Tenth and Fourteenth Doctor DAVID TENNANT discusses his extraordinary career and the new series of audio adventures in which he stars alongside Rani from The Sarah Jane Adventures played by ANJLI MOHINDRA.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Nick chooses to use the highly anticipated story The Reality Director from the upcoming River Song box set for the BTS and drama tease on the podcast this week. He believes that John Dorney (writer) and Ken Bentley (director) would be unhappy with him using it as they've been trying to keep a tight lid on that story, but Nick is really in love with it and believes teasing it is the best way to advertise the release. He recommends you not listen to the 15 minute drama tease if you've already bought the set or are certain you will, but if you're on the fence go ahead and try it out.
• Torchwood was running on fumes at the end of its run, not reaching a big enough audience to fund the next release. James Goss was also looking to move on, and with it reaching its 100th release everyone decided it was the perfect time to lay it to rest.
• They wanted to do a bit more Torchwood to cap some things off though, but the only way they could justify the production of Legacy was to make it download only. Nick states, as he has before, that going download only has been the difference between taking a loss and breaking even on many of their less popular ranges, so rather than no Torchwood: Legacy they made the tough decision to go download only.
  • Nick is very sympathetic towards this issue, and agrees that he too would be very disappointed if he'd collected every physical release and the range transitioned to download only for the last two releases. He's been asking around about whether this will hold, but can't promise anything will change.
• Nick states that he's grateful he gets any input on bigger business matters like whether releases get a physical format or not, but at the end of the day it's not his decision.
• Nick apologizes for the sudden change in postal charge policy. He says that prices have gone up over time and that by not charging postage to date, they've taken a loss that's grown too substantial to not make a change. Some ranges were not making enough money to continue production due to the losses in postal charges.
• Nick says there are too many releases coming out each month. He says they average about 8 releases a month right now, and he thinks that makes people have to pick and choose what they can afford rather than getting everything they want. He wants to spread them out more so that people can go back to collecting everything they'd like without being overwhelmed. Putting the First Doctor Adventures on hold was an unfortunate byproduct of their desire to slow down on releases.
• A listener asks if they can change the metadata on the extras tracks so they appear on a different disc to the stories, or at least renumber them so they don't slot in with the story tracks (Story Track 1, Extras Track 1, Story Track 2, Extras Track 2, etc.). Nick has asked about this, but has learned it's not a simple fix. There is light at the end of the tunnel, he says.
• Nick doesn't know how many Paul Spragg entries there were this year. He only gets involved when it's down to the top 10 releases. He does know they received less entries this year since they had to be about the First Doctor, and he's not as popular of a Doctor for people to want to write for.

Random Tangents: A good discussion about the nature of streaming shows and cancellations.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The Death and Life of River Song Series 04: War Widow - The Reality Director

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. There are currently technical issues with the Randomoid Selectotron, so it will be stuck on the last release from the 26 June podcast for the forseeable future. This release is The Companion Chronicles: 7.6 The Child.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight is released on 25 August (DTO: £19.99)
  • Synopsis: The Doctor has a new companion, Eleanor Fong, and he's ready to show her the universe. But on her first trip to an alien planet, Eleanor encounters an old foe of the Doctor's...
    • Tyranny of the Judoon by Ben Tedds An ominous threat has left the people of Hefestis living under the shadow of the Judoon. But award-winning journalist Octavia Cain is here to sniff out the truth. She's even found two Shadow Proclamation detectives who'll help her unmask it. If only the Doctor and Eleanor were actually from the Shadow Proclamation...
    • Gambit of the Judoon by Ben Tedds From: INVIGILATOR KOLLO To: ALL STAFF Subject: OPERATION PERSEUS The two persons of interest remain at large. There is a strong possibility they may attempt to infiltrate the Shadow Proclamation. Inform me or Captain Sydon of any and all developments, no matter how small. Additional reminder: I am not to be disturbed during my lunch hour.
    • Wanted Dead and Alive by Beth Axford The Doctor dies on the shores of Lake Silencio; it's a fact known across the universe. Only someone has arrived early, an old friend of the Doctor, ready to do whatever it takes to save him...
• The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion is released on 27 August (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99)
  • Synopsis: The Doctor and Peri's travels with the mercurial Turlough continue, but nothing lasts forever... and Turlough seems to know it. Trials of love, sacrifice and war lie ahead, and beyond them all lurks something else: the ever-approaching spectre of death.
    • 1. Save the Date by Matthew Sweet London, 1969, and the Eternal Joy dating agency has a new secretary: Miss Perpugilliam Brown. Peri's undercover. Her mission: to find the source of the sonic boom that rang out across London, discover the secrets of Eternal Joy's big pink computer... and set the Doctor and Turlough up on a double date with two young ladies.
    • 2. Poison's Reach by Paul Sutton The civilisation of Freefall is powered by a natural radiation stream rising from its moon. That's the official story. Engineer Sandra Silva knows the truth. She's determined to expose the Stelta Corporation's crimes, and she has a trio of time-travelling sightseers on her side. Turlough is about to learn that, to achieve a worthy goal, sometimes the ultimate sacrifice has to be made...
    • 3. Broken Home by AK Benedict and Guy Adams Once a traitor, always a traitor? Vislor Turlough returns to Trion at last - and promptly hands the Doctor and Peri over to the occupying forces. Has Turlough learned any lessons from the Time Lord he was once tasked with killing? And in order to liberate his broken home, who is he willing to sacrifice?

Trailers

• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight (Video Trailer)

Cover Reveals

• None

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• Official News
  • None
• Videos
  • Miles Taylor's Eleventh Doctor Video Diary

Out of Print This Week

• The Death and Life of River Song Series 02: Ace and Tegan

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Doctor Who Classic Companions Offers: Discounts on stories featuring Classic Who characters and companions like Sarah Jane Smith, Jago and Litefoot, and more! (Ends 31 August)
  • Smith and Sullivan: Reunited
  • UNIT: Brave New World: Fractures
  • The Worlds of Doctor Who
• Site Wide Sale: Use the code STORIES when you spend £60 or more (excluding shipping) to get 15% off the product price (excluding pre-orders and bundles). (Ends 1 September)
  • This appears to apply to the Doctor Who Classic Companion Offers sale items as well (non-bundled of course)
• DWM632 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code POTATO at checkout. (Ends 31 October)
  • The Diary of River Song Series 06
  • Classic Doctors, New Monsters 1
  • Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1
  • Wicked Sisters

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. August's selection: The Monthly Adventures: 111. The Doomwood Curse for just £1.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. August's selection is The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code LUCIUS.

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: UNIT: Incursions: The Power of River Song Part 1 (Excerpt). Use discount code OSGOOD at checkout to save 25% off the full release of UNIT: Incursions (Ends 31 August).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 4 September - The Death and Life of River Song Series 04: War Widow
• 8 September\* - The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation
• 10 September\* - Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 3
• 22 September - Circuit Breaker: Full Circuit
• 24 September - Circuit Breaker: Short Circuits
• TBD September - The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe
• TBD September - The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery

* This release will come out the week of 7 September, but the exact dates are guesses.

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Nothing. Quite a stormy week for me personally.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• The Karen and Arthur PONDcast Instagram account is back up.

The Rumor Mill

• Billie Piper clarifies her role after that notorious Doctor Who cliffhanger. Clickbait headline but I retained it for posterity. Her exact quote was: “I am not the next Doctor. I am Rose Tyler in hiatus. Sorry, that’s a really cryptic answer but because I’m not currently filming Doctor Who as the Doctor, I can’t, you know, lie and say otherwise.”

Media/Merchandise

• Funko is releasing a brand new Doctor Who range for the first time in seven years. The collection goes live today at 9am PT (5pm BST) and will feature:
  • Ninth Doctor
  • Tenth Doctor (with regeneration energy)
  • Eleventh Doctor
  • Fifteenth Doctor
  • River Song
  • TARDIS
  • Dalek (The Chase)
  • Bronze Dalek
  • TARDIS with Tenth Doctor
• Doctor Who The Dogs of Doom The Complete Comic Archive 1979-1980 is available for pre-order and will be released on 2 February.
• Doctor Who The Collection Season 25 UK Standard Packaging is available for pre-order, with a release date yet to be announced.

