Big Finish audio news

Big Finish starting to limit CD availability

BY JAYSON PETERS

Big Finish Productions, who have held the license for official and original Doctor Who audio plays since the turn of the century, announced Monday it was starting to cut back on offering physical copies of its content. New releases will be pressed onto compact discs and will be available for purchase in that form for at least a year, but then demand will be analyzed and lower-selling titles may be allowed to go out of print in CD form. “In the last five years, we’re proud to say that we’ve managed to buck the general trend in the

audiobook market specifically, where physical releases are now few and far between,” the company explained in a statement. “But with physical production costs increasing and with 20 years of back catalogue to consider, we’ve been obliged to re-assess our approach in order to safeguard our ability to continue producing the stories you love.” The company said it has managed to buck the audiobook market’s general trend toward fewer physical releases over the last five years, but in the last year and half has observed significant changes in how

listeners consume their releases. That has mean a big increase in download-only sales and a corresponding drop in demand for physical media, Big Finish said. The company also said there may be more releases with a strictly limited CD run, such as the recently announced Class spinoff series, but cases like that will be clearly promoted as limited edition. “On balance, we’d very much prefer to invest in creating brand new stories rather than in stock which could end up gathering dust in our warehouse for a number of years,” Big Finish said. “I’m an avid collector of

physical merchandise and I know a lot of our customers at Big Finish are as well. I much prefer having a boxset with artwork to look at and a booklet to read, so I will always try to ensure that Big Finish continue to produce as many of our releases on CD as possible,” said Big Finish chairman Jason Haigh-Ellery. “However, Big Finish has not increased CD prices since 2004. During that time, CD production costs have inevitably increased. This change in policy will ensure that those that wish to buy physical copies will still be able to do so and will be alerted if a production is due to be discontinued on CD.”

‘Eleventh Doctor Chronicles’ set for August debut

Matt Smith hasn’t yet been pulled into Big Finish Productions’ orbit to star in Doctor Who audio dramas based on his time as the Eleventh Doctor, but there will soon be four new narrated stories about that era available. “The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles,” coming in August, will be narrated by “The Tenth Doctor Chronicles” presenter Jacob Dudman, with appearances by Danny Horn and Simon Fisher-Becker reprising their roles as Kazran Sardick and Dorium Maldovar, respectively. Go here for Big Finish’s descriptions of the four stories that comprise the set: https://wp.me/p7jz0b-xff

Doctor Who audio producer beams into Final Frontier

BY JAYSON PETERS

Big Finish Productions, known for full-cast audio dramas based on classic TV’s Doctor Who, is setting course for a new frontier with audiobooks set in the Star Trek universe. According to the company’s weekend podcast, an audiobook in the Star Trek: Prometheus series is coming “soonish.” (See our July 4 update below.) The three Prometheus books are a German-generated offshoot of Star Trek publishing that were released for the sci-fi series’ 50th anniversary in 2016. They were written by Christian Humberg and Bernd Perplies with assistance in English by prolific Trek novelist Keith R.A. DeCandido. The series fits into continuity with Pocket Books’ line of Star Trek novels set after the movie Star Trek: Nemesis, after the events of the epic crossover book series “The Fall.” The first book in the series, Fire With Fire, deals with mysterious terrorist attacks against the United Federation of Planets and its Klingon Empire neighbors that stoke tensions in a region of space already crippled by conflict. The titular ship — USS

Prometheus — first appeared as an experimental “multi-vector attack” vessel in the “Message in a Bottle” episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager, and is described in the Fire With Fire synopsis as “Starfleet’s most powerful vessel” serving in the year 2385. Big Finish may be known primarily for adapting British properties like Doctor Who, Torchwood, Blake’s 7, The Avengers, The Prisoner, Judge Dredd and Sapphire & Steel, but it has recently ventured into original storytelling, and has also looked across the pond to produce adventures based on American TV universes like Stargate and Dark Shadows. Although the Star Trek: Prometheus audiobook project appears to be more of an enhanced reading than full-cast play, who knows where such a partnership could lead? As Capt. Jean-Luc Picard said in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series finale: “Sky’s the limit.” On July 4, 2018, Big Finish released the first two Star Trek: Prometheus digital audiobooks along with details on the upcoming third volume.

“Fire With Fire” and “The Root of All Rage” are now available, read by Scottish actor Alec Newman (whose credits include Star Trek: Enterprise as well as Syfy’s Dune miniseries). Volume 3, “In the Heart of Chaos,” is set for a December release.

The downloads are available for $12.99 each U.S. Big Finish said: “Let us know what you think of these Star Trek novels, and if you’d like to hear more Star Trek stories given the Big Finish treatment, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.”

Jacobi to return as ‘War Master’

Sir Derek Jacobi is back this December for the start of a new series of full-cast audio adventures starring his War Master character. The War Master: The Master of Callous brings back the Doctor’s greatest foe in new four-part adventures furthering his exploits in the Time War, with releases stretching into December 2019. Big Finish cast Jacobi last year in a set of four adventures for the critically acclaimed audio series The War Master: Only the Good. Jacobi appeared on screen as the Master only once, briefly late in the third season of 21st century Doctor Who. “Utopia” in 2007 cast Jacobi alongside David Tennant, Freema Agyeman and John Barrowman as Professor Yana, a secret identity of the Master following the Time War. In a few fleeting minutes, his incarnation of the Doctor’s arch nemesis made an unforgettable impression. The new audio series, Master of Callous, stars not only Jacobi’s Master but also another 21st century Doctor Who character, the tentacle-faced Ood, also from Tennant’s time on Doctor Who. — Jayson Peters