Doctor Who: Big Finish will celebrate major anniversary with twenty hour live stream!

Doctor Who fans, get ready! On July 20th, a livestream of over twenty audio stories will be broadcast on YouTube – including the first episode of the twentieth anniversary special, The Legacy of Time!

I have been hoping for something like this. Next month, on the 20th and 21st July, the official Doctor Who YouTube channel will broadcast more than twenty of Big Finish’s countless Doctor Who audios. So if you’ve been wanting to check out Big Finish for free, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

The reason that this livestream is happening is to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Big Finish making Doctor Who audios. July 1999 saw the release of their first ever Doctor Who story, The Sirens of Time. Starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, the story was just the first of would eventually become hundreds of Doctor Who audio stories.

The stories broadcast in this livestream will feature Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Paul McGann and David Bradley, so we’re getting a really fantastic variety there. There’s definitely bound to be something for every fan, so it’s wonderful that newcomers will finally get the chance to check Big Finish out for the first time and discover why they’ve been making Doctor Who audios for so long.

The Legacy of Time

But it’s not just previous releases that will be broadcast during this weekend. The first part of The Legacy of Time, the six-hour multi-Doctor release designed to celebrate the anniversary, will also be broadcast.

This is a very special story, as it features two of Doctor Who‘s most iconic archaeologists meeting for the first time: Professor Bernice Summerfield and Professor River Song, as played by Lisa Bowerman and Alex Kingston, respectively. Both characters are absolutely brilliant, and I’ve been waiting for a meeting like this for a long time. The fact that Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor will be joining them is a huge bonus.

Twenty years

So we’ve got a lot to look forward to during these two days. It’s not surprising, though. The twentieth anniversary is an incredible milestone, one that Creative Director and executive producer Nicholas Briggs is extremely proud of.

"Honestly, it has been an absolute delight to have worked alongside the Doctor these past two decades. I started my life as a fan, in the days before on demand and downloads, recording the soundtracks of Doctor Who episodes on audio tape. And now it’s my job to place every incarnation of the Time Lord (give or take) in peril in so many exciting audio adventures. I have to pinch myself."

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Jason Haigh-Ellery, Chairman and executive producer of Big Finish, is also very excited about the anniversary, and promises that there’s a lot to look forward to for the event.

"Those two decades have been so fulfilling for us at Big Finish – a chance to work with so many great and talented actors, writers, production crews and all of our friends at the BBC. This is a celebration of it all, with lots of surprise returns and references. Think of it as one massive Doctor Who party – and everyone is invited…"

They’ve got a lot to be proud of. At Doctor Who Watch, we’re huge fans of Big Finish’s work. Where the TV series has failed, Big Finish has often thrived. Either they’ve given underrated Doctors the eras they deserved on audio, or given us the spin-offs we needed but never got on-screen. Twenty years is a major achievement, so it’s only fitting that they celebrate it in a way that’s sure to give them many more fans. July 20th is a very exciting day to look forward to.

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Will you be checking out Big Finish’s livestream? Have you been a fan of their work for years, or are you someone keen to check out their stories for the first time? Let us know in the comments below.

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