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Audio - Renaissance of the Daleks
Renaissance of the Daleks
(Stephen Hawking)

 March 2007 sees the welcome return of the Daleks in "Renaissance of the Daleks" – a Fifth Doctor story written by Stephen Hawking (from a story by Christopher H Bidmead) and directed by John Ainsworth. It was recorded on 16th and 17th January 2007.

 The Daleks previous release was in August 2005’s Eighth Doctor story "Terror Firma", written by Joseph Lidster, and which saw the Eighth Doctor and his two companions return from the Divergents' Universe.

This is Christopher H Bidmead’s first Doctor Who audio for Big Finish Productions. You may recognise his name as he was script editor for the Doctor Who television series in the 1980's and he also wrote the stories "Logopolis", "Castrovalva" and "Frontios" followed by the Target novelisation’s for these stories.

 "Renaissance of the Daleks" stars Peter Davison as The Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa. William Hope (of Aliens fame) guest stars. Also starring are: Stewart Alexander, Jon Weinberg, Nicholas Deal, Richie Campbell, Regina Reagan and, providing the voice of the Daleks, Nicholas Briggs.

This release is the first to feature Big Finish's all new look covers for the main series of CD Releases, though the style has already been used for the Companion Chronicles and the BBC7 Eighth Doctor Stories.

This is the place where all Time Tacks meet. To come here once is to come here always. You have always been here, Doctor, and you and I know one another very well by now. An Island of Time, carved out of the Dimensional Nullity.

You are an outsider, meddling in the shape of the Time Tracks

The Daleks have always been here.

Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
 A seemingly random landing in London and a trip to the Savoy Hotel yield unexpected results for The Doctor. While in a lift in the Savoy Hotel The Doctor meets American General Tillington, the head of Global Warning, but after having tea and scones in the tearoom The Doctor collapses and then wakes up to find himself relocated to a larger hanger where General Tillington shows The Doctor a time related holographic display – which shows The Daleks in 2158. General Tillington knows about the Dalek invasion of Earth – which should have already happened – but the only evidence of the Daleks is the holographic display and the mystery of a large number of toy Daleks. General Tillington is convinced that The Doctor has all the answers – hence his capture. But The Doctor has his own questions to find answers too.

 
Meanwhile, The Doctor's companion Nyssa is in Rhodes during the time of the Crusades where her position proves to be distinctly precarious. The Doctor has left her with a communication device but despite leaving regular reports for The Doctor there is no response from him. While following a trace of some time distortion Nyssa meets Mulberry and then finds herself falling from a balcony. But instead of hitting the ground they travel to the middle of an 1860’s battlefield of the American Civil War.

 The Doctor is rescued by Wilton, General Tillington’s nephew, and is able to get back to the TARDIS. But it seems The Doctor’s rescue comes at a price as Wilton wants a trip in The Doctor’s time machine. It is then that The Doctor becomes aware of Nyssa’s attempts to contact him and also the predicament she is in.

 After a very timely rescue The Doctor and Nyssa are reunited but there troubles are only just starting. Earth is meant to be in the middle of a Dalek invasion – so why has it not happened and how does General Tillington know about the invasion – even though it has not happened? And why is the TARDIS behaving even more erratically in the locations it lands – like in the middle of the Vietnam War? Why are there toy Daleks and, when a few of them are brought into the TARDIS, what havoc will they cause when they start to move around firing at those in the TARDIS? What will happen when they manage to link themselves to the TARDIS console?

Nyssa

Nyssa

 The Doctor and Nyssa realise that even ‘toy’ Daleks pack a powerful punch and are not as easy to defeat as they first seem. But where have they come from and what is there plan? The Doctor and Nyssa have to travel through time and space to discover what the Dalek's latest plans of conquest are...

 It seems The Doctor's deadliest foes have woven a tangled web indeed. And in order to defeat them, he must cross the forbidden barriers of time and walk into the very centre of their latest, most outlandish scheme of conquest.

  How is The Doctor going to bring time back into synch – so that the Dalek invasion actually takes place? Will he be able to convince those around him that this is the best plan even though it will ultimately mean the death of thousands?

