...more from The Black Library!

Just as I was thinking January's releases had peaked, The Black Library have issued two more audio dramas - kinda sneaky if you ask me! So as a brief respite from the adventures of The Stormcast Eternals and their mission to confront Nagash, we are once again in the company of the heroes and villains of The Five Hundred Worlds, The Space Marines - yay!

Here is some fabulous artwork once again and details of what these awesome warriors are getting up to in each story:

The Sons of Horus destroyer-class Grey Talon, flying under Bion Henricos of the Iron Hands and Hibou Khan of the White Scars, undertakes a new campaign of retribution and vengeance.

After the horrors of Isstvan, the XVIth Legion destroyer-class Grey Talon now flies under a loyalist crew on a campaign of retribution and vengeance, using her original colours to strike covertly at isolated traitor forces. Commanded by Bion Henricos of the Iron Hands, the ship is also home to many disgraced White Scars who have taken death-oaths to seek atonement – among them the peerless warrior Hibou Khan.

But tensions run higher with each new engagement and, without a wider strategy to guide them, the crew of the Grey Talon will surely come to a grim and sudden end.

Performed by

John Banks, Ian Brooker, Steve Conlin, Toby Longworth & Louis Soto 

Written by Chris Wraight and Produced by Matthew Renshaw

It's a glimpse at what the disgraced and exiled White Scars did after being sent to redeem themselves. And it's brutal, bloody and epic.

Here's a fabulous image of the character I'm playing in Grey Talon, Shadrak Meduson: 

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This month's other Black Library release is Red-Marked, by Nick Kyme:

Sergeant Aeonid Thiel frustrates his superiors in the Ultramarines Legion once again, by leading a handful of rogue veterans against the traitor warbands still at large in Ultramar.

Though the Word Bearers’ attack on Calth and the subsequent Shadow Crusade into Ultramar are but a memory, the borders of Imperium Secundus are far from secure. Sergeant Aeonid Thiel, stranded on the garrison world of Oran on his way back to Macragge, frustrates his superiors once again by pointing out the holes in their defence – traitor warband activity is increasing, and a series of key listening posts have fallen silent. Leading a handful of rogue veterans and wearing the red mark of censure like a badge of honour, can Thiel uncover the truth behind the mysterious ‘Nightfane’?

Performed by

Gareth Armstrong, John Banks, Steve Conlin, Jonathan Keeble, Toby Longworth, Saul Reichlin & Luis Soto

Written by Nick Kyme and Produced by Matthew Renshaw

It's another chapter in the tale of everyone's favourite maverick Ultramarine. Last time, disobeying orders put him in the heart of the greatest battle the Ultramarines have ever faced. What will he end up part of now...?

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Just before wrapping up this posting, I should mention that for reasons unknown and beyond my control, I noticed when I looked at this blog a few days ago, that the background formatting had changed, seemingly of its own accord. After much tweaking with the mechanics of the web site, I have been unable to restore the colour scheme to it's former glory; the presentation as you now see it here, is the best compromise I could create. All quite odd really.

Anyway, to end on a much more positive note; I've been very busy in various recording studios over the past several weeks and next month should see further new releases which will hopefully be of interest.


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

Tempus fugit...

Indeed it does 'fugit'! The working year has begun in earnest and recording started yesterday on book two of the new epic saga (details coming next month - hopefully), which went very well; actually managed to record 224 pages yesterday, which is a first for me, then did some pick ups on the first story in the series. This first story is not yet published and the author had decided on a few changes before we hit the very tight deadline. I had also made a mistake and misread a word, which was picked up in the editing process. Because of a slight re-jig in the recording schedule, I'm 'free' today, which allows me to post an update here and gives me a little more time to prepare for next week's recording with Games Workshop, which includes an audio book, an audio drama and an audio drama narration...

But on to news of further January audio releases. After the audio book Ravenlord and audio drama The Diary of River Song comes the next instalment of The Realmgate Wars from Games Workshop and here are some details:

Finally, the Hallowed Knights reach their goal: the underworlds of Shyish and an audience with Nagash himself. On the Bridge of Seven Sorrows, Lord-Celestant Tarsus will meet his destiny.

At last, the great search for the Nine Gates is over as Tarsus and the Hallowed Knights reach the lair of the Great Necromancer himself, Nagash. Here, in the dark hollows of one of the underworlds of Shyish, the Stormcast Eternals will meet their fate. As they stand in the shadow of death, they must trust that their vampiric guide, Mannfred von Carstein, has not played them false.

Performed by Gareth Armstrong, John Banks, Toby Longworth, Saul Reichlin, Luis Soto and Ramon Tikaram

Written by Josh Reynolds and Directed by Matthew Renshaw

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Next to be released this month comes from Big Finish and is the beginning of the fifth series of Doctor Who adventures featuring the fantastic Tom Baker. Here are some details:

A modulated frequency wave cancellation signal isn’t something that the Doctor and Romana expect to detect in 1960s London. But then they don’t expect to find Professor Lanchester, the man who invented it, lying unconscious. Or MI5 investigating.
With the help of MI5 Agent Miller, Lanchester’s daughter Jill, and his nephew a pirate radio DJ called Mark, the Doctor, Romana and K-9 investigate. They soon discover that there is more at risk than they imagined, and an alien invasion is about to begin.
Can the Doctor identify and defeat the aliens in time? Will Romana manage to find a recombinant transducer before it’s too late? And how will K-9 cope with his new job?

