Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Chris Champman

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: June 2018

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

"It's London, 1828, and the father-and-son team of Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel are masterminding a dangerous project - the digging of the Thames Tunnel. There's just one problem...

The Brunels' tunnel is haunted. Every night, a spectral blue lady walks the excavation.

Now, the 22-year-old Isambard, eager to step out of his famous father's shadow, finds himself dealing with not only the supposed supernatural, but a second unexpected guest - a colourful trespasser who calls himself 'The Doctor'.

Isambard would like to know a great deal more about this strange man and his mysterious blue box..."

After a couple of major lows for the monthly range, I was a little nervous stepping into this play. Big Finish and historicals usually make for good bedfellows, but the sour taste left by The Lure Of The Nomad especially made me a little wary. Please (I thought to myself, going in), please, not another one like that.

The first thing to note is the cover: it’s beautiful. The wider space for the play covers’ imagery is a welcome thing, finally ditching the awkward black bars, and the new logo? It looks superb here, really catching the eye and wowing the viewer. It all makes for a far, far nicer and more consistent ‘Who identity’ and level of design than we’ve had before and I can’t say I’ll be mourning the loss of the old any time soon. A very good move / insistence by whoever is in charge of branding.

Iron Bright is by Chris Chapman, rapidly becoming a regular contributor to Big Finish’s monthly outings. So far, he’s given us The Memory Bank, a very solid one-episode-long story that I have found myself returning to since the first listen (always a good sign), and The Middle, which I thought had some very strong ideas but perhaps didn’t quite do them justice: very enjoyable overall all the same, mind.

Iron Bright probably falls into the same category, but that’s not to slight it. Big Finish were canny when they released the first episode as a free download for newsletter subscribers as it’s a lot of fun: ghosts and history, the Doctor and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and Colin Baker giving one of his best performances for a while all make for thirty minutes of drama which whizz by. The second two episodes are not quite as strong though.

When people see ‘Sixth Doctor + Historical’, the go-to story is normally The Mark Of The Rani, and this has some similarities in that the historical figures are, at times, sidelined in favour of alien goings-on. I feel, though, that this story shares most of its DNA with Timelash.

Remember how H.G. Wells is treated less as a figure of historical importance and more as a substitute companion, and historical period settings are largely ditched in favour of alien landscapes? That’s how Brunel is treated here, and indeed how the middle of this story feels a lot of the time.

When we return to Earth, I felt the story picked up a bit and I perhaps wish we’d been given a straight historical, or one with greater earthly grounding. I don’t feel the Doctor’s meeting with Brunel is wasted, in the same way his meeting with George Stephenson in Rani is not, and perhaps it was a silly and false expectation on my part to think we’d be getting something more ghostly and less... well, traditional Doctor Who.

After all this, the final episode then arrives and things really kick up a gear in quality again. The pocket emptying scene in particular is wonderful (even if Baker does note in the extras that he’s apparently hiding a key prop from the story’s opening in the process: surely a job for a script editor and not the lead actor?), and I want to stress again that the story is never bad.  Far from it.

One thing Iron Bright really has going for it is a truly excellent supporting cast. There is not one flat performance in there; everyone gives a wonderful turn. It’s one of the best ensembles we’ve had, with Catherine Bailey and Imogen Church being particularly impressive, and all credit must go to John Ainsworth for sorting it out. That said, Colin Baker’s remark that Becky Wright should return as a companion made me shake a little: surely no more companions for him? Baker and McGann between them seem to be having a competition to see who can collect the most, like a Gallifreyan game of Pokémon.

(In addition, Wright’s character, Flo, really did sound like the lost child of Flip and Ellie from Jago and Litefoot crossed with some of the backstory of Gwen from The Unquiet Dead, so I’m not sure it would be the wisest move.)

By the time Iron Bright finished, it had won me round again. This doesn’t wash away the bad taste left by recent plays, but it goes a long way to helping.

One thing is utterly apparent, mind: keep an eye on Chris Chapman. I truly believe he is one or two scripts away from writing something utterly superb for Doctor Who and I cannot wait to hear it. The Middle and Iron Bright may not quite hit all the marks, but my word do they show a promise and verve that makes me very, very excited to see his name next to a play again before too long.

The Box-Set Of Delights

With the new series still several months away, there seems to be more and more focus on classic Doctor Who as we eagerly await the new Doctor making her grand entrance in October. The Twitch marathon continues apace, 20th century companions Wendy Padbury, Carol Ann Ford, and Sophie Aldred grace the front cover of this month’s Doctor Who Magazine, and we’ve recently seen the (slightly delayed) release of the shiny new Season 12 Blu-ray box-set. (Or the ‘Tom Baker Season 1 box-set’ if you’re in America…) 

I confess to being slightly nonplussed when the announcement was first made that seasons of the classic show were going to be re-released as box-set collections. I mean, lovely as they are - how many times can we possibly be expected re-buy these old episodes…? But then the sheer amount of love and care that was being put into making this an ‘ultimate’ edition quickly became apparent - this was no rush-job cash-in. Seduced by the strikingly beautiful box artwork by Lee Binding, as well as a glorious gallimaufry of brand new extra features - it took me, ooh, minutes, before I caved in and pre-ordered. And now that I’m sitting here with this sexy and sturdy box of complete joy in my hands, it’s got me thinking about all the different ways in which we’ve welcomed these old friends into our homes over the years… Allow me to take you by the plunger and lead you on a personal voyage through thirty years of house-calls from the Doctor… 

Live Transmissions

I became a fan at the age of eight, in 1988, halfway through Remembrance Of The Daleks - so, although I didn’t know it at the time, opportunities to watch new episodes as they went out live were shortly to be subjected to something of a hiatus… We did have a video recorder by this point, but no one knew how to work the timer - someone had to be there to press ‘record’ as each episode went out, or it was lost to the time vortex forever. At that time Doctor Who was transmitted on a Wednesday evening, which clashed with the local cub scout pack meetings that I attended, so the sacred duty of capturing each week’s instalment was entrusted to my parents. Something went wrong with the taping of Part Three of The Happiness Patrol, however - they somehow managed to record the wrong channel, and I was inconsolable to find that all I had was a tape of northern people going about their everyday lives. I had to wait NINE years to see it - when the commercial VHS release finally came out in 1997. Naturally, this incident prompted me to quit the cub scouts for good. To this day I can’t make a fire or tie a knot, but I did manage to see all of Silver Nemesis, which, I’m sure you’ll agree, makes me the winner in this story. 

VHS Tapes

I’d already begun to collect the VHS releases by the time the TV show came to an abrupt end in 1989. Those early tapes, such as Pyramids Of Mars, Day Of The Daleks, and The Talons Of Weng-Chiang, were so indelibly impressed upon my young mind that I can still recite them word for word. And watching the fuzzy, unrestored, VHS quality was like looking through a time-window to a thousand years ago - I felt like a noble historian, carefully collecting and preserving these impossibly old artefacts - most of which were in reality not much older than myself. Our family home was burgled once, when I was about eleven, and I was utterly distraught to see that my collection had gone. Never mind the priceless heirlooms and family silver - I insisted upon giving the police a detailed description of each and every Doctor Who video that I owned. (It later turned out that I’d actually just not left them where I thought I had, and they hadn’t been stolen at all. Some burglars have no taste.) 

UK Gold

As with many technological innovations - satellite television was something that I only became interested in when it offered an opportunity to see more Doctor Who. My parents surprised me with a satellite dish one Christmas, when I was thirteen. This was too good to be true - they were showing my favourite show on UK Gold EVERY DAY! And the truly dedicated fan could get up at some ungodly hour on a Sunday morning and catch an omnibus of a complete story - every week! The first story I caught on this space-age medium was The Ark - I loved it so much. The following September, however, I was packed off to boarding school - where there were definitely no satellite dishes, and putting up a poster of a Sea Devil in one’s dorm room was, in retrospect, not the best way to make friends and influence people. So they were short lived, those heady satellite days, but they were UK Golden. 

DVD

I was in my first year of drama school by the time Doctor Who started to be released on DVD. Again - it was this development that prompted me to invest in the technology required to play the shiny futuristic discs. My first acquisition was The Robots Of Death. The picture was so sharp and clear! And there were extra features and menu screens - we truly were living in the promised times! (Admittedly, the main extra feature on that first disc was a copy of the studio floor plans - but I remember thinking at the time that they were a valuable and fascinating resource. I have never looked at them since.) The DVD range went on to spoil us with vast arrays of bonus content and VidFIRE restorations. For years it felt like getting a monthly video magazine, packed with making-of features and interviews - and the occasional documentary on black pudding. Truly, we thought - this is the definitive collection… 

Back to the present day…

Now, of course, there are more ways than ever to pipe Doctor Who into our homes, with the likes of Twitch marathons and iPlayer streaming. And the aforementioned blu-ray box-set, which surely is the ‘ultimate’ collection of these stories that we’ve carried with us throughout our lives. There’s a special feature devoted to a compilation of studio clocks. And half an hour of silent footage of the Season twelve cast chain-smoking. (As well as my absolute favourite extra bit - Janet Fielding, Louise Jameson, and Sarah Sutton doing a ‘Gogglebox’ style viewing of episodes that they weren’t in - I could happily watch this trio chewing the fat for hours, on any topic at all. Lots more of this please, blu-ray elves.) So, finally, we can be sure that we’re buying these episodes for the last time, can’t we…?

