Unpopular Opinion: Big Finish’s Doctor Who Audios

Guest contributor Anton Badham has an alternative take on the audio adventures.

Some of us have heard Big Finish stories, while others haven’t. Many fans still know of it. If not Big Finish is a company that produces audio plays expanding on cult television series. Since 1999 it has produced Doctor Who and has been widely praised for its take on the show. This is why I take great caution in this article when I offer an alternative take on the impact of Big Finish and its place in the franchise.

For the record, I think Big Finish does an extraordinary job. It brings out the best in former Doctor Who actors and actresses as well as showcasing exceptional writing and production talent. Its audios are captivating and unique.

I do, however, hold some uneasiness with Big Finish and I would like to offer a few reasons here.

Accessibility

Unlike the television adventures of Doctor Who, the audio range is not initially released on a public television or radio platform in the UK, which means that if one wants to gain access to the content, a price must be paid outside that of the British television licence. A lot of story elements that make up the Whoniverse come from expanded media, meaning that a fan cannot get the full story of Doctor Who without shelling out a hell of a lot of money.

Of course the television series can still be understood without listening to Big Finish and sometimes a Big Finish story finds its way onto BBC Radio 4 Extra (Be savvy, poorer British fans; They could appear at any time) but some fans will feel that the experience of fandom includes everything and won’t want to miss out. It is very easy to miss out on this. Big Finish isn’t as widely advertised to viewers as the main series.

Expanding the Whoniverse

Something major that Big Finish productions do is expanding on the ideas and happenings of the Whoniverse. Big Finish has produced over 200 monthly releases, as well as many individual series. I feel that there is too much. The way I see it, Big Finish is the audio side salad to the television main meal. It started off with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber, but by time we reach 2020 we’ll have items like kumquat’s, pine nuts and couscous, and while the ingredients will still be top notch, the beautiful simplicity of first few elements will really hit home.

I let things slide when listening to Big Finish because of how amazing it all is but in reality, I don’t want to see new companions, back stories and explanations; I just want to enjoy one-off inconsequential adventures with familiar characters. Adding to the continuity is why I watch the main series. Big Finish should be a break from all that. I’m just happy to hear the voices of Tom Baker, Paul McGann, Louise Jameson and others in something different and with the many audio stories that have already been made I’ve got a lot to choose from. It’s time to slow down.

“Big Finish already did it”

I don’t know many real life fans with whom I can talk about Doctor Who, but often when I do, questions and concepts arise that evoke the same response: “Big Finish did that”. The reaction to this is often a groan and a chorus of “Audios don’t count”. I can understand this reaction completely.

Imagine you’ve spent a good portion of your life gathering and remembering encyclopaedic knowledge of Doctor Who (Time well spent, clearly). You then realise that you’ve haven’t even touched upon audio plays. You then decide to look it up and to your shock there is a vast and seemingly never-ending catalogue of Doctor Who hidden from your view and you haven’t even heard one. Okay, no big deal; you can catch up. You look at the website though and realise that Big Finish is an independent company that needs to make its money back somehow (Downloading it illegally would be morally wrong). You know this show like the back of your hand but now it’s grown some new beauty spots and you need to buy a microscope to look at them.

I think the fans that dismiss Big Finish do so because accepting that there is a huge amount of Doctor Who of which they know nothing would create a feeling of disconnection from the programme. Consider that there are some fans out there who have been watching since 1963 and yet because of lacking available money or not having heard about Big Finish, it could be said that they haven’t completely followed Doctor Who, a show that they have been able to completely receive for the price of a licence fee for a combined 37 years (over a period of 52 years).

Conclusion

It’s not popular and it’s not easy express to an obsessive Doctor Who fan site that consists of primarily pro-Big Finish visitors, but it’s just my view. Despite this article being slightly negative about it on the whole, please feel free to listen to audio Doctor Who. It’s very that well made and is very entertaining.