Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Most of the podcast this week featured a discussion with cast and crew of Turpin: Essex Pistols, which didn't leave a lot of room for much else including Doctor Who.
• The podcast will be off on a 4-week summer break. It will return on 31 July, where they will discuss the upcoming releases of The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill and The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Wings of Steel (somewhat confirming that the 12DAs will kick off the week of July 13th) as well as catching up on the releases they missed between now and then.
  • Fear not! I'll still be posting as normal each week and following along with announcements on the Big Finish website and socials as well as making notes of July's issue of Vortex, plus keeping up with new releases and out-of-print titles!

Random Tangents: Nick has gotten into trouble for not taking enough vacation.

Production Interviews: Turpin: Essex Pistols Mat Braddy and Darren Rapier and The Ninth Doctor Adventures: 4.6 Thirteen O'Clock by Robert Valentine

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Turpin: Essex Pistols by Mat Braddy and Darren Rapier

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Companion Chronicles: 7.6 The Child

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon is released on 23 June (DTO: £9.99 | DTO + CD: £14.99)
  • Synopsis: The Doctor and Peri track a criminal imposter to a moon sanctuary of healing ponds, only to discover the lone Rutan the Doctor has previously met trapped in a self-made web of lies. Experiments to rejoin the Host have forged a bond with grieving pond farmer, Ooland. As their mutual obsession tightens, so Ooland's ponds grow more polluted and their farm cut off from what is really happening on the moon: a full-on Rutan invasion. As the Doctor and Peri strive to free Melmoth and Ooland from each other, another Doctor is at work close by - with far-reaching plans of his own for the lone Rutan.
• Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties is released on 25 June (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99), accompanied by a video trailer.
  • Synopsis: As the Time War rages, another battle takes place in the War Room - for Gallifrey's soul... As Rassilon tries to control the narrative of the Time War at home, the Cardinals fight to prove their loyalty. Out amid the conflict, the Resistance struggles to make a difference, and Gallifrey’s most faithful warriors face the ultimate challenge.
    • 3.1 Propaganda by Georgia Cook With unrest brewing in Low Town, Rassilon demands the immediate location and destruction of a rogue broadcast mocking his name. With Rasmus, the General and Cresta trapped in the Drylands, and riots bubbling on the streets, Ollistra attempts to steer a course to cement her rule over the War Room.
    • 3.2 Resistance by Katharine Armitage Eris is trying to hold a crumbling Resistance together; Ollistra is trying to tear it apart. Both have audacious plans to ensure the victory of their side and everyone else has to choose where their loyalties truly lie.
    • 3.3 Hope by Fio Trethewey Leela has a job to do, and she cannot do it alone, and so she enlists the most unlikely of allies for the task. Time is not on her side, and she must succeed, or else all of them are doomed.
    • 3.4 Eye for an Eye by Matt Fitton Cardinal Ollistra must serve the will of Rassilon and see the Resistance destroyed. But the Resistance is already falling apart. With Leela and Rasmus missing, the General and Veklin are given a mission that neither relish. Loyalties will be tested, and vengeance will be had.

Trailers

• The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways

Cover Reveals

• The Confessions of Dorian Gray: A Night at the Theatre

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • Torchwood heroes from across the ages - Details and covers are out for the previously announced Torchwood: Legacy sets coming out in September and October 2027 (announced on Friday, but I was on vacation last week and did not have time to update it). Torchwood: Legacy Volume 01: The Living Will Fall and Torchwood: Legacy Volume 02: The Dead Will Rise will be comprised of twelve half-hour episodes telling one epic story across all eras of the Torchwood Institute's history:
    • Cornucopia by Tim Foley
    • Meet Lonely by James Goss
    • Yvonne Hartman's Ultimate Weapon by Gareth David-Lloyd
    • The Corn Mother by William Carroll
    • Hitler's Last Secret by James Goss
    • Pangea by Ash Darby
    • Roberta's Gone to Iceland by Guy Adams
    • What It Is to Lose by Tim Foley
    • Viking Funeral by Guy Adams
    • Hullaballoo by Ash Darby
    • Torchwood's Last Stand by Patrick O'Connor
    • Rainbow Bridge by James Goss
• Non-Doctor Who News
  • The new Bond, Young Bond revealed! Isaac Rouse and Charlotte McBurney have been cast as James Bond and Wilder Lawless in Young Bond: SilverFin, a new full-cast audio drama due for release in October 2026.
  • Dorian Gray returns! Alexander Vlahos stars in The Confessions of Dorian Gray: A Night at the Theatre, a brand-new feature-length audio adventure, due for release in October 2026.

 

Out of Print This Week

• None

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Gallifrey Sale: Up to 50% off the Gallifrey and Dark Gallifrey ranges! (Ends 28 June 2026)
  • Gallifrey Series 04
  • Gallifrey: Intervention Earth
  • Gallifrey: Enemy Lines
  • Gallifrey: Time War 1 - 4 (Time War 1 | Time War 2 | Time War 3 | Time War 4)
  • Gallifrey: War Room 1: Allegiance
• DWM628 Offer (LAST CHANCE!): 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club (LAST CHANCE!): Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. June's selection: Gallifrey: Time War 1 for just £14.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt (LAST CHANCE!): Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. June's selection is The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Continuum: Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code DAEDALUS.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection: The Monthly Adventures: 256. Tartarus Part 1. Use discount code CICERO at checkout to save 25% off the full release of The Monthly Adventures: 256. Tartarus (Ends 28 June).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 29 June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
2	Planet Krynoid: Survivors
	The Hunt	3.49/5	40 votes
	The Harrow	3.58/5	38 votes
	The Harvest	3.62/5	33 votes
5.3	Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
	Monky Puzzle	4.40/5	87 votes
	Monky About	4.46/5	85 votes
1.3	Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon	3.03/5	39 votes
15	Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties
	Propaganda	3.63/5	30 votes
	Resistance	4.52/5	26 votes
	Hope	4.60/5	20 votes
	Eye for an Eye	3.83/5	15 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Planet Krynoid: Survivors - The Harrow. Always love me some Eight and Liv.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• The Ninth Doctor in 'The Day of the Doctor"? Interview with Steven Moffat | The Whoniverse Show
• Circuit Breaker, the newest multi-media Doctor Who event, has begun! The first story, Calling the Doctor, can be found on the UNIT Headquarters page of the Doctor Who website.

The Rumor Mill

• Not much as far as I saw this week

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who Magazine #631 is released on 25 June.
• Corruption of The Daleks, a collection of Fifteenth Doctor comic strips from the pages of Doctor Who Magazine, is available for pre-order and will be released 4 November.
• Doctor Who Annual 2027 is available for pre-order and will be released 20 August.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• The podcast was recorded after the news broke of putting Doctor Who out to tender, but they don't touch on it much, and when they do it's as fans chatting and not anything newsworthy about Big Finish. Benji think's it's exciting that we have no clue what Doctor Who will be like when it returns.
• Producers and/or directors will meet with cover artists, who will be given the script for the story, and they will discuss what they want the cover to look like. Nick often makes little doodles of what he's imagining. Prolific cover artist Sean Longmore often will read the script and approach them with what he thinks would be appropriate.
  • Big Finish prefer Photoshop covers because it's easier to change and create iterations of. The BBC will often have comments on the covers and request things be changed or moved, which is harder to do when it's an illustrated cover. Nick also thinks artistic covers like the first few sets of First and Second Doctor Adventures are not popular with listeners.
• Marc Platt does not work on Big Finish anymore. He felt that he reached the end of the line on writing Doctor Who. It has been five years since his last work released (adapting Philip Hinchcliffe Presents Volume 04: The God of Phantoms)
• Oliver Tobias has been asked to appear in a Big Finish release before, but he declined.
• Lisa Bowerman directed Nick Briggs recently as he played a Judoon. The only announced story right now featuring the Judoon is the Eleventh Doctor Adventures, but that was recorded months ago and not directed by Lisa Bowerman. She did, however, direct the upcoming Twelfth Doctor Adventures. I wonder if this could be for another set of those?

Random Tangents: Jonathan Sausage Stewart Powell

Production Interviews: Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties - Propaganda by Georgia Cook and Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon by Lizzie Hopley

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties - Propaganda by Georgia Cook

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Companion Chronicles: The First Wave.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3 is released on 16 June (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £10.99)
  • Synopsis: The Meddling Monk and the Meddling Nun are stranded on Earth with a broken TARDIS and find themselves involved in a series of odd escapades, each more onerous than expected. But the greatest challenge is still to come...
    • Monky Puzzle An international jigsaw competition has come to town. Do the Monk and the Nun have time to compete before the arrival of a very special guest? There's only one way to find out. What could possibly go wrong?
    • Monky About What's it all about? Well, it's a Big Finish finale so there's bound to be explosions, and chases with perhaps a starry cameo and a threat to all life on Earth. What could possibly go wrong?

Trailers

• Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties

Cover Reveals

• None

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • Due to unexplained circumstances, Big Finish have pushed back The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock from 18 June to 29 June.
  • This was brought up last week, but Big Finish are charging shipping now on UK releases. Per the Big Finish website: "UK pre-order (i.e. orders placed before the release date) now incur a minimum shipping charge of £2.50 for single item orders. Shipping is capped at £4.50 when purchasing multiple pre-order releases. Bundle shipping will be charged at the standard rate of £4.50, although exceptions may apply for particularly heavy or special items."

Out of Print This Week

• None!

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• The Monthly Adventures Sale: Monthly Adventures #151 - 200 for £4.99 each! (Ends 21 June 2026)
  • The Silver Turk / The Witch from the Well / Army of Death
  • The Emerald Tiger
  • The Wrong Doctors
  • The Lady of Mercia
  • Prisoners of Fate
  • 1963 Trilogy (1963: Fanfare for the Common Men / 1963: The Space Race / 1963: The Assassination Games)
  • Tomb Ship
  • Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories
  • Locum Doctors Trilogy (The Defectors / Last of the Cybermen / The Secret History)
• Samuel West Birthday Sale: Up to 50% off releases featuring Samuel West, who has played Morbius in several releases! (Ends 21 June 2026)
  • Dark Gallifrey: Morbius (Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3)
  • The War Doctor Rises: Morbius the Mighty
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. June's selection: Gallifrey: Time War 1 for just £14.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. June's selection is The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Continuum: Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code DAEDALUS.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection: The Paternoster Gang: Trespassers 1: The Ghost and the Potato Man (excerpt). Use discount code STRAX at checkout to save 25% off the full release of The Paternoster Gang: Trespassers 1: Rogues Gallery (Ends 22 June). (NOTE: This is an amazing release and a great deal. Pick this up if you can!)

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 23 June - Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• 25 June - Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties
• 29 June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
15B	The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress
	Green and Pleasant Planet	3.05/5	40 votes
	The Continuum	3.18/5	40 votes
	The Audience	3.61/5	38 votes
2	Planet Krynoid: Survivors
	The Hunt	3.50/5	35 votes
	The Harrow	3.63/5	26 votes
	The Harvest	3.75/5	22 votes
5.3	Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
	Monky Puzzle	4.51/5	58 votes
	Monky About	4.54/5	55 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: The second episode of The Audience, as well as the first story in Planet Krynoid: Survivors.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• No real official news, but...