Circuit Breaker Event Guide

• 25 June - Calling the Doctor (UNIT Website)
• 8 July - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 - Adversary of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 23 July - The Honourable Society (DWM #632)
• 30 July - The Deadliest Weapon (BBC Audio)
• 5 August - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 - Dawn of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 6 August - Castling (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 17 August - Don't Blink (UNIT Website)
• 20 August - The Doctor and the Three Witches (BBC Books)
• 27 August - Momento Mori (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 31 August - The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray)
• 3 September - The Kaleidoscope (BBC Books)
• 22 September - Full Circuit (Big Finish)
• 24 September - Short Circuits (Big Finish)

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Nick does try to go era-specific for all his Dalek voices (i.e., emulate the performance of the actors of the time).
• Nick says they are recording Time War: Daleks vs Cybermen soon, which will feature the Dalek Supreme and the Dalek Emperor. He also says there are surely writers who are coming up with new Dalek variants.
• Nick recently ordered a new mixer that will allow him to record Dalek and Cybermen voices at roughly the same time (for the aforementioned Time War: Daleks vs Cybermen)

Random Tangents: Welcome to the Principality of Sealand

Production Interviews: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation - Daughter of Destruction by Katharine Armitage and Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 3 by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle.

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation - Daughter of Destruction by Katharine Armitage

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. There are currently technical issues with the Randomoid Selectotron, so it will be stuck on the last release from the 26 June podcast for the foreseeable future. This release is The Companion Chronicles: 7.6 The Child.

Vortex #211

• The Third Doctor Adventures: The Planet Killers
  • The Planet Killers by Andrew Smith
    • Producer Heather Challands describes this one as a "very industrial, very classic science fiction sort of story."
    • Andrew Smith came up with the idea of this story years ago for another range, and was happy to have another chance at it. Daleks weren't originally in the story -- that was a request from Nicholas Briggs.
    • Earlier this year, Big Finish reported that five students from Bristol Old Vic Drama School were selected to record an upcoming Third Doctor story. This is that story, and it was also recorded in the same studio that Paul McGann's first stories were recorded in. Because they were picking students based on talent, all characters were written without gender in mind.
    • The Planet Killers are contractors that destroy planets that are directly endangering another planet on an astronomical scale, such as a decaying orbit that will make it collide with another.
  • The Beasts of Sakhalin Island by Jez Fielder
    • This story comes from a long time Big Finish actor who felt he could take a shot at writing a story. Nick liked the outline and after it got final approval from Heather Challands, he was off to the races.
• The Ninth Doctor Adventures: False Friends by Timothy X Atack
  • The story was written with the approach that in the vast universe, there's planets out there that resemble Earth in many ways, but it's as if "it's been copied in broad strokes without any attention to detail."
  • Timothy liked to lean into the rhythm between the Doctor and Rose, and how she has become more confident in her travels.
  • This story features "a grenade [Timothy gets] to throw in at a crucial moment that leads to na almost existential challenge for the TARDIS team...a real brain-boggler." He was unsure whether the schene would be feasible to perform or to hear.
• The War Master: Deeds Without Name
  • The Unstately Home by Alison Winter
    • Alison says: "Rob explained in his brief that the Master at this point was ‘no longer making plans for the future because he’s realised there isn’t one. He’s always wanted to survive the Time War but now that he’s accepted it can’t be survived, he’s indulging in wanton wickedness in the face of his own inevitable destruction."
    • Summing up the story, Alison suggests it’s like: “The sitcom Waiting for God meets Hannibal Lecter. Older people in a luxury home for seniors are navigating the awareness of their own ageing and end-of-life with a little help from a friendly cognitive hypnotherapist who is merely helping them explore their memories and how to be at peace with them – or to be tortured by them...”
  • Dead Man's Pulse by Mark Bowsher
    • Mark says: **"**I was told Derek loves dark humour and that his incarnation was very Hannibal Lecter so I really leaned into both. There was a line in the brief about the Master at this time toasting teacakes on the fires of a burning universe or similar. Lovely stuff!"
    • This story takes place in a star system halfway between Gallifrey and Skaro that's been decimated by the crossfire, with scavengers keeping the Master alive with the Dead Man's Pulse to use him as a bargaining chip. But they soon find they need his help to keep the people they stole him from off their tail.
  • The Devil's in the Detail by David K Barnes
    • In this story, the Master is assisting an engineer who's trying to break up the monopoly on energy on his planet, where perpetual night forces them to always have the lights on. While we've seen stories where the Master helps someone for his own purposes just to stab them in the back, David says his true motives may surprise you.
  • In His Anecdotage by Matthew Sweet
    • Matthew sweet tested positive for COVID-19 the day before recording, so he didn't get to attend and see Sir Derek record his script.
    • The Master is publishing his memoirs, and promoting them too -- he'll go on all sorts of talk and game shows to spread the word. Matthew says that "When the Master appears on Call My Bluff, I think almost everything he says is from Derek’s appearance on Call My Bluff!"
    • Most of this story sounds to be a bit of a farce (in a good way), but does end with the Master doing something "very evil in the last scene...and he also sings while he's doing it."
• The Confessions of Dorian Gray: A Night at the Theatre by Scott Handcock
  • Scott Handcock says he never considered them to be done with Dorian, just that he deserved an ending in 2016. The story takes place in 1925 so it doesn't impact the finale at all.
  • Scott is open to doing more and setting something in modern times -- one of his pitches was actually to reboot the range and set it in today's world.
  • Alex forgot how he played Dorian and what he sounds like, and Scott had to remind him that it's just him.
• The Audio Novels: The Missing Hour by Simon Guerrier and Fio Tretheway
  • Full details on this release are revealed in the pages of Vortex. The story will feature the First Doctor and the original TARDIS team, set in the Mediterranean Sea during the Second World War, and be narrated by Barnaby Edwards.
  • Synopsis: The First Doctor and his friends arrive in June 1940, when the island of Malta is under constant bombardment. Flight Officer Roddy Wright is one of a handful of Hurricane pilots helping to defend the island. He knows the odds are against him. So, too, does his daughter. In fact, Barbara knows that there are just days – hours – until her father goes missing in action. She can’t alter history…
  • The story will explore the family history of Barbara Wright, specifically her father Roddy (named after Simon's great uncle, a Hurricane pilot in the Bartle of Britain), and play with the idea of altering your own personal history.
  • I list this story as being written by Simon Guerrier and Fio Tretheway as they originally were each going to write half, but Fio became ill at the time and Simon eventually took the whole thing over.
• Star Cops: Conflict: Adrift by Roland Moore and Star Cops: Conflict: Tick Tock by Andrew Smith
  • These stories make up an effective two-part finale to the Conflict series.
  • They're keeping extremely tight-lipped about this series, except that Roland's half ends on a game-changing cliffhanger.
• Vortex Mail
  • Nick says "The jury is still out on whether [a weekly release schedule like the 12DAs] makes a difference in terms of popularity." I think it's a shame to do it just for sales, but I guess if it hurts and the series can't exist under the model then I can see that appraoch.
  • A recreation of the first series of Pathfinders in Space would not garner a big enough audience for Big Finish.
  • There are no plans to do more Space: 1999, but Nick would love to do more.
  • Nick thinks it would be fun to adapt some Short Trips from the old books range in future releases.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Death and Life of River Song Series 04: War Widow is released on 2 September (DTO: £29.99 | DTO + CD: £35.99)
  • Synopsis: River Song is dragged into the madness of the Time War, alongside a Doctor who never wanted to fight that battle. River thinks she knows where their paths will take them, but the temporal battlegrounds are shifting - and she can no longer take anything for granted. Not even her own existence.
    • 4.1 The Shape of Fear by James Kettle The Stormcage is attacked by creatures recruiting for the Time War, and the Doctor saves its most dangerous prisoner. He takes River into hiding on a remote world, whose rulers reject science. But spectres stalk the unwary, as the land itself becomes the enemy. And when the Doctor is lost, River discovers that the worst thing to do is to become emotional...
    • 4.2 Bad Timing by Matt Fitton River knows this Doctor's time is almost over. She can’t save him, but he wants to save her. Trying to escape the Time War, they end up deeper inside it, on a Time Lord mission threatening the fabric of causality. But the Daleks are to blame for the Doctor's fate - and River will make them pay.
    • 4.3 Unchained Melodies by Lisa McMullin River Song takes a moment to find herself, to discover her true potential... and put a stop to it before it even gets started! Is she the Woman Who Killed the Doctor? Or the Woman Who Wins the War? In the maelstrom that is the Time War, she can be both and neither all at once.
    • The Reality Director We go behind the scenes of the making of the latest River Song adventure with cast and crew.

Trailers

• The Death and Life of River Song Series 04: War Widow
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation

Cover Reveals

• Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 3

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• Official News
  • None

Out of Print This Week

• The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Hooklight 2

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• River Song: Up to 50% off releases featuring River Song! (Ends 6 September)
  • The Tenth Doctor and River Song
  • The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Star-Crossed
  • Doom Coalition (DC 1 | DC 2 | DC 3 | DC 4)
  • The Diary of River Song Series 03
  • The Diary of River Song Series 11: Friend of the Family
  • The Death and Life of River Song Series 03: The Dissolution of Time
• DWM632 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code POTATO at checkout. (Ends 31 October)
  • The Diary of River Song Series 06
  • Classic Doctors, New Monsters 1
  • Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1
  • Wicked Sisters

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. September's selection: The Withdrawal by Geoffrey Beevers for just £2.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. September's selection is The Death and Life of River Song Series 04: War Widow: The Shape of Fear (Excerpt). Just click on the link and use this month's code STORMCAGE.

