The Human Frontier 1

Human Frontier #1

by Nicholas Briggs

Two sets of Earth colonists, both setting out for the planet ND492.

One crew takes the long route, sleeping for 1000 years, in secret, on a ship called The Human Frontier.

The other crew set off hundreds of years later, at hyper speed.

When the sleepers wake as they approach the planet, the hyper-speed crew have been living there for 300 years already - and they have no clue the ‘sleepers’ are about to arrive.

Part One: Possibility of Life

Two awakenings. One is unexpected, the other is a dire emergency. One brings love. Both bring danger. This is the voyage of The Human Frontier.

Part Two: Nowhere Near Neptune

There’s a world called Triton. Its people have a long history of struggle and suffering. And they’ve never heard of The Human Frontier.

Part Three: Machine Minds

Anna Swift discovers the secret future history of Earth. And Triton discovers the secret past of The Human Frontier.

Part Four: Control

Is it the Tritons, Nilly, Planet Five… ? Who is in control? And what does the future hold for The Human Frontier?

Genres: Science Fiction

Audiobook

Published May 29, 2020

About the author

Nicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs. Some of Briggs' earliest Doctor Who-related work was as host of The Myth Makers, a series of made-for-video documentaries produced in the 1980s and 1990s by Reeltime Pictures in which Briggs interviews many of the actors and writers involved in the series. When Reeltime expanded into producing original dramas, Briggs wrote some stories and acted in others, beginning with War Time, the first unofficial Doctor Who spin-off, and Myth Runner, a parody of Blade Runner showcasing bloopers from the Myth Makers series built around a loose storyline featuring Briggs as a down on his luck private detective in the near future.

He wrote and appeared in several made-for-video dramas by BBV, including the third of the Stranger stories, In Memory Alone opposite former Doctor Who stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. He also wrote and appeared in a non-Stranger BBV production called The Airzone Solution (1993) and directed a documentary film, Stranger than Fiction (1994).

Briggs has directed many of the Big Finish Productions audio plays, and has provided Dalek, Cybermen, and other alien voices in several of those as well. He has also written and directed the Dalek Empire and Cyberman audio plays for Big Finish. In 2006, Briggs took over from Gary Russell as executive producer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio range.

Briggs co-wrote a Doctor Who book called The Dalek Survival Guide.

Since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, Briggs has provided the voices for several monsters, most notably the Daleks and the Cybermen. Briggs also voiced the Nestene Consciousness in the 2005 episode "Rose", and recorded a voice for the Jagrafess in the 2005 episode "The Long Game"; however, this was not used in the final episode because it was too similar to the voice of the Nestene Consciousness. He also provided the voices for the Judoon in both the 2007 and 2008 series. On 9 July 2009, Briggs made his first appearance in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood in the serial Children of Earth, playing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Rick Yates.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a real mixed bag - some aspects of it I really enjoyed, some aspects considerably less so. I really struggled with the first episode - the non-linear format didn't help in understanding what was going on and still wasn't sure at the end of the episode, and the storyline and character motivations seemed a bit forced. I almost abandoned the story at that point. Out of the four episodes, the second and third were the best, with great pacing, good performances by the cast and a real sense of menace and anticipation, so felt it was worth persevering with despite my misgivings about the first episode. The final episode dropped off in comparison, not really delivering on the buildup of those two and concluding the box set on a rather unresolved note.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be an original story, created exclusively for Big Finish, but there’s a lot of visual imagery that in the audio that would have made for spectacular cinematography had it been filmed.

1) Possibility of Life - An interesting blend of sci-fi and horror, this audio-drama mixes in concepts of planetary colonization, a space ark carrying the hopes of humanity, suspended animation, artificial intelligence, xeno-biology and the beginnings of a rather unconventional murder mystery and political intrigue. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work as well as I’d hoped, I would have liked a little grounded framework, but I’m sure more the backstory will come in the next few chapters. Although for an initial start, it shows a lot of promise.

2) Nowhere Near Neptune - The mysteries deepen and we get little in the way of more explanations. Interesting concepts, certainly, and I’m enjoying how it’s unfolding.

3) Machine Minds - And the mysteries get even more clouded as the horror gets even weirder. There are so many sci-fi themes being touched upon, that it’s almost straining coherency. I’m beginning to fear that not only are these clearly not individual stories that build to a larger narrative, but in fact merely chapters of a tapestry that won’t even be a complete image when this volume is over.

4) Control - Lots of stuff gets answered, but some things are still left more hinted at than completed. It’s certainly a lot more complicated and mature than the usual Doctor Who fluff from Big Finish. This is really a much deeper examination of what it means to be human, what it means to use technology or to be used by it. Honestly, I’m going to need to listen to this again because there are so many elements that aren’t what you might expect.

All-in-all I was a bit disappointed, but I think that had more to do with misguided expectations than the material itself. I thought it was going to be more like the other things from Big Finish that I’ve listened to, but it’s a much more involved and sophisticated narrative. It’s complicated with characters that have conflicting agendas and tangled emotional ties that offer some rich and textured presentations. Clearly, it driving me to listen to it again to dig further into the nuance and subtlety of what’s going on from the various different perspectives.

The digital version that I have includes a rather lengthy and revealing behind-the-scenes set of interviews, which are always interesting and rather illuminating. Also there’s a wonder set of music tracks which a really nice bonus as well.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a surprise.
Very well written and definitely one of Nick‘s better stories.
Acting and sound design were great and the story is immersive.
I also love non-linear storytelling, and here it helps to preserve the mystery till the end.
It is also clear that Nick intends this as a pilot for a longer series.
In that regard it works very well, setting up the different factions. And it is great that none of the factions is completely black and white, there is enough backstory and flashbacks making you at least understand where they are all coming from.
At the end of this, I have no idea anymore who the villains are actually, and who to support... and I think that was entirely on purpose. Was this the right way to set up a series pilot? Not sure.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this story on Serial Box. What stands out the most to me is not the story but the frequent panting breath, and moans of pain and confusion. It has an interesting story concept, but it is poorly executed. I felt no connection to any of the characters and little connection to the story. I read a part of the story text but it was not any better.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, though the beginning was a little bit confusing without any visual clues. I know some of it was intentional, and I'm not sure exactly what would have made it more clear or if it was just on me, but I was glad when things clicked into place starting in the second part. I hope there will be further installments.

[Idamus]

I got part one for free, interesting if a bit confusing, might get the whole story sometime, if they offer it on sale.
No rating as I haven’t finished the story.

[Joseph S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was sorta confused with the first episode.

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait to hear more!