Doctor Who and Big Finish: Second Doctor on sale – what’s worth checking out?

Anyone interested in Second Doctor audios should be very happy about Big Finish’s sale this week. But which ones are worth recommending? We’ve got you covered, there.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

Big Finish currently have a sale on for various Doctor Who audios featuring the Second Doctor this week. We’ve decided to take a look at each of them, and let you know which ones are worth checking out.

For those who’ve been curious about Big Finish’s audio adventures of Doctor Who, but don’t know where to begin, we’ve got some good news for you. For every week while Series Eleven is broadcasting, Big Finish will be having a few selected audios of a particular Doctor on sale.

The first week, which unsurprisingly featured the First Doctor, has already expired, sadly. But for fans of the Second Doctor – or even curious about what kind of stories he has – you might want to check out this week’s offers.

Several audio stories based on the Second Doctor’s era are now on sale until Sunday October 21st, when the next TV episode airs. But which ones to pick? There are full-cast stories, designed to match the original era as closely as possible, while still telling a completely fresh take on it. There are stories narrated by the Doctor’s companions. There’s even an audio based on an unmade script from the original TV era!

If you’re wondering which stories to check out, have no fear. As a huge fan of both Big Finish’s work and the Second Doctor himself, I’ve checked out all of his audio stories. Some were not my cup of tea, but most were enjoyable.

Frazer Hines’s pitch-perfect performance as the Second Doctor is especially brilliant to hear. Capturing all of the vocal mannerisms and energy of Troughton’s original performance (even including tiny little pauses and flubs along the way), he really does sound like the Second Doctor reborn. It really is incredible, and that alone is worth listening to the audios to.

But there are other reasons, of course. Strong stories, great performances and even one or two returning enemies. With all of that said, here’s your guide to some of the Second Doctor’s audios currently on sale, starting with…

The Lost Stories: The Second Doctor Box Set

There are a couple of curious things about The Lost Stories: The Second Doctor Box Set. For one thing, it only features one Second Doctor story. This is quite a noticeable difference from the previous box set in The Lost Stories series, The First Doctor Box Set, which contained Farewell, Great Macedon and The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance.

Secondly, The Second Doctor Box Set features a story completely unrelated to the Second Doctor: The Daleks – The Destroyers. Originally a backdoor pilot for a Dalek spinoff that creator Terry Nation had been planning for a US audience, the script was never made on television.

But first things first: how is the Second Doctor story, Prison in Space? Well…

One thing to keep in mind while listening to this one is that it’s very dated. Now don’t get me wrong, a lot of the Classic Series hasn’t exactly aged well. And even some of the greatest stories had their problems. (The Talons of Weng-Chiang will always be a favorite of mine, but it’ll always have a white guy in Chinese makeup, too.)

However, Prison in Space is a story with some very dated values without a strong plot to back it up. Honestly, I can see why it didn’t get made. It’s not that Doctor Who never had sexist moments back then. But this story pretty much takes those awkward moments, turns it up to to eleven, and then makes a story out of it. Even while the whole thing aims to be a comedy, it’s not one I’d exactly recommend to new listeners.

Having said all of that, The Daleks is a great glimpse of what might have been. Since it was supposed to be for a pilot episode, it’s left very open-ended, and you don’t get much character development.

But it’s a fascinating glimpse at what a Dalek spin-off might have been like. If you enjoy this episode, check out Big Finish’s own original spin-off series, Dalek Empire. Dark, gritty and epic, this would definitely appeal to all Dalek fans.

The Yes Men

I absolutely love The Yes Men. The first of The Early Adventures to feature the Second Doctor, it’s a story that wonderfully captures the tone and feel of the original era. Even better is that it makes great use of the original team that Two had: Ben, Polly and Jamie.

One slight problem is that Ben disappears early in the story – apparently, this was because writer Simon Guerrier was trying to make things easier for Frazer Hines, believing that he would be voicing the character as well as the Second Doctor and Jamie.

