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The
Juggernauts
(Scott Alan Woodard) |
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 During
2004 Big Finish Productions announced that the initial
run of regular Doctor Who releases for 2005 were
to be by writers previously unconnected to Big Finish
- The first of these is this month’s story by Scott
Alan Woodard, a writer/producer for the ‘Kids WB’
animation studios in the USA.
"The
Juggernauts" was due to be the second release of
the year but had to swap places with "The
Game". This month also sees the return to the
traditional double-CD releases.
Directed by Gary Russell this story, that was recorded
20th and 21st April 2004, features Colin Baker, as the
Sixth
Doctor, and Bonnie Langford as his companion Melanie
Bush.
This is the first Sixth Doctor and Melanie adventure since
the successful "The
One Doctor" that was released in 2001. It is
also the first Doctor Who Dalek story since Robert
Shearman's superlative "Jubilee"
and also the first meeting with the Daleks for Melanie.
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| Sixth Doctor |
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"The
Juggernauts" also see the return of Davros, played
once again by Terry Molloy, (see "Davros"
for this evil scientist’s, first Big Finish Productions
audio adventure). This time though Davros is joined by
his creations the Daleks and their old enemies the Mechonoids
- whose first Doctor Who appearance was in the
1965's First
Doctor story "The
Chase".
Also
on the cast list are Peter Forbe, Paul Grunert, Julia
Houghton, Bindya Solanki, Klaus White and - providing
the Dalek/Mechonoid voices - Nicholas Briggs.
After
the space vessel, carrying medical supplies, that they
are visiting comes under fire, and unable help the crew,
The Doctor and Melanie manage to escape but in doing so
they become separated. Melanie escapes in a lifepod but
as she drifts away, she witnesses the ship's destruction
unaware of whether The Doctor has been able to recover
his TARDIS
or not. Meanwhile The Doctor finds himself a prisoner
of the Daleks, who claim not to have incarcerated him
but to have recruited him to their cause as they want
him to investigate Davros on the planet Lethe - a planet
whose atmosphere, The Doctor is informed, is toxic to
the Daleks. It seems that the Daleks suspect Davros is
up to his old tricks once more on the mining colony and
that he is plotting a new threat that could wipe out the
Daleks forever.
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Melanie
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Coincidentally
it is this same remote human mining colony that Melanie’s
lifepod takes her to. During the three months that she
has been there Melanie has been using her computer programming
skills to help refine some superior servo robots developed
by a disabled scientist who she is unaware is in fact
the Dalek’s creator Davros...
Melanie is also unaware that she is being observed and
that because of the Daleks intervention that The Doctor
is aware of the danger she is in and how oblivious to
this, along with all those on Lethe, are to the truth
behind Davros and his creations and also to the goings
on in a sealed off damaged part of the colony.
After agreeing to help the Daleks, so that he can rescue
his companion, The Doctor arrives on Lethe at the same
time that some mining investors also arrive to check on
Davros’ creations - but one of them knows who Davros
really is and is there to stop Davros.
In
the past the benevolent Davros has been motivated by revenge
upon his creations who have spurned his genius and offended
his ego by outgrowing their maker. But this time could
Davros actually be seeking atonement through working for
the greater good of humanity or is there something more
to the creation of his new service robots - The Juggernauts
- and was he alone when his space transporter also crashed
landed on Lethe?
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| Davros |
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Being separated from The Doctor and assuming that she
is now on her own and that Lethe is now her new home
she
makes friendships with her colleagues including fellow
scientist Geoff whom has a crush on her and whom she
starts
to have romantic feelings for. She though holds her feelings
in check as underneath she still has an unswerving belief
that she will eventually be reunited with The Doctor
once
more. However, despite priding herself on having a good
judgement of people, it becomes a shock to her when The
Doctor eventually arrives and informs her that the man
she has come to admire and respect is actually a diabolical
megalomaniac and can not be trusted and neither can The
Juggernauts that she has had a hand in creating. While
her colleagues Sonali and Geoff try to help the colonists
escape Melanie is has to come to terms of who Davros
really
is and that The Doctor is telling the truth about him.
