Doctor Who: The five best audios to listen to at Christmas

It may be a depressing story to listen to at Christmas, but Death in Blackpool is still an excellent Christmas special.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Missing the Doctor Who Christmas special on television this year? We’ve got you covered, as we recommend five Doctor Who stories from Big Finish that are perfect to listen to at Christmas!

While we have the New Year’s Day special to look forward to this year, it’s still a sad time for Whovians. The Doctor Who Christmas special wasn’t just an extra episode of our favorite show to look forward to, after all. For many of us, it had become an essential part of the whole Christmas experience.

But while we have no new stories to look forward to, there’s always plenty of previous ones to enjoy. Fellow writer Luke recently gave us his top five Christmas specials. I intend to do the same, but not with the TV series.

Instead, I’m going to look at my favorite Christmas audio stories from Big Finish. Either ones that are distinctly set at Christmas time, or they’re just perfect to listen to during the holiday season. So, let’s take a look at some of the best, starting with…

5. Death in Blackpool

Admittedly, the one I’m kicking off with is one of the most depressing Christmas specials ever made. Certainly when it comes to Doctor Who. (And yes, that includes the regeneration episodes.) But Death in Blackpool is an absolutely amazing piece of drama.

Initially, the story seems to capture that Christmas feeling perfectly. Lucie visits her Auntie Pat for a family Christmas dinner. They meet up with a random Father Christmas, and of course, there’s the standard Doctor Who monster. A perfect mix for a cheery Christmas story!

Of course, that isn’t what writer Alan Barnes gives us in this one. Far from it. Not long into the episode, something terrible happens to one of our main characters. As the episode goes on, major secrets are uncovered, and by the end, Death in Blackpool really does live up to its title.

This story is undoubtedly darker than most Doctor Who Christmas specials. It also helps if you’ve listened to the Eighth Doctor Adventures before this point, especially Horror of Glam Rock and The Zygon Who Fell to Earth, so it’s a little less accessible than others in this list. However, it’s still a highly recommended Christmas adventure, and a great piece of drama, too. It also nicely sets up our next Christmas recommendation…

Relative Dimensions gives us something really special: a family Christmas on the TARDIS.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

4. Relative Dimensions

After the awful Christmas Lucie had in Death in Blackpool, the Doctor decides to make it up to her, in a big way. For once, he’s hosting the family Christmas dinner…and in this case, there’s definitely a strong emphasis on “family”, as he invites his granddaughter Susan and her son Alex, as well.

Once again, there’s definitely continuity featured in Relative Dimensions. Not just from Death in Blackpool but also from An Earthly Child, the story of how the Doctor was reunited with his granddaughter.

But regardless of whether you’re up to speed or not, this is a very enjoyable Christmas story. Particularly as it features something barely seen in the TV series: a family Christmas dinner, hosted by the Doctor. And, of course, it’s a Christmas dinner that goes horribly wrong.

This one’s light on plot, but it’s nicely balanced by the amount of character interaction featured. Every person gets a scene with someone, and everyone learns new things about each other.

Alex gets to learn more about both his great-grandfather and what being a companion is like. Susan learns what the Doctor’s future plans are, particularly when it comes to his family. And Lucie, for the first time, gets to see the Doctor’s family side. Naturally, she doesn’t know what to make of it.

Certainly, a more happier occasion than Death in Blackpool, this is a fun Christmas story that lets us look at another side of the Doctor. And it’s a fascinating glimpse indeed.

For something a little more pantomime, The One Doctor is an absolute joy to listen to.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

3. The One Doctor

Now, I will be honest: The One Doctor isn’t technically a Christmas story. While it was released in December, the story itself really doesn’t have anything to do with Christmas.

So what makes it a perfect listen for the holiday season? Because it’s an absolute joy, one that fully embraces being a complete pantomime. (And unlike most of season twenty-four, in a good way, too.) This is a brilliant and hilarious self-parody of so many Doctor Who tropes, written by massive fans of the series.