The Rumor Mill

• On The Rest is Entertainment Podcast, Richard Osman states that the BBC were already set to put Doctor Who out to tender by 2028/2029 as part of the BBC's mandate to put all new business out to competitive tender, and with that in mind thought a Christmas special would be good to bridge the gap between the Disney era and the next. But they realized that to not focus on the tender would probably delay the future of the show more, so they wanted to do it sooner. But if they had continued on with the Christmas special during this process, it would have left too many variables for any new producer to contend with, so they decided to scrap the special altogether.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: The Peter Davison Collection (4LP Red & Purple Vinyl) is available to preorder and will be released 25 September.
• The Cybermen from Dark Water Vortex Set will be available to order from 10am BST on 29 June.
• Dalek Parliament Set 2 is available to preorder from Master Replicas, and is due out in September.
• Limited Edition Brass Dalek (only 150 available worldwide) is available to preorder from Master Replicas, and is due out in September.
• Battles in Time The First Doctor Limited Edition Collector's Set is available to preorder from Master Replicas, and is due out in September.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Obviously we had some big news this week, but I'll save my non-Big Finish thoughts on this for the end of the post. But one of my immediate thoughts is that this could potentially be very good for Big Finish and other EU content over the next few years. With people looking for a place to put their passion for Who we could see some new ranges pop up or wider releases on physical media. Also, I updated my Guide to Big Finish, for anyone interested.

In my opinion, I think it's in the BBC's best interests to let Big Finish pick up from The Reality War. When Doctor Who does return in the next 3-5 years, there is almost a 0% chance they will be addressing or continuing any of what happened in RTD2, especially not the Billie Piper-sized elephant in the room. Let's be honest -- we're Doctor Who fans. We want that story to be told. Let's let Big Finish have its day in the sun and carry the torch, pave new ground into uncharted territory for the first time in over 20 years. I think Big Finish should pick up from that cliffhanger, decide whether Billie is the Doctor or if there are some other shennanigans about, and do a limited run that wraps up as many loose threads as is still narratively compelling to juggle from RTD2.

I understand many people don't like the idea of Billie as the Doctor, or whatever's happening. And I get it. But it's gotta be addressed somehow at some point, and I don't think the main show will touch it. I also understand the danger of "putting the continuation of the series behind a paywall", but it's either that or they don't do anything with it at all, and if you want to be a mainline believer that only the Doctors in the show are canon, you can run with that. But for those who want that gap filled, I think this would be a smart move.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Still no sign of continuing Rani Takes On The World.
• A short podcast this week, so not a lot of info. Hopefully next week they can discuss this week's news.

Random Tangents: The nuns are disappearing.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3

The Good Review Guy: Rani Takes On The World: Beyond Bannerman Road

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Fifth Doctor Box Set

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Planet Krynoid: Survivors is released on 11 June (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £29.99)
  • Synopsis: Colony Sunlight has been destroyed, ravaged by a ruthlessly aggressive galactic weed known only as the Krynoid. As the planet turns cold, sinister forces descend on the surface, and time runs out for the scattered survivors. Could salvation lie a hundred years ago - with a Doctor, a MedTech and a big blue box?
    • 2.1 The Hunt by Jonathan S Powell Blackmailed by the unscrupulous Raynor Cross, Sunlight survivors Tiro Hart and Letty Hodan must battle the icy remains of the life they left behind. But they are not the only ones with their sights set on a pod.
    • 2.2 The Harrow by Georgia Cook Nobody knows what really happened to Station One, Verdana's first, doomed colony. But after materialising in the path of a Krynoid, the Doctor and Liv are about to find out.
    • 2.3 The Harvest by Jonathan Morris When a band of survivors reach a mysterious settlement, they are promised food, shelter and harmony. But deliverance in Greenhaven comes at a price - and Father Nature is ready to collect.

Trailers

• None

Cover Reveals

• The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • Turlough goes home. Peri and Turlough's travels with the Sixth Doctor take them back to Trion in August's The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99).
    • Synopsis: The Doctor and Peri's travels with the mercurial Turlough continue, but nothing lasts forever... and Turlough seems to know it. Trials of love, sacrifice and war lie ahead, and beyond them all lurks something else: the ever-approaching spectre of death.
    • 1. Save the Date by Matthew Sweet London, 1969, and the Eternal Joy dating agency has a new secretary: Miss Perpugilliam Brown. Peri's undercover. Her mission: to find the source of the sonic boom that rang out across London, discover the secrets of Eternal Joy’s big pink computer... and set the Doctor and Turlough up on a double date with two young ladies.
    • 2. Poison's Reach by Paul Sutton The civilisation of Freefall is powered by a natural radiation stream rising from its moon. That's the official story. Engineer Sandra Silva knows the truth. She's determined to expose the Stelta Corporation's crimes, and she has a trio of time-travelling sightseers on her side. Turlough is about to learn that, to achieve a worthy aim, sometimes the ultimate sacrifice has to be made...
    • 3. Broken Home by AK Benedict and Guy Adams Once a traitor, always a traitor? Vislor Turlough returns to Trion at last - and promptly hands the Doctor and Peri over to the occupying forces. Has Turlough learned any lessons from the Time Lord he was once tasked with killing? And in order to liberate his broken home, who is he willing to sacrifice?
  • A world without the Doctor! Zoe, Jaimie, and the Doctor, now joined by his handler Raven, are on the run from the Time Lords in August's Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99). Deciding to hide out on Earth 1963, they discover a planet they don't recognize. One where the Doctor never landed. The box set is comprised of three stories, all written by Alan Barnes.
    • The Haunted Windmill
    • The Crystal Ship
    • The Hungry Glass

 

Out of Print This Week

• Bernice Summerfield: 7.3 The Worst Thing in the World

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Short Trips Sale: Up to 40% off Short Trips and Short Trips Rarities (Ends 14 June 2026)
  • Her Own Bootstraps
  • The World Beyond the Trees / Damascus
  • Erasure
  • A Heart on Both Sides
  • All Hands on Deck
  • O Tannenbaum
  • The Blame Game
  • The Siege of Big Ben / Flight Into Hull!
  • Museum Peace
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. June's selection: Gallifrey: Time War 1 for just £14.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. June's selection is The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Continuum: Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code DAEDALUS.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection: Subterfuge Part 1. Use discount code WINSTON at checkout to save 25% off the full release of The Monthly Adventures: Subterfuge (Ends 15 June).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 16 June - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
• 18 June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
• 23 June - Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• 25 June - Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
100	Torchwood: Fare Well	4.62/5	64 votes
15B	The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress
	Green and Pleasant Planet	3.11/5	33 votes
	The Continuum	3.18/5	31 votes
	The Audience	3.63/5	27 votes
2	Planet Krynoid: Survivors
	The Hunt	3.50/5	9 votes
	The Harrow	3.50/5	6 votes
	The Harvest	???	???

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Just the first episode of The Audience this week.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• An update on the future of Doctor Who. Key points:
  • The Christmas Special has been cancelled. It was intended to bridge the gap between RTD2 and the next era, but the BBC feel their efforts are best put towards investing in the show's long-term success and setting up future series to come.
  • Russell T. Davies has left the show, along with Bad Wolf.
  • Doctor Who is being put out to competitive tender, meaning production companies will be bidding on producing the show going forward -- rights are not an issue here.
  • The previously announced CBeebies animated show is currently in production.

The Rumor Mill

• Deadline reports that several producers that they contacted say you would be mad to take on Doctor Who right now. This was a report immediately after the news so only time will tell, but that lack of immediate interest was something to note.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: The Time Museum from Panini is released on 11 June.
• Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker: The Deadliest Weapon is available to pre-order on CD, vinyl, and digital. Due for release 31 July.
• The Queerest of Folk, a new memoir from RTD, is announced for release on 8 October.

My Thoughts on RTD2 and the Hiatus

Welp, it happened. No Christmas Special. Russell and Bad Wolf are gone. Doctor Who will be off air for a few years. I have to say, though I personally had no problem with the output of RTD2, and several episodes sit amongst my favorites in all of Who, I think this is probably for the best. Russell seemed set in his ways and unyielding on how he wanted things, and it's becoming ever more clear there were major behind the scenes issues. I have great respect for the man and what he's done both with this show and others, but at the end of the day I just don't think it was working as well as it could.

It is interesting though. I think all in all, there was much more good than bad when it came to the episodes of RTD2, it's just that the bad ones were carrying some extra weight as they were premieres and finales. I think the middle episodes were as consistent as any other era, but general opinion was heavily colored by Empire of Death and The Reality War.

I think the same thing that's happening with Doctor Who is happening with the MCU and Star Wars, two other major franchises that have pretty much lost the interest of their fanbase in recent years and relied on stunt casting or fan service to retain a base audience. It's clear that fans are done with that, and want to move on to having more substantial and consequential storytelling. I think Doctor Who sits in a different category where it's hard to have long-term consequences, so it relies on character-driven storytelling to drive that drama season-to-season. And even though that was Russell's strong suit in RTD1, it was majorly lacking in RTD2. Maybe it was the brevity of the seasons, maybe he lost his way, I don't know. But Doctor Who definitely needs a fresh take to keep moving on.

Introduction

Hello all. I usually update this guide at the new year, but as we are entering a hiatus on the show and some things have changed even in the past six months, I figured I'd give this an update. I had also only previously posted these on r/Gallifrey so it makes sense I make one available here.

To make a bit of a disclaimer: I have some stats scattered throughout this post. All these numbers come from my personal spreadsheet I use to track Big Finish releases. Exact counts of releases get a little blurry, as Big Finish have packaged, compiled, and re-released their stories on many occasions. I use my best judgement on how to track them, e.g. I don't list The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller Series 01 as a single release.

1. I’m completely new and not sure what Big Finish is. Can you explain it?

Overview

Big Finish releases audiobooks and audio dramas taking place in all corners and eras of the Whoniverse. From the tentpole ranges like the Eighth Doctor Adventures to the more obscure Robots, there’s all manners of stories told, featuring characters and worlds you may or may not already know. Currently, Big Finish have the license to produce Doctor Who stories in the worlds of Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, and of course Doctor Who through the Fifteenth Doctor's era.

Big Finish's bread and butter is slotting stories for past Doctors in between their television adventures. Most of the time this is done with existing companions (such as the Fourth Doctor and Leela), but on many occasions Big Finish have made new companions for audio where it makes sense (such as the Eleventh Doctor's travels with Valerie pre-Bells of Saint John). There are also Big Finish original versions of the Doctor in the Unbound range -- the most popular of which being the alternate Third Doctor played by the late David Warner.

Release Types

The company's most popular output are their full-cast audio dramas featuring the original actors from the show. However, there are several actors who have long since passed away or for one reason or another are unavailable for recording. In these cases, Big Finish casts actors to do impressions of these Doctors. These include the First, Second, Third, War, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors. As of 2026, each Doctor from the First to the Thirteenth has their own “Adventures” range, which can be anything from individual 60-minutes release to four-hour box sets. The Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors are the newcomers to the format, with Miles Taylor and Jon Culshaw taking on the respective roles.

Additionally, there are several other non-Doctor focused full-cast audio dramas with original actors, such as the long-running Gallifrey range (featuring Romana, Leela, and Narvin), the ever-popular River Song range (featuring River Song and many, many Doctors), and what is my and many other's favorite spin-off range, the War Master (featuring Derek Jacobi).

There are also many ranges that are not full-cast, and either feature a single narrator reading an audiobook, or a narrator and a few other actors performing a dramatic reading of a story that blends elements of audiobooks and audio dramas, complete with sound effects.

Release Formats

Big Finish got its start in the worlds of Doctor Who with Bernice Summerfield, but their first range to feature the Doctor was the Monthly Range. For over 20 years, Big Finish would release a 2-hour CD every month that featured the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, or Eighth Doctors. There are 275 of these releases, and they remain one of the cheapest and most accessible ranges in their catalog. This range is how the Eighth Doctor got a new life after the TV movie, receiving a new companion in Charley Pollard and a story arc that extended through several releases.

