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Time
Works
(Steve Lyons) |
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 Titled
"Time Works" the release for March 2006 has
been written by Steve Lyons and is directed by Edward
Salt. It stars Paul McGann as the Eighth
Doctor, India
Fisher as Charley Polard and Conrad Westmaas as C’rizz.
This is Steve Lyons' third full Doctor Who audio
play for Big Finish Productions, the last being 2001's
"Colditz".
"Time Works" was recorded on the 16th and 17th
November 2005.
To
begin with, it be should pointed out that the only similarity
this story has with season two’s Television story
"The Girl in the Fireplace" is the idea of clockwork
monsters, and even this point is similar in concept only.
Whereas Steven Moffat’s clockwork monsters are frightening
in the more conventional sense, the "Clockwork Men"
of "Time Works" are a much more psychological
menace.
Also
starring are: Tracey Childs, Philip Edgerley, Merryn Owen
, Ronald Pickup, Adrian Schiller and Beth Vyse.
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| Eighth Doctor |
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The TARDIS
lands on a remote uncharted planet, obsessed with time,
whose population seems to be frozen in time like flies
in amber.
As the TARDIS crew wander around the silent city, they
are able to hear the ‘winds of time, trying to break
in’, but are unable to affect their surroundings
or the petrified people who are trapped between the past
and future where clockwatching, cutbacks and time-wasting
take on sinister double meanings.
Soon
The Doctor finds himself trapped, locked out of the TARDIS
and in a different time zone from his companions. His
only chance to be reunited with his friends seems to lie
inside the clock tower that dominates the city. But first
he has to ascertain why the population live in fear of
enjoying life and do everything they can to prevent themselves
from being deemed to be impeding the progress of industry
towards some unknown and unattainable end goal.
However, Charley and C’rizz find themselves an hour
in the future where they discover the fate of Doctor -
immobilised and about to be decapitated by the royal guards
- as soon as the clocks begin to tick. Witnessing The
Doctor’s perils they try to influence his timeline
– but can they succeed or will their actions put
his life in more of a danger?
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| India
Fisher |
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In
a time where this is no time The Doctor, Charley and C’rizz
are rats in the wheelwork, a threat to the schedule of
a world where timing is everything. Here, old Kestorian
supposedly rules; but what real power lies behind the
throne? Who is The Figurehead and why does she regard
the population as an ‘organic resource’ and
routine culls as ‘staff cutbacks’ and whose
efficiency drive is the only purpose of existence? To
complicate things further, the fearsome clockwork men
are stalking the streets, eliminating anyone they deem
to be a ‘clockstopper’.
The
people live in the shadow of the Time Keepers, until their
time is up. And the seconds are counting down to a fateful
future that has already happened. Unless they can beat
the clock.
They are all in a time in which nothing can possibly be.
But something is and it is up to The Doctor and his companions
to put a stop to it before it is too late and the clock
stops forever…
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Notes:
- Featuring the Eighth
Doctor,
Charley Pollard and C'rizz.
- Serial Number: 8YA
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 110 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 24'29", 2 = 25'09",
3 = 28'57", 4 = 28'15"
- Total Story Length: 106'50"
- This story takes place after "Doctor
Who: The Movie" and follows on from "Other
Lives".
- Early Titles: "Clockworks and "Tick
Tock".
- Cover Illustration: Lee Binding
- Recorded: 16th and 17th November 2005
- Recording Location: The Moat Studios
- Released: March 2006
- ISBN: 1-84435-168-8
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On the Back Cover:
"You want to
know about the Clockwork Men? "We work
in their shadow, every tick and tock of our lives. We
hear them in the workings of the Great Clock. We work
hard, turn our hands – but we all wind down in
time, and that is when they come for us: when our time
is up."
The TARDIS lands
in between times, in a time where this is no time. A
time in which nothing can possibly be. But something
is…
The Doctor,
Charley and C’rizz are rats in the wheelwork,
a threat to the schedule of a world where timing is
everything. And the seconds are counting down to a fateful
future that has already happened. Unless they can beat
the clock.
Tick, tock. |
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On the Inside Cover:
What
are you reading this for? Haven’t you got better
things to do?
