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Other
Lives
(Gary Hopkins) |
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 The
final release for 2005 was an Eighth
Doctor story titled "Other Lives" by Gary
Hopkins. This is Gary Hopkins' second Doctor Who
play, following 2004's "The
Last". It has been directed by Gary Russell and
was recorded on the 29th and 30th April 2005.
Joining Paul McGann, as the Eighth Doctor, India
Fisher, as Charley
Pollard, and Conrad Westmaas as C'rizz, is guest star
Ron Moody, who is best known for playing the part of Fagin
in the 1968 film Oliver!. Also starring are:
Ron Moody, Michael Hobbs, Mike Holloway, Peter Howe, Francesca
Hunt and Maitland Chandler.
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| Eighth Doctor |
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The
TARDIS
takes The Doctor and his two companions to the Crystal
Palace - home of the Great Exhibition of London in 1851.
While
The Doctor and Charley look around the exhibits C'rizz
is left to look after the TARDIS - as Victorian London
is not quite ready for a Eutermesan to wonder amongst
them.
It
is not long though before The Doctor and Charley become
separated. While The Doctor is blamed for losing a young
child belonging to Georgina Marlow and for not having
an entry ticket Charley gets to meet the Duke of Wellington.
On
returning to the TARDIS Charley and C'rizz witness, on
the TARDIS scanner, a stranger carrying a pistol following
two French dignitaries and the Duke - could a murder about
to take place? Leaving the safety of the TARDIS Charley
and C'rizz go hunting for The Doctor. It is not long though
for C'rizz to bump into Jacob Crackles, Esq., proprietor
of a travelling freak show, and so is in grave danger
of becoming an exhibit himself.
While Charley and C'rizz are looking for The Doctor the
Time Lord returns to his TARDIS and prevents the assassin,
that Charley and C'rizz witnessed earlier, from threatening
two French dignitaries while he is trying to gain get
inside his TARDIS. After the assassin is thwarted The
Doctor enters the TARDIS, along with two French dignitaries,
to find C'rizz is missing and then to his horror, on leaving
his time machine, the TARDIS dematerialises leaving The
Doctor stranded and alone and in a huge amount of trouble
when he is accused of attempting to murder the two French
dignitaries. When he finds himself in jail it is Georgina
Marlow who rescues him from his prison cell under the
impression that he is her long lost husband.
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| India
Fisher |
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Completely unaware of the predicaments of her two travelling
companions Charley, having now lost both The Doctor and
C'rizz, decides to seek out the Duke of Wellington so
that he can notify the authorities of the assassin. Luckily
for her she strikes up a charming relation with the Duke
of Wellington and given the chance to dress and pretend
she is royalty.
As
our travelling companions become more involved in current
events The Doctor and Charley find themselves drawn into
the murky world of nineteenth-century politics The Doctor
is left to contemplate a possible other life for himself
when he decides to continue to be mistaken for Georgina
Marlow's long-lost husband to so that Georgina and her
children are not turned out on the street by her husband’s
hard ruthless uncle, C'rizz struggles to maintain his
dignity against growing odds when he becomes a freak show
exhibit and makes himself an enemy of Jacob Crackles,
Charley gets to befriend the Duke of Wellington, mistaken
for a prostitute and then impersonates, along with C'rizz,
two French dignitaries while the Duke of Wellington finds
out about the future.
How do assassination, impersonation and dematerialisation
combine to make the events around Hyde Park so surprising?
How can the scene of the Great Exhibition of the Works
of Industry of All Nations also become the scene to also
un-seat the government, de-throne the monarch and start
a republic? And who is Mrs Georgina Marlow and why does
she need The Doctor to fill the shoes of her missing husband
so much?
What
begins as an attempt to prevent a murder quickly becomes
a desperate race to avert a revolution, to regain the
TARDIS and, in the case C’rizz, to seek revenge.
It is not long before The Doctor and his two companions
discover that getting entangled in the lives of others
carries huge risks...
Also
for this month Big Finish Productions released another
exclusive release for subscribers to their Doctor
Who audio range. Titled "Cryptobiosis"
this single CD story has been written by Elliot Thorpe
and features the Sixth
Doctor and Peri.
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Notes:
- Featuring the Eighth
Doctor,
Charley Pollard and C'rizz.
- Serial Number: 8Y
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 130 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 26'44", 2 = 27'43",
3 = 31'37", 4 = 39'59"
- Total Story Length: 126'03"
- This story takes place after "Doctor
Who: The Movie" and follows on from "Scaredy
Cat".
- Cover Illustration: Lee Binding
- Recorded: 29th and 30th April 2005
- Recording Location: The Moat Studios
- Released: December 2005
- ISBN: 1-84435-162-9
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On the Back Cover:
London, 1851.
Scene of the
Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations.
Scene also of a plot to un-seat the government, de-throne
the monarch and start a republic.
If the Duke
of Wellington himself is to be believed...
While The Doctor
and Charley are drawn into the murky world of nineteenth-century
politics, C'rizz struggles to maintain his dignity against
growing odds.
