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Dark side novices Satal and Aleema, fresh from discovering secrets of the dark side in the tomb of Sith Lord Freedon Nadd on Onderon, return to their home world, where they depose their father as ruler and hold the populace in the thrall of their evil powers. Word of the takeover reaches the Jedi, who dispatch Ulic Qel-Droma and Nomi Sunrider to lead a Republic battle fleet to restore freedom. Meanwhile, another Jedi arrives on Onderon to investigate Lord Nadd’s tomb, a young Jedi named Exar Kun who has become a little too fixated on learning the secrets of the dark side. Defying his Jedi mentor’s wishes and lying about his credentials, Exar Kun learns that the spirit of Freedon Nadd is very much intact - and capable of teaching him everything he wants to know about the dark side of the Force.

The Republic fleet trying to remove Aleema and Satal from power is routed and regroups before another attempt. In addition to the rising tide of the dark side, the actions of Exar Kun are of great concern to the Jedi. But an attack on the Jedi meeting place results in the death of Jedi Master Arca. Ulic, who is already proposing that he go undercover as a fellow dark side acolyte to recover Kun, is griefstricken. Now even more certain that he’ll need to pose as a fallen Jedi to bring Exar Kun either back to the light or to justice, Ulic is willing to do things that the Jedi order would never allow to accomplish his mission and avenge Arca’s death - but that path may lead him to fall to the dark side himself.

written by John Whitman
based on the comic by Kevin J. Anderson and Tom Veitch
directed by Arthur G. Insana
music by John Williams

Cast: John Cygan (Ulic Qel-Droma), Glynnis Talken (Nomi Sunrider), Jim Ward (Master Arca), Peter Reneday (Exar Kun), Jack Noseworthy (Cay Qel-Droma), Jocelyn Blue (Aleema), Philip Clarke (Freedon Nadd)

Notes: There are roughly twice as many speaking parts in this audio play than there are names in the cast list, including critical characters such as Satal and Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas; as several voices are distorted by somewhat obvious electronic means, these other characters may simply be the credited cast members doubling or tripling up on roles. Also, Master Arca’s body vanishes after his death, which is said to be the Jedi way, though this is invalidated by the prequel films (which were produced after both the original Dark Horse comics and these audio adaptations), which make it explicitly clear that this way of “becoming one with the Force” was discovered by Qui-Gon Jinn and later learned by Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Brothers Ulic Qel-Droma and Cay Qel-Droma, and their Twi’lek friend Tott Doneeta, are recent graduates to the rank of Jedi Knight. They are assigned to restore the peace on the planet Onderon by Jedi Master Arca, their mentor, who has enough faith in them to send them there alone. But on Onderon, the three young Jedi discover that the situation is more complicated than they had been led to believe. A war between the dwellers of a great walled city and a faction of outcasts who have learned to ride vicious airborne beasts could end with a marriage that could unite both sides, but Ulic and his fellow Jedi are nearly tricked into putting a stop to it. When they learn that the Dark Side is strong in the ruthless rulers of the city of Iziz, Cay and Tott worry that they won’t be able to take on the Dark Side practitioners without more experienced Jedi help; Ulic convinces them otherwise, but even with the young Jedis’ skills and bravery, victory will come at a high cost.

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a young Jedi is cut down before the eyes of his wife and child by thugs working for Bogga the Hutt. The newly widowed Nomi Sunrider, who herself has latent Force potential, picks up her fallen husband’s lightsaber, kills her attackers and escapes with her daughter. She seeks out the Jedi Master her husband was seeking, only to find that his new mentor wasn’t human at all - or, for that matter, humanoid. If she can overcome her preconceptions about the Jedi and the Force, and her aversion to ever wielding a lightsaber again, Nomi may herself become a Jedi…just in time to witness first-hand an unusually bold uprising by the Dark Lords of the Sith and their followers.

written by John Whitman
based on the comic by Tom Veitch
directed by Kevin Thomsen
music by John Williams

