From Purple Doctor to Big Finish Producer | Dominic G. Martin with Stephen Noonan | Doctor Who

0:00 Hi, I'm Morin O'Brien. This is the Sirens of Audio. One day you will subscribe. Yes, you will subscribe. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just click the notification bell and write us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. [Music] Heat. Heat.

0:49 [Music] Good day audio files. This is the Sirens of Audio, the show that explores the universe of Doctor Who and other cult TV in the audio medium. I'm Dwayne. I'm Philip. Good day, Dwayne. Good day, Audio Files. Good day, Phillip. How are you going? I've heard you've had a busy last couple of hours. Oh, yes. Um, lots of planning. Um, many of you know I'm going over to the UK for well about six, seven weeks at the end of the year and so starting to plan where we're going to go, where we're going to book houses for. Um, yeah, planning shows, what

1:35 shows we're going to see. Um, who I'm going to meet up with. There's lots of Doctor Who people I'm meeting up with while I'm over there as well. So, getting that all set up. So, and my my family is sort of working out again. Yeah. I say, "Oh, we go to Hastings and we can go." Okay. Who's at Hastings? Well, that's Matthew Waterhouse. Well, yeah. And then we'll go down go down to Canterbury. Who's there? Well, that's Janet Fielding. And then we'll go across to So, yes, they they've worked out the fact I'm planning my trip around who I'm going to see while I'm there. They're on to you, Philip. They're on to you. They are on to me. All right. Well, today is going to be an excellent show as always because we're going to be featuring one of the latest releases from Big Finish. Uh that is the companion chronicles box set families and a couple of other things here and there. But we are going to be joined

2:20 very shortly by uh the producer of that series uh Dominic G. Martin. But first of all before we get to Dom uh Philillip I've noticed you're you've you've got a concerted effort to uh to talk about not only our event in October with Carolan Ford but the one in November is getting an extra push from you now. Well, I just don't think we I'd actually pushed at all the fact that in November we have Sally Nevette from uh Blake 7 coming out. And so I just wanted people to be aware that um if you're into Doctor Who, in all likelihood you would also be into Blake 7 if you realized. So either you already are into Blake 7 because you love Doctor Who or or not. But of course, Big Finish has also done some amazing Blake 7 audios. In fact, some of their best audios I think are part of the Blake 7 range. Once again, the

3:07 companion Well, they're not called companion chronicles. They're called Liberator Chronicles originally, which all of those are just amazing cuz I just I love those that chronicle format the Big Finnish does. And so all the original Big Finish, the Blake Seven Stars did the Chronicles and then they went to the full series as well. And and and now they're doing the the worlds of Blake 7 now that unfortunately lost so many cast members. So, you know, part of that we we had a long chat with Sally Nevette. She's just an amazing woman. She's so much fun and she's keen to come to Australia. So in November um after seeing Carolyn in October, a month later you can see Salvette from Blake 7. And for those of you who haven't got into Blake 7 yet, get it and see it and the Blu-rays out already for season 1.

3:52 Season two will be out by that stage which will be all Selenet shows and you will love them. So come along, meet Selenet and come to another event. Yeah, I can I can tell you that the series one Blu-ray set is excellent because we're on it. Yes, we got we got free copies cuz we we're on it, which was very exciting. And yeah, nice to I keep watching the credits with our names appearing and I feel very special seeing my name appear in the credits there. It's nice, isn't it? And we um uh that I I've got to say that I I love watching it with the new special effects. So that really takes it up a notch for me. So I know some people are purists. They like to stick to how it looked in the in the olden days, but I like those new special effects myself. Yeah, some of those old some of those old special effects are still pretty stunning considering

4:39 Serland Ser's um headquarter shots are still beautiful. Absolutely. Anywh who, all right, well, with that said, shall we uh shall we get on to the main topic of our uh podcast today, which is and and cons I'm going to jump you down the jump you all all down the rabbit hole very soon. And we're the companion chronicles is one of is the topic that we're going to be talking about down the rabbit hole. But first of all, let's introduce our guest. He is has has been known as a a cosplayer, as a writer, as a purple doctor, uh, and as a producer for Big Finnish. Now, it's Dominic G. Martin. Goodday, Dom. Hello. Thank you for having me. Welcome, Dom. Pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for coming on and and chatting with us. It's um I've

5:24 been wanting to talk with you for a while because I've I've been watching your journey progressing from fan to actually working in official Doctor Who. Even I I'm I still call Big Finnish official Doctor Who. Big Finnish is cannon to me. Yeah. So, uh so I'm one of those who who go that deep. But um I'm curious to know where did your Doctor Who journey start? Everyone knows Philip and my journey from way back as a child. Um, you're in your 30s now, but you would have been quite young, probably about a similar age to Philip and I when we first got into Doctor Who. Was that the same for you? How did it start for you? Yes, so my my little journey with Doctor Who, it started when I was about 10 years old. Uh, the first I I it

6:11 wasn't through conventional means, shall we say, where I didn't start with the Eckleston series. Uh my mom actually introduced me to Doctor Who through uh UK gold repeats um of trial of a time lord. So my first experience was with the sixth doctor and his Dalek Saran Cyberman speech. Uh that's one of my earliest defining memories of Doctor Who. That's the first I ever saw it. I was just like that's cool. Oh, I like him. I I want to see more of him. uh because I had already been brought up uh on a lot of Star Trek the original series and the next generation beforehand. So I already had a pretty firm grasp of like liking sci-fi and all

6:57 that jazz. So when it came to Doctor Who, uh it was just another string to add to the bow. Uh I didn't realize that bow would become as all-encompassing as it has. Uh but yeah, I really just I needed to check more out. Uh, so of course the Echo series came onto screens very soon after that and I missed the first episode because we're on holiday, but I watched the end of the world uh on broadcast and seeing all those aliens coming out and with Cassandra the Moxabalhoon and I was just like, "Oh my god, this is amazing." I I loved the Doctor and Rose. they were just had such an impact on me