  The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves battling with the Daleks in Rhodes, America, Vietnam and they still have to deal with the ruthless General Tillington and to escape from the ‘Pantemporal Ambience’ – a place where all Time Tacks meet and where The Doctor has always been as have the Daleks…
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Centrefold


Notes:
  • Featuring the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa.
  • This story includes the Daleks.
  • Serial Number: 6CI
  • Number of Episodes: 4
  • Cover Length: 100 minutes
  • Episode Lengths: 1 = 25'49", 2 = 25'01", 3 = 24'40", 4 = 26'34"
  • Total Story Length: 102'04"
  • Also features 45 minutes of trailers and special behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and producers.
  • This story takes place between "Time-Flight" and "Arc of Infinity".
  • Cover Illustration: Alex Mallinson
  • Recorded: 16th and 17th January 2007
  • Recording Location: Moat Studios
  • Released: March 2007
  • ISBN: 978-1-84435-214-2


On the Back Cover:

 A random landing in London and a trip to the Savoy Hotel yield unexpected results for The Doctor. Tea, scones, an American general who knows far too much, and the threat of a Dalek invasion of Earth.

 
Meanwhile, The Doctor's companion Nyssa is in Rhodes during the time of the Crusades, where her position proves to be distinctly precarious.

 It seems The Doctor's deadliest foes have woven a tangled web indeed. And in order to defeat them, he must cross the forbidden barriers of time and walk into the very centre of their latest, most outlandish scheme of conquest.

 

On the Inside Cover:

Writer:

 Christopher H. Bidmead is a RADA-trained actor who turned his writing for television.

He is best known in the Doctor Who world as script-editor no the series for Tom Baker's last season, memorably writing the fourth Doctor’s dramatic finale, Logopolis. He was also instrumental in naming one of The Doctor’s companions, creating the name ‘Adric’ from on anagram of P A M Dirac (an eminent physicist who predicted the existence of antimatter). Chris went on to write a further two scripts for Doctor Who: Castrovalva, introducing Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, and Frontios, also featuring the Fifth Doctor. He also wrote the novelisations for all three of his stories.

Since leaving Doctor Who, he has continued to flourish as a freelance journalist, specializing in computers and contributing pieces to New Scientist and Wired magazines.

Although enjoying his collaboration with the Big Finish team on Renaissance of the Daleks, Chris felt that changes made dating the script editing process meant that he could not lay claim to being its sole writer, He has, however, very kindly given permission for his ‘from a story by’ credit.


Quotes:

William Hope:

‘He feels like somebody out of Doctor Strangelove, that’s where I got my cue from! We had quite a lot of interrogation and political stuff to do, which is always good, because Doctor Who’s always got a political element to it, which is fascinating.

‘It’s a kind of cross between having permission to be larger than life, but at the same time being real and playing one might also say “melodra¬matic” it places. “Cartoon” is too strong a word, but you want some-body who’s got some size and colour, but at the same time you believe that he means what he’s doing, as opposed to just going for the gags and the laughs...’

 

Who's Who?

The Fifth Doctor

First television appearance: "Castrovalva"
First chronological Big Finish audio appearance: "The Land of the Dead"

 He has been exploring the universe for hundreds of years. He fights injustice. He defeats evil. He helps people. In his fifth incarnation, The Doctor is more restrained in temper, calmer in attitude and visually younger in appearance than he used to be. He looks for the best in people and tries never to deliberately offend or cause trouble. Some may underestimate him because of his comparatively youthful nature. But those enemies who do, do so at their own risk...


Nyssa

First television appearance: "The Keeper of Traken"
First chronological Big Finish audio appearance: "The Land of the Dead".

 Nyssa began travelling with The Doctor after the untimely death of her father. She is the product of the highly civilised society of the planet Traken. She is logical and pragmatic - a great believer in science and reason - but is also compassionate and caring. Together, she and The Doctor have visited Earth at various points in its history - Alaska in the 1990s, Switzerland in the 1960s, America in the 22nd Century - as well as both Traken and Telos in their respective infancies. On the planet Veln, she suffered police brutality and interrogation, then went on to experience the dangers of sport obsession on the planet Cray. Now, with the indulgence of The Doctor, she has developed a device for communicating across time and space. If only she could get it to work...
 

Full Cast List:

The Doctor Peter Davison
Nyssa Sarah Sutton
General Tillington William Hope
Sergeant Stewart Alexander
Wilton Jon Weinberg
Mulberry Nicholas Deal
Floyd Richie Campbell
Alice Regina Reagan
The Greylish Nicholas Briggs
Daleks Nicholas Briggs

The Production Team:

Writer Stephen Hawking
(from a story by Christopher H Bidmead)
Director John Ainsworth
Sound/Music Andy Hardwick
Theme Music David Darlington
Script Editor Alan Barnes
Producer Sharon Gosling
Executive Producers Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
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