Stargate audio books coming this spring

The Stargate universe is about to get a little bigger, as Big Finish Productions gears up to produce a series of officially licensed Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis audio dramas! The hour-long productions will be released on CD and online download (MP3), and include voices from the casts — including, for starters, Michael Shanks (“Daniel Jackson”), Torri Higginson (“Elizabeth Weir”), and Claudia Black (“Vala Mal Doran”).

Big Finish is already well-established as the producer of audio dramas for such series as Doctor Who, Tomorrow People, and Dark Shadows.

Writers already lined up to write for the series include Stargate novel authors Sally Malcolm and James Swallow, and former Official Magazine editor Sharon Gosling (who will also direct and produce the audio books for Big Finish).

Swallow (“Halcyon,” “Relativity”) described the new series in a message at GateWorld Forum: “The hour-long stories are a kind of halfway-house between a traditional talking book and a full-cast audio play. Each story has two actors — one lead voice, one supporting — in the same style as Big Finish’s recent Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles series. These are all-new, original stories written specifically for audio.”

More than just books read aloud, the dramas will include music and sound effects, with dialogue spoken in the character’s voice.

Big Finish also hopes to include some bonus material in each release, such as an interview with the participating cast member.

First up in the series is “Gift of the Gods,” written by Malcolm and set for an April 2008 release. Performed by Michael Shanks and John Schwab, the Daniel-centric story is set early in the third season of Stargate SG-1.

“A Necessary Evil” will follow in May, as the first Atlantis installment. The story will be performed by Torri Higginson and Timothy Watson, and the main story is set during the third season of Stargate Atlantis.

Both CDs are currently available for pre-order at Big Finish’s Web site, with an asking price of $19.54. Big Finish is currently revamping its site to accommodate the future download service.

Six titles are on the schedule for 2008 (three SG-1 and three Atlantis), according to Swallow. Future titles in the audio book series will include:

“Shell Game” by James Swallow, read by Claudia Black and Michael Shanks and set in Season Ten of SG-1. Anticipated June 2008.

“Perchance to Dream” by Sally Malcom. Anticipated July 2008.

“Pathogen” by Sharon Gosling. Anticipated August 2008.

“Zero Point” by James Swallow. Anticipated September 2008.

“I can tell you that we’ve got a great spread of main cast members from both shows for this first six releases, and we don’t plan on stopping there,” Swallow told fans on the forum. “I’m really excited to be a part of this project and I know Sally and Sharon and the team at Big Finish are going all out to make this a hit.”

Read more about the first two stories at Big Finish, and watch GateWorld’s Books section for more coverage of the new audio series in the weeks ahead!