Category: Big Finish

BIG FINISH HAVE confirmed (17 December) that the current run of full-cast Survivors audios will conclude with the ninth boxset, scheduled for release in June 2019.

Series nine will deliver the finale of the story arc set in motion by the events of series eight and provide what producer David Richardson pledges will be “the perfect bookend to that very first TV episode, The Fourth Horseman.”

The episode titles and scriptwriter credits for series nine have also been confirmed, with four existing Survivors writers returning for the final stories. Jane Slavin pens episode one (“The Farm”); Christopher Hatherall writes episode two (“Hearts and Mines”); Roland Moore authors the third episode (“Fade Out”); while the opportunity to write the final episode of the nine series run (“Conflict”) is snapped up by Survivors stalwart Andrew Smith.

Richardson confirms that working on the Survivors audio range has been “one of the personal highlights” of his eleven years at Big Finish, and add – enticingly – that this endpoint “isn’t the end of the stories from the world of Survivors.”

Survivors: series finale

The ongoing series of Survivors will be drawing to a close and what an epic finale we’ve in store for you. Happily this isn’t the end of the stories from the world of Survivors, but the current ongoing narrative will be wrapped up in series nine of the current audio adventures – coming out in June 2019.

The Death may have not taken everyone, but the end is in sight for the Survivors… Big Finish can confirm today that the ongoing audio story following on from the television serie of Survivors wraps up with series nine. With Abby possibly meeting Peter in series eight, who knows what will happen next?

Four struggles for the survivors of the Death will be released in June 2019:

• 9.1 – The Farm by Jane Slavin
• 9.2 – Hearts and Mines by Christopher Hatherall
• 9.3 – Fade Out by Roland Moore
• 9.4 – Conflict by Andrew Smith

Producer David Richardson told us about the mammoth achievement of continuing the epic television show for nine series on audio: “Working on Survivors has been one of the personal highlights of my 11 years of Big Finish. We’ve had the opportunity to make 36 brand new full-cast episodes that have been dark, richly dramatic and bold.

“But all good things must come to an end and this box set brings this Survivors story arc to a conclusion – and what a finale it is. I think we have the perfect bookend to that very first TV episode, The Fourth Horseman, broadcast back in 1975.”

Survivors series 9, episode 1 recording

Survivors Series Nine will be released in June 2019.

You can pre-order Survivors Series Nine and Survivors Series Eight (released tomorrow) each at £25 on CD or £20 on download. Or order pre-order them both in a bundle at £50 on CD or £40 on download.

David also told us what’s coming up in Survivors Series Eight in October’s edition of Vortex magazine: “Listeners may have noticed that in the last box set our final episode edged past the end of the 1970s TV series, with Abby Grant and Jenny Richards reunited. Our eighth box set – and also the ninth – will continue that move forward, with eight linked episodes that see the return of Peter Grant, and the rise of a new threat to the community.” You can read the full article in Vortex, here.

Survivors: series finale. 17 December 2018.

THE EIGHTH SERIES of original Survivors audio adventures has been released by Big Finish today.

This latest boxset features original TV series characters Abby Grant (Carolyn Seymour), Jenny Richards (Lucy Fleming) and Ruth Anderson (Helen Goldwyn) alongside returning characters introduced by Big Finish’s team of writers. Series eight sees the introduction of the prominent new figure of former military man Robert Malcolm (Hywel Morgan), and heralds the long-anticipated meeting of Abby Grant and her son Peter (Joel James Davison).

The four episodes of series eight are available to buy as a CD boxset or as a digital download package.

AHEAD OF THE upcoming release of the eighth series of Survivors audio adventures, Big Finish are offering discounts on previous releases in the series which should prove irresistable to anyone who’s not yet caught up with one of the company’s “most critically acclaimed” shows which regularly secures “top mark reviews.”

This weekend (14-16 December 2018) you can take advantage of a 50% discount on the download version of the first four series of Survivors audios, and – even more temptingly – a massive discount on Carolyn Seymour’s peerless audiobook reading of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel, which you can pick-up for just £2.99. Series four, five and six are also available at pre-release prices once again.

If for some inexplicable reason you’ve not yet done so, there’s still time to pre-order Survivors series eight (either on CD or as a digital download) from the Big Finish site too.

Survivors special offers

The eighth series of Survivors, based on the cult 1970s drama, will be released later this month – which just gives you enough time to catch up on the previous episodes using our special offers on the first seven series – prices start from just £2.99.

Survivors is based on an original concept and characters from the 1975 television series by Terry Nation (creator of the Daleks and Blake’s 7). The show ran for three seasons and was known to be as thought-provoking and character-driven as it was terrifying.

Survivors Series Eight sees actors Carolyn Seymour and Lucy Fleming reprising their TV roles as Abby Grant and Jenny Richards. Helen Goldwyn also returns as Ruth and George Watkins returns as Craig – both characters appeared in Survivors Series Six.

Actress Wendy Craig, who listeners will recognise from TV shows Nanny, Butterflies, …And Mother Makes Three and …And Mother Makes Five guest stars, and in a major twist, Joel James Davison (the son of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison) joins the ongoing series as Peter Grant, Abby’s long-lost son. Will Abby and Peter finally meet?

To celebrate the upcoming new series of Survivors, this weekend (until 23:59 UK time, Monday 17th December), the first four series of Survivors and the Survivors audiobook on CD are now priced at 50% off, and Series Five, Six and Seven are available at their pre-order prices.

Head to page https://www.bigfinish.com/offers/v/survive and use access code PETERGRANT to access these special offers.

And for a real bargain, why not listen to the audiobook of the Survivors novel, available on download at just £2.99.