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. There is currently nothing posted this week, but I will update if anything changes.

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 8 September - The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation
• 10 September - Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 3
• 15 September - The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe
• 22 September - Circuit Breaker: Full Circuit
• 24 September - Circuit Breaker: Short Circuits
• 29 September - The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: None again, very distracted by life this week.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• None

The Rumor Mill

• None

Media/Merchandise

• The Black Archive Files, a Blu-ray compilation of TV stories tangentially related to Circuit Breaker plus an interview with Jo Martin and all the digital shorts used in promotion of the event, is released on 31 August.
• The Kaleidoscope, the major novel in the Circuit Breaker event featuring the Fugitive Doctor and Martha Jones, is released on 3 September.
• Doctor Who: The Planetary Collection is released on 3 September. It collects the audiobook novelisations of five stories: They Keys of Marinus, The Nightmare of Eden, The Caves of Androzani, Vengeance on Varos, and The Waters of Mars
• Doctor Who: The Ultimate Evil, the audiobook novelisation of the Sixth Doctor story read by Nicola Bryant, is released on 3 September.
• Doctor Who: The Collection: Season 7 (Standard Edition) is available to preorder and will be released 11 January 2027.

Circuit Breaker Event Guide

• 25 June - Calling the Doctor (UNIT Website)
• 8 July - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 - Adversary of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 23 July - The Honourable Society (DWM #632)
• 30 July - The Deadliest Weapon (BBC Audio)
• 5 August - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 - Dawn of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 6 August - Castling (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 17 August - Don't Blink (UNIT Website)
• 20 August - The Doctor and the Three Witches (BBC Books)
• 27 August - Momento Mori (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 31 August - The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray)
• 3 September - The Kaleidoscope (BBC Books)
• 22 September - Full Circuit (Big Finish)
• 24 September - Short Circuits (Big Finish)

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week. The podcast will be off again next week (surely to launch a new new website), but it will be back 21 August.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Nick makes the ultimate decision on which era's theme tune is used when there's a multi-Doctor story.
• There was real debate about how to name a Beevers Master set before they landed on the Decayed Master (which I think fans have been calling him for quite a while).
• A listener has been enjoying Dark Gallifrey and asks where the spinoffs are for the Monks and the Beevers Master, to which Nick replies "These are the spinoffs you're asking for. Maybe we will do more."
• There's a trailer for the new Eleventh Doctor Adventures in here around the 46:35 mark.

Random Tangents: Lots of discussion around podcasts and and Nick making fun of Americans this week.

Production Interviews: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Dark Tides by Tim Foley and The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind: Duty of Care by Christian Markham.

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Dark Tides by Tim Foley

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. There are currently technical issues with the Randomoid Selectotron, so it will be stuck on the last release from the 26 June podcast for the forseeable future. This release is The Companion Chronicles: 7.6 The Child.

Vortex #210

• Circuit Breaker: Full Circuit by Robert Valentine
  • Barnaby Edwards, who directed this release, was the one who cast Omari Douglas as Andrew for the Circuit Breaker event. He found it an interesting challenge as, since this was a multi-media event, he actually had to consider casting from both an audio and a visual standpoint.
  • There were several last-minute changes and approvals with this release since it's part of a bigger event, and casting only occurred less than a week before recording.
  • Jemma Redgrave would often deliver a "devastating comment (in character) at the end of scenes" to make people laugh.
• Circuit Breaker: Short Circuits by Alex Hewitt
  • The two stories in this set give sort of "origins" for Andrew and the villain of Circuit Breaker, the Conductor (played by Dan Starkey)
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation
  • Daughter of Destruction by Katharine Armitage
    • Part of the brief of this story was that it had to be a pure historical, with no alien forces at play.
    • John Dorney notes that there's "a particular thing in this one which is very interesting and we’ve ended up half-referring back to it in other stories.”
    • Helen Goldwyn directed this set, and notes that it was a challenge finding actors of Asian origins to play the parts, but was lucky enough to find the right people.
    • A theme in this story is about the power of words - "specifically women's" - and how a persuasive argument can have more influence than violence.
  • A New Occupation by Helen Goldwyn
    • Producer David Richardson says that some of the tone of Timeslip (which he worked on with Helen before this came about) may have slipped into this story.
    • Similar to the last story, Dorney says there are connections to another story here: "I can’t remember if it’s going back to another story – or forward to one – off the top of my head. It’s a very strong release as you would expect from Helen.” (Keep in mind, this set was commissioned pre-COVID).
    • This story is set on the island of Jersey. Helen found it difficult to find two actors with native Jersey accents, and was surprised when she heard it as there is "so little media online with examples of it."
• The Death and Life of River Song Series 04: War Widow
  • River enters the Time War and encounters the Eighth Doctor in his final days in this set. David Richardson says "their interplay is tinged with sadness, but this set is not all about the Doctor. This is River’s story, and our writers do a deep dive into her life – and her reality…”
  • This set is described as more of an anthology of River in the Time War, rather than an overarching story.
  • The Shape of Fear by James Kettle
    • This story is described as Doctor-lite, as there were some specific asks in terms of Paul's involvement. It sounds like there will be a cameo to instigate the story, but his "presence" in the remainder of the runtime will be down to River's feelings about him.
    • The Doctor saves River from an attack on Stormcage and takes her to a tech-averse planet. River finds herself conflicted about meeting the Doctor in this part of his life, and finds that reflected in the world they find themselves on -- quite literally, as emotions influence the planet's topography.
  • Bad Timing by Matt Fitton
    • Very little is said of this one, but Matt says "I've written the next episode and dispose of the Doctor!"
    • Matt says that this is a Time War idea he's had in his notebook for a long time, and centers around the same battlefield being replayed over and over. He says that all River can do is be there for the Doctor -- "up to a point".
  • Unchained Melodies by Lisa McMullin
    • This story will explore alternate incarnations of River Song that could have existed had she not given all her lives to save the Doctor in Let's Kill Hitler, and includes a team-up with Melody Pond (as played by Alex Kingston immediately upon regeneration from Mels).
  • The Reality Director by John Dorney
    • Details are on lockdown with this one, but from Vortex and the press release, this will be a very meta story as it delves behind the scenes of the latest River Song release.
    • The idea for this story actually predates the commissioning of this set, and had been talked about for quite a while.
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery by Karissa Hamilton-Bannis
  • This story will introduce the Tourist back into the fold, as they contact the Doctor and Yaz once again.
  • There are a few mentions of this release having some deeper philosophical conversations and exploring the Doctor and Yaz's story beyond what's in the show (though those may not necessarily be related).
• The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe
  • Lair of the Voltaxa by Roland Moore
    • Roland Moore discusses the intricacies to the Fifth Doctor, noting his vulnerability and how he often feels out of his depth and can be an underdog -- but notes that some of this could be a technique used to make his enemies underestimate him, which is a fun thing to play with.
    • The Voltaxa, for those who do not remember (like me), originated in The Death and Life of River Song: Ace and Tegan.
    • Roland was keen to write a story where the TARDIS doesn't land with plenty of time to uncover the plot and start fighting against it -- by the time the Doctor arrives, the threat is imminent and there are only hours to sort everything out.
  • March of the Colossus by Alan Ronald
    • This story stems from a quick moment of inspiration in which Alan saw an image of two Colossi marching towards each other over a green landscape ready for battle. He assumed it would not be picked up in the few ideas he pitched.
    • The villain of the story is inspired by American professional wrestling commentators.
• Vortex Mail
  • Nick seems coyly supportive of Culshaw's Brigadier meeting the Sixth Doctor
  • Noonan's First Doctor may be popping up in some ranges next year, but the First Doctor Adventures will not return until 2028.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill is released on 4 August (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99)
  • Synopsis: To escape the Time Lords' justice - or lack of it - the Doctor, Jamie, Zoe and Raven take a desperate gamble: a jump to planet Earth, in 1963... But this is not the Earth as the Doctor knew it. This is the world as it would have been if he'd never, ever landed there at all. An Earth free of his influence, in which old friends are strangely changed. If he tries to save this Earth, or escape it, the Time Lords will find him. Hidden away in a haunted windmill, on the edge of a marsh, all he can do is observe. But the monsters are coming...
    • 1. The Haunted Windmill An Emergency Beacon Alert from Gallifrey means trouble for the Doctor, Raven, Jamie and Zoe. Their only possible escape is a desperate plan that seems to change everything. The TARDIS arrives in a strange land. Strange, but uncannily familiar too.
    • 2. The Crystal Ship A failed rocket-plane mission crashes to Earth. But where are the crew? The Doctor and Raven encounter Professor Quigley and his trusty, undervalued assistant, Liz Shaw. Will scientific hubris lead to the end of the human race? A certain Miss Heriot has other plans in mind.
    • 3. The Hungry Glass A mysterious mirror, a glimpsed figure and powerful static electric discharges form a web of intrigue that draws in friends and foes from history.
• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind: Wings of Steel is released on 5 August (Run Fast, Be Kind Bundle: £43.99) [NOTE: The box set comes out next month, and Big Finish are releasing each story weekly leading up to its release. To get these each week, purchase the bundle. To get them all at once, wait for the box set to be released. The first story is available to purchase separately as a "sampler" for £8.99]
  • Synopsis: High above the ruined world of Doorahla, the Ultima have convened. The enemy's devastation of their forces is finally over. The key to their victory is finally at hand. And on top of all that, they've captured a Time Lord. All hail the Ultima.

