| Free Doctor Who for Subscribers |
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The
Maltese Penguin
(Robert Shearman) |
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 It was announced in 2001 that Big Finish
Productions were planning to release a very limited special free CD which would
be made available to subscribers to their Doctor Who audio range along with the
release of the Eighth Doctor story "Neverland" in July
2002.
Titled "The Maltese Penguin" it stars Colin Baker, as the
Sixth Doctor, and Robert Jezek, reprising his role as Frobisher the shape
changing Whifferdill, facing up to their old enemy, Dogbolter! Also staring
are: Toby Longworth, Jane Goddard and Alistair Lock.
It has been
written by Robert Shearman, who wrote Frobisher's debut Doctor Who audio
adventure "The Holy Terror",
and is directed by Gary Russell. It was recorded on the 2nd November
2001.
The whole idea of this story is to have fun and Frobisher is
a played very much as a funny character. This Shapeshifter who likes more than
anything to be a Penguin, has emerged from the Comic Strip to become a more
accepted Companion of The Doctor, thanks to Big Finish Productions.
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The
Holy Terror
(Robert Shearman) |
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When we met Frobisher in The Doctor Who Magazine
Comic Strip he was a Detective, and he has returned to his roots for this
story. The role of The Doctor however, turns out to be rather peripheral (quite
an achievement for this most dominant of Time Lords). The Doctor's main role in
this story is to keep popping in just to see if Frobisher is
alright.
Being a Shapeshifter Frobisher finds that he has to take on
the appearance of a humanoid in order to solve the mystery. It seems obvious
that he chooses to look like the Sixth Doctor. However, not only does he look
like The Doctor but he also sounds like him, thanks to Colin Baker who gets to
have a lot of fun with a New York slang and accent. And so Frobisher here is
played by Robert Jezek and Colin Baker.
Frobisher has
become tired of playing a secondary role to The Doctor on their travels
together and so has elected to return to his roots pounding the mean streets as
a private eye.
Business though is slow since his success on "The Case of The
Absconded Feline", but his easy living lifestyle is interrupted when an
irresistible femme fatale, called Alicia Mulholland, enters his office with a
huge secret and a case for him to crack. Frobisher finds he is unable to refuse
her request for help especially as he has the rent to pay.
As he becomes involved in a case full of murder
and deceit Frobisher stumbles from one situation to another. But Frobisher is
not alone because he is visited by The Doctor on a number of occasions under
the pretence of checking that Frobisher is okay but in truth The Doctor really
misses Frobisher and gets lonely on his own. But Frobisher is determined to go
it alone despite being thrown from a cliff and the fact that The Doctor seems
to be having more fun especially as The Doctor has been able to save the
universe, twice, while he's been away!
But as the
case unwinds it becomes clear that Frobisher is in a web of mayhem and
intrigue, treachery, gangland killings and corrupt cops. What is the
significance of what appears to be a sentient bloodstain and why is Dogbolter,
a manic half frog/half man, so calculating in his pursuit of profit? Why is
Dogbolter punctuated by explosions of rage and so frightened of a joke? What is
Alicia Mulholland's real reason for involving Frobisher and why does he not
recognise her?
Frobisher finds himself needing all his skills just to stay
alive…
For Non-subscribers Big Finish may make this story available
for purchase from specialist shops while stocks last during 2003.
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Notes:
- Featuring the Sixth Doctor and Frobisher.
- Serial Number: SS3
- Number of Episodes: 1
- Cover Length: 70 minutes
- Episode Length: 1 = 68'22"
- This story takes place between the Marvel comic
strip "The World Shapers" and the audio drama "The
Holy Terror".
- Cover Illustration: Lee Binding
- Recorded: 2nd November 2001
- Recording Location: The Moat Studios
- Released: July 2002
- ISBN: 1-903654-90-4
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On the
Back Cover:
"My friends call me Frobisher. My enemies call
me Mr Frobisher. And the junk mail department of the Galatic Readers' Digest
call me Mrs F R Rubbisher - but that's neither here nor there."
It was just
another quiet day on the mean streets for Frobisher, private eye. But then a
dame walks into his office and into his life. A dame who is drop dead gorgeous
and drop dead deadly, offering him a case he just can't refuse.
Well, he could refuse it. If he really wanted to.
But he has to pay the rent.
When their paths cross, Frobisher finds himself
involved in a web of mayhem and intrigue. A web of gangland killings, corrupt
cops, sentient bloodstains, and very rude hotel receptionists. A web of murder
and deceit, treachery and fisticuffs.
That sort of
web. You know. The sticky kind. |
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On the
Inside Cover:
Dear fans and fellow avian-fixated whifferdills,
once a tear, at a secret location, all the old Doctor Who Companions™ meet
up. We discuss past adventures, monsters, fashion sense, and the problems of
re-entering society once our contract on the programme ends. And increasingly,
of course, compare how much our autographs are being sold for over the
internet.
Sad to say, some of the other companions are most
unwelcoming. They say I'm not canon, and refuse to speak to me. I feel they're
just jealous that I'm the only shapeshifter amongst them. (Well, there's
Kamelion - but he's usually broken anyway.) The treatment gets right up my
beak, so I just mesomorph into a Tythonian ambassador for half an hour and have
a good sulk. That usually shuts them up. But this year I think I won over even
the most hard-hearted Hartnell hanger-on. I told them a story of one of my most
fabulous exploits - a tale I call The Case of the Maltese Penguin. Or
Frobisher Saves the Day, Again. They all sat transfixed as my epic tale
unfolded, all mouths agog as they munched on their mince pies and slurped at
their drashig juice.
And here now, because I'm lovely, is that very
same story. Painstakingly pressed on to compact disc, and brought to life by a
whole array of dubious accents. I hope you enjoy it. I do. But that might be
because I'm in every scene.
Happy times and places,
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Full Cast
List:
| Part One |
| The Doctor |
Colin Baker |
| Frobisher |
Robert Jezek and Colin
Baker |
| Josiah W Dogbolter |
Toby Longworth |
| Alicia Mulholland |
Jane Goddard |
| Chandler |
Alistair Lock |
The
Production Team:
| Writer |
Robert Shearman |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
David Darlington |
| Theme Music |
Mark Ayres |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason
Haigh-Ellery |
| Executive Producer for the BBC
|
Jaqueline Rayner |
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