There and back again...

'Home, home again. I like to be here when I can. When I come home cold and tired, it's good to warm my bones beside the fire.' *

Well, no need really to warm any bones at the moment, but it is good to be home again after my tour of duty in Nottingham with The Classic Thriller Season. A little r&r required over the next few days, after which, I have a couple of diary dates for upcoming events and recordings. As soon as things are confirmed, I'll post details here.

In the meantime, I've been listening to the latest collection of Avengers stories and enjoying them very much. I've mentioned how much I love The Avengers in several previous postings and so won't repeat myself now; I just find it so amazing to be involved in such an iconic series - yet another 'pinch myself' moment courtesy of Big Finish.

BF have been announcing forthcoming series box sets, some of which I'm taking part in. In order of release, with further details to appear nearer the time, Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles Volume 10 is scheduled for November. I'm playing Ragnus Lang in Andrew Smith's story Retribution and very much looking forward to listening to it. In December, there's a treat in store for fans of Sherlock Holmes when Jonathan Barnes' fabulous stories are brought to life in The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes. In my opinion, the scripts for this box set are simply stunning and beautifully and authentically written. Once again, I'm privileged to be playing Inspector Lestrade, who has quite a significant role in this arc of stories. Below is a fascinating 'making of' movie, which I hope you enjoy watching. I'm really very excited about this release - can't wait!

Sherlock Holmes had many secrets. This is the greatest of them.

Our knowledge of the life and career of Mr Sherlock Holmes is necessarily partial and inexact. Riddled with lacunae and ambiguities, its parameters are defined chiefly by what his friend and colleague, Dr John Watson, saw fit to record. One era in particular – those enigmatic years in which, believed dead at the Reichenbach Falls, the Great Detective roved the world incognito – has been shrouded in obscurity and doubt, the particulars of that time too terrible and too strange to be set down in full.

At least, that is, until now…

* * * * *

Tempting as it is to reveal more, for the time being I'll have to remain reasonably tight lipped about other releases in the pipeline - what do you mean, you don't like 'deferred gratification'? Me neither, but you'll thank me later for not spilling all the beans at once... hopefully!

...and finally; at the risk of falling into the '# ego' category of actors (or anyone else for that matter!) and as it's such a completely unique and unexpected occurrence, I couldn't let the moment pass without revealing this beautiful object, which had come all the way from America and was waiting for me in its presentation box when I arrived home in the wee small hours of Sunday morning:

With great thanks to Denise Daniels at the APA in New York and to Mia Jerva and Sylvia Uhl at The Crystal Cave in Chicago.

...more, just as soon as it happens!

* Pink Floyd: Dark Side of The Moon: Breathe Reprise

Theatre Royal, Nottingham

The end of our first week here in Nottingham and later today, the final two performances of The Ghost Train. This morning we had a run onstage of next week's play, The Shadow of The Ghost and so we have a few hours before the matinee at 5. Just wondering whether to leave the comfort of my dressing room to wander around the city for a while; the weather isn't too great (looks like rain) and a bit of a rest seems like a good idea. But I can't stay in the theatre all day; some fresh air and window shopping might wake me up a little.

There are some interesting events, releases and recordings coming up in the next few weeks, but more on those in a while; all for now!

Ketchup...

Time is quickly running out before I have to be in Nottingham to re-rehearse the two plays I'm doing there in the Thriller Season, so I thought a bit of a 'catch up' posting before I depart might be a good idea on this sultry, potentially stormy, night.

So, I'll be doing The Ghost Train and The Shadow of The Ghost up in Nottingham, after which, I'm looking forward to a bit of 'time out' to recover, before the brief candle of summer gutters and fades. In August, I'm off to a weekend long sci-fi convention and will give details here nearer the time; indeed, Big Finish Day 5 comes along in September and I'm very much looking forward to both events. 

Earlier this week I was back in the studio with Big Finish and once again, enjoying myself thoroughly. What's really lovely is being with actors who might not have worked with Big Finish before, or perhaps not for some time, and observing how they 'melt' into the activities of the day, any anxieties they might have been harbouring, forgotten and just relaxing and having a fab time. Quite a testament to the Big Finish 'crew'. Of course, and for the usual reasons, I can say no more about what I've been doing in the studio, or what I'll be doing next week before heading north for a few weeks; never mind, all will be revealed at a later date.