Don’t
you have work to be getting on with? I know I do. I
can’t afford to sit around here talking to you.
I’ve spent enough time on this story already.
I
first submitted it to Big Finish in December 2001, you
know. And before that, it was a proposal for a BBC novel,
rejected because it was too similar to another one (though
rewritten so heavily since then that I know you won’t
guess which one). But the basic idea goes right back
to 1991, when I was working for a well-known high street
bank and dreaming of becoming a writer. Listen to the
CDs - if you have the time - and see if you can guess
what inspired it.
But,
anyway, must get on. Time only waits for one man. That
clock’s always ticking.
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Steve Lyons,
Thursday 17 November
17:03:42 and counting… |
Steve Lyons
has now written three and a half Doctor Who audios
for Big Finish, as well as entries in its Sapphire
& Steel, The Tomorrow People and Gallifrey
series. He’s also written quite a lot of Doctor
Who novels and short stories. His recent work includes
novels based on various comic book characters, the novelisation
of Bryan Singer and Dean Devlin’s Triangle
and the detective adventures of Mrs Lucunda Batt for Crime
Confidential magazine. |
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Who's Who?
The Eighth Doctor
First television appearance: Doctor Who
First Big Finish audio appearance: "Storm
Warning"
After
a prolonged time trapped in an alternative universe,
the
Eighth Doctor recently found his way home, along with
his longtime companion Charley Pollard and their new
Etttermesan
friend, C’rizz. Since being back, they’ve
faced dangers on alien planets, in Victorian high society
and, most terrifying of all, a future Earth almost entirely
populated by The Doctor’s oldest and most bitter
foes, Daleks. Wherever the TARDIS takes him, it seems
there’s no respite...
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 were once alive but are now
dead – seemingly at C’rizz’s own hand.
Personalities that his travelling companions remain ignorant
about... |
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The Cast Gallery:
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The Eighth Doctor - Played by Paul McGann
‘Even the best parties become humdrum
once you’ve been to as many of them as I
have - bet outside those doors now, there could
be anything, literally anything an all. Doesn’t
that excite you?’ |
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Charley
Pollard & C’rizz - Played by India Fisher&
Conrad Wentmaas ‘Finding
trouble is a full time occupation for The Doctor.
You know what I think? I don’t think the
TARDIS is faulty at all. Or, if it is, that suits
him quite well, thank you very much.’
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Kestoriam
- Played by Ronald Pickup ‘Then
I fear that our work has been nothing. We will
suffer the fate of the Old World. Our time will
be over.’
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Zahith
- Played by Adrian Schiller ‘I
know what the workers say of me, but I am not
idle. I simply have no
purpose.’
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The
Figurehead - Played by Tracey Childs ‘I
am their guide, their Figurehead. My functions
have been many, dependent upon the needs of the
time. The first age was the Age of the Innovator,
but that is long over The Age of the Architect
too has passed.’
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Vannet
- Played by Beth Vyse ‘The
Great Clock cannot be turned back. It measures
our progress toward completion.’
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Collis
- Played by Phillip Edgerley ‘According
to my report here, this unit predicted that Mr
C’rizz might take me hostage to demand your
release. It acted to avert the three point four
per cent chance of that possibility becoming actual.’
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Revnon
- Played by Merryn Owen ‘The
Clockwork Men keep as turning clockwise. Without
them, we would be tempted to leave our hands idle,
and my sister and I have no time for those who
would turn our hands back.’ |
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Full Cast List:
| The Doctor |
Paul McGann |
| Charley Pollard |
India Fisher |
| C'rizz |
Conrad Westmaas |
| The Figurehead |
Tracey Childs |
| Collis |
Phillip Edgerley |
| Revnon |
Merryn Owen |
| Kestoriam |
Ronald Pickup |
| Zahith |
Adrian Schiller |
| Vannet |
Beth Vyse |
The Production Team:
| Writer |
Steve Lyons |
| Director |
Edward Salt |
| Sound/Music |
Andy Hardwick |
| Theme Music |
David Darlington |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason Haigh-Ellery |
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