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Nocturne
(John Ainsworth) |
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 The
second release for 2007 is "Nocturne" - a Seventh
Doctor story written by Dan Abnett and directed by John
Ainsworth. It was recorded on the 26th and 27th September
2006.
This
is Dan Abnett’s second Doctor Who audio release
for Big Finish Productions – his first being June
2004’s "The
Harvest" - also for the Seventh
Doctor and which introduced companion Hex.
This
release also stars 1970s comedy legend Trevor Bannister
and “Aliens
of London/World War Three” Slitheen actor Eric
Potts. Also starring are: Paul David-Gough, Ann Rye and
Helen Kay.
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| Seventh Doctor |
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The TARDIS takes
The Doctor and his companions, Ace and Hex, to Glass
City - a human colony on the planet Nocturne. Despite
the suffering and blight - tragic symptoms of an ages-old
war - Nocturne is still one of The Doctor's favourite
places in all of space and time, because it is here that
a late, great flowering of human art - the High Renaissance
- is taking place.
On
arrival they get a welcome chance to relax and to take
in the inspirational and uplifting music and art – and
to catch up with some of The Doctor’s friends – for
he has been back here, many times.
But
with strict Martial Law imposed on the front-line city,
and the brutal scourge of interstellar warfare decimating
the system, how safe can anyone really be? It is not
long before signs of the nearby war start to show. There
is a note of death in the air...
The
Doctor takes his companions to a party hosted by Lothar Ragpole, where they get
to meet Lilian Dillane, and The Doctor gets the chance to catch-up on recent
events in-and-around Nocturne.
When
escorting Lilian Dillane, to another night club so that the partying can continue,
Hez finds himself arrested for the murder of Luke, a friend of Lilian Dillane,
and interrogated by Military Police Officer Cate Reeney. The Doctor, meanwhile
gets to meet another past acquaintance - Korbin Thessenger.
As soon
as The Doctor becomes aware of Hex’s fate he and
Ace rush to the police station in an attempt to free
him. While there more deaths occur – thus proving
Hex’s innocence. But this does not stop Lilian
Dillane from suspecting that Hex is still responsible.
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Ace
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The
investigator in The Doctor though is aroused – who
can blame him when there is a mystery to solve? What
caused the destruction of Luke’s house – and
pulverised him to ashes? What is affecting the robot
servants making them malfunction? With power fluctuations
affecting Glass City what is causing the infrastructure
of the colony to start to fall apart? Could it be the
war or somebody experimenting with Bio-harmonics – a
potentially deadly weapon using sound?
Things
in Glass City are not as they first seem and as usual
it is up to The Doctor, aided by Ace and Hex, to get
to the bottom of things before more deaths occur and
fear spreads throughout the colony – and before
Lilian Dillane catches up with them when she discovers
something that alarms her, about The Doctor, in the colony’s
records. Something which makes her conclude that The
Doctor is either a spy or a terrorist, as death seems
to follow him every time he has visited Glass City – and
it seems this his latest visit is no exception…
After
Ace is nearly killed The Doctor discovers that all the
murders have been conducted near areas of art and culture – and
specifically where music or poetry has been performed.
So it is just a matter of setting a musical trap – but
the best thought out plans can go wrong especially when
the bait includes one of The Doctor’s companions
and the communication systems fail leaving Ace in more
grave danger and forced to fend for herself as the killer
strikes…
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Notes:
- Featuring the Seventh
Doctor, Ace and Hex.
- Serial Number: 7WF
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 120 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 25'35", 2 = 26'27",
3 = 25'12", 4 = 26'29"
- Total Story Length: 103'43"
- The second CD also features 23 minutes
of trailers and special behind-the-scenes interviews
with the cast and producers.
- This story takes place after "Survival" and
follows on from "No
Man's Land".
- Cover Illustration: Alex Mallinson
- Recorded: 26th and 27th September 2006
- Recording Location: Blue Print Studios
- Released: February 2007
- ISBN: 978-1-84435-180-0
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On the Back Cover:
On the human colony planet
Nocturne, there is suffering and blight, tragic symptoms
of an ages-old war. Nevertheless, Nocturne is also
one of The Doctor's favourite places in all of time
and space, because it is here that a late, great
flowering of human art - the High Renaissance - is
taking place.
He has been back
here, many times. It is a place of music and art
which he finds inspirational and uplifting. It is
a place he wants to share with Ace and Hex. It's
always been a safe haven for him, a world of friends
and laughter.
But with strict Martial
Law imposed on the front-line city, and the brutal
scourge of interstellar warfare gripping the system,
how safe can anyone really be?
There is a note of death in the
wild, midnight wind...
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On the Inside Cover:
The germ of Nocturne had
been with me for a long time. I had been intrigued
by the notion that The Doctor not only returns to
various locations, time after time, but that he might
also have good friends ‘waiting for him’ at
certain points in time and space. Earth is surely
not the only place where he is a (sometimes) familiar
face.
What
would it be like to travel to a place he had visited
before, but which was new to us, the audience? What
would it be like for him to begin a story in the
comfort and companionship of friends, rather than
in the cautious, investigatory preamble, the wary
engagement with a new location, that usually marks
the start of one of his escapades?
And
what, I wondered, would be the particular problems
and dilemmas that occurred as a natural consequence
of a long-term but estranged relationship with certain
people in a confined place and tune?
It
was a great pleasure to write for the characters
of Ace, Hex and the Seventh
Doctor again, and particularly
fun to portray them at their most relaxed and unguarded.
For a while, anyway, until the screaming starts.
I
would like to take this opportunity to say a special
thank you to Gary Russell and John Ainsworth for
their help, suggestions, and all round hard work
in the production of this story.
Nocturne is dedicated, with affection, to Jo Trickett.
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Dan Abnett,
October 2006 |
Dan Abnett
is an award-winning writer of comic books and novels.
His comic strip work includes The Legion of Superheroes,
Sinister Dexter, and Majestic. He is the author of twenty-four
novels including the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, the
Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, and a Torchwood novel,
Border Princes, published this spring. |
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Who's Who?
The Seventh Doctor
First television appearance: "Time
and the Rani"
First chronological Big Finish audio appearance: "Bang-Bang-A-Boom!"
He
has been exploring the universe for hundreds of years. He fights injustice.
He defeats evil. He helps people. The Doctor and Ace have had many adventures
now - and they’ve recently been joined by Hex, a youthful former nurse
from the twenty-first century. In this regeneration, The Doctor can be impish,
devious even, but also greatly compassionate; whimsy and melancholy do battle
inside this persona, but his friends know they can always rely on him...
Ace
First television appearance: "Dragonfire"
First chronological Big Finish audio appearance: "The
Fearmonger"
Dorothy
McShane, who likes to be known as Ace, was a schoolgirl living in Perivale
West London when she was transported far across time and space to the Iceworld
colony by a time storm Here, she met The Doctor and since then the pair have
travelled the universe together, fighting evils and righting wrongs. Over
time, a close bond has developed between the two, and Ace has recently begun
developing skills of leadership, cunning and guile to equal that of her mentor
himself…
Hex
First chronological Big Finish audio appearance: "The
Harvest"
Thomas
Hector Schofield discovered at quite an early age that the name ‘Hector’ wasn’t
exactly designed to give him the easiest of times at a Merseyside school,
so he began referring to himself as ‘Hex’. Moving down from to
London to complete his medical training, Hex began working as a staff nurse
at St Gart’s Hospital in Shoreditch. There he encountered Ace and The Doctor, helped them fight off a Cyber incursion and ended up aboard the TARDIS.
Since joining them, Hex has seen enough monsters, hostile situations and
aliens to last most people a lifetime. But clearly not him... |
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Full Cast List:
| The Doctor |
Sylvester McCoy |
| Ace |
Sophie Aldred |
| Hex |
Philip Olivier |
| Korbin Thessenger |
Trevor Bannister |
| Will Alloran |
Paul David-Gough |
| Lothar Ragpole |
Eric Potts |
| Lilian Dillane |
Ann Rye |
| Cate Reeney |
Helen Kay |
The Production Team:
| Writer |
Dan Abnett |
| Director |
John Ainsworth |
| Sound/Music |
Steve Foxon |
| Theme Music |
David Darlington |
| Story Editor |
Alan Barnes |
| Producers |
Sharon Gosling and
Gary Russell |
| Executive Producers |
Nicholas Briggs
and Jason Haigh-Ellery |
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