For the time being then, I've got four scripts to be preparing, two theatre and two audio and all the logistics of living away from home to consider and arrange this weekend before rehearsals start again on Wednesday. All very busy, but of course, that's how I like it. If anything of particular interest occurs, I'll do my best to post 'on the fly' as it were, otherwise, it might just be more tweeting!

I've now listened to Survivors a few times through and I'm keenly awaiting delivery of the new Avengers box set; if you intend to listen to either series, I sincerely hope you enjoy them.

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

The Avengers: Series II

 ...bit of a boring post title in some ways, but definitely not a boring post - I hope! So where to start this month? For the past several weeks, I've been too busy to post anything and have been restricted to the occasional tweet instead. Why so busy? Well, I've been doing a season of weekly rep, rehearsing initially in Nottingham and then transferring to the Theatre Royal in Windsor. My three plays are now done, although the company have two further plays to perform.

I had roles in The Ghost Train, The Shadow of The Ghost and Fatal Encounter. The first two plays had me playing small/medium roles, but in Fatal Encounter, I played the lead, 'Howard Mansfield', around whom the story unfolds. That means I'm on stage in all but one short scene for a two hour play. That's ok and not unprecedented; the tricky part of Fatal Encounter was that during the designated 'rehearsal' week, which actually amounted to two and a half days, I also had eight performances of The Shadow of The Ghost. Consequently, I had quite a stressful time simply trying to learn the almost 700 lines the character speaks.

I won't elaborate on the 'actor's nightmare' scenario of appearing in an unfamiliar play, suffice it to say that after a weekend of line cramming, virtually no sleep and with the fantastic support of my fellow players, we all got through it, tired but in one piece. Amazingly, the show went very well and the audiences we had in Windsor seemed to love it. I'm mightily relieved that all that effort paid off in the end, although I'm not anxious to repeat such a contracted rehearsal process; the phrase 'bitten off more than I could chew' frequently came to mind and if Bach's Rescue Remedy could have been taken intravenously, I would have done it without hesitation!

Moving on; I'm very excited (yes I am!) that the second series of The Avengers is out this month from Big Finish. The Avengers is one of my all time favourite television shows; I think I saw it at the perfect time and age for it to have had a huge impact and I'm now toying with the idea of buying the 50th Anniversary DVD collection - 39 DVD's in total! Needless to say, I was thrilled to have taken part in the first Big Finish audio series and equally delighted to have roles in this latest release. As I remember, I'm doing something in all four episodes although my principal role is in The Radioactive Man. Now, if you look on the Big Finish web site, as I often do, you may notice that I'm not included in the cast list. Rather than suspecting some kind of fiendish plot to erase me from history, I can only put it down to 'an oversight' - never mind eh? So, here are the details to which I've inserted myself where appropriate...

Steed and Dr Keel return to action in these four recreations of classic lost episodes.

1: Ashes of Roses
Written by Peter Ling and Sheilah Ward, adapted by John Dorney
Carol goes undercover at a hairdressing salon, which appears to be at the centre of an arson ring.
Guest cast: Terry Molloy, Rachel Atkins

2: Please Don’t Feed the Animals
Written by Dennis Spoooner, adapted by John Dorney
Steed takes on blackmailers who are extorting secrets from government officials.
Guest cast: Martin Hutson, Richard Hope, Alisdair Simpson

3: The Radioactive Man
Written by Fred Edge, adapted by John Dorney
Someone is at loose in London, unwittingly carrying a radioactive isotope.
Guest cast: John Banks, Phil Mulryne, Beth Chalmers, Richard Franklin

4: Dance With Death
Written by Peter Ling and Sheilah Ward, adapted by John Dorney
Dr Keel is framed for murder, and Steed investigates a dance school.
Guest cast: Gemma Whelan, Dan Starkey, Jacqueline King

  Adapted by John Dorney
Directed by Ken Bentley 

Anthony Howell (Dr Keel), Julian Wadham (John Steed), Lucy Briggs-Owen (Carol Wilson),  