Depending on the range, format, and story, releases come in many different lengths. Most audio dramas are formatted like their respective eras. For example, Classic Doctor ranges will have 30 minute episodes, ranging from 2 to 8 episodes per story. New Who ranges will typically have 60 minute episodes, with occasional two or three-parters. 70% of Big Finish's output comes in a "box set" format, whether on CD or digital. These typically are three or four hour releases broken up into episodes at the producers' discretion.

2. I understand what Big Finish is and I want to try it out. Is there any way I can do so for free?

Over the last several years, there have been more attempts to make Big Finish more accessible for new fans. There are several ways you can listen to Big Finish for free and try it out, including:

• Spotify or Apple Music
• Hoopla
• BBC Sounds
• Into the TARDIS Podcast

Below I will detail each option.

Spotify or Apple Music

Spotify and Apple Music have a selection of Doctor Who stories, including the first 50 stories in the Monthly Range and the first series of both the Eighth Doctor Adventures and the Fourth Doctor Adventures. I would recommend starting here to get your bearings in Big Finish.

Perhaps the best place to start is with Blood of the Daleks, Part 1, especially if you're a New Who fan. The Eighth Doctor, to me, is THE Big Finish Doctor and tied with Capaldi as my favorite Doctor. You don’t need to know anything about the previous Eighth Doctor monthly releases to follow along. The stories have both the same format of New Who (a “season” of 1 hour stories, with occasional two-parters), and the same feel. There’s a lot more action and witty dialogue, and new companion Lucie Miller has all the sass and grit you've come to expect from modern companions. The first series (eight stories total) is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Personally, as a lover of the Eighth Doctor I recommend starting with the beginning of the Eighth Doctor’s monthly adventures, Storm Warning. You’ll be introduced to the quintessential audio companion, Charley Pollard, and get a good feel for early Big Finish. The format will be 2-hour stories broken into four 30 minute parts, which is typical for the Monthly Range. These releases are available on Spotify and Apple Music, but they only have the first 50 monthly adventures, meaning you will get every Eighth Doctor monthly adventure up to Zagreus. Listen in release order and you won't be lost.

If you are interested in and/or already familiar with Classic Doctor Who, I’d recommend starting with the Fifth Doctor story Spare Parts. It’s not only one of the best monthlies, but one of the best Cyberman stories to boot. It gives a good feel for what the continuing adventures of classic Doctors feels like. From there, you can follow the Fifth Doctor's releases in those first fifty in really any order you like, as they do jump around quite a bit depending on what companion actors were available, or you can start at the beginning of the monthlies with the Sirens of Time. Like the rest of the first 50 monthly releases, these are available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Hoopla

I'll admit I'm not as familiar with Hoopla, but I always see this one recommended. Looking at their selection, they cover a large amount of what Apple Music and Spotify cover plus a lot more, including other ranges such as Short Trips, Jago & Litefoot, and many more. They also have the entire second series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures with Lucie Miller. All in all, they have 372 releases from Big Finish, including non-Doctor Who releases such as Dorian Gray.

BBC Sounds

For the 60th Anniversary, a good selection of Big Finish stories were made available for free on BBC Sounds. The first set of the Tenth Doctor Adventures was broadcast on Radio 4 and is therefore under its own series called simply Doctor Who, but the rest are under Doctor Who: The Audio Adventures. Please note that as of 21 July 2025, BBC Sounds is not available outside the UK (so get out those VPNs). The stories included are listed below:

1. Doctor Who: The Audio Adventures
   1. Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 1 (Fifth through Eighth Doctors)
   2. The Companion Chronicles: The Beginning (First Doctor and Susan)
   3. The Early Adventures: The Isos Network (Second Doctor and Jamie)
   4. The Lost Stories: Mind of the Hodiac (Sixth Doctor and Mel)
   5. The Monthly Adventures: 1963 - The Assassination Games (Seventh Doctor and Ace)
   6. The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers (Ninth Doctor)
   7. Out of Time 1 (Tenth and Fourth Doctors)
2. Doctor Who
   1. The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 01 (Tenth Doctor and Donna)
      1. Technophobia
      2. Time Reaver
      3. Death and the Queen

Into the TARDIS Podcast

As a celebration of 25 years of producing Doctor Who audio dramas, Big Finish launched the Into the TARDIS podcast. Every Saturday from March 2024 to April 2025, they released episodic installments of popular audio dramas, for free with ads. Released episodes include stories from Classic Doctors New Monsters, First Doctor Adventures, Third Doctor Adventures, Fourth Doctor adventures, Eighth Doctor Adventures, Ninth Doctor Adventures, and Tenth Doctor Adventures. This podcast can be found on multiple services, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Acast.

3. I've dipped my toes with the free options but I want more. Where can I buy releases from Big Finish?

www.bigfinish.com

The easiest way is directly through the Big Finish website. By buying through the Big Finish website you not only get a CD and/or download that can either be downloaded directly (.mp3 or .m4b) or listened to through their official app, but you directly support the business and the production you're listening to, and help fund future projects. Big Finish is a very small company that relies entirely on sales to fund their stories -- they aren't supported financially by the BBC and they don't do ads of any sort -- so if you want good quality content, it helps to give them direct support.

I have almost never paid full retail price for Big Finish releases, and that is largely because of their pre-order discounts and wonderful sales. Big Finish typically have weekly sales on existing releases, usually centered around a specific range or theme they're trying to push that week. A lot of their sales are focused around promoting a new release or celebrating some milestone or birthday of a creative. For example, if a new First Doctor box set comes out, you can probably expect a sale on that range the week of release. Sometimes they'll even double or triple up on sales in a week. Throughout the year, pretty much every single Big Finish release will be on sale at some point. In fact, at the time of writing this, 876 of Big Finish's 1,334 Doctor Who-related stories have been on sale at some point since January 1st. Unless you're desperate to buy something in the moment, it almost always works to wait for a sale.

New releases have an exclusive pre-order price that lasts through a release's first two months on sale, at which point the price increases by about £2 or £3 on average on download and CD. If you're wanting a new release it's best to get them during this period. Big Finish sells their releases individually, but you can also get a discount by selecting one of their pre-determined bundles where available, which discounts both pre-orders as well as existing releases. For example: if you want to buy all four Dark Eyes box sets individually, you could do so for £19.99 each, OR you could buy a bundle for £68 total (15% off). Just select a release and see if it has a "Save money with a bundle" option, and select your bundle. Big Finish also offers you 10% off your cart of £50 or more of non-discounted releases. So to use the Dark Eyes example again, if you added Dark Eyes 1 - 4 non-bundled and non-discounted to your cart, you would only pay £71.96 after your 10% off discount.

Third Party Sellers

As someone who got their start in Big Finish through free releases and 3rd party sellers, I understand wanting to find good deals and bang for your buck. Big Finish sells their physical releases through Amazon, which carries existing releases as well as allowing pre-orders of future releases in many cases. Do note that Big Finish keep their releases exclusive for the first two months, so if you pre-order elsewhere there will be a delay. There are also always people clearing out their collections on eBay, so there's some good hunting to be had there. I have also been lucky to find releases at second-hand bookstores such as Half Price Books here in the US, so I'd imagine you'd find some good look at similar store sin the UK as well. Lastly, there are some fan shops such as The WHO Shop (UK) and the Doctor Who Store (US) that carry Big Finish releases. An important note to make here is that CDs do not come with digital download codes, so if you want digital files you will have to rip the discs and upload them to whatever player is most convenient for you.

4. I know how to buy Big Finish but I don't know where to start.

The first thing to do is determine what exactly you're wanting to listen to. If you have a specific range in mind, or even a broader grouping such as New Who releases, there are several hubs on the Big Finish website for you to peruse. I will list good starting points for several ranges below.

If you're thinking about cost first, I would recommend starting with the Monthly Adventures. Most releases in this range are sold out on CD, so I will only be looking at prices of digital releases. The pricing for each release is staggered, so more recent releases cost more. Big Finish revisit their pricing model from time to time, but the current digital rates are:

Monthly Range 001 - 100	£3.99
Monthly Range 101 - 150	£4.99
Monthly Range 151 - 200	£7.99
Monthly Range 201 - 275	£12.99

Listening to each Doctor at Big Finish, in timeline order, is very very hard to do. There are certainly guides out there that you can follow, but this is not a resource for that. For the most part, you should be able to follow a range in order of release for each Doctor. There may be some you can (such as the first two volumes of The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles) or some you have to skip around other releases to get one story arc (Ace and Hex in the Monthly Range).

If you want to dive into Big Finish's backlog, there are plenty of options depending on which Doctor you want to listen to. Each Doctor, from the First to the Thirteenth, has a home at Big Finish. Some Doctors have been there for 25 years, some just started in the last six months, and some are yet to start. Below I will detail ranges and personal recommendations of full-cast stories for each Doctor.

Doctor	Actor	Ranges	Recommendation
Fugitive Doctor	Jo Martin	The Fugitive Doctor	The Fugitive Doctor: Most Wanted
First Doctor	Stephen Noonan / David Bradley	The First Doctor Adventures	The First Doctor Adventures: Fugitive of the Daleks / The First Doctor Adventures Volume 02
Second Doctor	Michael Troughton	The Second Doctor Adventures	The Second Doctor Adventures: Beyond War Games
Third Doctor	Tim Treloar	The Third Doctor Adventures	The Third Doctor Adventures Volume 07
Fourth Doctor	Tom Baker	The Fourth Doctor Adventures	The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Trouble with Drax
Fifth Doctor	Peter Davison	The Fifth Doctor Adventures	The Monthly Adventures: 034. Spare Parts
Sixth Doctor	Colin Baker	The Sixth Doctor Adventures	The Monthly Adventures: 006. The Marian Conspiracy
Seventh Doctor	Sylvester McCoy	The Seventh Doctor Adventures	The Monthly Adventures: 025. Colditz
Eighth Doctor	Paul McGann	The Eighth Doctor Adventures	The Monthly Adventures: 016. Storm Warning
War Doctor	Sir John Hurt / Jonathan Carley	The War Doctor	The War Doctor Begins: Forged in Fire
Ninth Doctor	Christopher Eccleston	The Ninth Doctor Adventures	The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Snare
Tenth Doctor	David Tennant	The Tenth Doctor Adventures	The Tenth Doctor and River Song
Eleventh Doctor	Miles Taylor / Jacob Dudman	The Eleventh Doctor Adventures / The Doctor Chronicles	The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: The First Question / The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles: Geronimo!
Twelfth Doctor	Jon Culshaw / Jacob Dudman	The Twelfth Doctor Adventures / The Doctor Chronicles	The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind / The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles Volume 02: Timejacked!
Thirteenth Doctor	Jodie Whittaker	The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures	The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Vampire Weekend

If you want to follow new releases, then go with the Adventures ranges. The Doctor Adventures ranges started with the Eighth Doctor, and eventually expanded as new actors like Tom Baker and David Tennant joined. A few years ago, Big Finish made them standard for all their Doctors they had actors for (1 through 10 at the time, then eventually 11 - 13), so there are recent starting points across the board for all these ranges.

Some of the Doctor Adventures ranges have bigger arcs at play where it only makes sense to start at the beginning or with a specific release. Some simply use each new release to tell a story in a specific part of that Doctor's era, and are not necessarily sequential. See below for my recommendations of where to start for each of these ranges. If a range falls into that second camp, then my recommendation will most likely be one of the standouts of the range in my eyes. I do try to keep cost in mind, so if there's two good starting points but one is 10 less than the other, I'll recommend the cheaper one.