 Tom Baker The Doctor   Lalla Ward Romana   John Leeson K9 

Karl Theobald Mark Lanchaster  Phil Mulryne Barnaby Miller  Alix Wilton Regan Jill  John Banks Derek Fretus

Written by Justin Richards
Directed by Nicholas Briggs

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There's more to come this month in terms of my audio releases and here's a bit of a teaser for what's coming up in January.

In the meantime, I think I'd better get back to doing some homework in preparation for the rest of recording this week and next!

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

January 2016... back to work!

What do you mean "back to work"? In some ways, it feels like work never stopped. That's not entirely accurate of course and I certainly enjoyed a bit of 'down time' over the holidays, although with so much to read and prepare for the rest of the month, a script was never very far away.

Anyway, a very Happy 2016 to all and first up this year is to mention a Big Finish release which became available as a download earlier than originally scheduled in December. The CD version should be available this month and here are some details of The Diary of Riversong, which some keen listeners might have lready heard; incidentally, do you remember the 'shushing campaign'?

The Boundless Sea by Jenny T Colgan

River Song has had more than enough excitement for a while. Deciding the universe – and her husband – can look after themselves, she has immersed herself in early 20th century academia, absorbed in writing archaeological theses.
But when a mysterious tomb is found in a dry, distant land, excitement comes looking for River.
Can Professor Song stop any more members of the expedition from dying? What deadly secrets lie buried within the crypt? And will British Consul Bertie Potts prove to be a help, or a hindrance?

I Went to a Marvellous Party by Justin Richards

River Song always enjoys a good party, even when she’s not entirely sure where or when the party is taking place. But the party she ends up at is one where not everything – or indeed everyone – is what it seems…
Being River, it doesn’t take her too long to go exploring, and it doesn’t take her too long to get into trouble. The sort of trouble that involves manipulating other civilisations, exploitation, and of course murder.
River is confident she can find the killer. But can she identify them before anyone else – or quite possibly everyone else – gets killed?

Signs by James Goss

River Song is on the trail of the mysterious, planet-killing SporeShips.
Nobody knows where they come from. Nobody knows why they are here. All they do know is that wherever the SporeShips appear, whole civilisations are reduced to mulch.
But River has help. Her companion is a handsome time-travelling stranger, someone with specialist knowledge of the oddities and dangers the universe has to offer. For Mr Song has a connection to River’s future, and he would never want his wife to face those perils alone…

The Rulers of the Universe by Matt Fitton

As shocking secrets are exposed, and a grand plan for the universe is revealed, River decides it’s time she took control of events once and for all.
Out in deep space, a clandestine society faces off with an ancient and powerful alien force – but, for River, there’s an added complication.
The Eighth Doctor has been caught in the middle, and she must make sure her future husband can arrive at his own destiny with all his memories – not to mention his lives - intact…

Alex Kingston River Song   Paul McGann The Doctor   Alexander Vlahos Bertie Potts 

Alexander Siddig Marcus Gifford   Imogen Stubbs Isabella Clerkwell   Gbemisola Ikumelo Prim  

Charlotte Christie Daphne Garsington  Alisdair Simpson Colonel Lifford  Oliver Dimsdale Archie Ferrers    

John Banks Professor Straiton  Letty Butler Spritz  John Voce Jenkins   
Aaron Neil Sanukuma Master  Samuel West Mr Song 

Directed by Ken Bentley

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The other currently available release this month is the audio version I recorded in early December of Gav Thorpe's novella Ravenlord, which is the first solo recording I've done for Games Workshop in quite a while. I thoroughly enjoyed Gav's story and I'm very much looking forward to hearing it soon. A clip is available via The Black Library web site and here's a link: Ravenlord audio sample

Corax's crusade against the traitors continues, but the primarch's past mistakes threaten his Legion's future as they liberate a prison colony.

Corax's mistakes come back to haunt him. The story of the Raptors – the mutated Raven Guard the primarch created in Deliverance Lost – is far from over, and this is another step towards its conclusion.

As the Horus Heresy grinds on, Corax and the remnants of his once mighty Legion now wage an entirely different kind of war – liberating worlds oppressed by traitor forces, they gather more and more followers to their banner, disrupting the Warmaster’s influence wherever they can. But after an unexpected reunion with a fellow survivor of Isstvan V, the Raven Guard learn of the prison colony of Carandiru and soon realise that they must face the ghosts of their past on Deliverance yet again if they are to prevail.

 What great fun it is to have the opportunity to play such a character and what a fantastic image of Corax!

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January is going to be a very busy time; I'm back in the studio next week for the first of this month's three audio books, followed by a Games Workshop audio drama, in which I'm playing a very interesting character and narrating the story. There are also further audio releases this month, details of which I'll mention as they become available. Oh, and in the middle of all this activity, there's Big Finish Day 8 to look forward to on the 16th! Big Finish Day 8

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