Terry Molloy, Rachel Atkins, Martin Hutson, Richard Hope, Alisdair Simpson, Phil Mulryne, Beth Chalmers, John Banks, Richard Franklin, Gemma Whelan, Dan Starkey, Jacqueline King

* * * * *

I'm delighted that the first series of Survivors has been so well received and that a further two series have been commissioned; whether or not I'll be involved as Daniel Connor remains to be seen. Before going up to Nottingham for the Thriller Season part two, I'm back in the studio with Big Finish for some ongoing work and a new series, which I'm very much looking forward to. As ever, details must remain secret for the time being but all will be revealed as soon as possible.

...all for now, more soon!

Classic Thriller Season

Our Classic Thriller Season continues at The Theatre Royal, Windsor this week with a production of The Shadow of The Ghost

Survivors

Survivors Series 1: released today from Big Finish Productions - enjoy!
 

It begins with just a few people falling ill. Another flu virus that spreads around the globe. And then the reports begin that people are dying…

When most of the world's population is wiped out, a handful of survivors are left to pick up the pieces.
Cities become graveyards. Technology becomes largely obsolete. Mankind must start again…

1. Revelation by Matt Fitton
When people begin to die of a new strain of a flu virus, newspaper journalists Helen Wiseman and Daniel Connor investigate. They uncover a terrifying story - but will anyone ever get to read it?

2. Exodus by Jonathan Morris
Billions of people have died across the globe. Cities are rife with secondary diseases, and thesurvivors attempt to make their way out of London.

3. Judges by Andrew Smith
After a storm wipes out much of their community's supplies, Greg and Jenny go in search of new provisions - much to Abby's diaapproval.

4. Esther by John Dorney
Greg, Jenny and their new friends are trapped. Will they ever make it out alive?

Written by: Matt Fitton, Jonathan Morris, Andrew Smith, John Dorney
Directed by: Ken Bentley

Lucy Fleming Jenny Richards Ian McCulloch Greg Preston John Banks Daniel Connor 
 Louise Jameson Jackie Burchall Sinead Keenan Susie Edwards Caroline Langrishe Helen Wiseman
Adrian Lukis James Gillison Chase Masterson Maddie Price Terry Molloy John Redgrave
 Camilla Power Fiona Bell

Special appearance by Carolyn Seymour Abby Grant

"Compelling, arresting, devastating, invigorating, heartening and more than a little frightening, Survivors: Series One is probably about as good as the audio medium gets. More than recommended; required listening."

Starburst Magazine

2014 Audie Awards

Just a very quick posting, as I'm currently on a lunch break from theatre rehearsals in Nottingham; do you remember in a previous posting a couple of months ago, I mentioned that the audio anthology Thirteen had been nominated for an Audie Award?

Well, long story short; the Awards Ceremony took place last night in New York - and we won! I'm unsurprisingly surprised, thrilled and delighted - congratulations to all and huge thanks to Neil Gardner at Spokenworld Audio who produced Thirteen and got me involved as a reader of one of the 'thirteen' stories -  amazing!

  Hidden Track (part 1) by Scott Harrison read by Barnaby Edwards 

  Dead Space  by  George Mann read by Greg Wise 

  A Girl, Sitting  by  Mark Morris read by Jilly Bond 

  Finding The Path  by  Kaaron Warren read by Trevor White 

  The Hairstyle of the Devil  by  Martin Day read by Arthur Darvill 

  Down  by  Gary McMahon read by Stephen Rashbrook 

  Visions  by  Cavan Scott read by Michael Maloney 

  Half Life  by  Dan Abnett read by John Banks 

  Hidden Track (part 2) by Scott Harrison read by Barnaby Edwards

  With Her In Spirit  by  Stephen Gallagher read by Frances Barber

  Tabula Rasa  by  Alasdair Stuart read by Lalla Ward

 One Hit Wanda  by  Kim Newman read by Samuel West

  A Glass of Water  by  Mark Wright read by Gemma Arterton

 Ghost Pit  by  Simon Clark read by Jeff Harding

 I Wish  by  Johnny Mains read by Steven Cree

  Hidden Track (part 3) by Scott Harrison read by Barnaby Edwards

   Edited by Scott Harrison

    Produced by Neil Gardner

"one of the most intriguing and entertaining audiobooks in years...every performance and tale is 
worth hearing" - AudioFile

