The Anderson actors of Big Finish

By - Chris Dale
7 Min read
7 Min read
The Anderson actors of Big Finish
For more than two decades Big Finish Productions have been producing full-cast audio drama plays, and are undoubtedly best known for their Doctor Who range (and its spinoffs) which began in 1999. Along the way, they have also produced audio adaptations, continuations and re-imaginings of other classic cult TV shows, such as Blakes 7, The Avengers, and The Prisoner. In recent years the company have stepped into the Gerry Anderson universe, producing a continuation of Anderson’s 1983 series Terrahawks, a re-imagining of his 1975 live-action spectacular Space:1999, and a series of special releases celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons! Over the years they’ve also brought on board many of the actors who featured in the classic Anderson shows of the past; everything from 1957’s The Adventures of Twizzle all the way up to 2005’s New Captain Scarlet. The roll call of Anderson-related voice talent that has appeared in the Big Finish universe is so long that we only have room to include regular and recurring cast members on this run-down list, which begins - appropriately enough - with a rather important behind-the-scenes name who can be counted as a voice artist thanks to his regular role as Robert the Robot aboard Fireball XL5…

Gerry Anderson

Thanks to audio from the archive interview that formed the backbone of the 2014 documentary Filmed in Supermarionation, Gerry Anderson himself was able to posthumously voice the damaged Zeroid 29 near the end of Into the Breach, the final episode of the first audio series of Terrahawks.

Will Barton

The man behind many an alien creature mask plus one or two human roles in Space Precinct had also previously appeared as Midge in Survival, the final serial of the original Doctor Who television series. He later returned to the Doctor’s universe twice more for guest roles in the second and third instalments of Big Finish’s 2009 Doctor Who trilogy The Key 2 Time.

Ed Bishop

The voice of the original Captain Blue and the star of UFO finally got to play a Doctor Who baddy in 2003, when he voiced the ruthless General Flint opposite UFO guest star David Collings’ Doctor, in the 'Unbound' story Full Fathom Five.

Denise Bryer

As well as returning to reprise Zelda and Mary Falconer for all three seasons of the Terrahawks audio series, Denise Bryer can also be heard in the 2006 Doctor Who audio drama The Reaping (starring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor) as the voice of Mrs Van Gyseghem. Although this character never appeared in the television series, she was actually mentioned on-screen in the first episode of the serial Planet of Fire as staying at the same hotel as Peri and her mother.

Sam Dastor

Known to Space:1999 fans as Moonbase Alpha’s third and final deputy CMO, Doctor Ed Spencer, Sam Dastor voiced the mild-mannered Professor Naryan in the 2012 Doctor Who story The Emerald Tiger opposite Peter Davison’s incarnation of the Doctor.

Windsor Davies

Although the legendary Windsor Davies did not return in person to voice his ever-popular Terrahawks character Sergeant Major Zero for the Big Finish audio series, his voice does appear in a single episode thanks to surviving recordings of his performance as the Sporilla – allowing him a couple of cameo grunts as Cy-star’s co-pilot “Mr Sporilla” in the series two finale My Enemy’s Enemy!

Jules de Jongh

The voice of the CGI Lieutenant Green could be heard in the 2018 Doctor Who release The Quantum Possibility Engine (starring Sylvester McCoy) and more recently as newscaster Petra Nordstrom in Breakaway, the pilot episode of Big Finish’s new audio adaptation of Space:1999.

Wayne Forester

The voice of the New Captain Scarlet himself, plus several human and alien guest characters in Space Precinct, Wayne Forester has also enjoyed a regular stretch of work with Big Finish which includes roles in eight different Doctor Who audio plays, plus a recent Torchwood release. He also voiced every single male character in the three audio adaptations of John Theydon’s Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons novels, released to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary in 2017.

David Graham

David Graham’s contributions to both the Gerry Anderson and Doctor Who universes stretch back over six decades, from Four Feather Falls right through to Space Precinct, encompassing such iconic characters as Parker, Brains – and the Daleks! As well as voicing guest characters in two Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories (The Defectors and Static) and two audio episodes of Terrahawks (both released on volume three) he also took on narrating duties for all three of the 2017 Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons John Theydon audiobook releases.

Kate Harbour

The voice of Lavender Castle’s Lyca and Walking Stick, Kate Harbour recently made her Big Finish debut in the Doctor Who audio story Time Apart – released this very month!

Richard James

The man behind the mask of Officer Orrin and several Space Precinct guest characters got to step into the Big Finish Terrahawks universe as the voice of Jeremy Vile, in the free audio adaptation of the sketch first performed live on stage at Andercon 2015. He has also been heard in three Doctor Who audio serials, including a much-praised performance as Rembrandt in the Fifth Doctor story The Waters of Amsterdam. Most recently, he has adapted the script for the unfilmed Space Precinct pilot episode Demeter City into a novelisation which he has also recorded as an audiobook – and this won’t be the last chance to hear Richard or Space Precinct on audio from Big Finish…

Jeremy Hitchen

As well as returning to voice all his classic Terrahawks characters in the Big Finish audio series, Jeremy’s voice can be heard in two Doctor Who stories, both starring Sylvester McCoy – 2016’s adaptation of the novel Cold Fusion, and 2019’s The Monsters of Gokroth.

Gary Martin

The voice of Space Precinct’s faithful office robot Slomo (plus the short-lived Officer Beezle and several other guest characters), Gary Martin also voiced Kohrbal in the 2016 Big Finish Doctor Who release Absolute Power.

Georgina Moon

Appearing in seven episodes of UFO as Skydiver operative Sylvia Howell, actress Georgina Moon finally got to visit the Doctor Who universe in the 2016 audio drama The Behemoth, in which she voiced Mrs Theodosia Middlemint.

Liz Morgan

Liz Morgan reprised her Captain Scarlet characters of Destiny, Rhapsody and Harmony Angels in the three 2017 John Theydon audiobooks, for which she also performed all the female guest characters.

Joseph Mydell

As Officer Lionel Carson, Joseph Mydell was Precinct 88’s resident medical/scientific/technical/delete-as-applicable expert on pretty much everything during the latter half of Space Precinct’s run. In 2019 he finally got to step into the world of Doctor Who in the audio story Memories of a Tyrant, opposite Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

Nicholas Parsons

The legendary British game show host (and voice of Four Feather Falls' Sheriff Tex Tucker) bravely stepped into the Terrahawks universe for the first episode of the second series of Big Finish’s audio series, Sale of the Galaxy, in which he played the role of sadistic game show host – and Zelda’s ex-husband! – Nickel-plate Starsons…

Anne Ridler

Anne Ridler (the original voice of Kate Kestrel and Cy-star) had sadly passed away several years before the Terrahawks audio series got underway, although she was actually the very first member of the show’s cast to be heard in a Big Finish production! Anne voiced Jacqueline Schaeffer, wife of Phillip Madoc’s tormented Victor Schaeffer, in the 2003 Doctor Who story Master.

Shane Rimmer

Although he didn’t appear in any of their audio dramas, Thunderbirds star Shane Rimmer did get to relive his many adventures in the Gerry Anderson universe on audio for Big Finish when he read his autobiography From Thunderbirds to Pterodactyls, which was released on CD and download in 2011.

Robbie Stevens

Since returning to his classic characters of Yung-star, Dix-Huit and Space Sergeant 101 for the Terrahawks audio series, Robbie Stevens has become the most prolific of all the Anderson-related names ever to work for Big Finish. Aside from Terrahawks he has also played guest roles in ten Doctor Who audio plays, plus appearances in several Who spinoffs including Jago and Litefoot and the Bernice Summerfield series. He has also been heard in several episodes of Big Finish’s audio recreations of the missing episodes of The Avengers, and most recently has returned to the Gerry Anderson corner of the Big Finish universe to read several Terrahawks and The Day After Tomorrow audiobooks.
That's certainly an impressive list of Anderson actors, and with many more projects planned for the future it's certain that many of those listed here will be making return appearances in the not-too-distant future - but we're giving nothing away just yet! In the meantime, do please let us know in the comments below which familiar voices from the Gerry Anderson universe you'd like to one day hear turn up in the audio universe of Big Finish! Want to hear some of these audio releases for yourself? Then have a look at these from the Gerry Anderson Store.

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