...muchos titterings

Ah, the baking heat of July... Dog Day Afternoon and all that. Well, as it's a bit quiet at the moment in terms of imminent releases from Big Finish and the contract to appear as an ongoing character in the new Star Wars movies still hasn't materialised, I thought I'd mention a couple of things I have been doing recently. The thing is of course, that although there isn't a lot  I can talk about directly at the moment, an awful lot is actually happening 'behind the scenes', details of which will hopefully come to light before too long.

In the meantime, here's an extract from Neil Gardner's blog at Spokenworld Audio, in which he talks about some of our recent collaborations. Over to you Neil:

27 - 31 May 2013

It was a Bank Holiday start to the week, but as writer Nev Fountain said, there’s no such thing as a ‘Banks Holiday’, as we welcomed fantastic audiobook reader and multi-voice actor JOHN BANKS back to the Croydon studio.  

We spent Monday and Tuesday recording “The Holy Machine” by Chris Beckett for Audible UK. A 294 page sci-fi novel, John set a new record for getting it done in just 2 days!  It is an interesting book, about a dystopian future where there has been a religious revolution across the globe and the only safe place for atheists and scientists is a small island state in the Mediterranean. John had to read as a mixed American/European and perform a whole load of other voices, including Balkan, New Zealand and Wiltshire!



While I had him in the studio I took the chance to record John reading a short SF story that I had written. “The Sound Within” is a free download from Spokenworld Audio right now!



We also recorded a short horror story by top writer DAN ABNETT. This was the 13th and final tale for an audio anthology titled “Thirteen” which has been edited by Scott Harrison, and features stories by the likes of Kim Newman, Cavan Scott, Johnny Mains and others. It will be released very soon via Spokenworld Audio.

                  
As an aside, it seems that I appeared in some repeats of 'Allo, 'Allo! last week on Gold. Loved doing the show, but what a long time ago it all was; in some ways, a curious parallel to 'Vixens From The Void' perhaps... 'muchos titterings' indeed!

Before I wrap up this smorgasbord of wittering, I must mention the opening tonight of Titus Andronicus at the Buxton Festival, performed by Smooth Faced {Gentlemen} and co-directed by my friend Rachel Illingworth, with whom I've just been working on The Blind & The Intruder.

The play runs until Saturday and then has a longer run at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a sneaky one-nighter at York Theatre Royal, where I'll probably see it for myself.

Good fortune to all involved in the production - here's a great poster:

And so, to conclude this posting, I just want to mention that I'll be listening to Mary Tamm's last two Dr Who stories later in the week, The Dalek Contract & The Final Phase.

I'll also be remembering the fun we had together, appreciating what a fine actress she was and raising a glass to her in fond memory.