of the "Soap" recording sessions. We realised we'd be seeing some "Soap" cast members with some recording time to spare, so took the opportunity to script an adventure for them of their own!

"Keepsake" stars Steven Alexander as Rob, Dave Taylor as Ben, Jonno Simmons as Terry Johnson and Ant Cox as The Statue. It also features Simon Hart as The Computer, Trudi Gard as Linda McCow and Andrew Clancy as Passer By.

No charitable contribution is required this time, this one's "for free".

Look out for the first episode to download on Friday!

Si.

[SiHart]

I'm looking forward to hearing the finished play.

Si xx

[Jonno]

I'm certainly looking forward to the finished article, albeit with a certain trepidation that I wasn't able to disguise my voice as successfully as with Soap!

Friday the 13th, eh? I see you're not superstitious then, Si!

[Si Hunt]

Oh no, I'm sure if something bad is going to happen it won't wait til a Friday 13th to occur!

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

Oh my (to coin a phrase) how exciting! You kept that quiet, Mr Hunt!!

[Si Hunt]

I thought it would be good to follow up something that's been anticipated for a year with something that no-one knows about until a few days before! Also it will be fun because more people will be able to download and listen to it and there can be discussion between episodes, unlike for a mail-through-the-post CD!

Si.

[Dave Tudor]

Hey, now this is exciting news! I love the way the adventures are starting to branch out now. I shall look forward to hearing this.

[Dirk Gently]

Ooh, surprise play! Now this will be something to look forward to.

You sneaky devil Mister Hunt, you kept this very quiet.

[Si Hunt]

As did all the cast members and Mr Pip who's prepared a super cover!

Si.

[Martin Penny]

Ooo, exciting!

[Pip Madeley]

Mr Pip who's prepared a super cover!

Thank you Si, that's very nice of you to say so

The link to episode one will be posted on this thread - the website material will be revealed with episode two, and the cover and synopsis are both rather spoilericious in nature. I can't wait to hear the documentary and out-takes, knowing Mr Ballard it will be something very special indeed...

[P-Bal]

The documentary is a stunner. Make it a downloads only number one!

[Simon R]

It's so good I had to listen to it in the bathroom so I could watch myself in the mirror as I listened to it.

Lady fingers good.

[Paul Monk]

Looking forward to this loads. You certainly kept it quiet anyway.

[Pip Madeley]

The time has come! Part one of the new PS Doctor Who audio 'Keepsake', written by Si Hunt and starring a small cast of our forum members, is ready to download!

Doctor Who: Keepsake - Episode One (Part 1 of 2) - MP3 (17.5MB)

Doctor Who: Keepsake - Episode One (Part 2 of 2) - MP3 (16.5MB)

Right click on each link, and choose Save Target As to download to your PC. Each MP3 file is encoded at 320kbps for optimum quality - the episode has been split into two parts to make downloading easier (plus, you can listen to part one as part two is downloading).

For those of you on dial-up/with bandwidth restrictions, I have also uploaded a lower-quality WMA (Windows Media Audio) version of episode one as an alternative.

Doctor Who: Keepsake - Episode One (Part 1 of 2) - WMA (2.87MB)

Doctor Who: Keepsake - Episode One (Part 2 of 2) - WMA (2.66MB)

Once again, right click on each link and save to your computer. They're perfectly listenable, but of course we always recommend the high-quality MP3 versions, for burning onto CD etc.

The conclusion to this two-episode story will be available to download this coming Tuesday (April 17th) from the PS website, along with the unveiling of the cover artwork and the exclusive P-Bal approved documentary, 'Making Keepsake'. So look out for that little treat very soon!

[Pip Madeley]

Oh, and mark any spoilers with our spoiler tags!

[SiHart]

We have downloaded! Wooo!

Si xx

[SiHart]

I feel Steve's performance was not very naturalistic this time round...

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

I thought the 'pony' acting was intentional

I really enjoyed Dave Taylor's performance, particularly his singing!

[SiHart]

I thought the 'pony' acting was intentional

Who can say! All I'll say is that it's a unique intepretation of the lines!

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I think Steve is fantastic in it - he skates just the right side of high camp (but only just!). I particuarly like his wistful "You don't get much artron residue in Putney...". It's a very "Sunday feeling" type story isn't it? Which I personally like.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeasy love!

Si.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

My PC at work won't let me download the files and I'm currently not connected to the internet at home
I might have to wait a few weeks before I get to hear this.....oh well it will give me something to look forward to.

[Si Hunt]

Andrew, would you like me to send you a CD copy of the complete story on Monday? You could hear it all when everyone else hears Episode 2 then. I'm sending out a few to the main cast anyway, just as a thank you.

Only thing is, there won't be a cover as we're a bit low on ink. The covers are one of the reasons I can't offer to distribute copies of the story to everyone - it's just too expensive - but if you want to make your own cover, knocking out another copy of the disc is no hassle at all.

Si.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

Hi Si,

That would be great.
Don't worry about there being no cover - If it's half as good as 'Soap' the disc will probably live in my CD player!!!

Do you have my address or shall I PM it to you?

[Si Hunt]

I MAY have it Andrew, I'm not sure! If you want to PM me it to make sure that might be wise!

Si.