Kaldor City (audio series): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Merchandise

|image        = Occams Razor.jpg

|aka          =  

|designer    =  

|publisher    = Magic Bullet Productions

|type        = Audio series

|price        =  

|release date = [[September (releases)|September]] [[2001 (releases)|2001]]  

|nav          = 0

'''Kaldor City''' is the setting and title of a series of audio plays produced by [[Magic Bullet Productions]]. It previously featured in the television story ''[[The Robots of Death (TV story)|The Robots of Death]]'' and the novel ''[[Corpse Marker (novel)|Corpse Marker]]''. The series uses characters, concepts and situations from those stories. It also sees the return of the [[Fendahl]] from ''[[Image of the Fendahl (TV story)|Image of the Fendahl]]''. The writer of those productions [[Chris Boucher]] is credited as creative consultant for the series. Boucher also wrote the second release, ''[[Death's Head (audio story)|Death's Head]]''.  

[[Alan Stevens]] had the idea for an audio series loosely based on a film called {{w|Yojimbo}} by Akira Kurosawa. The film is about a Samurai who plays two powerful families off against one another in order to benefit himself.  

Around this time, [[BBC Books]] published a ''[[Doctor Who]]'' novel titled ''[[Corpse Marker (novel)|Corpse Marker]]'' as part of its line of [[BBC Past Doctor Adventures|Past Doctor Adventures]]. Written by [[Chris Boucher]] it served as a sequel to his 1977 ''Doctor Who'' story ''[[The Robots of Death (TV story)|The Robots of Death]]'' and was also a crossover with the BBC television series ''[[Blake's 7]]'' due to the inclusion of [[Carnell]], a character originating in that series. Stevens contacted Boucher and proposed the idea of an audio drama using the setting established in ''[[Corpse Marker (novel)|Corpse Marker]]'' named Kaldor City. Boucher encouraged Stevens to write the script, which he wrote in collaboration with [[Jim Smith]]. Pleased with the results, Boucher gave his full approval to proceed with the concept.<ref>[http://www.kaldorcity.com/aboutus.html About Kaldor City and Magic Bullet]</ref>  

Stevens initially approached [[BBV Productions|BBV]], an audio and video production company specialising in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' related productions, with the script but showed little interest in the idea. [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]], a prodcution company licensed by the BBC to produce ''Doctor Who'' audio drama, were also approached. Ultimately, Stevens decided to produce it himself and so set up a company called [[Magic Bullet Productions|Magic Bullet]].  

In assembling the key players, Stevens hired sound designer [[Alistair Lock]] whom he previously worked with on a series of ''Blake's 7'' audio productions; ''Travis: The Final Act'', ''The Mark of Kane'', and ''The Logic of Empire''. Stevens created the character of [[Kaston Iago]] specifically for [[Paul Darrow]], best known for the role of 'Kerr Avon' in ''Blake's 7''. {{w|Alexis Kanner}} from the ITC television series {{wi|The Prisoner}} was also considered for the role should Darrow prove unavailable.  

Using his casting connections from the ''Blake's 7'' audios, Stevens approached Darrow who agreed to play the role. Series regulars [[Trevor Cooper]], [[Brian Croucher]] and [[Peter Miles]] were also known to Stevens from the same audio productions. [[Russell Hunter]] was contacted through a friend of Stevens and agreed to reprise the role of [[Kiy Uvanov|Uvanov]] from ''[[The Robots of Death (TV story)|The Robots of Death]]''. [[Scott Fredericks]] who originally played the role of [[Carnell]] in the ''Blake's 7'' episode ''Weapon'' proved more difficult to track down due to residing in Ireland. Stevens eventually got in touch through BBC Residuals, who kindly forwarded a copy of the script. Stevens later recalled: "I'd written a script with Carnell in before I'd even contacted the actor. It would have been a terrible mess if he'd decided not to do it."<ref>[http://www.radiodramarevival.com/the-true-history-of-magic-bullet-an-interview-with-alan-stevens-producer-of-kaldor-city-and-faction-paradox-part-1-of-2/ The True History of Magic Bullet: An interview with Alan Stevens, producer of Kaldor City and Faction Paradox. (Part 1 of 2)]</ref>