"A great collection of supernatural tales - those who like their spines chilled will be very pleased. 
9/10" - Starburst Magazine

"A deliciously dark collation. 8/10" - SciFiBulletin

"Nicely assembled...not a bad story or bad vocal performance amongst them. 3.5/5" - SFX Magazine

"If you're a fan of classic, spine tingling horror then that should be reason enough to listen to Thirteen" - GeekPlanetOnline

"Thirteen is a fantastically dark, spooky anthology. 7/10" - The Cult Den

Survivors Series 1

Late as it is and busy as I am, I just had to post this image of the quite stunning artwork for the new Survivors audio series from Big Finish. Designer Anthony Lamb has done an amazing job and I really can't wait to get my hands and ears on this recording.

Big Finish released this image a little while ago along with the following update:

We are delighted to reveal the full packaging of Survivors - Series 1, our brand new audio drama set in a post apocalyptic world created by Terry Nation (The Daleks, Blake’s 7).

Survivors will be released early in June, and sees the return of three characters from the original series;

Greg Ian McCulloch, Jenny Lucy Fleming and Abby Carolyn Seymour, here making a cameo role before a larger involvement in Series 2. 

Our series begins with the plague that will wipe out most of the world’s population, and introduces a number of new characters, some of whom will go on to future series.

The Series 1 line-up includes: 

Helen Wiseman Caroline Langrishe Daniel Connor John Banks 

Maddie Price Chase Masterson John Redgrave Terry Molloy 

Jackie Burchall Louise Jameson Susie Edwards Sinead Keenan  

James Gillison Adrian Lukis  Fiona Bell Camilla Power

- but which of them will survive?

 

Audible audios...

Just taking a quick break from the joyful task of 'cold' line learning, to announce the release of two new audio books, Black Venus by James MacManus and Gabriel's Angel by Mark A. Radcliffe, which are now available from Audible.co.uk. Both were fun to work on with producer Neil Gardner at Ladbroke Audio and should you decide to give them a listen, I hope you'll enjoy them too.

A fictional biographical slice of Baudelaire's life and love with his famous Haitian muse, Jeanne Duval, Black Venus captures the artistic scene in the great French capital city, at a time when the likes of Dumas and Balzac argued literature in the cafés of the Left Bank. Among the bohemians, the young Charles Baudelaire stood out, dressed impeccably thanks to an inheritance that was quickly vanishing.

Still at work on the poems that he hoped would make his name, he spent his nights enjoying the alcohol, opium and women who filled the seedy streets of the city. One woman would catch his eye, a beautiful Haitian cabaret singer named Jeanne Duval. Their lives would remain forever intertwined thereafter, and their romance would inspire his most infamous poems leading to the banning of his masterwork, Les Fleurs du Mal, and a scandalous public trial for obscenity.


Gabriel Bell is a grumpy 44 - year old web journalist irritated by the accumulating disappointments in life. He and his girlfriend Ellie want to start a family, but Gabriel has so few sperm he can name them and knit them flippers. So it's IVF, which is expensive. Losing his job was bad enough, but getting run over and waking up to find himself in a therapy group run by angels really annoys him.

In Gabriel's group are a professional killer and his last victim, as well as the woman whose car put Gabriel and herself in a coma. From this therapeutic community, just below Heaven, they can see the lives of those they have left behind and how they cope. Will the one hit wonder resurrect his Eighties band for a reunion tour? And can Ellie and her friends retrieve what they need from Gabriel's body, so that she at least can finish what they started?

If the group do well in the therapy they may be allowed to pass into Heaven, or go back to Earth to finish their lives. If not, it's Hell. Or worse, more therapy.

* * * * *

An epic new audio series starts recording next week for me (details to follow!) and then I'm off to Nottingham to start rehearsals for the first of the three plays I'm due to perform in weekly rep at Theatre Royal Windsor and Theatre Royal Nottingham. Further details are listed in the previous May posting.

a bientot!