It also has a brilliant idea at the heart of it. In the far future, the Doctor and Mel rush to answer a distress call and stop an alien invasion. But when they get there, they find out that it’s already been saved…by the Doctor.

Has his own future self already saved the day? Or is there something else going on in this story?

On the surface, the Doctor meeting someone else claiming to be the Doctor shares a superficial similarity with Tenth Doctor Christmas special The Next Doctor.

But what makes Banto Zame a much more entertaining character than Jackson Lake is that he’s not a man who simply believes himself to be the Doctor. Instead, he’s a conman trying to make some easy money off the Doctor’s reputation. Oh, and he’s played by Christopher Biggins, who’s absolutely perfect in the role.

If you haven’t listened to The One Doctor yet, get it from Big Finish now. Like most of the early stories, it’s really cheap, and more than worth every penny. While not as “serious” as classics like Spare Parts or another story in this list, it’s a joyous story that captures the pantomime feeling perfectly, and therefore is perfect to listen to at Christmas.

It may only be a couple of months old, but Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg is already a Christmas classic!

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

2. Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg

The One Doctor has been a favorite Christmas listen for me for years, so something had to be really good to beat it to the number two spot this year. And something good – no, brilliant – was exactly what we got with the two-part story Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg from Ravenous 2.

Released just a couple of months ago, Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg is about as Christmas-y as you can get. Featuring the Eighth Doctor going up against the Krampus, the story has very strong influences from several Christmas stories, including A Christmas Carol and…well, one story in particular is a bit of a spoiler. But trust me: you’ll have a huge grin on your face by the end when you realize the obvious reference.

It’s also a great combination of both your classical scary Doctor Who, and a story focused on Christmas in a big way. The traditions, the history, the mythology. It all gets explored while we also get very creepy imps and the Krampus.

Speaking of which, writer John Dorney takes a very different approach with his Doctor Who take on an old established monster. Usually, monsters in Doctor Who stories turn out to be aliens at the end. But what if, in this case, the Krampus was real…?

This is a wonderful story from the latest Eighth Doctor box set, and is worth getting Ravenous 2 for. It’s absolutely one of the best Doctor Who stories focused around Christmas.

But what is the best?

1. The Chimes of Midnight

"Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without plum pudding!"

It couldn’t have been anything else, really. The Chimes of Midnight isn’t simply one of the best Christmas stories on audio. It’s also considered to be one of the greatest Doctor Who audios ever made.

There are several reasons for this. The first is Robert Shearman’s amazing script. It perfectly balances dark comedy, horror and even tragedy. There are some strong emotional extremes throughout, and the story takes directions that you don’t expect it to.

It’s also brilliant at capturing the Edwardian period setting. Not only does it help add to the story’s atmosphere, but it also gives us some very distinct characters living some very difficult lives.

Paul McGann and India Fisher are fantastic as the Eighth Doctor and Charley in this one. They’re put in a very strange situation where they have to solve the murder of a house’s servants. But what if, with these murders, death really did have no meaning…?

A terrifying yet brilliant Christmas story

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That’s what makes it a great Doctor Who story. What makes it a great Christmas listen, though? Well, along with being set on Christmas Eve, the story has a strange balance between the terrifying and the magical. While Halloween is often thought of as the best time for telling scary stories, Christmas is an ideal time for this too, especially with the earlier and colder nights of winter.

There are also plenty of mentions of classic Christmas essentials (at least, to Brits): Christmas crackers (complete with bad jokes); huge meals and of course, plum pudding!

But it’s the end of the story that really gives it that special Christmas feeling. That, no matter how dark life may get, there’s always hope for the future.

If you’ve never listened to The Chimes of Midnight before, I strongly recommend checking it out right now. Like The One Doctor, it’s incredibly cheap to get, and it’s one of the most essential Doctor Who stories to listen to. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it!

Next. The five best Christmas specials. dark

Have you listened to any of these stories? Do you agree with the stories on this list? Which one is your favorite, and which has grabbed your interest? Let us know in the comments below.

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