Range	Starting Point	Price, GBP (DTO / CD)
The Fugitive Doctor	The Fugitive Doctor: Most Wanted	£21.99 (DTO)
The First Doctor Adventures	The First Doctor Adventures: Fugitive of the Daleks	£21.99 (DTO) / £26.99 (CD)
The Second Doctor Adventures	The Second Doctor Adventures: Beyond War Games	£19.99 (DTO)
The Third Doctor Adventures	The Third Doctor Adventures: The Annihilators	£19.99 (DTO)
The Fourth Doctor Adventures	The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: The Ministry of Death	£22.99 (DTO)
The Fifth Doctor Adventures	The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Hooklight 1	£22.99 (DTO)
The Sixth Doctor Adventures	The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Bad Terms	£22.99 (DTO) / £32.99 (CD)
The Seventh Doctor Adventures	The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Past Forward	£22.99 (DTO) / £32.99 (CD)
The Eighth Doctor Adventures	The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Audacity	£21.99 (DTO) / £26.99 (CD)
The War Doctor	The War Doctor Rises: Morbius the Mighty	£21.99 (DTO) / £26.99 (CD)
The Ninth Doctor Adventures	The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Snare	£10.99 (DTO)
The Tenth Doctor Adventures	The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 01	£24.99 (DTO)
The Eleventh Doctor Adventures	The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: The First Question	£22.99 (DTO)
The Twelfth Doctor Adventures	The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind (Upcoming)	£43.99 (DTO)
The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures	The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Vampire Weekend	£10.99 (DTO)

There are several spin-off ranges I am quite fond of. Find these listed below:

Range	Starring	Status
The War Master	Sir Derek Jacobi	Ongoing
River Song	Alex Kingston, various Doctors	Ongoing (under The Death and Life of River Song)
The Robots	Nicola Walker, Claire Rushbrook	Concluded
Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon	Billie Piper	Concluded
Call Me Master	Sasha Dhawan	No upcoming releases announced
Gallifrey	Louise Jameson, Seán Carlsen, Lalla Ward	Ongoing (under Gallifrey: War Room)
Susan's War	Carole Ann Ford	No upcoming releases announced
Smith & Sullivan	Sadie Miller, Christopher Naylor	No upcoming releases announced

5. What are some of the best recent releases?

I'll make some suggestions here based both on my own personal taste and ratings from the TARDIS Guide.

Release	TARDIS Guide Score	# of Votes
The War Doctor Rises: Fallen Heroes
The Dead Sea by Alfie Shaw	4.42/5	139 votes
Unit 26 by Alfie Shaw	4.39/5	138 votes
Yesterday is Tomorrow and Tomorrow is Today by Alfie Shaw	4.54/5	137 votes
The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Hooklight 1 by Tim Foley	4.47/5	211 votes
The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Hooklight 2 by Tim Foley	4.38/5	178 votes
The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Causeway
Lost Amongst the Stars by Rochana Patel	3.93/5	151 votes
The Time You Never Had by Tim Foley	4.45/5	149 votes
Rutans vs Sontarans: Betrayal at the House of Sontar by John Dorney	4.40/5	132 votes
The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: The First Question
The Final Cut by Lisa McMullin, from a story by Max Kashevsky	4.00/5	180 votes
The Tourist Trap by Beth Axford	4.09/5	174 votes
A Delusion of Witches by Lisa McMullin	4.32/5	170 votes
The Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 04
The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Snare by Tim Foley	3.97/5	340 votes
The Last Days of the Powell Estate by Timothy X Atack	4.22/5	297 votes
The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Dare You by Lisa McMullin	4.05/5	262 votes
The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Cloud Eight by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle	4.20/5	238 votes
The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Pandemonium by Katherine Armitage	3.88/5	178 votes
The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 14: The Last Queen of the Nile
Conspiracy of Silence by Jonathan Morris	3.70/5	74 votes
The Last Queen of the Nile by David K Barnes	4.42/5	73 votes
The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Past Forward
With the Angels Part 1 by John Dorney	4.25/5	95 votes
Catastrophix by Lizzie Hopley	3.34/5	94 votes
With the Angels Part 2 by John Dorney	4.18/5	93 votes
The Death and Life of River Song Series 03: The Dissolution of Time
The Armgeddon Game	4.18/5	48 votes
Anne Boleyn Must Die	4.28/5	48 votes
A Good Woman Goes to War	4.31/5	48 votes
The Schism Bloom	4.25/5	48 votes
Smith & Sullivan: Reunited
The Caller	4.07/5	88 votes
Union of the Snake	3.77/5	82 votes
Blood Type	4.00/5	83 votes

6. What are some tips and tricks to Big Finish?

Purchasing

• If you’re going to buy multiple releases in a series eventually, buy in bundles now. You will always get the cheapest price per set if you buy in bundles, plus you don’t have to pay the per order charge.
• Pre-order prices are the cheapest sets will be. If you’re interested in an upcoming release, there is two month window where it will be at pre-order price. After that, Big Finish gives them to retailers and the price goes up to buy from them.
• Watch for sales. There are frequent sales, whether to celebrate an actor or writer’s birthday, a release’s anniversary, or what have you. If there’s a popular set you have your eye on, you can usually count on a sale at some point in the year.
• Buying physically also gives you a digital version of the release. You’ll make a Big Finish account when you order a release. Whether you buy a release digitally or physically, you’ll be able to listen to the story in the Big Finish app or download them as .mp3 or .mb4 files from their website.
• Big Finish will charge you up-front, rather than when it ships. For me this is helpful because it helps me budget, and I don’t have to worry about surprises charges if I forget about a pre-order.
• You can buy gift cards for yourself in your currency. This is how I order all my purchases anymore, since PayPal's conversion rate is typically higher than the real one.

Listening

• New releases come out at 9:30am GMT the day of release. You will have to refresh your Big Finish app to get a new release to show up in your account, and the bigger your library the longer a refresh will take.
• You might not retain everything in a story, and that’s okay. There are very few audios I’ve listened to where I can recall and tell you exactly what happened from start to finish, outside of the big picture. It’s the nature of the format that all you can do is be told what is happening, so it’s much, much harder to remember what happened if you can’t even picture it.
• Imagining the scene can either be very beneficial or very distracting. I rarely listen to a story and picture what’s happening the entire time. I only do so when they’re at a new location or there’s a new character, or if something really important is happening. If you try to do it the whole time, you’ll focus too much on figuring out what things should look like and you’ll miss what’s happening.
• Don't try too hard to follow a chronological order. Especially for the Main Range, due to the nature of writing for past Doctors and slotting stories into their timelines, there's a lot of jumping around between time periods for certain Doctors. You might have the Fifth Doctor with Nyssa in one story, then get Peri and Erimem in the next, and round it all off with one with Turlough for good measure.

Other

• The TARDIS Guide is a great resource for reviews and tracking progress. If you are hard-pressed to figure out how to spend your money wisely, search for releases on this website to help you. You can search all audio dramas and filter by characters and ranges, then sort by quality and see what's recommended. Once you finish a story, you can either rate it or simply mark it as completed.

I hope this helped some of you, and please, fellow Big Finish listeners, let me know anything I should add. And drop your own recommendations in the comments.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

I got Doctor Who: The Movie on 4K in the mail over the weekend. Wow, does it look stunning now. I have a certain fondness for TV movies and a great love for this one. I've always loved it, but being able to watch it in 4K and Dolby Atmos gives it a whole new perspective to appreciate it from.

Also, I for one am excited for this new era of the Eighth Doctor Adventures. I love Liv and Helen and hope for more stories with them, but I'm excited to see an Eighth Doctor who's on the cusp of the Time War. The costume is also fantastic, blending the Dark Eyes accessories with the Night of the Doctor outfit. I remember when Big Finish posted the pictures of Paul in a new photoshoot and then took them down soon after (I saved the pictures). I figured they'd be using them for something soon. Interesting that they edited on a Dark Eyes/Doom Coalition head though.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Behind the scenes content was Nick's big push when he became executive producer. He received a lot of pushback for a while as people thought it would all get same-ish, but Nick stood firm that it was important to include, and a few years down the road it would be beneficial to have captured the cast and crew's thoughts at the time of recording.
  • Many of the actors do not care for behind the scenes interviews as they feel it will somehow put them to the test on their Who knowledge. Nick says that Jon Culshaw is the exception, and he told Nick recently that he absolutely loves doing it as it lets them reflect and contextualize the day's work. Mark Wright is, apparently, the worst at the interviews as his thoughts are too scattered to really pull anything together.

Random Tangents: Jonathan Sausage Powell

Production Interviews: Planet Krynoid: Survivors and Sky: Into the Chaos

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Sky: Into the Chaos

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles Volume 09.