7:44 at the time and it just it just made the series just so very addictive. So immediately uh throughout the first series I not only uh made sure that my my uh my sister uh got me a did a little VHS recording of the first episode uh and uh was able to refresh my memory because of this. This was before I player and all that. And and then I went to my local library and got out as many classic who DVDs as I possibly could and binge watched the lot throughout the the next several weeks. Uh because I was like, you know, I need I need this. I need to learn this. It became quite a hyperfixation for me. Uh because I was I was homeschooled as well. So I obviously by

8:33 definition I didn't go to school. I was taught by my mom. She did all of my schooling. Uh, and every time we we had breaks, we'd watch an episode of Classic Who together and become acquainted that way uh throughout the weeks. And it was just such a lovely experience uh just watching through and being introduced to all these different doctors. Like I remember started with uh my first Hartnull one was the Aztecs. Uh, my first Tom Baker one I believe was I think that I think it was I think I did start with Genesis and yeah it was just Oh, and Spearhead Spearhead from Space for Perry as well that I think Spearhead was the first classic who I uh I indulged in when I

9:19 started dipping into the DVDs. Uh so yeah, I I've developed a firm love of uh Peruy and Colin ever since. And yeah, no, it's just been very slow and gradual. And then eventually uh as time progressed, I got into the cosplay side of things by uh stealing bits for my parents' wardrobe and making a a makeshift fourth doctor outfit. Uh my mom had already made me a Tom Baker scarf, which was uh very very long as it should be. And I took that to my local convention and I was just like, yeah, seeing all these different cosplayers, seeing these are the 10th doctors, 11th doctors, I needed to just indulge in it more. So I joined that world as well.

10:07 And then yeah, the rest is history really. Well, speaking of history, I'm your audio series didn't come before you got involved with some some fan films um that uh that you appeared in. And I I see that you're you're very well known for being the purple doctor. I can't help it. I always think of Prince when I hear purple. The purple doctor. I expect Prince with the guitar, you know. Um how did how did that come about? Uh, so yes, Purple Doctor, thou that is something I've been working on for quite some time. Um, yes. So, back in about 2014, I went to Birmingham MCM and uh,

10:53 Comic-Con, which is one of the one of the other big ones in the UK. And as part of my being introduced to cosplay and all that, I was making all these friends all over the country, which is uh and these acquaintances and everything like that, it was just the cosplay community is uh is great to make friends in that much is for certain because I never really had many friends growing up. And uh for that to just somehow change overnight was uh it was it was very overwhelming, but it was very nice. the fan film side of things are at Birmingham CM. I met uh my now dear friend Luke Luke Newman who founded the DW202 fan film series back in 2013 and he was already in the midst of his like first and second series and he

11:42 we met and we chatted and we got to know each other and then eventually he was like would you be interested in playing the doctor after me? Uh and I was like hell yeah. Um because I I loved acting. I loved acting. Uh after I did my uh GCSE exams, I started going to uh I started my first foray into like actual six form school, college, etc. that sort of thing. It was my first academic experience where there were loads of other people around me and uh that was quite uh overwhelming. I got very much into the performing arts side of things and I loved performing. I did a theater plays. I I was I did um Beauty and the Beast and Hunchback of Notraam and I was

12:30 like I really love acting. That is that is quite a passion for me. And then uh to be given this opportunity to play uh the doctor, a role that I was basically like obsessed with at that point in time and to an extent still am in a more grown-up way. Um I really was like, "Yeah, is there a more grown-up way?" Probably not actually. That just No, no, but yeah, I was like I I bit his hand off really. I was like, "Yeah, I'll do it. I'll do anything." And so a couple of years later in 201617 I started filming for the uh uh for my series as it were the purple

13:15 doctor series and it's it took quite a long time because unfortunately the pandemic set in and so that massively delayed things but we took the decisions over the pandemic to revamp the series, rewrite the scripts, and make it just a lot better. So, after the pandemic, we refilmed everything again. And I like to think that we've created something that is some something we can be absolutely proud of because I I really like how it's turned out. And the purple doctor seems to have gone down quite well with uh various people. And I take for granted. I mean, I just hope that uh I just hope that it's okay. There's a lot

14:01 of work put into it by all people's. Uh Luke is especially a workaholic when it comes to the series is his baby and it's my privilege to uh be the face of it for a bit. And Meg of Meg of course Megan Williams his wife who we met during the series as well which is quite amazing. Um she is lovely and has been my uh dear companion in that series and was amazing as well as as Ben. I'll end up Ben who plays Tommy as well. I end up crediting everyone because they just deserve equal credit because I'm just a small part of the pie that makes this whole thing work. And we've done we've done about nine episodes with the final one is to come out hopefully in

14:48 June. And I'm extremely looking forward to seeing everybody's reactions to it because uh we've done the previous eight episodes have been uh really really something some the best media as a creative that I've done and I'm really proud of them. And it's not every day you can say hi I played Doctor Who and I got to fight the Clockwork Droids. Uh even if it's in an unofficial capacity, it's it still somewhat counts in my little head. Uh but it is it's it's just good fun at the end of it all. Was good fun and yeah it was just uh No, it's it's a good thing actually. I mean Nick Briggs did it unofficially years and years ago and look where he went with his career and you know a similar thing is happening

15:33 with with you. So that's that's good. Absolutely. You are you are following on in Nick's shoes. Absolutely. That's always a delight when it comes to Big Finnish. Nick's lovely. So uh you said you were um uh you you rewrote the script. So, were you involved with Luke in rewriting those scripts and is that where you sort of started writing? Uh, so I wrote the first episode, How Time Flies. So, we did that. I wrote the basis of it. He did all the bits that ties it into the arc and then we gave it a overhaul uh later down the line. And so, yeah, I I was very heavily creatively involved in the first episode because it was the introduction to my doctor and everything like that. But as a writer, I had been doing stuff on the side as well. So

16:19 while the series was being made, I also did during COVID, I did a fan audio series called Doctor Who Remnants, which basically was my uh it was inspired by anthology shows such as The Twilight Zone and Inside Number Nine and The Outer Limits. uh all those shows that I developed a great interest in as a teenager because I just love the whole these are just random scenarios that things could just go randomly wrong uh for anybody involved and I just there were all sorts of like I remember so strongly just watching that episode of the Twilight Zone with uh William Shatner and there's that thing on the plane uh or there's the last man and he

