Doctor Who: Damaged Goods & The Well-Mannered War

Good evening. I mentioned these releases only a few postings ago and details appear below. My Standard and Limited Edition copies arrived at the weekend and I'm listing keenly to both stories at the moment and enjoying them thoroughly. Big Finish have published a fascinating trailer for Damaged Goods and The Well-Mannered War, I'm guessing created by Tom Saunders, and here it is:

And now, as it's almost 8 o'clock, I'm going to quickly wrap up here so that I can watch some classic Emma Peel era Avengers action on TV! Adieu for now...

The Third Doctor Adventures Volume 1

Well, it's St. George's Day here in merry England and it's also Shakespeare's 451st birthday - huzzah! I wonder if there's anyone in the world called 'George Shakespeare' who was born on this day...?

Before you become convinced that this welcome, yet uncharacteristically sunny weather has fried my brain, time to move on to the actual purpose of this little gem of an update.

Big Finish have announced the September release of the Third Doctor (originally performed on television by Jon Pertwee) 'double bill' of Prisoners of The Lake by Justin Richards and The Havoc of Empires by Andy Lane. Third Doctor adventures are a new direction for Big Finish and Tim Treloar has stepped up to the plate to portray the character in an evocation of Jon Pertwee's original style.

There's much more to come on this box set nearer the time of release; in the meantime, here's some cover artwork from Tom Webster and details of the story I was involved in, Prisoners of The Lake.

Captain Mike Yates is investigating the disappearance of artefacts from an archaeological site deep below Dunstanton Lake. It’s hardly a job for UNIT. But when the team discover a mysterious ancient structure buried deep underwater, all that changes.

When chief archaeologist Freda Mattingly ventures inside, she soon realises that her skills do not begin to equip her to deal with what she finds. As an ancient menace begins to stir the Doctor, Jo Grant and Mike Yates must dive down to the lake bed and discover the secrets hidden there. Secrets that could mean the end of all life on Earth…

 Tim Treloar Narrator/The Doctor   Katy Manning Jo Grant   Richard Franklin Mike Yates

  Carolyn Seymour Freda Mattingly  

Robbie Stevens Johnny Repford/Director Pennard/Statue/The Prosecutor

 John Banks Chief Dastron/Lieutenant Macintyre/UNIT Operative/Archaeologist

Written by Justin Richards

 Directed by Nicholas Briggs

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

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!

Warhammer

It's often the case, and probably something I've previously mentioned, that a period of blogging inactivity usually corresponds to a period of busyness elsewhere. The last few weeks have been a case in point and indeed, a busy time has been had in various recording studios. What usually happens now is that I say what fun it's all been and then apologise for not being able to go into specific detail...

Well, it's been a fun time in the studio and that's about all I'm allowed to say for the time being... sorry.

What I can say, in this all too brief update, is that I've had a great time at The Games Workshop HQ this week, recording some very exciting Warhammer audio drama. I'd love to say more about this, but alas, it's all ultra top secret at the moment. When the time comes however, there'll be lots more posted here and I'm really looking forward to telling you all about it.

To round off then; Simon Guerrier's audio drama series Graceless II is currently being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra if you fancy tuning in and here's a link to the BBC web page: Graceless Series 2

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

Survivors Series Two: coming June 2015

The distant rumblings of this latest instalment of the Survivors audio-drama series from Big Finish are starting to be heard, ahead of its much anticipated release in June.

There is something very special about Survivors, I knew it before we even started recording series one. The writing is of a very high order indeed and the scripts for this second series maintain that standard - and some!

More details will follow as the release date approaches; in the meantime, here is the official trailer:

 In its review of Survivors Series One, Starburst magazine said this:

"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."

Audio samples... simples?

It's been a while since I edited together a collection of audio samples and I thought it about time to update the audio section of my Spotlight page, just in case anyone in the industry might take an interest and immediately offer some work. Well, that's how it's supposed to happen!

