Counter-Measures

News from Big Finish – another new spin-off! This one is called Counter-Measures and will be a four story box set available July 2012 and is set after (and featuring characters from) Remembrance of the Daleks. Sadly Ben Aaronovitch (who wrote the TV story) is not free to write for this (he’s still deep in the Rivers of London series which is excellent. No writers announced but my money is on Cavan Scott being involved (update 2012 – I was wrong)!

Actual item is quoted below as it was lost on the BF main site when they regenerated (update October 2012).

Or carry on reading below…

July 2012 will see the launch of a brand new Doctor Who audio spin-off from Big Finish Productions, in the shape of Counter-Measures.

The first series box set reunites Simon Williams as Captain Gilmore, Pamela Salem as Rachel Jensen and Karen Gledhill as Allison; characters that were all created by Ben Aaronovitch for the TV story Remembrance of the Daleks in 1988.

“Gilmore, Rachel and Allison are very fondly remembered by fans,” says producer David Richardson. “They also have a great dynamic, and it’s easy to imagine that they had a life beyond the one TV story in which they appeared. So it’s been relatively painless for script editor John Dorney and myself to sit down over the course of several months and fashion a brand new series format centered on Ben’s characters.”

“Remembrance of the Daleks was one of the first television productions I ever took part in back in 1988,” says Karen Gledhill, “so it was a very exciting event for me. I couldn’t believe I was working with the likes of Simon Williams, Pamela Salem and Sylvester McCoy! It turned out to be the best possible introduction to team playing on television as we spent eight weeks together in the studio and on location and had a really fantastic time.

“I had no idea that 23 years on the story would still be so popular, and that some of us would be getting together again to recreate our characters and tell another story! I love the new scripts – Allison has really come into her own in these stories, and I am looking forward to meeting her again and having fun with her. The best bit will be being back in my 20s!”

Counter-Measures is set in 1964 some months after the events of Remembrance, as the government commissions a specialist group to investigate unexplained phenomena and dangerous new technology. Joining the lead cast is Hugh Ross (The Palace, Sea of Souls) as Toby Kinsella, Counter-Measures’ liaison with Whitehall, who will become embroiled in their missions. Alastair Mackenzie (Monarch of the Glen) also appears as Julian St Stephen, Allison’s boyfriend of five years.

Other cast members include Vernon Dobtcheff (The Borgias), Adrian Lukis (Peak Practice) and Stephen Greif (Blake’s 7).