17:05 breaks his glasses he's the last man alive and there just all sorts of like uh episodes of the of all those anthology shows. I just need I needed to do something uh along those lines. And so I put together the series Doctor Who Remnants, which is basically my version of an anthology series if it was Doctor Who wise. So would be taking sort of loosely taking concepts of Doctor Who and making little little mini stories uh with no primarily no real doctor involved at least not as the main protagonist. Uh, but t random tales around the Doctor Who universe of just random civilians getting involved with various scrapes. Like I I know the first one involved a spaceship being taken

17:52 over by the cybermen and the second one uh having like showing the danger of vortex manipulators. Uh and I got a whole little crew of writers and actors. Uh so I kind of masterminded that whole project throughout co and uh slightly beyond and I think it went down uh very well as well and again it's something that I'm really proud of because I could just uh really just start expuning those ideas from my brain getting them onto paper and hopefully making something fun out of them and also learning those skills um in audio production itself as well like editing together. I'm basically selftaught with that and uh casting whatnot and asking people.

18:40 Yeah, it all just came together quite nicely and uh yeah, it's something that really kept me busy throughout those co days which I'm very very thankful for because those those were difficult days for everybody and we all I think a lot of creativity in the Doctor Who fan really started kicking into high gear around then because there a lot of fan audio projects being made a lot of fan film projects being made a lot there was even the Doctor Who lockdown stuff being done as uh officially sort of officially uh probably not officially but with with the creatives official creatives involved and yeah it was it was a terrible time for the world but the Doctor Who community really did its best

19:26 to try and get us all through it in its own way. Tell us about the lockdown episode you wrote. Oh yes uh the genuine article. Uh that was one that was really fun. So fun fact about me. I live with the creator of the absorbalof, Will Graantham. Uh we're flatmates and he ah gotcha. And he and I uh we worked together with our dear friend Sam who's also a flatmate uh to put together this uh little idea for Doctor Who Lockdown. We pitched it to Emily Cook who was producing them. and we came with the idea of the 10th doctor facing the absorbal father as well as having a cameo from one of the other uh creator

20:11 monster entries as well. Um I can't remember his name something like Big Tony or something ridiculous. Um but we got a great amount of talent. Sad Tony. Sad Tony. That's it. Thank you. You remember that as well? Um no I don't. I just looked on the screen. Oh, I see. I see. That's helpful. I should have had a screen. Um I do well I have a screen but I just didn't have it up there. Um yeah, so we got Elliot Crosley involved. We had John Koulshaw involved as well. Both magnificent talents and it was animated by Will. I wrote the script. Sam did the music. Uh it was a real labor of love to Love and Monsters that is uh is one of the most uh maligned episodes of uh

20:59 Modern Who. But uh we all don't think it's that bad at all. We actually quite think it's quite good. Uh so you know, we just Me too, to be honest. Thank you. Yeah, I love it. Excellent. We're all on the same page. So, I just thought it was a lovely little tribute to that story and uh again, it was a label of love and I'm really proud of how it turned out as um I'm just very grateful to have been able to work on it and very grateful to have the people around me that were able to work on it cuz again, small piece of the pie and everyone just did their own bit to an excellent degree and can't really say anything um more thankful than that. Excellent. All right. On that note, uh

21:45 that leads us to a very very deep and dark place. Philillip, do you know where we've got to go together? I thought you'd forgotten. Take us there to be honest. No, we're so far. We never ever forget. Where is it, Philip? Down the rabbit hole. Let's go down the rabbit hole. [Applause] [Music] All right. So, since we're talking specifically about a Companion Chronicles release uh later in the episode, I want and I know, Philip, that the Companion Chronicles is possibly your favorite uh uh sort of sideline to the main Doctor Who range. I want you to let's just pretend I'm a fan who's never

22:31 heard a Companion Chronicle before. I want you to sell it to me. What's so good about these companion chronicles? Come on, Philip. We're going to ask Dom in a minute, too. What is so good about the companion chronicles? Um, take some amazing actors who starred alongside the doctor, who regularly didn't get enough of a starring role and give them the central piece in a story, still connected with the doctor and telling a story with the doctor, but the doctor's not present and then being done in some of the most creative and entertaining ways. And that's sort of the companion chronicles. So tiny cast. I mean the the original chronicles you know maximum cast of two. Um and then

23:17 you actually fe you get to feature the the brilliance of the original actors plus usually another guest sometimes playing just one role sometimes multiple roles and you force the writers to be as creative if possible to tell an amazing story. So yeah, I mean you're going to say, yeah, you're saying one of my favorite alongside the the main range. I prefer the companion chronicles to the main range. And I'm not saying it's my favorite. I'm not saying it's my favorite range cuz there's other range that I adore in Big Finnish, but I do prefer the companion chronicers to the main range. They certainly have a very experimental nature to them. They can be because they have to be out of necessity with a with a with a like a a a small cast. They have to be experimental and they take

24:02 you to some amazing places sometimes. Dom, what what are your what's your thoughts on the companion chronicles? How would you sell them to them? I mean, Philip put it very very well. It's an experimental set of stories that uh really put the companions into focus. Well, hence the name. But uh I just love the idea of it just focusing on those characters who again as Philip said never sometimes in places didn't get as much juice as they should have done like especially say Dodo um and which we've been able to act on fortunately recently. Um, I just really love the Yeah, as you say, those sort of restrictions with the cast do add in order to make it a bit more avantgard in

24:49 some way. uh to make it a bit more out different to the usual big finish sets in the way that I have to have to really push that creativity and it is just the companion they have faced of a situation and it's their job to really be the focal point and solve it and sometimes I think that can be an extremely good way of just giving them some uh increased depth that sometimes you may have not had the time or opportunity to explore on screen sometimes just to get in their own heads. Like one of my favorites is Perry and the Pisc Paradox. And I love how that really gets in the head of Perry and really just battling with her own sort of uh a potential fate, shall

25:34 we say? And I just love how that was all approached by Nicola by All involved. And it gives them a real chance to like expand their their acting muscles as well because they just have so much opportunities and the world it the world is their oyster really in terms of these things. They're limited only by the writer and the right is the writer's responsibility to really just throw them into the deep end and see what sticks, see what situations they can be put into and how they can come out of it with either little doctor help or they're helping the doctor uh or even the doctor's not involved. And I just love

