Latest / A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast / Interview - Nicola Bryant & Nev Fountain

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Interview - Nicola Bryant & Nev Fountain · A Hamster With a Blunt Penknife - a Doctor Who Commentary podcast

0:33
Hamster with a blunt pen knife. They're doing quicker.
0:37
Welcome back to our hamster with a blunt pen knife the Doctor Who
0:40
commentary podcast. I have got 2 extremely special
0:45
guests today. I am so excited.
0:49
Knee fountain and Nick O'Brien. Hello.
0:52
Hello. It's Nevada.
0:56
You. I just asked that question,
0:58
didn't I? It.
1:01
Makes him. Makes him.
1:03
Makes me enigmatic. It does forever.
1:05
It makes me real as well right? Making a mistake in the 1st 5.
1:08
Seconds. Sometimes.
1:11
I won't that forever. Now come along.
1:14
We've got some really exciting things to talk about today.
1:17
New books, new audios, and Doctor Who journeys.
1:22
Can I open this up first to you, Nevada, to talk about your book
1:27
Lies and Dolls, which I am 2/3 through at the moment and
1:31
absolutely loving. Can I ask you, how did the first
1:36
book of this particular rate? How did that come about?
1:39
The fan who knew too much. Well, it came about because of a
1:43
party in Islington. Likely like, like, like many
1:48
good parties start in Islington. And as you know from the
1:51
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I just met a publisher
1:55
with Titan. And he was literally the first
1:57
person I met at the party. And I told him what I did and he
2:01
told me what he did. And I mentioned the Mervyn Stone
2:04
books and he said, well, Titan are looking for a type of
2:08
detective, not a professional policeman, but unorthodox
2:12
detectives. And he said he read one of the
2:15
Mervyn books. She said, that's exactly what we
2:17
want, but we want to properly relaunch the, the title.
2:20
Can you think of a new detective?
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And I thought, yes, that's a good opportunity to do a fan
2:26
detective rather than Mervyn. Mervyn was a great character,
2:31
much beloved by many people, but he had to be dragged into these
2:35
adventures and, and, and Kit is very proactive.
2:39
So so I I like writing. Occasionally reticent though
2:43
right in in all these social situations that she finds
2:46
herself in. But she gets invited to these
2:48
situations, such as in lies and dolls.
2:51
She, she, she invites herself to this opening of this toy museum.
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I don't think Mervyn would have gone there.
2:57
Well, OK, I've got a big question to ask you about the
3:00
tone of these books, because I think there's a fine line to
3:05
walk between affectionately poking fun at fandoms and and
3:11
fans such as myself. I mean, I was I've been howling
3:14
on public transport reading this book because so much of the the
3:17
things what? Someone else wants to join the.
3:19
Hub. Oh boy.
3:20
Let's say hello. Oh, come on, I've got a question
3:23
about dogs later. Do you know?
3:24
Oh. Hello, are you talking about how
3:29
nasty I am towards fans? No, Well, no.
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Just the line between poking fun and celebrating fandom.
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I think it's a fine line. I think you gauge it
3:39
brilliantly. I think it's you find the humour
3:42
in every character individually. And I think if you find the
3:47
humour in the actors that are in the, in the books, in the types
3:51
of fans, in all the manner, you know, in the guy who owns the
3:55
stately home, you just, if you just look at them
3:59
dispassionately and go what's amusing by them, what's amusing
4:02
about them, then you, you make all the different types of jokes
4:06
and then one, no one's left out and no one's particularly picked
4:09
on. That's, that's my take on it.
4:12
And if you have lots of different types of fans, then
4:14
they all have different quirks and characters.
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Bin Fire's different from Kit and Kit's different from Robbie.
4:21
And so it creates the continuum of humour and not everyone is
4:28
just targeted relentlessly. I, yeah, I found myself, you
4:32
know, you sort of Kit has some really sort of pedantic moments
4:36
where she's correcting people on particular details in the fandom
4:40
that she loves. And I was like, yeah, that's me.
4:42
That's how. And she's neurodivergent, right?
4:47
So how did you sort of come upon that?
4:50
Because that's a tough thing to write as well.
4:53
Well, I think it's just I see a lot of myself in kit.
5:00
I saw a lot of myself in Mervyn, but I see a lot of myself in kit
5:03
too. There's slightly, I think
5:05
everyone gets into Doctor Who. One of the big reasons is they
5:09
can categorise and, you know, label things.
5:15
And getting into Doctor Who is a bit like being an archaeologist,
5:18
you know, finding out when I started back when I was a kid,
5:24
there were lots of stories that I didn't know about and I found
5:28
out about. And then I used to
5:30
compartmentalise them and I used to buy the magazine and, and all
5:34
the fact files and things. And it appeals to a certain kind
5:37
of anal persuasion of fans, I think.
5:43
Yeah. I mean I have, I have certain
5:47
neuro diversion properties myself, different kinds.
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But I know in a lot of my friends there is that there is
5:54
that always that in the in the in their heads.
5:58
And may I ask because there's wonderful moments where a
6:02
particular franchise is mentioned within the book and
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then Kit will literally say when that when that franchise first
6:10
came to be like the year and specifically name the title of
6:13
it. How many books, comics
6:15
franchises do you doff your hat to in these books?
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Or did you always count because there's many of them.
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Yeah, I mean, I wanted to encompass lots of lots of real
6:26
franchises and lots of because I wanted to make real.
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And you know, I watch Blake Seven, I've watched Star Trek,
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I've watched, you know, Andor. So a good spread.
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I don't want them to be a bit monomaniacal about Vixens from
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the void because I just think that's quite boring.
6:45
So it's nice to, it's nice to have a good spread because I
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think fans like us know a little bit about everything and every
6:53
kind of franchise. We're not just stuck with Doctor
6:56
Who. I couldn't help but notice a
7:00
particularly obnoxious super fan in prison.
7:04
I couldn't possibly say who it reminded me of, but no,
7:09
everyone's shaking their heads. OK, all right, I'm not going to
7:12
say words. And I mean if I.
7:16
Can say What's fun is that lots of people who've read the books,
7:20
all the urban books as well, have often said, oh, I recognise
7:24
so and so and some of them are right and some of them are wrong
7:29
and they think it's somewhere else and it really doesn't
7:31
matter, does it? That's the the thing it doesn't
7:34
matter who you think it is. It's kind of the joy of
7:38
thinking, oh, that's a bit like someone I know.
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I mean, in my circles, what was the description?
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Too obnoxious to know and too rich to avoid or something like
7:48
that. Could be many people OK.
7:51
Well, that's a great. I mean, I love that character.
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This is the fourth book he's been in because he was in two
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Mervid books and he's in both Kit books.
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I just keep coming back to him for some reason.
8:00
He has a rich mine of drama and satire.
8:04
You can't really escape him for some reason.
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I've got to say as well, the idea of and like, I'm not going
8:10
to spoil the book too much because I want people to go out
8:12
and buy it and read it because it's so much fun.
8:15
But the idea of an Agatha Christie of the, the let's say,
8:19
and then there Were none but with action figures is so genius
8:24
because to, to stop not Doctor Who fans, but all fans.
8:27
Yeah, those figures are the rare ones.
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It's it's like losing a person. If you lose them, you know, they
8:34
are a symbol of their fandom. So I'm like, yeah, you've really
8:38
got something here. So the idea that she's going
8:40
around not murder investigating a murder this time, but the loss
8:44
of figures and then the little rhymes that are left as they're.
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I mean, one of them ended up in a clay pigeon shoot, didn't it?
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Oops. Sorry.
8:51
That is a spot. I used to had the little Star
8:56
Wars figures and I had the Doctor Who Dennis Fisher wants
8:59
the the larger ones. And I had I got bought for my
9:03
birthday when we were on a holiday in Dawlish and Devon, a
9:09
bunch of little Star Wars figures, Greedo and and Darth
9:12
Vader and the Cyberman with the nose from the from the Dennis
9:15
Bishop. And it was left behind the door
9:19
at a hotel we stayed in. And I never saw them again.
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My mother even sent them a cheque and they never cashed it
9:25
and they never sent my birthday presents back and it still hurts
9:30
it. Could have been a pension, you
9:31
know. I know.
9:36
I didn't have the Bob effect with the spring loaded backpack
9:39
and that is worth a lot. I did a lot of research into
9:41
rare action figures. There are some great YouTube
9:45
videos which I just mentioned. Analogue Toys is a great one.
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I use that. I watch that a lot and that that
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guy knows a lot about it and he's he was invaluable.
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I think the real genius of the the second book, Lies and Dolls,
10:00
is that if you're a fan of anything, you're going to get
10:03
something from this book because you've got, I just can't see
10:05
myself in lots of various things.
10:07
And, you know, I wrote down some sort of notes I'm going through.
10:10
And so this is the sort of thing that, you know, when you pick
10:12
this up that you're going to get, OK, you're going to get a
10:15
Yoda sat NAV, you're going to get Vixens from the void, you're
10:19
going to get the cosplay Countess.
10:21
That sounds intriguing. You're going to get a wound
10:24
Quarter eyes with a Jost stick. The Miss Marple extended
10:27
universe. A lesbian detective.
10:31
A conversation about how there are more rules about toy guns in
10:35
the US than real ones. That was absolutely fascinating.
10:39
Graham Fenton, The mad rich Supervan.
10:42
I'm not saying a word. 10 little action figures, Clay pigeon
10:46
figure assassins. The just the.
10:50
You wrote a scene which was like the triumph of escaping from a
10:52
controlling relationship. Within all of this madness,
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there was this scene that was just so real where, you know,
10:59
where she takes the call kit. And then it's just a wonderful,
11:04
wonderful book. Yeah.
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So everybody gets it now. What's the best place to find
11:10
it? Nevada.
11:12
Well, all branches of Forbidden Planet have it.
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I order it from Waterstones. It's always, it's good to order
11:19
from your local bookshop. I think you can get them from
11:22
your book shops and that I think that helps things.
11:25
Amazon if you have to, but you know, try your book shops and
11:30
they will love you for it. If you actually say can I can
11:32
you order that for me? They love that kind of stuff.
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Well, it's a glorious, glorious read.
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So everybody go out and find lice and dolls.
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It's wonderful. Nicola, hello.
11:43
Hello, this is my first born Harvey Oh, he's.
11:47
Beautiful. We're we're, we're a big animal
11:50
household in this house. Do you know we go out every
11:53
night looking for foxes to give. I'm going to ask you about your
11:59
dog charity later. Actually, I wanted to say just a
12:02
very quick personal story because when I was 13 years old,
12:05
I've said this a lot on podcast. I bought the trial of a Time
12:09
Lords video box set that came out in a very, very difficult
12:14
top part of my life. Really hard.
12:16
My dad had gone to prison. Things were really, really bad.
12:20
That box set means the world to me now, all these years later,
12:24
because it took me away from a really difficult time watching
12:27
those first two stories, Mysterious Planet and Mind Wall.
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You probably hear this sort of thing a lot.
12:31
I. Do.
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And when I first joined Doctor Who and I started to hear this
12:38
stuff, I thought, really? And then soon it became apparent
12:45
that, you know, it's not just a wonderful television show.
12:48
It's also some kind of medicine and some kind of magic that
12:55
enables people to leave pain behind for a moment, to leave
13:02
distress behind, to be in another world, to be with their
13:05
friends, the Doctor and his companion or her companion.
13:10
And it it takes people somewhere safe.
13:15
And I only today actually, I received a direct message from a
13:20
fan. And I don't normally look at
13:21
direct messages talks. I'm not very good at Instagram.
13:24
I go, what is this bit? I don't know.
13:26
I don't really understand how Instagram works.
13:28
I should do, but I don't. And there was this message from
13:32
someone saying, oh, you know, sorry to bother you.
13:36
And I tried to phone them. So I sent them a message back.
13:38
So I think it was Emmy and she said you won't Remember Me, but
13:44
three years ago I met you at a convention and you signed this
13:50
thing for me and you wrote love luck and teddy bears and you
13:53
gave me a teddy bear and and she said I've you told me how this
14:00
bear had travelled. So I guess at the time she would
14:03
have been about 13/12/13 and she said that you told me this bear
14:08
had travelled with you all around and this bear's still
14:10
travelled with me. And she tells me where the
14:12
bear's been. And she said, and this bear and
14:15
what you said to me on that day all those years ago has just got
14:20
me through my GCS ES. They were really and she said it
14:25
was a really tough time for her. And I thought, you know, it's I
14:30
just feel really so lucky to have been part of not just ATV
14:34
show that ran for three years, because I was part of another TV
14:36
show that ran for three years. But you don't get this response
14:39
to that. And and it's.
14:42
Actually in the conventions as well, like the all of those
14:45
people coming together, communities that have found each
14:47
other and friends from from what was probably a job back in the
14:51
80s. You know, yeah.
14:53
But yeah, it, it genuinely has a profound effect on people.
14:57
And I always say, I say to people that I had a, oh God, I
15:00
don't want to go into therapy now.
15:02
I'm so sorry, but I had a bit of a tricky relationship with my
15:04
dad. And I used to say that.
15:06
Well, I then I put on Mysterious planet and there was Colin Baker
15:10
as the Doctor, you know, bold, heroic, funny, charming, and
15:15
there was like a male role model there.
15:17
And it sounds crazy that that was in ATV show, but it
15:19
absolutely was true. I had a really long discussion
15:23
with a friend of mine who's a director and, and he said he
15:27
watched the show as a child and he thought Colin Baker was just
15:31
the best role model because it wasn't like, sorry, the dog was
15:36
about to have my teeth. It wasn't, It wasn't in a way.
15:40
Like if you looked at like, Captain Kirk, for example, he'd
15:44
always be trying to kiss the girls.
15:46
You know, any woman taken on board was in possible danger of
15:50
ending up in the captain's quarters.
15:54
But what they particularly, and this was interesting in their
15:57
perspective that, you know, all those clothes that I had to wear
16:00
as Perry, some quite overtly sexual, I was overtly horrible.
16:05
But you know, they weren't overtly uncomfortable.
16:08
But the point was he never reacted to that.
16:12
He just treated her as Perry. He didn't react to the clothing.
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And So what a fabulous role model.
16:18
So it's not what you wear, it's who you are.
16:22
And I thought of you. I've not even thought of that.
16:26
You're walking through, you're walking through a forest and
16:28
you've got your arms around each other.
16:29
Who's twirling the umbrec? Hey, it's.
16:31
Just so gorgeous. Can I ask you about the 60th
16:35
anniversary and the tales from the Tardis that you did?
16:39
What was that like? Did you have to go to Cardiff to
16:41
do that? Yes, we did.
16:43
Yeah. It was absolutely wonderful.
16:47
And it was. I'm so emotional, really
16:50
emotional. For us, it was emotional for us
16:53
to be back together again, you know, on screen and to see this
16:57
new little TARDIS which at the time we didn't realise had bits
17:01
of Shooties TARDIS because I was like, I don't recognise this,
17:05
but what's this from? And of course that was from
17:07
Shooties. And when we went on set, we
17:13
walked on and everybody stopped. The crew stopped, everybody
17:17
stopped and they all just applauded us.
17:19
And you know, Russell was there and they'd all taken and Russell
17:23
taken us out for dinner the night before and, and, and Phil
17:26
Conson and everyone was there and it was like, it was just
17:31
really incredible because they were so like, we wouldn't be
17:35
here if it wasn't for you guys and we love you.
17:37
And it was just like, I was like, stop, because I've just
17:39
and I'll have to go back. But it was just, everyone was so
17:45
lovely. You know, it would have been
17:48
lovely to have gone on and just done it in three days instead of
17:51
one day or something. But to have that.
17:54
And it was such a clever idea, such a clever idea to just to
17:58
introduce to people who may not know the series, You know, let's
18:01
have this little reminiscence and let's remember what happened
18:07
and, and how awful that was for Perry at the time.
18:09
Because I think most of the stories were quite awful for
18:11
Perry. And it was just such a clever
18:15
idea to just top and tail the original story.
18:18
I mean, you at the end of that, the two of you are at the
18:21
console, aren't you both slapping at each other's hands?
18:23
Trying to go. Tomorrow off, come on.
18:26
I want more. Can't they just film some more?
18:29
And then he goes, don't worry, there's a big Finish that coming
18:31
out next. Obviously, of course I'm going
18:32
to get more. Yes.
18:34
Well, can I talk about Big Finish then?
18:36
Because our my partner and I, we do a Big Finish podcast,
18:43
imaginatively titled Finish Big and of absolute favourites are
18:48
the Connie Baker ones. I would just adore them.
18:51
And the set has just come out called Bad Terms, which if you
18:56
wrote one of those stories and Nicola, you were in both of
18:58
those stories as Perry, scourge of the high seas.
19:02
I don't know if you recall that, but I thought they film recorded
19:05
a lot in advance, aren't they they?
19:07
Are I remember 1, I think one of the recordings and I said to
19:12
Jack, I said when's this coming out?
19:14
And she went 2027 and I went when's it coming out?
19:18
She said no. And I was like, Oh my goodness.
19:23
But the the the absolute delay and I think it's it's just pay
19:28
big Finish now is the ones with the sick doctor and Perry.
19:32
And I believe and tell me if I'm wrong, it's because you and
19:37
Connie, you've had a friendship that's lasted since the 80s.
19:40
And I can just feel that chemistry when you're in the
19:43
studio together and when you know, and it is, it's similar to
19:47
when you were on screen, but there's just a warmth and and
19:51
you know, several decades of friendship behind it.
19:54
Am I wrong? No, exactly, I mean.
20:00
Of course, if our our acting roles required us not to be
20:02
friends, we'd be perfectly capable of doing that.
20:05
But since we play people who are travelling and we don't know
20:09
exactly how long for, I mean, when you've got the older Perry,
20:12
it's obviously quite a long time that they've known each other.
20:17
So yeah, I think it's it's right for us to to be able to use that
20:22
natural warmth between us as these two characters.
20:27
I mean, there was the period, wasn't it, when you guys did the
20:30
lost stories, so the ones that could have been made back in the
20:32
day and you did have to take yourselves back to.
20:35
Yes, we did. Sort of bristling relationship
20:37
on TV sometimes, yes. And to go back and go, gosh,
20:41
yes, that was a bit sexist, wasn't it?
20:45
A lot of these things which we all just, you know, that was how
20:48
it was. There was one in particular,
20:50
wasn't there, where even in the 80s, I think that might have
20:55
been considered a bit much, yeah.
20:58
But there we go, that was the 80s.
21:00
It was all a bit much, it was all a bit colourful and and
21:04
that's what we loved about it too.
21:06
I've got a huge nostalgia for it.
21:07
I can't criticise it at all. Well, you wrote Read for Danger
21:12
on that set. Can I ask you please, was your
21:15
ambition there to write The Doctor's Daughter?
21:17
But get it right. It was that bit became after the
21:23
first idea because I always try and work in something personal
21:28
at stake for either Perry or the 6th Doctor.
21:32
So I wanted to do a, a Harry Potter style story because
21:36
because of the obviously spoilerific reasons at the end
21:39
of episode 3, that's where I started.
21:42
I, I suggested the, the thing that happened at the end of
21:45
episode 3 to Jack and, and she said that's a great idea.
21:48
Can you write the first story and the one after that?
21:52
So I I went from that starting point.
21:54
We're not doing spoilers, are we?
21:57
I mean, we kind of don't want to finish big, but we put big
21:59
spoiler water in French. Anyway I wanted.
22:02
So you want spoilers? Everybody skip forward 3
22:05
minutes. So I suggested spoilers that
22:09
older Telo should come back and join older Perry because it was,
22:13
I felt it was very interesting dynamic because they both knew
22:15
each other and they both knew the 5th Doctor.
22:18
Perry knows the 6th Doctor, but Telo doesn't.
22:21
So there's a tension and we can explore lots of things about the
22:24
6th Doctor and Terler getting to know each other and Perry being
22:27
the bridge between, between 5th, 6th Doctor and Terler.
22:32
So I, I said that as a starting point and she said, yes, I want
22:36
you to introduce Terler at the end of one story.
22:38
And, and using that as a starting point, I wanted to do
22:41
the public school idea. And so I had the idea of the
22:47
public school and the the aliens sending their kids to English
22:50
public schools to turn them into horrible people because at the
22:53
time, at the time of writing, it was 2019.
22:57
So we had a lot of public school people in the government who who
23:00
were really quite annoying from Boris Johnson downwards.
23:04
So that was very much in my mind at the time.
23:07
And then I thought, how do I make it personal and taking the
23:10
idea of Harry Potter having a special kind of heritage.
23:15
And I think it was originally called sort of Malcolm Fellows
23:19
and the half blood Time Lord. And I was asked to scale back
23:23
the for good reason. And I think that worked because
23:27
it was it was too much of A pastiche as as as where I
23:30
started it. So putting the idea of the
23:34
doctor finding his own son in the school, I thought it would
23:37
be very interesting. And certainly interesting for
23:40
the the main pupil who had an idea that he was special, which
23:45
is much like Harry Potter. But in what way is he a wizard?
23:48
Is he a Time Lord? It's the kind of like it's
23:50
Wizards for Time Lords. What's astonishing was like if
23:54
you'd have sort of pitched, OK, I'm going to do the 6th Doctor
23:58
and he's got a son, he's going to find out he's got a son
24:00
Articon. But I can't imagine that
24:03
working. Well, I listened to that second
24:05
episode and the chemistry between Colin and and the kid
24:08
playing the role. And because the sick Doctor, I
24:10
was sort of like, this is there's no way this is going to
24:13
be the Doctor's son, I don't think.
24:15
But Colin, he thinks it's his son.
24:17
So all of those scenes are emotionally true.
24:20
They were just gorgeous. It's funny how just like the
24:23
logistics of it and how one idea leads you to another.
24:27
And, and I said, well, how does he think that this boy is his,
24:31
is his son? And the idea that all the other
24:34
doctors know about this son and they're keeping it from the 6th
24:37
doctor because he's too unstable to be a father.
24:41
And so the 6th doctor looks and it's a challenge to be a good
24:44
father to this boy. It's a very 6th doctor type
24:48
stubbornness and it works very well.
24:50
I think it. Was wonderful, Dick, like can I
24:54
ask you about directing Big finishes because Mark and I have
24:58
just listened to the Wasting, which is this is many times ago
25:03
now, a unit story which was superbly executed.
25:07
I said who directed this when we're listening?
25:10
How do we just think? Oh really?
25:12
I said, I went to look to see sort of how many you directed.
25:15
I found the Bride of Peloton as well, which was another great
25:18
one. I think a Judge Dredd one as
25:20
well. And so I've sort of heard all of
25:23
those now. Now, one, I want to know why
25:25
you're not doing more, because they're all great.
25:27
And two, what's the experience like of directing a big finish?
25:32
I didn't I, I really enjoyed directing Big Finish.
25:35
I enjoy, you know, sort of trying to always get the very
25:38
best out of the actors because I know that the actors always want
25:42
to give their very best. So it's about supporting them to
25:47
achieve that and having a bigger picture.
25:51
I think I was probably deeply annoying in terms of my
25:56
directing because I had really strong ideas about what I wanted
25:59
the music to do and where I didn't want to because I think
26:03
sometimes there's just too much music and I'd like to let the
26:06
actors just do the acting without too much under score
26:10
saying, Oh, and this is about to be scary.
26:13
And this is about, you know, and so thing with my first one, I
26:19
just kept sending it back saying no more like this and humming
26:22
stuff and sending stuff and doing a little bit.
26:24
So I probably haven't been asked to do anymore because I was so
26:28
difficult. I, I was also just really
26:32
concerned about the commitment because in this business, it's
26:36
so one minute you're doing this next minute you're doing that.
26:39
And I had been for several years, my mother's, you know, a
26:44
primary carer. And I just felt that I couldn't
26:48
really make that commitment to do it again.
26:51
But, you know, you never know, I might do some more.
26:55
But I thoroughly enjoyed the just the working with the actors
26:59
that's you know, and with, with the writer, you know, bringing
27:02
the, the the script to life. I mean, I think the by and large
27:06
big finishes, prolific output is of such a good quality, you
27:11
know, but when I listened to Bride of Peloton, the atmosphere
27:14
of that was gorgeous. Oh well, thank you.
27:21
Neve you Neve. I must stop saying Neve.
27:23
I will say Neve, shall I? Neve, you wrote one of my all
27:27
time favorite Big finishes. You've wrote many of my favorite
27:30
big finishes, but the one I kind of want to hone in on is Perry
27:33
and the Pisgon Paradox. A fantastic script, very, very
27:39
funny, very moving and good grief, very dramatic at the end.
27:47
What was that? What, what was the purpose of
27:48
that? Was that to sort out this whole
27:50
what happened to Perry after trial of a Time Lord for one
27:54
once and for all? And to you, Nicola, what was it
27:56
like playing that script? Because that was a script where
27:59
you had a lot to do. Well, it was just a job.
28:04
It was given to me as an exercise.
28:08
David Richardson asked me if I could write a Perry Companion
28:12
Chronicles, and he said, can it start with the 5th Doctor and
28:16
then with the 6th Doctor? And I said, well, that's quite a
28:19
nice idea. And it went on from there.
28:22
You know, one idea leads to another.
28:24
I had another idea of the Doctor being his own villain, of having
28:28
to dress up as a monster to to finish his story.
28:30
That was already in my head. I had the idea of people having
28:35
plastic surgery to look like fish.
28:37
That was another idea and they just all came together in in one
28:41
package. The idea of what happened to
28:44
Perry was, I'm afraid, a bit of an afterthought because I think
28:48
David said, well, you've got to explain why this Perry is a
28:53
relationship counsellor and and TV star.
28:56
So the Time Lord at the end is was probably the last things I'd
28:59
thought about. Yeah, the.
29:01
Whole. The whole for having the
29:05
boyfriend who turns into a monster being a parallel for
29:09
Peter Davison turning a tip. Sorry I couldn't stop saying the
29:12
actor's name. The 5th Doctor into the 6th
29:14
Doctor. That must have been really
29:15
interesting to play Nicola. Oh, I loved it.
29:18
I mean, I read the script, I cried, and I also went out and
29:26
sort of wanted to punch. Never really, because I just
29:29
felt he'd made it such an emotional journey.
29:32
Haven't you? Yeah.
29:33
And it came from it came from one of your own ideas for Perry.
29:36
Yes, because she had gone to Jonathan Turner.
29:40
You can tell the story if you want.
29:41
I'm sorry, you gone. She'd gone to Jonathan Turner
29:44
and said, well, I've got this character outline for Perry to
29:47
put some flesh on the bones for the character.
29:50
And I think she's gone with the 5th Doctor because he reminds
29:54
her of a head of a dead father. And I think John Rayton said
30:00
well done, that's good. You keep that in your head and
30:02
let me let's not talk about it again.
30:05
And I thought it sort of appeared when when I saw Rose,
30:08
because I thought, oh, there we go.
30:09
There's a fleshed out background, which was exactly
30:12
what I was doing for Perry, but never got to say it in words.
30:17
But I just carried it with me. Like the reason I've decided to
30:20
trust this man. I've just woken up in this
30:22
strange thing which turns out to be a time machine.
30:25
And I'm going to trust this man because, well, he looks like
30:30
what how I remember my dad, which is not something I get to
30:35
say or and I don't put my finger on it, but it it gave me a
30:40
reason because otherwise it would be like, can I go home
30:42
now? Straight away, Wouldn't it?
30:45
Why would you stay so? I took her idea and I transposed
30:48
it to a boyfriend and the at what are you?
30:53
You write a lot of things and a lot of the the writing process
30:57
is subconscious. All the stuff.
31:00
When I wrote Omega, it's about fake and then real and then fake
31:04
and then real. It was kind of like I hadn't
31:07
realised I was writing a pattern in my own head.
31:11
And it was literally on the day of recording when I realised, Oh
31:14
my God, Davey is the Doctor. He is the 5th Doctor turning
31:20
into the 6th Doctor. He is becoming a monster.
31:23
And the the violence that that Perry has at the hands of the
31:27
6th doctor is just the violence that she had.
31:29
She has at the hands of David. And I wrote that final monologue
31:33
of Alder Perry shouting at. Younger Perry.
31:36
She disappears in her heart. It's on the day, I think on the
31:39
day that morning. And I handed it to her and I
31:43
said that this has got to go in. And Jack Rayner was there.
31:47
She was script editing. And who was producing?
31:49
John Ainsworth? John Ainsworth was directing.
31:52
And it was a very productive and creative couple of days.
31:56
And I'm glad that it occurred to me only belatedly what I'd done.
32:02
That moment, Nicola, where you say run, yes, it's one of those
32:07
moments. I think it's an adventure show,
32:09
but that was a moment of real truth that I think a lot of
32:12
people listening may have been through those experiences and
32:17
actually, you know. Actually chills down my spine
32:20
when I read it and a lot of people wrote to me and said, oh,
32:24
my goodness, I really relate to that.
32:26
And, and I've always felt close to Perry, but this made me even
32:29
closer. So yeah.
32:32
Do you find that I, I love Perry's run on TV.
32:38
It's one of my favorite runs. I, I just love the sick Doctor
32:41
stories. But do you find with the Big
32:43
Finish stories, there is more of a chance to explore the
32:47
character, put some flesh on the bones, you know, evolve the
32:51
relationships a bit more? Another one, the reaping, the
32:54
Joe Lister script where you go home is with Claudia Christian,
32:58
isn't it, as your mother? And you get to go home and meet
33:01
Mrs. Van Geisinger, who's mentioned in Planet of Fire, and
33:03
he does a huge amount sort of with your Perry's fan normally
33:07
there as well. Yeah, that must be quite
33:09
satisfying sort of years on to actually take the character and
33:13
then give it, you know, proper life.
33:15
I actually suggested the casting of my mother.
33:18
Oh my. Friends and I rang her up and I
33:21
said, how do you fancy playing my mother?
33:23
And she was like, really? Because I'm older than her.
33:30
So it's, I said no, it's on radio, it's OK, you know, it's
33:34
audio. I was entirely convinced you.
33:37
Know yeah, it was brilliant it was lovely it was lovely to do
33:40
it together and I loved that story.
33:42
I think I loved the, the cemetery part talking and the
33:47
connection with my dog Whiskey and just the, the sensitivity
33:53
to, to that age and stage in her life and, and realising, gosh,
33:58
if I'm staying here, what's happening to my family, you
34:02
know, where is my relationship with them?
34:06
How are they? How did they?
34:07
What happened, you know? There was another extraordinary
34:11
episode in the 6th Doctor, the big anniversary one they had
34:15
recently, the Quinn dilemma, and it's basically a 2 hander
34:18
between the Doctor and Perry. Where Perry sort of going?
34:20
I can't. I think I want to go now, but I
34:23
want to tell you that I forgive you for everything that you did.
34:26
It's a Chris Chapman script. It was extraordinary that that
34:29
episode. Yes, I think because Chris has
34:33
sort of got to know through the the all the documentaries that
34:36
we've filmed. So the great thing when when
34:40
you've sort of developed a friendship is you you end up
34:42
having a few chats about Perry and the doctor.
34:45
And we had talked about it and and I'd sort of said, yeah, you
34:48
know, he's never really apologized properly, but he's
34:53
not going to. So it's sort of and so he he
34:55
wrote that so beautifully understanding that, you know, as
34:59
the bigger person, she could do that and she could say that, you
35:04
know, it's, it's beautifully done.
35:07
Because that set was so important to me when I was
35:09
younger. All of this pay off all these
35:11
years later, they're just my favorite, favorite moments in
35:14
Big Finish. Talking about the DVD range very
35:16
quickly, just how much of these stories do they make you watch
35:20
on the behind the sofas? Yes.
35:23
It's not the whole thing, is it it?
35:24
Isn't no, And that's what makes it kind of weird because if
35:29
you're watching one, you don't know, you go or should I watch
35:33
that the night before so that I know the story or or you know,
35:36
whatever. And they're always going like,
35:38
no, no, you don't need to. And they'd sort of tell you the
35:40
story and then you watch scenes as they've edited it down.
35:44
But of course, frequently it doesn't make sense because
35:47
you're going, oh, why have they gone over there?
35:49
Why didn't they deal with that? And it's because that bit had to
35:52
be cut because they've got to fit it all in to one day.
35:57
So yes, it's an odd experience, but they're always fun.
36:02
They're always so much fun. The one where you guys went to
36:06
the, I think it's the Ivy, the doctor's table is you, Mike,
36:09
Jason. Oh yes, yes, and.
36:11
All just swap in stories. They look like wonderful fun
36:14
days. That was a fantastic day.
36:17
That was a really fabulous day. I thoroughly enjoyed that.
36:19
I wish we could do those once again, because stuff comes up
36:24
even when you do. I don't know how many
36:26
commentaries I've done now, maybe 2 or some of them, three
36:29
commentaries on the show. Because unless we're all doing a
36:33
solo commentary, everyone's got something to say at different
36:37
points, different memories crop up as you're watching it.
36:40
And I don't think I've done a commentary yet where I haven't
36:43
thought, oh, I'm going to, oh, I should tell that story about
36:46
that. Oh, I should.
36:48
OK, someone else talking. I'll just wait.
36:50
And then, OK. Oh, right, OK, that moment's
36:53
past now because we're now watching something else.
36:55
And I don't want to push that in and crowbar that story.
36:58
And so I'll just, I'll just wait.
37:00
And then and you realize, you get to the end of it and you
37:02
think, well, there's half a dozen stories that I still
37:04
haven't told about that episode. And so I think it's still so
37:10
incredibly rich, which is surprising, you know, after all
37:17
the years that there's still anything to say about it.
37:20
I will still come flocking. You know, really little tidbit.
37:25
I mean the the convention scene is bigger than ever now, isn't
37:29
it? Like it there?
37:30
There are plenty, sort of all over England and the US now.
37:34
I mean, it was really busy when I was doing it in the 80s.
37:37
We had this crazy thing where we would leave the studio, leave
37:42
rehearsals on Friday and fly off and do a convention in the
37:48
States. Catch the red eye back, you
37:51
know, arrive in England 7:00 on the Monday morning and go
37:57
straight to the studio sometimes to record.
38:00
I think, goodness, we were young.
38:02
Because otherwise that would not have been possible.
38:06
And, and I just thought nothing of it.
38:08
I just thought, well, this is what I have to do.
38:09
I have to promote the show. It's part of my job.
38:11
Lucky me. Oh, look, I got to see a
38:13
limousine, a hotel and an airport, you know, and there
38:17
were, there were lots of conventions, you know, in Miami,
38:21
FL, you know, there was Philadelphia.
38:26
And I don't think I've been back to Philadelphia since then.
38:30
I went with my sister to that one.
38:32
And John Pert, we took his son Sean, and he was just a boy.
38:36
Whatever. Happened to him.
38:38
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.
38:41
And so, yeah, there was, it was, it was incredibly busy and then
38:47
it felt like it went quieter and now it just feels crazy busy
38:53
again. I suppose if I wanted to, I
38:55
could be doing one every weekend.
38:57
There's probably 1. Someone would have me.
39:01
You, you took a lovely picture with my other half.
39:03
You know the one in were we Hastings recently?
39:08
Oh, right, yeah, that was fun. Nevada, I've got to ask you a
39:13
question because I, I sort of seek out the opinion on a lot of
39:18
Doctor Who releases and I know for a fact that yours are
39:20
extremely popular, OK? And, you know, stories such as
39:24
Perry and the Pisgon Paradox, the Kingmaker, things like that.
39:29
Is there when you start a new script now?
39:32
Because I hope you know, you know that this fandom thinks
39:38
that your work is incredibly good.
39:40
Is there like a, OK, I've got to top the last one when you start
39:44
or do you literally just sit down and go?
39:45
Right, page one. Let's go.
39:47
Just that page one, let's go. And the only competition is with
39:50
myself, really. I don't know and I don't, I
39:57
can't keep up with a lot of Big finish.
40:00
I have my favorite writers, obviously, I mean Johnny Morris
40:04
and Rob Shearman, Joe Lidster, but that's that's all a while
40:10
ago. I can't keep up.
40:12
I just I just sit down at the at the keyboard and think, you
40:17
know, what do I really want to write?
40:19
What makes this interesting for me?
40:22
Because you've got to be engaged while you're writing.
40:25
You can't. The worst thing is being bored
40:27
while you're writing a story, particularly a Doctor Who story,
40:29
because that means you're just going through cliche and.
40:33
And what do you think a Doctor Who story should be?
40:38
Yeah, I, I, I just compete with myself to find something
40:41
interesting. I, I always find with your
40:45
scripts, they're always out-of-the-box.
40:47
You know, it's and it's something I've never seen
40:49
before. So, you know, there's been a lot
40:51
of big finish now, an awful lot, several mortgages worth and.
40:56
When? Trust me, I know I've got them
40:58
all on my shelf and and you know, when I listened to Reddit
41:03
for Danger recently, I was like, this is unlike anything I've
41:06
heard from Big Finish before. That's what I love about yours.
41:09
They're always uniquely you. You should draw on other things.
41:14
You can't just draw on other Doctor Who because that's that's
41:18
when Doctor Who dies. It's you can't have it in a
41:21
hermetically sealed box. And for the the public school, I
41:26
would never done a three episode story before.
41:28
So I consciously, once they said dial back on the Harry Potter, I
41:32
wanted each episode to concentrate on a particular, I
41:36
pay homage to a particular public school story in English
41:39
literature. So episode 1 was a bit Harry
41:42
Potter, Episode 2 was Tom Brown's School Days, and episode
41:46
3 was if by Lindsay Anderson. So I had all those three origins
41:52
in mind to draw upon. And once you start thinking
41:56
about something else or what you can, you can bring into Doctor
42:01
Who things that you'd never thought of in your wildest
42:04
dreams. I had that with them, the
42:07
curious instant of the dog in the night time.
42:10
Once you thought, I'm going to do that.
42:12
But with Doctor Who, you bring in so many interesting things
42:16
that you would have never brought Doctor Who into Doctor
42:19
Who. You've never thought about it if
42:21
you just wanted to do X of the Daleks or Y of the Cyberman.
42:24
There is actually one called X of the Daleks.
42:28
I'm not going to tell you who wrote it, sorry to say.
42:35
But now it's. Everything of the Daleks now,
42:39
saturation of the Daleks, I don't know, there's a lot of
42:41
Daleks stories. I've got one more question for
42:45
each of you, if that's OK. And then one last question for
42:48
both of you. Nicola, can I ask you about the
42:51
dog charity that you work for? Because we're just massive
42:54
animal lovers in this house and I just want to know more.
42:58
Yeah, I mean, I, I sort of ended up supporting a lot of animal
43:02
charities because, I mean, it is that thing, isn't it?
43:05
The vulnerable animals and children, those who can't really
43:08
speak up for themselves. So I had become aware of dogs on
43:17
the Street, which is known as dots, and I thought, gosh, these
43:20
people are doing incredible work.
43:22
And I tried to sort of raise a bit of money to support them and
43:26
this, that and the other. And, and then eventually they
43:29
said to me, Nicola, you're, you're really promoting us.
43:33
Would you like to be an ambassador?
43:35
And I was like, wow, I do this for lots of people, but they,
43:38
they asked me. And so I was like, yes.
43:40
And I do try and go, it's every other Sunday.
43:45
They are there in the Strand and they support basically the
43:50
homeless who have dogs and therefore cannot get into a lot
43:55
of the hostels. So they live on the streets.
44:00
Some of them don't live on the streets, but they live in very,
44:04
you know, poor accommodation. But most of them live on the
44:08
streets. And so when it's a very, very
44:10
hot day, we're out there supplying water and trying to
44:15
take care of them. And it just goes to the NTH
44:18
degree. If you follow them on Instagram
44:21
or on Twitter, the the stories of, you know, finding a young
44:25
lady who was pregnant and people inform and tell us now.
44:28
So they contact dots and they say, look, there's, I think
44:31
there's a woman sleeping rough in a car.
44:33
It's just her own, a dog. And she was pregnant.
44:36
And we eventually managed to ensure that she got a place for
44:43
her and her child and her dog, but she didn't want to be
44:46
separated from her dog because that was the only, the only
44:49
thing that had remained loyal to her, the only being.
44:52
And we were like, no, don't worry, we won't get rid of your
44:55
dog. And we actually then had to
44:58
build a sanctuary because we've got so many people we're taking
45:01
care of. So we've built a sanctuary.
45:03
And now all the emergency services also call on Dots.
45:08
So for example, if, if an ambulance gets a phone call, an
45:11
old lady's collapsed and none of the neighbors say, well, you
45:15
know, I don't want to take the dog or anything like that.
45:17
And so we're called in and we take the dog and we, and we pay
45:21
all the bills. We pay vet bills every other
45:25
Sunday. You can come if you're on the
45:27
streets and you can get food for your dog and we'll feed you
45:30
while you're there. And there will be vets.
45:32
And if you need medication for the dog, we'll give you the
45:35
medication. You know, we just try and do as
45:38
much as we can. But there are.
45:41
And Michelle, who runs it, is the most extraordinary woman.
45:44
I think she must have had at least a couple of breakdowns.
45:46
I mean, not so much emotional, but she does.
45:50
But the physical exhaustion of just going out everyday to try
45:53
and help people and to go to court.
45:57
If you need to go to court, you know, someone says this is a
46:00
dangerous dog and you go, no, no, I walked in and after 20
46:03
minutes, it walked out very calmly.
46:05
This is this is how people have reacted with this dog, lots of
46:10
things like that. But it's mostly about, you know,
46:13
people not being able to afford to take care of the most loyal
46:19
companion in their life at a very difficult stage of their
46:23
life. And for those who may need drug
46:27
rehabilitation, and that's certainly not everyone on the
46:29
streets at all, but some people need to deal with some
46:32
addictions. Because quite frankly, I don't
46:34
know what I'd do if I was living on the streets to to numb that
46:38
pain. If that's the case, then we
46:42
support them to get what they need and we take care of their
46:45
dogs so their dog is ready for them when they come out.
46:49
So it's extraordinary the things that they do, the number of
46:54
people that they support and there is no government help.
46:58
For years we've been paying the Ulis charge to take the van back
47:02
and forth to collect people, and we entirely, you know, rely on
47:09
donations from the public. In the, in the last sort of 1516
47:15
years, I've bounced between 3 or 4 charities that I've
47:19
volunteered for and every single one of them, it's been donations
47:23
run and the occasional grant, but mostly donations run.
47:28
So you're there on a treadmill sweating your way.
47:32
Are you trying to get some money in a bucket or just anything to
47:34
get the well look if if anybody is listening and they would care
47:38
to donate, where would they go to donate to DOTS?
47:41
You can go directly to the website which is dogs on the
47:45
street dots. You can find them on Instagram
47:50
and on X and there are links in the the BIOS to to be able to
47:58
donate. If anyone can't find it, they
48:02
can message me on Instagram and Twitter point them towards it.
48:06
And I suppose the other question I'll ask about that is because
48:08
it's a lovely community that's built around this podcast and
48:11
some of them are london-based. Are there like volunteer
48:14
opportunities, things like that, things that people can do?
48:17
Yes, I mean, they're always looking for volunteers at the
48:19
sanctuary. I can't tell you where the
48:22
sanctuary is because believe it or not, we actually threats from
48:25
people, but it is in the the northern part of London.
48:31
So if you live in the north part of London and you're great with
48:33
dogs, they need people all the time to help.
48:36
Man that Oh, sorry, that's my, that's not my go to bed.
48:40
But that is another alarm. I have my go to bed alarmed, you
48:45
know, but. It's, it's so yes, we need
48:49
volunteers all the time when we're needing to distribute
48:52
bottles of water and blankets and things like that.
48:55
So donations and volunteers all welcome.
49:01
My my partner is a bleeding heart so I'll tell him this.
49:05
We'll be on a train to London now every Tuesday.
49:07
I'm terrible. It's like, yeah, I'm always just
49:10
like donating left, right and centre to things.
49:14
We will be out looking for those foxes tonight.
49:16
I'll say I mean Eastbourne by the.
49:18
Safety one here, we've got a really, really skinny little one
49:22
and we often catch. We don't.
49:24
We catch them at the end of a dog walk just as it's getting to
49:27
be dusk. And I say to Nevada, you'll walk
49:29
on. I tried to get the dog food to
49:33
them, you know, because. Yeah.
49:35
And if you saw how much bird food we have in the garden, you,
49:39
you we're basically running an aviary.
49:42
Yeah. So, you know, water squirrels
49:44
and water for hedge. I've got a hedgehog thing and a.
49:47
Expensive business being charitable, isn't it?
49:52
Taking care. Yeah, I've got a question I need
49:56
to ask you about Kit and Bin Fire if I can, and that is well,
50:00
am I going to be seeing a third book to read in the future?
50:04
It depends on Titan, it depends on sales, it depends on all
50:08
manner of things. If it doesn't pay for itself,
50:10
then I have ideas in my head. I can.
50:14
See where it's going? Somewhere I have titles.
50:18
I have a title called Nerd Degree Murder which involves
50:23
someone killing people via old special effects, CSO and and
50:28
force perspective. I have.
50:32
I have many others like that. Well, it all depends on on on
50:35
the sales. Are you listening to him?
50:37
Will you have one? Please get out and buy this book
50:39
so I can have a further copy. Thank you very much.
50:42
The last question I'd like to ask you both then.
50:45
Thank you. It's been such a lovely chat.
50:47
Is could you both please identify a particularly
50:52
delightful moment in your time associated with Doctor Who?
50:55
Anything at all but just a moment that makes you smile.
50:59
And let's start. Yeah, you're both thinking now.
51:02
What on earth shall I say? Nicola, let's start with you.
51:05
Oh goodness, what is I think, I think it would have to be with
51:18
my dad because I don't think my dad thought becoming an actor
51:22
was a particularly good idea or job.
51:28
And when I got Doctor Who, I was so excited because I thought, Oh
51:32
my goodness, I've actually got a job that when you say what
51:34
you're doing, people are actually going to know what it
51:36
is. And my dad was pretty cool about
51:39
me getting it. He wasn't just, you know, wasn't
51:41
jumping up and down or anything like that, but he, we were
51:46
sitting having breakfast together 1 morning and he just
51:52
turned and he just said, I just just thought I'd ask, you know,
51:58
it's quite important not you know, but are you going to do a
52:02
Dalek story? Yes.
52:07
And I was like, yes, I. AM.
52:11
But it was just, I think it was just something really special
52:15
because my dad died shortly after.
52:16
He died very young. So the fact that he got to see
52:20
me do that and he got to see me do one show on stage in the West
52:27
End before he passed. And it was just like, I'm, I was
52:32
so glad that he got to see that. It's OK.
52:35
I'm all right. I, I can keep a roof over my
52:39
head doing this job. So yeah, I'm, I'm grateful to
52:44
talk to who that it gave him Peace of Mind before he passed.
52:47
It is like walking into a big family Doctor Who is like the
52:52
other actors, the fans, you know, it's just like a massive
52:55
community, isn't it? It's, it's like you're sort of
52:59
not protected. That's not the right word.
53:00
But you're sort of set for life, you know, with a big group of
53:03
people around. You, you are.
53:04
And the great thing is making all those friendships, as I have
53:08
done with other Doctor Who companions who I've never worked
53:12
with, but we are friends and we check up on each other and we
53:16
keep an eye on each other and we take care of each other and we
53:19
all seem to get on so well. It's just, I think it's that
53:22
shared knowledge of, we know what this job is about and we
53:25
know how hard it was and we know how badly paid we were, but we
53:29
loved every second of it. So it's that common knowledge
53:33
that we're all just there doing this incredible show.
53:37
And how about you, Nevada? What's your what's your most
53:40
delightful memory of writing for Doctor Who or just?
53:43
Doctor Who, I mean my enjoyable moment with Doctor Who started
53:47
when I was 6 and I think it's still going, you know, ever
53:52
since I've started being into Doctor Who, everything is so
53:57
many, so many moments. Just it's just amazing, you
54:02
know, playing with my brother and my cousin, playing Doctor
54:06
Who with me with my scarf and my dressing gown and colouring in a
54:10
big box blue with a yoghurt pot on the top.
54:12
To be this. Finding Doctor Who weekly in, in
54:17
WH Smith in 1979 and watching Doctor Who and the Daleks and
54:22
Daleks 2150 in a in a cinema in Peterborough.
54:28
Going to Longleat and failing to get into the 20th anniversary
54:33
exhibition convention. I think, I think it's the
54:38
friends that I have found through Doctor Who and I Rob
54:44
Shearman is a good friend of mine and I remember going on a
54:48
cruise with him and a Doctor Who cruise and we were the only
54:51
guests and it got a bit stir crazy after a couple of days
54:58
with with and it was just so many laughs, so many ridiculous
55:04
things happening. Just just just being there and
55:07
being with friends. So what's coming up in the
55:10
future then? Well, I'm hoping to be doing
55:14
this film soon, which is called a science fiction film, a sort
55:21
of psychological thriller. And it's written by James
55:26
Kerwin, who will be directing it.
55:28
And I've just got a small little cameo role in it, but it's a
55:32
lovely part. And it's called Non Locality.
55:37
And they've got they've just, I can't say who because they
55:40
haven't signed the Contra yet. They've just got a really good
55:42
female lead. Fantastic.
55:45
So very exciting. They've got some really great
55:49
people involved. So I feel very honoured to have
55:53
a role in that. And I'm, I've just done a short
55:57
film called The Reunion, which is there's a, as we were just
56:02
discussing dogs. There's a wonderful little
56:04
moment in it where we discuss how dogs are a very important
56:08
part of how you judge how good a person is.
56:12
So won't say any more than that. And I'm, I'm, I've got a
56:19
possible radio. Well, I've got a radio that's
56:21
coming out very soon, which is called Harry's Home, which is
56:26
all about Alzheimer's, in which my dad has Alzheimer's.
56:30
So that audio is coming out soon.
56:32
And yes, he's quite busy. I've got two other projects I
56:37
can't talk about, but those I can.
56:40
And I'm hoping, sorry, to always bring this back to Doctor Who on
56:42
these things, but I'm hoping there's some big finishes coming
56:45
up as well from both of you. But I know that is very hush
56:49
hush. Yes, it is.
56:51
It is more. Definitely.
56:54
That's fine. I'm not going to say what it is
56:56
or when it's coming out. That's fine.
56:58
Being finished by have a mental and that's fine.
57:01
The fact that your name is going to be in the schedules again,
57:04
I'll go to bed happy tonight. Thank you it.
57:06
Definitely will be. Brilliant.
57:07
How lovely. Well, guys, thank you so much
57:11
for your time tonight. It's been a wonderful
57:13
conversation. Well, thank you.
57:16
Thank you. It's been really lovely.
57:17
It's really good fun. The last thing I'll say before
57:20
we out this episode is please head out and find bad terms from
57:24
Big Finish, a wonderful set that has just come out, but more
57:27
importantly lies and Dolls which is.
57:30
A. Sublime book.
57:32
Go and find it now. Forbidden Planet, did you say?
57:35
Best place? OK.
57:37
Wonderful. Thank you very much guys.
57:39
Brilliant. Thank you.