== Audio plays ==

!#

!Title

!Author

!Released

|[[Alan Stevens]]<br />[[Jim Smith]]

|September 2001

|April 2002

|Jim Smith<br />[[Fiona Moore]]

|November 2002

|March 2003

|December 2004

=== Main cast ===

 

 

== Special productions ==

!Title

!Author

!Released

|[[Alan Stevens]]<br />[[Fiona Moore]]

|April 2004

|Alan Stevens<br />Fiona Moore

|February 2009

|''[[Metafiction (audio story)|Metafiction]]''

|Alan Stevens<br />Fiona Moore

|July 2012

| [[Chris Boucher]]<br /><small>Adapted by</small><br />Alan Stevens<br />Fiona Moore

|July 2012

|[[Daniel O'Mahony]]<br /><small>Adapted by</small><br />Alan Stevens<br />Fiona Moore

|July 2012

* [[Kiy Uvanov|Uvanov]], [[Ander Poul|Poul]] and [[Taren Capel]] are the only characters from ''[[The Robots of Death (TV story)|The Robots of Death]]'' to appear in the series.

* The series is notable for its lack of incidental music instead relying almost solely on a [http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm diegetic] soundscape to create the atmosphere. The theme tune, composed by [[Alistair Lock]], is roughly based on 'Avon's theme', which he previously used in the unofficial ''[[Blake's 7]]'' audio ''The Logic of Empire''.

* ''[[The Prisoner (audio story)|The Prisoner]]'' is a twenty minute play released as part of an MJTV Productions CD, ''The Actor Speaks: Paul Darrow'', which featured an interview and several short stories unrelated to the series.

* ''[[Skulduggery (short story)|Skulduggery]]'' is a short story written by [[Alan Stevens]] and [[Fiona Moore]], which appeared in the 2006 charity anthology ''Shelf Life''.

* In 2012, two stage plays were performed based upon the continuity established by the series: ''[[Robots of Death (stage play)|Robots of Death]]'' and ''[[Storm Mine (stage play)|Storm Mine]]''. These were adapted by [[Alan Stevens]] and [[Fiona Moore]] from the [[The Robots of Death (TV story)|television]] and [[Storm Mine (audio story)|audio]] stories of the same name. In the case of ''[[Robots of Death (stage play)|Robots of Death]]'' all the BBC owned elements were removed, notably [[the Doctor]] and [[Leela]] replaced by Kaston Iago and [[Elska Blayes]].

* ''Kaldor City'' was written as a six-part audio series. Since the release of ''[[Storm Mine (audio story)|Storm Mine]]'' there have been four attempts to develop a new 'Kaldor City' story by established Doctor Who and/or spinoff writers, none of which have, to date, managed to progress beyond the draft stage. Series producer [[Alan Stevens]] maintains, "If there's an interesting enough idea out there, the series will continue, but at the moment we're waiting for that idea to come along.<ref>[http://www.kaldorcity.com/audios/faction/faq.html The True History of Faction Paradox: Frequently Asked Questions]</ref>In fact, [[Fiona Moore|Fiona]] and I even wrote ''Kaldor City 7'' ourselves, and then threw it away, because it just proved to us that the series had come to a natural end with [[Storm Mine (audio story)|Storm Mine]]."<ref>[http://www.radiodramarevival.com/the-true-history-of-magic-bullet-an-interview-with-alan-stevens-producer-of-kaldor-city-and-faction-paradox-part-1-of-2/ The True History of Magic Bullet: An interview with Alan Stevens, producer of Kaldor City and Faction Paradox. (Part 1 of 2)]</ref>