She also has to come to terms that The Doctor is also
working for the Daleks!
Worse though is still to be revealed about Davros and
his attempts in improving the Juggernauts' effectiveness.
Could there be something sinister about them that is related
to some mysterious disappearances and deaths within the
dingy corridors of the mining colony?
Even The Doctor is not prepared for what is discovered
in a damaged and restricted area of the colony. Nor is
he prepared when Davros calls upon the assistance from
his own Daleks - Daleks who may be damaged but are still
just as dangerous. And there is another shock in store
for Melanie when Geoff sacrifices himself to save others
from a Dalek onslaught.
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A
Mechanoid |
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With things spiralling out of control, with Davros losing
control of his own Daleks and the discovery that Lethe’s
atmosphere is not poisonous to the Daleks The Doctor has
no choice but to call in those who has been forced to
work for. In doing so he may have started a Dalek uprising
that can’t be stopped and also fallen for the very
trap that the Daleks have orchestrated from the very start
and that it is not just Davros that the Daleks are interested
in but the secrets of his time machine…
Will The Doctor and Melanie be able to defeat the crippled
Kaled, two warring Dalek factions, save the workers and
inhabitants in the mining colony and also prevent the
Juggernauts from becoming the Daleks biggest foe and a
race far stronger, and much more of a danger to humanity
and the universe - A mechanical race that will become
known as "The Mechonoids"?
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Notes:
- Featuring the Sixth
Doctor and Melanie
Bush.
- This story includes the Daleks and
the Mechonoids.
- Serial Number: 7C/S
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 120 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 23'02", 2 = 29'50",
3 = 35'39", 4 = 34'25"
- Total Story Length: 122'56"
- This story takes place between "The
Trial of a Time Lord" and "Time
and the Rani".
- Cover Illustration: Lee Binding
- Recorded: 20th and 21st April 2004.
- Recording Location: The Moat Studios
- Released: January 2005
- ISBN: 1-84435-101-7
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On the Back Cover:
In a small mining colony on the dark and distant planet
of Lethe, events are occurring - the results of which
could dramatically affect things on a universal scale.
For within the dingy corridors of the artificial biosphere,
the lone survivor of a devastating crash has expertly
wormed his way into the lives of the colony’s personnel.
A
scientist known as Davros.
Separated
from one another across space and time, The Doctor and
Mel find themselves in very different predicaments:
Mel has been employed on Lethe, while The Doctor has
been imprisoned aboard an alien spacecraft. Both situations
are inexorably linked, however, and at the apex of the
two sits Davros and the terrifying possibility of a
new threat even more powerful than the Daleks!
Rescuing
Mel and stopping Davros should be The Doctor’s
primary goals, but could it be that this time, Mel does
not wish to be rescued? And might Davros actually be
working on something for the benefit of the civilised
galaxies…?
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On the Inside Cover:
BACK
IN 2001, I GOT THE chance to submit something to Big Finish
for the Excelis series, and whilst my particular proposal
was not produced, it did get my size 11 foot in the door.
In November 2003 (the month of Doctor Who’s fortieth
anniversary), Gary Russell rang me up and asked me to
submit something new. The brief was that it should feature
the Sixth Doctor and Mel and that the Daleks, Davros and
the Mechonoids all be involved! Once I gathered my jaw
up from the floor (this was a Doctor Who fan’s dream
come true, after all), I immediately set to work on a
detailed outline.
From
the outset, I wanted to explore more of Mel’s character.
I always felt as though she was a bit short--changed in
the series. Introduced as a skilled computer programmer
with an astounding sense of recall, her on-screen persona
really never rose above that of yet another shrill screamer
(in a long line of shrill screamers), which was a shame
as Bonnie really is a terrific actress. It made sense
to me (and to Gary) to play up her technical prowess and
to delve into Melanie
Bush’s humanity.
