Absent Friends (unreleased audio story): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Torchwood Absent Friends textless.jpg|thumb|Textless cover]]
[[File:Torchwood Absent Friends textless.jpg|thumb|Textless cover]]
* Had this story been released, it would have marked the first in-person appearance of [[the Doctor]] in an instalment of ''[[Torchwood (series)|Torchwood]]''.
* Had this story been released, it would have marked the first in-person appearance of [[the Doctor]] in an instalment of ''[[Torchwood (series)|Torchwood]]''.
* The publisher's summary for this story is only available in the news article announcing it, as its page on the Big Finish website has been removed.
* The publisher's summary for this story is only available in the news article announcing it, as its page on the [[Big Finish]] website has been removed.
* This story was announced on 1 January 2021,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1345097209939775489</ref> the same day ''[[Revolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Revolution of the Daleks]]'' aired, which saw the onscreen return of [[Jack Harkness]]. A video trailer was also promoted on their social media<ref name=":1" /> and uploaded to the [[Big Finish]] [[YouTube]] channel that same day,<ref name=":2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20210123025812/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Go6ytqc_E John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd and David Tennant star in Torchwood: Absent Friends] from [https://www.youtube.com/@bigfinishprod the bigfinishprod channel] on [https://www.youtube.com YouTube.com], uploaded 1 January 2021. (Archived 23 January 2021 on the Wayback Machine)</ref> and was included in the news article of the announcement.<ref name=":0" /> The video has been set to 'private' on Big Finish's YouTube channel and cannot be found in their uploads, but can still be viewed on the Internet Archive.<ref name=":2" />
* This story was announced on 1 January 2021,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1345097209939775489</ref> the same day ''[[Revolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Revolution of the Daleks]]'' aired, which saw the onscreen return of [[Jack Harkness]]. A video trailer was also promoted on their social media<ref name=":1" /> and uploaded to their [[YouTube]] channel that same day,<ref name=":2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20210123025812/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Go6ytqc_E John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd and David Tennant star in Torchwood: Absent Friends] from [https://www.youtube.com/@bigfinishprod the bigfinishprod channel] on [https://www.youtube.com YouTube.com], uploaded 1 January 2021. (Archived 23 January 2021 on the Wayback Machine)</ref> and was included in the news article of the announcement.<ref name=":0" /> The video has been set to 'private' on Big Finish's YouTube channel and cannot be found in their uploads, but can still be viewed on the Internet Archive.<ref name=":2" />
*The cover for this story was revealed on 25 January 2021,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210204041447/https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/news-updates-week-commencing-25-january-2021 News updates - week commencing 25 January 2021] (Archived 4 February 2021 on the Wayback Machine)</ref><ref>https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353742119266115585</ref> made by [[Lee Binding]],<ref>https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353824975308775424</ref><ref name=":3">https://x.com/LeeBinding/status/1353746061651804162</ref> who also posted the clean artwork to his Twitter.<ref name=":3" /> The cover would have been gold-embossed to celebrate being the fiftieth release in the ''[[Torchwood (series)|Torchwood]]'' [[Torchwood - Monthly Range|monthly range]].<ref>https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353753089317232651</ref>
*The cover for this story was revealed on 25 January 2021,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210204041447/https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/news-updates-week-commencing-25-january-2021 News updates - week commencing 25 January 2021] (Archived 4 February 2021 on the Wayback Machine)</ref><ref>https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353742119266115585</ref> made by [[Lee Binding]],<ref>https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353824975308775424</ref><ref name=":3">https://x.com/LeeBinding/status/1353746061651804162</ref> who also posted the clean artwork to his Twitter.<ref name=":3" /> The cover would have been gold-embossed to celebrate being the fiftieth release in the ''[[Torchwood (series)|Torchwood]]'' [[Torchwood - Monthly Range|monthly range]].<ref>https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353753089317232651</ref>
* On [[10 February (releases)|10 February]] [[2024 (releases)|2024]], an [[eBay]] listing claiming to be a script of the story went for auction with a starting price of £500. The item was marked as unavailable less than twelve hours after it first appeared, with no indication if it was sold privately or if the seller had withdrawn the auction. The item listing included photos of 26 pages from the script, as well as the cover page, revealing roughly one-third of the story.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240210002139/https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204646300256 Torchwood Absent Friends Full Script Doctor Who on ebay.co.uk]</ref>
* On [[10 February (releases)|10 February]] [[2024 (releases)|2024]], an [[eBay]] listing claiming to be a script of the story went for auction with a starting price of £500. The item was marked as unavailable less than twelve hours after it first appeared, with no indication if it was sold privately or if the seller had withdrawn the auction. The item listing included photos of 26 pages from the script, as well as the cover page, revealing roughly one-third of the story.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240210002139/https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204646300256 Torchwood Absent Friends Full Script Doctor Who on ebay.co.uk]</ref>

Latest revision as of 05:41, 6 November 2024

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Unreleased tag.jpg

You may be looking for the Doom Coalition audio story.

Absent Friends was the planned fiftieth story in the Torchwood - Monthly Range from Big Finish Productions. It was written by James Goss and had already been fully recorded, but was pulled before release following misconduct allegation on the set of Doctor Who.[1][2] Along with the unbroadcast radio plays Journey into Time and City of the Saved, and the unreleased webcast 41.1978.A [+]Loading...["41.1978.A (unreleased webcast)"], this is one of only four performed DWU-related stories known to have been fully recorded, but cancelled before being officially broadcast or released in any form.

This release would have brought the Tenth Doctor into the Torchwood series directly, playing off the Torchwood Institute's original aim, to capture and contain the Doctor, as established in series 2 of Doctor Who. It would have seen the Doctor messing up, with Jack sort of taking the lead over him, rather than vice versa.[3]

The cancelled story was originally slated for release in May 2021.[4] On 14 May 2021, it was announced that Big Finish had removed Absent Friends from the release schedule of the Torchwood monthly range and had "no plans to publish this title at this time", and that "all bundle pre-orders for the Torchwood Monthly Range stories 49-54 or 49-60 will feature an alternative title in its place".[5][6]

On 21 January 2022, it was announced that The Black Knight [+]Loading...["The Black Knight (audio story)"], featuring Samuel Barnett as Norton Folgate, would be replacing Absent Friends as number 50X in the range.[7]

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

On a dark and stormy night in Cardiff, the city is in danger, and the Doctor's put himself in charge of Torchwood in order to save it. In a sealed recording studio, the voices of the dead have been playing for 17 years. Was it the project of a madman, or is this the site of something terrible? Torchwood has been hunting for the Doctor since 1879. And now they've found him. They may regret it.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Textless cover
  • Had this story been released, it would have marked the first in-person appearance of the Doctor in an instalment of Torchwood.
  • The publisher's summary for this story is only available in the news article announcing it, as its page on the Big Finish website has been removed.
  • This story was announced on 1 January 2021,[4][8] the same day Revolution of the Daleks aired, which saw the onscreen return of Jack Harkness. A video trailer was also promoted on their social media[8] and uploaded to their YouTube channel that same day,[9] and was included in the news article of the announcement.[4] The video has been set to 'private' on Big Finish's YouTube channel and cannot be found in their uploads, but can still be viewed on the Internet Archive.[9]
  • The cover for this story was revealed on 25 January 2021,[10][11] made by Lee Binding,[12][13] who also posted the clean artwork to his Twitter.[13] The cover would have been gold-embossed to celebrate being the fiftieth release in the Torchwood monthly range.[14]
  • On 10 February 2024, an eBay listing claiming to be a script of the story went for auction with a starting price of £500. The item was marked as unavailable less than twelve hours after it first appeared, with no indication if it was sold privately or if the seller had withdrawn the auction. The item listing included photos of 26 pages from the script, as well as the cover page, revealing roughly one-third of the story.[15]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ "Big Finish removes Torchwood release from schedule amid John Barrowman accusations"
  2. ↑ Amazon page for Absent Friends
  3. ↑ https://gizmodo.com/the-doctor-and-captain-jack-are-together-again-in-new-b-1845978720
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Captain Jack returns... to Torchwood!"
  5. ↑ News updates - week commencing 10 May 2021
  6. ↑ Torchwood Absent Friends is no longer being released by Big Finish, posted on 14 May 2021, in the r/Torchwood thread, showing an image from the Big Finish Newsletter, on reddit.com.
  7. ↑ "New Torchwood titles revealed for 2022"
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1345097209939775489
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd and David Tennant star in Torchwood: Absent Friends from the bigfinishprod channel on YouTube.com, uploaded 1 January 2021. (Archived 23 January 2021 on the Wayback Machine)
  10. ↑ News updates - week commencing 25 January 2021 (Archived 4 February 2021 on the Wayback Machine)
  11. ↑ https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353742119266115585
  12. ↑ https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353824975308775424
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 https://x.com/LeeBinding/status/1353746061651804162
  14. ↑ https://x.com/bigfinish/status/1353753089317232651
  15. ↑ Torchwood Absent Friends Full Script Doctor Who on ebay.co.uk
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