Survivors remains one of Big Finish’s most critically acclaimed series, with regular top mark reviews. The powerful performances and strong scripts in these tales of survival and the continuation of hope and humanity in a ravaged world must be heard to be believed.

If you’re new to the world of Survivors you can listen to Survivors: Revelation by Matt Fitton, the first episode from Survivors Series One, as a free download from Big Finish.

TODAY’S BIG FINISH podcast (2 December 2018) concludes with a fifteen minute preview of the first episode of series eight of Survivors audio adventures.

The ‘Drama Tease’ is a staple feature of Big Finish’s regular weekly podcast, and this instalment offers a quarter-of-an-hour sneak-peak of opening episode of upcoming eighth Survivors audio series ‘Bandit Train’. Written by Christopher Hatherall, this story features Abby Grant (Carolyn Seymour), Jenny Richards (Lucy Fleming), returning audio-first character Craig (George Watkins) and Derek Gibb (Gyuri Sarossy).

8.1 BANDIT TRAIN

Society is slowly rebuilding. Abby and Jenny are transporting supplies between settlements. Craig is learning how to run the steam engines on lines cleared by Greg Preston.

But there are still those who just want to take. And their train is about to come under attack…

The eighth series of Survivors audios is released later this month and is still available for pre-order; and all previously releases in the series are still available to buy in CD and download formats.

BIG FINISH HAVE revealed the cover art for the forthcoming eighth series of Survivors audio adventures, scheduled for release in November.

Tom Newsom’s design for the series eight cover places Abby Grant (Carolyn Seymour) at its centre, flanked by Jenny Richards (Lucy Fleming) and Peter Grant (newcomer to the series Joel James Davison, the son of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison).

You can still pre-order Series Eight of Survivors at £25 on CD or £20 on download. Or save money in a bundle and pre-order Series Eight and Nine together at £50 on CD or £40 on download.

Series 1-7 can still be ordered from the Big Finish web site, along with the audio book version of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel, narrated by Carolyn Seymour.

If you’re new to the world of Survivors you can listen to Survivors: Revelation by Matt Fitton, the first episode from Survivors Series One on a free download from Big Finish.

IN THE LATEST BIG FINISH podcast (19 August 2018), executive producer Nick Briggs speaks candidly about some of the commercial challenges the company faces in securing a viable financial return on some of the audio titles in its catalogue: including Survivors.

The issue was explored in response to a listener’s email enquiring about the possibility of Big Finish producing a series of Doomwatch audios (either as a contemporary reboot or by recreating some of the many ‘lost episodes’ from the original). Briggs explained that, while this was an enticing prospect, the company doubted that there would be sufficient listeners out there willing to buy the finished product – and revealed that other key titles (outside the Doctor Who universe) were facing the same challenge:

“Would we ever consider it? We would. But you know – rights. The trouble is with series like this is that they’re well remembered and people like me go crazy for them. But there aren’t enough of us, really, to make it viable. We’ve found this with diminishing sales for Survivors and The Omega Factor – some of the best things we do. But they have a very limited number of vociferous fans who love it, but they’re not the big hitters. And you have to pay for the rights, and then the productions are very expensive to make, even though we’ve got certain cost-cutting budgetary measures we can put into place. So that’s the problem with something like Doomwatch. I would, in an instant, in a heartbeat, if it were just down to personal preference, I would start work on it tomorrow.”

One financial factor that has been impacting on Big Finish’s physical sales more generally is the rising cost of CD production, caused by the relative weakness of Sterling in the run-up to Brexit: as most of the company’s CD materials and services are purchased from overseas.

The cost of our producing CDs has massively risen: none of which we have passed on to customers. We’re having to take that hit ourselves, which is quite a blow. Everything is fine… we are absorbing that. One way to help us is to cut down on the materials in the CD and packaging production.

Slimming down on packaging will also help Big Finish make good on its commitment to reduce the amount of plastic and other materials used in its production process. With more of Big Finish’s sales moving to digital downloads, the company has been reviewing the approach it will take to offering CDs for sale in the future. One option is to press a fixed single run of compact discs, or to guaranteed that a CD version will be available for a fixed period of time – with digital downloads available for as long as licensing arrangements permit.

The most obvious way for Survivors enthusiasts to encourage Big Finish to continue producing its superlative Survivors audios (in whichever digital format) is to commit to pre-ordering the upcoming series and to pick up copies of any of the previous series that they have yet to acquire.

You can pre-order Series Eight of Survivors at £25 on CD or £20 on download. Or save money in a bundle and pre-order Series Eight and Nine together at £50 on CD or £40 on download.

Series 1-7 can still be ordered from the Big Finish web site, along with the audio book version of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel, narrated by Carolyn Seymour.

If you’re new to the world of Survivors you can listen to Survivors: Revelation by Matt Fitton, the first episode from Survivors Series One on a free download from Big Finish.

“I passionately love Survivors,” Briggs confirmed to Survivors: A World Away. “And it’s been one of my most rewarding creative challenges working on the series, providing the incidental music.”

Briggs’ comments on the viability of Doomwatch audios, and on the sales of Survivors and The Omega Factor, can be heard at 46ms:05s into the podcast.

UPDATE, 4 SEPTEMBER 2018: In the Listeners’ Emails section of the 3 September 2018 Big Finish podcast, Nick Briggs again discusses (albeit briefly) the future of the company’s Survivors audio adventure range (around 36mins into the broadcast):

There is another series of Survivors coming, that I have to do the music for; Benji has done the sound design. So there is one more. There’s no more of The Omega Factor

As well as confirming the cancellation of The Omega Factor, Briggs’ comments clearly indicate that – unless sales improve decisively, and reach the levels achieved by earlier releases – series nine of Survivors audios (due for release in June 2019) will be the last in the current run.