Bang-Bang-A-Boom!
Doctor:	Seventh Doctor
Companion(s):	Melanie Bush
Main setting:	Dark Space 8
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Gareth Roberts Clayton Hickman
Director:	Nicholas Pegg
Release details
Release number:	39
Release date:	December 2002
Format:	4 Episodes on 2 CDs
Production code:	7E/A
ISBN 1-903654-77-7
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Publisher's summary Edit

Dark Space 8 — an advanced monitoring station floating serenely among the stars. Its crew — a dedicated and highly-skilled group of professionals, calmly going about their vital work. Its mission — to boldly host the Intergalactic Song Contest.

With representatives from myriad worlds competing, the eyes of the universe are on the station. But dark deeds are afoot aboard Dark Space 8... and people are starting to die.

The haughty Queen Angvia; the gaseous gestalt Gholos; disposable pop idol Nicky Newman; erratic Professor Fassbinder; and the icily-efficient Dr Eleanor Harcourt — all are suspects. Could old political rivalries be manifesting themselves among the contestants? Is this the work of a breakaway terrorist faction? Or has someone just got it in for singer-songwriters?

With peace in the galaxy hanging by a thread, it's vital that the mystery is solved — and fast! Can Dark Space 8's unconventional new commander, with the help of his personal pilot, Mel, find the murderer in time to prevent a major intergalactic war?

Or will it be nul points for the entire universe...?

Cast Edit

• The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
• Melanie Bush - Bonnie Langford
• Dr. Eleanor Harcourt - Sabina Franklyn
• Professor Ivor Fassbinder - Graeme Garden
• Lieutenant Strindberg - Vidar Magnussen
• Loozly - Nickolas Grace
• Angvia - Patricia Quinn
• Nicky Newman - Anthony Spargo
• Geri - Jane Goddard
• Logan - David Tughan

References Edit

• Geri is a Pakhar.
• There are Drahvin contestants.
• Ice Warriors vote in the Intergalactic Song Contest.
• The Doctor recalls the delights of the pastry chefs on Barastabon.

Notes Edit

• The Intergalactic Song Contest and its commentator Logan spoofs the Eurovision Song Contest and its commentator Terry Wogan.
• There is a false ending during Part 4 where the theme music starts and then cuts out as Mel points out that the supposed resolution was "too easy."
• Dr Harcourt's line about the contest being "the last, best hope for peace" between Angvia and Gholos is a direct quote from the opening monologue of Season 1 of Babylon 5.
• This is the second 'Christmas/Comedy' release, the first being BFA: The One Doctor.
• Nickolas Grace (Mr Loozly) would later play Straxus in BFA: Human Resources, BFA: Sisters of the Flame and BFA: The Vengeance of Morbius and Albert Einstein in DW: Death Is the Only Answer.
• Graeme Garden (Professor Ivor Fassbinder) would later play Geoffrey Vantage in BFA: Max Warp and the Monk in BFA: The Book of Kells, BFA: The Resurrection of Mars, BFA: Lucie Miller and BFA: To the Death.
• Sabina Franklyn (Dr. Eleanor Harcourt) would later play Wanda Rothman in BFA: Situation Vacant.
• This audio drama was recorded on 1 and 2 October 2002.

Star Trek parodies Edit

This story generally spoofs Star Trek and its storytelling styles. The more direct examples of this include:

• "Dark Space 8" is a direct spoof of Deep Space 9, both in name and in function as an outpost serving as a hub to many species.
• The 'Captain's log' voiceovers.
• The Federation-style command structure and clearly-defined crew.
• The repeated catchphrases of the crewmembers.
• The crew had recently dealt with a sweat vampire, an alien claiming to be God, and a silicon-based lifeform which threatened to enslave all other lifeforms.
• Fassbinder's made-up technobabble echoes Star Trek's style. The name "Fassbinder" may be deliberately similar to the term "Feinberger" in Star Trek, which was the behind-the-scenes term to refer to Dr. McCoy's diagnostic instruments and other such props (after property master Irving Feinberg).

Continuity Edit

• Pakhars first appeared in NA: Legacy.
• The Doctor previously impersonated a commanding officer in order to salvage a peace process in DW: The Curse of Peladon.
• The Doctor remembers Mel's problems with lifts. (DW: Paradise Towers)

Timeline Edit

• Bang-Bang-A-Boom! occurs after ST: Daisy Chain
• Bang-Bang-A-Boom! occurs before BFA: Flip-Flop

External links Edit

• Official Bang-Bang-A-Boom! page at bigfinish.com
• Detailed synopsis of Bang-Bang-A-Boom! at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide Bang-Bang-A-Boom! page

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