...so what's happening?

Good question. I've just been looking over the last posting, which only seems like a couple of days ago, but is in fact, a couple of weeks ago. That's really been the story of 2015; the time has zipped by and we're already more than half way through the year. The dominant event of July has been the recording of Adam Thirlwell's novel, Lurid&Cute. I was a little nervous before recording began, for a couple of reasons; primarily because L&C is the first audio book I've done this year and I wondered if I was going to be a bit rusty when recording began. Also, as I mentioned in the previous posting, the text is quite 'quirky' in construction and sentences don't always go in the direction you think they might. Punctuation is also used in unconventional ways, again setting potential traps for the narrator. These technical obstacles aren't always apparent when reading silently to ones self but become acutely apparent when reading aloud. Odd syntax and the use of non English words focussed my attention too and I noted that one particular sentence was 92 lines long! L&C is the third Adam Thirlwell novel I've recorded, the others being Politics and The Escape, and I've enjoyed working on all of them; I think if somehow you can hit the appropriate 'tone' and let the narrative roll along, it all seems to work pretty well - in my head at least!

So what else? Well, Big Finish have released Doctor Who: The Fate of Krelos, starring Tom Baker and Louise Jameson. The second part of the adventure, Return To Krelos, is released next month. Full details appear on the Big Finish web site, but here's the cover artwork and a general synopsis of each story:


There are dark skies on Krelos… and something gigantic is descending.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Leela set off for some fishing in the mountain pools of Krelos. K9 has interfaced with the TARDIS and has reactivated the architectural configuration from the days of the Doctor’s second incarnation. In passing, the Doctor notes it could do with a good clean. And there’s a familiar piece of material snagged on the console.
Far up the mountain, an aged explorer is in trouble. Will the Doctor and Leela be able to save him and his planet?

And what is it that K9 has discovered in the TARDIS?


The Doctor reveals to Leela that they’re heading for the planet Telos. And K9 has new masters...

On Telos, in the past, the Second Doctor and Jamie are exploring the ‘tomb of the Cybermen’.

Meanwhile, the Cyber-Controller and Cyber-Planner consolidate their plans. Spare parts from Krelos are being used to construct a mighty Cyber army. The Doctor must be captured.

Out of control, the TARDIS tumbles down a chasm and the Doctor and Leela find themselves caught up in full-scale planetary invasion.

Written and directed by Nick Briggs, the cast includes:

Tom Baker The Doctor    Louise Jameson Leela    John Leeson K9    Frazer Hines Jamie  

Michael Cochrane Geralk   Bernard Holley Peter Haydon   Veronica Roberts Relly 

Nicholas Briggs The Cybermen

I've just added Krelos to my phone and look forward to giving it a listen. I worked on both stories, although I'm fairly sure I won't be officially credited. There's nothing unusual in that, although it does make keeping track of what I've done a bit trickier that it might otherwise be! 

Before the month ends, I'm looking forward to being back in the studio to record further Big Finish stories, details of which will no doubt appear here, when I'm allowed to reveal them. 

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