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The Audio Visuals were an unlicensed series of Doctor Who audio dramas made by British fans in the 1980s. [1] Featuring Nicholas Briggs as the Doctor, twenty-eight audio plays were recorded and distributed on audio cassette between 1985 and 1991 (a pilot, in which the Doctor was voiced by Stephen Payne, was recorded at Chris Corney's house in Hamble near Southampton in 1984).
The first three seasons (released 1985-1988) were produced by Bill Baggs, and the fourth and final season (1989–1991) by Gary Russell.
Although the Audio Visuals audios were a violation of copyright, the BBC chose to look the other way. Gary Russell later told an interviewer,
Many of those involved in the Audio Visuals went on to work in more professional, licensed science fiction audio drama, either through BBV (founded by Bill Baggs) or through Big Finish Productions (which in 1999 began producing licensed Doctor Who audio drama under the guidance of Gary Russell). [3] Nicholas Briggs has worked for both BBV and Big Finish as an actor and as a writer; he also worked on additional Doctor Who-related/inspired productions for Reeltime Pictures and, beginning in 2005, provided vocal work for the new Doctor Who series.
Several Audio Visuals scripts have been remade professionally, either by BBV (with the Doctor Who elements removed, as part of the video series The Stranger ), Big Finish (as licensed Doctor Who audios), or Arcbeatle Press (as licensed novels). The Big Finish audios which were adapted from Audio Visuals plays are The Mutant Phase , Sword of Orion , Minuet in Hell and the Doctor Who Magazine special releases Last of the Titans and Cuddlesome . Arcbeatle Press released an adaptation of Requiem as part of their Doctor Who spin-off Cwej: The Series . [4]
Elements from various Audio Visuals plays also appear in Gary Russell's contributions to the licensed Doctor Who novel ranges published by Virgin and the BBC, most notably in Deadfall. The Nicholas Briggs incarnation of the Doctor has also appeared in the DWM comic strip both as an unspecified future version, and the form taken by Shayde when posing as the Ninth Doctor.
BBV Productions is a UK-based video and audio production company founded in 1991, specialising in science fiction drama. The company has expanded to include publishing of novels and scripts associated with its productions.
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include Doctor Who, the characters Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog from 2000 AD, Blake's 7, Dark Shadows, Dracula, Terrahawks, Sapphire & Steel, Sherlock Holmes, Stargate, The Avengers, The Prisoner, Timeslip, and Torchwood.
The Stranger is a series of direct-to-video science-fiction dramas produced by BBV and starring Colin Baker. They are now available on DVD.
Faction Paradox is a series of novels, audio stories, short story anthologies, and comics set in and around a "War in Heaven", a history-spanning conflict between godlike "Great Houses" and their mysterious enemy. The series is named after a group originally created by author Lawrence Miles for BBC Books' Doctor Who novels.
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Professor Bernice Surprise Summerfield, or simply Benny, is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures. The New Adventures were authorised novels carrying on from where the Doctor Who television series had left off, and Summerfield was introduced in Cornell's novel Love and War in 1992.
Gary Russell is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media. As an actor, he is best known for playing Dick Kirrin in the British 1978 television series The Famous Five.
Reeltime Pictures Ltd is a British film, television and video production company and a distributor of the films of other companies, founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather.
Nicholas Briggs is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks and the Cybermen in the 21st century series.
A number of officially licensed audio productions based upon the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who have been produced over the years.
Alan William Lear was a Scottish writer of science fiction and horror, whose credits included the 1984 BBC Radio 4 play Why Not Take All of Me?
The BBCShort Trips books are a collection of short story anthologies published by BBC Books based on the television series Doctor Who, following a pattern established by Virgin Publishing's Decalog collections. Three volumes were published between March 1998 and March 2000, before the BBC decided to stop publishing the books. The Short Trips name was later adopted for hardback collections published by Big Finish Productions and licensed from the BBC.
The Big FinishShort Trips are a collection of short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who, beginning with the collection Short Trips: Zodiac in December 2002 and ending with the loss of their license in 2009. The Short Trips name was inherited from similar collections published by the BBC, who decided in March 2000 that it was no longer financially viable to produce collections of short stories. Big Finish Productions negotiated a licence to continue producing these collections, publishing them in smaller runs and in hardback, thus allowing for a higher cover price and increased profit margins than on the BBC collections.
Doctor Who Unbound is a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions. Free from the constraints of continuity, the Doctor Who Unbound audios present a series of "What if...?" scenarios, and cast new actors in the role of the Doctor.
P.R.O.B.E. is a series of direct-to-video science-fiction films mostly written by Mark Gatiss and produced by BBV Productions. It was the first live-action Doctor Who spin-off series.
Torchwood is a sci-fi audio series produced by Big Finish Productions based on the British television programme of the same name. Like the TV series, the dramas follow the exploits of the operatives who work for the Torchwood Institute – a fictional secret organisation that defends Earth against extraterrestrial threats.
Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough is a direct-to-DVD spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-DVD and produced by the independent production company BBV. It featured the Zygons.
The First Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the British television programme Doctor Who. It sees David Bradley and Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor, a role originated by William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966, as well as by Bradley on television in the episodes "The Doctor Falls", "Twice Upon a Time", and "The Power of the Doctor".