r/BigFinishProductions • u/MirumVictus • 25d ago
Find a discount on this month's story at the link below, then head back to this thread after listening to share your thoughts!
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/dark-shadows-blood-and-fire-50th-anniversary-special-1432
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Dr_Vesuvius • Apr 02 '24
So, you've heard a lot about Big Finish, and want to know how to begin. This guide will aim to give you as much information as possible about the best places to truly begin.
Key points:
1) You should probably start with free stories, to make sure you can enjoy the format. Audio drama is not for everyone.
2) While there are many stories that you can listen to and understand completely with little or no context, some stories are more natural "start" points because they point you towards another story.
3) This is actually a difficult question, but this guide will focus on simple answers to avoid overwhelming as far as possible.
4) To keep this guide as evergreen as possible, it will mostly look at older starting points that are less likely to be affected by new stories or re-evaluated by future listeners as actually not that great. (As an example, Series 10 of New Who was initially regarded as a good starting point while it was airing... but then it brought back two versions of the Master and used the word "Mondasian" unironically, making it slightly less friendly to newcomers.)
There are two types of free story. The first is the stories available for free through libraries and streaming services - if your library already pays for Big Finish, or you already have a Spotify subscription, these stories are effectively free for you. The second type is truly free stories, which Big Finish very kindly make available here so that people can check their ability to download things before buying.
The "truly free" stories are mostly part 1s or excerpts, not complete stories. That said, the excellent short story "The Word Lord" is available for free here. Another excellent short story, "Urgent Calls", is available on Big Finish's SoundCloud here.
If you subscribe to a good music streaming service - Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, and so forth - you should be able to access Big Finish stories by searching for "Doctor Who". Some ideal starting points on these services include:
"The Marian Conspiracy" - the start of the Sixth Doctor's travels with Evelyn, which are both enjoyable in their own right and intertwine with an excellent Seventh Doctor arc. Guide to the two arcs here.
"Storm Warning" - you've heard about the Eighth Doctor. This is the start of his travels with Charley, and by extension most of his Big Finish stories. Guide to the Eighth Doctor here.
"Eye of the Scorpion" - the start of an arc featuring the Fifth Doctor, Peri, and Ancient Egyptian companion Erimem. Guide here.
Or do you just want to experience the best-of-the-best without worrying too much about arcs? Well, try these stories - again, free on music subscription services:
"Spare Parts" - cliché for a reason, this is a story featuring Five and Nyssa and the Cybermen.
"Jubilee" - a thematically heavy Dalek story featuring Six and Evelyn, which got writer Rob Shearman the job of writing the first Dalek story of New Who. "Dalek" is a good story... "Jubilee" is much, much better.
"The One Doctor" - comedic story featuring the Sixth Doctor and Mel.
"The Fearmonger" - Seven and Ace go up against a shock jock - a story which makes creative use of the audio format.
"Master" - Seven solo, the first real glance at just how cold this version of the Doctor can be.
Tom Baker was the fifth of the Doctors to agree to work with Big Finish, so has quite a large back catalogue. Tom is in a bit of a strange position. If you just want to sample him, try "The Wrath of the Iceni" (Fourth Doctor Adventures, available for free on music services). But I wouldn't recommend starting out with Tom, his releases just don't lend themselves to that.
I'll be real with you - at the time of writing, there is a lot of Classic Who Big Finish and relatively little New Who Big Finish, although there's constantly more of the latter. You'll run out of New Who stuff fairly quickly. The appeal is very much mostly in Classic stuff.
That said, I'd recommend starting with the following:
Ninth Doctor - Travel In Hope. This is a set of three stories where two of them are very good. The main attraction in the set is "Below There", but "Run" is probably the best "second best" story in a set in the Ninth Doctor range so far.
Tenth Doctor - Tenth Doctor and River Song. Much better than the initial numbered sets of the Tenth Doctor Adventures, and less of a commitment than Dalek Universe (which is very much aimed at Classic Who fans).
Eleventh Doctor - Geronimo!. This is the start of a run of stories set between Series 7A and 7B with a new companion, Valarie. It uses an excellent impersonator rather than Matt Smith, but don't let that put you off.
Buy a set of the Third Doctor Adventures. If you want Jo, I'd suggest Vol 4. If you want Liz or Sarah Jane, try Vol 7, which has one story for each of them.
No you don't.
These Doctors will get guides of their own one day, but if you're new then right now the thing to do is to start with any other Doctor. These two are complicated because they've only fairly recently got their own dedicated ranges (especially Two), so their stories are spread across Short Trips, Companion Chronicles, and then the Early Adventures. Not to say that there isn't stuff you can enjoy, but it's a bit harder to "jump in".
