Echoes of the Protii CD cover
History
The Planet Skaro audios began in 2006 with an adaptation of a novella previously written by Si Hunt and Simon Hart in 2002, Echoes of the Protii. A partial sequel to Nightmare of Eden, this story unleashed the popular Vera Jundrey on an unwitting world, along with her wayward adopted grandson Scott who would both return in a future adventure. Paul Monk took on the role of the Doctor, with Dave Tudor and Steven Alexander playing his companions, Nick and Rob McCow.
Made by volunteers from the Planet Skaro forum, Echoes of the Protii went down well with the forum and raised over £200 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
It was soon decided that a follow up could be made, and so in early 2007, a second story was recorded, Soap of Fatal Death which again adapted a novella written in 2003. This saw the Doctor investigate mysterious goings on behind the scenes of popular soap opera Clear Waters (which had featured in Echoes of the Protii and ended with a massive cliffhanger which apparently featured the demise of the Doctor.
With both the Doctor and Nick missing, Rob took centre stage for a present day Earth adventure, Keepsake which featured the return of The Celestial Toymaker.
Nick and the Doctor returned in Magical History Tour, which is perhaps the most ambitious story attempted yet. Set in 2007, 1967 and the mid 1700s, this time spanning adventure brought back the Doctor and the TARDIS, and brought Nick and Rob to the fore, as they both struggled to deal with a life without the Doctor.
At the end of the adventure, Nick is still angry and upset, and a mini-episode was made to reconcile this, Consequences which restored their relationship and left everything happy before the crew visited the planet of Tinsel in the constellation Bauble for the fun Christmas adventure, Doctor Who and the Christmas Gnomes.
The Christmas Gnomes saw the return of Vera, now married to Father Christmas himself and the return of her evil Grandson, Scott, now teamed up with the Minister of Peace, Kestero. With reindeer, gnomes and Father Christmas this adventure was great fun!
With Nick and Rob dropped off on Peladon for a while, the Doctortook time out to travel alone for a while, encountering a space tree and Edward Bradley along the way in Heart of the Haniad.
Ed Bradley also features in the follow up, Heist!, in which the Doctor tried desperately to get the TARDIS back from the Zunestra Collection, having to team up with the mysterious Jann Cordelis against conman Byron Zunestra. This is the last adventure with Ed for now, but there are more planned for 2009.
Set some time after the Doctor's travels with Ed, The Doctor, Rob and Nick came up against the enigmatic Tor Garane and his plans with The Paradise Machine. The Doctor has picked up Rob and Nick from the travelling break they took at the end of The Christmas Gnomes
The Doctor and friends returned towards the end of summer 2008, in The Curse of Ratanapura, which saw the Doctor answer a call from the Space Time Telegraph to the Isle of Skye on December 31st 1899.
Most of the adventures are available for download from the Planet Skaro website.
For the future, there will be a special mini 15 minute episode for this year's Children In Need, Many Happy Returns. This is Planet Skaro's entry in the Children In Need challenge sent out to all Doctor Who fan audio producers. There will then be a Christmas Special and a new season is planned for 2009.
Productions
| Season One | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer | Episodes |
| 01 | Echoes of the Protii | Si Hunt and Simon Hart | 3 episodes |
| 02 | Soap of Fatal Death | Si Hunt and Simon Hart | 4 episodes |
| 03 | Keepsake | Si Hunt | 1 episode |
| 04 | Magical History Tour | Si Hunt and Simon Hart | 4 episodes |
| 05 | Consequences | Simon Hart | 1 mini episode |
| 06 | Doctor Who and the Christmas Gnomes | Steven Alexander | 3 episodes |
| Season Two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer | Episodes |
| 07 | Heart of the Haniad | Steven Alexander | 2 episodes |
| 08 | Heist! | Simon Hart | 2 episodes |
| 09 | The Paradise Machine | Martin Penny | 2 episodes |
| 10 | The Curse of Ratanapura | Pip Madeley (with Si Hunt) | 2 episodes |
| 11 | The Crystal Eye | Paul Monk (with Simon Hart) | 2 episodes |
| 12 | Eye of the Daleks | Paul Monk (with Simon Hart) | 2 episodes |
| 13 | Many Happy Returns | Simon Hart | 1 15 minute mini-episode |
| 14 | Christmas Spirits | Paul Clement | 1 feature length episode |
Unproduced Adventures
Production History
Links
- Planet Skaro Main Website
- Planet Skaro Audios Page
- An Interview with Planet Skaro members (July 2008)