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== Product lines ==
== Product lines ==
=== ''Doctor Who'' ===
=== ''Doctor Who'' ===
Currently, Big Finish produces a series of [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories#Monthly releases|monthly ''Doctor Who'' dramas]] in a four thirty-minute episode format, similar to the format of the classic TV serials. These stories feature the [[Fifth Doctor|Fifth]], [[Sixth Doctor|Sixth]], [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]], and [[Eighth Doctor|Eighth]] Doctors. In 2007, a separate monthly series of one-hour Eighth Doctor adventures was created that ran for four series, succeeded by boxset releases. The Eighth Doctor appeared very occasionally following this in the main ''Doctor Who'' range.
Big Finish began their ''Doctor Who'' range with a series of [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories#Monthly releases|monthly full-cast dramas]] in four twenty five-minute episode format, mirroring the format commonly used by the original TV series. Releases featured the [[Fifth Doctor|Fifth]], [[Sixth Doctor|Sixth]], [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh]], and, from 2000 on, [[Eighth Doctor|Eighth]] Doctors. In 2007, a separate monthly series of one-hour Eighth Doctor adventures was created that ran for four series, before being succeeded by boxset releases. The Eighth Doctor appeared very occasionally following this in the main ''Doctor Who'' range.


In 2012, Tom Baker began portraying the Fourth Doctor in both his own series and the Lost Stories. Unfortunately, by that time companion actors [[Elisabeth Sladen]] and [[Nicholas Courtney]] were deceased; Baker was able to record a season of stories with [[Mary Tamm]] before her death in 2012, and has primarily been paired with [[Louise Jameson]].
In 2012, Tom Baker began portraying the Fourth Doctor in both his own series and the Lost Stories. Unfortunately, by that time companion actors [[Elisabeth Sladen]] and [[Nicholas Courtney]] were deceased; Baker was able to record a season of stories with [[Mary Tamm]] before her death in 2012, and has primarily been paired with [[Louise Jameson]].


As of 2015, Big Finish has been successful in recruiting every surviving classic-era companion actor to reprise their original roles save [[Jackie Lane]]. In addition, both companion actors from the 1996 TV movie ([[Daphne Ashbrook]] and [[Yee Jee Tso]]) and several revival-era companion actors ([[Bernard Cribbins]], [[Noel Clarke]] and [[Arthur Darvill]]) have also recorded for the company, but as different characters as the company does not have the rights to the movie or revival-era companions.
As of 2015, Big Finish has been successful in recruiting every surviving classic-era companion actor to reprise their original roles save [[Jackie Lane]]. In addition, both "companion" actors from the 1996 TV movie, [[Daphne Ashbrook]] and [[Yee Jee Tso]], and several revival-era companion actors, including [[Bernard Cribbins]], [[Noel Clarke]] and [[Arthur Darvill]], have also recorded for the company, but as different characters as the company does not have the rights to the movie companions.


Big Finish’s current licence to produce ''Doctor Who'' on audio extends to [[31 March (production)|31 March]], 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-licenced-extended-to-2020 |title=Doctor Who: Licence Extended to 2020! |date of source=27 March 2015 |website name=Big Finish Productions |accessdate=28 June 2015}}</ref>
Big Finish’s current licence to produce ''Doctor Who'' on audio extends to [[31 March (production)|31 March]], 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-licenced-extended-to-2020 |title=Doctor Who: Licence Extended to 2020! |date of source=27 March 2015 |website name=Big Finish Productions |accessdate=28 June 2015}}</ref>


==== Connections with the current TV series ====
==== Connections with the current TV series ====
The licensing contract Big Finish holds with the BBC allows the company to produce material from the "classic" era , which gives them the rights to use the first seven incarnations of the Doctor and all of their companions, as well as the character of the [[Eighth Doctor]] from the [[1996 (releases)|1996]] [[Doctor Who (TV story)|telemovie]]. However, following the announcement of their licence extension to 2020, it was revealed that the terms of the licence had changed, with several special releases with elements from the "new series" being announced throughout 2015. <ref name="New Series DW June">{{cite web |url=http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/bf27june |title=More New Series Doctor Who from Big Finish |date of source=27 June 2015 |website name=Big Finish Productions |accessdate=28 June 2015}}</ref> According to Big Finish's website, their license extends no further than ''[[The Time of the Doctor]]''. Therefore, they cannot feature the Twelfth Doctor or anything introduced in his era.<ref>http://www.bigfinish.com/pages/v/faqs</ref>
The licensing contract Big Finish originally held with the BBC allowed the company to produce material from the "classic" era, allowing them use of the first seven incarnations of the Doctor and all of their companions, as well as the character of the [[Eighth Doctor]] from the [[1996 (releases)|1996]] [[Doctor Who (TV story)|telemovie]]. Initially their agreement for the ''Doctor Who'' licence restricted any intellectual property from the 2005 revival, not allowing them the rights to produce any audio stories based upon the [[Ninth Doctor|Ninth]], [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth]], [[Eleventh Doctor|Eleventh]] and [[Twelfth Doctor]]s, nor any related characters, even if they were no longer featured in the TV series. Big Finish also does not hold the rights to any characters created for [[Doctor Who (TV story)|''Doctor Who'' TV movie]], other than the Eighth Doctor.
 
