Big Finish on BBC7
Sunday, 24 July 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The BBC7 digital radio network (website) will air several adventures starring Paul McGann, the last actor in the role of the Doctor prior to the current television series, as created by Big Finish Productions, says a BBC Press Office release. "Russell T DaviesÆs Doctor Who has recently finished a successful run on BBC One with the ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, at the helm of the Tardis. Now BBC 7 takes a step back in time to welcome The Doctor's eighth persona, as played by Paul McGann, in four new four-part adventures, beginning with Storm Warning." This is the first time Big Finish's Doctor Who serials written especially for CD will appear in broadcast format; the company had previously produced two of BBC Online's webcast serials. Four serials starring McGann -- Storm Warning by Alan Barnes, Sword of Orion by Nicholas Briggs, The Stones of Venice by Paul Magrs and Invaders From Mars by Mark Gatiss (which features Simon Pegg of "The Long Game") -- will be broadcast on consecutive Saturdays starting 6 August 2005 at 6.30pm, with repeats at 12.30am the following morning. The episodes have been edited for radio, with one particular plot thread (Ramsey, a Vortisaur in the Time Vortex) being excised. The broadcasts incorporate the first through third and fifth McGann stories produced (skipping 'Minuet in Hell').