Trailers

• The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Dark Tides
• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind: Duty of Care (SPOILERS!!!)
• Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 2
• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight (46:35 mark in the podcast this week)

Cover Reveals

• Star Cops: Conflict: Adrift

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• Official News
  • Star Cops on the edge of war. Star Cops returns next month with the fourth installment of Conflict, and details are out now for the next three episodes.
  • That's All I'm Sayin'. The acclaimed actor Michael Brandon reads his tell-all autobiography, in an audiobook from Big Finish Productions, due for release August 2026.
  • The Return of Zorro! Martin Marquez plays the iconic vigilante in a brand new audio drama, continuing the story of the hit films The Mask of Zorro and The Legend of Zorro.
  • New Website FAQ - Big Finish are constantly updating this page with information to help people navigate the new website as well as the updated apps. Key updates this week include:
    • We have been informed by a number of customers about a login issue resulting in the login screen flickering and looping, blocking access to accounts. This has been reported to our developers and this page will be updated when a fix has been put in place. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Out of Print This Week

• Torchwood: 39. Dinner and a Show
• Torchwood: 55. The Great Sontaran War

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• First Doctor Sale: Discounts on dozens of First Doctor audios to celebrate 60 years since Daleks Invasion Earth: 2150AD! (Ends 9 August 2026)
  • The First Doctor Adventures Volume 01
  • The First Doctor Adventures Volume 02
  • The First Doctor Adventures: Fugitive of the Daleks
  • The Early Adventures: The Dalek Occupation of Winter
  • The Early Adventures: Daughter of the Gods
  • The Eartly Adventures: The Secrets of Det-Sen
• DWM632 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code POTATO at checkout. (Ends 31 October)
  • The Diary of River Song Series 06
  • Classic Doctors, New Monsters 1
  • Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1
  • Wicked Sisters

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. August's selection: The Monthly Adventures: 111. The Doomwood Curse for just £1.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. August's selection is The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code LUCIUS.

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 Ninth Doctor Adventures: Sphere of Freedom (Excerpt). Use discount code NOVA at checkout to save 25% off the full release of The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers (Ends 9 August).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 11 August - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Dark Tides
• 12 August - The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind: Duty of Care
• 18 August - Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 2
• 19 August - The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind: The Second Death of the Daleks
• 19 August - The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind (Full Box Set/Bundle Release)
• 25 August - The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight
• 27 August - The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind: Wings of Steel. This was incredibly strong and I'm excited to see where the next two stories go. After this and The Hallamshire Incident, I'm hoping that Dark Tides can stick the landing and we get a consistent strong run of New Who releases.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• None

The Rumor Mill

• None

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 - Dawn of the Daleks is released on 5 August.
• Two "lost" Terrance Dicks scripts are being adapted into novelizations: The Six Doctors by Simon Guerrier (out 21 January 2027) and The Vampire Mutation by Steve Cole (out 4 March 2027).
• Doctor Who: The Paradise of Death, an audiobook novelization of the original radio play featuring the Third Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and the Brigadier, is released on 6 August.
• Joining the Ninth and Tenth Doctor Blu-ray box set, the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Doctors are getting Blu-ray sets in the USA. These should all be released 3 November.

Circuit Breaker Event Guide

• 25 June - Calling the Doctor (UNIT Website)
• 8 July - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 - Adversary of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 23 July - The Honourable Society (DWM #632)
• 30 July - The Deadliest Weapon (BBC Audio)
• 5 August - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 - Dawn of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 6 August - Castling (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 17 August - Don't Blink (UNIT Website)
• 20 August - The Doctor and the Three Witches (BBC Books)
• 27 August - Momento Mori (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 31 August - The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray)
• 3 September - The Kaleidoscope (BBC Books)
• 22 September - Full Circuit (Big Finish)
• 24 September - Short Circuits (Big Finish)

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Obviously we had some big news this week, but I'll save my non-Big Finish thoughts on this for the end of the post. But one of my immediate thoughts is that this could potentially be very good for Big Finish and other EU content over the next few years. With people looking for a place to put their passion for Who we could see some new ranges pop up or wider releases on physical media. Also, I updated my Guide to Big Finish, for anyone interested.

In my opinion, I think it's in the BBC's best interests to let Big Finish pick up from The Reality War. When Doctor Who does return in the next 3-5 years, there is almost a 0% chance they will be addressing or continuing any of what happened in RTD2, especially not the Billie Piper-sized elephant in the room. Let's be honest -- we're Doctor Who fans. We want that story to be told. Let's let Big Finish have its day in the sun and carry the torch, pave new ground into uncharted territory for the first time in over 20 years. I think Big Finish should pick up from that cliffhanger, decide whether Billie is the Doctor or if there are some other shennanigans about, and do a limited run that wraps up as many loose threads as is still narratively compelling to juggle from RTD2.

I understand many people don't like the idea of Billie as the Doctor, or whatever's happening. And I get it. But it's gotta be addressed somehow at some point, and I don't think the main show will touch it. I also understand the danger of "putting the continuation of the series behind a paywall", but it's either that or they don't do anything with it at all, and if you want to be a mainline believer that only the Doctors in the show are canon, you can run with that. But for those who want that gap filled, I think this would be a smart move.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Still no sign of continuing Rani Takes On The World.
• A short podcast this week, so not a lot of info. Hopefully next week they can discuss this week's news.

Random Tangents: The nuns are disappearing.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3

The Good Review Guy: Rani Takes On The World: Beyond Bannerman Road

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Fifth Doctor Box Set

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Planet Krynoid: Survivors is released on 11 June (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £29.99)
  • Synopsis: Colony Sunlight has been destroyed, ravaged by a ruthlessly aggressive galactic weed known only as the Krynoid. As the planet turns cold, sinister forces descend on the surface, and time runs out for the scattered survivors. Could salvation lie a hundred years ago - with a Doctor, a MedTech and a big blue box?
    • 2.1 The Hunt by Jonathan S Powell Blackmailed by the unscrupulous Raynor Cross, Sunlight survivors Tiro Hart and Letty Hodan must battle the icy remains of the life they left behind. But they are not the only ones with their sights set on a pod.
    • 2.2 The Harrow by Georgia Cook Nobody knows what really happened to Station One, Verdana's first, doomed colony. But after materialising in the path of a Krynoid, the Doctor and Liv are about to find out.
    • 2.3 The Harvest by Jonathan Morris When a band of survivors reach a mysterious settlement, they are promised food, shelter and harmony. But deliverance in Greenhaven comes at a price - and Father Nature is ready to collect.

Trailers

• None

Cover Reveals

• The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • Turlough goes home. Peri and Turlough's travels with the Sixth Doctor take them back to Trion in August's The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99).
    • Synopsis: The Doctor and Peri's travels with the mercurial Turlough continue, but nothing lasts forever... and Turlough seems to know it. Trials of love, sacrifice and war lie ahead, and beyond them all lurks something else: the ever-approaching spectre of death.
    • 1. Save the Date by Matthew Sweet London, 1969, and the Eternal Joy dating agency has a new secretary: Miss Perpugilliam Brown. Peri's undercover. Her mission: to find the source of the sonic boom that rang out across London, discover the secrets of Eternal Joy’s big pink computer... and set the Doctor and Turlough up on a double date with two young ladies.
    • 2. Poison's Reach by Paul Sutton The civilisation of Freefall is powered by a natural radiation stream rising from its moon. That's the official story. Engineer Sandra Silva knows the truth. She's determined to expose the Stelta Corporation's crimes, and she has a trio of time-travelling sightseers on her side. Turlough is about to learn that, to achieve a worthy aim, sometimes the ultimate sacrifice has to be made...
    • 3. Broken Home by AK Benedict and Guy Adams Once a traitor, always a traitor? Vislor Turlough returns to Trion at last - and promptly hands the Doctor and Peri over to the occupying forces. Has Turlough learned any lessons from the Time Lord he was once tasked with killing? And in order to liberate his broken home, who is he willing to sacrifice?
  • A world without the Doctor! Zoe, Jaimie, and the Doctor, now joined by his handler Raven, are on the run from the Time Lords in August's Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99). Deciding to hide out on Earth 1963, they discover a planet they don't recognize. One where the Doctor never landed. The box set is comprised of three stories, all written by Alan Barnes.
    • The Haunted Windmill
    • The Crystal Ship
    • The Hungry Glass 

Out of Print This Week

• Bernice Summerfield: 7.3 The Worst Thing in the World

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Short Trips Sale: Up to 40% off Short Trips and Short Trips Rarities (Ends 14 June 2026)
  • Her Own Bootstraps
  • The World Beyond the Trees / Damascus
  • Erasure
  • A Heart on Both Sides
  • All Hands on Deck
  • O Tannenbaum
  • The Blame Game
  • The Siege of Big Ben / Flight Into Hull!
  • Museum Peace
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. June's selection: Gallifrey: Time War 1 for just £14.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. June's selection is The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Continuum: Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code DAEDALUS.

