Members of the Big Finish production team discussed the reception of the first series of Survivors audio dramas at the recent London Film and Comic Con.
Producer David Richardson reveals: “Survivors has been selling very well […] it’s had really great reviews; people have really started buying into it and it’s been a great success for us.”
Script editor Matt Fitton adds: “People are picking it up without having seen the TV series, and also fans of the TV series are picking it up and saying that it really is in keeping with it; that it’s part of that world. So it works both ways… Quite a few have come in, listened to it, and then gone and bought the DVDs of the 1975 series.”
The Western Gazette – Sherborne (8 November) reports on a recent visit by Survivors star Denis Lill (Charles Vaughan) to a local centre for adults with learning difficulties celebrating its fourth birthday.
Only Fools and Horses star visits Sherborne
ACTOR Denis Lill best known for his role in Only Fools and Horses recently visited Sherborne.
Mr Lill starred in the classic British sitcom as Rodney Trotter’s father-in-law. He was in the town to help The Green Shed celebrate its fourth birthday.
The Green Shed, based in Castle Gardens, provides work for adults with learning difficulties. They are employed to produce kindling, plant troughs and other items using recycled materials.
Mr Lill spent the morning regaling people with anecdotes from his six decade film and television career.
Coordinator of the Green Shed, Barry Watts, said: “We were delighted to have Denis along to celebrate our anniversary with us and we are very grateful to him for spending time talking to our service users.
“A lot of laughs were had and it was fascinating to hear his anecdotes about filming Only Fools and Horses, The Royal and the 1975 television series Survivors.”
The Green Shed was opened in October 2010 after the Whitehouse Resource Centre in Sherborne closed. It is operated by Dorset County Council and was part-funded by Chalk and Cheese.
Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston) appears fleetingly in the Big Finish video trailer of the company’s appearance at the Dimensions 2014 convention. More Big Finish content from the event will be added to the Big Finish YouTube channel soon.
Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston) will join the panel of Big Finish guests at the upcoming Dimensions 2014 convention, being held at the Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle on 24-26 October 2014.
Other Big Finish guests involved with the Survivors audio dramas include: Ken Bentley (director, writer), David Richardson (producer), Jason Haigh-Ellery (executive producer) and Matt Fitton (writer, script editor). Also appearing at the convention over the course of the weekend, as part of the Doctor Who guest line-up, are Louise Jameson (‘Jackie Burchall’, writer) and Terry Molloy (‘John Redgrave’).
Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant), Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston) and Lucy Fleming (Jenny Richards) in the Big Finish studios, October 2014
Recording of the second series of Big Finish’s Survivors audio adventures has completed this week, and all four episodes are now being scheduled for editing, mixing, music and all post-production tasks ahead of the June 2015 release.
I had the great privilege of attending one of the week’s recording sessions, and was able to interview the cast in between the recording of different scenes and listen in (from the engineer and director’s booth), as sequences from the first episode of the new series were rehearsed and different takes recorded.
Big Finish have released the cover artwork for the upcoming audio-book version of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel. With its ‘shattered glass’ design, the cover art evokes comparison with the original UK paperback and hardback editions of the book – which featured a smashed photo frame containing a portrait of Abby Grant.
Unabridged and voiced by Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant), Survivors – audiobook of novel will be released in a six-disc CD set and in a digital download version in December 2014. Both versions of the Survivors audiobook are available for pre-order on the Big Finish site.
Survivors – Terry Nation – Big Finish – audiobook
A deadly virus spreads across the world as quickly as the passenger jets that encircle it. Within weeks, most of the global population is dead.
The human race is thrown back into the dark ages. The few left alive must rely on the most basic skills to survive one day to the next.
Abby Grant ventures out into a strange new England, her husband dead, the fate of her son unknown. Jenny Richards flees London. Engineer Greg Preston arrives from abroad. Desperate lone travellers come together, their instinct to form a community, even if that means rebuilding civilisation from scratch. But not all who are left have such high ideals…
And while she has the chance of a new beginning, Abby cannot settle until she knows the truth. Has her son survived?
Written by: Terry Nation | Number of Discs: 6 | Duration: 360ms approx | ISBN: 978-1-78178-451-8
A new interview with Louise Jameson (Jackie Burchall), in which she discusses her highly praised work on the first series of Big Finish’s Survivors audio adventures has been added to the Big Finish Survivors mini-site of Survivors: A World Away.
Says Louise of signing up to take part in the series:
I said ‘yes’ before I’d seen a word. I don’t normally do that, but I trust Big Finish so much. David Richardson has become a really good mate. And as you say, the series was so highly acclaimed too. I didn’t see how it could fail, really. I think they’ve done a fantastic job with the soundscape. They say that the best pictures are on the radio, and I think that they’ve achieved that with Survivors.
Louise Jameson (Jackie Burchall, Big Finish Survivors) has Tweeted a photo of the front coverage of Mothers’ Courage – her script for the second episode of the second series of Survivors audio dramas. Jameson is the first of the new Survivors audio drama cast to write a script for the Big Finish series.
Look what arrived! Bursting with excitement. Sincere thanks to @mattief for mentoring me through the process. pic.twitter.com/cmNdTwvCP4
Audio-drama specialists Big Finish have confirmed their intention to release an audio-book version of Terry Nation’s 1976 Survivors novel, to be read by Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant). Survivors: Audiobook of Novel will be released as a 6-disc CD set and as a digital download. Both formats are available for pre-order, and will be released in December 2014.
Carolyn Seymour – star of BBC’s popular Survivors series – was in the UK last weekend for Big Finish Day 5 – and it’s been announced what else she was working on while here…
Big Finish are pleased to announce a release of the Survivors novel, written by series creator Terry Nation in 1976. Out in December it will be read by Carolyn Seymour – Abby Grant in the 1975 series, a role she reprised in a special appearance in Big Finish’s first Survivors release in June:
A deadly virus spreads across the world as quickly as the passenger jets that encircle it. Within weeks, most of the global population is dead.
The human race is thrown back into the dark ages. The few left alive must rely on the most basic skills to survive one day to the next.
Abby Grant ventures out into a strange new England, her husband dead, the fate of her son unknown. Jenny Richards flees London. Engineer Greg Preston arrives from abroad. Desperate lone travellers come together, their instinct to form a community, even if that means rebuilding civilisation from scratch. But not all who are left have such high ideals…
And while she has the chance of a new beginning, Abby cannot settle until she knows the truth. Has her son survived?