26:20 the anthology aspect of it as well because they you can just really tell any sort of story and with any sort of character and you don't have those typical uh Doctor Who stylings to revolve around. You really have to go about it as if it's the companion's own series for an episode. And I think that's a really it's a really unique way of going about things. It's their own little spin-off series in a little in a little uh microscopic bit of the Doctor Who franchise. And sometimes it's just the intimacy involved. I no doubt we're going to talk about families in a moment, but the the time war I love the time war series. They're big, they're bold, they're huge stories, but the time war story told in this box set with Caroline Ford. Um,

27:05 it's just her and one other person and it is so intimate and personal and emotional that you can't well we don't tell the time of war doesn't tell a story like that but the companion chronicles can. Yeah. And so the intimacy that you you can get inside some of these characters and and and the special moments of grief and tragedy which is what the story is about is beautiful. Exactly. It can be it is a path to being more have more personal stories. Uh which I think is one of the greatest aspects of the series is it can just be anything in that regard. It can be just small scale. I love the just being small scale and just these small little adventures which can be massive threats or just little explorations of

27:53 the characters. It can be anything really. And I think that is one of its greatest strengths. Fellas, I am sold. Companion Chronicles. I want them all. So, uh, yeah, I think you did a great job there, boys. Thank you for that. We'll crawl up out of the rabbit hole and, uh, we will talk about some more of your Big Finish work, Dom, because, uh, was it to was it your lockdown episode or was it Remnants that caught the eye of David Richardson and and got him to approach you to be involved more with Big Finish? I think it might have been a combination. Uh, I know Remnants was directly cited as one of the reasons they got me involved because I think they saw how I was approaching it, put out the casting call and everything like that and just putting the whole series together. Uh, I think he caught

28:39 somebody's eye at least. But David Richardson got into contact with me and asked if I wanted to be a uh trainee and I of course was over the moon and I just again bit his hand off and all of a sudden I was uh uh supporting I was like associate producer on uh Peladon. So that I was listening into the clean feed sessions of Peladon and being able to compose interview questions to uh to Paul to uh Paul again and everyone involved. And I was like, "Oh my god, this is this is quite a this is quite a step. Wow." And oh goodness, and Alex Kingston

29:26 as well. Fun fact, I actually I made a question that Flumx Alex Kingston once. I can't remember what it was, but uh I was I was aiming too high. I was trying too too hard to impress and uh yeah, but it was it was all fine. It was all fine. But fortunately, the rest of it ran well and uh they sort of saw potential in me and took me under their wing. And and one of the um one of your earliest memories of course was with the Sixth Doctor and you got to be involved with one of his sets, Purity Undreamed. Is that right? Yes. Yes. got involved with a couple of the purity things as an assistant producers. So, I was helping uh one of my favorite Doctor Who authors, the wonderfully talented Jacqueline Raina. Uh she was an actual

30:13 diamond to work with. So, she uh uh was helping her out on uh on those sets for a bit and it was a great experience. Colin is a lovely, lovely guy and um just the entire cast is just so talented just going to the studio sessions uh and just seeing magic be put together and helping out the director of the day and I just it was a very very great experience and that box set is very good. I I mean I'm I'm biased obviously, but I really love the purity sets and yeah, it's just as my first real experiences being thrown into in studio as well. Uh because previous bits have

30:58 been done through clean feed because still co times were uh was still prevalent. But as we gradually crept out of that, uh, of course I was flabbergasted half the time just wondering how my life had ended up into this particular state, this this particular moment, but got there in the end and uh, I really en enjoyed working with everybody. I think I've developed a bit of a knack for it now. Uh, but as long as it all goes smoothly, I have no complaints. That's just my job. Just making sure everything goes without question. So that's what you want as a producer, isn't it? Yeah. One thing smoothly is what? Exactly. One thing you learn very quickly. Uh and I mean like minute one, you got to turn off all the fan brain. You got to just

31:45 you got to just get rid of it and just switch into professional brain and just make sure you just treat everyone as a human and uh just take each problem and solve it. And fortunately, every one of the sessions that I've had seems to have gone pretty smoothly, touch wood, and I really enjoyed them. And I just hopefully that's a sign of me a me doing my job well or b uh the whole universe making sure that nothing too complex arises on the day. So, I'm not complaining. But you've not only had uh a go at producing for Big Finnish, you have done some writing as well. You did one of the interludes a few years back, the I Chameleon on the uh on the 41 box

32:33 set, which was the 40th anniversary for the of the fifth doctor. But you wrote a story about Chameleon. Um how did that come about? So, uh, David Richardson was, uh, asking for pitches for that and, uh, because it was fifth doctor centered, uh, I really like the, uh, fifth doctor era and there was one particular element that I felt was always a bit undertapped outside of Big Finnish, uh, because Big Finnish did uh, a load of stories of comedia that I thought were excellent and the poor blog still never had really really never really had is used on TV and I thought there was just something I could maybe do as an epilogue to his story and to lead a bit further into Planet of

33:21 Fire. So I immediately started trying to come up with ideas of chameleon and then I for some unknown reason I don't know whether I just finally lost my mind trying to think of these things. I was just like, what if he discovered what it was like to be human? And I just I just decided, you know what? I'll go with that. That's as fun an idea as any. And I put together the whole outline and everything. And fortunately seemed to have received quite well. And I got to do it. and with massive help with uh the legendary John Dornney, an ever so talented and lovely guy, uh we worked together on bringing the whole script up to scratch. So I went through a few drafts because obviously um I not a I've

34:08 never had any professional writing training. Uh so that was so he very much helped me out in the the right style, format, etc. uh how professional he effectively uh mentored and tutoed me throughout that process and getting it all done and I was very very grateful to him for that because um I think it came up really well and Dan Starky did an incredible job reading it. Uh it came I was going to say it was it was amazing job that he did really brought it to life so well and I'm Wasn't his turlo good almost indistinguishable? I don't know how he does it. It was really really solid and it was very very I mean it's it's difficult when

