Doctor Who May 2020 news roundup: Multi-Doctors, multi-Masters and major changes
By James Aggas
With watchalongs, multi-Doctor stories and new ways to watch our favorite series, it’s been another busy month for Doctor Who fans!
It’s been quite the month for Doctor Who fans, with several major news items and announcements revealed and giving us plenty to discuss. What’s also helped is that, while we’ve still got quite a wait until the next TV special, the watchalongs have been giving us a fresh look at some of our favorite episodes.
Fans have been enjoying the chance to re-watch much-loved stories like The Girl in the Fireplace, The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion, The Fires of Pompeii, Listen, The Rings of Akhaten and, just last night, New Earth and Gridlock.
UK fans have been able to enjoy all of the episodes on BBC iPlayer. However, for a while, US fans had no streaming service to watch the episodes on. That changed this week with the launch of HBO Max. Not only does it feature the first eleven seasons of Doctor Who from 2005 onwards, but it also features spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Multi-Doctor stories
If the episodes themselves weren’t enjoyable enough, we’ve also been given plenty of brand new extras. Highlights include the tragic and horrific Pompadour; the heartbreaking The Secret of Novice Hame, and the rather silly but fun little multi-Doctor story Doctors Assemble.
Doctors Assemble wasn’t the only multi-Doctor story we’ve had this month, either. On the same day, Big Finish released Regeneration Impossible – a slightly dark short story featuring the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. It explores Eleven at a particularly dark point in his life, and features an impressive dual performance by actor Jacob Dudman in both roles.
On top of that, Big Finish has also announced another multi-Doctor story. And it’s a big one. For the first time ever, the Fourth and Tenth Doctors will finally meet in Out of Time. Starring Tom Baker and David Tennant, this is sure to be a major release, one that may even draw in a new crowd of fans to the audios.
We’re extremely excited about next year’s multi-Master story Masterful. But what else can we look forward to concerning Doctor Who’s biggest villain?
Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions
Many Masters
That’s one upcoming release that fans can look forward to, but it’s certainly not the only one. Next year, Big Finish will be releasing another story featuring multiple incarnations of the same Time Lord. But in this case, it’s not the Doctor that they’re focusing on.
Instead, for the character’s fiftieth anniversary, Masterful will be focusing on different incarnations of the Doctor’s best enemy. The covers have been revealed for both the standard and limited editions of this multi-Master extravaganza, and we’re more excited than ever to listen to it in Jan 2021!
That’s not the only Master release that fans can look forward to, though. Not only have two new box sets been revealed for Derek Jacobi’s own series as the War Master. But it’s also been announced that Eric Roberts’s incarnation – originally seen in the TV movie – will also be getting his own spin-off box set in Mar 2021. After listening to his more recent appearances in Big Finish’s audios, particularly in multi-Master story Day of the Master, we’re definitely keen to hear more from his incarnation.
The future of Big Finish
There is a lot that we can look forward to from Big Finish over the next year, even from their regular monthly range. Just this week, covers and details have been revealed for several upcoming Fifth and Seventh Doctor audios.
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Sadly, there aren’t many more of The Monthly Adventures that we can look forward to. Next year, the range will be ending with its 275th release. It’s been a key part of Big Finish for a long time – in fact, it was Big Finish’s first-ever range of Doctor Who audios – so it’s sad to see it come to an end.
However, it’s far from the end of Doctor Who at Big Finish. In fact, it’s only the beginning. Not only will the range be relaunching in a big way in Jan 2022. But we’ve even been given hints of what to expect – hints that we couldn’t help but theorize and discuss. There are many officially announced releases that we’re looking forward to already, but we’re even more excited about what Big Finish hasn’t revealed yet.
With multi-Doctors, multi-Masters, and major changes, it’s been another major month for Doctor Who and its fans!
Next. Big Finish: What can we expect in 2021 and beyond?. dark
Have you been keeping up with the watchalongs? What’s your favorite new scene or extra that they’ve given us? Are you excited about Big Finish’s major releases? Let us know in the comments below.