Friday 13 February 2015

No Taste For Carrot Juice: Why The BBC Programmed Whovians To Hate The Sixth Doctor

 by Shannon Lush

The 'Doctor Who' actor whose television tenure was, to use his own words, 'thwarted in it's progression', has in recent years been given renewed life and a character re-appraisal with Big Finish Audio...but why do so many Whovians continue to disdain this incarnation? Let's explore the possibilities...

Friday 6 February 2015

Big Finish Strikes Back: The 'Doctor Who' Audio Trilogy Inspired By Star Wars

by Shannon Lush

Big Finish Productions, the audio play specialists who create dazzling new adventures for classic Doctors, have for many years now squeezed every last penny out of their licensing agreement with BBC, cranking out excellent stories that rival, and in many ways surpass, the current television series. Taking full advantage of the 'Doctor Who' actors under contract to them, they have produced so many stories for the Eighth Doctor that it makes a mockery of the fact that incarnation has only appeared on screen twice in almost twenty years. The much-maligned Sixth Doctor has, under Big Finish's careful guidance and with the benefit of simply superior scripting, become a jewel in their audio range crown. Fans who have worn out their copies of multi-Doctor team-up stories have been given the gift of stories featuring several Doctors together, and in the case of the recent release of 'The Light At The End', all classic Doctors together. Simply put, Big Finish produces material that demonstrates what love and passion for 'Doctor Who' can, when focused and determined, accomplish.

Friday 30 January 2015

Time lords And Time for the Lord: Religion In Doctor Who


By Shannon Lush

The relationship between religion and science fiction has always been one of mutual exclusivity. The very nature of popular science fiction, with its usual reliance on scientific technology and principals, seems to preclude the presence of real-world religious belief. Certainly, the three most popular science fiction television and film franchises, namely 'Doctor Who', 'Star Wars', and 'Star Trek' ,have all seemed to decide that, in their fictional universes, religious belief, specifically the Judeo-Christian concept of God, is simply not a concept worth exploring in great detail, if at all. Each franchise was created from the ground up by hundreds, if not thousands, of contributors from all walks of life. It is safe to assume that, somewhere along the way, by intentional design on the part of the initial creators of each franchise, an unwritten rule was put in place to avoid the topic of real-world religion altogether where and when possible.

Friday 23 January 2015

The Anniversary Of Destiny: 11 Doctors, 11 audio stories!

By Shannon Lush

Big Finish Productions, keepers of the flame of the original series, have consistently produced unique audio play content that expands and builds upon the Whoniverse as originally presented in the classic TV series. From ‘what if’ speculative adventures in their ‘Doctor Who Unbound’ range to seasons of adventures featuring Romana II on Gallifrey, Big Finish have produced material that cannot fail to delight and entertain dedicated Whovians. Breathing new life into old characters and providing adventures for classic Doctors undreamed of in their televised tenure has become a company hallmark.

The single limitation, if one could call it that, of Big Finish has been, until recently, their license to produce ‘Doctor Who’ content only as it pertained to the classic series. Due to the nature of television licensing, content featuring the New Series could not be produced…until now. Partnering with fellow audio licensee Audio Go, Big Finish have, in addition to their excellent multi-Doctor story ‘The Light At The End’, produced an eleven-part series of stories entitled ‘Destiny Of The Doctor’, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary.