There are libraries full of books.
There are libraries full of knowledge.
And then, apparently, there are libraries aboard the Nosferatu 2.5 where the books have started becoming rather selective about who gets to exist in them.
This time aboard the ship, Sophie is joined by Dan Starkey, actor, writer, voice artist and one of the most recognisable inhabitants of the Doctor Who universe, despite frequently being hidden beneath several layers of prosthetics.
Dan has played a remarkable variety of characters across Doctor Who, but is perhaps best known to television audiences as Strax, the gloriously literal Sontaran warrior who became an unlikely member of the Paternoster Gang alongside Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint. He has also played numerous other Sontarans, appearing opposite several incarnations of the Doctor.
His relationship with Doctor Who extends well beyond the television screen. Dan has become a major presence in the world of audio, particularly through his extensive work with Big Finish, where he has appeared across Doctor Who and numerous other productions. He has also moved behind the microphone as a writer, co-writing Terror of the Sontarans, proving, perhaps, that having spent enough time playing Sontarans eventually leads to the inevitable conclusion that one must start writing them as well.
But Dan’s arrival aboard the Nosferatu 2.5 comes at a particularly strange moment.
The ship’s Narrative Archive has become a library, although not one that Sophie and Hobbes entirely trust. Books are present, but stories are missing. Information remains, but somehow the things that give that information meaning have begun to disappear.
Meanwhile, Mrs C and the Ffantaface provide their usual means of escaping the immediate problem, taking Sophie somewhere rather unexpected for another conversation with a very special guest.
This time, the Ffantaface brings us Laurence Scott, award-winning author of The Four-Dimensional Human and Picnic Comma Lightning.
Laurence has spent more than a decade writing essays and criticism for publications including The New Yorker, Financial Times, New York Times, The Guardian, WIRED, Boston Globe, New Statesman and the London Review of Books, exploring the increasingly strange relationship between technology, culture, time and the ways in which we experience the world around us.
And, perhaps most importantly for a journey aboard the Nosferatu 2.5, Doctor Who has had a profound influence on Laurence both personally and professionally.
And somewhere aboard the Nosferatu 2.5, the books are waiting.
Just be careful which one you open!
Sophie Aldred's Ace Odyssey stars Sophie Aldred with James Showers as Hobbes.
Special Guests- Dan Starkey and Laurence Scott.
You can find us all over your social media.
Bluesky/Instagram/X: @aceodyssey63
Facebook: Sophie Aldred's Ace Odyssey
For listeners who want even more adventure, you can step inside the Ace Odyssey Patreon Community-
*Episodes released early and ad free
*Two exclusive podcasts every month
*Online meet-ups and interactive events
*Direct involvement in the evolving universe of the show
www.patreon.com/aceodyssey
Music by Graeme Allan
Sound Effects & Sound Design by Gavin Rymill
Programme Assistant Liz Whitmore
Based on a short story by Soula Carmichael
Written, Produced and Directed by Paul Carmichael
You can follow Graeme Allan on Bluesky @graemeallan and listen to more of his music at www.youtube.com/brassbandit
You can follow Gavin Rymill on Twitter & Bluesky @themindrobber, and you can watch his superb Dr.Who series Terry Nation Army on www.youtube.com/dalek6388
You can follow Paul Carmichael on Bluesky @paulcarmichaeluk and on Threads @paul.carmichael.1213
","author_name":"Sophie Aldred"}