Vortex #208

• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind (NOTE: I apologize for writing so much on this one but I'm so incredibly excited for it)
  • Alfie Shaw has known for a long time what he wanted this series to be about and what the final scene was going to be, saying "I had an idea I really wanted to tell and I thought it would suit the Twelfth Doctor and where he's at in his timeline really well."
  • Alfie knew almost from the beginning he would pair the Doctor with a male companion from the end of the universe.
  • In contrast to the Doctor's relationship with Nardole, he and Ash have no common links (such as him and Nardole knowing River). Ash is very cynical towards the Doctor, while the Doctor cares deeply for Ash. Alfie Shaw states that the relationship is "flavoured more towards doctor/patient. Ash goes through a lot in these adventures and the Doctor's there trying to help him see the good in everything."
  • The Second Death by Alfie Shaw
    • The opening story is heavily inspired by Fallout. Ash is a post-apocalyptic companion, something Alfie Shaw has always wanted to try. In this instance, "the apocalypse in question is just the universe being really, really old."
    • This story will pick up almost immediately after the Doctor has left River on Darillium and we will see how he's coping with travelling again.
  • The Broken Man by Rochana Patel
    • This one is a "contemporary historical" set in Scotland, 2016. It's a "historical" in the sense that we're ten years out, but it's set at the time this would have gone out on television.
    • The Doctor and Ash will be investigating an archaeological mystery the Doctor meant to solve with River but never got around to doing, trying to prove one of her theories. However, it's still described as a "small-stakes, upbeat story", which was important to Alfie as there is a lot of "horror and trauma" in the rest of the series.
    • It's a story about "how you can go through hell, pick up the pieces, and still put yourself back together again." Rochana says that most stories she's trying to break hearts, "but here I'm trying to mend them. I think the world needs a few more stories like that right now."
  • The Beautiful and the Damned by Katherine White
    • This story, from new Big Finish writer Katherine White, is described by Alfie Shaw as "a fantastic skewering of social media...[exploring] both the positive and negative impacts it has...I particularly adore the final line so, so much."
    • Katherine White says this is her first big commission. She sent some short scripts to John Dorney and in summer of 2024 was asked by Alfie Shaw if she had any ideas for the Twelfth Doctor. She sent three back, "and luckily Alfie liked them."
    • The story is set in the near future and focuses on a social media company pulling the strings of a society and reinforcing their fixations on their appearances.
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident
  • More than any other story, this one will focus on Yaz's home and work life, and will take a closer look at her life as a police constable. But they still wanted the Doctor to stay central to the plot, which is where a UFO crash in Hallamshire forest comes in.
  • Civilian authorities have to deal with alien encounters since at this time UNIT was decommissioned.
  • It was write Rochana Patel's idea to bring back Patricia Menzies, but the part was written flexibly as they weren't sure they could get Anna Hope back.
• The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers
  • At the end of his life, the Seventh Doctor wants not to repeat past mistakes with Ray that he made with Ace.
  • The Executor by Chris Chapman
    • The opening story will see the Doctor as the executor of a fellow Time Lord's will, leaving him responsible for a house clearance on their TARDIS. Writer Chris Chapman says that the infinite nature of the TARDIS "represents how dwarfed I think we all feel by having to explore the life of someone we've lost and lament accordingly."
  • Oil and Water by James McDermott
    • The second story is written by new Big Finish writer James McDermott, who previously wrote for EastEnders. He has been a fan of the show since 2006 and got into Big Finish during lockdown through Out of Time. He wrote to Matt Fitton and asked if he could write an episode and was offered a commission on this set.
    • James pitched three ideas to Emma Haigh, who liked two of them and suggested they be combined into one, which became Oil and Water.
    • The story is described as "a funny fast-paced climate-conscious grief-themed character-driven adventure featuring giant killer seals, set in Blakeney on my native Norfolk coast!"
    • Through the recording process, James has become good friends with Sara Griffiths, which he describes as "an unexpected highlight of the project."
  • Much Ado About Racing by Fio Trethewey
    • Fio had the title first, and describes it as "science fiction racing [smashed together] with Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, with a pinch of Back to the Future time travel fixin' thrown in!"
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last
  • After having so much fun writing the Eighth Doctor, Charley, and C'rizz in Sontarans vs Rutans, they were the first TARDIS team placed in the running order.
  • This final story will explain why the Eighth Doctor has been popping up throughout this war, even interfering in his own timeline to do so.
  • This was supposed to be written by Stewart Pringle and Lauren Mooney, but they got busy with other things. Tim was brought in since he was part of the original chat.
  • Tim wanted to write for this team in Sontarans vs Rutans as "they're [his] era of Doctor Who", but is happy to come back to them now for this finale.
  • The story will focus on the parallels between C'rizz and the Rutans.
  • John Dorney is open to doing a third series (not sure how you'd scramble the word around this time though). He felt that this series was better than the last, and there's always stories to tell in this war from different angles. He'd also like to circle back to Lauren and Stewart's original storyline.
• Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 1
  • Alfie Shaw is producing this trilogy, but he's really letting Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle take the reins.
  • All three agree that this Master is an interesting contradiction, as he's decaying and desperate, but always feels in control of the situation.
  • The trilogy was inspired by the classic horror series Dr. Phibes, and is a Doctor Who version of similar classic films.
  • All three releases are part of the same story, but have their own flavor, ranging in setting from rural Victorian England at Christmas, to a pocket dimension with Gallifreyan outlaws, to 18th century Venice, to modern and medieval York.
• Vortex Mail
  • The Holy Terror was one of Big Finish's worst selling titles until much later once people realized "what a genius Robert Shearman is!" They believe that Frobisher was one of the reasons people were put off from buying the story at the time, but of course now he's a fan favorite. Nick says "So, maybe it is time for more Frobisher. Hmmm...food for thought."
  • Big Finish are considering adapting the Blake's 7: Origins novels as audiobooks read by surviving cast members.
  • Responding to a listener lamenting the end of Torchwood, Nick says "We'd certainly never say never concerning Torchwood."
  • Something we've already heard, but there will be more of the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough coming soon.
  • Not sure if he's just agreeing with the sentiment of a listener or indicating they plan to do something about it, but Nick agrees that early Monthly Adventures that use the Tom Baker/70s theme tune should have their correct themes instead.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress is released on 3 June (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99)
  • Synopsis: The Doctor takes the TARDIS into the future where many great scientific leaps are taking place. But every new advance has its risks - and some of these risks are deadlier than others.
  • 15.3 Green and Pleasant Planet by Tim Foley The Doctor and Sarah find themselves exploring an alien world alongside a British space expedition. It's never been visited before... so what's a model village doing on the surface of the planet? Finding the answer may prove deadly.
  • 15.4 The Continuum by John Dorney The Doctor and Sarah land on the space-station Daedalus on the day it makes history. The first journey through hyperspace has just been completed. But it hasn't gone as smoothly as posterity suggests. Something terrible is happening - and the clock is ticking down.
  • 15.5 The Audience by Lizzie Hopley A cultural festival on Gakoria should be light relief for the TARDIS crew. But when one of the cast of a play dies, Sarah has to join the troupe. And the Audience on this world are very demanding. Because on this planet... the play's the thing.

Trailers

• None

Cover Reveals

• The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • The Eighth Doctor vs the Sycorax! A new era begins for the Eighth Doctor. Set after his travels with Liv and Helen and before the Time War, the Doctor is joined by new companions Alfie and Chase in this November's Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99). The set will also include The Eighth Doctor: A New Pathway, a brand-new feature-length audio documentary, celebrating thirty years of Paul McGann’s Doctor and giving a detailed look at the creation of this new era in his life.
    • Synopsis: Soon after regeneration, as the Doctor’s Eighth life begins, the TARDIS receives an unusual call... Many years later, travelling with faithful friend Alfie, can the Doctor finally solve a mystery that has dogged him since his earliest days? Who is Chase Moyo? And what new pathways will she lead the Doctor along?
    • 1. Chase by Alan Ronald Chase had hoped for a different life... She sees no escape from her soul-sucking call centre job. But when she is accidentally connected to a mysterious police box, and the extraordinary Doctor Smith - who is just beginning one of his many long lives - her entire world will change forever.
    • 2. Magic of the Sycorax by Katharine Armitage It's time to put Chase through her paces and so the TARDIS follows a distress signal to a remote mining base, beset by powerful forces. The Doctor's defeated the Sycorax before but, this time, they seem to have more magic, more darkness, and everyone has much more to lose...
    • 3. Blast from the Past by Robert Valentine When the TARDIS starts playing up, the Doctor accidentally brings Chase and Alfie to Burnley in 2096, only to discover that the UK has become an authoritarian dictatorship under fascist leader Bastian Clore. Chase in turn discovers that her descendants, the Moyo family of No 19 McKellen Drive, are major players in the underground resistance movement. Beyond the obvious, something is seriously wrong with history. Has the past been rewritten by more than just the propaganda wing of Clore's jingoistic regime? And can Chase live up to the idealised memory her great-great-grandchildren hold of her?
  • Big Finish Day 2027 is set for 17 April 2027, and tickets are on sale now! It will take place at the Polish Social & Cultural Association, Hammersmith, London W6 0RF. The theme is Daleks vs Cybermen.
  • River and Rory reunited! Alex Kingston and Arthur Darvill star in The Death and Life of River Song: River and Rory, a box set of full-cast audio drama, due for release January 2027 (DTO: £24.99 | DTO + CD: £35.99). Set between The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe and Asylum of the Daleks, this release will see River pop up in her father's life at a time when things really are not going his way. Interestingly, they began working on this set in 2020 but haven't been able to slot it into the schedule until now. The first day of recording was only three weeks ago! The four stories in this set include:
    • Bog Man by Lizzie Hopley
    • Life Lessons by Karissa Hamilton-Bannis
    • A Most Dangerous Game by Robert Valentine
    • The Tashpa Stone by Shai Hussain and John Dorney

Out of Print This Week

• Classic Doctors New Monsters 1 (this one's been circling the drain for a while -- hope you got it!)

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Sarah Jane Smith Sale: Discounts on releases from the worlds of Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures! (Ends 7 June 2026)
  • Smith & Sullivan: Reunited
  • Rani Takes on the World: Beyond Bannerman Road
  • Rani Takes on the World: The Revenge of Wormwood
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. June's selection: Gallifrey: Time War 1 for just £14.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. June's selection is The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Continuum: Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code DAEDALUS.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection: Tarrant: Behemoth (excerpt). Use discount code CAPTAIN at checkout to save 25% off the full release of Tarrant (Ends 7 June).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 11 June - Planet Krynoid: Survivors
• 16 June - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
• 18 June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
• 23 June - Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• 25 June - Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
5	The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
	The Twilight Enclave	4.12/5	79 votes
	The Frozen Wastes	4.14/5	74 votes
	The Burning Lands	3.94/5	72 votes
1.2	Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition	3.86/5	90 votes
100	Torchwood: Fare Well	4.62/5	59 votes
15B	The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress
	Green and Pleasant Planet	3.13/5	24 votes
	The Continuum	3.26/5	17 votes
	The Audience	3.59/5	11 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Finishing Fear of Light, which I thought was VERY good, even if the third story started to loose my attention towards the end. Also listened to the first two stories in Lethal Progress. I thought Green and Pleasant Planet had a great concept that took too long to fully reveal itself. The Continuum was pretty good, but another one where my attention waned towards the end.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• Alex Kingston and Arthur Darvill reunite for new River Song audio series (obviously covered above, but worth noting that the Doctor Who website covered this one)

The Rumor Mill

• Russell T. Davies spoke on a podcast recently and stated that there is a BBC press release for Doctor Who running past many sets of eyes that should be released in the next 1-2 weeks.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: Season Two is released on Blu-ray in the US.
• Doctor Who: Thirteenth Doctor Novels (audiobook) is available for preorder on Audible, and will be released 5 November. Collects The Good Doctor (read by Clare Corbett), Molten Heart (read by Dan Starkey), and Combat Magicks (read by Mandip Gill).
• Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood (audiobook of the Target novelisation) is released on Audible on 4 June. Read by Geoffrey Beevers.
• Doctor Who: Twelfth Doctor Novels Volume 2 (audiobook) is released on Audible on 4 June. Collects Royal Blood (read by David Warner), Big Bang Generation (read by Lisa Bowerman), and Deep Time (read by Dan Starkey).

Last March, it was reported by a user on Reddit that Tom Baker was retired from recording for Big Finish. According to u/Low-Construction1755, Matthew Waterhouse said at a convention in Australia that he'd heard from Nick Briggs that Tom was done recording for them. However, new information this morning from writer and script editor John Dorney has cast some doubt on this report.

Dorney took to X this morning to post that Lethal Progress contains his final script for the Fourth Doctor Adventures, as he decided to move on from the range.

>Here we go. My final script for Tom. It was a blast sir.

@MrJohnDorney via X

After a few people asked him if this meant Tom had stopped recording, he decided in the comments to clarify his statement:

>Final? Has Tom stopped recording for Big Finish?

>It’s not about Tom stopping, it’s about me stopping. I’d done enough. Time for others to have a go.

@MrJohnDorney via X

>Had a feeling Tom had finished recording

>Not what I mean. Check my replies.

@MrJohnDorney via X

>Is he no longer recording audios now?

>I believe Matthew Waterhouse let that slip a while back. The legend has done so much work, it’ll be sad for it to stop but he’s done more than enough.

>See my other replies. This post is being somewhat misinterpreted.

@MrJohnDorney via X

Up until this point it felt more that all he was originally trying to say was that he had moved on, and his statement had nothing to do with Tom's status. However, wanting that information to reach a wider audience, he posted again, this time saying:

>To clarify this is about me stopping, not Tom. Like there’s a massive amount of m script editing the 4das to go…

@MrJohnDorney via X

This seemed to me an indication that Dorney was still script editing recordings yet to occur. I expressed my happiness to hear that news despite what Matthew Waterhouse said last year at that convention, but another user cast some more doubt on exactly what Dorney meant. In reply to us, he clarified once more:

>To be clear again, I’m no longer script editing the 4das either. But somebody else might be.

@MrJohnDorney via X

Nothing absolutely firm has been said as I would think they'd like to avoid any true confirmation, but this seems to me to be an indication that Tom may still be recording. It seems to be fairly solid confirmation at the very least that the 4DAs are continuing. It sounds like Tom is still involved too, but a recast isn't outside the realm of possibility.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

I think we've got a pretty large crop of news and announcements this week, so buckle in.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Nick mentions the "upcoming new Big Finish website", sharing with us that the number for each release (i.e., 16A. Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 16: Volume 01) will soon come after the title to make things a little more searchable.
• Very short podcast this week, not a lot of content. The website thing came at the veeeeery end.