He didn’t find out until afterwards however that the role had been recast with Elliot Chapman, who’s done an amazing job playing Ben the past few years. While he’s not given as much to do here as in later stories, Chapman’s debut performance is still fantastic to hear, and adds so much in recreating the era and making it feel truly authentic.

However, in an odd way, even Ben’s absence feels like a natural fit for the era. This is mainly because characters would genuinely disappear for an episode or two in some of the original TV serials, and this was mainly done to give the actors a chance to finally have a holiday.

As for the story itself, it’s a wonderfully clever and complex story. It’s very hard sci-fi, in some ways. Guerrier avoids the typical Second Doctor template of telling a base under siege story.

Instead, he introduces a very intriguing mystery, one with more layers added to it with each episode. As the mystery unfolds, the story also fleshes out a society, and paints a clear image of what this world is actually like. It’s a really strong entry in The Early Adventures, and an easy story to recommend.

The Companion Chronicles: The Second Doctor: Volume One

For stories that are just a little more low-key, but still know how to draw in the listener, The Companion Chronicles are always a great listen. A mixture between narrated story and drama, The Companion Chronicles have been very popular with Big Finish listeners for years.

If you want to find out why, or just want to give your collection a good boost, then you can’t go wrong with The Second Doctor: Volume One. A mix of four separate one-hour stories, these tales are set all over the Second Doctor’s life.

But what links all of the stories in this box set? Jamie McCrimmon. They all focus on how he develops in his travels with the Doctor, from his earliest days with Ben and Polly to his later journeys with Zoe.

One chronicle I really appreciated was The Story of Extinction. This is a wonderful story, not just for its intriguing tale where words really do have power.

It also closely examines Jamie’s relationship with Victoria. It was a very close and very sweet friendship, and even in the TV series, it was obvious that at least one of them wanted more. This story explores that even further, with the wonderful touch of Victoria teaching Jamie how to read.

All the stories in this volume are wonderful to listen to, though. The Mouthless Dead is a wonderfully spooky tale, and builds up the friendship between Jamie and Ben rather well. The Integral has a great murder mystery, but it also explores Jamie’s strong sense of morality, too. The Edge brings the box set to an effective and thrilling close.

If you want a clear idea of why Jamie McCrimmon was so fantastic, then this box set is well worth a listen.

The Black Hole

I absolutely adore The Black Hole. There’s just so much to love about it. Firstly, it’s a really solid piece of science-fiction by Simon Guerrier. It’s got some great performances, particularly from Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling and Rufus Hound.

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There’s even some lovely narration from David Warner. No, he’s not playing any of the characters, he’s just narrating this one. That’s just how much a brilliant actor like him loves Big Finish.

But for a fanboy like me, what’s really enjoyable about The Black Hole is how it weaves a great sci-fi plot with some major continuity from the Classic Series. How major? Well, let’s just say that when you reach the cliffhanger to part two, you’ll be torn between wanting to listen to part three immediately, or sticking on another Doctor Who story altogether. One that’s not from the Sixties era.

I need to comment just how brilliant Hound is in this story. This is his first Big Finish story, and he gives quite the performance as “Pavo”. He brings a lot of fun to the character, but also a layer of subtle menace.

If you’ve followed Big Finish closely, or at least heard one or two of Hound’s other audio appearances, then you can probably guess who he’s really playing, here. But the reveal itself is still a satisfying one, and genuinely shocked me when I first heard it three years ago.

It’s also fantastic that the Time Lords get a bit of a sneak preview, here. It’s not quite a cheat, and the Doctor’s reaction really makes it work. In fact, the inclusion of the Time Lords actually resolves some major continuity discrepancies that were caused by later stories.

More than that, though, The Black Hole is just really fantastic entertainment. Certainly well worth checking out, and one of my favorite Second Doctor stories on audio.

Do any of these stories grab your interest? Have you listened to any of these stories before? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.