Yeah, right. See you in 2028 for the 3D brain-implant of Spearhead from Space - featuring an artificially intelligent and fully-restored Terrance Dicks. I can’t wait. 

Richard Unwin

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[Source: DWO]

Our friends over at TBT Props have been in touch with an exciting opportunity for die-hard Doctor Who collector's to get their hands on a Dalek, which appeared in the 50th Anniversary Trailer.

Truly a piece of art, it mimics in a hyper realistic appearance what an original 1970’s Dalek would have appeared on screen in Planet of the Daleks. It was used on screen in the 50th Anniversary Trailer, at the Doctor Who Exhibition in Cardiff, London Excel, a Tom Baker Photoshoot, and various promotional photoshoots.

Although only a quick trailer appearance on screen, it can be classed as an official screen used Dalek, as was seen and used in the official BBC Doctor Who 50th Anniversary trailer.

Construction is a mixture of fibreglass, wood and metal. It has had a replacement gun put on as the old gun was sold separately.

A brief history on the Dalek and its components:

Uses a Planet of the Daleks Eye Stalk

Planet Style Eyestalk came from the collection of JNT through a friend and is believe to have been production used, the eye stalk was then put onto the Dalek to contribute to it’s highly accurate nature.

Doctor Who Experience Cardiff

This was a long term resident Dalek at the Official BBC Doctor Who Experience, if you visited the Exhibition or have seen photos from the Exhibition, it is more than likely that you will have seen or touched this Dalek.

Doctor Who London Excel

Dalek made appearance at the London Excel Doctor Who exhibition

Screen Used in BBC Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Trailer

Dalek was used in the Official BBC 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Trailer, making the Dalek Screen Used. We have attached screens shoots of the Dalek where it was used exterminating a unit soldier

Dalek Used in Promotional Photoshoot with Tom Baker in 2014

The dalek was used in a promotional Photoshoot with Tom Baker in 2014 to celebrate his small part return on Doctor Who – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2605430/Doctor-Who-Tom-Baker-meets-old-enemy-launch.html

Price does not include shipping and will need to arrange shipping quotes, please call / contact TBT Props before purchasing for payment option at: web@tbtprops.com.

[Source: TBT Props]

The guys at Anoraks have been in touch to announce that stage and television actress, and one of the most loved Doctor Who companions of the classic series, Louise Jameson, will be joining them as a guest star in a special two-part episode of Anoraks – the sitcom about Science Fiction fandom. 

Louise will also be appearing at their December 1st minicon event in Cardiff. (Details for the minicon will be announced very soon!).

Contributors to their Indiegogo campaign will get the opportunity to meet Louise and receive autographs, but hurry as there is only 2 days left!

+ Contribute to our Indiegogo campaign and get some fantastic perks!  

+ Read more about Anoraks on their website.

+ Watch the first season on our Youtube Channel and subscribe for exclusive content. 

Follow Anoraks on social media:
 

+ https://www.facebook.com/anorakstv/

+ https://twitter.com/anorakstv

Check out the Anoraks fundraiser video:
 

[youtube:yHMJYeOJLVM&t]

[Source: Anoraks]

Publisher: BHC Press

Written By: Gary Morgenstein

RRP: £14.95 (Paperback) / £4.52 (Kindle) / $18.95 (Paperback) / $5.96 (Kindle)

Release Date: 29th March 2018

Reviewed by: Richard Wright

Review Posted: 1st July 2018

Book reading has been, and always will be one of humanities greatest pastimes, with countless themes, genres and styles to suit anyone. Like most things, however, there reaches a point where certain genres get saturated, and it takes the next 'big thing' to buck the trend and take things in a new direction.

Enter Gary Morgenstein with 'A Mound Over Hell' - a Science Fiction / sports genre crossover the likes of which we've never seen (or heard of - or READ), before.

If you're a die-hard SciFi nut, and sport isn't your thing (an vice versa), you'll still find solace in Morgenstein's writing.

Things kick off at a bracing pace in the year 2098 of a dystopian Earth, after World World III. It's the last ever season of baseball - a sport which has become associated with terrorism. Our central character (Baseball historian, Puppy Nedick) wakes up to "find a hologram named Greta dancing on his chest" - there's something ludicrously amazing about that line, and in Morgenstein's humour, which is peppered perfectly throughout the novel.

Radical islam has almost destroyed America as we know it, and a new world has been borne out of love. But could the very game of baseball itself usher in world peace, or could it be the cause of a new war to end all wars?

I genuinely haven't read a book so refreshingly different, well-paced, surprising and completely and utterly unique. It is incredibly pleasing to learn that this is part of a planned series for Morgenstein's 'Dark Depths' saga, and the second part cannot come quickly enough!

Highly recommended!

+  A Mound Over Hell is Out Now!
+  Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk & Amazon.com!
+  Follow Gary Morgenstein on Twitter.