Hi chaps,

Sorry there are no listings this week as I have had to chain myself to the PC and write some more for PhD and promise, and actually mean it, not to while away the hours on the net when I should be grafting.

I have also mused about the content of the blog given the sheer lack of Cult TV news here in the UK and I truly do bemoan the British attitude to genre shows and its all pervasive obsession with saturating the schedules with reality TV. I have decided to branch out to cover 'Cult on the Internet' to highlight and bring attention to subjects such as fanfilms, online comics and the way fandom has continued to live its love for defunct shows through the medium of the Internet. Hopefully this section will broaden to cover news and spoilers on our own Virtual Shows such as VS6 and Dragonfly and hopefully I shall be able to encourage Erin and Joe to allow me to share some little nuggets from the development that is happening behind the scenes.

My first entry is in regard to 'Big Finish Productions'.

Moons ago the nation mourned, or at least the anoraks and sci-fi nerds (me) did, when the BBC brought its heavy axe down on Doctor Who. Whilst ratings were falling and the series clearly needed a revamp there was a huge vacuum created by its absence and a legion of fans still aching for a quick spin in the Tardis. A group of chums began created Audio adventures from their homes under the banner of Audio Visual Productions and these amateur episodes distributed on cassettes became a hit with the countless numbers of Who-starved fanatics around the globe. Over time the financial success of the venture allowed for the purchase of professional recording equipment, the hiring of studio time and the recruitment of actors and success was at its peak when, as Big Finish Productions, they were granted the licence by the BBC to officially continue the Doctor's adventures in audio.

Now a big concern they hired Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Paul Mgann and Colin Baker to reprise their roles as well as brining on board the original actors who played Ace, Leela, Turlough, Tegan, The Master and a host of other favourites from the series.

For an age these became the life blood of Who fandom and the freedom from the constraints of television allowed them to push the boundaries of the Doctor's stories beyond what they could achieve with the constraints of a visual budget. Those familiar with the Big Finish episodes will know that a fair number of them were revamped by their respective authors to become episodes in the New Series.

As well as the beloved Doctor other shows were later given the same treatment with new series' being created for Sapphire and Steel, Stargate, The Tomorrow People and others using as many of the original cast as possible.

If you have never heard of Big Finish or doubt the value of an audio episode can I note how truly wonderful they are. The sound effects, production values, music scores etc. are as good, if not better, than those used in television and the creativity they show in the episodes is magnificent.

In recent times the Eighth Doctor's audio adventures were featured on BBC Radio with making ofs, interviews and such and were to my mind better than the Tenth Doctor's adventures airing on BBC1.

So now I have brought it to your attention I hope you will pop over to their site and have a browse and if you are mildly curious might invest in a episode or two, pop it on the ipod, hide behind the sofa and remember what it was like to be frightened to death on a Saturday night all over again.

Best wishes,

Eth

Big Finish