Mervyn Stone Launched!
(
12/07/2010)
Big Finish Publications is proud to announce the forthcoming release of three original fiction titles by Nev Fountain.
The Mervyn Stone Mysteries will be published in hardback and leatherbound edition in October, with paperback versions following in 2011. The individual titles are confirmed as
Geek Tragedy,
DVD Extras Include: Murder and
Cursed Among Sequels.
So who is Mervyn Stone?
“Mervyn Stone is an ex script editor of an old BBC1 science-fiction show, which exploded onto our TV screens in the mid 1980s,” explains the author. “
Vixens from the Void was a hot mix of gorgeous women, skin-tight lycra, and phallic looking ray guns. It was as 80s as they come; as sexy, sharp, mad and dangerous as the contents of Madonna's old knicker drawer.
“That's Mervyn Stone's only claim to fame - that he co-devised and wrote for this show. He doesn't have much of a career anymore, he just goes to conventions, tells his whiskery old anecdotes, signs his autographs... And solves murders.
“Mervyn just can't help it. It's that script editor brain of his - he just keeps spotting those plot-holes and discovering whodunnit.”
The Mervyn Stone Mysteries are a witty combination of detective fiction and fuzzy CSO sci-fi, as Mervyn solves a seemingly unsolvable homicide wherever he goes.
“I love detective novels, and I love old sci-fi shows,” says Nev. “The reason why I combined the two seems so obvious to me. When you tap into that world of cult tv,
Star Trek,
Doctor Who,
Buffy The Vampire Slayer, you come across such an amazing cross-section of characters. There are old actors who can't remember what the shows are about, obsessive fans who know nothing BUT the show, bewildered producers, cranky writers, excitable stunt men who appeared as a giant space lizard from the plant Krark in 1973 and who've dined out on the experience ever since...
“It's amazing the secrets and rivalries that grow over the years. It's a fantastic setting for murder mysteries...that's why I wasn't able to stop at writing just one book!
“I wanted to create a 'real' world where we follow Mervyn Stone's odd life, connected to this old show via an invisible umbilical cord - going from sci-fi conventions, to DVD commentaries, to celebrity signings, to charity auctions, to sea cruises, even to a possible big-budget revival of
Vixens from the Void. And there are murders everywhere he goes!
“I want the reader to meet these larger-than-life characters again and again through the books; Vanity Mycroft, the insane diva, Bernard Viner, the angry special effects guy, Graham Goldingay, the rich obsessive fan... In one book they might be a suspect, then who knows? The next book they might even be a victim...”
The three books are available for pre-order now. There are discounted special offers for people who buy all three in advance of publication from bigfinish.com: the leatherback versions are available for £60 for all three, the hardbacks for £30 for all three, and the paperbacks for £22 for all three.
Look out for the
Mervyn Stone Podcasts – featuring behind the scenes material from the makers of
Vixens from the Void – at
www.bigfinish.com during the summer.
Nev Fountain is an award-winning TV writer whose credits include
Dead Ringers, Have I Got News For You and The impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson. His work for Big Finish includes Omega, The Kingmaker and the forthcoming Companion Chronicle Peri and the Piscon Paradox.