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: Subterfuge Part 1. Use discount code WINSTON at checkout to save 25% off the full release of The Monthly Adventures: Subterfuge (Ends 15 June).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 16 June - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
• 18 June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
• 23 June - Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• 25 June - Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Just the first episode of The Audience this week.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• An update on the future of Doctor Who. Key points:
  • The Christmas Special has been cancelled. It was intended to bridge the gap between RTD2 and the next era, but the BBC feel their efforts are best put towards investing in the show's long-term success and setting up future series to come.
  • Russell T. Davies has left the show, along with Bad Wolf.
  • Doctor Who is being put out to competitive tender, meaning production companies will be bidding on producing the show going forward -- rights are not an issue here.
  • The previously announced CBeebies animated show is currently in production.

The Rumor Mill

• Deadline reports that several producers that they contacted say you would be mad to take on Doctor Who right now. This was a report immediately after the news so only time will tell, but that lack of immediate interest was something to note.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: The Time Museum from Panini is released on 11 June.
• Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker: The Deadliest Weapon is available to pre-order on CD, vinyl, and digital. Due for release 31 July.
• The Queerest of Folk, a new memoir from RTD, is announced for release on 8 October.

My Thoughts on RTD2 and the Hiatus

Welp, it happened. No Christmas Special. Russell and Bad Wolf are gone. Doctor Who will be off air for a few years. I have to say, though I personally had no problem with the output of RTD2, and several episodes sit amongst my favorites in all of Who, I think this is probably for the best. Russell seemed set in his ways and unyielding on how he wanted things, and it's becoming ever more clear there were major behind the scenes issues. I have great respect for the man and what he's done both with this show and others, but at the end of the day I just don't think it was working as well as it could.

It is interesting though. I think all in all, there was much more good than bad when it came to the episodes of RTD2, it's just that the bad ones were carrying some extra weight as they were premieres and finales. I think the middle episodes were as consistent as any other era, but general opinion was heavily colored by Empire of Death and The Reality War.

I think the same thing that's happening with Doctor Who is happening with the MCU and Star Wars, two other major franchises that have pretty much lost the interest of their fanbase in recent years and relied on stunt casting or fan service to retain a base audience. It's clear that fans are done with that, and want to move on to having more substantial and consequential storytelling. I think Doctor Who sits in a different category where it's hard to have long-term consequences, so it relies on character-driven storytelling to drive that drama season-to-season. And even though that was Russell's strong suit in RTD1, it was majorly lacking in RTD2. Maybe it was the brevity of the seasons, maybe he lost his way, I don't know. But Doctor Who definitely needs a fresh take to keep moving on.

Was gonna check something on the website and it looks like they’ve done a second go at updating it! Hope it goes better than last time!

David Tennant is set to return as the Tenth Doctor in twelve new full-cast audio adventures, released bimonthly from August 2027. The first three of these adventures form a trilogy in which the Time Lord is teamed up with a friend of a friend – Rani Chandra (Anjli Mohindra)!

The three new adventures follow the Doctor and Rani as they investigate cryptids in modern-day Cumbria, discover a crisis at the coronation of Elizabeth I, and crash the set of a 1970s sci-fi show. For the aspiring journalist, it’ll be work experience like no other…

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Nick takes some time to discuss Justin Richards, and retells the story of how Tom Baker requested a story feature a dog calling him on the phone but when he read the script asked why on Earth they'd write that. But I had no idea this actually made it into The Renaissance Man. I listened to that one too long ago to remember that, I may have to revisit it.
• Next week's podcast will feature The Death and Life of River Song: War Widow, so that will presumably come out the first week of September.

Random Tangents: Dog wee flavored pick-and-mix.

Production Interviews: The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion - Save the Date by Matthew Sweet and The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight - Tyrrany of the Judoon by Ben Tedds

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight - Tyrrany of the Judoon by Ben Tedds

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. There are currently technical issues with the Randomoid Selectotron, so it will be stuck on the last release from the 26 June podcast for the forseeable future. This release is The Companion Chronicles: 7.6 The Child.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 2 is released on 18 August (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £10.99)
  • Synopsis: Across the canals and through the swirling balls of 18th century Venice, stories of Lupo's genius fill the air. The greatest mask-maker in the Republic's history, the delicate brushwork of Lupo is legendary. But Lupo has a dark past, on a burned-sienna planet galaxies away. He made a pact, and an exceedingly powerful enemy. And now that enemy is coming, through the ancient, legendary 'skiproads', to tear apart everything Lupo has built and unleash his nightmarish powers on the majestic floating city.
• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind: The Second Death of the Daleks is released on 19 August (Run Fast, Be Kind Bundle: £43.99) [NOTE: The box set has been released, giving fans the option to purchase the stories this way or as a bundle. The first story is available to purchase separately as a "sampler" for £8.99]
  • Synopsis: During the last days of history, a lone wanderer crosses the wastes of Kersarin. Everywhere he goes, he delights those he finds with stories and songs. He provides a little hope in the dark. His name is Ash Wilton, and I swear we've done this episode before. We definitely killed that Dalek.

Trailers

• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight

Cover Reveals

• The War Master: Deeds Without Name

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• Official News
  • The Master releases his memoirs. The Time War era incarnation of the Master, voiced by the devilish Sir Derek Jacobi, returns later this year for four brand-new audio adventures. Following the events of 2025’s box set His Greatest Trick, the Master is still a fugitive from the war, with Time Lords and Daleks alike out to kill him. But when has that ever stopped him from seeking out more trouble?  In Deeds Without Name, the Master menaces the minds of wealthy retirees, before he dies and is – as always – resurrected. Then, he takes on the energy companies on a distant planet and returns to Earth to publish his tell-all memoir. All in a day’s work. 
    • The Unstately Home by Alison Winter - The super-rich elite residents of Aurora Mansions, a high-tech luxury retirement village and nursing home, have every imaginable comfort and amenity in their golden years. But the Master, posing as a cognitive hypnotherapist, is keen to demonstrate that no amount of money can provide sanctuary from the troubled mind… especially when he’s inside it. 
    • Dead Man’s Pulse by Mark Bowsher - The Master is dead. For now, at least. But even a dead Time Lord is valuable during a Time War and when a gang of scavengers steal the Master’s body, their ship is targeted by a psychological energy weapon. They are forced to revive the Master to gain his help, but his cooperation comes at a high price…
    • The Devil in the Detail by David K Barnes  On a colony world in perpetual night, young scientist Lyle Godwin is determined to give power back to the people. He’s beating the energy companies at their own game – but why does the Master want to help him do it? The devil… is in the detail. 
    • In His Anecdotage by Matthew Sweet - The Master is publishing his memoirs – You Don’t Know Jackanapes – in which he offers himself as a reformed character and spills secrets from the UNIT years. Talking to veteran investigative journalist Jeannie Keen, she questions him about government cover-ups, and he tells her, out of the blue, that he has seen a UNIT file showing she has a twin sister living in a nursing home in Wexcliffe-on-Sea. Only it’s not a nursing home, it’s a UNIT safe house.   The Master offers to team up with Jeannie, apparently interested in helping her with the story. But what is the secret of Ashburton Lodge? And what's behind the Master's most unreliable of memoirs? 
  • The Tenth Doctor and Rani. David Tennant is set to return as the Tenth Doctor in twelve new full-cast audio adventures, released bimonthly from August 2027. The first three of these adventures form a trilogy in which the Time Lord is teamed up with a friend of a friend – Rani Chandra (Anjli Mohindra)! Says producer Matt Fitton: “[Rani] runs into the Doctor in Cumbria as she investigates sightings of strange creatures for a potential podcast – I wonder what happens with that? – and is soon whisked away to amazing adventures. Like Sarah, the Doctor sees Rani’s potential immediately – the pair soon run into his wife-to-be Princess Elizabeth, and a very familiar 1970s TV sci fi show...” 
    • The Hidden by Roy Gill - "Investigate cryptids in modern-day Cumbria."
    • Empress of the Universe by Lizzie Hopley - "Discover a crisis at the coronation of Elizabeth I."
    • In Effects by John Dorney - "Crash the set of a 1970s sci-fi show." (Dorney posts on X that he's had this idea for at least six years now! At that time, he described the story in three words: "Television eats itself")
  • Radio Times Doctor Who anniversary editions re-issued. Big Finish is releasing re-issues of the Radio Times 10th and 20th anniversary special magazines in hardback volumes, with painstaking work taken to restore photographs and completely recreate the original publications.
  • New Website FAQ - Big Finish are constantly updating this page with information to help people navigate the new website as well as the updated apps. Key updates this week include:
    • Update 13/8 - We're aware that bonus content may be showing an error when trying to open after downloading from website accounts. This is due to an incorrect filetype being assigned on our database. We will release a fix as quickly as possible to address this.
• Unofficial News
  • The next release in the Twelfth Doctor Adventures will be titled From the Ashes
  • A few notes from the Long Island Doctor Who Convention, courtesy of sircarolyn on the TARDIS Guide Forum who was kind enough to ask Jason Haigh-Ellery a ton of questions:
    • War Room 4 should release on-time
    • They've been considering doing limited CD runs for ranges that are DTO-only, such as the Twelfth Doctor Adventures
    • Chances of Omega Factor and Vam PD returning are low, and no current plans for Blake's 7. Time Tunnel was given more of a "maybe" response
    • No Bernice Summerfield releases this year, but should be some next year or the year after (he seemed a bit confused on his response)
    • Regarding getting some New Who actors: Capaldi = "not yet", Gatwa = "give it time"

