New to Big Finish?
This was far too long a page, so I've rewritten it to be more accessible. Big Finish have made a lot of stuff, and you may have heard of them from popular Doctor Who youtubers or their amazing twitter account, or even word of mouth! The problem (or possibly the best thing about the company) is there is a ludicrous amount. 275 Monthly Range Stories with more coming.
A lot of boxsets. An incredible amount, really, and then there's the spinoffs, oh, the spinoffs. Did you think Lady Christina was worth her own series? Well, if you did, there's a full 4 stories for you in a boxset! (Also, could you explain to me why you actually would want this sometime?)
So, in all this chaos, where do you start?
Well, it's simple, really. 50 of their best early stories are free, on Spotify. There's also the website, which nowadays has a full page of free audios (mostly part ones and similar fodder) as well as a new free audio every week, and to be honest, these weekly freebies have made the whole audio era more accessible than ever.
What I've done, is I've made two sections for you! This is just to get you started.
The first is for the free stories that will tickle your fancy as a good introduction to Big Finish. The second is the not free. Here we go!
The Free Lands:
If you are a classic who fan, getting started is a lot easier, even if it's not really that necessary.
Most of these stories are in the classic two hour long four part format. As I started, I listened to them one part at a time, in sittings, and that may help you too. I'm going to give you two stories to choose from from every Doctor that Big Finish uses. The first one I'll mention is my preferred option, and the other one is my second choice, mentioned here in case you want to start with a Doctor, but you don't like the first story option. Here's a playlist for those who want to check this out: LOOK AT WHAT I DO FOR YOU
The Fourth Doctor: The Renaissance Man or The Wrath of The Iceni
For a newbie, these may even be easier than most, as they're only 2 parts long, running just under an hour!
The Fifth Doctor: The Eye of The Scorpion or Spare Parts
The Eye of The Scorpion introduces Five's companion Erimem, and is rather great, and Spare Parts is a story that's just ludicrously good, and that's it
The Sixth Doctor: The Marian Conspiracy or The Holy Terror
The Sixth Doctor, who really gets the best stories in Big Finish, meets his new companion Evelyn in the Marian Conspiracy, and The Holy Terror is about a shapeshifting penguin private eye. Why wouldn't you listen to that?
The Seventh Doctor: The Fearmonger or Master
The Fearmonger is a fun story with Ace that only gets more pertinent with time, and Master is a creepy, simplistic story about The Doctor and his best Enemy.
The Eighth Doctor: Storm Warning or The Chimes of Midnight
Storm Warning is a fantastic story that introduces Charley, a fantastic companion who was meant to die in the R-101 crash, and The Chimes of Midnight continues said story really well.
The Paid Realm:
It's unlikely you'll start here, but Big Finish's more recent work is New Series oriented as opposed to classic. But that may entice you all the more, and you may consider putting off the free stories for these very intriguing sets. As such, here are some completely unrelated series starters that would be just great, thank you, if you picked up any of them.
If you don't know the classic Doctors, consider The Diary of River Song. Everyone knows River, and most love her. But even if you don't, it's hard to find any criticism with these sets. Most are independent from each other, so you can start pretty much anywhere but set eight, which has a character from a prior set make a return. Especially good at introducing the classic Doctors of 4-8 to a new audience, and it gives you the taste of what they're like while allowing River to still take center stage.
If you want something sprawling and epic or have a special love for the much neglected Eighth Doctor try Doom Coalition 1 and it's following 3 sets. Doom Coalition is the ultimate "arc" in Doctor Who, telling a story over many episodes while letting each story flourish to it's maximum potential - it misfires very rarely, and it gets better and better as it goes on, and that's impressive when the first set has tales like The Eleven and The Red Lady which are about as good as it gets in the One Hour format gets. While Doom Coalition does have a reference or two (and a companion) from prior series Dark Eyes, it's also completely newcomer friendly.
If you'd care for something new with an old face, Fourth Doctor Adventures Series Eight is the way to go. It may sound ridiculous that I'm starting you off on Series Eight of a series, but it features The Fourth Doctor's first new companion, so this two-volume banger is very natural as an opening. Ann is a lovely character who has an excellent chemistry with Baker - and you may as well get this one out of the way, especially since it connects to Big Finish's most high profile series, Dalek Universe.
But if all that's too light and fluffy for you, and you've been missing the television equivalent, try the official continuation of Torchwood in Torchwood: Aliens Among Us. A fully complete series Five to the show without many of it's television pitfalls. It's a magnificent tale in this universe, telling something grounded and character-driven while at a large scale, and each episode builds on the last, eventually reaching a fever pitch. Those who don't care for Captain Jack, don't despair, as the story is much more about a new version of Torchwood, and while Jack is important, the series is more concerned with establishing a new cast that lets the characters flourish.
And lastly, there's the one I don't need to mention since you'll probably start there no matter what I say - both The Ninth Doctor Adventures and the Tenth Doctor Adventures are Big Finish's most "big" releases right now for obvious reasons. It's a shock they could pick up Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant, and these series are both really rather good. Out of these, you can't go wrong that much - but I would recommend steering clear of Ravagers until you're more familiar with the audio drama format. Respond To All Calls is the best starter set for Nine - and if you want the Tenth Doctor, pick up any of his sets with Donna.
And there you go, this is my introduction for you, redone for the trillionth time! Please heed me
Think the get your brain checked comment is a bit rude, but this guide is pretty on point.
ReplyDelete