Star Trek @ BigFinish?
- Thread starter FreddyE
- Start date
From my GallifreyBase thread hypothesising the idea:
Around 2006 when Gary Russell was still in charge BF apparently pitched a 24th Century idea to Paramount, with some familiar characters. It was abandoned when CBS became the owner.
So what would a range look like if Big Finish got a licence from CBS for Trek?
To get the most out of the 50 years the first option would be 'Chronicle' style stories using the 'Captain/personal/Ships Log' idea as an opening, with a TV character narrating with 2-4 guest stars. This could use the whole timeline and delve into characters lives before and after we saw them on screen
As for full cast I'd be very surprised if they could reunite a full crew, I imagine the TNG lot are rather pricey! Or, at least for TOS they could just go for a full recast, like the fan films and Avengers/Prisoner BF lines. Otherwise you'd have to bring back a couple of regulars for a box set with otherwise entirely new crew.
There are a lot of Trek fan Audios out there, some long running and of very high quality -Star Trek: Excelsior have just recorded a 50th Anniversary 75min Special with Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig back in their roles. A lot of regular Big Finish writers have written for the Trek novels regularly too.
Some of you maybe aware the Axanar fan film project has been sued, leaving many wondering where the future of other independent projects lie, so licensed product like Big Finish may fare better. BF I'm sure would do an amazing job! Yes we have the novels but I mean performed drama. 3 range ideas:
RANGE 1: Crew Logs - covering all 5 series. Main reader with 1-4 guests. Basically Companion Chronicles.
RANGE 2: TOS recast. 2 disc sets with 4 individual half hour episodes mostly. Full cast. Maybe a 2hr epic one year set during the movie era?
RANGE 3: 24th Century full cast; new ship, new crew, new mission. Two tv characters are regulars, other tv stars guest when we can get them in
You would probably only need about 4 regulars from the tv show back, it could work.
Or if you could get Sir Patrick you could do the Enterprise with an all new crew years after Worf & Geordi left; a veteran Captain mentoring a young crew
Or you could do Geordi on the Challenger, The Titan or Captain Worf
Around 2006 when Gary Russell was still in charge BF apparently pitched a 24th Century idea to Paramount, with some familiar characters. It was abandoned when CBS became the owner.
So what would a range look like if Big Finish got a licence from CBS for Trek?
To get the most out of the 50 years the first option would be 'Chronicle' style stories using the 'Captain/personal/Ships Log' idea as an opening, with a TV character narrating with 2-4 guest stars. This could use the whole timeline and delve into characters lives before and after we saw them on screen
As for full cast I'd be very surprised if they could reunite a full crew, I imagine the TNG lot are rather pricey! Or, at least for TOS they could just go for a full recast, like the fan films and Avengers/Prisoner BF lines. Otherwise you'd have to bring back a couple of regulars for a box set with otherwise entirely new crew.
There are a lot of Trek fan Audios out there, some long running and of very high quality -Star Trek: Excelsior have just recorded a 50th Anniversary 75min Special with Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig back in their roles. A lot of regular Big Finish writers have written for the Trek novels regularly too.
Some of you maybe aware the Axanar fan film project has been sued, leaving many wondering where the future of other independent projects lie, so licensed product like Big Finish may fare better. BF I'm sure would do an amazing job! Yes we have the novels but I mean performed drama. 3 range ideas:
RANGE 1: Crew Logs - covering all 5 series. Main reader with 1-4 guests. Basically Companion Chronicles.
RANGE 2: TOS recast. 2 disc sets with 4 individual half hour episodes mostly. Full cast. Maybe a 2hr epic one year set during the movie era?
RANGE 3: 24th Century full cast; new ship, new crew, new mission. Two tv characters are regulars, other tv stars guest when we can get them in
You would probably only need about 4 regulars from the tv show back, it could work.
Or if you could get Sir Patrick you could do the Enterprise with an all new crew years after Worf & Geordi left; a veteran Captain mentoring a young crew
Or you could do Geordi on the Challenger, The Titan or Captain Worf
I'd buy a Star Trek series from Big Finish in a hot minute, providing it was handled properly. I don't think I'd go for a TOS recast (especially since we already have the Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto crew in the movies and the likes of Star Trek Continues already), but something along the lines of Titan (which would only require Frakes, Sirtis and Tim Russ) would be great, and Companion Chronicles-esque stories would be excellent for other shows in the franchise. And it would be excellent to hear Big Finish introduce their own crew, set in the same time as other Trek series, so they could really spread their wings with the license.
Of course, this is probably all a pipe dream, especially with a new TV series on the horizon. But you never know---!
Of course, this is probably all a pipe dream, especially with a new TV series on the horizon. But you never know---!
Well CBS would need to give Big Finish a licence. I'd definitely sign it!
If anyone's worried about Big Finish being a British company requiring American-based actors then don't - for their Dark Shadows, Stargate and even Torchwood lines they regularly use Skype hookups to record actors in the States, Dark Shadows is their largest non-Who series going for about a decade now.
For those who are interested I have put together Big Finish-style covers for ALL of the S&S audiobooks (bar the novelisations and 'What Lay Beyond'), and one or two more. Enjoy!
http://dannylavery.deviantart.com/gallery/
An itneresting discussion we've just had on another thread is continuity - obviously TV/film is the official canon but IDW, Pocket and STO all have their own continuities and the first two companies have produced stuff tha thas contradicted each other!