34:53 when it's your own writing you're like you just hope that people like it but sometimes you just feel proud of how it's come out and I just feel proud of how that came out and again small part a small part in the pie. Uh, every just Dan just did they all did amazingly. They all did amazingly and uh just very grateful that it's out there and very grateful that people enjoyed it. Awesome. Now, was the family's box set that wasn't your first set of companion chronicles that you produced, was it? You done a couple previously, had you? Yes. So, I worked on the second doctor volume 3 first of all. Uh so I took over from the previous uh producer Ian Atkins who moved on halfway through

35:39 the box set and I took over for the second half. So I did the the last two stories which were were very uh very good experiences for me. I was very much uh guided through them through by uh with David Richardson. really used them to show me the ropes of everything and I think they came out very nicely. I mean, I met uh Wendy Padbury uh who was very very very delightful and of course uh Lisa, she's delightful. Oh, yes. She absolutely is such a lovely and and her daughter as well was helping her with the clean feed stuff. Uh very lovely. And Charlie. Yes. Yes. Oh, everyone's familiar. It's lovely. Um we we Charlie and Winnie Ch

36:27 Charlie and Winnie were out here 12 months ago. Oh, lovely. And um yes, so we spent a couple of delightful weeks together. Oh, doing lots of things and doing touring and um doing events doing events for us. Oh, that's wonderful. And um yeah. Oh, that that's delightful. Oh. Oh, what a combination. Um yes. and also Liisa Bowman uh who is just a legend just magnificent director and and actor and everything like that pretty much an allrounder and working with them for the first time was just oh that definitely was just that was my first real like okay put the fan brain down it is now dead it is dead in the ditch you are a professional

37:13 work And yeah, cuz of course Lisa was in classic who as well. Yeah. Survival. You got to as a fan, you know that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh that's things that you have both keep in your mind and also put it to the back. Uh but thoroughly lovely uh experience working with them and they all really just help me get to grips with everything. And I mean it's just weird thinking about these formulative experiences and just seeing how how both it's very different to to how I approach things back then versus how I approach things now because just become a lot more confident naturally. But uh back then I was I was feeling like I was

37:58 flying through the seat of my pants. Uh just wondering if there was ever going to be a potential disaster. Uh but it didn't come to pass. So very grateful. Uh and also met uh Rufus Hound as well who was very very uh funny, very dynamic to work with. I did a extremely good monk. Uh no, no, it was it was a very very fascinating time. I just really just love everything about how that box set came out. It's just I mean half of it was obviously down to Ian because he got all the uh the scripts involved and so obviously massive credit to him from that. Uh it was only real uh families was my first uh solo from from the

38:43 ground up production uh so far and yeah that that was a long experience but a rewarding one all the same. But uh yeah, the third uh the the second doctor third volume was uh yeah it was a great formulative experience from Big Finnish Productions Doctor Who the companion chronicles families. long ago when I traveled with my grandfather he always saw me as a child even when I was quite grown up and I suppose for him I became a child because I wanted to make him happy. Now let me see whose

39:31 court might one be likely to encounter in northern France in the autumn of 1120. Hey h I must have skipped the class on medieval history. Go on. Oh my head. What happened? Who are you? Nebro and I've just saved your life. I even let him enroll me in a school. Then next thing I knew we were off traveling with two of my teachers and they treated me like a child as well. So, here's how it starts. I was with the doctor and we're running. I'll explain why later. My apologies, your grace. I would never have been so forward if I'd known I was

40:17 addressing Steven of Bliss. Steven of Bl. I wish I knew, but I don't think it was an accident. No. Landing here. I think that happened for a reason. I I just have to work out what it is. Anyway, soon we were almost like a family. Mom, dad, grandfather, and the kid. But that wasn't who I was at all. Do you see Edith? Of course. Mrs. Edith Garrett. Well, I never I can't believe my eyes. I'm looking at a little old woman who would come up behind the two of them and clobbered him. using some fancy moves like martial arts of some

41:04 kind. And if that is the white ship, then this must be the 25th of November. I must get back. I'm not nuts. You heard me correctly. We are travelers in space and time. We were searching South London for a crashed alien spaceship. This isn't a ship. It's a wreck. Don't you realize what he's saying? There's only one lifeboat. No. No, no. Keep away from me. Don't come any closer. You have no choice. You will soon find that life has become so much simpler. You see before you the source of all life, a sheer cliff face of glass compassing the divine light. Except you have a small

41:51 problem, don't you? The cliff face is in the process of cracking. Which is why we need tributes to hold back the moment of oblivion. You've got it wrong. I'm not Steven of boys. You were telling me a story about being alone. Not really a story, only a little one. It was just an illustration. Well, I'm only ears for the rest. Big finish for the love of stories. And so now families has come along. You were involved with that from the start. Does that mean you're involved with getting the writers together? You know, the formula for the box set together. Yeah. Families. That was the name of the

42:37 set. Was that I think from the extras I gathered that that was an important theme for you that you wanted to get across the sets. Yes. Yes. when it came to the so this sort of uh soft rebooted version of the companion chronicles we started incorporating those sort of little uh throughine themes. So with families, it was obviously uh different types of family like platonic or generational and just obviously we have with Stardust and Ashes. Uh it's Susan and the Doctor and that little family unit they created where she draws reference to herself being the child of the lot. And with Temple of Light, of course, you've got uh like sort of generations of families.