Anyway, after much delving and rummaging through my audio archives, I've put together this latest series of untreated character voices from audio drama and from audio book narration. It's quite tricky to find sections of audio drama that don't have someone else's voice chipping in. That is the nature of audio drama of course, the interaction of characters, but it does reduce the options for this particular purpose. I now have hundreds of hours of recorded material to choose from, but finding a passage that has just my voice and makes some kind of internal sense is more difficult than one might imagine. Not much from the latest Sherlock Holmes stories, not much from Survivors, or indeed from The Avengers or Counter Measures; even a long narrative from Ragnus Lang in Andrew Smith's brilliant Blake's 7 story, Retribution, is constantly interrupted -  outrageous I know!

The actual Spotlight upload is limited to 5 minutes and in all probability, no casting professional is going to spend anything like that amount of time checking out a voice reel; maybe 30 seconds tops. However, because that time constraint doesn't apply to this web site, I've left in a couple of odd clips which don't now feature in the original and, for clarification, they have been asterisked *. The reason I ditched them was to have room to include a bit of Daniel Connor from Survivors. It's not the best clip I know, but as I've just mentioned, extracting anything like a reasonable length speech is very difficult and as I am very proud of the work everyone did on Survivors, it just had to be included somehow. By the way, Survivors Series 2 is out in June and I'm really looking froward to hearing it - Daniel and his companions' journey into their 'Heart of Darkness' gets very much darker in series 2...

So, below is a slightly longer collection of clips than that which was published on Spotlight and if you decide to give them a listen, as always, I hope you will find something to enjoy and perhaps also whet your appetite for wanting to hear more.

The tracks in order are:

1) Mervyn Stone from The Mervyn Stone Mysteries: The Axeman cometh audio-drama

2) Hermit from Doctor Who: Trial of The Valeyard audio-drama*

3) Black Venus audio-book

4) Allat from Doctor Who: The Sleeping City audio-drama

5) Lucius Correl from Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles: Jenna's Story audio-drama*

6) Gabriel's Angel audio-book

7) Jimmy, Mervyn & Mervyn as Phyllis from The Mervyn Stone Mysteries: The Axeman Cometh audio-drama

8) How to be Both audio-book

9) Baron Pteratrark from Doctor Who: The Widow's Assassin audio-drama

10) Half Life from Thirteen audio-book anthology

11) Mona, Sarah & Douglas from Traveller's Duty audio-book

12) Mr Mac And Me audio-book

13) Roger from Roger Munroe Remembers comedy sketch*

14) Daniel Connor from Survivors Series 1 Episode 1: Revelation audio-drama

 

There are details and synopses for all these samples in postings throughout the site, including full cast lists and writing credits, both for audio-drama and audio-books.

I'm back in the recording studio very soon, so... more news just as soon as it happens!

Dark Eyes 4

After much anticipation, the fourth and final series of Doctor Who: Dark Eyes is released today from Big Finish Productions. Dark Eyes is an epic sixteen episode story arc that I've been privileged to have taken part in and have a close association with in a number of ways; the first episode of the first series won a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2014 and perhaps unsurprisingly therefore, I feel quite proud of the whole thing.

Here are details from this final series along with a fantastic video trailer: 

4.1 A Life in the Day by John Dorney

The Doctor and Liv return to post-World War One London, where the Doctor meets Kitty Donaldson (Beth Chalmers), and Liv strikes a friendship with her brother Martin (Barnaby Kay). But what mysterious force is hunting them?

4.2 The Monster of Montmartre by Matt Fitton

The Doctor and Liv’s investigations bring them to Paris, where a monster stalks the streets.

4.3 Master of the Daleks by John Dorney

The Master and the Dalek Time Controller have forged an alliance. History hangs in the balance, and this time the Doctor can’t help…

4.4 Eye of Darkness by Matt Fitton

It’s the endgame. Truths will be revealed, and a hero will make the ultimate sacrifice.

Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Alex Macqueen,  Barnaby Kay, Rachael Stirling, Sorcha Cusack, Dan Starkey, Susannah Harker, David Sibley, Beth Chalmers, Charlie Norfolk,  

Derek Hutchinson, Alex Wyndham, Blake Ritson, Camilla Power, John Dorney, Nicholas Briggs.

Written by John Dorney and Matt Fitton
Directed by Ken Bentley  

2015 Audio Publishers Awards - The Audies

Good afternoon! A very brief update to mention that the first volume of The Avengers Lost Episodes has been nominated for an Audie - hurrah! The nominated story is the first of the box set collection, Hot Snow, although, as with the BBC Audio Drama Awards, the entire series is actually nominated rather than just an individual episode - not sure why that distinction is made. Anyhow, it's a great honour to have been nominated and all digits are now crossed until the results are announced in May.





John Dorney adapted the original television scripts for audio, Ken Bentley directed and the series producer is David Richardson.

I've written extensively in previous postings about The Avengers series, which I love and am very proud of, so I'll limit myself now to simply congratulating all of those involved at Big Finish as well as fellow cast members - bravo!

The Audies, sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (APA), is the premier awards program in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.

Tom Talks

Just in case you haven't caught up with this brief interview yet, I thought it might be of interest:

and the winner is...

...well, sadly, not Survivors this time. Yesterday, Messrs Richardson, Bentley, Fitton and me went along to the 2015 BBC Audio Drama Awards ceremony and despite coming second or third in our category (we had made it to a short list of three), had a very festive time, attempting as we did, to at least recoup the value of the BBC License Fee in Prosecco and cheesy straws - not an easy task, but one we warmed to as the evening progressed. MC for the evening was Lenny Henry, who really did a fabulous job and was genuinely warm and witty.

Congratulations to all finalists and winners; I am of course especially proud of the whole team who created and worked on Survivors, it certainly ranks as one of the very best things I've done in any medium. My particular thanks to David Richardson, for not only inviting me to last night's event via the BBC, but also for having conceived the idea of Survivors as audio drama and for having created the character Daniel Connor for me to play - an honour and a privilege indeed!

Just to round off this brief posting, February 1st was also the publication date for my latest audio book, available from W.F. Howes Ltd: Mr. Mac And Me by Esther Freud. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will probably have to buy myself a copy of the audio recording!





 It is 1914, and Thomas Maggs lives with his parents on the Suffolk coast. Life is quiet - shaped by the seasons. Then one day a mysterious Scotsman arrives, looking for all the world like Sherlock Holmes. Mac is what the locals call him as they whisper. But Mac isn’t a detective, he’s the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and together with his red haired artist wife, they soon become a source of fascination and wonder to Thomas.

 Mr Mac & Me

8 CDs - run time: 8 hours 15 minutes

I'm currently preparing a fascinating biographical audio book for RNIB and also back in studio to record more Big Finish adventures over the next few weeks.

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

Romance and The English...

...and do the two things ever go together? Well, as far as this month's Big Finish releases are concerned, they certainly do and in multiple formats! The two stories, The Romance of Crime and The English Way of Death, featuring Fourth Doctor Tom Baker and Romana II Lalla Ward, are available either as separate editions, or in a very smart looking box set collection. Here's some artwork by Tom Webster and a synopsis of each story:

 

The Romance of Crime

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Romana and K9 to the Rock of Judgement; a court, prison and place of execution built into a rocket-powered asteroid. When involved in an investigation by the system's finest lawman, they find they must seek answers to some disturbing questions.

Tom Baker The Doctor Lalla Ward Romana John Leeson K9 Graham Seed Pyerpoint Miranda Raison Margo/Xais Phil Mulryne Shom, Hogan, Ogron 6 Marcus Garvey Frank Spiggot Michael Troughton Stokes James Joyce Zy, Ogron 5, Barman Joshua Silver Charlie Nisbett John Dorney Eddie Nisbett/Ogrons Jane Slavin Blakemore, Bailiff, Librarian




 

 The English Way of Death

The Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive in 1930s London to return some overdue library books. They plan to take a rest after their recent adventures, but Romana detects a distress signal from the future and the Doctor is attacked by a suffocating green mist.

Tom Baker The Doctor Lalla Ward Romana John Leeson K9 Terrence Hardiman Stackhouse Derek Carlyle Orlick Richard Braine Percy Closed Abigail McKern Felicia Annabel Mullion Julia Mark Bonnar Porteus Tim Bentinck Colonel Radlett Andrew Bone Woodrow Jane Slavin Harriet





This is a five-disc limited Special Edition in deluxe premium packaging, which includes a behind the scenes interview disc, a cover exclusive to this release, and a stunning array of professional photos of the cast:

I mentioned in the previous posting that I'd had some involvement in these recordings, although I wondered at the time, whether or not I'd be credited. It now seems that I'm not actually credited with playing any specific role/s in either story, although my photo appears on the inner sleeve artwork. As far as I remember, I possibly added to the general Ogron melee and filled a few of the continuity gaps. It's a little confusing I agree, but there are quite a number of stories I'm uncredited with, although my photo doesn't usually find it's way on to the sleeve art in such instances.