May 2014 - what a thriller!

What is it about May? Once again, I seem to have waved goodbye to my comfort zone, the notion of restful sleep and perhaps even a chunk of my dwindling sanity. I've just had a quick look at a posting I made here last May and notice a pattern beginning to develop; a calm-ish start to the year, followed in the fifth month by a tsunami of work and over commitment. As a jobbing actor, living a life of famine or feast, I always find it hard to have to turn down offers of work: it goes against the grain. This May however, I have had to turn down some lovely work; work that I would really love to have done. The reason for doing so is that, like last May, I've been very busy in the recording studio and have additionally agreed to take a job in the theatre at short notice.

I do love theatre, it's what I grew up doing and is something I am by now, very familiar with. The thrill of rehearsing and performing a play has never diminished for me. However, I know of several actors, especially more recent graduates, who perhaps don't have the same passion for theatre as some of us older hands. For them, getting into television and building a career there is the thing to do and for all I know, such an approach might be actively promoted in drama schools these days; television is often a much more lucrative pursuit and from an agent's point of view, a much better way to quickly establish a client's profile.

All this preamble is building up to me saying that, once again as May has rolled around, I think I might have bitten off more than I can possibly chew. Last year, I had to 'cold learn' two Maeterlinck plays and go on after three afternoon rehearsals. That certainly got my attention and having achieved the task in hand, I felt super confident that 'the old magic' was still there, that I could do anything and I really was a 'master of the universe' etc etc... Such confidence is a very precious commodity and it left me about an hour after the final curtain on that production. Since then, a whole year of self doubt has crept back in and my task this year, makes last year's look like a couple of weeks sipping cocktails on a private beach, with a warm, gentle breeze and the sound of the ocean for company.

It's now May 18th; by June 28th, my Mission Impossible is to have learned, rehearsed and performed three full-length plays. This kind of work is usually referred to as 'weekly rep' and in late 19th - mid 20th Century Britain, became the established method of putting on a variety of shows in quick succession, at a time when most towns and cities would have had their own Repertory Theatre with it's own resident company of actors. The idea is to rehearse the first play and as soon as it opens, start rehearsing the second and so on; rehearsing during the day and performing at night. When I started out, most of the older actors I worked with had begun their careers in weekly rep and considered it a right of passage, a badge of honour almost. Apart from my final two years at university, when I was rehearsing and performing at least a couple of productions at any given moment, I've never experienced such 'full on' theatre and in a bizarre way, I'm really looking forward to the immense challenge of it. Good job I love theatre!

I leave for Nottingham next Tuesday to start rehearsals, but before then, I also have four days in the recording studio, for which I need to be fully prepared of course. Not complaining, but - aaaaaaagh!

I shall spend the rest of this sunny Sunday trying to assimilate the first play we're due to rehearse and I reckon I'm about half way there. The goal I set myself was to have cracked the first play by tonight and so far, I'm roughly on schedule. My days in the recording studio are semi-prepared, but tomorrow's I haven't yet seen the script for and will probably have to rely on instinct when it comes to performing it. The next two projects are just about ready although the final three stories I have yet to read.

So, there we have it. I will of course update here when possible and let you know how things are going...

In the meantime, here's a poster for the shows at Windsor; I'm in The Ghost Train, The Shadow of The Ghost and Fatal Encounter.

As a quick PS, I should also mention that Nick Briggs is directing the first two plays and Karen Henson is directing Fatal Encounter.

...further updates coming soon!

Paul Spragg

For the last couple of days, I've been in the studio with the Big Finish crew, recording a Dr Who adventure and having great fun as always. At the end of today's recording, director and BF Executive Producer Nick Briggs, told us, with great courage and dignity I might say, that our dear friend and colleague Paul Spragg had very sadly died yesterday.

To be honest, I'm still so shocked at the news that it all seems slightly unreal; forgive me if what I'm writing doesn't make much sense or fails to convey the deep sense of loss that so many people will be experiencing right now, particularly of course, Paul's close friends and family for whom I have the deepest sympathy at this very sad time.

Many visitors to this site may well have had direct dealings with Paul, either via the BF website or even in person at one of the Big Finish Days or other conventions. If so, you will know something of the kind of man he was. Paul was always so kind to me, friendly and approachable from the outset; we started working with BF at more or less the same time and he was always fun to be with and incredibly supportive.

Only a few weeks ago for example, soon after the release of Dr Who: Moonflesh, he sent me an email, completely out of the blue, just to say how much he'd enjoyed the story and to say nice things about my performance in it. I was incredibly touched that he'd taken the time to express such warm and generous sentiments and wrote back to tell him so, little imagining that we'd never be in touch again. He will be much missed.

Big Finish have released a statement which you can read here: Paul Spragg

 Paul with Lisa Greenwood at The Dr Who 50th Anniversary November 2013

Rest In Peace Pauly x

Survivors: June 2014

It begins with just a few people falling ill. Another flu virus that spreads around the globe. And then the reports begin that people are dying…

When most of the world's population is wiped out, a handful of survivors are left to pick up the pieces.
Cities become graveyards. Technology becomes largely obsolete. Mankind must start again…

Star Wars? No, we all get along very well...

Major SF franchise reveals cast of latest Doctor Who audio

The Widow's Assassin

 starring 

Colin Baker  Nicola Bryant  Tim Chipping  John Banks

Glynn Sweet   Andrew Dickens   Fiona Sheehan

written by Nev Fountain and directed by Ken Bentley

In an unprecedented outburst of pre-launch candour, Big Finish have revealed not only the name of a forthcoming episode of Dr Who, but have also photographed most of the cast along with writer and director and made it public!

Apparently, some other Sci-Fi franchise had tried to steal our thunder by publishing a very similar photograph of their cast and director, although the details are so obscure, I'm afraid I can't recollect any further info about their production; chances are, it was merely a 'stunt' and the show, whatever it is, might never get made...

Dr Who: The Widow's Assassin is scheduled for release in October.

...under the Spotlight.

Good afternoon - and what a grey, damp and Aprilly afternoon it is! You find me currently preparing for next week's recording of a fascinating Dr Who story - but more of that later as I am of course, sworn to secrecy about the entire adventure at the moment. As part of my routine 'prep' for such a vocal work out, I would normally now be pacing the garden and yodelling gently to myself as a warm up exercise*. Alas, the weather has kept me indoors and in some ways, it almost feels like I've got the day off.

With that in mind and not wishing to fritter the time away, I decided to refresh the audio sample clips attached to my Spotlight page. The original '5 Minute Upload' appears with other clips further down this site, but these new clips have been uploaded individually in the order they're posted below. The maximum amount of time allowed for sample uploads is five minutes, which can be made up in any way you choose. I suppose if the point of the whole exercise is to demonstrate a bit of vocal versatility and technical competence to those in the industry who might be in a position to offer work, it makes more sense to use a variety of clips rather than uploading a single clip of five minutes. You get my drift...

Some of these clips might well be familiar, if not as samples, then perhaps because you've heard the full story they're taken from. I'm not convinced that anyone at all will listen to them via Spotlight, but hope you will find something here to enjoy.

...all for now, more soon!

*...not really!

Audio update...

I'm aware of how few updates I've managed to post recently - my apologies! Paradoxically, that is not as a result of there being little to mention or talk about; there is in fact quite a lot going on at the moment in a variety of recording studios and on a variety of projects - which is good!

Unfortunately, on many of these projects, I'm sworn to secrecy, (yeah, I know - yawn, yawn), at least until they are about to be launched. What I think I'm allowed to say, is that I've recently been back in the studio with the Big Finish crew, with whom there are further dates scheduled both this month and next and which of course, I'm very excited about - as usual!

What I can also say this fine April evening, is that I was in the studio for a couple of days last week with producer Neil Gardner, to record an audio book for Audible.co.uk called Black Venus, written by James MacManus, which I very much enjoyed and later this week, have another audio book to record for the same company, Gabriel's Angel by Mark A Radcliffe. At a time nearer their respective release dates, I'll mention them again and add a synopsis for each; meanwhile, here's some artwork from their original book covers, which might well change along with the new format.

...all for now - further updates coming soon!