Big Finish Productions
Encyclopedia
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio play
s (released straight to compact disc
and for download in mp3
format) based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties. They are best known for their Doctor Who
line; other properties include 2000 AD
characters Judge Dredd
and Strontium Dog
; Dark Shadows; The Tomorrow People
; Sapphire & Steel
; The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
; Stargate
; Robin Hood, Highlander
, Blake's 7
and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
character.
The Managing Director of the company is Jason Haigh-Ellery. The company name, "Big Finish", comes from the title of an episode of Press Gang
.
fan
series of unlicensed Doctor Who audio plays.
Big Finish began with a series of audio plays adapted from New Adventures
. These were a series of novels from Virgin Books
which had originally been licensed Doctor Who stories, but by then had become officially independent from the show and were based around the character of Bernice "Benny" Summerfield
. Big Finish then obtained a (non-exclusive) license to produce official Doctor Who plays, beginning with the multi-Doctor story The Sirens of Time
. Doctor Who and spin-offs have remained the main part of the company's output ever since, although they have since diversified.
The company's first foray into books also came through Benny and a series of paperbacks. This range was later abandoned, but the company then obtained a (non-exclusive) license to do hardback Doctor Who short story collections. They subsequently returned to Benny books and other Doctor Who spin-offs, but have kept with the hardback format.
Until July 2006, Gary Russell
served as producer of the Doctor Who audios. When Russell left the company, Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
took joint responsibility as Executive Producers. Briggs now bears creative responsibility for Big Finish's Doctor Who range, along with script editor Alan Barnes
. In late 2007 David Richardson took over from Sharon Gosling and now holds the title of Producer, organising the schedules across the company's output, as well as having creative responsibility for The Companion Chronicles, Doctor Who - The Lost Stories and Jago and Litefoot (2010).
format, free of any DRM
. They are working to provide their whole catalogue through this service, but are starting with their Doctor Who range.
In June 2008, Big Finish announced a download subscription service that mirrors its physical CD service.
In September 2008, they released their first free downloadable play. UNIT: The Coup
had previously been given away with an issue of Doctor Who Magazine. Since then, it has also made a couple of single-episode plays from its Companion Chronicles line available for exclusive download through Doctor Who Magazine.
in the classic series (Tom Baker
, Peter Davison
, Colin Baker
, Sylvester McCoy
, and Paul McGann
), as well as many of the regular supporting actors over the many years of the programme. The late Jon Pertwee
's voice is featured in the 40th Anniversary story Zagreus
. His part in the story was pieced together from snippets of dialogue (from the fan-produced Doctor Who video "Devious") recorded prior to his death.
Of the surviving Doctors, Tom Baker had for years declined invitations to return to the role (though in March 2010 he mentioned on his website that he had a new story in the works, and Big Finish confirmed these plans on their own website), and Big Finish's licence, which has been extended to 31 December 2011, only covers the original Doctor Who series. Big Finish are therefore unable to feature any material from or references to the new series, which prohibits Christopher Eccleston
, David Tennant
, and Matt Smith
from appearing as the Ninth
, Tenth
, and Eleventh
Doctors respectively. The extent of the restriction remains unclear, as the character of the Ninth Doctor makes a silent "off-screen" appearance that affects the plot of 2006's The Kingmaker
. However, for instance, Big Finish are no longer allowed to use the character of Davros following his return to the series in 2008. Prior to the character being featured in the new series he had been used in several plays, portrayed by Terry Molloy. In a 2008 podcast, Nicholas Briggs explained that all scripts are sent through the TV show's offices in Cardiff to prevent any potential conflicts in continuity. Briggs has also said there is a ban on stories concerning the Time War, which he has no issue with as he believes the concept of a "Time War" would be impossible to portray. One reason for the restriction is that BBC Audiobooks has, since 2008, been producing its own exclusive-to-audio stories featuring the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, Sarah Jane Smith, and Torchwood, as well as releasing full-cast audio dramas (similar to Big Finish's format) based upon Torchwood. However, despite BBC Audio also producing an ongoing series of Fourth Doctor adventures, this has not affected Big Finish's ability to reference the character.
The return of Doctor Who to television in 2005 did not have an immediate impact on the audio plays, save that the grouping of Eighth Doctor adventures into "seasons" ceased and subsequent releases starring McGann were folded into the regular releases featuring previous Doctors. McGann, who appeared as the Doctor in a 1996 telemovie
yet never got a television series of his own, concluded his fourth and last continuous audio "season" with the release of The Next Life
in 2004.
Six of the earliest Eighth Doctor dramas were broadcast in BBC 7
's The 7th Dimension
slot between August 2005 and January 2006: these were Storm Warning, Sword of Orion
, The Stones of Venice
, Invaders from Mars
, Shada
and The Chimes of Midnight
. (Minuet in Hell
, originally released on CD between The Stones of Venice and Invaders from Mars, was judged unsuitable for the timeslot.) All six of these stories were rebroadcast on BBC7 beginning in July 2006 and again in September 2007.
In September 2006, Doctor Who Magazine
announced that Big Finish would be producing a new eight-part audio miniseries featuring the Eighth Doctor
and new companion Lucie Miller
(played by Sheridan Smith
), set later in the character's chronology (i.e. after he has parted ways with then-'current' companions Charley Pollard
and C'rizz
). The miniseries was broadcast on BBC 7
beginning on New Year's Eve 2006 and subsequently released on CD. Each episode was 50 minutes long; most were one-part stories, with two-parters beginning and ending the miniseries. A second series was released in 2008, with six of the eight titles broadcast on BBC 7. Meanwhile, the Eighth Doctor's 'earlier' stories were concluded and retired from the main range in 2007, with the release of The Girl Who Never Was
. A third series of the Eighth Doctor's adventures was released in 2009. The episodes were initially released for sale as downloadable 30 minute weekly instalments, and released on CD later in the year. There are no plans for these episodes to be broadcast on BBC 7. A 4th, and final, series has been scheduled for release in 2010.
The relationship of Big Finish's productions in to the ongoing story of the television series is unclear, despite some of them now being broadcast by the BBC. Unlike, for example, Paramount Pictures
which has a rule that only live-action televised or filmed Star Trek
productions are canonical
, the BBC have always resisted making such an announcement regarding Doctor Who – importantly, the BBC's charter prohibits situations where television viewers must be required to purchase merchandise in order to follow the story. The Big Finish audio productions (and print spin-offs) therefore exist in something of a 'grey area' in terms of canon. The fact that a couple of them have been (partially) adapted into new stories as episodes for the ongoing TV series further muddies the waters.
Big Finish also published a series of short story anthologies taking place in the Doctor Who universe under the overall title of Short Trips
. Three Short Trips
collections were published by BBC Books
in the late 1990s, before a hardback short story anthology license was granted to Big Finish, who took over the name and produced them until their licence to publish such stories was revoked in the spring of 2009 (Big Finish is continuing to produce audio-only Short Trips productions, however, with the first scheduled for release in the fall of 2010).
Big Finish has also produced a number of short, single episode plays which have been released exclusively with issues of Doctor Who Magazine. To date, this has included several Doctor Who stories, as well as stories from the UNIT
and Bernice Summerfield series. Most of these DWM releases have also included behind-the-scenes audio featurettes and previews of regular releases (including on occasion complete sample episodes).
(Janet Fielding
), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton
), Turlough
(Mark Strickson
), Peri
(Nicola Bryant
), Mel
(Bonnie Langford
), and Ace
(Sophie Aldred
). All the surviving actors who have played the companions of the respective Doctors in Big Finish have appeared, with the exception of Matthew Waterhouse
who played the Fourth/Fifth Doctor's companion Adric
, although Daphne Ashbrook
who played the Eighth Doctor's companion Dr Grace Holloway
has appeared in a different role.
The audio plays have also introduced their own companions. These include Doctor Evelyn Smythe
(played by Maggie Stables
), Erimem
(Caroline Morris
), Charley Pollard
(India Fisher
), C'rizz
(Conrad Westmaas
), "Hex"
(Philip Olivier
), Amy (Ciara Janson
), Oliver Harper (Tom Allen) and Flip (Phillipa) Jackson (Lisa Greenwood
). The character of Professor Bernice Summerfield
, from the spin-off novels, has also appeared, and stars in her own line of audio plays, written by a number of authors including her creator Paul Cornell
. Frobisher
, a shape-changing alien in the preferred guise of a penguin
created in the mid 1980s for the Doctor Who Magazine
comic strip, has appeared in two stories, portrayed by Robert Jezek
.
Other spin-offs include the Gallifrey
series (with Lalla Ward
as Romana
, Louise Jameson
as Leela
and John Leeson
as K-9
); the Dalek Empire
series; the UNIT series; the Iris Wildthyme
series starring Katy Manning
; the Sarah Jane Smith
series and the I, Davros
series. Big Finish have also produced a series of Doctor Who plays based on alternative scenarios (for example, what if the Doctor had never left Gallifrey, or had been a woman), collectively titled Doctor Who Unbound. This has allowed them to cast other actors in the role of the Doctor, including Sir Derek Jacobi
, Arabella Weir
and David Warner
.
A number of new villains have also been introduced, which include Nimrod
, the deputy director of a United Kingdom "black ops" military research establishment known as the Forge
. Thus far, Nimrod and the Forge have appeared in three Doctor Who audios, namely Project: Twilight
, Project: Lazarus
, and Project: Destiny, all written by Cavan Scott
and Mark Wright. There were hints of the Forge's influence in the subsequent audios Cryptobiosis
, written by Elliot Thorpe
and The Gathering
by Joseph Lidster
. Project: Destiny concludes the Forge storyline for the time being.
Other writers for Big Finish include Rob Shearman
and The League of Gentlemen
's Mark Gatiss
, who have also written for the 2005 relaunch of the Doctor Who
television series.
Former adversaries of the Doctor who have reappeared in the audio plays include the Master
, the Cybermen
, the Dalek
s and Davros
(both separately and together), Omega
, the Nimon
, the Ice Warrior
s, the Auton
s, the Zarbi and the Silurians
. The Sea Devils made an appearance in the Bernice Summerfield play Bernice Summerfield and the Poison Seas
, and the Draconians
have also appeared. In 2011 the Sontarans
made their first appearance.
. These consisted of sixteen Judge Dredd
stories with two additional plays featuring characters from the Strontium Dog
strip.
When initially announced, the intention was for the series to consist of stories based upon three strips with Rogue Trooper
joining Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog. The first story to feature Rogue Trooper was supposed to be Nordland Calling by Gordon Rennie
, but this was abandoned due to difficulties in creating the character’s unique personalities in the audio medium successfully on Big Finish’s limited budget and cast.
The Judge Dredd series drew heavily upon Big Finish’s repertory company established through their Doctor Who series with many actors crossing over such as Toby Longworth
(who voiced Dredd), Clare Buckfield
, Nicholas Briggs
, Mark Donovan
and Teresa Gallagher
who voiced Chief Judge Hershey
. The series would also feature many special guest stars such as The League of Gentlemen
s Mark Gatiss
playing Judge Death
, Doctor Who companion actress Nicola Bryant
(who would also direct 99 Code Red!) plus Blake's 7
star Stephen Greif
as Efil Drago San. Writers for the series included David Bishop
, Dave Stone
and James Swallow
.
