Happy Big Finish February, everyone! Big Finish is a constant and wonderful source of additional ‘non-essential but expansive’ Doctor Who universe (or Whoniverse…) material. It has been for twenty years, but for many years; it had shied away from giving fans exact release dates for stories. This was understandable – as in the world of CD production – timescales can change suddenly. And then there’s the matter of postal delivery.
Safe to say, for a while it was not viable for releases. Minus some occasional exceptions when releases were close at hand…
But since the company switched to a ‘digital-first’ release plan during Covid, it has been under consideration… and in January – fans were surprised to find the official Big Finish Twitter account readily offering up release dates to them.
An Official Return To Release Dates
Executive Producer at Big Finish (and writer, and part-time Dalek: among other things!), Nicholas Briggs, would soon explain… As we reported on the 23rd – he had announced on the 22nd January edition of the official Big Finish Podcast that this was a deliberate change. And that the podcast would be used to reveal these dates…
February’s Release Schedule
So, with all that in mind, we couldn’t possibly start a new month without doing a run-down of all the announced release dates Big Finish have given us for February!
Big Finish February: Short Trips Volume 12 – February 2nd!
An audiobook anthology of six new short stories, there’s plenty of variety to these tales – coming tomorrow! (And you’ll want to check back here tomorrow afternoon, for our first two (of four) interviews with some of the boxset’s writers…) Some delightfully familiar names, and a new arrival in the form of Jennah Dean. A solid run of narrators onboard, too. Sure to be particularly fascinating is the insight we’ll get into recently-debuted audio companion Valarie Lockwood…
The six stories[bare in mind, we are using the credited names here for at least two of these writers] are:
- Salvage by Max Curtis (An Eighth Doctor and Bliss Adventure read by Adèle Anderson)
- AWOL by Angus Dunican (A Third Doctor and Brigadier mini-drama read by Jon Culshaw)
- The Three Flames by Sophie Iles (A Twelfth Doctor Adventure read by Dan Starkey)
- Identity Check by Eugenie Pusenjak (A Ninth Doctor and Rose Adventure read by Jacob Dudman)
- Table for Two, Dinner for One by Jennah Dean (A Tenth Doctor Adventure read by Ayesha Antoine)
- The Galois Group by Felicia Barker (An Eleventh Doctor and Valarie Adventure read by Safiyya Ingar)
Synopsises
Salvage
There’s a place where all lost things go. Salvage, a sanctuary where the abandoned and misplaced can be found. In the Time War, more has been lost than ever before. Planets, people, and even whole timelines have been consumed by the fighting. Everyone needs Salvage, but even this haven isn’t immune from the effects of the Time War.
AWOL
In the short time the Doctor’s worked for UNIT, he’s become an invaluable part of the team. Yet, he’s gone missing. For the Brigadier, the tricky part isn’t going to be tracking him down. The tricky part is going to be convincing the Doctor to come back.
The Three Flames
Fleeing from a dying world, a family of Tenaborgs crash land on a strange planet. Their only hope of survival? A stranger called the Doctor.
Identity Check
The Colossus River Diversion is one of the greatest engineering projects in the universe, created by different species all coming together to create something spectacular. However, when the Doctor and Rose arrive, old tensions boil to the surface and threaten to derail everything.
Table for Two, Dinner for One
Good evening, Madames and Monsieurs. Welcome to the Ristorante del Cosmo, the finest restaurant in all of London. It’s so good, in fact, we think you’ll never want to leave…
The Galois Group
There are rules to travelling in time, rules that Valarie Lockwood thought she understood. But, when she has an opportunity to break those rules, she seizes the chance. Valarie’s going to have to learn the hard way that the laws of time are there for a reason.
Big Finish February: Shades of Fear – February 8th!