I found myself signing a number of those CD sleeves at Big Finish Day 6 last weekend, which, I must say was thoroughly enjoyable once again and which seemed to fly by. It was a pleasure to meet and chat to so many Big Finish fans, both at the signing area and at the Sherlock Holmes panel. I had the impression that it was the busiest BF Day so far and the pace didn't seem to slacken at all until final close of play. So thanks indeed to all who came, I hope you had as much fun as I did and I hope we'll meet up again at a future BF Day.

Earlier in the week just gone, I was in studio working on a new Doctor Who adventure and having a fabulous time with the company; the morning's work started a little late as the stories and anecdotes were in full flow, as indeed were the tears rolling down my face - quite an effective 'warm up' really.

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

Big Finish Day 6

Just a quick reminder, as if one were necessary (!), that Big Finish Day 6 takes place this Saturday 17th.

 Maybe see you there?

January 2015

Well, at least I got the date right! Welcome to the first posting of the year; it seems an age since I signed off in December and much has happened in the interim. I was fortunate indeed to have spent Christmas and New Year in New York with friends old and new (too many 'news'!?). I love the city and would happily go there pretty much whenever the opportunity presented itself; I find it a paradoxically 'relaxing' place to be, although I'm now feeling a bit shattered and still have end of year accounts to wade through...

Moving on. Despite a lack of updates, work is well under way this month and in fact I lost a couple of jobs because I was in NY (poor me). I'll have to keep this posting succinct as there's much to do this weekend, so allow me to mention a couple of January Big Finish releases, which I had some involvement with and for which I might not be credited - it'll be interesting to find out, so I'll say no more until the CD copy is in my hand! 

First up is my final role to date in the Pathfinder Legends series:

Having steeped their weapons in the ancient magic of Thassilon, Ezren, Merisiel, Harsk and Valeros prepare to confront the newly risen Runelord Karzoug at the seat of his power. To do so, they must travel high into the mountains, to the fabled city of Xin-Shalast, where they are confronted by enormous giants and dragons before they can finally confront the mad wizard of greed in his mountaintop palace. Yet can defeating Runelord Karzoug stop the rise of the Runelords? Or are there more terrors yet to come?

Stewart Alexander Valeros Trevor Littledale Ezren Ian Brooker Harsk Kerry Skinner Merisiel  

Yuriri Naka Ameiko Kaijitsu David Dobson Silas Vekker / Bjormundal John Banks Karivek Vekker
 Nicholas Rowe Karzoug Mark Donovan, Harry Myers, and Steven Wickham The Ghosts

 Written by: Cavan Scott
Directed by: John Ainsworth 

Love the artwork on this series and looking forward to giving it a listen when it arrives. Below is the BF trailer video for a couple of Tom Baker Doctor Who stories, which again, I'm really looking forward to hearing.

And I'm afraid that's all for this posting, although there's much more to come as the month progresses!

Doctor Who: Trial of The Valeyard

And finally for this year and almost exactly a year since it was first released as a subscriber bonus download, the CD version of Trial of The Valeyard has now been released from Big Finish Productions.

There is some evil in all of us – even the Doctor. Transported aboard the Time Lords' orbiting courtroom, the Doctor once again encounters the Valeyard, an amalgamation of the darker sides of his nature. This time, however, the Doctor isn't in the dock. This time, the Valeyard is the defendant, accused of a crime so terrible that the presiding Inquisitor is forbidden to reveal it even to the court, nor even to his counsel for the defence… the Doctor.

If the Valeyard is found guilty, he'll be executed. Execute the Valeyard, and the secret of his origins dies with him. A secret that the Doctor is desperate to know… and which the Time Lords will stop at nothing to protect.
  

Colin Baker The Doctor   Michael Jayston The Valeyard   Lynda Bellingham The Inquisitor

 John Banks The Hermit

 

Written by Alan Barnes and Mike Maddox
Directed by Barnaby Edwards 

* * * * *

And just to round off this late December posting, I would like to thank you for dropping by to visit my weblog this year and I very much hope you'll come back again in 2015, when there'll hopefully be some more interesting stuff to look at! 

