2017 in review

2017 is drawing to a close, and it’s been a year of rather exciting projects for me!

Firstly in May the third series of the 1980s Gerry Anderson sci-fi comedy Terrahawks was released on blu-ray and DVD. This set featured the final 13 episodes in High Definition along with several extra features including Why We Love Terrahawks, an affectionate look back at the show by three fans – including myself!

July saw the release on CD and download of volume three of Big Finish’s audio continuation of Terrahawks, featuring eight brand new episodes for the team at Hawknest. Once again I wrote two episodes (Living Legend and The Prisoner of Zelda) as well as providing voices in both, including that of a character from the original TV series in Yuri the Space Bear.

As always the cast of Jeremy Hitchen, Denise Bryer, Robbie Stevens and Beth Chalmers were a joy to be around, and we were very lucky to be joined for two episodes by voice acting legend David Graham (Parker & Brains from Thunderbirds and one of the original Dalek voices from Doctor Who, among many many other things). All three seasons have been such a wonderful experience to be part of, and I hope there’ll be a chance to work with this team again some day.

In the run-up to the release I also produced a series of 18 video trailers to help listeners get up to speed on the various characters and the series so far.

September marked the 50th anniversary of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Gerry Anderson’s 1967 Supermarionation sci-fi classic, and among the flurry of new merchandise to celebrate the occasion were several titles from Big Finish. These included a set of audiobooks based on the three original novels written by John Theydon to accompany the series when it first aired, which were were brought to life by the voice talents of Wayne Forester, Liz Morgan and David Graham.

Big Finish also released a special 50th anniversary boxset, collecting five original audio stories from the 1960s along with the soundtracks to eight episodes of the television series, which were adapted to audio in the 1990s with Ed Bishop recorded new narration in character as Captain Blue.

Additionally the set included some bonus tracks plus a new documentary on the making of the series, and was released in a hardback book format containing a Spectrum Agents Briefing booklet in which the reader is taken on a tour of Cloudbase by characters from the series. I was lucky enough to be asked to write this, and even several months later I’m still blown away by how beautifully designed the final product is!

In October Network released the complete Terrahawks TV series on blu-ray and DVD in a ten-disc set. As well as including the Why We Love Terrahawks featurette, the set also features compilations of alternate and unused SFX footage that I cut together for each season.

Stepping away from the Gerry Anderson universe, in December Big Finish released Static, a Doctor Who audio story featuring Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor along with his companions Constance (Miranda Raison) and Flip (Lisa Greenwood). I was lucky enough to be invited along to be in the cast (getting to voice the Static itself, no less!), getting to work with David Graham for the second time this year, and the final product (which is getting extremely good reviews!) is one of Big Finish’s spookiest stories to date!

Finally in mid-December came the publication of Playboys Spies and Private Eyes, a collection of thirty-five fan essays celebrating the various action adventure television series produced by ITC from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. These shows have been a part of my life for a very long time, so it was a great honor to be asked to write about the all-time greatest series ITC ever made ha ha no just kidding I totally wrote about The Adventurer.

The book features a foreword by actress Annette Andre, an afterword by Elaine Spooner and artwork by Shaqui Le Vesconte, and is published in aid of the Born Free Foundation.

And that’s it for 2017, a year that has brought me more projects to work on than ever before! I’ve been lucky enough to work with some wonderful people and I’ve treasured each and every opportunity that’s come along, with my very first voiceover jobs being a particular highlight.

Will there be more to come in 2018? Here’s hoping!