Al Ronald

Wicked! An absolute childhood dream come true to write for Sylvester McCoy as the seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace. When you add in Simon Callow and Ekow Quartey as Don Quixote and Sancho, it moves beyond the realms of a dream job! Massive thanks to EVERYONE who worked on this! Cover Art by Rafe Wallbank Director Samuel Clemens Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery Nicholas Briggs Music by Raphael Fimm Producer Emma Haigh Script Editor Matt Fitton Sound Design by Toby Hrycek-Robinson Senior Producer John Ainsworth And an absolute thrill to be featured alongside two other BRILLIANT stories from Alison Winter and Katharine Armitage. "Fiction and reality collide when a mad man with a box and a mad man with a horse encounter an ancient evil in 15th century Spain. But the adventurer-and-companion setup is a little too familiar to Ace, and she begins to question if she is anything more than a Sancho to the Doctor's Quixote." #doctorwho #bigfinish #donquixote #writer #audiodrama

An historical address to the people of Watford courtesy of @obonjo and @thingsalsaw from The Electric Head. BOTH have shows at @watfringe this weekend, and intend to make Watford laugh again! Lunch With The President Saturday 12th July, 8pm & The Electric Head Sunday 13th July, 6pm #watfringe25 #Watford #watfordfringe #comedy

It's usually @ninasamuels123 that blindsides me with the backstage selfie, but today I turned the tables on her, with added Indy God @shotziwwe I do like when wrestling is fun. "Nobody trusts anybody now...and we're all very tired." - MacReady #needsmorenina #wrestling #indygod #indy wrestling #shotziblackheart #ninasamuels #thisisprogress #thething

We can't wait to perform the last of Edinburgh warm-up shows tomorrow night at Johnny's Bar. Join us! And see if we can solve the meaning of life through group subconscious!! #comedy #london #watford #improv #herts #hertfordshire #watford_for_you #surrealism

Had a wonderful day at 💥 BOOM💥 an event celebrating and launching the 'Jacket Book', all about how Ace got her many badges. Remembrance of the Daleks was my earliest memory of Doctor Who being broadcast on telly, so to not only be in the ACTUAL room, in the ACTUAL school where I first saw the inimitable @sophie_ace_aldred clobber a Dalek with a baseball bat, but to have been invited by the woman herself to contribute to the book, attend the event, and to have the privelage to talk on a couple of the panels about said memories was an utter joy I won't soon forget! It was so nice to chat with so many people and amazing fans, and to meet and chat to people whose work I have long admired. I sincerely hope you enjoy 'Free To Fly', my little tale about how Ace received one of her Harley Davidson badges. Thanks to @cygnusalphaevents , the folks at Chinbeard Books, and everyone else for having me, and congrats on such an incredible book. #doctorwho #writer #Ace #macbethcentre #boom #dalek #london #scifi

These guys got pretty excited about todays delivery from @bigfinishprod ! (As did I!) A physical copy of The Paternoster Gang: Last Stand, featuring my episode 'I Married A Zygon'. What fun this was! #writer #doctorwho #audio #cd #unboxing #paternostergang #Paternosterfiguresplease

So proud of @real_valkyria and can't wait to watch her at Wrestlemania! Working with her to produce character vignettes at @wearenxtuk was such an inspiration, at a time I really needed it. Go check them out on youtube! An amazingly creative person and an utter joy of a human. Couldn't be happier for her #wrestlemania #wwe #lyravalkyria #nxtuk #wrestling #Lasvegas #filmcrew