In the meantime, may I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year!

The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes

Yo-ho-ho! Christmas has come early for me this year; indeed, after months of anticipation (mine at least!), the latest Holmes adventure is now available, The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes.

 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…

Part One: Poppyland

It is October, 1921. Dr John Watson, now almost seventy, has accustomed himself to a life of retirement. He is surprised, then, to encounter his old friend, Mr Sherlock Holmes, rising out of the early evening mist like a wraith. There are things they have to discuss, he says, matters from the distant past. It is important, he says, that Watson hears at last a full account of what happened to Holmes during his years away from England when, believed by the world to be dead following his battle with Professor Moriarty, he travelled incognito overseas…

Part Two: At the Gates of Shambhala

1892. At the heart of Tibet, a world away from London, where a grieving Dr Watson is battling demons of his own, stands an ancient monastery, abandoned for generations but now the source of rumours of the most peculiar and terrible kind. For strangers have lately invaded this place and pressed it into service for their dark schemes. Those who dwell nearby have come to live in fear and sorrow. What good fortune, then, that a certain noted Norwegian explorer should happen to have found himself in the vicinity…

Part Three: The Man in the Moonlight

Mr Sherlock Holmes is the kind of man whom it is practically impossible to imagine ever having been a child, so fixed and set is his nature. Yet even he was once an infant, his childhood as fraught with peril as his adult life. That time, long past, still haunts him – one element most of all, the figure of a stranger, standing without and gazing upwards, his thin, pale face haloed by moonlight.

  Part Four: The Tragedy of Pargetter Square

Here is where it ends: with a murderer in Pargetter Square, with the detective and a tyrant come face to face in Baker Street, with desperate ambition and wickedness incarnate, with an assassin’s bullet and with old friends working, unknowingly, as one.

Yet what is an ending if not a beginning by a different name?

 Nicholas Briggs Sherlock Holmes - Sherrinford Holme  Richard Earl Dr Watson  

John Banks Inspector Lestrade - Colonel Sebastian Moran Tim Bentinck Mycroft Holmes  

Gemma Whelan Mary Watson Jemma Churchill Helena Eidelmann  

Terrence Hardiman Dr Esau Thorne Nicholas Chambers The Reverend Samuel Griffiths 

Joannah Tincey Miss Jessica Hendrick Dai Tabuchi Dorje  

David Killick Lord Colney, The Earl of Pettigree

Written by Jonathan Barnes
Directed by Ken Bentley  

December 21st update: an extract from today's SFcrowsnest review:

" John Banks is multi-tasking, both as the superb Lestrade and also the villainous and no doubt moustache twirling Sebastian Moran. They sound completely different and I bow to his talent."

" This is rapidly turning into appointment audio with this release eagerly awaited by fans and hopefully new listeners. If you haven’t jumped yet then you really should."

Sue Davies

The full review can be read by following this link: SFcrowsnest: The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes

December 18th update: an extract from today's Sci-Fi Bulletin review:

" Director Ken Bentley has assembled a very strong cast alongside Briggs and Earl – who both excel in this, displaying passionate sides to their characters that shake the speakers. John Banks as Lestrade and Tim Bentinck’s Mycroft are great foils for Earl, while Gemma Whelan gives us a very feisty Mary Watson; Jemma Churchill, Terrence Hardiman, Nicholas Chambers, Joannah Tincey, Dai Tabuchi and David Killick all play to the melodramatic nature of the story without ever letting it go over the top (I’m deliberately not talking further about their characters so as not to spoil the many twists!). 

There’s a cinematic scope to the story, and Jamie Robertson’s sound design ensures that even with the quick cutting that the script requires, we’re never unsure where we are (unless that’s the point!).

You’ll have to listen to this to understand how and why it qualifies as Sci-Fi Bulletin territory – but I can’t wait for the sequel which promises to be more terrifying than a certain spectral hound… "

Verdict: Another triumph for Briggs, Earl and the team. 10/10

Paul Simpson

The full review can be read by following this link:  Sci-Fi Bulletin: The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes