Issue 8
Hi! There's been a few developments since the last newsletter so without further ado:
If you've visited the website recently you can't help but have noticed it has changed. To welcome the next stage of Fine Line, I've reorganised the site into several distinct sections and added frames to make it easier to navigate. At the same time I've pruned away some of the older material and added several new sections. The biggest addition is all about "Agents of Psyence", of which more in a moment. There is also a gallery of miscellaneous artwork which has been lying about my hard drive and deserves a wider audience. The URL has also changed to https://www.gazhack.cwc.net/ As ever, your feedback on the site is welcome.
Agents of Psyence
Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be. Dangerous forces and creatures can break into our world and wreak destruction and pain. And that doesn't even include all the strange beings through the ages who have already made our planet their home. Throughout man's history, specially gifted people have put their lives on the line to defend humanity from the forces of chaos and evil. Now it's the beginning of a new century and our current champions are THE AGENTS OF PSYENCE.
Fine Line is striking out with a brand new audio series. Based on the independent comics "Defective Comics" and "Psyence Fiction", "Agents of Psyence" has been created by Rik Hoskin and will be produced by myself. I'm hoping to make this series very distinctive from the Doctor Who series, a bit more colourful and larger than life, filled with characters who are bit edgier. The first story "Truth and Bone" written by Rik Hoskin was recorded last month and hopefully will be ready for release in February. The cast is largely made up of new voices although three names you will recognise are Amy Elisabeth (Ultimate Soldier, Trick, Second Chance), Roz Robinson (Shakedown) and Nigel Peever (Cardinal Wolsey). Steve Johnson (BBV, Season 27) is writing the theme music and superb comic strip artist Adrian Hughes has painted a superb cover which you can check out in the gallery. I am working on the second story, tentatively entitled "Bloodlines" and several other writers have expressed an interest in contributing. I'm planning on testing the water with two or three stories seeing how well they sell. The first story may well also be available to download as well. You can find out more about this exciting series from the website.
Technical Issues
I was disappointed to discover that the master CD-ROM's for Shakedown/Present Infinite contained corrupted tracks which I thought had been fixed. If you bought a copy recently and your copy has garbled moments, please return it to me for a free replacement.
The downloadable version of Ultimate Soldier has also been having problems and I'm hoping to replace it with a new Real Audio version soon. The problem has been finding some free webspace which will permit MP3's to be stored on it or allow audio files to be stored without an accompanying home page to display adverts on. I'll let you know when a full version is reliably on the site.
Gareth's Self-Promotion Bit
Sci-Fi News have set up a spectacular looking new website at: https://www.madaboutscifi.com/ Amongst its sections is a UK SF TV listing which is updated weekly. I am writing the listing every other week (this week its me) and you may care to give it a look and see if you agree with my prejudices and pocket reviews. I can tell you it was hard to find five items I could truly call 'Picks of the Week' this week!
New Audios Out There
I can really recommend Big Finish's latest two releases "Shadow of the Scourge" by Paul Cornell and "The Holy Terror" by Robert Shearman. Both combine comedy and horror in large doses and provide extremely rich and satisfying listening experiences. Definitely the best BF stories so far.
Meanwhile BBV's new story "The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind" by none other than Pip and Jane Baker provides an old-fashioned but entertaining adventure. Its greatest strength is Kate O'Mara whose grand dame performance as the evil time lady is a treat.
Hope you're well and I hope I'll have some news about new Who stories next time round.
Gareth Preston
Thursday, November 23, 2000
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