For the Strontium Dog audio plays, Shaun of the Dead
star Simon Pegg
was cast in the leading role of Johnny Alpha with Longworth voicing his partner Wulf Sternhammer and Mark McDonnell taking on the role of Middenface McNulty
. Despite critical acclaim, the sales of the first Strontium Dog release, Down to Earth, were disappointing and Big Finish focused almost exclusively on the better-selling Judge Dredd series. Writer Jonathan Clements
would pen another Strontium Dog story for the series though with Fire from Heaven before the sixteenth play in the 2000 AD range, Pre-Emptive Revenge. This featured a crossover, with Johnny Alpha teaming up alongside Dredd in the aftermath of the Judgement Day
storyline.
The final release in the 2000 AD series was a Judge Dredd play entitled Solo by Jonathan Clements, notable for star Toby Longworth voicing every single part through a combination of his own vocal dexterity and special effects.
A series of talking books, entitled Judge Dredd: The Crime Chronicles, are planned for release later this year, with Toby Longworth again playing Dredd.
was a BBC Radio 4
radio series written by James Follett
which was later adapted as a science fiction novel. However, his prequel novel Earthsearch Mindwarp
was adapted by Big Finish and is being broadcast by the Digital radio
station BBC 7
. Earthsearch Mindwarp
stars a number of actors from the Doctor Who range — India Fisher
, Nicholas Courtney
and Colin Baker
.
audios. These are often voiced by Toby Longworth
and contain music and SFX by Jamie Robertson
, Howard Carter, Toby Hrycek-Robinson and Steve Foxon with Regular directing by Lisa Bowerman
.
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
s (released straight to compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and for download in mp3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format) based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties. They are best known for their Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
line; other properties include 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
characters Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
and Strontium Dog
Strontium Dog
Strontium Dog is a long-running comics series featuring in the British science fiction weekly 2000 AD, starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter with an array of imaginative gadgets and weapons....
; Dark Shadows; The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
; Sapphire & Steel
Sapphire & Steel
Sapphire & Steel is a British television science-fiction fantasy series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. Produced by ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV network. The series was created by Peter J. Hammond who conceived the programme under the working title The...
; The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was a limited series comic book written and drawn by Bryan Talbot.-Publishing history:Luther Arkwright made his first appearance in the mid 1970s in "The Papist Affair", a short strip for Brainstorm Comix where Arkwright teamed up with a group of cigar-chewing...
; Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
; Robin Hood, Highlander
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
, Blake's 7
Blake's 7
Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
character.
The Managing Director of the company is Jason Haigh-Ellery. The company name, "Big Finish", comes from the title of an episode of Press Gang
Press Gang
Press Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...
.
History and organisation
Many of those initially involved in Big Finish had worked on the Audio VisualsAudio Visuals
The Audio Visuals were an unlicensed series of Doctor Who audio dramas made by British fans in the 1980s.Featuring Nicholas Briggs as the Doctor, twenty-six audio plays were recorded and distributed on audio cassette between 1985 and 1991 .The first three seasons were produced by...
fan
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
series of unlicensed Doctor Who audio plays.
Big Finish began with a series of audio plays adapted from New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
. These were a series of novels from Virgin Books
Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a United Kingdom book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.-History:...
which had originally been licensed Doctor Who stories, but by then had become officially independent from the show and were based around the character of Bernice "Benny" Summerfield
Bernice Summerfield
Bernice Surprise Summerfield is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures...
. Big Finish then obtained a (non-exclusive) license to produce official Doctor Who plays, beginning with the multi-Doctor story The Sirens of Time
The Sirens of Time
The Sirens of Time is the first Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The story was written by Nicholas Briggs and stars Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy...
. Doctor Who and spin-offs have remained the main part of the company's output ever since, although they have since diversified.
The company's first foray into books also came through Benny and a series of paperbacks. This range was later abandoned, but the company then obtained a (non-exclusive) license to do hardback Doctor Who short story collections. They subsequently returned to Benny books and other Doctor Who spin-offs, but have kept with the hardback format.
Until July 2006, Gary Russell
Gary Russell
Gary James Russell is a freelance writer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media...
served as producer of the Doctor Who audios. When Russell left the company, Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
Nicholas Briggs
Nicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks. Briggs sometimes uses the pseudonym Arthur Wallis...
took joint responsibility as Executive Producers. Briggs now bears creative responsibility for Big Finish's Doctor Who range, along with script editor Alan Barnes
Alan Barnes (writer)
Alan Barnes is a British writer and editor, particularly noted for work in the field of cult film and television.-Biography:Barnes served as the editor of Judge Dredd Megazine from 2001 until December 2005, during which time the title saw a considerable increase in the number of new strip pages. ...
. In late 2007 David Richardson took over from Sharon Gosling and now holds the title of Producer, organising the schedules across the company's output, as well as having creative responsibility for The Companion Chronicles, Doctor Who - The Lost Stories and Jago and Litefoot (2010).
Downloads
In February 2008, Big Finish launched a new download service through their website. They are providing their audio plays in mp3MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format, free of any DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
. They are working to provide their whole catalogue through this service, but are starting with their Doctor Who range.
In June 2008, Big Finish announced a download subscription service that mirrors its physical CD service.
In September 2008, they released their first free downloadable play. UNIT: The Coup
UNIT: The Coup
UNIT: The Coup is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Nicholas Courtney reprising his role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the former commander of UNIT...
had previously been given away with an issue of Doctor Who Magazine. Since then, it has also made a couple of single-episode plays from its Companion Chronicles line available for exclusive download through Doctor Who Magazine.
Doctor Who
The Doctor Who audio plays feature the five surviving lead actors to play the character of the DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
in the classic series (Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
, Peter Davison
Peter Davison
Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...
, Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
, Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
, and Paul McGann
Paul McGann
Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
), as well as many of the regular supporting actors over the many years of the programme. The late Jon Pertwee
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
's voice is featured in the 40th Anniversary story Zagreus
Zagreus (Doctor Who audio)
Zagreus is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was presented on three compact discs, and was made by Big Finish as their primary release to celebrate forty years of Doctor Who.-Plot:Following directly...
. His part in the story was pieced together from snippets of dialogue (from the fan-produced Doctor Who video "Devious") recorded prior to his death.
Of the surviving Doctors, Tom Baker had for years declined invitations to return to the role (though in March 2010 he mentioned on his website that he had a new story in the works, and Big Finish confirmed these plans on their own website), and Big Finish's licence, which has been extended to 31 December 2011, only covers the original Doctor Who series. Big Finish are therefore unable to feature any material from or references to the new series, which prohibits Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
, David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, and Matt Smith
Matt Smith (British actor)
Matthew Robert Smith is an English stage and television actor. He is known for his role as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who, for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination in 2011....
from appearing as the Ninth
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
, Tenth
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
, and Eleventh
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
Doctors respectively. The extent of the restriction remains unclear, as the character of the Ninth Doctor makes a silent "off-screen" appearance that affects the plot of 2006's The Kingmaker
The Kingmaker
The Kingmaker is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The drama was written by Nev Fountain who is better known for his work on the radio and television series Dead Ringers, and also stars Jon Culshaw who in the same...
. However, for instance, Big Finish are no longer allowed to use the character of Davros following his return to the series in 2008. Prior to the character being featured in the new series he had been used in several plays, portrayed by Terry Molloy. In a 2008 podcast, Nicholas Briggs explained that all scripts are sent through the TV show's offices in Cardiff to prevent any potential conflicts in continuity. Briggs has also said there is a ban on stories concerning the Time War, which he has no issue with as he believes the concept of a "Time War" would be impossible to portray. One reason for the restriction is that BBC Audiobooks has, since 2008, been producing its own exclusive-to-audio stories featuring the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, Sarah Jane Smith, and Torchwood, as well as releasing full-cast audio dramas (similar to Big Finish's format) based upon Torchwood. However, despite BBC Audio also producing an ongoing series of Fourth Doctor adventures, this has not affected Big Finish's ability to reference the character.
The return of Doctor Who to television in 2005 did not have an immediate impact on the audio plays, save that the grouping of Eighth Doctor adventures into "seasons" ceased and subsequent releases starring McGann were folded into the regular releases featuring previous Doctors. McGann, who appeared as the Doctor in a 1996 telemovie
Doctor Who (1996)
Doctor Who is a television movie based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Developed as a co-production amongst Universal Television, BBC Television, BBC Worldwide, and the American network FOX, the 1996 television film premiered on 12 May 1996 on CITV in Edmonton,...
yet never got a television series of his own, concluded his fourth and last continuous audio "season" with the release of The Next Life
The Next Life
The Next Life is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the culmination of the "Divergent Universe" saga.-Plot:...
in 2004.
Six of the earliest Eighth Doctor dramas were broadcast in BBC 7
BBC 7
BBC Radio 4 Extra, formerly known as BBC 7 and BBC Radio 7, is a British digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and children's programming nationally 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcasting outlet for the BBC's archive of spoken-word entertainment...
's The 7th Dimension
The 7th Dimension
Seventh Dimension is the BBC's regular radio slot for science fiction, fantasy and horror. It is broadcast on the digital radio station BBC Radio 4 Extra at 6 p.m. , seven days a week and then repeated each day at midnight with host Nick Briggs. Most of the programs are full cast dramatizations and...
slot between August 2005 and January 2006: these were Storm Warning, Sword of Orion
Sword of Orion
Sword of Orion is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was broadcast on BBC 7 in four weekly parts starting from 3 September 2005, and was repeated in 2006...
, The Stones of Venice
The Stones of Venice
The Stones of Venice can refer to:*The Stones of Venice , a three-volume collection of essays on Venetian art and architecture by John Ruskin...
, Invaders from Mars
Invaders from Mars (Doctor Who audio)
Invaders from Mars is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, Shada
Shada
Shada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
and The Chimes of Midnight
The Chimes of Midnight
The Chimes of Midnight is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. (Minuet in Hell
Minuet in Hell
Minuet in Hell is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Unlike the other Eighth Doctor audio plays from this "season", Minuet in Hell was not broadcast on BBC 7 in 2005, primarily due to story references that were...
, originally released on CD between The Stones of Venice and Invaders from Mars, was judged unsuitable for the timeslot.) All six of these stories were rebroadcast on BBC7 beginning in July 2006 and again in September 2007.
In September 2006, Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
announced that Big Finish would be producing a new eight-part audio miniseries featuring the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
and new companion Lucie Miller
Lucie Miller
Lucie Miller is a character in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions for BBC7 based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(played by Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Smith is an English actress and singer who is best known for her contributions to the British sitcoms Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Gavin & Stacey and Benidorm. She has also become a recognised face in West End theatre, where she has appeared in Little Shop of Horrors,...
), set later in the character's chronology (i.e. after he has parted ways with then-'current' companions Charley Pollard
Charley Pollard
Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by India Fisher in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, many of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 7, based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman...
and C'rizz
C'rizz
C'rizz is a fictional character played by Conrad Westmaas in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A Eutermesan from the planet Bortresoye, which exists in a parallel universe, he is a companion of...
). The miniseries was broadcast on BBC 7
BBC 7
BBC Radio 4 Extra, formerly known as BBC 7 and BBC Radio 7, is a British digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and children's programming nationally 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcasting outlet for the BBC's archive of spoken-word entertainment...
beginning on New Year's Eve 2006 and subsequently released on CD. Each episode was 50 minutes long; most were one-part stories, with two-parters beginning and ending the miniseries. A second series was released in 2008, with six of the eight titles broadcast on BBC 7. Meanwhile, the Eighth Doctor's 'earlier' stories were concluded and retired from the main range in 2007, with the release of The Girl Who Never Was
The Girl Who Never Was
The Girl Who Never Was is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It takes place in Singapore in 1942 & 2008.-Plot:After the loss of C'rizz, Charley demands to be taken home...
