Sunday, March 24, 2013

Big Finish's Big Day Out

Yesterday I made the snowy journey to Barking for Big Finish Day 3. Again this was a co-production between Big Finish and the autograph company Tenth Planet. And once again the star attraction was Tom Baker, but there were plenty of other guests and some interesting panels to attend.


Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter play the marvellous Jago and Litefoot in their own spin-off series and they were both there in fine form.


I picked up the first series of their stories for them both to sign, along with the lovely Lisa Bowerman.


Chase Masterson played Leeta in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and has recently started her own Big Finish series as the impossibly glamorous bounty hunter Vienna Salvatore. She brought a lot of Hollywood sparkle to the slightly run down setting of a comprehensive school in Essex!


Also very glamorous, and rather surprising to find there as a Tenth Planet guest was Caroline Munroe, one of my teenage heartthrobs.


I hadn't planned on meeting Tom Baker again this year as I wasn't sure about the long queue but after Ms Munroe signed this picture for me I picked up a ticket for Tom and snuck in at the end when the queue had disappeared.


Sadly Tom seems to have got my name wrong this year! Oh well.

I also met Michael Keating who played Villa in Blake's 7 and Carole Ann Ford who was the first Doctor Who companion all the way back in 1963. Everyone I met was also very happy to record short audio clips for the British Invaders podcast which you may well hear in future episodes.

I bought another of the Big Finish Sherlock Holmes range, The Perfidious Mariner by Jonathan Barnes. Expect a review here soon.


The final highlight of the day was the chance to sit in on a recording of the Big Finish podcast, with Nicholas Briggs and Paul Spragg on fine form. Mr Briggs used the audience as impromptu extras for some crowd scenes that are coming up in a future Fourth Doctor release, the Dalek Contract, which I shall have to buy now just to hear if our jeers and laughter make it to the final cut!

It did feel as if the event has slightly outgrown the school setting and they have already announced that next year's event is moving to a hotel in Slough. It would also have been nice to have the programme of events ahead of the day itself, but I suspect Big Finish are rather busy at the moment as they build up towards the 50th anniversary events. But let's not detract from a fun day out with some interesting chats with jolly nice people. Well done Big Finish, hope to see you again next year.

2 comments:

  1. I wish I could have stayed to the end but the 2 1/2 hour journey in the snow persuaded me otherwise. Good write-up and quick off the mark, I think mine will be later in the week

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  2. Thanks, Tony
    Having seen one of your tweets i think I was sitting in the same writers' workshop as you.

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