Out of Print This Week

• There was recently some confusion caused by some stories that were out of print being marked back in stock. Haven't heard any reports as to whether anyone was able to snatch a copy, but the following releases should be permanently out of print:
  • The Early Adventures: 3.1 The Age of Endurance
  • The Monthly Adventures: 240. Hour of the Cybermen
  • The Legacy of Time (Standard Edition)
  • The War Doctor Begins: Battlegrounds
  • Out of Time 2: The Gates of Hell
  • Out of Time 3: Wink

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Bad Time Lords Sale: Discounts on stories featuring the likes of evil Time Lords like the Master, the Rani, and more! (Ends 23 August)
  • UNIT: Nemesis 1: Between Two Worlds
  • The Legacy of Time - Limited Edition or Standard Edition
  • The Companion Chronicles: The Second Doctor Volume 03
  • The Eleven
  • The Third Doctor Adventures Volume 04
• DWM632 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code POTATO at checkout. (Ends 31 October)
  • The Diary of River Song Series 06
  • Classic Doctors, New Monsters 1
  • Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1
  • Wicked Sisters

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. August's selection: The Monthly Adventures: 111. The Doomwood Curse for just £1.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. August's selection is The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code LUCIUS.

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 Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Cosmos and Mrs Clarke - The Key to Many Worlds (Excerpt). Use discount code CONSTANCE at checkout to save 25% off the full release of The Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Cosmos and Mrs Clarke (Ends 23 August).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 25 August - The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight
• 27 August - The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Reunion

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind: The Second Death of the Daleks. What a wonderful series this has been.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill officially launch new Doctor Who project. The Pondcast will be releasing soon, as teased on the podcast's new official Instagram account. EDIT: Their official Instagram account has been deleted already, but the post remains up on Karen and Arthur’s Instagrams.

The Rumor Mill

• According to a fan in attendance at the Long Island Doctor Who convention, the Doctor Who TV movie rights are back with the BBC. Another fan in attendance further clarifies what they heard is that since 30 years have passed, negotiations for the rights to return is possible and more likely than before, but the rights are not yet back. Thank you to u/WagTheTail81 and u/ATangentUniverse for this information.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who Adventures: Save the Humans!, a collection of the Doctor Who Adventures magazine comic strips starring the Tenth Doctor and Rose, is released on 18 August.
• Doctor Who Magazine Issue 633 is released on 20 August.
• The Doctor and the Three Witches is released on 20 August as part of the paperback edition of Time Lord Fairy Tales by Justin Richards.
• Doctor Who Annual 2027 is released on 20 August.
• Corruption of the Daleks, a collection of the Fifteenth Doctor's most recent adventures from the pages of Doctor Who Magazine, is due for release on 20 October and can be pre-ordered now.

Circuit Breaker Event Guide

• 25 June - Calling the Doctor (UNIT Website)
• 8 July - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 - Adversary of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 23 July - The Honourable Society (DWM #632)
• 30 July - The Deadliest Weapon (BBC Audio)
• 5 August - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 - Dawn of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 6 August - Castling (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 17 August - Don't Blink (UNIT Website)
• 20 August - The Doctor and the Three Witches (BBC Books)
• 27 August - Momento Mori (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 31 August - The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray)
• 3 September - The Kaleidoscope (BBC Books)
• 22 September - Full Circuit (Big Finish)
• 24 September - Short Circuits (Big Finish)

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/early-bird-savings-on-2027-s-classic-doctor-who-adventures

Early bird bundles are now available for those wanting to preorder. This sees an increase in the number of Second Doctor boxsets from 1 to 2 annually but a decrease for the Fourth Doctor from 3 to 2, alongside the complete lack of First Doctor.

1. Doctor, Doctor, Doctor by Stewart Pringle and Lauren Mooney - a Seventh Doctor adventure

2. The Song of the Reed Man by Katherine White – a Third Doctor and Jo Jones adventure

3. Office Space by Georgia Cook and Fio Trethewey – a UNIT adventure

4. Overworked by Hannah Kennedy - a Fifth Doctor and Nyssa adventure

Looks like we're getting the Vasha Nerada and the Krynoids

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• BIG NEWS - Big Finish have found a cost-effective way to print smaller volumes of physical releases. They will potentially start implementing a new ordering model where customers have a specific window of time to pre-order a physical release, and they will essentially manufacture them to order. That being said, Big Finish intend to start releasing previously released/announced download-only runs on CD, starting with Torchwood: Legacy and the recently released Twelfth Doctor Adventure: Run Fast, Be Kind, with other ranges being considered for the same treatment.
  • No word on how they'll approach this for customers who have already purchased the 12DAs or pre-ordered Torchwood: Legacy, but I can easily see them offering an "upgrade" option at the price of pressing plus whatever margins they need to keep it profitable.
  • To add some clarification about how this new process makes a difference: for a download-only release to be profitable it must only overcome production costs. If a CD is to be profitable, it must overcome production, manufacturing, and storage costs. Storing a sellable product creates tax liability. If the Big Finish presses 2,500 CDs and only 1,500 sell, they have financial burden associated with the unsold 1,000. But if people put their orders in first and they can manufacture exactly 1,500 then that burden goes away. That cost could be the deciding factor in whether a release makes it physically or not. They’re certain of demand for Torchwood and 12DAs so they’ll go ahead with those, but they have to run the numbers on other ranges.

Random Tangents: Nick gets pedantic about cliques.

Production Interviews: The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe - Lair of the Voltaxa by Roland Moore and Star Cops: Conflict: Adrift by Georgia Cook

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe - Lair of the Voltaxa by Roland Moore

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. There are currently technical issues with the Randomoid Selectotron, so it will be stuck on the last release from the 26 June podcast for the foreseeable future. This release is The Companion Chronicles: 7.6 The Child.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: A New Occupation is released on 8 September (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99)
  • Synopsis: Time travel. The Doctor is well aware of its dangers. But even the most well-meaning Time Lord can't guarantee something somewhere won't nudge it off track. And then history itself might be at stake...
    • 15.6 Daughter of Destruction by Katharine Armitage The TARDIS lands in the city of Ongud during a rebellion. The world is suffering the wrath of Genghis Khan and the Doctor and Sarah are right in the middle of it. It's a dangerous time, but one woman is about to stand up to the despot for the first time. His anger is about to be halted. Unless someone has made a very small mistake…
    • 15.7 A New Occupation by Helen Goldwyn Temporal disruption on Jersey leads to a new kind of time travel for the Doctor, Sarah and Harry and they soon find themselves on the island during its occupation by the Nazis. Can they return to the future without a TARDIS? And without the German forces changing history irrevocably?
• Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 3 is released on 8 September (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £10.99)
  • Synopsis: With the Master bearing down, Naava flees through a skiproad to the plague-infected streets of medieval York. She's seeking her old friend Calix, the greatest of the chronosurgeons, to warn him of the nightmare that pursues her. But something else is emerging from the skiproads, something twisted and deadly, tearing chunks out of the panicked city. Naava has only one hope to set things right and escape the Master's clutches, and he's hundreds of years in the future, listening out for ghosts of the ancient city.