. A third series of the Eighth Doctor's adventures was released in 2009. The episodes were initially released for sale as downloadable 30 minute weekly instalments, and released on CD later in the year. There are no plans for these episodes to be broadcast on BBC 7. A 4th, and final, series has been scheduled for release in 2010.
The relationship of Big Finish's productions in to the ongoing story of the television series is unclear, despite some of them now being broadcast by the BBC. Unlike, for example, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
which has a rule that only live-action televised or filmed Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
productions are canonical
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
, the BBC have always resisted making such an announcement regarding Doctor Who – importantly, the BBC's charter prohibits situations where television viewers must be required to purchase merchandise in order to follow the story. The Big Finish audio productions (and print spin-offs) therefore exist in something of a 'grey area' in terms of canon. The fact that a couple of them have been (partially) adapted into new stories as episodes for the ongoing TV series further muddies the waters.
Big Finish also published a series of short story anthologies taking place in the Doctor Who universe under the overall title of Short Trips
Big Finish Short Trips
The Big Finish Short Trips are a collection of short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who, beginning with the collection Short Trips: Zodiac in December 2002 and ending with the loss of their license in 2009...
. Three Short Trips
BBC Short Trips
The BBC Short Trips books were a series of short story anthologies published by BBC Books based on the television series Doctor Who, following a pattern established by Virgin Publishing's Decalog collections. Three volumes were published between March 1998 and March 2000, before the BBC decided to...
collections were published by BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
in the late 1990s, before a hardback short story anthology license was granted to Big Finish, who took over the name and produced them until their licence to publish such stories was revoked in the spring of 2009 (Big Finish is continuing to produce audio-only Short Trips productions, however, with the first scheduled for release in the fall of 2010).
Big Finish has also produced a number of short, single episode plays which have been released exclusively with issues of Doctor Who Magazine. To date, this has included several Doctor Who stories, as well as stories from the UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
and Bernice Summerfield series. Most of these DWM releases have also included behind-the-scenes audio featurettes and previews of regular releases (including on occasion complete sample episodes).
Characters, actors, and villains
Along with the Doctors from the original series, most of their companions have returned. These include Tegan JovankaTegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1981 to...
(Janet Fielding
Janet Fielding
Janet Fielding is an Australian actress, known for her role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, and the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison. She was born in Brisbane...
), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton
Sarah Sutton
Sarah Sutton is a British actress best known for her role as Nyssa in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Nyssa was a companion of Tom Baker and Peter Davison's Doctors from 1981 to 1983...
), Turlough
Vislor Turlough
Vislor Turlough is a fictional character played by Mark Strickson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was a companion of the Fifth Doctor, being a regular in the programme from 1983 to 1984.-Character history:...
(Mark Strickson
Mark Strickson
Mark Strickson is a British TV producer and actor best known for his acting role as the character of Vislor Turlough on the television series Doctor Who.Strickson was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England...
), Peri
Peri Brown
Peri Brown, full name Perpugilliam Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
(Nicola Bryant
Nicola Bryant
-External links:** at shillpages.com/dw *...
), Mel
Melanie Bush
Mel, also sometimes referred to as Melanie, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A computer programmer from the 20th Century who is a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1986 to 1987...
(Bonnie Langford
Bonnie Langford
Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970s then she subsequently became a companion of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who and has appeared on stage in various musicals such as Peter Pan:...
), and Ace
Ace (Doctor Who)
Dorothy Gale McShane, better known by her nickname Ace, is a fictional character played by Sophie Aldred in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Sophie Aldred
Sophie Aldred
Sophie Aldred is an English actress and television presenter, best known for her portrayal of The Doctor's companion Ace in the television series Doctor Who during the late 1980s.-Early life:...
). All the surviving actors who have played the companions of the respective Doctors in Big Finish have appeared, with the exception of Matthew Waterhouse
Matthew Waterhouse
Matthew Waterhouse is an English actor and writer best known for his role as Adric in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
who played the Fourth/Fifth Doctor's companion Adric
Adric
Adric is a fictional character played by Matthew Waterhouse in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was a young native of the planet Alzarius, which exists in the parallel universe of E-Space. A companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, he was a regular in the...
, although Daphne Ashbrook
Daphne Ashbrook
Daphne Lee Ashbrook is an American actress.-Personal life:Daphne Ashbrook was raised in the San Diego, CA area. Her parents are San Diego theatre actress D'Ann Paton and late actor/Director Buddy Ashbrook...
who played the Eighth Doctor's companion Dr Grace Holloway
Grace Holloway
Dr. Grace Holloway is a fictional character played by Daphne Ashbrook in the 1996 television movie Doctor Who, a continuation of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
has appeared in a different role.
The audio plays have also introduced their own companions. These include Doctor Evelyn Smythe
Evelyn Smythe
Dr. Evelyn Smythe is a fictional character played by Maggie Stables in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A professor of history from the 20th century with a fondness for chocolate, she is a...
(played by Maggie Stables
Maggie Stables
Maggie Stables is a British actress who plays the part of the companion Evelyn Smythe in a range of audio dramas by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC television series Doctor Who.-Career:...
), Erimem
Erimem
Erimemushinteperem, or simply Erimem, is a fictional character played by Caroline Morris in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A princess of Ancient Egypt born in 1419 BC, she is the daughter of...
(Caroline Morris
Caroline Morris
Caroline Morris is a British actress who played the part of the companion Erimem in a range of audio dramas by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC television series Doctor Who....
), Charley Pollard
Charley Pollard
Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by India Fisher in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, many of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 7, based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman...
(India Fisher
India Fisher
India Fisher is a British actress born in 1974. Her father is the ex-MP Mark Fisher. She is also the stepsister of musician Crispin Hunt and of actress Francesca Hunt, who appears with her in the play Other Lives....
), C'rizz
C'rizz
C'rizz is a fictional character played by Conrad Westmaas in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A Eutermesan from the planet Bortresoye, which exists in a parallel universe, he is a companion of...
(Conrad Westmaas
Conrad Westmaas
Conrad Westmaas is a British actor who trained at The Poor School, London from 1998-2000.Westmaas has appeared mainly in theatre, including Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare's Globe in 2008 and also played Paul McGann's companion C'rizz in a range of audio dramas by Big Finish Productions based on...
), "Hex"
Hex (Doctor Who)
Thomas Hector Schofield, nicknamed Hex, is a fictional character played by Philip Olivier in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A staff nurse working for St. Gart's Hospital in London in the year...
(Philip Olivier
Philip Olivier
Philip Olivier is an English actor, model and stage performer best known for playing the role of Tim O'Leary in the soap opera Brookside.-Early life:...
), Amy (Ciara Janson
Ciara Janson
Ciara Janson is an English actress best known for her role in Hollyoaks as Nicole Owen.The character of Nicole Owen was Ciara Janson's first major television work. Previous parts include the role of Heidi for a BBC radio drama...
), Oliver Harper (Tom Allen) and Flip (Phillipa) Jackson (Lisa Greenwood
Lisa Greenwood
Lisa Greenwood is a British actor, notable for her appearances as 'Sissy Cooper' in The Hour, along with four Doctor Who audio plays alongside Colin Baker, including The Crimes of Thomas Brewster.-External links:...
). The character of Professor Bernice Summerfield
Bernice Summerfield
Bernice Surprise Summerfield is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures...
, from the spin-off novels, has also appeared, and stars in her own line of audio plays, written by a number of authors including her creator Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....
. Frobisher
Frobisher (Doctor Who)
Frobisher is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who in the 1980s. He was a companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors...
, a shape-changing alien in the preferred guise of a penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
created in the mid 1980s for the Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
comic strip, has appeared in two stories, portrayed by Robert Jezek
Robert Jezek
Robert Jezek is a Canadian film and television actor based in the United Kingdom.-Career:He is known for playing companion Frobisher in a range of Doctor Who audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions and based on the BBC television series Doctor Who...
.
Other spin-offs include the Gallifrey
Gallifrey (audio series)
Gallifrey is the umbrella title of a line of audio plays set in the Doctor Who universe, produced by Big Finish Productions, featuring Louise Jameson as Leela, Lalla Ward as President Romana, and John Leeson as two K-9 units, Mark I and Mark II...
series (with Lalla Ward
Lalla Ward
Sarah Ward known as Lalla Ward, is an English actor, author and illustrator. As an actor, she is known for playing the part of Romana in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is married to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.-Early career:Ward's stage name, "Lalla", comes...
as Romana
Romana
Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson is an English actress, best known for playing Leela, the leather-clad barbarian warrior companion of the fourth Doctor in Doctor Who. Jameson has also appeared on Emmerdale , The Omega Factor Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is an English actress, best known...
as Leela
Leela (Doctor Who)
Leela is a fictional character played by Louise Jameson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Leela was a companion of the Fourth Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1977 to 1978...
and John Leeson
John Leeson
John Leeson is a British actor who is best known for voicing K-9 on the television series Doctor Who from 1977 to 1979, and again in the 1980–1981 season. He was called back to do the voice of K-9 again for the 2006 episode "School Reunion" and again for the 2008 Doctor Who episode "Journey's End"...
as K-9
K-9 (Doctor Who)
K-9, or K9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977...
); the Dalek Empire
Invasion of the Daleks
Invasion of the Daleks is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.- Plot :...
series; the UNIT series; the Iris Wildthyme
Wildthyme at Large
Wildthyme at Large is a Big Finish Productions audio drama featuring Katy Manning as Iris Wildthyme, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.- Plot :...
series starring Katy Manning
Katy Manning
Katy Manning is an English actress best known for her part as the companion Jo Grant in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She has also made many theatre appearances, and is now a citizen of Australia. She is myopic...
; the Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith: Comeback
Sarah Jane Smith: Comeback is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Elisabeth Sladen reprising her role as Sarah Jane Smith.- Plot :...
series and the I, Davros
I, Davros: Innocence
I, Davros: Innocence is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Terry Molloy reprising his role as Davros, the twisted creator of the Dalek race. "Innocence" is the first in a four-part mini-series exploring...
series. Big Finish have also produced a series of Doctor Who plays based on alternative scenarios (for example, what if the Doctor had never left Gallifrey, or had been a woman), collectively titled Doctor Who Unbound. This has allowed them to cast other actors in the role of the Doctor, including Sir Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
, Arabella Weir
Arabella Weir
Arabella Weir is a British comedian, actress and writer.The daughter of former British ambassador Sir Michael Weir, she is best known for her roles in The Fast Show and for writing several books including the international best seller Does My Bum Look Big In This? Arabella Weir (born 6 December...
and David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
.
A number of new villains have also been introduced, which include Nimrod
Nimrod (Doctor Who)
Nimrod is a character in the Big Finish Productions audio plays Project: Twilight, Project: Lazarus and Project: Destiny written by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, which are based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, the deputy director of a United Kingdom "black ops" military research establishment known as the Forge
Forge (Doctor Who)
The Forge is a fictional black operations organisation from the Big Finish Productions audio plays based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. Thus far, Nimrod and the Forge have appeared in three Doctor Who audios, namely Project: Twilight
Project Twilight
Project: Twilight is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, Project: Lazarus
Project Lazarus
Project: Lazarus is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is a sequel to Project: Twilight and a predecessor to Project: Destiny.-Plot:...
, and Project: Destiny, all written by Cavan Scott
Cavan Scott
Cavan Scott is a freelance author, journalist and editor best known for his work on a variety of spin-offs from the BBC Television series Doctor Who...
and Mark Wright. There were hints of the Forge's influence in the subsequent audios Cryptobiosis
Cryptobiosis
Cryptobiosis is an ametabolic state of life entered by an organism in response to adverse environmental conditions such as desiccation, freezing, and oxygen deficiency. In the cryptobiotic state, all metabolic procedures stop, preventing reproduction, development, and repair...