43:23 It was all that sort of uh that feel to it. I wanted to keep that. It's it's a minor through line, but something that just links all those links that anthology together uh with that because I just felt like I wanted to go about it from a more personal angle. I wanted it to be a bit more uh yeah, I wanted to keep that whole small scale personal stories uh with a relatable theme uh to spread across it. And the writers really rose to the occasion cuz obviously uh uh the ones I asked were just extraordinary talents and just very happy that they contributed uh such I

44:09 think important tales that can be seen for that for those companions like I mean Stardust and Ashes in particular was very much a coder to uh Susan and Alex uh because I am a big fan of those AE doctor adventures with Lucy Miller and To the Death and everything like that. And to be and of course just being granted that opportunity to work with all these people to create a little coder to that I felt was uh really just something that was important. Ian Potter uh did a amazing script, an amazing outline, and it was just something so personal. Uh and Caroline,

44:56 oh, I can't tell you the emotion that was felt during that filming that during that recording day. Uh she just was extraordinary, an extraordinary talent. And it just continuously reminds you that she is just always been at the top of her game and she's never left the top of her game. She's p she brings everything that she can to Susan and it's clear that she's it's a character she cares about deeply and just you really it's one of those days when you really had to be there. It was just such a height of emotion between her and Duncan Risby who played Peramman. And the two of them just

45:42 bounced off each other like magic. And the final scene is the fi the favorite scene that I've ever had the privilege of uh being a part of it is just golden to me. Can we actually go back cuz I I'd love to know how the process started. So, at what stage do you know you'd be doing this box set of companion chronicles? How are you the one who actually puts it all together? So, do you do you look after the whole gamut of gathering writers? I don't have script editors or not this one, but but where where did it start? How long ago did it start? And what are you doing to get to get this on to us into our ears last month? So the overall process. So I mean at the beginning there is we I had a meeting with uh David Richardson and Nick Briggs

46:30 and we just basically went through the outline of what it could be, what it's supposed to be and how we can go about it. and they gave me some potential writers that may be interested because of course with these sets. Uh they wanted obviously people who were particularly invested in writing for the first doctor and who could uh do those companions with the same level of uh love and interest as the previous sets of the companion chronicles as well because it was keeping it sort of uh with sort of people who had proven their experience with those companions. And so I was I got into contact with them and they pitched the ideas to me and uh whichever ideas that I like the

47:16 best I sent over to uh to Nick and David. Did you only approach four writers or did you approach more than four writers and get them to pitch ideas and you picked the four best best pitches? Oh, really? It was the four writers that uh were had in mind at the beginning. I mean, at the beginning, the there was originally a bit more, but uh availability uh came into question with some of them. So, then we just uh were like, "Okay, we'll get you on the next one. Uh should that be your next one?" And then we revisited other people. So, there were a couple of changes in the lineup and but nothing out of like uh oh, your story is not good enough. No way. No, nothing like that. It was just more down to a scheduling sort of thing.

48:02 and how busy people were. Uh so whilst the original part of your checking is is actually checking availability. Yes. Because what time? So by the time they've got to pitch you an idea, you've got to approve the idea, then they got to do a rough draft of it and then get a script to you. Is that uh Yes. How long is that process? Uh it can take any it can take a few months really. It can take a few months from the time frame from an initial outline to getting that getting the outline approved uh by all the powers that be shall we say and then it moves on to the scripting process. Uh so it is really just a case of just you know just making sure everything gets done in a timely manner. Making sure everything gets done cuz we're given we're given deadlines and we got to just

48:49 make sure we keep to them. How many pictures were each each of these authors have given to you? Uh couple pictures each. Two or three. I I can't remember precise amount of number but is definitely it's definitely a a couple per um dependent on there was a couple where just the one pitch I was sold immediately and then but a couple of the others a bit a bit more of which has been uh lost to history. Uh, but the ones that we went with were just the ones that were golden. And if I just loved those ones, then I'm just more than happy to send them over to the powers and the if the powers like them. And maybe they need a little bit more tweaking or stuff like that.

49:35 But everything is maneuverable. It's all maneuverable. And uh, so when we get to that phase, then it's the scripting phase. And then when the script's done, uh, obviously worked with the script editors. So I on board I had the lovely I had, uh, Matt Fitton, Jack Raina, and Andrew Smith who worked on this box set. And they did amazing jobs just making sure everything was up to scratch and whatnot. And then once that's all Can I ask is you had three you had three script editors working. Yes. a bit unusual. Wouldn't usually just have one script editor doing all four stories. Why the three? Oh, it was down again it

50:21 was down to availability and scheduling because um Matt Fitten uh Jaclyn Raina, she'd already done the first script as well. Uh that was already done. Um the second script uh was edited by Matt Fitton. Uh but he is an incredibly busy guy and uh very much a workaholic with big finish and so it just schedule-wise it at one point it would probably be best not to kill the poor man by making him script edit episodes three and four. So then uh Nick and John Ainsworth, they got in Andrew Smith to mastermind the script editing process of episodes three and four. And uh Andrew will be the one uh that

51:07 uh did the f did the uh finalized versions of those scripts obviously working in conjunction with those writers. And it was very very very helpful and of course it was lovely to uh uh get acquainted properly with someone who worked on uh 80s Doctor Who as a fan and uh he started he started off as a fan and he has grown in stature ever since. So it's again it was a lovely um opportunity to meet these lovely people and just when we get the measure of their talents and I mean it just feels sometimes it feels extremely weird because uh I am easily the least experienced out of anybody that I've

51:52 probably worked with. So I'm like how am I bossing these people around? How am I a judge of talent? What the hell? Uh, so yeah, you do get a bit of a imposter syndrome sometimes, but you know, it happens every other day. Well, speaking of experience, what did you learn from someone like Lisa Bowman? So, you're working in in conjunction with her for this. Yeah. You seem like a really good team, the two of you. So, so what did you learn from? I just learned to the just utilizing the strengths of your cast. She's extremely good at just pushing her cast and giving getting those right performances out. like she knows who to cast dead on as well because Duncan Wisby is an incredible talent cuz he did so many different voices in the Temple of Light that half

52:38 of them don't even like don't think any of them sound like his real voice. It's crazy. And I I hadn't actually realized it was one actor. I I was surprised how many people you'd cast for I was so I was listening to it thinking, "Boy, they've got a big cast chronicles." And it wasn't until at the end I went, "Oh, that was just one person." because I really thought you it could cast many people. Yeah. No, it's it's great when you can get that sort of energy out of the the story. Uh and as well as he brought the same level to the Temple of Light as well because he played many people in that and it is some of times the one of the best things you can do with Companion Chronicles is just grab those actors who can do those sorts of incalculable voices. uh because it can

53:23 be it can really help with the the depth of the story that you're telling uh being able to give the illusion of these uh various members of cast. Um it really depends on the story that you're trying to tell. obviously were more personal ones than two handers work like amazingly like with the with say the with Y factor as well like having that sort of you're going back to that narratorial aspect of dodo and you're able to just um make use of various different uh talents there and I'm just grateful to have all these all these people involved who can just throw their voices to bizarre degrees And it's incredible. It's a skill that I'm just thoroughly amazed and baffled

