I mention this because if you are a Doctor Who fan who has not discovered the DW Audio dramas produced by British company, Big Finish, you are missing out. These are fully cast and scored stories with all the elements of an episode except the visuals. And like any good audio story, they do a great job of compensating for that.
Now when you visit their website, you might initially be overwhelmed by the selection and have no idea where you want to start. Fear not, I'm here to help. Here's an overview of what I think are the best spots to enter, based on my own experiences. Your choices will of course hinge on which Doctor or characters you are interested in exploring. The stories mostly add extra adventures to what we already know, but in some cases, they fill in gaping holes in the mythology that fans have long been curious about.
UPDATE: I've been updating this post as I listen to more stories. Consequently, it's gotten quite long. So I'm putting a TL;DR of some good titles to start with for those who want a quick answer.
New Who:
- 10th Doctor Adventures
- Paternoster Gang
- Diary of River Song
- UNIT New Adventures
- Eighth of March
- Torchwood: Believe
Classic Who:
- Classic Doctors: New Monsters
- Fifth Doctor: Key 2 Time Trilogy
- Sixth Doctor: The Reaping, The Marian Conspiracy, or the Widow's Assassin
- Seventh Doctor: Love & War, A Thousand Tiny Wings, or Thin Ice
- Eighth Doctor: Blood of the Daleks or The Time War
NEW WHO
If you're like me, you were first introduced to Doctor Who from the 2005 revival. Big Finish was fortunate enough to get a license for that material and they've been producing stories with these familiar characters.
The Tenth Doctor Adventures
If you liked David Tenant, this is the place to go. He's reprised the role for six 1 hour stories with Big Finish so far; 3 with Donna, and 3 with Rose. You can get them individually or as a bundle. I personally like his adventures with Rose a little better, but both groups are good. There's also the Tenth Doctor Chronicles, which while they don't star David Tenant, do have an uncanny voice actor filling in. And just try telling me you don't get chills when you hear his theme music again.
The Diary of River Song
It should really be no surprise that this character made it into the audio books. Alex Kingston loves playing her and we get the feeling there's so many adventures she had that we never saw. Well this fills in some of that gap. They're mostly one-off stories of her saving the universe. She often crosses path with the classic doctors, especially in Volume 2, so if you're not familiar with them, you'll have to play catch up, or just skip that section. As I mentioned in a previous post, she hasn't yet done any stories with the modern Doctors, but hopefully that's just a matter of time. All the Box sets are completely self contained, so you can skip around if you want, but I highly recommend Series 5 where she meets several incarnations of the Master, including the irrepressible Missy.
Torchwood
This line of Big Finish titles suffers the most from actor availability, so consequently, most of the titles feature just one or two characters from the Torchwood team on a solo adventure. From those, I can recommend The Conspiracy, The Victorian Age, Corpse Day, and The Death of Captain Jack. There's also stories that take place at Torchwood One if you're interested in Yvonne Hartman before the events of Doomsday.
Occasionally, BF manages to get the cast together for a full adventure. For those, see Outbreak, and Believe. (Additionally, Audible has some full cast audio stories for Torchwood, including one with Martha Jones).
But the big title in this range is Aliens Among Us and Gods Among Us which are each 12 story sequel seasons to the show. They take place after Miracle Day (though doesn't really acknowledge much of the events from that awful mini-series) and tells of a new threat to the U.K. Just a warning though, John Barrowman is absent for chunks of it, and they are both connected by a cliffhanger, so its kind of a in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound situation. That said, its got some solid stories in there that will take you back to watching the show.
But the big title in this range is Aliens Among Us and Gods Among Us which are each 12 story sequel seasons to the show. They take place after Miracle Day (though doesn't really acknowledge much of the events from that awful mini-series) and tells of a new threat to the U.K. Just a warning though, John Barrowman is absent for chunks of it, and they are both connected by a cliffhanger, so its kind of a in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound situation. That said, its got some solid stories in there that will take you back to watching the show.
If you're up on New Who, you're familiar with Kate Stewart, her assistant Osgood, and the rest of the UNIT gang who have been recurring fixtures on the show since the end of the Matt Smith era. Well if you've ever wondered how these guys save the planet without the Doctor there to hold their hand, BF has you covered. They have a regular line of titles where they face things like the Sontarans, the Silence, and others. I haven't listened to these yet, but I understand they provide much needed depth and competence to these characters who never seem to know what to do when the Doctor or Clara isn't around on screen.