Initially it was understood that their agreement for the ''Doctor Who'' licence restricted any intellectual property from the 2005 revival. Big Finish initially did not have the rights to produce any audio stories based upon the [[Ninth Doctor|Ninth]], [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth]], [[Eleventh Doctor|Eleventh]] and [[Twelfth Doctor]]s, nor any related characters, even if they were no longer featured in the TV series, as [[BBC Audio]] held those rights exclusively. Big Finish also currently does not hold the rights to any characters created for [[Doctor Who (TV story)|''Doctor Who'' TV movie]], other than the Eighth Doctor.


Numerous Big Finish personnel and employees, including [[David Tennant]], [[Georgia Moffett]], [[Anthony Stewart Head]], [[Nicholas Briggs]], [[Gareth Roberts]], [[Gary Russell]],  [[Mark Gatiss]], [[Paul Cornell]], [[Matt Jones]] and [[Robert Shearman]], have gone to do work for ''Doctor Who'', ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' and ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''. Shearman's ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'' was directly based on his audio ''[[Jubilee (audio story)|Jubilee]].''
Numerous Big Finish personnel and employees, including [[David Tennant]], [[Georgia Moffett]], [[Anthony Stewart Head]], [[Nicholas Briggs]], [[Gareth Roberts]], [[Gary Russell]],  [[Mark Gatiss]], [[Paul Cornell]], [[Matt Jones]] and [[Robert Shearman]], have gone to do work for ''Doctor Who'', ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' and ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''. Shearman's ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'' was directly based on his audio ''[[Jubilee (audio story)|Jubilee]].''
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In later years the BBC has began to show varying degrees of leniency in terms of the breadth of licence. A number of stories contained allusions to the Time War, most notably ''[[Dark Eyes (audio anthology)|Dark Eyes]]'' and ''[[Gallifrey (audio series)|Gallifrey VI]]''. For ''Gallifrey VI'', released in October 2013, Big Finish were granted special permission to use the revival series Daleks on the packaging, and in the first story, there is an attempted invasion of an [[Alternate timeline|alternate Gallifrey]] by said Daleks. The "origin" story ''[[The Beginning (audio story)|The Beginning]]'', released in the same year, was altered before release to depict the TARDIS capsule seen in the television story ''[[The Name of the Doctor (TV story)|The Name of the Doctor]]'' and to reference [[Clara Oswald]]. Additionally, Big Finish depicted an apparent future Doctor's TARDIS on the cover of ''[[UNIT: Dominion (audio story)|UNIT: Dominion]]'' with the exterior of the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|Eleventh Doctor's]]. However, many references in the past had been able to get around licensing restrictions through vagueness and implicature: the 2006 story ''[[The Kingmaker (audio story)|The Kingmaker]]'' mentions a [[Ninth Doctor|"northern chap with big ears"]]; the 2010 story ''[[Klein's Story (audio story)|Klein's Story]]'' quotes from [[TV]]: ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]'', referencing the "leopard skin desktop theme" for the TARDIS console, whilst another, ''[[City of Spires (audio story)|City of Spires]]'', references the "assembled hordes of Ghengis Khan", quoting  [[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''. More more recent stories such as ''[[Luna Romana (audio story)|Luna Romana]]'' and other ''[[Gallifrey (audio series)|Gallifrey]]'' and ''[[Doctor Who - The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield (audio series)|The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield]]'' releases more directly referenced an [[Time War|escalation in conflict on Gallifrey]].
In later years the BBC has began to show varying degrees of leniency in terms of the breadth of licence. A number of stories contained allusions to the Time War, most notably ''[[Dark Eyes (audio anthology)|Dark Eyes]]'' and ''[[Gallifrey (audio series)|Gallifrey VI]]''. For ''Gallifrey VI'', released in October 2013, Big Finish were granted special permission to use the revival series Daleks on the packaging, and in the first story, there is an attempted invasion of an [[Alternate timeline|alternate Gallifrey]] by said Daleks. The "origin" story ''[[The Beginning (audio story)|The Beginning]]'', released in the same year, was altered before release to depict the TARDIS capsule seen in the television story ''[[The Name of the Doctor (TV story)|The Name of the Doctor]]'' and to reference [[Clara Oswald]]. Additionally, Big Finish depicted an apparent future Doctor's TARDIS on the cover of ''[[UNIT: Dominion (audio story)|UNIT: Dominion]]'' with the exterior of the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|Eleventh Doctor's]]. However, many references in the past had been able to get around licensing restrictions through vagueness and implicature: the 2006 story ''[[The Kingmaker (audio story)|The Kingmaker]]'' mentions a [[Ninth Doctor|"northern chap with big ears"]]; the 2010 story ''[[Klein's Story (audio story)|Klein's Story]]'' quotes from [[TV]]: ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]'', referencing the "leopard skin desktop theme" for the TARDIS console, whilst another, ''[[City of Spires (audio story)|City of Spires]]'', references the "assembled hordes of Ghengis Khan", quoting  [[TV]]: ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''. More more recent stories such as ''[[Luna Romana (audio story)|Luna Romana]]'' and other ''[[Gallifrey (audio series)|Gallifrey]]'' and ''[[Doctor Who - The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield (audio series)|The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield]]'' releases more directly referenced an [[Time War|escalation in conflict on Gallifrey]].


