STARGATE SG-1 AND STARGATE ATLANTIS
(
25/02/2008)
THE GATE IS STILL OPEN, THE MISSIONS CONTINUE
BIG FINISH PRODUCTIONS TO LAUNCH A NEW RANGE OF FULLY AUTHORIZED ‘TALKING BOOKS’ FEATURING THE ORIGINAL STARS OF STARGATE SG-1 AND STARGATE ATLANTIS TELEVISION HIT SERIES
LONDON -- UK-based Big Finish Productions, which specializes in producing high-quality audio drama and talking books on CD, has signed an agreement with
MGM Consumer Products to release a new range of licensed audio books based on the record-breaking TV series
Stargate SG-1 and its sister show,
Stargate Atlantis. An initial series of six productions will be released monthly, beginning in
April of this year. Each release will feature a new story read by one of the regular cast members of
Stargate SG-1 and
Stargate Atlantis along with a supporting actor. The productions will be available on a single CD and as an MP3 file as part of
Big Finish’s new online download service.
The first title in the series is
Stargate SG-1 Gift of the Gods written by established Stargate novelist,
Sally Malcolm. The
SG-1 adventure, read by
Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson), unravels the mystery of the
Stargate Command and its connection to an alternate reality.
Shanks, a Sci-Fi and Stargate fan-favourite, was delighted to take part in the first instalment of this new series and stated: “
Sally’s story is incredible and it’s fun for me to have Daniel Jackson kind of pop out again. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I can’t believe no one has thought of it before!”
Writer
Sally Malcolm believes
Daniel Jackson was the perfect choice for the first drama: “
Daniel was an obvious choice as the lead because his voice is so strong and distinctive, and because he's a historian and a chronicler of events it worked beautifully to have him tell the story. He's also a very empathetic character, so through his eyes we get to observe the feelings of all the other characters which gives the story a more rounded emotional resonance”.
Stargate SG-1 – Gift of the Gods is directed by
Sharon Gosling who also serves as producer of the talking books series and has written several books on Stargate. "I
was so excited when Michael said he was interested in being involved,” says Sharon. “
He was one of the first actors to say yes, not only to providing the lead voice for a story, but also to being a 'supporting voice' in one of the later releases as well. As a result, we were able to have one story set in season three, with the ‘original' team, and one set in season ten, featuring Daniel and Vala (Claudia Black)”. Also confirmed for the new audio books is
Torri Higginson with further names to be announced.
Sharon Gosling and
James Swallow have contributed two stories for the audio series, with
Sally Malcolm also contributing a further story.
Each Stargate
SG-1 and
Stargate Atlantis release will cost
£9.99 on CD or
£8.99 to download. The CDs will also be available in bookshops as well as specialist outlets such as
Tenth Planet,
Forbidden Planet and
Galaxy 4.
Stargate SG-1, the longest running Sci-Fi series in American television history, aired for a remarkable ten seasons. The show enjoyed a milestone 200th episode and
Stargate Atlantis its spin-off series, is currently in production on season 5 and will celebrate its 100th episode this year.
STARGATE SG-1 © 1997-2008 MGM TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND MGM GLOBAL HOLDINGS INC. STARGATE SG-1 IS A TRADEMARK OF METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER™ & © 2008 METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.