Eighth Doctor Adventures
You might be raising an eyebrow at this one since 8 is generally considered a "Classic Doctor", but bear with me. Paul McGann has only played the role twice on screen, once when he first appeared, and once for his regeneration in the 50 Anniversary web special, The Night of the Doctor. As such, all his other adventures are either novels or Audiodramas. Consequently, he is perhaps the only the Doctor in the audiobooks that you can jump into without knowing anything about him as a Doctor. Starting with Blood of the Daleks all his adventures are modeled after the modern series with 1 hour stories and season long arcs. This run, with companion Lucie Miller, is one of my favorite eras in all of Doctor Who.
Yes, you read that right. I place it in the same company as Tom Baker's and David Tenant's era, so it's worth checking out. There are appearances by classic monsters not yet seen in the modern show, but they give you enough background that you won't feel too lost. Like the 10th Doctor Adventures, these can be purchased individually or in bundles.
Yes, you read that right. I place it in the same company as Tom Baker's and David Tenant's era, so it's worth checking out. There are appearances by classic monsters not yet seen in the modern show, but they give you enough background that you won't feel too lost. Like the 10th Doctor Adventures, these can be purchased individually or in bundles.
Also note, there is a special release called An Earthly Child that you will need to listen to after Death in Blackpool or else things won't make sense later. Here's a rundown of the chronology.
- Blood of the Daleks pt. 1-2
- Horror of Glam Rock
- Immortal Beloved
- Phobos
- No More Lies
- Human Resources pt. 1-2
- Dead London
- Max Warp
- Brave New Town
- Skull of Sobek
- Grand Theft Cosmos
- The Zygon Who Fell to Earth
- Sisters of the Flame
- The Vengeance of Morbius
- Orbis
- Hothouse
- The Beast of Orlok
- Wirrn Dawn
- The Scapegoat
- The Cannibalists
- The Eight Truths
- World Wide Web
- Death in Blackpool
- An Earthly Child (special release)
- Situation Vacant
- Nevermore
- The Book of Kells
- Deimos
- The Resurrection of Mars
- Relative Dimensions
- Prisoner of the Sun
- Lucie Miller
- To the Death
To the Death concludes one section of the 8th Doctor's run. The next section begins a new era with new companions. From here, the release format changes up a bit. Rather than each story being a separate release, they are sold as "Box Sets" in that 4 stories must be purchased at once. There is more of an emphasis of a longer story rather than adventures of the week. The order goes:
- Dark Eyes 1-4
- Doom Coalition 1-4
- Ravenous 1-4 (in the process of being released)
This brings me to...
The Time War
This is perhaps the biggest gap in the Doctor Who mythology and the one of greatest significance especially in regards to New Who. We've only caught little glimpse of it through the The Night of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor 50th anniversary specials. Well it took them a while, but Big Finish is finally tackling this section as a long form story.
They're currently in the middle of releasing four 8th Doctor Time War Box Sets telling what he was doing during that time. Additionally, the Gallifrey and War Master packs provide additional stories on the conflict. But perhaps the most significant is the War Doctor stories that the late John Hurt recorded before he died. Well worth a listen if you're curious about the Doctor that holds the title for least amount of screen time.
Classic Doctors, New Monsters
If you're not really that familiar with the classic Doctors, you might want to try this line. Each Volume is 4 adventures, each with a different Doctor. All the monsters are ones that appeared in New Who, so that gives the listener something familiar to latch onto. None of the regular companions are present, so there's no feeling of being in the middle of a story. Just a good one-off to give a taste of what each Doctor is like.
8th Doctor Main Range
While the 8th Doctor adventures I mentioned above are done in the modern style, Paul McGann also recorded several stories in the Classic style. Chronologically they take place before the others. The first batch of stories, starting with Storm Warning, are a little rough. They kind of have that "awkward first season" vibe to them, but after the 40th Anniversary special Zagreus, the writers find their feet. With the exception of the Mary Shelley Trilogy, which is a great listen, all the Main Range have an overarching arc and need to be listened to in order. The Doctor's companion, Charley, would also go on to have adventures with the 6th Doctor.
6th Doctor: Other than 8, this is the Doctor have listened to the most. Despite having such a tumultuous time on television, Colin Baker has a wonderfully bombastic voice that commands attention, and his stories are so much more easier to digest without his distracting wardrobe. Here's some recommended titles. Note, if you're curious about the 6th Doctor's regeneration, that's answered in The Last Adventure set, but that encompasses adventures with Charley, Flip, Constance, and Mel, so you might want to listen to at least a bit of those companions.