Cast: David Scott Gordon (Ulic Qel-Droma), Skip Lackey (Cay Qel-Droma), Mark Feuerstein (Tott), Melanie Mitchell (Nomi Sunrider), Larry Keith (Master Arca / King Omin), Paul Condylis (Master Thon), Thom Christopher (Freedon Nadd), Michael Louden (Oss), Christopher Sena (Andur / Satal), Aden Gillet (Oron), Peter Newman (Novar), Chris Phillips (Threedee / Gudb), Tony Sperry (Quanto / Rek), Ben Lipitz (Nikto), Bud Thorpe (Bogga the Hutt / Warb Null), John Randolph Jones (Gobee), Allison Dougherty (Princess Galia), Garet Scott (Aleema), Kim Brown (Vima), Teri Keane (Queen Amanoa), Jay Gregory (Holocron Gatekeeper), Barbara Gilbert (Computer), Peter Larkin (Narrator)

Notes: Thom Christopher is best known in SF circles for starring as Hawk in the second season of Buck Rogers.

Review: Even taking into account that so much of the original Tales Of The Jedi comic series has been invalidated by the prequel trilogy, whether it be Jedi Masters with multiple apprentices, Jedi with family attachments, or massive Dark Side armies, the original comics were among the better Expanded Universe spinoffs to come along before Phantom Menace premiered. Sadly, this audio adaptation seems to miss the mark much of the time. Some of the cast - especially the male leads - manage to carry things off with conviction; at other times, the voice artists let the side down miserably (at one point, I had to pause the CD and laugh because a supposedly bad-ass evil character sounded for all the world like Bubs from Homestar Runner). Dialogue and even entire scenes are altered considerably from the source material, sometimes as a necessity to convey something that previously existed only as visuals in a panel of the comic books, but if you are familiar with the source material, be prepared to scratch your head at some of the changes; in the end, the most reassuring link to the original stories is the Dave Dorman cover art on the CD slipcase. Sound design was another sore point - too many perfectly normal Earthly sounds - such as animals and other things that should sound otherworldly in the story’s context - are mixed in with the familiar Lucasfilm sound effects, and even when appropriate sounds are used, the sound mix is conspicuously sparse. Worse, scene changes are heralded by a corny “whoosh!” sound that I’d expect from a read-along book-and-tape set for kids, not from an attempt to mount a full-cast dramatic production. I hate to rag on the various Expanded Universe audio plays written/adapted by John Whitman, but someone else needs to have a go at writing audio Star Wars, because the original NPR radio series provides more than ample proof that it can work in that medium.

Over 2 CDs, former TARDIS traveler Elisabeth Sladen introduces a number of Doctor Who-related clips from the BBC Radio archives, ranging from interviews with actors and other creative personnel, to comedy sketches riffing on the reluctant jewel in the BBC’s crown, to an hour-long documentary tracing the origins and mythology of the show, as narrated by Nicholas “The Brigadier” Courtney.

Review: An interesting approach to exploiting the BBC’s vast wealth of archive material, Doctor Who At The BBC is an extensive sampling of archived radio interAviews, sketch comedy and other material. Heavily focused on the eras of Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davison (toward the end of the last CD, presenter Elisabeth Sladen even cops to the fact that there’s very little in the way of Hartnell or Troughton era material on the collection), it’s a fascinating series of “press clippings” in auditory form, and a chance to glimpse how Doctor Who was promoted in years past. (more…)

On the eve of the launch of the new series of Doctor Who in 2005, Anthony Stewart Head (of Buffy fame) narrates a series of behind-the-scenes interviews conducted with the cast, crew and creative staff behind the new show during filming.

Review: A fascinating look behind the scenes of the new Doctor Who, Project: Who? takes the listener from the BBC boardrooms when the idea of a revival first became a serious possibility, to the weeks leading up to the premiere. Among those interviewed are actors Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Elisabeth Sladen, Nicholas Briggs and John Barrowman, writers Paul Cornell, Rob Shearman, Mark Gatiss and Terrance Dicks, producers Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson, director Joe Ahearne, BBC1 Controller Lorraine Heggessy, designers Bryan Hitch and Edward Thomason, and Doctor Who Magazine editor Clayton Hickman. Davies, Collinson, Gardner, Ahearne and Billie Piper are the predominant interview voices heard here; Christopher Eccleston is heard from less frequently, and when he does appear, he talks about the exhausting pace of making the show, and the fact that it leaves time for little else - the writing seems to have been quite clearly on display on the nearest wall the whole time with regards to his departure. (more…)