Are you a Doctor Who fan looking for something new to listen to? Then keep reading for some exciting news!
On Wednesday, May 13 Big Finish Productions announced that its newest audio play, Doctor Who: Scorched Earth is now available at Bigfinish.com! This latest audio production was written by Chris Chapman and directed by John Ainsworth with Colin Baker reprising his role once again as the Sixth Doctor and starring Miranda Raison as Constance and Lisa Greenwood as Flip.
Doctor Who: Scorched Earth follows Constance as she learns the truth about the end of World War II as France is freed from the German occupation as her friendship with Flip becomes strained. Meanwhile, the Doctor learns that a new threat is on the loose. The official synopsis for Doctor Who: Scorched Earth reads:
July 1944: the TARDIS materializes in a small village near Rouen, where celebrations are in full swing. A joyful France is in the midst of liberation as the local population welcome a battalion of Allied soldiers – along with a colorfully dressed Doctor and his two rather excited friends.
But there are screams amidst the celebrations as an angry crowd dish out their brand of justice to one of their own that they have branded a traitor. While Constance and Flip find themselves on opposite sides of a war beyond a war, the Doctor has other concerns. The local community is used to the fires of battle, but a new type of blaze is burning – leaping from aircraft to aircraft, man to man – and this fire seems to be just as eager for revenge as the village mob.
Chris Chapman, writer of Doctor Who: Scorched Earth had this to say:
My grandfather was a mobile radar operator in World War II who arrived on the beaches of Normandy in 1944, on D-Day plus 27 (one of the later troops in Operation Overlord). He missed the fight and had this incredible journey all the way to Berlin. He travelled through many French villages, and he told me the reactions of the locals in the aftermath of their liberation. I’d seen quite a few documentaries about that and thought it would be an interesting thing to encounter. There were wild celebrations with the French kissing everyone and enjoying their freedom, but there was a darker side too with big public displays of anger. A lot of the smaller towns and villages targeted this anger against local people, especially those who they saw as collaborators – and it was usually women, so it was quite misogynistic. Many women who were seen as having helped the Germans or, even worse, having had a relationship with a German, were hauled in front of the mob. They then had their hair shaved off or a swastika branded into their scalp, so everyone would recognize them and nobody would forget their ‘betrayal’.
Colin Baker, who has appeared in over 100 Big Finish productions as the Sixth Doctor said:
It’s a very clear story, set in an interesting time, with all the attendant confusion in having Constance – someone so closely involved in that event — ahead of her time, participating in it. It also exposes quite a nice tension between Flip and Constance because of the treatment of a collaborator in a French village. Those things happened.
Doctor Who: Scorched Earth can be purchased as digital download for £12.99 and will also be available as a collector’s edition CD for £14.99. If that isn’t amazing enough, listeners can save 30% by getting a subscription to Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures. Fans can enjoy PDFs of some of the scripts, downloadable extras, and specially recorded Short Trips. Fans have the option to choose between subscriptions for either six or 12 releases! However, Big Finish has started releasing digital downloads first, with collector’s edition CD’s slightly delayed. The good news is that all purchases from bigfinish.com will include digital copies that can be downloaded right away or saved for a later date.
Big Finish Productions has been creating incredible Doctor Who audio plays since 1999, starring Colin Baker, John Hurt, Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, and David Tennant. All of their audio creations are available for purchase and download at their website.
This story is sure to keep your attention from beginning to end. Big Finish Productions continues to surprise with amazing new releases coming all the time.