DWM Announces Full Cast List for Big Finish's The Light at the End

[The Nth Doctor]

For those who don't (or can't) read Doctor Who Magazine and for those who don't (or don't want to) visit the audio forum at GallifreyBase, Doctor Who Mazazine recently released the full cast for Big Finish's upcoming 50th anniversary special, The Light at the End:

Spoiler: FULL Cast List

The Doctor - Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann
Leela - Louise Jameson
Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
Ace - Sophie Aldred
Charley Pollard - India Fisher
The Master - Geoffrey Beavers

Straxus (an earlier incarnation) - Oliver Hume
Bob Dovie - John Dorney
Vess - Nicholas Briggs

Small cameo appearances from:
Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
Ian Chesterton - William Russell
Vicki Pallister - Maureen O'Brien
Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
Sara Kingdom - Jean Marsh
Polly Wright - Anneke Wills
Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
Zoe Heriot - Wendy Padbury
Jo Grant - Katy Manning
Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
Vislor Turlough - Mark Strickson

Additionally, the trailer indicates the presence of the first three Doctors, but what form they take (old recordings, companion actors vocalizing them, new actors altogether) is unknown at this time.

I was already highly looking forward to this and this has only heightened my excitement level! I've already ordered the limited edition (which comes with extra behind the scenes material and The Revenants, a Companion Chronicle with William Russell, which had only been previously available as a download for DWM readers).

Spoiler: Note on the cast list

While it's awesome that so many companions will have cameos, I'm a little disappointed that Lalla Ward, John Leeson, Bonnie Langford, Deborah Watling, Richard Franklin, and John Levene (all of whom have already done at least one Doctor Who audio) weren't able to also appear. Likewise, no Matthew Waterhouse and Jackie Lane.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Why are you disappointed Jac Rayner isn't making a cameo? When did she star in Doctor Who?

 

[Brendan Moody]

I would guess Emh meant to type "Jackie Lane," as she's the one surviving companion actor not in the cast or on the list of people he was disappointed aren't involved. And she, like Matthew Waterhouse and unlike the other absentees, has never done a BF audio.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yeah, that's what I meant. Complete brain fart.

 

[Christopher]

That's an amazing cast.

As for audio appearances of the first three Doctors, I recently rented the DVD of "Planet of Giants" with the reconstruction of the full episodes 3 & 4 (which were cut down and combined into a single episode for air), and the actor they got to perform the Doctor's lines, John Guilor, did an amazingly accurate impression of William Hartnell, the best I've ever heard. I mean, I have a keen ear for voices and I'm rarely satisfied by any impersonation because I can hear the differences in timbre and rhythm and such, but Guilor's First Doctor was so dead-on I think it might've fooled me if I hadn't known it was an impersonator. I think it would be a great idea for him to do some audios as the First Doctor.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

What? No David Tennant? Fail.

 

[Christopher]

^Doesn't Big Finish only have a license for pre-2005 Doctors and companions? Anyway, Tennant's going to be in the anniversary episode on TV.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Just a joke, friend, twisting around the reaction to the official 50th Special.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

^Doesn't Big Finish only have a license for pre-2005 Doctors and companions? Anyway, Tennant's going to be in the anniversary episode on TV.

Tennant could always reprise his officious UNIT character, Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood. (I think I have it spelled correctly.)

 

[The Nth Doctor]

^Doesn't Big Finish only have a license for pre-2005 Doctors and companions? Anyway, Tennant's going to be in the anniversary episode on TV.

Tennant could always reprise his officious UNIT character, Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood. (I think I have it spelled correctly.)

Actually, that's exactly what I had hoped for.

But who knows, maybe he will still make a surprise appearance?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

^Doesn't Big Finish only have a license for pre-2005 Doctors and companions? Anyway, Tennant's going to be in the anniversary episode on TV.

Tennant could always reprise his officious UNIT character, Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood. (I think I have it spelled correctly.)

Actually, that's exactly what I had hoped for.

But who knows, maybe he will still make a surprise appearance?

I'm hoping for the exact same thing.

And I think Big Finish would keep that cameo under wraps and have it be a surprise when people actually hear it, much like the third Doctor in Zagreus.

 

[diankra]

Why are you disappointed Jac Rayner isn't making a cameo? When did she star in Doctor Who?

Jackie Lane gave up acting 40 years ago, and her one con appearance didn't persuade her to do any more. Matthew Waterhouse is in America.
Jac Rayner is too busy looking after her twins to do any acting (though she did appear in a local group spoof 25-odd years ago). Her husband sometimes escapes to the pub, but the guy who gives him a lift had a knee op on Wednesday, so it'll be a few weeks before that happens again... *

*And yes, that is for real. Honestly!

 

[Valin]

"The Light at the End" sounds rather interesting. I may have to order my first audio Doctor Who adventure.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Big Finish has announced that it will be releasing a limited edition vinyl release (500 copies) and has also released the cover image, along with a cheesy lenticular image that comes with the vinyl release.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Big Finish has announced that it will be releasing a limited edition vinyl release (500 copies) and has also released the cover image, along with a cheesy lenticular image that comes with the vinyl release.

I haven't seen a Photoshop that bad since the Avengers movie poster.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Big Finish has released a video advertisement of the three different editions of The Light at the End. During the presentation, the full cast list is briefly glimpsed:

Spoiler: Three particular castings

William Russell, Frazer Hines and Big Finish semi-regular Tim Treloar play the first three respective incarnations of The Doctor.

 

[Christopher]

I wish they'd use John Guilor, who voiced the First Doctor in the DVD reconstruction of the extended version of "Planet of Giants." He did an absolutely uncanny Hartnell impression. I don't know why Big Finish isn't already using him as the First Doctor, since he's virtually perfect at it.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I wish they'd use John Guilor, who voiced the First Doctor in the DVD reconstruction of the extended version of "Planet of Giants." He did an absolutely uncanny Hartnell impression. I don't know why Big Finish isn't already using him as the First Doctor, since he's virtually perfect at it.

Because 1) Big Finish has a policy of not recasting the deceased Doctors, 2) Russell has voiced Hartnell's Doctor in previous Companion Chronicles, and 3) Russell starred in the original series where Guilor has not.

 

[Christopher]

But as per the spoiler in Emh's post, they are recasting all three deceased Doctors -- and only two with veterans of the original show.

Guilor is so amazingly good at recreating Hartnell's performance that it seems a shame not to make more use of him.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

But as per the spoiler in Emh's post, they are recasting all three deceased Doctors -- and only two with veterans of the original show.

Fair point. I phrased badly what I was trying to say.

In the case of the first and second Doctors, Big Finish has established voice actors who have voiced the Doctors in the Companion Chronicles, so they're going to use those actors and not bring in someone from outside (like Guilor or David Troughton).

Also, given Big Finish's past stance on the issue of recasting, I'm curious to what extent the first three Doctors will appear in The Light at the End, if they will be handled in a jokey way at a remove (like Jon Culshaw's fourth Doctor in The Kingmaker) or in a Companion Chronicles style. Or they may have decided that, as a celebratory one-off, they'll break the recasting rule this one time.