7th Doctor: The 7th Doctor is both simultaneously the easiest and the most difficult to get into. If you choose to restrict yourself to just the companions from the show (Mel and Ace) then you can check out titles like Flip-Flop, Bang-Bang-a-Boom, Colditz, The Fear Monger, and The Genocide Machine. Beyond that, there's a few distinct sagas of 7th Doctor that can affect other Big Finish titles, especially the 8th Doctor. For the most part, these sagas are independent of each other so it's a little difficult to establish the chronology, but I think this works.
The Ace and Hex saga introduces a future companion of the 8th Doctor. It also resolves some story threads from the 6th Doctor stories Project: Twilight and Project: Lazarus.
Bernice Summerfield is regarded as the First Lady of Big Finish and has a long running series of her own. Her era here with 7 is where it all began.
The Klein era contains information on how Ace left the Doctor for the final time and introduces a new incarnation of the Master. I highly recommend UNIT: Dominion as it has a big epic crossover vibe like Tennant's The Stolen Earth/ Journey's End two-parter.
They're currently in the middle of releasing four 8th Doctor Time War Box Sets telling what he was doing during that time. Additionally, the Gallifrey and War Master packs provide additional stories on the conflict. But perhaps the most significant is the War Doctor stories that the late John Hurt recorded before he died. Well worth a listen if you're curious about the Doctor that holds the title for least amount of screen time.
CLASSIC WHO
Big Finish really got it start in the Doctor Who world by recording new adventures with characters from Classic Doctor Who. Since then, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvestor McCoy and nearly all of their companions have returned to record additional adventures. Which of these adventures to listen to will depend greatly on which Doctor you favor, but I can recommend some places to start based on my own experience.Classic Doctors, New Monsters
If you're not really that familiar with the classic Doctors, you might want to try this line. Each Volume is 4 adventures, each with a different Doctor. All the monsters are ones that appeared in New Who, so that gives the listener something familiar to latch onto. None of the regular companions are present, so there's no feeling of being in the middle of a story. Just a good one-off to give a taste of what each Doctor is like.
8th Doctor Main Range
While the 8th Doctor adventures I mentioned above are done in the modern style, Paul McGann also recorded several stories in the Classic style. Chronologically they take place before the others. The first batch of stories, starting with Storm Warning, are a little rough. They kind of have that "awkward first season" vibe to them, but after the 40th Anniversary special Zagreus, the writers find their feet. With the exception of the Mary Shelley Trilogy, which is a great listen, all the Main Range have an overarching arc and need to be listened to in order. The Doctor's companion, Charley, would also go on to have adventures with the 6th Doctor.
6th Doctor: Other than 8, this is the Doctor have listened to the most. Despite having such a tumultuous time on television, Colin Baker has a wonderfully bombastic voice that commands attention, and his stories are so much more easier to digest without his distracting wardrobe. Here's some recommended titles. Note, if you're curious about the 6th Doctor's regeneration, that's answered in The Last Adventure set, but that encompasses adventures with Charley, Flip, Constance, and Mel, so you might want to listen to at least a bit of those companions.
- With Peri: The Lost Stories (which were written for the TV show, but never produced), The Reaping which deals with Peri's family.
- With Evelyn: The Marian Conspiracy, Spectre of Lanyon Moor, The Apocalypse Element, Bloodtide, Project: Twilight, The Sandman, Doctor Who and the Pirates, Project: Lazarus, Arrangements for War, The Crimes of Thomas Brewster.
- With Charley: The Condemned, Return of the Krotons, The Raincloud Man, Brotherhood of the Daleks, Patient Zero, Paper Cuts, Blue Forgotten Planet.
- With Flip: The Curse of Davros, Wirrn Isle, Andidote to Oblivion, The Brood of Erys, Scavenger.
- Peri Returns (after the events of Trial of a Time Lord): The Widow's Assassin, Masters of Earth, The Rani Elite
- With Constance (my personal favorite of the 6th Doctor's companions): Criss-Cross, Planet of the Rani, Absolute Power, Quicksilver, The Behemoth, The Middle
- With Mel: Thicker Than Water (only necessary if you listen to Evelyn's adventures)
- Other: Trial of the Valeyard, Davros, and The Last Adventure
7th Doctor: The 7th Doctor is both simultaneously the easiest and the most difficult to get into. If you choose to restrict yourself to just the companions from the show (Mel and Ace) then you can check out titles like Flip-Flop, Bang-Bang-a-Boom, Colditz, The Fear Monger, and The Genocide Machine. Beyond that, there's a few distinct sagas of 7th Doctor that can affect other Big Finish titles, especially the 8th Doctor. For the most part, these sagas are independent of each other so it's a little difficult to establish the chronology, but I think this works.
