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The
Stones of Venice
(Paul Magrs) |
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 After the Eighth
Doctor's debut in January 2001's "Storm
Warning" and the Cybermen's debut in February's "Sword
of Orion" the release for March 2001 is "The Stones
of Venice". Written by Paul Magrs and directed by Gary
Russell this story was recorded on the 15th and 16th May
2000 and will again star Paul McGann, as the Eighth
Doctor, and India Fisher, as Charley
Pollard. This story was originally submitted to Big
Finish Productions as a Fifth
Doctor and Nyssa story.
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| Michael Sheard |
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Guest star Michael
Sheard is playing the part of Duke Orsino. Michael Sheard
is more famous for his role as a teacher in the BBC children's
school drama programme Grange Hill. He has also
appeared in many Doctor Who stories including "The
Ark", "The
Mind of Evil", "Pyramids
of Mars", "The Invisble
Enemy" and "Castrovalva". He was also in "Remembrance
of the Daleks" playing the part of the headmaster at Coal
Hill school. His film credits include The Empire Strikes
Back and he was also in two of the Indiana Jones films.
Also starring are: Nick Scovell, Barnaby Edwards, Elaine
Ives Cameron and Mark Gatiss.
The
Doctor decides that after all the scrapes they have been
in that a relaxing holiday is in order and what could
be better then taking Charley to see the enchanted Italian
city of Venice. Such a magnificent city with its canals,
palaces and gondolas. Unfortunately, the TARDIS,
true to form, takes them to a time of unrest and great
danger.
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| Venice |
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It is the 23rd
century and the city has been under Duke Orsino's rule for over a hundred
years. 'It isn't what you'd call the best of times to drop in,' admits The Doctor. This of course turns out to be a huge understatement as they discover
that Venice is about to slip beneath the waters forever. The last boats have
long gone and with the place rife with snobbery, decay, superstition and terror
the remaining Venetians are living like it's their last night on Earth.
The
Doctor and Charley become embroiled in the decadent court of the tired Duke and
his search for his beloved wife - the Duchess Estella. The curse of the long
since dead Duchess has finally come to pass and as the hour of doom approaches,
The Doctor and Charley become dangerously separated. The Doctor becomes
involved with a group of cultists, and on finding the tomb of the Duchess, is
tasked with the search for a long lost painting. Charley though is in even
greater danger when she falls in with some local rebels and, after being
drugged, finds that she has somehow become engaged to be married much to The Doctors horror when they finally catch up with each other.
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Paul McGann
and India
Fisher |
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The malign, self-indulgent Orsino and the secret,
fanatical cult of Estella are both fervently wishing for the Duchess' return in
any form that suits their separate purposes. But why do the gondoliers not fear
Venice's final subsidence? Why can no one provide a true picture of Estella's
history? And why is The Doctor so worried about the Duke's collection of
paintings?
With the rebellion by the web-footed amphibious underclass to
contend with The Doctor and Charley are forced to wonder just what they have
got themselves involved with this time and having survived the ruin of Pompeii,
can The Doctor escape another doomed Italian city?
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Notes:
- Featuring the Eighth
Doctor and Charley
Pollard.
- This story was the first Big Finish production
recorded with Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor.
- Serial Number: 8D
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 120 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 32'04", 2 = 27'09", 3 =
24'56", 4 = 26'58"
- This story takes place after "Doctor
Who: The Movie".
- Cover Illustration: Clayton Hickman
- Recorded: 15th and 16th May 2000
- Recording Location: Christchurch Studios
- Released: March 2001
- ISBN: 1-903654-25-4
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On the
Back Cover:
The Doctor and Charley decide to take a
well-deserved break from the monotony of being chased, shot at and generally
suffering anti-social behaviour at the hands of others. And so they end up in
Venice, well into Charley's future, as the great city prepares to sink beneath
the water for the last time…
Which would be
momentous, if rather dispiriting, event to witness in itself. However, the
machinations of a love-sick aristocrat, a proud art historian and a rabid High
Priest of a really quite dodgy cult combine to make Venice's swansong a night
to remember.
And then there's the rebellion by the web-footed amphibious
underclass, the mystery of a disappearing corpse and the truth behind a curse
going back further than curses usually do.
The Doctor and
Charley are forced to wonder just what they have got themselves involved with
this time… |
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On the Inside
Cover:
What went into the writing of this script: mad plotting
sessions through the night with Jeremy Hoad and Stephen Hornby. Wanting to put
lots of favourite things into one story. A crumbling city, lagoons, mad cults,
mad Dukes, Wuthering Heights, Dracula, Romeo and Juliet,
Great Expectations, Max Ernst. All that stuff. Fistcuffs and
drowning and magical jewels. Masques and revels.
Also,
remembering queueing outside HMV in Edinburgh in 1996, the middle of the night
by the castle, waiting with all the others to buy the Paul McGann film. The
Doctor springing to life again looking like him; that's in this script, too.
And, the excitement of writing my first Doctor Who novel, in 1997 -
giving these characters my own words.
Summer
weekends in Venice in recent years; traipsing the Left Bank and Pinot Grigio at
ten pence a glass; writing in my journal in the Peggy Guggenheim museum.
And - because it's an audio script - remembering that me and my brother used to
leave a portable TV playing Doctor Who full blast in the early 80s,
upstairs, with a tape recorder pressed up to the speakers. Doctor Who
back then was all on audio. Figuring out the action from the cryptic, bizarre
noises.
So this is a culmination, as well as a ludicrous, bedazzling
romp in Venice. |
Paul Magrs,
December 2000
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Full Cast
List:
| Part One |
| The Doctor |
Paul McGann |
| Charley Pollard |
India Fisher |
| Orsino, a Duke |
Michael Sheard |
| Churchwell, a curator |
Nick Scovell |
| Ms Lavish, an elderly
lady |
Elaine Ives
Cameron |
| Pietro, a gondolier |
Barnby Edwards |
| Vincenzo, a High Priest |
Mark Gatiss |
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| Part Two |
| The Doctor |
Paul McGann |
| Charley Pollard |
India Fisher |
| Churchwell, a curator |
Nick Scovell |
| Vincenzo, a High Priest |
Mark Gatiss |
| Pietro, a gondolier |
Barnby Edwards |
| Orsino, a Duke |
Michael Sheard |
| Ms Lavish, an elderly lady
|
Elaine Ives
Cameron |
| |
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| Part Three |
| The Doctor |
Paul McGann |
| Charley Pollard |
India Fisher |
| Vincenzo, a High Priest |
Mark Gatiss |
| Churchwell, a curator |
Nick Scovell |
| Ms Lavish, an elderly
lady |
Elaine Ives
Cameron |
| Pietro, a gondolier |
Barnby Edwards |
| Orsino, a Duke |
Michael Sheard |
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| Part Four |
| The Doctor |
Paul McGann |
| Charley Pollard |
India Fisher |
| Vincenzo, a High Priest |
Mark Gatiss |
| Orsino, a Duke |
Michael Sheard |
| Ms Lavish, an elderly
lady |
Elaine Ives
Cameron |
| Churchwell, a curator |
Nick Scovell |
| Pietro, a gondolier |
Barnby Edwards |
The
Production Team:
| Writer |
Paul Magrs |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
Russell Stone |
| Theme Music |
David Arnold |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason
Haigh-Ellery |
| Executive Producer for the BBC
|
Jaqueline Rayner |
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