LIVE 34 (audio story)

LIVE 34
Doctor:	Seventh Doctor
Companion(s):	Ace, Hex
Main enemy:	Premier Jaeger
Main setting:	Colony 34
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writers:	James Parsons, Andrew Stirling-Brown
Director:	Gary Russell
Producer:	Gary Russell, Jason Haigh-Ellery
Music:	David Darlington
Sound:	David Darlington
Cover by:	Lee Binding
Release details
Number of parts:	4
Release number:	74
Release date:	25 September 2005
Format:	2 CDs Download
Production code:	7W/B
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-84435-099-5 (physical) ISBN 978-1-78178-977-3 (digital)
Main Range
← Previous	Thicker Than Water
Next →	Scaredy Cat
Production order
← Previous	Other Lives
Next →	Thicker Than Water

LIVE 34 was the seventy-fourth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown and featured Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Philip Olivier as Hex.

This audio is one of several of Big Finish's "experimental" audio stories. Like The Natural History of Fear, it does not follow a conventional narrative or audio story structure. The entirety of the story is made up of news or media broadcasts and while the Doctor does appear in all four episodes, Ace does not appear until the second episode and Hex does not appear until the third.

Publisher's summary

"You're listening to LIVE 34."

"LIVE 34 — news on the hour, every hour — LIVE 34 — broadcasting to Colony 34 all day, every day — LIVE 34 — constantly updated every minute of every hour — LIVE 34 — sport, weather, business, local news, interplanetary affairs — LIVE 34 — live, independent, accurate, comprehensive — LIVE 34 — all news, all day, every day — LIVE 34."

"Reports are coming in of an explosion..."

"On the line now is the leader of the FDP..."

"The President is about to begin his address..."

"We can see bodies in the wreckage..."

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
• Ace - Sophie Aldred
• Hex - Philip Olivier
• Drew Shahan - Andrew Collins
• Premier Jaeger - William Hoyland
• Charlotte Singh - Zehra Naqvi
• Ryan Wareing - Duncan Wisbey
• Gina Grewal - Ann Bryson
• Lula - Joy Elias-Rilwan

Crew

• Cover Art - Lee Binding
• Director - Gary Russell
• Music and Sound Designer - David Darlington
• Producers - Gary Russell and Jason Haigh-Ellery
• Writer - James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown

Worldbuilding

Individuals

• Ace uses stun grenades.

Planets

• Wareing tells Ace that Earth was abandoned "centuries ago".
• Colony 34 is one of 49 colonies located in a vast solar system with two suns. It has a First, Second and Third City. It has at least two moons. Its day is 25 hours long and there are at least nine months in a year. The colony was founded more than 200 years earlier.

The Doctor's items

• The Doctor has a 1952 Vincent Black Lightning motorbike with "improvements" such as automatic transmission and GPS.
• The Doctor loans Hex his umbrella, which he uses to protect himself and Charlotte from the rain.

Notes

• LIVE 34's story is told in the style of a series of news broadcasts. It takes place over the course of 16 days.
• During the "channel surfing" sequences that act as a title sequence, a brief snippet of the Seventh Doctor's theme is heard.
• Thematically, this story is the reverse of The Happiness Patrol. This time, instead of following the TARDIS crew as they foment rebellion and topple a tyrant, we see the revolution from the perspective of the innocents on the planet.
• Unusually, Ace does not appear until the second episode and Hex does not appear until the third. Besides the Doctor, Drew Shahan is the only character to appear in all four episodes.
• This audio and Thicker Than Water were released in the same month, starting a Big Finish tradition of releasing two main range stories each September.
• This story is unusual in that it does not feature the TARDIS until the end when it is heard taking off.
• This audio drama was recorded on 22 and 24 June 2005 at the Moat Studios.
• When Ace talks about setting up the explosion, she says: "I was supposed to blow only the bloody doors." This is a reference to Michael Caine's famous quote from the 1969 film "Italian Job".

Continuity

• Ace refers to her younger brother Liam McShane, whom she met for the first time in San Antonio on Ibiza on 14 May 1997. (AUDIO: The Rapture)
• Hex once again mentions that he was raised by his grandmother Hilda Schofield. (AUDIO: The Harvest)

External links

• Official LIVE 34 page at bigfinish.com
• LIVE 34 at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• DisContinuity for LIVE 34 at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide