Posted by For many fans, Doctor Who and Big Finish go together like the Doctor and the TARDIS- and that partnership will continue for at least eight more years! In partnership with BBC Studios, it was announced today that Big Finish’s Doctor Who productions will have their license extended until March 31, 2030!
For those possibly not familiar with Big Finish, they’ve been producing audio Doctor Who stories for over twenty years now. From giving the Eighth Doctor a life outside of the Doctor Who movie (and 2013’s “The Night of the Doctor”) to new adventures with Doctors Classic and New to spinoffs galore with the many characters that have appeared in the show over the years, Big Finish has something for every type of Who fan!
Jan Paterson, Director of Books and Audio at BBC Studios had this to say about the BBC and Big Finish’s relationship:
“Our partnership with Big Finish has been going for over 20 years. Over this time the team there has created the most extensive range of original Doctor Who audio dramas and readings, working with the original casts. This renewal of our long-term licence secures our partnership to allow Big Finish to create fantastic new adventures for the Doctors and their friends for many more years.”
And certainly Big Finish already has quite the range of spinoffs! Jenny (the Doctor’s Daughter), the Master (War and Missy), the Paternoster Gang, Rory Williams, Martha Jones, Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, River Song, Class, Torchwood, UNIT, and many, many more have all had more of their stories told thanks to Big Finish.
As for the future of Big Finish’s Doctor Who productions, Big Finish Chairman and Co-Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery said:
“We are very grateful to the BBC for once again placing their faith in Big Finish and extending our license into another decade – this time up to 2030. This allows us to really plan ahead and create long term story lines and character development not just for the Doctors and the companions but also for new series and elements that we can’t talk about yet! We are excited about the next decade and the adventures we are going to create in the TARDIS for us all to enjoy together.”
Nicholas Briggs, Big Finish Creative Director and Co-Executive Producer had this to add:
“This rather lovely licence extension from the BBC for us to continue making Doctor Who audio drama until 2030 takes me past my official retirement date — although I have no plans to retire from anything. I look forward to working with Big Finish’s great creative team and our colleagues at BBC Studios for many years to come!”
What to look forward to with Big Finish’s Doctor Who productions
There’s already plenty that’s already been announced to look forward to! The Ninth Doctor Adventures has released 3 of its box sets with four more on the way after it was announced that Christopher Eccleston would be returning for a second series of audio adventures. This month will see the release of The Year of Martha Jones, chronicling some of Martha’s adventures during the “Year that Never Was.” The War Master has two more volumes coming out- one featuring a rematch with the Tenth Doctor. And those are just a few that are coming out soon that I’m excited about!
But what about beyond that?
Big Finish does keep things pretty well under wraps until they’re ready to announce new productions. Though careful listeners to their weekly podcast do sometimes get hints. And though the writers and producers are careful on Twitter, sometimes little hints can be found there, too! For example, before the second series of Jenny was announced, the Big Finish Twitter was asking for questions for Georgia Tennant- an early indicator that we’d be getting more stories from the Doctor’s Daughter!
There is also the hope that Big Finish will soon be able to use characters from the Thirteenth Doctor’s run of the show. Big Finish’s Doctor Who productions are often able to easily fill in gaps and add more adventures to character’s storylines and Doctor Who: Flux alone has quite a few that they could easily expand upon!
Personally, I would love to have an entire series detailing Yaz, Dan, and Eustacius’ adventures between (Flux spoilers here) the end of “Village of the Angels” and “The Vanquishers”. The trio spent several years together trying to piece together more information about the Flux- ripe material for more stories! Plus, Kevin McNally has already worked with Big Finish several times- most recently in this year’s Dalek Universe series.
Another group that has big Big Finish potential is Bel, Inston-Vee Vinder, and Karvanista. Setting off together at the end of Doctor Who: Flux, that trio (plus Vinder and Bel’s future child) seems like they’d be a lot of fun to hear more from!
And, of course, I think a lot of fans would love to have a series with Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor. There is a wealth of stories that could be told with her Doctor- most of which we only have gotten a glimpse of in the TV series. I don’t know about anyone else, but I would happily pre-order anything that Big Finish does with the Fugitive Doctor and Division. There’s still so much more to be explored and fleshed out with them!
There will certainly be a gap between the end of Thirteen’s era on the show and when Big Finish will start releasing stories with her or her companions, though. So far the quickest turnaround between a “New Who” character’s final appearance in the TV show and premiere in the audio worlds of Big Finish is River Song, with series one of The Diary of River Song releasing on the same day as “The Husbands of River Song” on December 25th, 2015.
As for other recent “New Who” Doctors, the first Big Finish story with the Eleventh Doctor released in January 2016 (as part of The Churchill Years: Volume One) after his departure from the TV in 2013. For the Twelfth Doctor, he regenerated in 2017 and the first Big Finish audio to feature him was February 2019’s Short Trip release “The Astrea Conspiracy”.
Of course, whatever Big Finish does next with Doctor Who will be great. Their ability to tell stories from all parts of the Whoniverse makes them such a great part of the show- especially as there’s something for pretty much any fan! If you haven’t had a chance to get into the audios yet, simply pick a favorite Doctor or companion and see what they’ve got for you. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Here’s to many more years of Big Finish’s Doctor Who productions! What other characters would you like to see them make more stories for?
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