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The
Shadow of the Scourge
(Paul Cornell) |
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 October 2000's
release, called "The Shadow of the Scourge", is a Seventh
Doctor and Ace story
written by Paul Cornell and directed by Gary Russell. It was originally titled
"The Summoning", and then "The Summoning of the Scourge". Recorded on the 29th
and 30th July 2000 this story was originally due for a December 2000 release
but it swapped places with
"The Mutant
Phase" and so was made available at the end of October instead.
Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred this story also
introduces the New Adventures companion
Bernice
Summerfield, played by Lisa Bowerman, back into the Doctor Who range
since the end of Virgin Books
'The
New Adventures' stories where she travelled with The Doctor and Ace for
many adventures (see
below
for more details). Also starring are: Holly King, Caroline Burns-Cook, Lennox
Greaves, Michael Piccarilli, Nigel Fairs, and Peter Trapani.
The Pinehill
Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch
convention, an experiment in time travel and... the summoning of the Scourge.
The Doctor's arrival, with his two companions Ace and Bernice, is deliberately
timed and they soon find themselves trapped within the hotel and facing, along
with the hotel guests, a nightmare beyond everyone's wildest imagination.
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Sylvester McCoy
with Sophie and
Lisa |
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The Doctor, Ace and Bernice find themselves not
only trapped within the hotel but having to deal with a dead body that has come
back to life. There is also the threat from creatures from another universe who
are ready for every trick The Doctor has up his sleeve. But according to The Doctor everything is going exactly to plan even when he announces to the
Scourge 'I offer you the unconditional surrender of the planet Earth'. This
time though it would appear that The Doctor has gone too far. Is he being
turned into one of the monsters and is he really willing to betray not only
Earth and the entire human race but also the whole universe?
As the Scourge
set about transforming their hosts The Doctor finds himself having to rely on
his two companions to prevent things from getting fully out of control. Ace, so
that she can get close to the Scourge, gets herself deafened while Benny
ventures into the depths of The Doctor's mind. But even these attempts to help
prove not to be enough. It is left up to the comatose Doctor to not only defeat
his own demons but also to prevent the Scourge legion from materialising on
Earth and so sealing the fate of the whole universe...
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Benny is Back! |
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Love and War
(Paul
Cornell) |
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New Adventures
companion and archaeologist Bernice Summerfield, played by Lisa Bowerman, is
back in the Doctor Who range since the end of Virgin Books
'The
New Adventures' stories. Benny, as she preferred to be called, was
originally created by Paul Cornell for Doctor Who and travelled with The Doctor for 44 adventures, from 1992 to 1997, as well on her own in her own
series of books and audios.
Her first adventure with The Doctor was in the
story "Love
and War". She meets The Doctor and Ace while she is on an expedition on the
planet Heaven where her destiny is inextricably linked with that of The Doctor.
After the departure of fellow companion Ace and the introduction of two other
companions her final story with The Doctor was in "The
Dying Days".
But now she is back and part of the team which is helping to
keep Doctor Who alive.
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Notes:
- Featuring the Seventh
Doctor, Ace and Bernice
Summerfield.
- Serial Number: SS1
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 135 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 31'43", 2 = 29'38", 3 =
32'06", 4 = 37'09"
- This story takes place between Virgin Publishing's
New
Adventures novels 'All-Consuming
Fire' and 'Blood
Harvest'.
- Cover Illustration: Clayton Hickman
- Recorded: 29th and 30th July 2000
- Recording Location: Skylight Studios
- Released: October 2000
- ISBN: 1-903654-20-3
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On the
Back Cover:
The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three
very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel
and... the summoning of the Scourge.
The Doctor,
Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that has come back to
life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host, and a threat from another
universe that is ready for every trick The Doctor's got up his sleeve.
This time, has The Doctor gone too far? |
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On the
Inside Cover:
My favourite era of Doctor Who is the run
of Virgin Publishing's
New
Adventures novels edited by Rebecca Levene. I'm very nostalgic about the
feeling of shared adventure that Rebecca and publisher Peter Darvill-Evans
created for the authors working under them.
During that
era, Sylvester McCoy's Doctor was tested to breaking point, Ace grew up,
changed, and finally settled down, and Bernice Summerfield arrived to comment
wryly on the action. I've thought of Lisa as the perfect Bernice since I first
heard her starring as my favourite archaeologist in Big Finish's other range of
audios, and to write for Sylvester and Sophie is a dream come true.
I
never thought I'd get to write another New Adventure, but it seems that even in
one's thirties, one sometimes does get the chance to go home again. |
Paul Cornell,
July
2000 |
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Full Cast
List:
| Part One |
| The Doctor |
Sylvester McCoy |
| Ace |
Sophie Aldred |
| Bernice Summerfield |
Lisa Bowerman |
| Annie Carpenter |
Holly King |
| Mary Hughes |
Caroline
Burns-Cook |
| Brian Hughes |
Lennox Greaves |
| Michael Pembroke |
Michael Piccarilli
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| Gary Williams |
Nigel Fairs |
| Scourge Leader |
Peter Trapani |
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| Part Two |
| The Doctor |
Sylvester McCoy |
| Ace |
Sophie Aldred |
| Bernice Summerfield |
Lisa Bowerman |
| Scourge Leader |
Peter Trapani |
| Mary Hughes |
Caroline
Burns-Cook |
| Annie Carpenter |
Holly King |
| Brian Hughes |
Lennox Greaves |
| Michael Pembroke |
Michael Piccarilli
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| Gary Williams |
Nigel Fairs |
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| Part Three |
| The Doctor |
Sylvester McCoy |
| Ace |
Sophie Aldred |
| Bernice Summerfield |
Lisa Bowerman |
| Gary Williams |
Nigel Fairs |
| Michael Pembroke |
Michael Piccarilli
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| Scourge Leader |
Peter Trapani |
| Brian Hughes |
Lennox Greaves |
| Annie Carpenter |
Holly King |
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| Part Four |
| The Doctor |
Sylvester McCoy |
| Ace |
Sophie Aldred |
| Bernice Summerfield |
Lisa Bowerman |
| Michael Pembroke |
Michael Piccarilli
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| Brian Hughes |
Lennox Greaves |
| Scourge Leader |
Peter Trapani |
| Gary Williams |
Nigel Fairs |
| Annie Carpenter |
Holly King |
The
Production Team:
| Writer |
Paul Cornell |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
Alistair Lock |
| Theme Music |
Mark Ayres |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason
Haigh-Ellery |
| Executive Producer for the BBC
|
Jaqueline Rayner |
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