What begins
as an attempt to prevent murder quickly becomes a desperate
race to avert revolution. Separated from the TARDIS,
the travellers are left to wonder if they'll get their
own lives back or be forever entangled with the lives
of others.
And who is Mrs
Georgina Marlow? What need does she feel The Doctor
can satisfy? |
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On the Inside Cover:
AFTER
THE DOOM AND GLOOM OF The Last, I was keen
to write something in a much lighter vein, so the invitation
to tackle a ‘comedy of manners’ was welcomed
with open arms. I immediately suggested that it should
be a story set at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and featuring
an ageing Duke of Wellington. The first outline for
what became Other Lives included a climactic struggle
between the superhero duke and the ghost of Napoleon
Bonaparte, but this was quite sensibly dropped in favour
of what is now rather more down-to-earth.
I
tried to imagine what Charles Dickens might have done
if he’d written a Doctor Who adventure,
ignoring the likelihood that it would have been several
episodes longer than the Big Finish budget allows. (Ignoring
the fact too that I’m not Charles Dickens.) That
said, the first draft of the script contained many more
speaking parts than is usual in a Big Finish audio drama
and it was necessary to reduce the number to a manageable
level. This, as it turned out, had the double advantage
of sharpening the focus of the story and giving the
surviving characters more to do. And so we were all
happy.
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Gary Hopkins,
May 2005 |
Gary Hopkins
has written for TV series such as Dramarama,
Into the Labyrinth and Granada TV’s award-winning
Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett. This
is his second script for Big Finish’s Eighth Doctor
range. Will he never learn? |
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Production Notes:
It was during the recording of The Last that
Big Finish, egged on by the cast, asked Gary Hopkins to
submit another storyline. After the studio session, discussions
in the bar of the hotel where everyone was staying went
on late into the night. By bedtime, everyone had decided
a Victorian comedy was the answer. Imagine the fun The Doctor and Charley would have hiding C’rizz’s
Eutermesen face from London’s polite society!
Not
long afterwards, Other Lives was born. Although
it has light moments, it also contains some darker-tinged
scenes - notably those surrounding C’rizz’s
enforced incarceration at the bands of Jacob Crackles,
Esq., proprietor of a travelling freak show of the type
popular in nineteenth-century England.
Having
recently worked with Mike Holoway on a Tomorrow People
CD for Big Finish, director Gary Russell knew he would
be right for Crackles, whilst India Fisher had indicated
that her sister, actress Francesca Hunt, wanted to do
a Doctor Who. Therefore, Georgina Marlow was
created especially for her. For the Duke of Wellington,
the author had no one else in mind other than the great
Ron Moody. |
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Who's Who?
The Eighth Doctor
First television appearance: Doctor Who
First Big Finish audio appearance: “Storm
Warning”
The
Eighth Doctor’s life has gone through an extraordinary
series of events recently. Forced to flee into an alternate
universe whilst infected with the Zagreas virus, he recently
learned that he had been cared almost as soon as he did
so. Therefore, along with his friends Charley and C’rizz,
he returned to the ‘real’ universe - the one
he terms home. However, as soon as they emerged from the
ship’s control room they found themselves face-to-face
with Davros. Defeating his old adversary, The Doctor is
now free to explore once more...
Charley Pollard
First Big Finish audio appearance: "Storm
Warning".
Charley
was rescued by The Doctor from aboard the ill-fated
R101
airship in 1930. With scant regard for her own safety,
and thus against The Doctor’s wishes, she went
with her best friend into the Divergent Universe, knowing
that
she might never see Earth - or anyone she has known and
loved - ever again. However, after resisting a number
of temptations to abandon The Doctor and C’rizz,
she stuck by them and has been rewarded by returning
to
her own universe. Whether that proves to be a wise or
safer course of action remains to be seen...
C'rizz
First Big Finish audio appearance: "The
Creed of the Kromon".
A
Eutermesan, C’rizz’s natural curiosity made
him join The Doctor and Charley and, although an outwardly
peaceful man, the truth has slowly been emerging that
his past might not have been as pure and innocent as Charley
and The Doctor currently believe. Genetically engineered
to absorb the colours, emotions and even ideals of those
around him, he now fights to stop himself getting lost
amongst the myriad personalities that co-exist within
his mind. Personalities that may, at times, be stronger
and less pleasant than his own. Personalities that his
travelling companions remain ignorant about... |
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Full Cast List:
| The Doctor |
Paul McGann |
| Charley Pollard |
India Fisher |
| C'rizz |
Conrad Westmaas |
| Mr Christian Griswold |
Gary Bakewell |
| Mr Rufus Dimplesqueeze |
Maitland Chandler |
| Mr Fazackerly |
Michael Hobbs |
| Jacob Crackles, Esq |
Mike Holloway |
| Maxi the Midget |
Peter Howe |
| Mrs Georgina Marlow |
Francesca Hunt |
| Arthur, Duke of Wellington |
Ron Moody |
The Production Team:
| Writer |
Gary Hopkins |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
David Darlington |
| Theme Music |
David Darlington |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason Haigh-Ellery |
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