''Invaders from Mars'' is a

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

based on the long-running British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series '' Doctor Who''. This audio drama was later broadcast on

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the pr ...

in four weekly parts (starting on 29 October 2005) and was later rebroadcast on the same channel once more (beginning on 19 November 2006).

Summary

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

1938, the Eighth Doctor and Charley meet a crooked

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix ''-ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

, a Russian spy, a sinister

fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

ist and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

. Welles's broadcast of ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was in ...

'' is just a story, but maybe there really are aliens at loose.

Cast

*The

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles * ...

—

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial ''The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which was ...

Charley Pollard Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by India Fisher in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, many of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 7, based on the long-running British scienc ...

—

India Fisher India Fisher (born 1974) is a British actress, narrator and presenter. Her father is the ex- MP Mark Fisher. She is also the stepsister of musician Crispin Hunt and of actress Francesca Hunt, who appears with her in the play '' Other Lives''. ...

*Mouse/Winkler/Luigi/Heavy —

Ian Hallard Ian Christopher Hallard (born 9 November 1974) is an English actor and writer. His work includes acting roles in the West End, including the lead role of Michael in a revival of Mart Crowley's '' The Boys in the Band''; at the National Theatre ...

*Ellis —

Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in '' Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'' and Martin Pond in ''Barbara''. Benton has also starred in the BBC One school-based ...

John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with directo ...

/Thug/Streath —

Jonathan Rigby Jonathan Rigby is an English actor and film historian who has written several books. ''Video Watchdog'' magazine described him as occupying "a proud place in the advance guard of film researchers, writers and critics," and in 2020 he was inducted ...

/Professor Stepashin/Halliday —

David Benson David Benson (born David Hodgson on 11 January 1962) is an English theatre actor, writer and comedian. He was born in Oxford, England, and has a twin sister, Miranda, and an older brother, Jonathan. Educated at Park Hall Secondary Modern in ...

*Bix Biro/Noriam/Man —

Paul Putner Paul Putner (born March 1966) is an English actor and comedian. Life and career Putner was born in March 1966 in East Grinstead, West Sussex. He studied at LAMDA where he won the Kenneth More prize for comedy acting. His first significant TV ...

*Don Chaney/Actor —

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom '' Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. ...

*Glory Bee/Carla/Women —

Jessica Stevenson Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

*Cosmo Devine/Hotel Clerk — John Arthur *Reception Guest -

Katy Manning Catherine Ann "Katy" Manning (born 14 October 1946) is an English- Australian actress, television presenter, voice artist and former model. Although she has made many appearances on both screen and stage, Manning is best known for her part as ...

*Radio Announcer -

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series '' Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...

*Thug/Toastmaster - Alistair Lock

Deliberate errors

The second season of Eighth Doctor audios featured a number of deliberate errors: *There were 48 States in the United States in 1938, not 49 as Chaney claims. *The

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

was not established until 1947, almost nine years after the events portrayed here. *Welles fails to recognise a Shakespearean quotation. *Don Chaney claims to own a 1929

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–199 ...

previously owned by

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

, but Lamborghinis did not exist until 1963. The first two "mistakes" in this list were deliberate, intended to be examples of anti-time contamination. The third was also deliberate, but was explained in ''

The Time of the Daleks ''The Time of the Daleks'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the last serial in the Dalek Empire arc, which began with ''The Genocide Machine'' a ...

''. The last was not deliberate but was later

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...

to be another example of anti-time contamination. Another possible example of anti-time contamination is the date. ''The War of the Worlds'' aired on 30 October 1938, yet, when he asks what day it is, the Doctor is told that it is 31 October 1938.

Later Doctor Who appearances

The episode is particularly notable in that 5 of the actors went on to star in the re-booted Doctor Who TV series from 2005, including: *Mark Benton in

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can b ...

*Ian Hallard in

Robot of Sherwood "Robot of Sherwood" is the third episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Paul Murphy, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 6 September 2014. ...

*Simon Pegg in

The Long Game "The Long Game" is the seventh episode of the Doctor Who (series 1), first series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' that was first broadcast on 7 May 2005 on BBC One. It was written by executive producer Russell T ...

*Jessica Stevenson in

The Family of Blood "The Family of Blood" is the ninth episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 June 2007. It is the second episode of a two-part story written by Paul C ...

(as Jessica Hynes) *Mark Gatiss in a number of roles, including

The Lazarus Experiment "The Lazarus Experiment" is the sixth episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 5 May 2007 and stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Freema Agyeman ...

. This does not include Paul McGann and Katy Manning who had appeared in Doctor Who prior to their appearance in this episode.

External links

Big Finish Productions - ''Invaders from Mars''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invaders From Mars (Audio Drama) 2002 audio plays Eighth Doctor audio plays Radio plays based on Doctor Who Works based on The War of the Worlds 2005 radio dramas Works by Mark Gatiss Fiction set in 1938