Purely as an excuse to stick the photo up – the latest issue of DWM announces (though with not as much fanfare as I’d like) that in my forthcoming Doctor Who audio adventure The Eternal Summer the part of Maxwell Edison is played by Mark Williams, of The Fast Show fame. And playing Lizzie Corrigan is Pam Ferris, from The Darling Buds Of May, Rosemary & Thyme and the marvellous movie Children Of Men. Yes, that’s two stars of Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban in a thing written by yours truly. Cue overwhelming and vertiginous feelings of delight.
One of my favourite things about these plays, after 1) receiving the cheque (always the best bit), 2) getting the commission in the first place, 3) writing ‘The End’ having completed the script, and 4) the occasions when I’ve been lucky enough to attend a recording, is 5) the casting process.
In the past few years Big Finish has been getting some extraordinary casts for their audio plays. You might think that this has something to do with the TV series coming back but I don’t think you’d be correct. It’s certainly not because Big Finish are offering more money. It’s basically all down to the perseverance of the casting director. I don’t quite know how they do it, but it seems to be a process of aiming for the moon, shooting for the moon, and occasionally hitting the moon. Because it’s always worth asking; even the biggest stars would prefer to work than not. It’s a fun job, after all (and the scripts are brilliant).
But, for once, I can claim a fractional percentage of the credit, as Mark Williams was my suggestion. Though I can’t claim any credit whatsoever for the fact that he said yes.
Photo by Barnaby Edwards. Click on it for a bigger version.