Also,
I wanted to toy with ethics in matters of life and death,
exploring it from a number of different perspectives.
I always thought that this had been an ongoing theme with
the Sixth Doctor, anyway, with him repeatedly reminding
his companions of his alien nature throughout his tenure.
The
result was a somewhat darker tale than what one might
expect from the Sixth Doctor and Mel: a fairly ‘traditional’
Doctor Who story of manipulation, lies, cruelty, morality
and love (in that order).
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Scott Alan Woodard,
April 2004 |
Scott Alan Woodard lives in Los Angeles where
he promotes cartoons for Warner Bros Television. He has
been a fan of Doctor Who since the mid 1970’s.
The Juggernauts is Scott’s first script
for Big Finish and proof to his mother and father that
has childhood obsession would some day amount to something.
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Production Notes:
The idea to do a story involving Daleks and Mechonoids
actually sprung out of a visit to a terrific Doctor
Who convention in Stockton-on-Tees during September
2003. Assembled in the main bar were a group of life-size
Daleks and a Mechonoid and while taking a few snaps, producer
Gary Russell realised that as Big Finish had done Davros-less
Dalek plays and Dalek-less Davros play, surely after waiting
five years, one big play with both together couldn’t
be a bad thing... And then add the Mechonoids to the mix,
stir rapidly and hey presto! Having
had some success with the CD adventure Davros, a sequel
seemed inevitable. Plugging the gap to find out how
Davros went from a Dalek prisoner at the end of the
TV serial Revelation
of the Daleks (1985) to
being emeshed inside the casing of the Emperor Dalek
in 1988’s Remembrance
of the Daleks was
the starting point. Add to that the inclusion of Mel
(Bonnie Langford never met the Daleks on TV) and the
Mechonoids (Gary Russell just loves Terry Nation’s
old 771121 comic strips). All the ideas needed now was
a writer to shape them into a script.
Enter Scott Woodard…
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Who's Who?
The Sixth Doctor
First television appearance: "The
Twin Dilemma"
First chronological Big Finish audio appearance: "Davros"
He
has been exploring the universe for hundreds of years.
He fights injustice. He defeats evil. He helps people.
In his sixth incarnation, The Doctor’s propensity
for philology, sesquipedalianism and all matters grammatical
has developed to a degree of dexterity that puts all others
to shame. He has recently found himself travelling with
Mel, an energetic and effervescent young woman. Her optimistic
attitudes and able-minded attack of problems have helped
soften the at times terse and troubled Time Lord.
Melanie Bush
First television appearance: "The
Trial of a Time Lord"
First chronological Big Finish audio appearance: "The
One Doctor".
A
computer expert from twentieth-century Earth - Pease Pottage,
East Sussex, to be specific - Melanie Jane Bush is young,
bright and enthusiastic. She enjoys her time with The Doctor and the adventures they have. They met for the
first time from Mel’s point of view in 1989 - however,
The Doctor had by this point seen his future and had already
met Miss Bush! More recently, the pair arrived on the
planet Generios where they encountered a couple of con
artists attempting to dupe innocent people by pretending
to be The Doctor and his assistant. |
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Full Cast List:
| The Doctor |
Colin Baker |
| Melanie |
Bonnie Langford |
| Davros |
Terry Molloy |
| Dalek/Mechonoid Voices |
Nicholas Briggs |
| Kryson |
Peter Forbe |
| Brauer |
Paul Grunert |
| Loewen |
Julia Houghton |
| Sonali |
Bindya Solanki |
| Geoff |
Klaus White |
The Production Team:
| Writer |
Scott Alan Woodard |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
Steve Foxon |
| Theme Music |
David Darlington |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason Haigh-Ellery |
| Executive Producer for the BBC |
Jaqueline Rayner |
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