With #doctorwho back on the telly box today, it seemed like a good time to post this cast photograph from 'I Married A Zygon' the story I penned as part of the 'Paternoster Gang: Last Stand' series. An privelage to be in attendance at @soundhouse_ltd for the recording along with such an incredible cast and crew. Every member of the Paternoster Gang are a performing force to be reckoned with, flipping effortlessly from dramatic to hilarious in a heartbeat. Dan Starkey is one of the funniest and most original performers I ever watched. Incredibly inspiring. Catrin Stewart brings much humanity to the gang, both figuratively and literally. Her moments ghost hunting with Harriet were a joyous highlight. Neve McIntosh is so precise and perfect when she plays Vastra, pulling things out of lines I thought were mediocre, making them sing. Shogo Miyakita is an absolute delight as the battle-hardened and misguided butler, Randolph. Beth Chalmers defies reality as Faversham, dragging the character, kicking and screaming, from the depth of her soul - incredible to watch. Nick Briggs is a charming, and perfectly pitched Lord Briar, not to mention as Brottac, the Zygon! Hearing Nick voice Brottac was such a thrill - the kid in me who was frightened watching Terror Of The Zygons jumped out his seat! And Lara Lemon, wonderful as Harriet Cross. A new version of a character we created together that has waited a long time to find place in the world. I could NEVER have predicted that place would be in the world of Doctor Who! Producer, and real gent, David Richardson, makes the magic happen and couldn't have been more welcoming. To have my script directed by the powerhouse that is Ken Bentley was a dream. @la_bonj is a sound genius who created the beautiful soundscape. Huge asks in my script, but he made them sound effortless! And huge thanks the genius that is Matt Fitton, who gave me the opportunity, and then stopped me veering wildly off the track. A really fun day! I've wanted to write for Big Finish for the majority of my life, so this was a massive tick off the bucket list! Hopefully not the last... #doctorwho #paternostergang #bigfinish #drwho #audiodrama #writer

It was a pleasure to help produce this segment at @progresswrestling . @edgamblecomedy And @wangpix were a joy to work with, and threw themselves into it admirably! Check out @clashofthecomics to follow this viscious blood feud! Massive shout out to @charliejamison who orchestrated the whole thing and kept the ship afloat! Thanks to the incredible @theheaddrop for capturing these moments! #wrestling #comedy #violence

A lot of filming at @wearenxtuk involved searching for locations that were within sensible distance of our base near Canary Wharf. Fellow Scot, and occasional insane witch @isla_dawn and myself needed a spooky setting in which to shoot, and ended up finding a ruined Victorian Folly about 20mins from base. We filmed there a few times, scaring dog walkers with creepy boxes, lipstick breakdowns, flower rage, and even singing. (Yes, we somehow managed to get a promo on TV, the dialogue for which was entirely sung by Isla. We found that very funny and couldn't believe we got away with it.) Always a joy working with Isla, writing promos with her, and letting our horror creativity loose! A favourite memory is driving back to base with Isla in the passenger seat, her face covered entirely in red lipstick! We met some great dogs at that folly too. One day I'll release the footage of one taking a piss up the wall during a take... #wwe #nxt #nxtuk #isladawn #wrestling #London #director #filmmaker #crew #horror

One from the archive. Working as a director/videographer at @wwe @wearenxtuk I worked there for three years, across the pandemic. It was a mad period for a multitude of reasons, but one I walked away from with a wealth of experience. I produced countless hours of broadcast television, much of it with very little creative restriction. Meeting some lifelong friends whilst working closely with legends like @shawnmichaels and @thewilliamregal amongst others was wonderful. But being able to collaborate with hugely talented and passionate people, who have since gone on to acheive big things in the wrestling industry, is a great source of ongoing pride for me. A memorable chapter and then some! #wwe #nxt #crew #filming #wrestling

Thrilled to have the episode of The Paternoster Gang I wrote featured on the @bigfinishprod podcast! It is called "I Married A Zygon' and it is released this Thursday. You can hear a 15 minute preview RIGHT NOW on the podcast, as well as some spiffy Behind the Scenes clips with cast members @dan_starkey77 , Catrin Stewart, Neve McIntosh, @beth.chalmers.1 and Nick Briggs. (And me!) However, presenters Nick and @la_bonj have a lot to answer for... Unrelated pic of me practicing science. #bigfinish #doctorwho #audiodrama #zygon