Max Warp (audio story)

Max Warp
Doctor:	Eighth Doctor
Companion(s):	Lucie Miller
Main enemy:	Geoffrey Vantage
Main setting:	Sirius Exhibition Station
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::Big Finish Productions]]
Writer:	Jonathan Morris
Director:	Barnaby Edwards
Post production:	Andy Hardwick and Gareth Jenkins
Cover by:	Grant Kempster
Release details
Release number:	2.2
Release date:	February 2008
Format:	1 episode - 1 CD
Production code:	BFPDWCDMG010
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-84435-305-7
Doctor Who -The New Eighth Doctor Adventures
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Max Warp was the second release of the second series of Big Finish Productions' The New Eighth Doctor Adventures audio stories. It featured a parody of Top Gear called "Max Warp" with Graeme Garden, James Fleet and Duncan James' characters Geoffrey Vantage, O'Reilley and Timbo each parodying the presenters from the post-2003 line-up of Top Gear.

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Max Warp! Broadcasting live from the Sirius Inter-G Cruiser Show. Hosted by outspoken columnist and media personality Geoffrey Vantage, with spaceship-guru-extraordinaire O’Reilley and daredevil pilot Timbo ‘the Ferret’.

When a test flight of the new Kith Sunstorm ends in disaster, the Sirius Exhibition Station is plunged into a web of murder and intrigue. Someone – or something – is trying to re-ignite a war between the Varlon Empire and the Kith Oligarchy.

As the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance, only two investigators, the Doctor and Lucie, can hope to uncover the truth.

So strap yourself in, engage thrust, and prepare for... Max Warp!

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Paul McGann
• Lucie Miller - Sheridan Smith
• Geoffrey Vantage - Graeme Garden
• O'Reilley - James Fleet
• Timbo - Duncan James
• The Kith - Nick Brimble
• President Varlon - Samantha Hughes
• Judd Gilbride - Katarina Olsson

References

Cultural references from the real world

• There is mention of a "Lazlar Lyricon custom job". This was one of the spaceships in the "Milliways" car park in episode 5 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• The Doctor answers a question with the answer, "You might think that; I couldn't possibly comment." This brush-off was often used by Francis Urquhart, the Machiavellian protagonist of the TV serial House of Cards and its sequels.
• Lucie mentions Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

Languages

• "Morok" is used as a minor insult.

TARDIS

• Lucie jokingly defines "TARDIS" as "Time and Relative Dimensions in Shed".

Species

• The Kith are a highly-evolved sponge-like myconid race. They sleep in the dark and phosphoresce whilst doing so.
• The Varlon Empire and Kith Oligarchy were at war with each other until twenty years before this story.

Notes

• This story features a musical performance by Barnaby Edwards and Nicholas Briggs of Big Finish.
• Elements in this story parody the show Top Gear, including the accident of Richard Hammond aka the Hamster. In this story, it is Timbo, a.k.a. the Ferret, who has an accident flying at high speeds, precipitating an interstellar incident. Geoffrey Vantage's sexist, racist, and anti-environmental opinions are an exaggerated version of Jeremy Clarkson's controversial remarks. O'Reilly's affinity for topics that bore other spaceship enthusiasts is similar to James May's style which his Top Gear presenters often tease him for.
• Graeme Garden (Geoffrey Vantage) previously played Professor Ivor Fassbinder in AUDIO: Bang-Bang-A-Boom! and would later play the Monk in AUDIO: The Book of Kells, AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars, AUDIO: Lucie Miller and AUDIO: To the Death.
• This audio drama was recorded on 13 August 2007 at The Moat Studios.

Continuity

• An advertisement for "Galactic Salvage and Insurance" can be heard. "Galactic Salvage and Insurance" was first mentioned in TV: Nightmare of Eden.
• "Monoid 18" is paged. The Monoids first appeared in TV: The Ark.

External links

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