Issue 4
It's good to be back. Apologies for the late arrival of this Fine Line issue and a brand new story but I've got some good reasons which I'll tell you about further on. Hope you are well. There's plenty of news to get through this time. In fact I was wondering if this is the kind of newsletter you'd prefer. Do you like getting this info in big chunks like this every so often or would you prefer smaller, more frequent postings when there is definite news? Let me know if you have an opinion.
Second Chance has arrived
The big news is that "Second Chance" is now ready to be ordered. I'll be sending out contributor's copies and pre-ordered copies in the next week or so, not to mention a few review copies to the usual magazines like SFX. The TARDIS is forced down onto Earth during one of its more desperate wars. Temporal aliens are steamrollering over humanity in a war which has twisted civilisation into a savage military regime. Before he can find his bearings, the Doctor is attacked and sent a thousand years into the future. Lost and suffering from violent dreams, he is forced to rely on the help of Mo, the young woman who finds him on her land. Meanwhile Raman faces summary execution. Despite such a grim sounding plot line, SC has got a lot of comedy within it and the best cast yet.
Thanks to what I've been learning from Season 27 and BBV, it's also the most accomplished production yet, though I say so myself.
Available on a single CD or cassette which also contains a quick outtakes compilation and two music tracks. Priced £5 for the CD and £3 for the tape. Cover by Kevin Hiley. I'm hoping this will be a breakthrough title for us and bring in new listeners. I'm really looking forward to what you think of this one.
The Future
Season One will conclude with Lawrence Ahlemeyer's Final Frame. Can't give away too much about the story, which you'll understand when you hear SC. I'm hoping to get it recorded and produced in time for Christmas. After that, well matters become more complicated. With the forthcoming release of my BBV story, Sontarans:Conduct Unbecoming (see below), one or two people have wondered if this spells the end of Fine Line. Whilst I'm certainly trying to get more professional work, I've every intention of carrying on with Fine Line for all kinds of reasons. Firstly, I've got stories I want to make, both of my own and other people's ideas and I enjoy the creative freedom of working to my own design. Secondly, Fine Line makes sure I keep developing my skills in writing, producing and sound engineering which can only help my professional hopes.
However changes are on the way, the main one being that I'm determined to produce some non Doctor Who titles in the next twelve months. Nothing is definite yet but I'm seriously considering various ideas. One is Alice in Wonderland (perhaps as a steam punk adventure). Another is Highlander with fresh characters and a third is a story set in the landscape of The Prisoner. More news soon.
BBV success
Some of you know already but I've been lucky enough to work with BBV on a couple of their Adventures in Space and Time series.
First up, I'm responsible for the post-production of The Pattern a SF thriller by Mark (Left Hand of Darkness) Duncan. It was a nerve-wracking experience to say the least, especially when I had a major hard disk crash part way through. But I'm pretty happy with the results. A South American radio telescope establishment comes under attack by a terrifying creature composed of sound waves. As the staff try to comprehend what has happened, they meet a mysterious woman called Logan who doesn't seem quite human. She is on a mission to hunt down the creature and its predator, an entity which has taken over the base computer. Unless they can kill them both, the whole of Earth may be endangered. Good robust SF action. Priced £8.50.
Second up, I've written a story for the "Monster" series. "Sontarans:Conduct Unbecoming" which takes a whole new view of the Doctor's old foes. A Sontaran general and human political aide find themselves in the middle of the worst crisis in Sontaran history. A big space epic with plenty of action and tension, if you've enjoyed my Fine Line stories I'll think you'll like this one.
Available in August. Produced by the very talented Mike Neilson and starring Tom Chadbon (from City of Death, The Stone Tape and much, much more)
Home Page
If you've visited the page recently you hopefully listened to the first Fine Line downloadable story, "Cardinal Wolsey" a great short story about the Doctor's cat. Written by Steve Lake and read by Audio Visuals alumni Nigel Peever. This story will also be available on the Death Deals a Hand CD.
If you've visited the page recently you hopefully listened to the first Fine Line downloadable story, "Cardinal Wolsey" a great short story about the Doctor's cat. Written by Steve Lake and read by Audio Visuals alumni Nigel Peever. This story will also be available on the Death Deals a Hand CD.
Coming next month though is the first downloadable version of one of our stories. In response to requests from US and Australian Doctor Who fans, I'm going to be putting "The Ultimate Soldier" on the web in VQF format. It will not be as good quality as the CD version but it should give more people a taste of what we do. It'll be available from the downloads page soon.
VQF is a compressed audio format which is superior to MP3 but hasn't been adopted as widely. It can played by Winamp with a plugin or with a dedicated player.
Well that's all for now. Look out for more news soon and I'll look forward to hearing from you soon.
Gareth Preston
28 June 2000
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