The Ace and Hex saga introduces a future companion of the 8th Doctor. It also resolves some story threads from the 6th Doctor stories Project: Twilight and Project: Lazarus.
Bernice Summerfield is regarded as the First Lady of Big Finish and has a long running series of her own. Her era here with 7 is where it all began.
The Klein era contains information on how Ace left the Doctor for the final time and introduces a new incarnation of the Master. I highly recommend UNIT: Dominion as it has a big epic crossover vibe like Tennant's The Stolen Earth/ Journey's End two-parter.
5th Doctor: I admit I had the hardest time listening to Peter Davison. Out of all the Doctors, his voice sounds the most gravelly and aged, due to the fact that he first took the role when he was very young. That said, if you listen to a few of his stories in a row, you can get used to it, assuming it bothers you at all. One the most notable titles I listened to is the Key 2 Time trilogy, which is a sequel to the 4th Doctor's 5th season. It's really engaging and completely self-contained. You don't need any other BF title to listen to it.
Some other notable titles are Time in Office which has the Doctor actually acting as President of Gallifrey for once. Kingdom of Lies, Ghost Walk, and Serpent in the Silver Mask which reunites all of his original companions (even Adric). Spare Parts, which features an alt origin story for the Cybermen. Red Dawn, Eye of the Scorpion, The Church and the Crown, No Place Like Home, The Roof of the World, and the Pride of Peladon which are extra stories with Peri and features the one of the most unique companions, Erimem, an ancient Egyptian queen.
Some other notable titles are Time in Office which has the Doctor actually acting as President of Gallifrey for once. Kingdom of Lies, Ghost Walk, and Serpent in the Silver Mask which reunites all of his original companions (even Adric). Spare Parts, which features an alt origin story for the Cybermen. Red Dawn, Eye of the Scorpion, The Church and the Crown, No Place Like Home, The Roof of the World, and the Pride of Peladon which are extra stories with Peri and features the one of the most unique companions, Erimem, an ancient Egyptian queen.
4th Doctor: I haven't listened to much from the 4th Doctor. He had such a long run on TV, I didn't feel like I needed to know more. That said, he has an ample selection. Nearly all of his stories feature Leela or the Romanas, and K-9. Sadly, Elizabeth Sladen was never able to record new adventures with Baker before her death, so no new stories with her (though she has some solo titles if you were a fan of The Sarah Jane Adventures or the K-9 and Company pilot). If you're curious about this Doctor, others can advise you better than I, but I do know that Tom Baker sounds as iconic as ever.
Spin-offs: With the relatively low cost of producing an audio drama, its much easier for Big Finish to launch solo lines of the supporting characters and companions, even if they only appeared once in the TV show.
- Gallifrey: This is a unique line as its one of the few (if only) to deal exclusively with the Timelords. It stars Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson as Romana and Leela respectively and what they were doing after leaving the Doctor. Recent titles in this line have them entering the Time War, so that's an additional reason to check these out if you're a fan of these characters. Just a note, the first season spins off the 8th Doctor special Zagreus, so you might want to give that a listen first.
- Jago & Litefoot: I was most surprised to find these two have a long list of adventures as they only appeared once before the 4th Doctor serial, The Talons of Wang-Chiang. Nonetheless, they're a fun pair that comes off like a buddy comedy of Sherlock Holmes style mysteries with a Sci-fi twist.
- Adventures of Bernice Summerfield: Benny is Classic Who's version of River Song, so its no surprise she gets her own run. If you're familiar with her character, these are worth a listen. If not, check out her adventures with the 7th Doctor first, then see how you feel.
Parting Thoughts
Phew! That was a lot of titles to go over. I hope I've helped some of you find a way into the world of Doctor Who audios, though I may have also made the analysis paralysis even worse for some of you. Regardless of where you jump in, its a worthwhile and easily accessible medium to explore for any eager Whovian. There's plenty of other titles I didn't mention here, but I'll let you discover those on your own.
If you think you might be interested in buying some stories in the future, I encourage you to follow Big Finish on social media and keep an eye out for sales. I've picked up many titles for a steal, as well as felt the anguish of paying full price for some, then seeing them on sale a week later.
Allons-y!
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