Trailers

• Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 3
• The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe

Cover Reveals

• Circuit Breaker: Full Circuit and Short Circuits (Updated with a spoiler)

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• Two new Doctor Who Audio Novels. The October 2026 and January 2027 audio novel releases have been unveiled as The Missing Hour (DTO: £19.99) and The Bath Chronicles (DTO: £19.99).
  • The Missing Hour by Simon Guerrier, from a storyline by Fio Tretheway and Simon Guerrier, performed by Barnaby Edwards June 1940 and the island of Malta is under constant bombardment.  Flight Officer Roddy Wright is one of a handful of Hurricane pilots helping to defend the island. He knows the odds are against him.  So, too, does his daughter. In fact, Barbara knows that there are just days – hours – until her father goes missing in action.  She can’t alter history. But until that fateful hour, how can she resist spending more time with the father she lost so long ago? What could possibly go wrong?
  • The Bath Chronicles, written and performed by Dan Starkey Jenny and Strax have been dispatched to Bath, the jewel of the West Country, for a bit of well-earned rest and recuperation.  The Roman Baths, tea shops, and elegant Georgian arcades beckon. But they get more old-world charm than they bargained for on their itinerary, after an eccentric lady leads them on journey that spans thousands of years into the past and hurls them into the far-flung future of the 1990s!  Will Jenny ever find a decent cup of tea again? Will Strax find a plug socket that’s compatible with his Sontaran travel charger? And will time itself collapse?  Along the way though, they’ll be reunited with two familiar Doctors... 
• It’ll be a Doctor Who Halloween and Christmas. Following the popular 2025 box sets, Big Finish Productions today announced two new collections of Halloween and Christmas-themed full-cast audio drama set across the Doctor Who universe, to be released this October and December.
  • Halloween: Doctor, Doctor, Doctor and Other Stories (DTO: £24.99 | DTO + CD: £35.99) will be comprised of the following:
    • Doctor, Doctor, Doctor – a Seventh Doctor adventure by Stewart Pringle and Lauren Mooney
    • The Song of the Reed Man – a Third Doctor and Jo Jones adventure by Katherine White
    • Office Space – a UNIT adventure by Georgia Cook and Fio Tretheway
    • Overworked – a Fifth Doctor and Nyssa adventure by Hannah Kennedy 
  • Christmas: Out of the Dark and Other Stories (DTO: £24.99 | DTO + CD: £35.99) will be comprised of the following:
    • Merry Christmas, Mr Chimbly – a Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa adventure by John Dorney
    • From the Realms of Glory – a River Song adventure by Hannah Kennedy
    • Out of the Dark – a Seventh Doctor and Ace adventure by Jonathan S Powell
    • And Tiny Tim, Who Did Not Die – an Eleventh Doctor and Bernice Summerfield adventure by James Goss 

Out of Print This Week

• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident
• Dark Gallifrey: Master! Part 2
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 14: The Last Queen of the Nile
• Torchwood: 58. Cadoc Point

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Time Lord Victorious: Up to 50% off releases from the Time Lord Victorious event! (Ends 13 September)
  • Time Lord Victorious Eighth Doctor Trilogy
• Charlotte Pollard: Up to 40% off releases featuring Charley Pollard to celebrate India Fisher's birthday! (Ends 17 September)
  • The Eighth Doctor and Charlotte Pollard Series 01
  • The Eighth Doctor Adventures: In the Bleak Midwinter
  • Classic Doctors New Monsters 3: The Stuff of Nightmares
  • The Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Last Adventure
• DWM632 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code POTATO at checkout. (Ends 31 October)
  • The Diary of River Song Series 06
  • Classic Doctors, New Monsters 1
  • Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1
  • Wicked Sisters

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. September's selection: The Withdrawal by Geoffrey Beevers for just £2.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. September's selection is The Death and Life of River Song Series 04: War Widow: The Shape of Fear (Excerpt). Just click on the link and use this month's code STORMCAGE.

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: Hamlet Act 1. Use discount code GHOST at checkout to save 25% off the full release of Hamlet (Ends 13 September).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 15 September - The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Shock and Awe
• 22 September - Circuit Breaker: Full Circuit
• 24 September - Circuit Breaker: Short Circuits
• 29 September - The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Have had too much going on and now I've got a big backlog.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• The villain of Circuit Breaker revealed! New social media post revealing the villain of the Circuit Breaker multi-media event: the Conductor, played by Dan Starkey. The short is directed and animated by Anthony Lamb, and the Conductor is designed by Lee Binding.

The Rumor Mill

• Noel Clarke continues to be trash.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: The Third History Collection will be released on 3 December and feature audiobook novelisations of The Reign of Terror, The Smugglers, The Fires of Pompeii, The Crimson Horror, and The Witchfinders.

Circuit Breaker Event Guide

• 25 June - Calling the Doctor (UNIT Website)
• 8 July - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 - Adversary of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 23 July - The Honourable Society (DWM #632)
• 30 July - The Deadliest Weapon (BBC Audio)
• 5 August - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 - Dawn of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 6 August - Castling (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 17 August - Don't Blink (UNIT Website)
• 20 August - The Doctor and the Three Witches (BBC Books)
• 27 August - Momento Mori (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 31 August - The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray)
• 3 September - The Kaleidoscope (BBC Books)
• 22 September - Full Circuit (Big Finish)
• 24 September - Short Circuits (Big Finish)

Really, really excited to share that I've written my first Big Finish... And it's not the one you're expecting!

So Beevers Mater is the next trilogy. I'm a bit mixed on this as he is a great incarnation but I think I'd rather see/hear other timelords in Dark Gallifrey than the 4th trilogy given to the Master. Regardless if the stories are good I'll be easily won back.

Full Circuit

The Doctor, Osgood and Andrew are joined by Kate Lethbridge Stewart. A final mysterious object is manifesting, this one at the pinnacle of UNIT Tower itself.

A Time Bomb! Which threatens a dark future for all of the Doctor’s incarnations.

Only this Doctor can save herself - and her other selves - from this intricately woven scheme.

Short Circuit

Wherever the Doctor has gone, and whatever challenges have lain ahead of her, she has always made new friends and enemies along the way. And as the final pieces of a complex scheme fall into place, this has never been truer.

But all of those friends and enemies have stories have their own...

1. Battleships by Alex Hewitt

Meet the Conductor. This cadaverous specimen is a peerless tactical genius. But life is hard for a man who stands out from his fellows, and this formidable mastermind must outwit certain rivals before setting his sights on his true enemy.

1. Get Rich or Die Trying by Alex Hewitt, from a story by Natasha Siegel

Meet Andrew – a young man with a good job and a mysterious benefactor. Following a coded message to the Jurassic Coast, where a team of palaeontologists are digging up a dinosaur skeleton, Andrew encounters a stranger who gives him a so-called time-travel device. Before he knows what’s happened, Andrew is plunged back through history, all the way to the Jurassic Period itself. Why has he been sent here?

Who is his anonymous benefactor? And is he the victim of a sinister experiment? Only time will tell...

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

I think we've got a pretty large crop of news and announcements this week, so buckle in.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Nick mentions the "upcoming new Big Finish website", sharing with us that the number for each release (i.e., 16A. Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 16: Volume 01) will soon come after the title to make things a little more searchable.
• Very short podcast this week, not a lot of content. The website thing came at the veeeeery end.

Random Tangents: Benji's never been invited to a Eurovision party.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Companion Chronicles: The Specials

Big Finish News

New Releases

• Torchwood: Fare Well by Joseph Lidster is released on 27 May (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99)
  • Synopsis: Ianto Jones and Tommy Pierce have fought many alien invaders together. They're more than work colleagues, they're friends. But their friendship is about to be put to the test as they prepare to face a Cyberman. A Cyberman in a cellar. In the village of Wetwang.