Random Tangents: Benji's never been invited to a Eurovision party.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Companion Chronicles: The Specials

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Torchwood: Fare Well by Joseph Lidster is released on 27 May (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99)
  • Synopsis: Ianto Jones and Tommy Pierce have fought many alien invaders together. They're more than work colleagues, they're friends. But their friendship is about to be put to the test as they prepare to face a Cyberman. A Cyberman in a cellar. In the village of Wetwang.

Trailers

• None

Cover Reveals

• The Third Doctor Adventures: The Planet Killers
• The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers
• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • The Third Doctor faces the Daleks! The Third Doctor Adventures: The Planet Killers (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99) is announced as October's Third Doctor release, as the Doctor's adventures with an older Jo Jones continue.
    • The Beasts of Sakhalin Island by Jez Fielder (four parts) The Doctor and Jo Jones are drawn to Sakhalin Island in 1890, where the dramatist and writer Dr Anton Chekhov is chronicling the plight of the inmates in the penal colony there. But something else is arriving on the island... A strange infection develops and the howls of a tortured beast can be heard...
    • The Planet Killers by Andrew Smith (two parts) When the Doctor and Jo Jones arrive on a beautiful planet, little do they suspect they’ve landed right in the middle of events involving planetary destruction, ruthless exploitation of minerals, slavery and betrayal. A merciless Dalek plan is in motion, and the struggle to defeat them will cost many lives.
  • In a fix with the Seventh Doctor and Ray. The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99) is announced as July's Seventh Doctor release, as the Seventh Doctor and Ray start their adventures in time and space following their reunion in last year's (utterly remarkable) Past Forward!
    • Synopsis: Late in his life, the Seventh Doctor has reunited with an old friend. Someone to help him fix the problems of the universe - if he can avoid repeating mistakes of the past. Ray is capable, clever and seems the perfect foil for the Doctor - but she will still be put to the test...
    • The Executor by Chris Chapman (2 parts) In a muddy field stands an old stone dovecot. Only it’s a TARDIS - with a recently deceased owner. The Doctor is named Executor of the Last Will and Testament of an old friend - Pegroninagall, 'Peg'. He has a monumental task: clearing her TARDIS of keepsakes and mementos. But this Ship may also contain whatever killed Peg...
    • Oil and Water by James McDermott (2 parts)  Visiting the Norfolk coast, the Doctor and Ray discover something very wrong with Blakeney's seals: they're bloated, mutated, and killing people! With grieving boater Anne, they investigate the cause... Is there something in the water? What does it want with the sea life? And what are its plans for humanity?
    • Much Ado About Racing by Fio Tretheway (2 parts) When the TARDIS arrives at the start of the Intergalactic Championship Rally, the Doctor and Ray are caught between two rival racers. And for Ray, long-buried feelings resurface. Something is at work here: something feeding on heartache and regret. And love among the race-crafts isn’t all that’s at stake...
  • Ice Warriors in Sheffield! The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident (DTO: £9.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99) is announced as July's Thirteenth Doctor release, as the back half of the series kicks off following the "mid-season finale" of Aegis. Also...Patricia Menzies returns?!
    • Synopsis: A huge UFO has crashed in Hallamshire Forest. Are there survivors? Is the site safe? There are a lot of questions to answer. With UNIT and Torchwood gone, the police must step up, while keeping the incident under wraps... Fortunately, they have officers with extensive experience of otherworldly threats... Patricia Menzies is on her way. Yasmin Khan is being recalled. But Yaz’s sister, Sonya, believes the world has the right to know the truth about aliens...
  • Early-Bird Savings on 2027’s Classic Doctor Who Adventures. 14 Classic Doctor releases for 2027 are now available to pre-order at special early bird prices (DTO: £266 | DTO + CD: £350) until 1 July, at which point they will increase (DTO: £294 | DTO + CD: £385). There are a few developments next year, as the Fourth Doctor Adventures goes down to two releases a year and the Second Doctor Adventures finally goes up to two. Interestingly, the First Doctor isn't part of this crop. Wondering if they're simply changing the format or if there are scheduling issues with Noonan. Individual bundles are also available to order, including:
    • Both Second Doctor box sets (due for release in February and July) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Third Doctor box sets (due for release in February and October) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Fourth Doctor box sets (due for release in March and June) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Fifth Doctor box sets (due for release in April and September) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Sixth Doctor box sets (due for release in May and August) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Seventh Doctor box sets (due for release in June and September) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Eighth Doctor box sets (due for release in November and December) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD).

 

Out of Print This Week

• The Lost Stories: 3.3 The Children of Seth

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Torchwood Sale: Up to 50% off Torchwood box sets and bundles! (Ends 31 May 2026)
  • Cannot offer my recommendations here unfortunately, as I have not listened to any Torchwood myself
• McGanniversary Sale: Up to 50% off Eighth Doctor releases set during his travels with Charlotte Pollard, Mary Shelley, and Lucie Miller! (Ends 31 May 2026)
  • The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller Series 01
    • I'd recommend picking up as many of these collections as you can. Be mindful that the individual releases are also on sale if you're needing to plug some gaps, but in all cases the collections are cheaper on sale, even if only by a pound or two.
  • The Eighth Doctor and Charlotte Pollard Series 01
  • The Chimes of Midnight
  • Scherzo
  • The Natural History of Fear
    • For some reason this doesn't show on the sale page, but it is discounted.
  • Caerdroia
  • Terror Firma
  • The Silver Turk
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. Nothing at the time of posting this, but I'll keep updated.

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 3 June - The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress (Nick said "Wednesday the 6th of June on the podcast" but I'm sure he meant the 3rd)
• TBC June - Planet Krynoid: Survivors (due out the week after next)
• TBC June - Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties
• TBC June - Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• TBC June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
• TBC June - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
1.6	Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis	3.30/5	138 votes
5.2	Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2
	Monky Nuts	4.27/5	71 votes
	Monky Magic	4.45/5	70 votes
5	The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
	The Twilight Enclave	4.16/5	67 votes
	The Frozen Wastes	4.14/5	59 votes
	The Burning Lands	3.95/5	57 votes
1.2	Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition	3.92/5	72 votes
100	Torchwood: Fare Well	4.73/5	35 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Listened to The Indigo Child and The Twilight Enclave over the long weekend, as well as The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis, which I'm very sorry to say I was thoroughly bored by. I also listened to Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition, which I thought was very enjoyable.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann Celebrate 30 Years of the Doctor Who TV Movie | The Whoniverse Show
  • Sylvester wore a similar hat to the Seventh Doctor's to his audition, and JNT wanted to keep it for the show.
    • Similarly, Sylvester played the spoons at a party and JNT wanted to work that into the show.
  • Since they used the original negatives to remaster the TV Movie and they were also remixing the audio, there were small changes made to the movie in the process. For example, there's a scene when Grace is looking into the Eye of Harmony where she comments "Doctor, I'm blind!" that could not be heard well in the original mix.
  • Variant covers revealed for Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 and #2 from Titan Comics, due out 8 July and 5 August, respectively
  • Cover reveal for BBC audio's Circuit Breaker: The Deadliest Weapon

The Rumor Mill

• The Sun is reporting that the Christmas special will be pushed back to Easter. Several outlets have picked this story up and the BBC have declined to comment. The rumor reports that the delay is down to not being able to find an actor to carry on the role of the Doctor from the special into the next series, rather than any issue related to the writing/production of the Christmas special itself.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: The Movie is released on Blu-ray and 4K on 26 May.
• Doctor Who Magazine Issue #630 is out on 28 May.
• Doctor Who: Shard of Life cover art is added. This Second Doctor BBC audio original is due for release 1 October.
• Doctor Who Battles in Time: Obliterator 2026 Limited Edition Sealed Box is announced, including cards for characters through the Fifteenth Doctor's era!

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• A listener asks why the Eighth Doctor has two new companions this year rather than continuing/wrapping anything up with Audacity or Liv and Helen. Nick doesn't seem to have detailed information on what's going on with the Eighth Doctor Adventures, but says to trust Matt Fitton because "he's cooking something up".
• Nick doesn't necessarily have a "check list" or requirements for a story from a specific era to feel like it comes from that era, it's just a gut check.
• Nick has a reputation at Big Finish of not having much of an imagination when it comes to sort of "out there" ideas or concepts that don't have a logical basis (think stories like 73 Yards). Nick always requires an explanation or at the very least an acknowledgement of not having an explanation. A quite odd example he gives for not having a good explanation is the end of Victory of the Daleks, when Bracewell stops the detonation by having an emotional response. He thinks that there should have been some quick comment about his "emotional programming taking too much of a hold over its central processor". That being said, when Nick has a hang-up like this he will talk to producers or other creatives involved, see if it makes sense to them, and try to find a reason to get on board.
  • Disclaimer: I foresee some of you having big gripes with Nick over this commentary. I would just like to say that it really comes across as more of a personal preference for Nick. He does not come down with an iron fist on writers who try "out there" ideas, he says he rarely will let those hang-ups get in the way of a story being made as he knows there will be audiences who like the concept.

Random Tangents: Benji's got a friend who can do some squirrel magic.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Torchwood: Fare Well by Joseph Lidster

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Paradox Planet / The Legacy of Death

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light by Rochana Patel is released on 19 May (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £29.99)
  • Synopsis: In the midst of the Time War, can the Doctor work with the Rani to change the future of the universe?
    • 5.1 The Twilight Enclave Fleeing from the Daleks, the Doctor sends a distress call, in desperate need of rescue...and it’s answered by one of his oldest friends, and deadliest foes... the Rani.
    • 5.2 The Frozen Wastes The Doctor must consider the unthinkable. Can he set their differences aside, and work with the Rani, on a project that could change the future of the universe...?
    • 5.3 The Burning Lands The Rani stands on the brink of success. The future of the universe is about to change...
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition by Tim Foley is released on 21 May (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99)
  • Synopsis: At the edge of the Sontaran-Rutan War, a large medical ship lingers in space. The Doctor and his friends find a group of strange survivors aboard planning something unusual to save their commander. What new powers do the Rutans possess? What secrets does the Lockhart hold? As the conflict creeps closer, the Doctor must work out how to rescue those no longer versed in war...

