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.

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.

Diamonds Are Forever: Review Of Big Finish Audio Episode ‘Grand Theft Cosmos’

By Shannon Lush

Doctor: Eighth (Paul McGann)

Companion(s): Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith)

Writer (s):  Eddie Robson

Director: Barnaby Edwards

Producer: Nicholas Briggs

Duration: 1 episode, 60 minutes.

Following on from the problematic ‘Skull Of Sobek’ which I reviewed in the previous entry, the next release in production order, ‘Grand Theft Cosmos’, is, quite simply, refreshing.  The story is simple;  in 19^th  century Sweden, The Doctor and Lucie are traveling on a miracle of the ages, an electric train. While Lucie grumbles over being forbidden to bring her iPod for fear of cultural contamination, The Doctor engages in conversation with an expert in the works of the artist Claudio Tardelli. Turns out Tardelli is more than he seems;  he’s an alien and his work contains dangerous by-products that can and do harm the  fabric of the universe. The Doctor has been attempting to suppress the man’s work across time and space, going so far as to ensure that is continually discredited. But now his work is being snapped up by the King of Sweden. The expert, Simonsson, has been charged by His Majesty to hunt for Tardelli’s little-known and rare work. The Doctor realizes that he is responsible for creating a collector’s market for Tardelli’s work, given the man disappeared in the 17^th century.

Canon And Crocodiles: Review of Big Finish Audio ‘The Skull Of Sobek’

Doctor: Eighth (Paul McGann)
Companion(s): Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith)
Writer(s): Marc Platt
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Producer: Nicholas Briggs
Duration:  1 episode,  60 minutes.

Paul McGann was the first ‘new’ Doctor of my early Whovian days. In 1994, having completely caught up to the past 31 years of televised adventures (with the assistance of the telesnap archives printed in ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ to fill in the missing stories, and a full devotion to the Target novelizations to fill in the rest), I eagerly followed along with each item of news regarding what would eventually become the FOX Television Movie. Many Whovians malign that movie; they appeared to have missed the entire point of its existence as a ‘backdoor pilot’ in hopes of launching a new series. I didn't mind the oh-so-shocking kiss between The Doctor and his companion Grace;  it was a wonderful, innocent moment of two people expressing joy. I didn't mind the reference to the chameleon circuit as a ‘cloaking device’, to liberally borrow a term from ‘Star Trek’. After all, the Borg certainly had much in common with the Cybermen, so turnabout is fair play. In fact, both myself and Steve Lake, the other host of ‘The Whostorian’ podcast, will point to this single movie as the best place for people not familiar in the least with ‘Doctor Who’ to obtain a crash course. Call it selfish on my part, but one of the reasons I do so is the hope that the old adage of ‘you always remember your first Doctor’ for Whovians will ring true, and we can mint new fans of Paul McGann’s wonderful Eighth Doctor close to twenty years after the character’s first appearance.

Torchwood: Children Of Mirth

By Shannon Lush

This particular entry will be delving into (it’s fair to admit, obsessing over), Torchwood, the ill-fated spinoff series of Doctor Who. Before I ascend too far up the ladder of vitriol, reigning down buckets of Whovian spittle all the way, a few admissions…

First, I never particularly liked anything to do with this series.  When the project was revealed, I felt the concept of a secretive, alien-fighting’ band of government agents was served quite well by UNIT and any newly-created group of like-minded characters were nothing more than watered-down versions. For over thirty years in Doctor Who and just as long within spinoff media, it was well established that UNIT were the world’s foremost defenders from the threat of alien incursion. If any organization was deserving of a televised spinoff from Doctor Who, it is UNIT. Indeed, Big Finish Audio has created excellent spin-off adventures featuring established and new characters. One such adventure even provided David Tennant his first Doctor Who credit, years before he gulped a cup of tea and discovered his fighting hand.

The Moment Has Been Prepared For: The Inside Stories Of The Casting And Departures Of The Doctors

By Shannon Lush

The casting of the role of The Doctor is, inarguably, the most important decision undertaken by anyone involved in 'Doctor Who', on any level. Stories were commissioned and placed in an early phase of pre-production, first by the show's story editors, and then later, by script editors, the job title being altered to more accurately reflect the individual's duties. But these scripts always featured a vague, undefined 'Doctor' absent the mannerisms, personality traits, even physical descriptions that can only come with an actor cast in the role. Terrance Dicks, former script editor of the show during the early to mid 1970's, reflected that it was only after meeting and speaking with Tom Baker upon his official acceptance of the role did he begin to explore the character possibilities of the Fourth Doctor; prior to that, the stories did not jump off the page.

'Slippin' Back'

 By Shannon Lush

The foggy mists of time always reveal some hidden gem from the expanded Whoniverse, notable for its rarity, its whimsical nature, or sometimes for the guilty pleasure value it holds. Prior to the BBC's attempt at mature and adult-oriented spinoff material, which began in earnest with the 'New Adventures' series of novels, most 'Doctor Who'-themed spinoff and expanded Whoniverse offerings pandered to the lowest common denominator. 

Scream Of The Whovians

By Shannon Lush 


**Note: I wrote this in the late evening/early morning hours while a torrential downpour of rain spattered off the roof and beat against the windows of my humble abode. It provided the perfect atmosphere and mood by which to write. It is one of the joys of being a long-serving Whovian: the mere mention of titles of stories and actor's names and big events that surrounded their creation and transmission cause good memories to come pouring forth faster than the rain. I hope you enjoy this blog entry as much as I did crafting it!**

'Doctor Who' fandom, in addition to boasting the longest running television science fiction series in history, also can beat its collective chest over its expanded universe of spin-off material. From original novels to comic books and strips, audio and even stage plays, the quirky, low budget series that captured imaginations from day one has, for almost 50 years now, presented diverse stories for fans to enjoy. Today we will be reviewing 'Scream Of The Shalka', a 2003 flash-animated adventure first transmitted on BBCi, or BBC Interactive, the corporation's official website.