Big Finish have announced a special release of B7 Media’s acclaimed dramatisation of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles this December.

The new drama, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, stars Derek Jacobi (Last Tango in Halifax, I, Claudius, Doctor Who: Utopia) and Hayley Atwell (Marvel’s Agent Carter, The Pillars of the Earth, Doctor Who: Blood of the Daleks) as the leaders of an expedition to Mars, tasked with a secret mission.

When the first expedition to Mars mysteriously disappears, Earth sends a second to find out what happened. But the real mission is classified. And only Captain Wilder knows the truth.

Spender, an anthropologist on Wilder’s crew, attempts to prevent the colonisation that she believes will eradicate the last of an ancient people living on Mars. But to what lengths will she go?

As the honourable but duty-bound Captain Wilder tracks the now rogue Spender into the Martian mountains, the future of this ancient planet is at stake. Meanwhile, Earth itself teeters on the brink of its own global catastrophe as the very survival of humanity hangs in the balance.

The adaptation recently won the Silver Award for Best Drama Special at the 2015 New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards. Alistair Lock was also nominated for Best Sound Designer at the 2014 Radio Production Awards. The release was produced by Patrick Chapman and directed by Andrew Mark Sewell who said

Big Finish Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery said

The Martian Chronicles, will be released in December and is available to pre-order now. The full-cast includes Derek Jacobi, Hayley Atwell, Anna Madeley, Mark Lewis Jones, John Altman, Zoe Tapper, Jonathan Rhodes, Dean Harris, Ryan Sewell, Rachael Naylor, Jacob James, Robert Lock, Mellissa Aston-Munslow and Owen Sewell

Orphan Black is returning to the BBC tonight, 14 months after the UK broadcast of the Season 2 finale. The whole of Season Three will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from 10pm tonight. Episodes will also be broadcast on BBC Three in the early hours of the morning, also known as the 'graveyard slot'. The channel will be airing double bills starting this Sunday at 2:10am with The Weight of This Combination followed by Transitory Sacrifices of Crisis.


Synopsis for episode 1:

A fourth series was confirmed earlier this year.

BBC Worldwide Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) have announced the first ever official Sherlock event to be held in Australia. Sherlock: From Script to Screen will take place at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne on Monday, 23rd November and will give fans the chance to hear from series co-creators and Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (who also stars as Sherlock’s brother Mycroft Holmes) as well as Series Producer Sue Vertue of Hartswood Films.

Sue Vertue, says: Tickets will go on sale on Monday, 14th September from Ticketmaster.

BBC Two's controller, Kim Shillinglaw, has announced that a new comedy about the making of Dad’s Army is to be made by the channel. The one-off 60 minute special will star Paul Ritter, Shane Ritchie, John Sessions, Sally Phillips and Kevin Bishop.

This September marks 50 years since Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s ground-breaking Thunderbirds series blasted onto TV screens in the UK. To celebrate this special anniversary, the iconic puppets will be making a spectacular return in three brand new episodes in Thunderbirds 1965, a project created by director Stephen La Rivière.

In addition to the much-loved television series, three Thunderbirds audio episodes were recorded and launched in 1966, with music and dialogue from the show’s original voice cast. Thunderbirds 1965 will see La Rivière film the Thunderbirds puppets and sets he faithfully recreated for the Filmed in Supermarionation documentary, using all of the classic Supermarionation techniques, and combine this with the original audio footage to create three brand new video episodes in the distinctive Thunderbirds style.

The Thunderbirds 1965 project will launch on crowdfunding website Kickstarter on Thursday 9th July at 9am, and backing the project is the only way that fans from around the globe will be able to watch these new episodes. In addition to a DVD / Blu-ray of the finished production, project backers have the opportunity to receive other exclusive rewards including a commemorative photo-book featuring rare and previously unpublished stills from the original series and an exclusive ‘Thunderbirds Experience’. This experience will give backers the chance to visit the Thunderbirds 1965 production studio and experience first-hand the classic model and puppet filmmaking techniques first developed fifty years ago. The recreated marionette stars will also be around for meet and greets.

The Thunderbirds 1965 Kickstarter campaign is aiming to raise £75,000 to fund the first of the three special episodes. If the project surpasses this initial target, the remaining episodes will be also produced.

Thunderbirds 1965 will be produced by the team behind the critically acclaimed Filmed in Supermarionation documentary, which tells the story of the pioneering production of Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet and other memorable marionette television shows. Sylvia Anderson and the estate of the late Gerry Anderson have welcomed the initiative.

Sylvia Anderson, co-creator of the classic series says:Jamie Anderson, son of Gerry Anderson says: Stephen La Rivière says:Further information can be found at thunderbirds1965.co.uk.

SPACE in Canada have confirmed that they have commissioned a fourth series of their clone conspiracy show Orphan Black, starring Tatiana Maslany. The series will consist of another ten episodes, and goes into production in Toronto over the Autumn.

Tracey Pearce, Senior Vice-President, Specialty and Pay at Bell Media, said:

David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, executive producers of Orphan Black and Co-Presidents of Temple Street Productions, said:

The third series is currently being broadcast on SPACE, and due to be seen in the UK later this year.