Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The 12th Doctor, Missy and Tania Bell star in the next audionovel from Big Finish, Colin Brake’s The Chaos Cascade, brought to life by Dan Starkey, Beth Chalmers and Rebecca Root.

This new enhanced audiobook follows the ongoing journey of Tania Bell after the events of the Stranded full-cast audio drama series, which ended in 2022.

Producer David Richardson said: “It was fun assembling the jigsaw that is this novel. Three readers! And I knew immediately who I wanted them to be. Dan, because his Twelfth Doctor readings are phenomenal. Beth, because I’d heard her reading in for Missy at other recordings and knew what energy and frisson she would bring to it. And Rebecca, because, frankly, we need more Tania Bell!”

The Twelfth Doctor embarks on a desperate search for the three scattered parts of the Triskelia – the only means to contain a dangerous multi-dimensional breach in reality: the Chaos Cascade. But two warring races, the aggressive Myzen and the peace-loving Tollatee are also searching for this powerful device, as is a mysterious tech-enhanced part-human mercenary.

Meanwhile the Doctor’s former housemate Tania Bell travels to Yorkshire to investigate reports of alien activity and is delighted to run into a previously unknown incarnation of the Time Lord: one that is female, dresses in purple and carries a parasol!

Can the Doctor, Missy and Tania work find a way to work together as a team? Or, once unleashed, will the Chaos Cascade wreak havoc across all space and time?

Dan Starkey said: “This was a particularly fun one to record as I was sharing the narration with Beth and Rebecca. As well as providing a dynamic read of the story through a fairly neutral narrator’s voice, the joy of doing these audio novels is creating an entire cast of characters to better tell the story, which appeals to my multi-voiced instincts.”

Beth Chalmers added: “I had to voice lots of characters that already exist as well as some that had been created by the narrators who recorded before me. That’s always a bit of a challenge, but great to do.”

Rebecca Root agreed: “Reading The Chaos Cascade was both challenging and exhilarating. Giving voice to several characters, whether human or alien friend of foe, was somewhat tricky.”

Doctor Who – The Audio Novels: The Chaos Cascade has a running time of around six hours and is now available to pre-order as a digital download for just £17.99, exclusively from the Big Finish website.