In 2015, further development of their licence was revealed, with Big Finish announcing that they would be producing stories featuring post-2005 elements. With stories featuring [[Winston Churchill]], [[Strax]], [[River Song]], [[Torchwood Institute|Torchwood]], members of [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] featured in the new series, and a new box set entitled "Classic Doctors, New Monsters", featuring new series aliens such as the [[Weeping Angel]]s, [[Judoon]] and [[Sycorax]], and the iteration of the [[Sontaran]]s encountered by the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.<ref name="New Series DW June"/> It was later announced that [[John Hurt]] would reprise his role as the [[War Doctor]] in a series of box sets, and a prequel starring [[Paul McGann]] portraying an older [[Eighth Doctor]] during the [[Time War]] referenced in the new series would also be released.<ref>http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-the-war-doctor</ref>
In 2015, it was revealed that the terms of the licence had changed, with several special releases with elements from the "new series" being announced throughout 2015. <ref name="New Series DW June">{{cite web |url=http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/bf27june |title=More New Series Doctor Who from Big Finish |date of source=27 June 2015 |website name=Big Finish Productions |accessdate=28 June 2015}}</ref> This new license extends no further than ''[[The Time of the Doctor]]'', preventing them from featuring the Twelfth Doctor or anything introduced in his era.<ref>http://www.bigfinish.com/pages/v/faqs</ref> Big Finish announced that they would be producing stories featuring [[Winston Churchill]], [[Strax]], [[River Song]], members of [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] featured in the new series, and a new box set entitled "Classic Doctors, New Monsters", featuring new series aliens such as the [[Weeping Angel]]s, [[Judoon]] and [[Sycorax]], and the [[Sontaran]]s of the [[Last Great Time War]] as encountered by the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. They also announced that they had gained the rights to produce audio dramas based on the spin-off series [[Torchwood (series)|Torchwood]].<ref name="New Series DW June"/> It was later announced that [[John Hurt]] would reprise his role as the [[War Doctor]] in a series of box sets set during the Time War, and a prequel starring [[Paul McGann]] portraying an older [[Eighth Doctor]] during the early stages of the War would also be released.<ref>http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-the-war-doctor</ref>


=== ''Companion Chronicles'' ===
=== ''Companion Chronicles'' ===

Revision as of 06:37, 17 October 2015

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Big Finish Productions is a British audio production company founded in 1996[1]. Since 1999, it has produced audio dramas and prose stories related to Doctor Who.

History

Big Finish began in late 1998 with audio adaptations of novels featuring the Seventh Doctor's former companion Bernice Summerfield. It subsequently was licensed to produce authorised Doctor Who audio plays. Later, the company branched out into prose publishing, producing a long-running series of novels and short story anthologies featuring Summerfield, followed by its acquisition of the Short Trips line of Doctor Who-related short stories, previously published by BBC Books.