Trailers

• The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light (Release Day Video Trailer)
• Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
• Planet Krynoid: Survivors

Cover Reveals

• Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last
• Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • The Decayed Master is announced as the next trilogy in the Dark Gallifrey saga. Geoffrey Beevers will star in his first series of audio stories, written by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle.
• Videos
  • Jonathon Carley's War Doctor Video Diary | Day One
  • Jonathon Carley's War Doctor Video Diary | Day Two
  • Jonathon Carley's War Doctor Video Diary | Day Three
  • Interview | Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury answer listeners' questions
• Blog Post
  • Michael Keating 1947 - 2026
• Unofficial Announcements/Updates
  • The 2026 Eighth Doctor Adventures sets have been renamed. Rather than being New Pathways 1 and 2, they will now be titled The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways and The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Fear the Reapers
  • The Second Doctor Adventures 2026 has at some point been pushed back from July to August

Out of Print This Week

• No Doctor Who but tons of Dark Shadows stuff

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Second Doctor Sale: Up to 50% off releases across all ranges featuring the Second Doctor! (Ends 25 May 2026)
  • The Second Doctor Adventures: James Robert McCrimmon
  • The Lost Stories: Deathworld (Alternate 10th Anniversary Special)
  • The Lost Stories: Operation Werewolf
  • The Companion Chronicles: The Second Doctor Volume 03
  • The Companion Chronicles: The Glorious Revolution
  • The Early Adventures: Daughter of the Gods
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection: Sky: Before the Chaos: Apotheose (Excerpt). Use discount code ARBY at checkout to save 25% off the full release of Sky: Before the Chaos (Ends 25 May).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 27 May - Torchwood: Fare Well
• TBC June - The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress (I list this one now because the podcast will cover it next week, which means it should come out around 2 - 4 June)

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
8	Time War Uncharted 3: Branches
	The Only Girl in the World	3.65/5	63 votes
	False Dawn	3.28/5	61 votes
	The Council of Susan	3.55/5	58 votes
	All Over	3.64/5	56 votes
1.6	Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis	3.39/5	118 votes
5.2	Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2
	Monky Nuts	4.29/5	55 votes
	Monky Magic	4.46/5	55 votes
5	The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
	The Twilight Enclave	4.05/5	51 votes
	The Frozen Wastes	4.03/5	43 votes
	The Burning Lands	3.78/5	38 votes
1.2	Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition	4.09/5	32 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Just some Monky Nuts and Monky Magic for me.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• None

The Rumor Mill

• Russell continues to NOT talk about the Christmas special

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who Adventures: Save the Humans! is available to pre-order, and is due for release 18 August

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Nothing really this week. Just a long chat about Nick seeing the theatrical release of Star Wars with Chris Chibnall and a little discussion about an old show called Sergeant Cork, then a Good Review Guy for The War Doctor Begins: Enemy Mine.

Random Tangents: Nick was on the Says Who podcast recently and they had never heard of Sirens of Time: Redux, which Nick has flabbergasted by. Nick compares his work on it to George Lucas doing the special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Production Interviews: The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light by Rochana Patel and Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition by Tim Foley

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light - The Twilight Enclave by Rochana Patel

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Early Adventures: 2.2 The Forsaken

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis by Noga Flaishon is released on 12 May (DTO: £9.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99), accompanied by a video trailer!
  • Synopsis: The Doctor and Yaz must infiltrate the Aegis Protectorate interplanetary defence expo in search of someone who has been dogging their travels. As the Doctor digs into the company’s main export, the sinister Trojan Program, Yaz faces a battle of her own. Will they finally uncover the truth about the Tourist?
• Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2 by John Dorney is released on 12 May (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £10.99)
  • Monky Nuts  It’s time to host the neighbours for an evening soirée. But is the Monk’s fish dish a winner or will their guests prefer the Nun’s baby chicken? There’s only one way to find out and soon culinary battle has commenced. What could possibly go wrong? 
  • Monky Magic  There’s a big prize to be won at the local talent show. So the Monk and the Nun are soon brushing up their best stage acts in attempt to claim victory and ensure the success of their grand plan. What could possibly go wrong?

 

Trailers

• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis (Video Trailer)
• The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Lethal Progress

Cover Reveals

• None

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• Video: Interview | Mandip Gill answers listeners' questions
• Blog Post: A Celebration of Ianto Jones

Out of Print This Week

• The Monthly Adventures: 253. Memories of a Tyrant

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Big Finish Warehouse Clearance: 70% off several items in the Big Finish warehouse that MUST GO!!! Use code HAWTHORN to access the sale. (Ends 17 May 2026)
  • Rani Takes on the World: Beyond Bannerman Road
  • The Third Doctor Adventures: The Return of Jo Jones
  • The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Water Worlds
  • The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 03 (Limited Edition)
  • Classic Doctors New Monsters 3: The Stuff of Nightmares
  • If anyone wants all of the vinyl releases in a series on this sale (e.g., Dalek Universe 1-3), go to the actual product page, not the sale, and select the bundle. They've reduced its price to match the sale, and you'll get combined shipping.
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection: The Invisible Man (Excerpt). Use discount code GRIFFIN at checkout to save 25% off the full release of The Invisible Man (Ends 17 May).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 19 May - The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
• 21 May - Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition
• 27 May - Torchwood: Fare Well

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
1	UNIT: Eras: Hostile Universe
	Rise of the Valiant	3.36/5	45 votes
	The Indigo Child	3.34/5	40 votes
	The Life and Death of Private Eddie Wise	4.28/5	37 votes
	Deadstar	3.85/5	39 votes
8	Time War Uncharted 3: Branches
	The Only Girl in the World	3.65/5	54 votes
	False Dawn	3.30/5	51 votes
	The Council of Susan	3.60/5	48 votes
	All Over	3.63/5	46 votes
1.6	Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis	3.37/5	82 votes
5.2	Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2
	Monky Nuts	4.46/5	25 votes
	Monky Magic	4.66/5	25 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Finished Time War Uncharted 3: Branches. Underwhelmed by Council of Susan, but All Over was pretty good if not a bit convoluted at the end. Had to relisten to the last 20 minutes to really grasp what was happening.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• AMC+ Acquires exclusive US streaming rights to Doctor Who (2005-2022)

The Rumor Mill

• The AMC+ announcement has for some led credence to the rumors that they will be the international partner of the BBC for the show going forward.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: Leap of Eighth: The Unofficial and Unauthorised History of the Eighth Doctor is released 12 May
• The Time Museum: The Story of Doctor Who in 100 Objects from the makers of Doctor Who Magazine is available to pre-order and is due for release 11 June
• Jubilee by Robert Shearman, the novelisation of his Big Finish audio drama, is released on paperback on 14 May

Yesterday I saw that the second series of 9DAs were at a 70% discount on vinyl, and since I own the first series I knew I had to pick it up. But then I added all 4 to my cart at less than $60, the shipping price to the US was an astronomical $125!

I contacted sales and told them I’d like to buy them all with combined shipping. I had looked at the shipping for the bundle of 4 and it was only $40, so I asked if they could do this for me. They responded today letting me know that they have discounted the bundles for the vinyl releases to match the sale, plus there’s no per-order charge.

So, if you want a bundle of this or Dalek Universe, do NOT purchase through the warehouse sale. Go to the product page of a single release and select the bundle option. Hope this helps you guys!

Fair warning, just received my Great Holocron today, and am massively disappointed that the battery seems to be dead. Pulled the tab out and tried to turn it on to no avail. No worries, figured it just needed a charge. Plugged it in and the lights came on in the corners to indicate charging. Gave it a couple hours before I unplugged and attempted to turn it on. Still nothing. I plugged it back in and turned it on while charging and it works as normal. All this seems to me like the battery is dead. I’m going to contact Disney and see if I can get a replacement.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Glad to know that title of the upcoming Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis is pronounced ee-jis.
• An e-mailer asks if a potential new website could include a Dark Mode. Nick says "I don't want to give anything away, but yes."
• After joking that The Human Frontier 2 will never be finished, Nick says "I think [it will come out in 2028], unless I die first."

Random Tangents: Nick doesn't like Dark Mode and doesn't use it for anything.

Production Interviews: Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis by Noga Flaishon and Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2 by John Dorney

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis by Noga Flaishon

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: Bernice Summerfield: Road Trip.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Time War Uncharted 3: Branches is released on 6 May (DTO: £24.99 | DTO + CD: £30.99)
  • Synopsis: Searching for the missing Cass, the Doctor and great-grandson Alex attempt to cross from one end of an unfamiliar universe to the other. Along the way, they meet this reality's version of their friend - the buccaneering Cassie, who has a destiny of her own.
    • 8.1 The Only Girl in the World by John Dorney Searching for Cass, the Doctor and Alex find themselves on board an odd slave spaceship with a version of their friend from the Uncharted universe - the swashbuckling and dangerous Cassie. Cassie is seeking revenge for the destruction of her homeworld - believing her destiny is to stop Mr Karl, the ruthless killer who obliterated it. But if that is her destiny, why is it so hard to fulfil?
    • 8.2 False Dawn by Alison Winter A galactic quarantine order has the Doctor investigating an invasive species that is rapidly spreading across the uncharted universe and infiltrating multiple dimensions. As the walls between worlds weaken, even the TARDIS struggles with keeping everything on the inside.
    • 8.3 The Council of Susan by Tim Foley Looking for a way through a dangerous Barrier, the Doctor and his friends stumble upon an unusual organisation. The Council of Susan is stationed by a wormhole – and they know all about the mysterious time traveller known as ‘Grandfather’. Are the Doctor and Alex due for a family reunion? Or will a darker presence try its best to sever all family ties?
    • 8.4 All Over by Patrick O'Connor Out on the ice lies an empty blue box. Luckily, there’s someone out here who can drag it to safety – that’s what Friends are for, after all. In a rundown house at the edge of the Uncharted, someone will face her destiny. It’s time for myths to be exposed and everything to end.

Trailers

• None

Cover Reveals

• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight (officially posted on socials this week, but revealed last week)

News/Announcements

• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight is officially announced for release in August. Story and cast details are out:
  • Synopsis: The Doctor has a new companion, Eleanor Fong, and he's ready to show her the universe. But on her first trip to an alien planet, Eleanor encounters an old foe of the Doctor's...
    • Tyranny of the Judoon by Ben Tedds An ominous threat has left the people of Hefestis living under the shadow of the Judoon. But award-winning journalist Octavia Cain is here to sniff out the truth. She's even found two Shadow Proclamation detectives who'll help her unmask it. If only the Doctor and Eleanor were actually from the Shadow Proclamation...
    • Gambit of the Judoon by Ben Tedds From: INVIGILATOR KOLLO To: ALL STAFF Subject: OPERATION PERSEUS The two persons of interest remain at large. There is a strong possibility they may attempt to infiltrate the Shadow Proclamation. Inform me or Captain Sydon of any and all developments, no matter how small. Additional reminder: I am not to be disturbed during my lunch hour.
    • Wanted Dead and Alive by Beth Axford The Doctor dies on the shores of Lake Silencio; it's a fact known across the universe. Only someone has arrived early, an old friend of the Doctor, ready to do whatever it takes to save him...

Out of Print This Week

• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 10 Volume 02
• The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Hooklight 1

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Time War Sale: Up to 50% off releases and bundles set during the Time War! (Ends 10 May 2026)
  • Gallifrey: Time War 1 - 4 (Vol 1 | Vol 2 | Vol 3 | Vol 4)
  • Time War 4
  • The War Master: Only the Good
  • The War Doctor 1 - 4 (Vol 1 | Vol 2 | Vol 3 | Vol 4)
  • The War Doctor Rises: Morbius the Mighty
  • The War Doctor Rises: Fallen Heroes
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection: Dark Shadows: The Tony & Cassandra Mysteries: The Mystery at Crucifix Heights. Use discount code WITCH at checkout to save 25% off the full release of Dark Shadows: The Tony & Cassandra Mysteries Series 01 (Ends 10 May).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 12 May - Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis
• 14 May - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2
• 19 May - The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
• 21 May - Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition
• 27 May - Torchwood: Fare Well

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
9	The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Expulsion
	The Reckoning	4.26/5	60 votes
	A Crucible of Queens	3.53/5	51 votes
	The Curse of the Duergar	3.56/5	48 votes
2	Zygon Century: Transformation
	1922: The Black Cadre	3.51/5	40 votes
	1968: An Incident in Death Valley	4.29/5	40 votes
	1974: The Caldwell Restitution	3.40/5	35 votes
1	UNIT: Eras: Hostile Universe
	Rise of the Valiant	3.50/5	38 votes
	The Indigo Child	3.33/5	35 votes
	The Life and Death of Private Eddie Wise	4.30/5	30 votes
	Deadstar	3.95/5	30 votes
8	Time War Uncharted 3: Branches
	The Only Girl in the World	3.67/5	33 votes
	False Dawn	3.41/5	28 votes
	The Council of Susan	3.72/5	18 votes
	All Over	3.97/5	16 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Time War Uncharted 3: Branches, but only the first two stories. I loved The Only Girl in the World, and False Dawn was confusing but enjoyable.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• 20 years since The Girl in the Fireplace is celebrated on Doctor Who socials.
• Preservation efforts underway for Torchwood Hub entrance and Ianto’s Shrine.