The Ninth Doctor returns for the final set in this initial run! With Roy Gill taking up another finale slot… oh boy, we’re in for something monumental and emotional, aren’t we? With some very nice names onboard as guest cast too (Susan Penhaligon back for another audio role! And Dave Hearn in Doctor Who? Am I dreaming?!), the trio of stories sound intriguing…
4.1 The Colour of Terror by Lizzie Hopley
Mrs Bevell wants to keep the star rating for her charity shop at any cost – but why does she stock so many items of one particular shade? When West Morebry residents start to notice disappearances, the Doctor assembles a motley band to do battle… with the colour red!
4.2 The Blooming Menace by James Kettle
Toby Entwhistle and his bachelor chums in the Fellows Club are falling victim to a plague – of marriage! The chaps are all besotted by giant flowers – but Toby’s new valet seems to know what’s going on. The Doctor could be London’s only hope…
4.3 Red Darkness by Roy Gill
The sunlight from Solis Kailya could revolutionise colony farming. While his mother researches its properties, Callen and his seeing (and talking!) dog Doyle meet a new arrival – and discover an impending threat… The Vashta Nerada are closing in, and they are not alone.
Cast
- Christopher Eccleston (The Doctor)
- Moyo Akandé (Marjie Lago / Bridget)
- Harki Bhambra (Doyle)
- Milanka Brooks (Phil)
- Dinita Gohil (Sahdna Chand / Marla)
- Clive Hayward (Birkett / Wycombe-Bassett)
- Dave Hearn (Toby Entwistle)
- Luke Kempner (Bulstrode / Eulalia)
- Adam Martyn (Callen Lennox)
- Susan Penhaligon (Mrs Bevell)
- Laura Rollins (Cath)
- Michael Shelford (Bram Gifford)
- Frank Skinner (Pete)
- Rachel Stanley (Nanny Lewis)
- Leah Whitaker (Dr Iona Lennox)
Big Finish February: Torchwood: The Last Love Song Of Suzie Costello – February 14th!
I mean, this one is not much of a surprise. Ever since its announcement in early December as being the first story in a thematic “romance-fuelled” trilogy within the Torchwood monthlies… We’ve known that this one would be a Valentine’s Day special. Written by newcomer Rafaella Marcus, it takes us back to that rarely-visited team member, Suzie. After nearly four years, she’ll be interesting to revisit – particularly in a romantic context. The synopsis is certainly giving very little away…
An island has appeared in the North Atlantic Ocean. Suzie Costello comes to investigate and finds a crashed spaceship on the seabed. Inside the spaceship is a mystery. And also something Suzie has never dreamed of…
Cast
- Indira Varma (Suzie Costello)
- James Backway (Anwir)
- Danielle Kassaraté (Magda / Orion)
Big Finish February: The Demon Song – February 16th!
Stephen Noonan and Lauren Cornelius continue on in their adventures, taking on the roles of the First Doctor and Dodo. A really nice duo of performances in past, it’ll be great to hear them back for more First Doctor Adventures. Though, I will say that I am certainly VERY curious to see how that first story will go. Both of them in the 2020s? Intriguing…
2.1 The Demon Song by Bob Ayres (2 parts)
Managing to land the TARDIS in Dodo’s far flung future, the 2020s, the Doctor detects a haunting melody on the streets of Camden. People are going missing, and one of them is Dodo!
2.2 The Incherton Incident by Nicholas Briggs (4 parts)
Something intercepts the TARDIS in space. Attempting to escape its grip, the Doctor inadvertently drags it through time to coastal England in 1947. As the nation recovers from World War Two, an alien force threatens total destruction.
Cast
- Stephen Noonan (The Doctor)
- Lauren Cornelius (Dodo Chaplet)
- Rosie Baker (Helen Fletcher / Dr Lia Halloran)
- George Fletcher (Paul Carter)
- Genevieve Gaunt (Virginia Hancock)
- Richard James (Policeman / Old Man / Sergeant Ballard / Private Roberts)
- Thomas Michaelson (Captain John Andrews)
- Henry Nott (Daniel De’ath)
- Bhavnisha Parmar (Archana “Archie” Pawar)
- Antoinette Tagoe (Grace Adichie)
- Paksie Vernon (Sanderson)
Big Finish February: The Return of Jo Jones – February 23rd!
By far the most intriguing pair-up of this month’s releases… With the present-day Jo brought into contact with the Third Doctor (well, more direct than The Legacy of Time gave us!), it’s an interesting decision. Jo’s departure from the Third Doctor was a rather defining moment at the end of his second-last season, so the handling here will be key. But again, the synopsises get the mind going…
Supernature by Matt Fitton (2 parts)
After a spate of terrifying bird attacks, Jo Jones is called to the Isle of Wight by an old friend. Something has thrown the natural order out of balance – but Jo’s own world has also changed forever.
It turns out she is not the only one investigating. Soon it’s like old times, facing down arrogant scientific ambition, as danger grows. The Doctor and Jo have been reunited just when they need each other most.
The Conservitors by Felicia Barker (2 parts)
On the planet Viltris in the 49th Century, a regime obsessed with statistical analysis of risk has created a force of robots to protect its citizens. But when Jo Jones arrives with the Doctor on her first space-time voyage for decades, she discovers that long-held grudges from a past conflict are about to bubble over into outright rebellion.
The Iron Shore by Lizzie Hopley (2 parts)
Landing on the troubled, sea-faring planet Mercator, the Doctor and Jo encounter Callis, a ‘cursed man’, the last surviving member of his family line – and the curse is keen to find new victims.
Cast
- Tim Treloar (The Doctor)
- Katy Manning (Jo Jones [also known as Jo Grant])
- Tom Alexander (Callis)
- Samuel Clemens (Tamber / Solomun)
- Paul Copley (Wendell)
- Wayne Forester (Malcolm Hollings / Armstrong / The Innate)
- Viv May (Al Hunter)
- Poppy Miller (Vykane)
- David O’Mahony (Petroz / Conservitors)
- Wanda Opalinska (Dr Lorna Holmes)
- LJ Parkinson (Laire)
- Gary Turner (Premier Maldon / Driver)
- Paksie Vernon (Merileen)
- Corrinne Wicks (Ms Frost)
Big Finish February: All of Time and Space – late February!
It’s the only one we’ve not had an exact date for just yet… (Keep your ears out for that on a Big Finish Podcast episode soon, we’d expect!) But the Eleventh Doctor Chronicles continue onwards – with the Doctor and Valarie off on more adventures.
4.1 All of Time and Space by Ellery Quest(there’s a trick to this one…)
As concepts for shows go, it’s a good one. An adventurer and his friend travelling through all of time and space, righting wrongs and defending those who can’t defend themselves. Yet, as its creator is about to discover, there are those who’d rather this show never existed. What’s so dangerous about ‘Doctor Who’?
4.2 The Yearn by Angus Dunican
The people of Medrüth are under siege. Forced into underground bunkers, the Medrüthians are desperate for a way to escape. When the Doctor and Valarie arrive, it seems like they’ve finally got everything they wanted. Except, that’s when the nightmares really begin.
4.3 Curiosity Shop by James Goss
Mr Foreman owns a junkyard. He doesn’t get many visitors. In fact, all anyone ever seems interested in is Barbara. One woman informs Mr Foreman she knows the truth about Barbara, that she went on impossible adventures with a man called the Doctor. This woman, this Valarie, will do anything to be reunited with Barbara and the Doctor. Even if it kills her.
Cast
- Jacob Dudman (The Doctor)
- Safiyya Ingar (Valarie Lockwood)
- Leroy Bonsu (Ellery Quest / Alien Diner)
- Samuel Clemens (Entity / Yearn)
- David Dobson (Hoster)
- Derek Griffiths (Golas)
- Richard Hope (Mr Darling)
- Mark Rowley (Wyler)
- Mia Tomlinson (Roanna)
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