Product lines

Doctor Who

Big Finish began their Doctor Who range with a series of monthly full-cast dramas in four twenty five-minute episode format, mirroring the format commonly used by the original TV series. Releases featured the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and, from 2000 on, Eighth Doctors. In 2007, a separate monthly series of one-hour Eighth Doctor adventures was created that ran for four series, before being succeeded by boxset releases. The Eighth Doctor appeared very occasionally following this in the main Doctor Who range.

In 2012, Tom Baker began portraying the Fourth Doctor in both his own series and the Lost Stories. Unfortunately, by that time companion actors Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney were deceased; Baker was able to record a season of stories with Mary Tamm before her death in 2012, and has primarily been paired with Louise Jameson.

As of 2015, Big Finish has been successful in recruiting every surviving classic-era companion actor to reprise their original roles save Jackie Lane. In addition, both "companion" actors from the 1996 TV movie, Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso, and several revival-era companion actors, including Bernard Cribbins, Noel Clarke and Arthur Darvill, have also recorded for the company, but as different characters as the company does not have the rights to the movie companions.

Big Finish’s current licence to produce Doctor Who on audio extends to 31 March, 2020.[2]

Connections with the current TV series

The licensing contract Big Finish originally held with the BBC allowed the company to produce material from the "classic" era, allowing them use of the first seven incarnations of the Doctor and all of their companions, as well as the character of the Eighth Doctor from the 1996 telemovie. Initially their agreement for the Doctor Who licence restricted any intellectual property from the 2005 revival, not allowing them the rights to produce any audio stories based upon the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, nor any related characters, even if they were no longer featured in the TV series. Big Finish also does not hold the rights to any characters created for Doctor Who TV movie, other than the Eighth Doctor.

Numerous Big Finish personnel and employees, including David Tennant, Georgia Moffett, Anthony Stewart Head, Nicholas Briggs, Gareth Roberts, Gary Russell, Mark Gatiss, Paul Cornell, Matt Jones and Robert Shearman, have gone to do work for Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. Shearman's Dalek was directly based on his audio Jubilee.

Many, such as Briggs, were involved in the production of unlicenced audio productions (such as Audio Visuals), as well as non-Who audio and video productions such as The Stranger. Briggs currently serves as producer for the Big Finish line of Doctor Who audio adventures, concurrent with his ongoing voice-over work on the BBC TV series.

A number of actors from the BBC Wales TV series have worked with Big Finish after becoming known on TV, but playing characters other than their TV roles. Examples include Arthur Darvill and Noel Clarke.

In late 2012, Big Finish announced that it was partnering with AudioGO to produce a series of 11 audio dramas in 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of the franchise, a series entitled Destiny of the Doctors. These were Big Finish's first productions involving the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. It featured actors from the revival series including Catherine Tate and Jenna Coleman as readers, and the Eleventh Doctor cameoed in each story. Due to AudioGo going into administration, the final release The Time Machine (featuring the Eleventh Doctor) and the accompanying series boxset were released solely by Big Finish.

In later years the BBC has began to show varying degrees of leniency in terms of the breadth of licence. A number of stories contained allusions to the Time War, most notably Dark Eyes and Gallifrey VI. For Gallifrey VI, released in October 2013, Big Finish were granted special permission to use the revival series Daleks on the packaging, and in the first story, there is an attempted invasion of an alternate Gallifrey by said Daleks. The "origin" story The Beginning, released in the same year, was altered before release to depict the TARDIS capsule seen in the television story The Name of the Doctor and to reference Clara Oswald. Additionally, Big Finish depicted an apparent future Doctor's TARDIS on the cover of UNIT: Dominion with the exterior of the Eleventh Doctor's. However, many references in the past had been able to get around licensing restrictions through vagueness and implicature: the 2006 story The Kingmaker mentions a "northern chap with big ears"; the 2010 story Klein's Story quotes from TV: Time Crash, referencing the "leopard skin desktop theme" for the TARDIS console, whilst another, City of Spires, references the "assembled hordes of Ghengis Khan", quoting TV: Rose. More more recent stories such as Luna Romana and other Gallifrey and The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield releases more directly referenced an escalation in conflict on Gallifrey.