The Rumor Mill

• None

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 from Titan Comics is available to order from Forbidden Planet or wherever you get your comics.
• Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker TPB from Titan Comics is available to pre-order.
• Doctor Who: The Rescue is released 7 May on CD and download.
• Doctor Who: Circle of Memory by Bob Ayres is released 7 May on CD and download.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

There are a couple links at the bottom of this post I couldn't provide as products were only available through Amazon, and the subreddit's filters automatically remove my post if it includes Amazon links.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• The cover to the podcast has regenerated!
• Nothing of note, but we've got plenty of goodies in Vortex.

Random Tangents: Benji bought a CRT to play PS2 games.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Time War Uncharted 3: Branches - The Only Girl in the World by John Dorney

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Monthly Adventures: 237. The Helliax Rift

Vortex #206

• Planet Krynoid: Survivors
  • The first story will follow survivors Tiro and Letty as they encounter a cast of new character, including monster hunters Saber and Latch. The story gives a clear nod to Aliens.
  • Tamsin Greig's Overseer Amesus Vail will debut in the second story, alongside Gina Bellman as Katarina. It takes place 100 years before the events of Nightfall, and will show us how the Doctor ended up in the first set.
  • Jonathan Morris describes his story, the final story in the set, as a kind of folk horror, "The Wicker Krynoid!"
• The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
  • Saffron, who is returning from the 2022 story Station to Station, will link up the Ninth Doctor before and after Rosea dn will be able to see the difference she has made to him.
  • The villain that has been drawing them back to the Powell Estate is a returning villain that has "been lurking in the background for quite some time."
• Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties
  • The opening story was pitched as "What if Gallifrey met Saw?", and will test the relationship between the General and Rasmus.
  • Veklin has had enough of Ollistra and goes to side with Leela and the Resistance in the second story. We will also see a more vulnerable side of Narvin.
  • The third story follows Leela's journey to the heart of the matrix to rescue Romana. It will also tie old Gallifreyan lore to "new Doctor Who."
  • Heather Challands compares Rassilon in the Time War to a Roman Emperor being in charge of a modern war.
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress
  • Tim Foley's story in this release was one of his first scripts for Big Finish, and it sounds like he wrote many more for this series that will be released in the coming years.
  • John Dorney's story in the set is an attempt at a "oner" in film, obviously adapted to audio. There are no breaks between scenes and the story runs in real time.
  • Lizzie Hopley's story has a villain specifically written to give Tom Baker someone to spar with. She's "a scientist, masquerading as a robot, who has implanted the hearts of the 'defunct' population into her robot elite."
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
  • Lizzie Hopley was the one who brough C'rizz back into the fold with 2024's Sontarans vs Rutans: The Battle of Giant's Causeway.
  • "Grave Moon" doesn't necessarily describe anything in the story, just fits the tone. Though there is a Dagobah-like moon.
  • Lizzie loved writing interactions between the Eighth Doctor and Peri, and wishes she could do more in the future.
• Vortex Mail
  • Big Finish are considering ways to let you buy bundles that you already own releases in so you pay a little less and don't double-buy a release.
    • I imagine this will look something like it did on their new website where they simply bundled based on number of items purchased.
  • I don't want anyone to be misquoted on this, so I'll type verbatim: "There are no plans for more with Martha at the moment, Colin. Sadly, Freema Agyeman seems very unlikely to revisit the character again."

Big Finish News

New Releases

• UNIT: Eras: Hostile Universe is released on 29 April (DTO: £24.99)
  • Synopsis: UNIT. Humanity’s first and best line of defence against a hostile universe. No matter where. No matter when.
    • 1. Rise of the Valiant by Andrew Smith 2008. The Earth has been stolen and planets fill the sky. With the Doctor otherwise engaged, it falls to UNIT's finest - Colonel Mace, Harry Sullivan, and the retired Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart - to take the fight back to the Daleks. Because deep in the Brazilian rainforest, a secret weapon with a familiar name is waiting. And it's ready to fly.
    • 2. The Indigo Child by Ken Bentley 2017. UNIT has been shut down, its heroes targeted. After an attempt on her life, Kate Stewart fights from the shadows, doing what she can to protect the people of Great Britain. Reunited with Petronella Osgood, Kate goes undercover to save a child refugee with psychic powers. It's a race against time, and a new enemy is determined to win.
    • 3. The Life and Death of Private Eddie Wise by Hannah Kennedy The dawn of UNIT. Aliens have invaded and Eddie Wise is far from ready. Plagued by nightmares and lying to his fiancé, the beleaguered Eddie becomes embroiled in a plot to bring his workplace to its knees. To make matters worse, there's a journalist on his tail. Because Sarah Jane Smith needs the scoop on UNIT, and Private Wise might just be the man she needs.
    • 4. Deadstar by Joshua Pruett and Jonathan S Powell 2023. The Toymaker has been vanquished and UNIT stands tall. But when a cutting-edge telescope is brought online, the UNIT skyscraper is plunged into lockdown. Besieged by an impossible foe, Melanie Bush and new recruit Dr Isla Ellis need all their wits to survive. Because the stars have woken up, and something is very wrong with the Vlinx.

Trailers

• Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition

Cover Reveals

• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress
• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon

News/Announcements

• Circuit Breaker is set to kick off 25 June, and details have been announced as to all the tie-ins to the cross-media event, including Big Finish's contributions. Robert Valentine has penned the epic two-hour finale to the whole event, Circuit Breaker: Full Circuit (DTO: £13.99 | DTO + CD: £21.99), due for release 22 September. Two days later on 24 September, a pair of Short Trips will be released together as Short Circuits (DTO: £11.99). Both releases can be purchased as a bundle for £23 on DTO or £31 on DTO + CD. Full details for the multimedia event are listed below in my Doctor Who news section.
• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight is announced and is due for release in August (DTO: £19.99), as the Eleventh Doctor and companion Eleanor Fong are set to take on the Judoon!
  • At the time of writing there hasn't been a social media or press announcement for this, but it was revealed on the Whoniverse Show and is available for pre-order.

Out of Print This Week

• Unbound: Doctor of War 1: Genesis
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: The Ministry of Death
• Not OOP yet but there are less than 50 copies of Hooklight 1 and 2

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• UNIT Sale: Up to 50% off releases and bundles across all UNIT ranges (Ends 4 May 2026)
  • UNIT: Brave New World: Fractures
  • UNIT: Silenced
  • UNIT: Nemesis 1: Between Two Worlds
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

Free Day Friday: Every week, Big Finish highlights an excerpt from their Big Finish For Free! collection, and offer 25% off the full release using a unique sale code. This week's selection hasn't been posted yet, but I'll keep you updated.

Big Finish Release Schedule (Schedule for May isn't out yet so let's make some guesses)

• 6 May - Time War Uncharted 3: Branches
• 12 May - Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis
• 14 May - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2
• 19 May - The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
• 21 May - Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition
• 27 May - Torchwood: Fare Well

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

Release No.	Title	Score	Votes
1.5	The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Pandemonium	3.87/5	126 votes
9	The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Expulsion
	The Reckoning	4.25/5	53 votes
	A Crucible of Queens	3.62/5	45 votes
	The Curse of the Duergar	3.58/5	43 votes
2	Zygon Century: Transformation
	1922: The Black Cadre	3.58/5	32 votes
	1968: An Incident in Death Valley	4.33/5	30 votes
	1974: The Caldwell Restitution	3.44/5	27 votes
1	UNIT: Eras: Hostile Universe
	Rise of the Valiant	3.69/5	21 votes
	The Indigo Child	3.50/5	18 votes
	The Life and Death of Private Eddie Wise	4.25/5	16 votes
	Deadstar	4.14/5	14 votes

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: The Curse of the Duergar, which I thought was alright but a very anticlimactic end to the set. I also listened to Zygon Century: Transformation, which I thought was pretty good (especially the stellar 1968: An Incident in Death Valley), and makes me excited for the inevitable conclusion.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker launches on 25 June, kicking off an epic, multi-platform adventure unfolding this summer across audio, publishing, gaming and digital, bringing fans together for one connected, must-follow Whoniverse event. Full details can be found on the Doctor Who website, including new promo art, an infographic, a first look at Titan's art for their comic book contribution, and this week's Whoniverse Show giving you the rundown. For your benefit, I have included the schedule and links for purchase below. If specific releases aren't available for pre-order yet, I'll make an informed guess and include an asterisk (*).
  • Release Schedule and Ordering Information
    • 25 June: Calling the Doctor - UNIT website written by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
    • 8 July: Adversary of the Daleks (Issue #1: £4.60*) – Titan Comics, written by Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters, with stunning art from Roberta Ingranata and Sami Kivelä
    • 23 July: The Honourable Society (Digital: £6.99* | Physical: £7.99*) – Doctor Who Magazine issue 632, written by Jason Quinn and illustrated by Anthony Williams
    • 30 July: The Deadliest Weapon (Audible: £27.99) – BBC Audiobooks Audio Original written by Steve Lyons, narrated by Jo Martin with David Banks as the Cyber-Leader
    • 4 August: Dawn of the Daleks (Issue #2: £4.60*) – Titan Comics, written by Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters, with stunning art from Roberta Ingranata and Sami Kivelä
    • 6 August: Castling – East Side Games (Lost in Time mobile game) written by Mario Mentasti
    • 17 August: Don’t Blink! – UNIT website written by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
    • 20 August: The Doctor and the Three Witches (Paperback: £12.99) – Puffin book re-release of Time Lord Fairy Tales that includes this new story written by Janelle McCurdy
    • 27 August: Moment Mori – East Side Games (Lost in Time mobile game) written by Mario Mentasti
    • 31 August: The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray: £27.49) – Circuit Breaker DVD release
    • 3 September: The Kaleidoscope (Hardback: £22.00) – Penguin Random House book written by Jo Martin ​
    • 22 September: Full Circuit (DTO: £13.99 | DTO + CD: £21.99) – Big Finish full-cast audio drama written by Robert Valentine
    • 24 September: Short Circuits (DTO: £11.99) – Big Finish audiobooks

     

  • Total Estimated Event Price: £141.64 (before tax + shipping)
    • Bundling the Big Finish releases at £23 DTO or £31 DTO+CD obviously will help save some costs, and if you have an Audible credit to use or can sign up for a month that should help with The Deadliest Weapon. The Blu-ray release also collects 10 episodes of Doctor Who that they've decided are tangentially related to the event, so it's not strictly necessary to buy.

The Rumor Mill

• >!There was an alleged leaked press release for Monday, 11 May that announces a global partnership with AMC for three new seasons of a Doctor Who "reboot." According to this leak it would still be a continuation in the same way Series 1 was in 2005, but it sounds like Bad Wolf would not be involved.!<
• Discussing soap operas publishing details of storylines ahead of episode releases, RTD muses in Doctor Who Magazine #629 "Wouldn't it be great if we got to this year's Doctor Who Christmas special and nothing had been spoiled and everything was new? Why do we do it any other way?" It's a crumb, but this was written at the beginning of the month so that's fairly recent positive indication that the special is still on.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: Battles in Time is available to order in the US via Amazon, with a release date of 1 September.