, written by Elliot Thorpe
Elliot Thorpe
Born in 1971, Elliot Thorpe is a freelance writer.In 2005, he was commissioned by Big Finish Productions to write Doctor Who — Cryptobiosis, a fully dramatised audio play starring Colin Baker...
and The Gathering
The Gathering (Doctor Who audio)
The Gathering is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
by Joseph Lidster
Joseph Lidster
Joseph Lidster is an English television writer best known for his work on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.-Biography:His debut work was the audio play The Rapture for Big Finish Productions in 2002...
. Project: Destiny concludes the Forge storyline for the time being.
Other writers for Big Finish include Rob Shearman
Rob Shearman
Robert Shearman is currently best known as a writer for Doctor Who and for his ongoing association with Jarvis & Ayres Productions which has resulted in six plays for BBC Radio 4 broadcast in the station's regular weekday Afternoon Play slot, and one classic...
and The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen are a group of British comedians formed in 1995, best known for their radio and television series.The League of Gentlemen may also refer to:* The League of Gentlemen ,...
's Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
, who have also written for the 2005 relaunch of the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
television series.
Former adversaries of the Doctor who have reappeared in the audio plays include the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
, the Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
, the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s and Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
(both separately and together), Omega
Omega (Doctor Who)
Omega is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. In the context of the series, Omega is known as one of the founding fathers of the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey, and is a revered figure in Time Lord history together with the equally...
, the Nimon
The Horns of Nimon
-Outside references:The plot of this serial incorporates aspects of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur - a fact the Doctor comments on at the end of the last episode...
, the Ice Warrior
Ice Warrior
The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The race originated on Mars, and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his...
s, the Auton
Auton
The Autons are an artificial life form from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and adversaries of the Doctor. First appearing in Jon Pertwee's first serial as the Doctor, Spearhead from Space in 1970, they were the first monsters on the show to be presented in colour.Autons...
s, the Zarbi and the Silurians
Silurian (Doctor Who)
The Silurians are a fictional race of reptile-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The species first appeared in Doctor Who in the 1970 serial Doctor Who and the Silurians...
. The Sea Devils made an appearance in the Bernice Summerfield play Bernice Summerfield and the Poison Seas
The Poison Seas
The Poison Seas is a Big Finish Productions audio drama featuring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.- Plot :...
, and the Draconians
Draconian (Doctor Who)
The Draconians are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Their only television appearance to date was in the 1973 serial Frontier in Space. Unlike many "monster" races in Doctor Who, the Draconians were articulate and portrayed as having a...
have also appeared. In 2011 the Sontarans
Sontaran
The Sontarans are a fictional extraterrestrial race of humanoids from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and also seen in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. They were created by writer Robert Holmes.-Culture:...
made their first appearance.
The Tomorrow People
Big Finish also produced Tomorrow People audios until their licence was not renewed. Big Finish hope to release more Tomorrow People audios in the future.2000 AD
Between 2002 and 2004, Big Finish released eighteen audio plays featuring characters from the British sci-fi comic strip anthology magazine 2000 AD2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
. These consisted of sixteen Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
stories with two additional plays featuring characters from the Strontium Dog
Strontium Dog
Strontium Dog is a long-running comics series featuring in the British science fiction weekly 2000 AD, starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter with an array of imaginative gadgets and weapons....
strip.
When initially announced, the intention was for the series to consist of stories based upon three strips with Rogue Trooper
Rogue Trooper
Rogue Trooper is a science fiction strip in the British comic 2000 AD, created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons. It follows the adventures of Rogue, a G.I. and his three comrades' search for the Traitor General...
joining Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog. The first story to feature Rogue Trooper was supposed to be Nordland Calling by Gordon Rennie
Gordon Rennie
Gordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
, but this was abandoned due to difficulties in creating the character’s unique personalities in the audio medium successfully on Big Finish’s limited budget and cast.
The Judge Dredd series drew heavily upon Big Finish’s repertory company established through their Doctor Who series with many actors crossing over such as Toby Longworth
Toby Longworth
Toby Longworth is a British actor who has appeared on film, radio and television. He is originally from Somerset, where he attended King Edward's School, Bath...
(who voiced Dredd), Clare Buckfield
Clare Buckfield
Clare Buckfield is an English actress, best known for playing the role of Jenny Porter in the BBC sitcom 2point4 children for most of the nineties and Natasha Stevens in the CBBC series Grange Hill.-Biography:...
, Nicholas Briggs
Nicholas Briggs
Nicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks. Briggs sometimes uses the pseudonym Arthur Wallis...
, Mark Donovan
Mark Donovan
Mark Donovan is a Welsh character actor best known for grotesque roles in productions such as Shaun of the Dead, Black Books, In Bruges, and Murder Investigation Team. He also played a brief scene of Hamlet in an episode of the David Renwick comedy-drama, Love Soup...
and Teresa Gallagher
Teresa Gallagher
-Career:Gallagher is known for her role as Ellen Smith in The Bill, for her appearances on radio in No Commitments, Salem's Lot and Memorials to the Missing, and the voices of Emily, Mavis, Rosie, Duchess of Boxford and other female characters from the first CGI Thomas and Friends Special Hero of...
who voiced Chief Judge Hershey
Judge Hershey
Judge Barbara Hershey is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd series that appears in British comic 2000 AD. For nearly two decades she regularly appeared as Dredd's sidekick, before being promoted to become his superior: she was chief judge for nine years...
. The series would also feature many special guest stars such as The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen
The League of Gentlemen are a group of British comedians formed in 1995, best known for their radio and television series.The League of Gentlemen may also refer to:* The League of Gentlemen ,...
s Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
playing Judge Death
Judge Death
Judge Death is a fictional character of the Judge Dredd universe recounted in the UK comic 2000 AD. He is the leader of the Dark Judges, a sinister group of undead law enforcers from the alternate dimension of Deadworld, where all life has been declared a crime since only the living commit crimes...