54:10 by. I'll never quite get how it works, but it's not my job to do that. It's just my job to uh hope the magic passes by. Really great Steven Nulan doing multiple voices. Yeah. Because we only really gave us the first doctor. And once again, I didn't quite recognize him because I'm just not used to hearing him use other voices. And once again, the range he had was Yeah. the the the two side actors for the companion chronicles, Steven Nun and so what was the other actor's name? Uh Duncan Misby. Duncan, they were just amazing both of them in terms of what they could do and the voices they produced. It was just Yeah. astounding with those both those people. Yeah. No, absolutely. There phenomenal talents uh along with the companions themselves. they just blended perfectly while the companion focuses on

54:56 being the companion or well in Caroline's case she was kind of conveying everyone like the first doctor and uh Ian and Barbara as well she's just given a whole ethos of the whole team she was channeling the whole team and she still did that marvelously as well cuz obviously she worked with them she knows them intimately so it all just came together lovely like how Fraser and the second doctor just a gel can I can I just say that we don't like to give too much detail about new releases. We don't want to spoil them, but can I say the Temple of Light in particular, Johnny Morris is probably one of my favorite big Finnish writers, and he just blew me away with that story. Again, it was a mind-blowing story. So, I can't really say why it blew my mind. You just have to trust me, folks. Get this one. It is

55:43 a really good story, just that one on its own, let alone the rest. Uh, and really a really nice cross-section of stories, too, because you had the the White Ship, which was Paul Morris's, you know, stamp of comedy throughout that as well. Um, he does a really good job with comedy. And the wife actor, you had someone who hadn't written so many scripts before um with a with a new person in there, too. So, he had that experience plus that new um injection of talent, too, which was really really good in this set. I'm amazing you the word comedy with the white ship for me. It was just tragic the whole Well, part two was part two was it still had that the way Paul Morris writes he does write very very funny lines and so yeah in combination with the absolute tragedy of it the one historical was yeah okay for

56:30 me I mean I was I was I find that devastating the white I mean part two it just so overwhelmed the setup in terms of the historical setting um but yeah light fully fully agree with that the the reveal of what was going on in the temple of light was both yeah hilarious and also oh okay it was a big surprise that's the thing I mean Paul just he has this natural humor with him that uh is just able to pull from but he knows when to restrain it obviously and but he also has great historical knowledge which is something that is very prevalent throughout that script and it's definitely it's sort of scary almost And uh I just really when it takes that

57:17 tragic element, it really sells the tragic element. I think of all of them, I would say the Y factor is probably the most probably the reprieve I guess of the box set in terms of its tone. Um even then it's still a bit like um I but yeah Chris Cooper was lovely to get involved as well because he uh was so with him Edith Goward uh one of the central figures was his great grandmother and there was that lovely family yeah that lovely family relation that he obviously felt extremely in tune to and so when he pitched that because he pitched something alongside as well. Uh but when I saw that I was like what

58:04 better could you do than writing something that you have had a lot of uh um generational experience from like you may not have directly had experience but you know uh from your own parentage about uh more than I'd say most I would say. So this definitely his opportunity to pay tribute to her and she was a very powerful woman. Well, I think that felt the most modern who because you take a real historical figure and then you put them into a Doctor Who story with sort of science fiction surround. So I think part of the reason the box set works so well is just so and this is why I love Companion Chronicles. It is just so diverse. Yeah. Yeah. And so you've got a pure historical with the white ship, but then

58:50 you've got this um I think what the new series calls it, the celebrity historical. You take a celebrity figure from history and you and you put them into a science fiction setting. You've got I said I still say it's the war um the time war, but I'm not quite sure where where it fits in terms of the Susan, but to me it's part of the time war situation. And so you got that situation and then you know the first one which is just pure science fiction etc. So every every story has a different element which is going to appeal to a Doctor Who fan. And I said you can you can almost call out oh it's a bit like the first one bit like the space museum. It's a bit like Planet of the Giants. It's a bit like this. You can sort of pull out bits of Doctor Who stories and feel it. Um that's just really touching in with the original

59:36 stories. Exactly. And that's I think one of the that's one of the strongest aspects of the companion chronicles in general is you can just it's the diversity as you say and I really love the it's the anthology format at its best and I just that's something that's been the companion chronicles has kept as a fur line uh throughout its entire run and that is something that I think makes it what it is and just keeping that sort of diversity is extremely important. No story should be the same, at least within the same box set in terms of its genre or tone. So, uh it's always fun to experiment. It's um interesting this one you for the for the final two stories, we had one of the recast doctors feature in the companion chronicles for a change.

1:00:22 That's happened occasionally every now and then uh with a with a doctor turning up in the companion chronicles, but here we had that again. And he's been as a surprise. We actually have our first Dr. Steven Nunan waiting in the wings. He's been waiting there for a little while. So I'll bring him on. Here he is. Hello. Our first Dr. Steven. Hello Steven. So good to see you. Yeah. The room again. Nice to see you. Good morning or afternoon or is it evening? Nighttime here but doesn't matter. Whatever time people are listening it is. What's that from? Good morning, good afternoon or is it evening? It's so difficult to tell around here. Two Ronnies. Sounds like a two. I'll give you a good morning or afternoon or is it evening? It's so difficult to tell around here. That's a clue. Ah, fourth

1:01:09 doctor. Fourth. Fourth doctor from somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. So, we're going to talk about Terror of the Orton today. That right. [Laughter] Oh, Lord. We're talking about We're actually at the moment talking about the white ship, which is the the historical story. So, um, how did you feel coming on doing a a companion chronicle where Lauren, not Lauren, Peter? No, that was that was the one that was the one with Peter, if I recall. Yeah. Well, it was it was it was wonderful to to come back so soon to work with Peter, having done um whatever it was called, the previous one, the living the I was called I always call the living daylights. Yes, that's right. The living the living darkness. And we got on very well. Um and and so it was lovely to come back