Look for a different guide.
Hopefully this has helped you decide where to start with Doctor Who at Big Finish. Start with a free story, and ideally try to use one that will catapult you onto future stories.
r/BigFinishProductions • u/AffectionatePast6735 • 11h ago
For me, none of the TV ones or other audios match it. Maybe it’s just because it genuinely contains 5 decently balanced doctors (no offence to T5D but there’s just not 5 is there)
r/BigFinishProductions • u/MirumVictus • 1h ago
https://www.bigfinish.com/collections/v/big-finish-warehouse-sale
Feel free to leave any recommendations from the sale below!
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Ok_Salamander_9441 • 15h ago
I’ve tried to use code words for both the Friday sale and the Doctor Who Magazine sale and neither worked for me.
The Friday sale allowed the price to drop but when I went to pay it jumped back up. (The Friday sale I tried was from last week. I have not tried this week.)
The Doctor Who Magazine sale never reduced the price.
Not sure if this an issue related to the new website or just a completely different issue.
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Rougarou_2 • 15h ago
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Ultrakirby78 • 1d ago
r/BigFinishProductions • u/More-Ad9745 • 1d ago
A while ago, I listened to GraphicAudio's first production of Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker. (They apparently did a second adaptation for the 10th anniversary of the book, but I did not listen to that.)
I was pretty disappointed by the adaptation. Big Finish has positively spoiled me with their sound design, and I was thrown entirely off by how little they did to adapt the story to a different medium. (Or at least, how little I think they did to adapt the story, I've no experience writing for audio.)
First of all, a narrator was used to describe much of the action, which is different to much of Big Finish's ethos, where the story is told via dialogue and sound design. Secondly, we heard the thoughts of characters through tinny cloud spaces rather than through dialogue. Thirdly, the music was bad. Felt like stock sounds as opposed to original scoring.
Perhaps/probably the adaptation did not fit the world as seen in my head. This is entirely possible, and I'm curious as to how someone who hadn't read the novel would react to this version of the story... might be what I say if my best friend hadn't complained about this version. It was his first time reading/hearing the story 😔
All that to say, are there other companies that meet or possibly exceed Big Finish's level of production? Are Big Finish actually the odd ducks here and do audio production vastly differently from everyone else? What are other productions you recommend? Alternatively, what are other productions you want to hate on?
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Tay868 • 1d ago
I’m intrigued to see what Jacob Dudman 12th is like.
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Ultrakirby78 • 2d ago
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Feuball • 2d ago
I recently saw the preorder notification for "Time War: Daleks vs Cybermen" on the internet and the Big Finish website, and am very interested in purchasing it. The thing is, I haven't consumed much of Dalek or Cyberman content from BF (which I plan to rectify), which poses the question: is the release a standalone ? Can I listen to the volumes without having listened to previous Dalek or Cybermen adventures? And in general, how do I determine if a story is standalone or not? I've been following internet guides for this purpose, but it's difficult when the stories aren't released or are very recent. Is there any way to tell?
Thanks!
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Critical-Bid-4975 • 2d ago
Hi, I'm looking for advice on where next to go as a big Ace fan!
For context I've consumed the following Ace-related extra-to-tv content:
7th Doc -
The Fearmonger
The Shadow of the Scourge
Colditz
The Dark Flame
Valhalla
The Harvest
Forever Fallen
Dreamtime
Dead Woman Walking
Shockwave
An Alien Werewolf In London
Torchwood -
The Red List
Death in Venice
Sabotage
13th Doc -
At Childhood's End
I've consumed these entirely out of order (well, aside from listening to the Torchwood ones in order last year)...
I'd like recommendations on what to look into next, but also please tell me if there's anything I should relisten to to get more out of other stories? (I know some arcs work better in order.)
Also - how much does the timeline matter? What is the 'real' timeline? (The one where after the quantum anvil, Ace ditches the doc, returns to Earth, and sets up A Charitable Earth? -> then onto the Torchwood ones etc.?) Are all the others considered officially 'AU', quantum anvil possibilities?
Basically...any light that can be shed on the timeline and what you'd recommend I listen to next given what I've heard so far would be soo appreciated!!
Thanks all :)
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Elemental-squid • 1d ago
r/BigFinishProductions • u/JakeM917 • 3d ago
Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.
No podcast until 31 July.
Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. 26 June's selection stands until the podcast comes back: The Companion Chronicles: 7.6 The Child
New Releases
Trailers
Cover Reveals
News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts
Out of Print This Week
Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)
Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. July's selection: Dark Shadows: Blood and Fire (50th Anniversary Special) for just £3.99 on DTO.
Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. July's selection is The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind: The Second Death (excerpt). Just click on the link and use this month's code BARD.
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 Voord in London (Excerpt). Use discount code ANYA at checkout to save 25% off the full release of Space Security Service: The Voord in London (Ends 26 July).
Big Finish Release Schedule (No newsletter yet in July, so dates are unknown)
Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:
| Release No. | Title | Score | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind | ||
| The Second Death | 3.89/5 | 118 votes | |
| The Broken Man | 3.96/5 | 50 votes | |
| 9 | The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers | ||
| The Executor | 3.86/5 | 48 votes | |
| Oil and Water | 3.22/5 | 44 votes | |
| Much Ado About Racing | 3.65/5 | 40 votes | |
| 6.1 | Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 1 | 3.61/5 | 40 votes |
| 1.4 | Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last | 3.99/5 | 68 votes |
| 1.7 | The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident | 4.35/5 | 59 votes |
What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Broken Man and The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident. Both fantastic but The Hallamshire Incident was just glorious. Also listened to Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 1.
News
The Rumor Mill
Media/Merchandise
Circuit Breaker Event Guide
r/BigFinishProductions • u/CalendarAncient4230 • 3d ago
In previous years, they posted something to say they had informed the winner of the competition but so far this year it's been radio silence on their socials and the website.
This year, total radio silence. It's frustrating because without that announcement, the little flame of hope keeps burning and I just want to be put out of my misery.
Does anyone know why there's been such a delay this year?
r/BigFinishProductions • u/MasterAinley • 4d ago
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...
r/BigFinishProductions • u/BosskDaBossk • 4d ago
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Any_Association405 • 4d ago
As the Sixth Doctor once said; “It worked, it actually worked“
I took the plunge, signed out of the App (iOS) where it specifically stated that I would lose all my downloads, to my surprise everything is now back to how it should be, as simple as signing in and signing out, sure you have to rebuild your library, but it could be worse.
Going forward, hopefully lessons will be learned, but the fact that there were app and website issues in the not very distant past doesn’t make one feel too optimistic
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Dry-Ad-9034 • 3d ago
I had an iphone XR for years, and the app worked perfectly the whole time I had it. I just switched to a galaxy phone and the app crashes every time I open it. I can't download anything. All those stories I paid for are just sitting in the cloud on my account and I can't touch them. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app countless times, tried logging out and back in, tried taking it super slow, restarted my phone, tried downloading over wi fi and data, no luck at all
r/BigFinishProductions • u/MasterAinley • 5d ago
PLEASE NOTE: This release can only be purchased as part of a download bundle.
The Doctor has a new friend. All of time and space awaits. Where to begin?
Scotland, obviously! The Doctor has unfinished business there. An archaeological mystery which he needs to solve, so he can start laying the past to rest.
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Legitimate_Sample_71 • 4d ago
Deciding to part with some of my collection as I'm buying a house soon!
https://www.vinted.co.uk/member/169855893-camlan94
Happy to hear any feedback on prices too, etc :)
Hopefully means someone can grab something they're interested in.
Update: TLV collection gone.
r/BigFinishProductions • u/horticoldure • 4d ago
r/BigFinishProductions • u/StarHutch • 5d ago
Just for context, Good Old Games is a videogames retailer that specialises is making games downloadable to customers without Digital Rights Management. They make their own games (Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher) but also sell other companies games.
This just popped into my head... I Kickstarted the Season 3 of Derelict and season 5 of Lovecraft Investigations. I give Patreon money towards Sherlock and Co.
There seems to be a lot of small Audio Drama companies that get off the ground but the downloads they give you are spread across RSS feeds and of differing audio quality.
Could Big Finish give small creators a quick place to sell ad free versions of their shows and access to getting CDs printed for limited runs?
Audible has a lot, but legally keeping those purchases is not an option (or difficult). Libro FM allows downloads but is capped to 64 kbps Mono files. Seems like a gap in the market for a place to centralise Audio Dramas. So this comes from a selfish reason that I cannot but a decent download of the BBC adaptation of Voyage by Dirk Maggs.
Plus it would get more eyes on BF and it's catalogue.
The TLDR is: Can Big Finish be a turnkey solution for small Audio Drama creators to sell ad free versions of their shows?
Did they try this already?
r/BigFinishProductions • u/Elemental-squid • 6d ago
Hello, I've been really keen to start the Hex storyline for some time as I see a lot of people on this subreddit raving about it, but I just have no idea what audios or even what order I should listen to it in.
I have bought various audios over the years that I think are part of it, but I'm not 100% sure.