, Doctor Who companion actress Nicola Bryant
Nicola Bryant
-External links:** at shillpages.com/dw *...
(who would also direct 99 Code Red!) plus Blake's 7
Blake's 7
Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
star Stephen Greif
Stephen Greif
Stephen Greif is an award-winning English actor.His television appearances include Waking the Dead , Spooks , Mistresses 2 , He Kills Coppers , Holby City , The Last Days of Pompeii as Sporus, Judge John Deed , Space Race , EastEnders , The Bill and...
as Efil Drago San. Writers for the series included David Bishop
David Bishop
David Bishop is a screenwriter and author. Born in New Zealand, he was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1996 and the summer of 2000....
, Dave Stone
Dave Stone
-Biography:Stone has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and Judge Dredd.Stone also contributed a number of comic series to 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, focusing on the Dreddverse...
and James Swallow
James Swallow
James Swallow is a British author and scriptwriter. He is the author of several original books and tie-in novels, as well as numerous audio dramas and videogames....
.
For the Strontium Dog audio plays, Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
star Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...
was cast in the leading role of Johnny Alpha with Longworth voicing his partner Wulf Sternhammer and Mark McDonnell taking on the role of Middenface McNulty
Middenface McNulty
Archibald "Middenface" McNulty is a fictional character from the 2000 AD series Strontium Dog, as well as his own spin-off series. He is a frequent companion of the series' star, Johnny Alpha.-Plot:...
. Despite critical acclaim, the sales of the first Strontium Dog release, Down to Earth, were disappointing and Big Finish focused almost exclusively on the better-selling Judge Dredd series. Writer Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shihuangdi , as well as monthly opinion columns for Neo magazine...
would pen another Strontium Dog story for the series though with Fire from Heaven before the sixteenth play in the 2000 AD range, Pre-Emptive Revenge. This featured a crossover, with Johnny Alpha teaming up alongside Dredd in the aftermath of the Judgement Day
Judgement Day (Judge Dredd story)
Judgement Day was a Judge Dredd story published with alternating episodes in both 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine in 1992. It was the first crossover between the two publications; three more have since followed...
storyline.
The final release in the 2000 AD series was a Judge Dredd play entitled Solo by Jonathan Clements, notable for star Toby Longworth voicing every single part through a combination of his own vocal dexterity and special effects.
A series of talking books, entitled Judge Dredd: The Crime Chronicles, are planned for release later this year, with Toby Longworth again playing Dredd.
Earthsearch
EarthsearchEarthsearch
Earthsearch: A Ten-Part Adventure Serial in Time and Space science fiction radio series written by James Follett. It consists of ten half-hour episodes broadcast. It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between January and March 1981. There is also a novelisation by Follett of the same name...
was a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
radio series written by James Follett
James Follett
James Follett is an author and screenwriter, born in 1939 in Tolworth, England.Follett became a full-time fiction writer in 1976, after resigning from contract work as a technical writer for the British Ministry of Defence. He has since written over 20 novels, several television plays, and many...
which was later adapted as a science fiction novel. However, his prequel novel Earthsearch Mindwarp
Earthsearch Mindwarp
Earthsearch: Mindwarp is a 3 part radio series based on the Mindwarp novel by James Follett. This new series was first broadcast on BBC7 in 2006, beginning on April 2, and the episodes were 45 minutes long....
was adapted by Big Finish and is being broadcast by the Digital radio
Digital radio
Digital radio has several meanings:1. Today the most common meaning is digital radio broadcasting technologies, such as the digital audio broadcasting system, also known as Eureka 147. In these systems, the analog audio signal is digitized into zeros and ones, compressed using formats such as...
station BBC 7
BBC 7
BBC Radio 4 Extra, formerly known as BBC 7 and BBC Radio 7, is a British digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and children's programming nationally 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcasting outlet for the BBC's archive of spoken-word entertainment...
. Earthsearch Mindwarp
Earthsearch Mindwarp
Earthsearch: Mindwarp is a 3 part radio series based on the Mindwarp novel by James Follett. This new series was first broadcast on BBC7 in 2006, beginning on April 2, and the episodes were 45 minutes long....
stars a number of actors from the Doctor Who range — India Fisher
India Fisher
India Fisher is a British actress born in 1974. Her father is the ex-MP Mark Fisher. She is also the stepsister of musician Crispin Hunt and of actress Francesca Hunt, who appears with her in the play Other Lives....
, Nicholas Courtney
Nicholas Courtney
William Nicholas Stone Courtney was an English television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
and Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
.
Warhammer
Big Finish is the production company behind the Games Workshop WarhammerWarhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
audios. These are often voiced by Toby Longworth
Toby Longworth
Toby Longworth is a British actor who has appeared on film, radio and television. He is originally from Somerset, where he attended King Edward's School, Bath...
and contain music and SFX by Jamie Robertson
Jamie Robertson
Jamie Robertson is a film score composer from England.Born in Essex Jamie studied music from a very young age. With a theatrical background from just 10 He grew up knowing his love of music was to aim for film, TV and Radio....
, Howard Carter, Toby Hrycek-Robinson and Steve Foxon with Regular directing by Lisa Bowerman
Lisa Bowerman
Lisa Bowerman is a British actress.Bowerman trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and was a regular in the first two series of BBC medical drama Casualty playing Sandra Mute, the show's first female paramedic. Her other television work includes: Dodgem, The Count of Solar, Grange Hill, The...
.
See also
- List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish
- Big Finish Short TripsBig Finish Short TripsThe Big Finish Short Trips are a collection of short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who, beginning with the collection Short Trips: Zodiac in December 2002 and ending with the loss of their license in 2009...
- Stargate audiobooks
- Dark Shadows audio dramasDark ShadowsDark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...