STAR TREK Fandom Loses Its Oldest Audio Drama

Eric Busby, Executive Producer of Darker Projects, the fan group that produces “Star Trek: The Section 31 Files”, announced to the group on Friday, Oct 27, that he had finally decided to end the long running Star Trek fan audio drama.

“There is no easy way to say this,” commented Busby. “After a great deal of thought I have chosen to end The Section 31 Files. It’s been a good run and a lot of fun. But as the saying goes the time has come and for a number of reason it is time to stop. I am going to finish Rura Penthe part 3 so you still have that to look forward to…… I want to thank everyone for their time and effort in making The Section 31 Files. It could never have lasted as long as it did with out everyone’s help. It has been an honor to work on this with all of you. ‘

Understandably, this has met with mixed emotions from the shows many contributors and fans. For some it is a natural progression, that all things must come to an end, but for most it has caused shock and regret.

Eric Busby is The Section 31 Files. It was his vision of a darker aspect to the Star Trek universe that, in the second half of 2004, caused him to gather a group of like-minded friends and create something that was fresh and innovative. The birth of this endeavour was not easy and there were creative differences to be ironed out several times along the way but it was Eric who held it all together, wrote most of the early scripts and mixed, directed and produced just about every monthly episode for two full seasons.

The Section 31 Files was the first audio drama to come from Darker Projects, it was in fact the wellspring from which it came into being. Darker Projects is now focussing on more original projects than fan productions and the question is being asked – will, or should, there be any more Star Trek from Darker Projects?

Star Trek belongs to CBS/Paramount (of course) but the original creation, the fan produced storyline of the crew of the Nosferatu, dubbed The Section 31 files is best described as an unauthorised derivative work. Creatively, this series belongs to Eric Busby and if he says it is time to call it a wrap, that’s it. There are those within Darker Projects, especially since Eric and Co. have been actively encouraging their contributors to write, direct and do sound engineering, who have expressed an interest in stepping up to the plate and make a pitch for more Star Trek in Darker Projects. Eric has said that he would welcome that. There has been nothing but praise for the work that Mark Kalita has done on the last story arc, “Escape from Rura Penthe”, which he wrote and directed. Could at least some of the original characters from Section 31 reappear in a future original series on Darker Projects? There is even a project for a webcomic floating around!

It is still [in the] early days. There has been no reaction yet from the Darker Projects fan base, the listeners who have kept the download numbers of The Section 31 Files consistently high.

[Do to overwhelming email support calling for continuation of the series coming in from fans there may be a possible update to this story – STAY TUNED]

Written by: Kirok of L’Stok