As much as for example dramatisations of the New Frontier series would be fun I think that Big Finish having their own continuity like Pocket do would give them heaps more freedom
http://dannylavery.deviantart.com/gallery/
An itneresting discussion we've just had on another thread is continuity - obviously TV/film is the official canon but IDW, Pocket and STO all have their own continuities and the first two companies have produced stuff tha thas contradicted each other!
As much as for example dramatisations of the New Frontier series would be fun I think that Big Finish having their own continuity like Pocket do would give them heaps more freedom
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I've decided to give it a try an set up a change.org petition. Let's draft it together. We need to collect as many good arguments why this is a good idea as possible and bring it in a nice petition letter form. Feel free to edit and add to my draft :-)
Here is what I have so far:
Dear Sir or Madam,
the undersigned love your full cast audio book dramas and ask you to consider producing a Star Trek range. Many Doctor Who fans are also Star Trek fans, so there is a synergy effect. With a new Star Trek series by CBS premiering next year and Star Treks 50th anniversary approaching, there is no better time to start a Big Finish Star Trek range.
The Star Trek Universe is so huge that there a still lots of stories to tell. We collected some ideas for possible ranges:
- Star Trek Titan (Captain Riker)
- Crew Logs - covering all 5 series. Main reader with 1-4 guests. Basically Companion Chronicles.
-TOS recast. 2 disc sets with 4 individual half hour episodes mostly. Full cast. (Possibly with William Shatner or other surriving original actors if available)
-24th Century full cast; new ship, new crew, new mission. Two tv characters are regulars, other tv stars guest when we can get them in
- a range based on the "post series"-book ranges of Voyager, DS9, Enterprise, TNG
- a range based on the "Department of Temporal Investigations" books
- New Frontier
- Star Trek Excelsior (Captain Sulu)
- a Doctor Who / Star Trek Crossover (to use the synergy effect), based on the Doctor Who / Star Trek "Assimilation ²" Comics or a new story
We kindly ask you to consider our suggestions.
Here is what I have so far:
Dear Sir or Madam,
the undersigned love your full cast audio book dramas and ask you to consider producing a Star Trek range. Many Doctor Who fans are also Star Trek fans, so there is a synergy effect. With a new Star Trek series by CBS premiering next year and Star Treks 50th anniversary approaching, there is no better time to start a Big Finish Star Trek range.
The Star Trek Universe is so huge that there a still lots of stories to tell. We collected some ideas for possible ranges:
- Star Trek Titan (Captain Riker)
- Crew Logs - covering all 5 series. Main reader with 1-4 guests. Basically Companion Chronicles.
-TOS recast. 2 disc sets with 4 individual half hour episodes mostly. Full cast. (Possibly with William Shatner or other surriving original actors if available)
-24th Century full cast; new ship, new crew, new mission. Two tv characters are regulars, other tv stars guest when we can get them in
- a range based on the "post series"-book ranges of Voyager, DS9, Enterprise, TNG
- a range based on the "Department of Temporal Investigations" books
- New Frontier
- Star Trek Excelsior (Captain Sulu)
- a Doctor Who / Star Trek Crossover (to use the synergy effect), based on the Doctor Who / Star Trek "Assimilation ²" Comics or a new story
We kindly ask you to consider our suggestions.
I like this a lot Freddy but the people you really need to convince are CBS to grant a licence, BF would happily do Trek should they have time!
Also, in cases like this it's best to find out specifically to whom you should be addressing, so that you don't have to use "Dear Sir or Madam;" in the case of Big Finish, that would be Jason Haigh-Ellery, the owner of the company.
I do agree though that first something should be sent to CBS. I know things like this would have come from Paula Block's office in the old days, but I don't know if that's the case any more...
I do agree though that first something should be sent to CBS. I know things like this would have come from Paula Block's office in the old days, but I don't know if that's the case any more...
Hm...maybe you're right and its better to contact CBS with this first. Who is the person at CBS this should be directed at? Or is there just a basic adress for licensing stuff?
@Greg Cox @Christopher and the rest of the authors on this forum. Control you have over series castes and so on, post if you love this one mentioned that for some books you might only need Tim Russ, Marina Sirtis anx Jonathan Frakes. Those actors are the ones don't have as much going on tend to be available fan films for other periphery Productions. Are you able to decide the cast of your books? I think it would be great if the books started having casts filled with characters whose actors are likely to sign on for something like this. I remember as a young child listening to an audiobook read by Jonathan Frakes during a very long road trip.
Okay, I´ve edited the petition letter a bit because it´s now for CBS. I´ve created the petition. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/de-d...ense-bigfinish-to-make-star-trek-audio-books/
Now...we need to get this viral. Please share the link on your Facebook and other social media account. Maybe we can get some Star Trek News Pages to write a small article about the petition? I'm thinking trektoday of course...and trekmovie. But I'm not really sure whom to contact for this.
Now...we need to get this viral. Please share the link on your Facebook and other social media account. Maybe we can get some Star Trek News Pages to write a small article about the petition? I'm thinking trektoday of course...and trekmovie. But I'm not really sure whom to contact for this.
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