Doctor Who: The Well Mannered War

As if time weren't zipping by quickly enough! Big Finish have released The Well Mannered War and Damaged Goods individually and as a double edition - a whole month early! I was under the impression that The Well Mannered War was scheduled for a May release, but hey - what do I know? Moving on from the obvious answer to my own rhetorical question, here are some details to go along with Tom Webster's brilliant cover artwork:

The edges of space, the far distant future, an era even the Time Lords are not supposed to visit.

Laid claim to by disputing factions of humans and Chelonians, the planet Barclow has become the catalyst for an unusual war. In two hundred years of hostilities not a shot has been fired, and the opposing combatants are the best of friends.

But when the Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive, they discover the peace is not going to last. Something dangerous is happening behind the scenes. An election looms. Bodies are piling up. Tensions are growing. Someone, somewhere is trying to make this well-mannered war very angry indeed.

Only the time-travellers can save the day. But that might be their biggest mistake.

Tom Baker The Doctor  Lalla Ward Romana  John Leeson K9  Tim McInnerny Admiral Dolne  

Jon Glover Jafrid Michael Troughton Menlove Stokes Gunnar Cauthery Viddeas Jane Slavin Cadinot 
 Russell Bentley Seskwa   Hamish Clark Fritchoff   John Banks Harmock   Elizabeth Rider Galatea  
Jessica Claire Liris/Newsreader  David Troughton The Black Guardian

Written by Gareth Roberts, adapted by John Dorney
Directed by Ken Bentley 

There's also a 'standard' version of Damaged Goods as detailed below, but if you fancy owning a rather beautiful Limited Special Edition containing both stories, there's this version, which I think, looks amazing...

The year is 1987 and there’s a deadly new narcotic on the streets of London. As part of their investigations the Doctor and his companions Chris and Roz move into the Quadrant, a rundown housing estate. An ancient alien menace has been unleashed, a menace somehow linked to a local gang leader known as The Capper, a charmed young boy called Gabriel and his mother Winnie, the enigmatic Frei Foundation, and Eva Jericho, a woman driven to the brink of madness.

As London descends into an apocalyptic nightmare, the Doctor must uncover the truth about the residents of the Quadrant and a desperate bargain made one dark Christmas Eve.

Sylvester McCoy The Doctor    Travis Oliver Chris Cwej    Yasmin Bannerman Roz Forrester  

Michelle Collins Winnie Tyler   Denise Black Eva Jericho   Georgie Fuller Bev Tyler  

Tayler Marshall Gabriel Tyler   Richard Hope Harry Harvey   Daniel Brocklebank David Daniels 

Peter Barrett The Capper   Robert Duncan Mr Thomas   Damian Lynch Scott Delaney

Written by Russell T Davies, adapted by Jonathan Morris
Directed by Ken Bentley

* * * * *

As a minor, but perhaps interesting footnote; in the mid '80's - early '90's, I spent about eight years working at The Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, performing in numerous productions. Because I was there for so long, I had time to develop broader interests other than just appearing in plays. Under the leadership of  inspirational Youth Theatre and Main House Director, Sheila Mander, I  became involved in the activities of the senior Youth Theatre Group and assisted Sheila in directing a production of Howard Brenton's Epsom Downs.

It was a fabulous project to work on and I loved my time with the very talented young people Sheila had cast. The standard of performance was incredibly high and I promised the actors that I would rehearse and direct them as I would a professional company. Some of the members of that company did indeed go on to become professionally involved in the industry: Martin Julier appeared in the film version of The Madness of King George, Tom Kerridge is now a well known TV Chef, Cait Davis is currently appearing in Roald Dahl's The Twits at The Royal Court (we briefly toured together in another Everyman production), Kate Mander is a musical performer and Yasmin Bannerman, as I'm sure you know, has appeared in Doctor Who and Torchwood on television. Yasmin has of course also recorded a number of BF stories, including Damaged Goods. Small world; I wonder if she remembers Epsom Downs?

Back in the BF studio next week - can't wait :-)

...all for now, more just as soon as it happens!