Pre-emptive thoughts on Chris and Roz gaining voice

Last night I downloaded (all nice and legally and paid for, thank you) Big Finish's second box set of Virgin novel adaptations. I've already listened to The Well-Mannered War, which was delightful fun and seemed to adapt to audio better than the previous two Tom Baker/Gareth Roberts efforts. Next up, of course, is Damaged Goods, which has a lot going for it (or against it) in the expectations stakes.

Now, Damaged Goods is one of those New Adventures I've never read. I drifted out of the books towards the end and regret it immeasurably today since they were very good books and are now the devil to get ahold of now. Anyway, I never read it so I'm coming to this fresh. What I do know, however, is its the first published Doctor Who story by Russell T. Davies, future showrunner and series' resurrection mastermind; its one of the late-era New Adventures, from the time when the license had already been cancelled and the series put out some of its most challenging material; most of all, though, this marks the first time Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej (its pronounced “Kwedge”, apparently) have been portrayed by actors.

It'll be funny to hear actors playing these characters after nearly twenty years of defining them by voices dredged up from my imagination. I wonder if I'll like them enough to “recast” the characters as these actors when I read the books. To be honest, I can't remember how I imagined Bernice Summerfield's voice before I heard Lisa Bowerman play her. Bowerman's performance was just too pitch perfect that its her voice I hear when I re-read those books.

It'll also be interesting to see Chris and Roz as the Seventh Doctor's sole companions, the book being set after Bernice left the TARDIS. Again, because of how I drifted out of reading the books the Seventh Doctor, Chris and Roz crew isn't one I'm very familiar with. In fact, I think the only books I've read from that era are Return Of The Living Dad (which features Bernice anyway) and The Death Of Art (which shuffled Chris off on his own story) so I have practically zero experience of this crew.

Just a thought, or five.