BBV Productions: Difference between revisions

'''BBV Productions''' (also known as '''Bill & Ben Video''') was a [[British]] video production company founded by [[Bill Baggs]] in [[1991 (releases)|1991]]. The company was named for Baggs himself and his then-wife Helen, whose nickname is "Ben."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20090216172424/http://bbvonline.co.uk/about_us.html "About BBV"] - bbvonline.co.uk (archived)</ref> It was a commercial enterprise founded to serve ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fans who were starved of content between the broadcasts of ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'' and ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''. Towards this end it heavily used ''Doctor Who'' actors and, when possible, characters. BBV therefore quickly gained the reputation for putting out content that was "almost official" or "nearly ''Doctor Who''". In truth, though, its output was a bit more varied than that. Most of it could safely be put into one of five categories:

* fiction using characters owned by individual ''Doctor Who'' writers  

BBV developed a repertory company of actors that appeared in many of their productions, often playing different roles. Many of these actors were previously known from their work in ''Doctor Who'', and included former Doctor actors [[Jon Pertwee]], [[Peter Davison]], [[Colin Baker]], and [[Sylvester McCoy]] plus companion actors [[Caroline John]], [[Louise Jameson]], [[Nicola Bryant]], and [[Sophie Aldred]].

Several actors appearing in these productions early in their careers went on to achieve further notability, including [[Nicholas Briggs]], [[Mark Gatiss]], and {{w|Alan Cumming}}. A number of personnel behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera, including Briggs and Gatiss, would go on to work on licenced ''Doctor Who'' spinoffs at [[Virgin Books]], [[BBC Books]], and [[Big Finish Productions]] as well as the [[2005]] television revival of ''Doctor Who.''

BBV's final release was the [[2008]] drama ''[[Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough (home video)|Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough]]'', which featured [[Zygon]]s as both protagonists and antagonists. The main character [[Lauren Anderson]] had previously appeared in ''Cyberon.'' The film had actually been mostly shot by [[2003]], but initially scrapped; only after additional shooting years later was the film completed and released.<ref>[http://jblum.livejournal.com/107556.html?thread=506148#t506148 Blog comment by Jonathan Blum. 7th September, 2007]</ref>

As with their videos, BBV also produced audios featuring original characters battling invasions by licenced aliens (such as [[Auton]]s and [[Zygon]]s) or close matches to ''Doctor Who'' monsters which were altered to avoid infringement (such as the [[Cyberman]]-like "Cyberons.") BBV also released a series of stories by [[Lawrence Miles]] about his history-spanning cult organisation, [[Faction Paradox]].

In [[September]] [[2003]] BBV announced that it would be no longer producing audio stories, with the exception of ''Faction Paradox,'' and instead would focus on video releases. By [[December]] [[2005]], past audio releases were being deleted from their catalogue. <ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20090225210522/http://www.bbvonline.co.uk/news/script.cgi?&page=1 News] - bbvonline.co.uk (archived)</ref>

The official BBV Productions website, bbvonline.co.uk, became inaccessible in late 2009. In January, 2011 the domain was taken up by a new registrant and used for an unrelated site, a film blog. No official store or web presence for BBV Productions remains, and no further activity under the BBV Productions banner is known. However the TARDIS Library website lists a number of BBV releases in 2012, beginning with DVD reissues of the PROBE series in March 2012, followed by August 2012 reissues of ''Do You Have a License to Save This Planet?'', ''Cyberon'' and ''Bidding Adieu''.

The following list is ordered roughly by release date. See ''[[Audio Adventures in Time & Space]]'' for more information.