Doctor Who: Why 2019 is the year of Big Finish

In 1999, Big Finish Productions released their first Doctor Who audio, The Sirens of Time. Naturally, it was far from their last…

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

This year, Big Finish Productions will be celebrating twenty years of making Doctor Who audios. We take a look at both their history, and why 2019 will be their biggest year yet.

If you follow our articles at Doctor Who Watch, you know that we’re big fans of the work of Big Finish Productions. Since 1999, the company has produced a huge number of audios based on Doctor Who, and has given us countless spin-offs.

It’s strange to think how far they’ve come over the past two decades. When they first started, in 1998, they only had the rights to Bernice Summerfield, a companion of the Seventh Doctor in The New Adventures novels. To this day, it’s a successful series that’s still giving us plenty of great stories.

One year after their first audio release, they finally gave us a Doctor Who story, The Sirens of Time. Wanting to kick off their range of audios with a bang, The Sirens of Time was an ambitious release, due to having the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors involved.

Afterwards, each Doctor got their own audio story on a monthly basis. It wasn’t long before Big Finish were able to bring in some of the major enemies, including the Daleks and the Ice Warriors.

But it was in 2001 that things got really exciting, when they finally started to tell stories of the Eighth Doctor. The current Doctor at the time, Big Finish were able to take his Doctor in directions that they couldn’t with the previous incarnations.

And that’s true, even today. The Eighth Doctor has always been a major figure at Big Finish, with plenty of room for storytelling and development. Even when the show came back with a brand new Doctor, there was still so much uncharted territory with Eight. Especially when it came to the Time War and the days leading to it. And, I suspect, he’s going to continue to be a major figure for a long time to come.

When Big Finish acquired the New Series license, they dove straight into major mythology – including giving us a War Doctor series with John Hurt!

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

A wider universe

Across the first twenty years, Big Finish have just gotten bigger and bigger. Along with their regular monthly Doctor Who audios, they’ve also released numerous special releases and box sets, such as the Eighth Doctor epic Dark Eyes.

And things only became even more exciting in 2015, when Big Finish announced some major news. After years of exclusively focusing on either Classic Series or completely original characters and mythology, Big Finish finally had the license for the New Series.

Suddenly, the Big Finish universe became a lot bigger. We had River Song in her own series and meeting Classic Doctors. We had Classic Doctors meeting new monsters, such as the Weeping Angels or the Vashta Nerada.

The Time War

But, perhaps most exciting of all, we finally had the Time War. First with the War Doctor, as played by John Hurt. That alone was an incredible casting scoop. Just two years after The Day of the Doctor, and we actually got ourselves a War Doctor series.

But, even better, Big Finish have expanded on the Time War setting greatly. As well as an Eighth Doctor series set during the conflict, we’ve also moved away from the Doctor’s point of view entirely in not one but two separate series. First in The War Master, and then in the long running spin-off series Gallifrey.

This rich exploration of such key New Series mythology could barely have been dreamed of back in 2005. Big Finish have certainly come a long way since their humble beginnings.

But their twentieth anniversary year could be the most exciting yet.

2019: What’s to come?

In a year with just one episode of Doctor Who broadcast, at least on television, it’s fitting that we can expect a lot of content from Big Finish over the next twelve months.

From the first month alone, we’ve got a lot of major releases coming up. For starters, we’ve got the third volume of The First Doctor Adventures, starring David Bradley. There’s a very special guest star in this release, as Carole Ann Ford, who originally played the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan, is making an appearance. But who will she be playing?

We have the start of a new season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures to be excited about, too. What’s particularly interesting is that the Fourth Doctor will have a new companion: WPC Ann Kelso. How will she adapt to the TARDIS life? And what circumstances brings them together?

There’s also the fifth series of The Diary of River Song, which focuses on several of her encounters with the Master. Several Masters, in fact. Including, in the character’s Big Finish debut, Missy, as played by Michelle Gomez.

Speaking of Missy, next month, we’re going to be treated to her very own series! What kind of evil deeds did she get up to when she wasn’t trapped in the Vault?

Many familiar faces

More from Winter is Coming

• For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
• Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
• Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
• Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
• Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”

But for fans who prefer their spin-offs focused on the good guys, there’s plenty of exciting new ones to come. In June, we’ll be getting the first volume of The Paternoster Gang! Finally, we’ll be learning more about the adventures of Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax when the Doctor’s not around!

Then in September, we’ll be getting a very different look at the events of Series Four in Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon. When the stars started to go out, we know that Rose traveled across many dimensions to find the Doctor again. But who did she meet along the way? And what worlds did she see end?

These are just a few of the special releases due this year. But if there’s one that truly stands out, it’s The Legacy of Time. A six-hour epic box set featuring a whole host of Doctors and companions from across the entire series, this is sure to be a real highlight of the year.

Regardless of what appeals to you in Doctor Who – the horror, the humor, the darkness, the epic scale – Big Finish is guaranteed to have a series that appeals to you. With no TV series this year, now is the perfect time to jump on board with Big Finish’s most epic year yet.

Are you new to Big Finish, or a fan of theirs since the beginning? What release are you most excited about this year? Will their many audio dramas make up for the lack of TV Who for you? Let us know in the comments below.