1:01:55 and do do another one with him and to do one with him and with Lauren who's who's you know so great. But you want to talk about the white ship at the moment. Um I was listening I cuz I it was I was inspired to to join you today having listened to it and how wonderful I thought it was. Um and how well it all how what not because of me although I was okay. I was I I I wasn't I wasn't entirely disenchanted with that with what I was doing. Um but um just how well it all came together. I really liked both both scripts when I read them. Um, but you know when you hear it all come together with the music and the effects and everything and I

1:02:41 really liked for instance amongst the many things I liked about it was the music um which which reminded me of the source of music that Paddyy Kingsland was writing prior to Doctor Who in the mid70s when he would do incidental music for there's a series called The Changes. Is anybody familiar with the changes from 1975 where where the whole of society breaks down and Patty Kingsen uses because the great thing about um the radioonics as a band stereoponics is they can sound futuristic but also can sound strangely sort of eerily ancient as well and there's music that Patty Kingsland did for the changes

1:03:26 where the whole of society has become sort of medieval and the and the incidental on this reminded me of that sort of spooky, eerie, you know, electronic music that also sounds evokes the past rather rather beautifully. Um, so that that was that was one thing that struck me. But just how how good Peter was as a narrator. Was that your choice, Dom, to get Richard Fox to do the music for that one? Yes, Richard Fox. He did the sound design and the music. So, he was he was all over that. He he did a magnificent job, has to be said. for both for both for all the stories. He was a composer for all because I haven't listened to the to the um to the to the credits again in the in the um in the Y factor. There's there's, you know,

1:04:13 in transitional scenes or scenes when when you know something's going on sinister, you're totally beguiled by the sort of the the strangers of the incidental music in in that as well, which of course is so important um in audio to create the ambience and everything. So, so yeah, so the whole the the the sound landscape in both pieces was was was wonderful. And of course, it was a great opportunity to um get to do different voices and uh and to to escape from from the the the tyranny of having to sound, which of course, you know, I love doing, but of course, it's it's that sort of uh perennial challenge of of um trying to make it sound as much

1:04:59 like old wh. There's a there's a wonderful sort of freedom to be able to create a character that nobody can say, well, he didn't sound like that because because nobody knows what Barold the Barold the butcher, for instance, or um or Steven of Bliss, sounded like. But the challenge there um was you know if you're in a dialogue with yourself playing both characters is finding finding a pitch for the voice which is significantly different from the for in this case the doctor. So I so I was I was determined that in a in a in a scene the audience who didn't know wouldn't know it was the same actor

1:05:45 hopefully. And so with Barald, it was it was a case because because Hartnull's quite quite a a sort of tenner pitch to find a very bass sound for Barold. Barold your highness. So So when there were where there was a a sort of debate or or a sort of an interchange between the two of them. So you've got the difference which makes it in immediately sound different. And so what I can remember one of the scenes where he's where Barald's trying to explain to him about that the TARDIS where the TARDIS is and he's saying uh you're a box my box you're a ship my ship what's he talking about here. So you get that sort of that complete sort of um uh whatever you whatever you call it contrast between the pictures to distinguish them. So that was fun. I was saying

1:06:31 before that I actually hadn't realized you were doing all the voices. I thought that actually employed a bigger cast for these companion chronicles because it didn't I mean I know your voice. I wasn't doing I I I I uh to my to my at the moment shame I haven't listened to the other two the ones I wasn't in the the the the Morin and the um Carolyn Ford ones. But I believe that there's there's another is there another actor in in that voices and once again he he does a whole range of voices. both both of you together, I don't know, must do 10 10 voices or 12 voices between you and and I and I was and I was feeling like they must have had a big cast. They employed a big cast for those stories because they were just I could and I said and I know your voice quite well now and you know we we chat a bit and I

1:07:17 love your first doctor and there was these voices that I didn't think was you. So it wasn't until I got the the end credits when I went oh it was all Steven Nunan. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's it's great fun doing that. And then with the the other voice um the other main one in in um the white ship, Steven Ablo um and I was casting around. So So with Barold, the the the butcher character, I was I was it was great when I came in on the day because because you know you often don't get to talk to your director until the morning and you hope you're hoping that the choices you've made um when you arrive on the day are going to be approved by the director. And so we sat down to have a chat. Um um um I want to call her Bernie

1:08:02 Somerfield. Uh um Lisa and I. And uh and uh she said, "What have you um worked out for Barald?" And I said, "Well, I I thought, you know, um a a country accent." She, "Oh, God, thank God for that. I'm glad you didn't decide on a cocky accent. I was going to say I said no." And so we so it's great when you come in and and your ideas chime with what the director's ideas are. And what what was also lovely about Lisa is because she's got such a great um cultural encyclopedic knowledge of things, I was trying to find um a country accent and I went went listened to watched lots of different films with different sort of and tried to find something that sounded like a medieval uh country accent so it

1:08:50 didn't just sound like somebody from 2024 as it was at the time um who was from in the country. But and there was a wonderful film from 1973 called Akenfield um where local people played themselves in this sort of time capsule and they also they had to play characters from just before the first world war. So the accents there sound country but also old country. And I mentioned this and Lisa knew the film which was very impressive because it's quite obscure. So, it's nice that when there's when there's a there's a sort of shared grammar between you and the director when you arrive. And so, that was the the the voice for Barald. And then I was casting around and of course this was all very

1:09:36 nautical, the white ship. And so, so I was looking at sort of uh things involving sailors from the past and I don't know if you got you got Captain Pugwash in in Australia, which was which was a an animated series where Peter Hawkins Peter Hawkins did all the voices from Tom the Cabin Boy to Cutthroat Jake and his voice for Captain Pugwash was rather shuddering sharks hearties. Um, shutter me timbers. If if that's supposed to be an escape hatch, it's too small for even my slim figure. I thought I rather like that voice. If I if I pitch that up a bit and make it a bit more camp, then I'll carry on. That that's what I'll that's what I'll do for um for Steven of Bliss. You know what I was thinking? I was thinking it was more

1:10:22 along the lines of like Kenneth Kenneth Williams cross between him and Sirill Shaps from his appearance in some Mother Adam, you know, in that hotel episode.

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