In 2015, it was revealed that the terms of the licence had changed, with several special releases with elements from the "new series" being announced throughout 2015. [3] This new license extends no further than The Time of the Doctor, preventing them from featuring the Twelfth Doctor or anything introduced in his era.[4] Big Finish announced that they would be producing stories featuring Winston Churchill, Strax, River Song, members of UNIT featured in the new series, and a new box set entitled "Classic Doctors, New Monsters", featuring new series aliens such as the Weeping Angels, Judoon and Sycorax, and the Sontarans of the Last Great Time War as encountered by the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. They also announced that they had gained the rights to produce audio dramas based on the spin-off series Torchwood.[3] It was later announced that John Hurt would reprise his role as the War Doctor in a series of box sets set during the Time War, and a prequel starring Paul McGann portraying an older Eighth Doctor during the early stages of the War would also be released.[5]

Companion Chronicles

Big Finish produced the monthly The Companion Chronicles from 2007 to 2014, a series of hour-long stories narrated by former companions of the Doctor. The story's companion narrates the adventure, relating the events to the listener in-character, while one other major role in the story is performed by another actor.

The Companion Chronicles have allowed Big Finish to feature stories involving the first four Doctors, despite their original actors being unavailable. As a result, all eight "classic series" Doctors have now been represented in some way in Big Finish productions. Later releases featured stories from the perspective of a companion of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors. Companions such as Sara Kingdom and Liz Shaw, who did not get much screentime in the show, were able to be given much vaster catalogues of stories, featuring the voice of the original actor. With the introduction of Tom Baker into Big Finish's cast, the last few series moved away from using the Fourth through Eighth Doctors and instead focused in on solely the First through Third Doctors.

The series has also introduced spin-off characters, including UNIT members Matheson and Sato, portrayed by TV movie actors Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso, and The Mahogany Murderers, reuniting detectives Jago and Litefoot from The Talons of Weng-Chiang, became a backdoor pilot for the spin-off series.

Following on from the successes The Lost Stories and the end of The Companion Chronicles Big Finish announced in 2013 the production of a new range The Early Adventures starring the surviving members of the black and white era stories with Nicholas Briggs saying (of the end of The Companion Chronicles) “It’s always sad to say goodbye to something, especially if they are popular. But at Big Finish we feel we must always be moving forward, and finding new ways to tell exciting Doctor Who stories on audio.” [6]

Other spin-offs

Apart from stories featuring the Doctor, Big Finish produces related spin-offs based on characters and situations from the Doctor Who universe.

Books

Through much of the 2000s, Big Finish complemented its audio line with a series of short story collections entitled Short Trips, a continuation of a series established by BBC Books. Most volumes centred around particular themes, with most books containing at least one story for each of the first eight Doctors, as well as occasional stories focusing on other characters. After BBC Books retired its BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels at the end of 2005 in favour of focusing on the current Doctor, Big Finish's Short Trips became the only source for officially licensed fiction featuring the first eight Doctors.

In April 2009, Big Finish was forced to terminate its prolific Short Trips anthology series when the BBC did not renew its licence to publish Doctor Who-related prose.[7] However, in February 2010, Big Finish announced that they had opted to continue producing the Short Trips range in the form of anthology audiobooks featuring brand new authors accompanied by prolific Big Finish writers.[8] Big Finish also published prose fiction featuring characters such as Erimem, Bernice Summerfield and Iris Wildthyme. Non-fiction books related to its series have also been published, including select audio scripts and Bernice Summerfield - The Inside Story.

Other work

Big Finish previously produced original audio dramas based on franchises such as Sapphire & Steel, Stargate SG-1, 2000 A.D. and The Tomorrow People, and continues to produce original audio dramas based on a number of other franchises including Blake's 7, Highlander, Sherlock Holmes, The Avengers, Terry Nation's Survivors, Dark Shadows and The Omega Factor. It has also produced wholly original comedy and sci-fi audios.

Big Finish has also published original prose, including Love Songs For the Shy & Cynical and other short story collections by Rob Shearman and The Mervyn Stone Mysteries by Nev Fountain.

Doctor Who related series

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Big Finish (March 23, 2014). Big Finish FAQ (From 2002). Big Finish. Retrieved on 2002.
  2. ↑ Doctor Who: Licence Extended to 2020!. Big Finish Productions (27 March 2015). Retrieved on 28 June 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 More New Series Doctor Who from Big Finish. Big Finish Productions (27 June 2015). Retrieved on 28 June 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.bigfinish.com/pages/v/faqs
  5. ↑ http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-the-war-doctor
  6. ↑ Doctor Who: The Early Adventures Announced!. Big Finish Productions (8 February 2013). Retrieved on 28 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Short Trips Announcement. Big Finish - News (17/04/2009). Archived from the original on April 20 2009. Retrieved on 18th September 2012.
  8. ↑ The Return of Short Trips. Big Finish - News (10/02/2010). Archived from the original on March 30 2010. Retrieved on 18th September 2012.
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