| 40th
Anniversary |
| |
 2003 is the 40th
anniversary of Doctor Who and it wouldn't be an anniversary year without
a handful of The Doctor's oldest enemies trying to bring his travels to a final
end.
As a precursor to the November 2003 anniversary adventure, "Zagreus", Big Finish
Productions have released three stories where three Doctor's face three old
foes, but in unusual circumstances.
First it is the
turn for the Fifth
Doctor as he meets a mythical hero from Gallifrey's past in
"Omega".
Next
the Sixth
Doctor has to endure yet again the evil scientist who created the
Daleks in "Davros".
And
finally the Seventh
Doctor comes face-to-face with his greatest archenemy again
in "Master".
Rather
than full-on fights against evil, a new loose trilogy of plays sees one Doctor
involved in a more character-based drama as they, and we, get to learn a little
more about these particular recurring nemeses.
|
|
 |
Omega
(Nev Fountain) |
|
 The first anniversary
story is titled "Omega" and sees the Fifth
Doctor once again finding himself facing the twisted
madness of his oldest hero and one that has a nasty habit
of turning up regularly, and usually timing his return
with significant anniversaries in Doctor Who. Omega
was introduced in the Third
Doctor's tenth anniversary story "The
Three Doctors".
He returned ten seasons later to menace the Fifth
Doctor in "Arc
of Infinity". Omega has even appeared
in the BBC Books' thirty-fifth anniversary novel, "The
Infinity Doctors" by Lance Parkin.
"Omega"
is a four-part adventure written by a newcomer to Big
Finish's writing stable, but no stranger to audio Doctor
Who, Nev Fountain, script-editor of BBCi's highly-acclaimed
"Death
Comes to Time" webcast. Nev Fountain is also a prolific
comedy writer and one of the principal writers on the
Radio 4 and BBC television satire show Dead Ringers.
Directed
by Gary Russell this story was recorded 4th and 5th February
2003 and is the first in a loose trilogy of stories featuring
The Doctor's old foes.
Set shortly
after the events of "Arc of Infinity", the Fifth Doctor
must once again confront the legendary Time Lord solar
engineer - Omega who is being played by Ian Collier. Ian
has already appeared in Doctor Who in the Third
Doctor adventure, "The
Time Monster".
Also
guest-starring in this adventure is Caroline Munro, best
know for her appearances in British horror movies of the
Sixties and Seventies, including Dracula A.D. 1972
and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. Of course,
Caroline also earned herself the tagline of 'Bond Girl'
when she appeared with Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved
Me. After being touted to appear in the ill-fated
Doctor Who Movie of the late-Eighties, Caroline finally
gets to meet The Doctor.
Also starring are: Patrick
Duggan, Anita Elias, Faith Kent, Hugo Myatt, Jim Sangster
and Conrad Westmaas.
 |
| Fifth Doctor |
|
A Mythical hero from Gallifrey's past has
returned.
Thousands of years ago Omega's starship, Eurydice,
vanished from our universe, whilst detonating a star which provided the Time Lords with the source of their great power and so giving them the ability to
travel in time. But the legends say that, if you voyage into the 'Sector of
Forgotten Souls', the ship of Gallifrey's greatest solar engineer might
reappear...
In fact, thanks to Jolly Chronolidays, you can be sure of it.
Priding itself on giving its tourists an experience of galactic history that is
far better than mere time travel Jolly Chronolidays have their very own
Eurydice that can be brought to you. After all, why bother with the
vagaries of time travel when, according to their own motto, 'We don't go into
history, we prefer to bring history to you'.
When a strange
telepathic message prompts The Doctor to travel to the 'Sector of Forgotten
Souls' you can be sure that there is a high chance that he will witness Omega's
return. But where does The Doctor fit in and why is The Doctor on board?
Especially as Jolly Chronolidays' average visitors to their interactive
heritage are charmingly referred to as 'crumblies' - and so making The Doctor
rather out of place despite being over 900 years old.
There The Doctor finds an exact replica of Omega's own ship that is being used as an
interactive heritage centre where historical recreations of Omega's demise
include the performance of Vanderdecken's betrayal. But not to worry this is
all a re-enactment of one of Omega's dangerous feats. The Doctor though has
come to the Sector of Forgotten Souls for a very specific reason - to witness
Omega's attempt to try and return to our universe and to Gallifrey - or has
he?
When the Eurydice appears on cue, right in front of
Jolly Chronolidays' shuttle, The Doctor finds himself caught up in a chain of
events which inevitable leads him face-to-face with Gallifrey's greatest solar
engineer. Why does one of Jolly Chronolidays' employees appear to go insane and
also try to destroy his hands? What connection do the quirky star historian
Professor Ertikus and tour guide Sentia have to Omega?
 |
| Omega |
|
Surely the real
Omega won't reappear? But what if, mightily troubled by
his own history, he did? What then...? The Doctor and
everyone on board Jolly Chronolidays' tourist shuttle
are about to find out because Omega is back - and his
madness is closer than they think especially when it is
revealed that Omega is not quite himself - nor it would
seem is The Doctor come to that as it appears that he
is infact responsible for the various murders and other
strange happenings.
And
then a TARDIS
arrives and Omega's mad schemes start coming to fruition
and The Doctor is prevented with a huge dilemma - to help
Omega or to hinder his plans - both though could endanger
those around him.
But
surely Omega was finally destroyed at the hands of the
Fifth Doctor in Amsterdam. However, just because a Time
Lord's body is gone, does not mean that his spirit can
not linger on.
Has Omega really coped
with the madness brought out in him by thousands of years
of solitude? How dangerous are his mood swings as he struggles
to find out who he is now. He finds that he has no place
here anymore and wants to go back to the security of the
only place he can now call home. Can The Doctor help him?
When
The Doctor discovers that Omega's real objective is to
return to his anti-matter realm where he can be whole
again, despite all his previous efforts and deeds in trying
to return to the real universe. But what is the future
for those caught up with Omega's scheme. With the TARDIS
holding the fabric of time together The Doctor has a lot
to deal with if he is going to allow Omega to return to
his own realm and protect those around him including all
of the Jolly Chronolidays' 'crumblies' and two in particular
who are not who they seem.
By
inadvertently forcing a confrontation with The Doctor,
Omega has begun a course of action which would lead to
the unravelling of The Doctors own legendary status. If
only Omega had realised that his alto ego would cause
so much concern to those in the future.
|
|
Notes:
- Featuring the Fifth
Doctor.
- Serial Number: 6EA
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 125 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 31'17", 2 = 36'18", 3 =
30'27", 4 = 42'43"
- Total Story Length: 140'45"
- This story takes place between "Arc
of Infinity"
and "Snakedance".
- Early Title: "OMEGA".
- Cover Illustration: Clayton Hickman
- Recorded: 4th and 5th February 2003
- Recording Location: The Moat Studios
- Released: August 2003
- ISBN: 1-84435-029-0
|
|
On the Back Cover:
A strange telepathic
message prompts The Doctor to travel to the 'Sector of
Forgotten Souls', a place where, thousands of years ago,
Omega's ship vanished whilst detonating a star.
He's
not the only one journeying towards it. 'Jolly Chronolidays'
prides itself on giving its tourists an experience of
galactic history that is far better than mere time travel.
Its motto is
'We don't go into history, we prefer to bring history
to you'.
When
Omega's ship suddenly materialises in front of their shuttle,
and one of their employees goes insane and tries to destroy
his hands...
...suddenly
it's not just a motto anymore.
And Omega -
and his madness - is closer than they think. |
| |
|
On the Inside Cover:
OMEGA? IN THE
VILLAINS TRILOGY? OMEGA? We could get prosecuted under
the fiendish laws of the intergalactic trades descriptions
act. Let's be honest, he's not really a villain. But let's
turn that honesty dial up to eleven. The Fifth Doctor's
not much of a hero, either is he? They're a well matched
pair, because their aspirations never seem to match up
with their achievements. The Fifth Doctor charges around
being all nice and full of niceness, but he inevitably
leaves a trail of carnage and destruction behind him...
Omega swears he will create carnage and destruction, but
all he's managed to do in thirty years of fist-waving
vengeance is upset some office equipment and kill a gardener
- and if you've ever had to sit through an evening of
British TV, you'd see the gardener getting murdered as
a positive thing. Ah well. They did try. Bless 'em...
They're fallible. That's why I like them, and that's why
I'm thrilled to get the chance to write for 'em both.
I'm also thrilled to be
doing a Doctor Who audio. As a writer on the satirical
sketch show Dead Ringers I'm currently spending
my time hopping between TV and radio and, I can tell you,
television is jolly nice (the pictures might look better
on radio, but the cheques look better on TV), but radio
was where I started my writing career, and is my first
love as a writer.
To this end, I was determined
to make this a uniquely radio experience - a story that
belongs to sound alone. A story (I hope) you will listen
to, enjoy, and then listen again, and enjoy with a fresh
ear. But if after hearing this, you think I've failed
and my aspirations haven't matched my achievements, well..,
failure is such an endearing trait. Just ask The Doctor
and Omega.
Just say to yourself...
'Ah well, he did try. Bless him...'
|
Nev Fountain,
March 2003 |
Nev
Fountain writes comedy, for the most part, and is currently
focussing much of his time and energies on the BBC series
Dead Ringers. When not doing so, the rest of
his time and energies are focussed on young Alfrey, pictured
with proud dad above. Oh, and Nev had something to do
with a Doctor Who play called Death Comes
to Time broadcast over the internet in 2002. This
is his first play for Big Finish. |
| |
|
Production Notes:
Although
first to be released, Omega was actually the
last of the loosely-themed "villain trilogy" to be
commissioned. At one point we thought we might put
the Fifth Doctor
up against the Celestial Toymaker, and although a number of great
authors pitched equal-ly great story ideas,
ultimately
doing a Toymaker story seemed less and less like a good
idea. Instead, having worked with Ian Collier on Excelis
Decays in 2001, producer Gary Russell realised
that a rematch with Omega, which he had played in
the 1982
TV adventure Arc
of Infinity, might be fun, provided
a different twist on this, potentially one of the greatest,
and misjudged Time Lord bad guys, could be thought up.
The plot Nev Fountain proffered combined that novel
approach
we were seeking with a use of the audio medium that satisfied
our requirements for something a little more unusual. |
| |
|
Full Cast List:
| The Doctor |
Peter Davison |
| Omega |
Ian Collier |
| Professor Ertikus |
Patrick Duggan |
| Glinda |
Anita Elias |
| Maven |
Faith Kent |
| Daland |
Hugo Myatt |
| Sentia |
Caroline Munro |
| Zagreus |
Jim Sangster |
| Tarpov |
Conrad Westmaas |
The Production Team:
| Writer |
Nev Fountain |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
Russell Stone |
| Theme Music |
David Darlington |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason Haigh-Ellery |
| Executive Producer for the BBC |
Jaqueline Rayner |
|
|
|
|