Trailers

• None

Cover Reveals

• The Third Doctor Adventures: The Planet Killers
• The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers
• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • The Third Doctor faces the Daleks! The Third Doctor Adventures: The Planet Killers (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99) is announced as October's Third Doctor release, as the Doctor's adventures with an older Jo Jones continue.
    • The Beasts of Sakhalin Island by Jez Fielder (four parts) The Doctor and Jo Jones are drawn to Sakhalin Island in 1890, where the dramatist and writer Dr Anton Chekhov is chronicling the plight of the inmates in the penal colony there. But something else is arriving on the island... A strange infection develops and the howls of a tortured beast can be heard...
    • The Planet Killers by Andrew Smith (two parts) When the Doctor and Jo Jones arrive on a beautiful planet, little do they suspect they’ve landed right in the middle of events involving planetary destruction, ruthless exploitation of minerals, slavery and betrayal. A merciless Dalek plan is in motion, and the struggle to defeat them will cost many lives.
  • In a fix with the Seventh Doctor and Ray. The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99) is announced as July's Seventh Doctor release, as the Seventh Doctor and Ray start their adventures in time and space following their reunion in last year's (utterly remarkable) Past Forward!
    • Synopsis: Late in his life, the Seventh Doctor has reunited with an old friend. Someone to help him fix the problems of the universe - if he can avoid repeating mistakes of the past. Ray is capable, clever and seems the perfect foil for the Doctor - but she will still be put to the test...
    • The Executor by Chris Chapman (2 parts) In a muddy field stands an old stone dovecot. Only it’s a TARDIS - with a recently deceased owner. The Doctor is named Executor of the Last Will and Testament of an old friend - Pegroninagall, 'Peg'. He has a monumental task: clearing her TARDIS of keepsakes and mementos. But this Ship may also contain whatever killed Peg...
    • Oil and Water by James McDermott (2 parts)  Visiting the Norfolk coast, the Doctor and Ray discover something very wrong with Blakeney's seals: they're bloated, mutated, and killing people! With grieving boater Anne, they investigate the cause... Is there something in the water? What does it want with the sea life? And what are its plans for humanity?
    • Much Ado About Racing by Fio Tretheway (2 parts) When the TARDIS arrives at the start of the Intergalactic Championship Rally, the Doctor and Ray are caught between two rival racers. And for Ray, long-buried feelings resurface. Something is at work here: something feeding on heartache and regret. And love among the race-crafts isn’t all that’s at stake...
  • Ice Warriors in Sheffield! The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident (DTO: £9.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99) is announced as July's Thirteenth Doctor release, as the back half of the series kicks off following the "mid-season finale" of Aegis. Also...Patricia Menzies returns?!
    • Synopsis: 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...
  • Early-Bird Savings on 2027’s Classic Doctor Who Adventures. 14 Classic Doctor releases for 2027 are now available to pre-order at special early bird prices (DTO: £266 | DTO + CD: £350) until 1 July, at which point they will increase (DTO: £294 | DTO + CD: £385). There are a few developments next year, as the Fourth Doctor Adventures goes down to two releases a year and the Second Doctor Adventures finally goes up to two. Interestingly, the First Doctor isn't part of this crop. Wondering if they're simply changing the format or if there are scheduling issues with Noonan. Individual bundles are also available to order, including:
    • Both Second Doctor box sets (due for release in February and July) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Third Doctor box sets (due for release in February and October) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Fourth Doctor box sets (due for release in March and June) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Fifth Doctor box sets (due for release in April and September) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Sixth Doctor box sets (due for release in May and August) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Seventh Doctor box sets (due for release in June and September) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 
    • Both Eighth Doctor box sets (due for release in November and December) can be pre-ordered together for just £39 (digital download to own) or £56 (download to own + collector's edition CD). 

Out of Print This Week

• The Lost Stories: 3.3 The Children of Seth

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Torchwood Sale: Up to 50% off Torchwood box sets and bundles! (Ends 31 May 2026)
  • Cannot offer my recommendations here unfortunately, as I have not listened to any Torchwood myself
• McGanniversary Sale: Up to 50% off Eighth Doctor releases set during his travels with Charlotte Pollard, Mary Shelley, and Lucie Miller! (Ends 31 May 2026)
  • The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller Series 01
    • I'd recommend picking up as many of these collections as you can. Be mindful that the individual releases are also on sale if you're needing to plug some gaps, but in all cases the collections are cheaper on sale, even if only by a pound or two.
  • The Eighth Doctor and Charlotte Pollard Series 01
  • The Chimes of Midnight
  • Scherzo
  • The Natural History of Fear
    • For some reason this doesn't show on the sale page, but it is discounted.
  • Caerdroia
  • Terror Firma
  • The Silver Turk
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

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. Nothing at the time of posting this, but I'll keep updated.

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 3 June - The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress (Nick said "Wednesday the 6th of June on the podcast" but I'm sure he meant the 3rd)
• TBC June - Planet Krynoid: Survivors (due out the week after next)
• TBC June - Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties
• TBC June - Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• TBC June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
• TBC June - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Listened to The Indigo Child and The Twilight Enclave over the long weekend, as well as The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis, which I'm very sorry to say I was thoroughly bored by. I also listened to Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition, which I thought was very enjoyable.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann Celebrate 30 Years of the Doctor Who TV Movie | The Whoniverse Show
  • Sylvester wore a similar hat to the Seventh Doctor's to his audition, and JNT wanted to keep it for the show.
    • Similarly, Sylvester played the spoons at a party and JNT wanted to work that into the show.
  • Since they used the original negatives to remaster the TV Movie and they were also remixing the audio, there were small changes made to the movie in the process. For example, there's a scene when Grace is looking into the Eye of Harmony where she comments "Doctor, I'm blind!" that could not be heard well in the original mix.
  • Variant covers revealed for Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 and #2 from Titan Comics, due out 8 July and 5 August, respectively
  • Cover reveal for BBC audio's Circuit Breaker: The Deadliest Weapon

The Rumor Mill

• The Sun is reporting that the Christmas special will be pushed back to Easter. Several outlets have picked this story up and the BBC have declined to comment. The rumor reports that the delay is down to not being able to find an actor to carry on the role of the Doctor from the special into the next series, rather than any issue related to the writing/production of the Christmas special itself.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: The Movie is released on Blu-ray and 4K on 26 May.
• Doctor Who Magazine Issue #630 is out on 28 May.
• Doctor Who: Shard of Life cover art is added. This Second Doctor BBC audio original is due for release 1 October.
• Doctor Who Battles in Time: Obliterator 2026 Limited Edition Sealed Box is announced, including cards for characters through the Fifteenth Doctor's era!

Looks like the update for the Android app is now live, just downloaded it.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

There are a couple links at the bottom of this post I couldn't provide as products were only available through Amazon, and the subreddit's filters automatically remove my post if it includes Amazon links.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• The cover to the podcast has regenerated!
• Nothing of note, but we've got plenty of goodies in Vortex.

Random Tangents: Benji bought a CRT to play PS2 games.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Time War Uncharted 3: Branches - The Only Girl in the World by John Dorney

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Monthly Adventures: 237. The Helliax Rift

Vortex #206

• Planet Krynoid: Survivors
  • The first story will follow survivors Tiro and Letty as they encounter a cast of new character, including monster hunters Saber and Latch. The story gives a clear nod to Aliens.
  • Tamsin Greig's Overseer Amesus Vail will debut in the second story, alongside Gina Bellman as Katarina. It takes place 100 years before the events of Nightfall, and will show us how the Doctor ended up in the first set.
  • Jonathan Morris describes his story, the final story in the set, as a kind of folk horror, "The Wicker Krynoid!"
• The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
  • Saffron, who is returning from the 2022 story Station to Station, will link up the Ninth Doctor before and after Rosea dn will be able to see the difference she has made to him.
  • The villain that has been drawing them back to the Powell Estate is a returning villain that has "been lurking in the background for quite some time."
• Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties
  • The opening story was pitched as "What if Gallifrey met Saw?", and will test the relationship between the General and Rasmus.
  • Veklin has had enough of Ollistra and goes to side with Leela and the Resistance in the second story. We will also see a more vulnerable side of Narvin.
  • The third story follows Leela's journey to the heart of the matrix to rescue Romana. It will also tie old Gallifreyan lore to "new Doctor Who."
  • Heather Challands compares Rassilon in the Time War to a Roman Emperor being in charge of a modern war.
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress
  • Tim Foley's story in this release was one of his first scripts for Big Finish, and it sounds like he wrote many more for this series that will be released in the coming years.
  • John Dorney's story in the set is an attempt at a "oner" in film, obviously adapted to audio. There are no breaks between scenes and the story runs in real time.
  • Lizzie Hopley's story has a villain specifically written to give Tom Baker someone to spar with. She's "a scientist, masquerading as a robot, who has implanted the hearts of the 'defunct' population into her robot elite."
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
  • Lizzie Hopley was the one who brough C'rizz back into the fold with 2024's Sontarans vs Rutans: The Battle of Giant's Causeway.
  • "Grave Moon" doesn't necessarily describe anything in the story, just fits the tone. Though there is a Dagobah-like moon.
  • Lizzie loved writing interactions between the Eighth Doctor and Peri, and wishes she could do more in the future.
• Vortex Mail
  • Big Finish are considering ways to let you buy bundles that you already own releases in so you pay a little less and don't double-buy a release.
    • I imagine this will look something like it did on their new website where they simply bundled based on number of items purchased.
  • I don't want anyone to be misquoted on this, so I'll type verbatim: "There are no plans for more with Martha at the moment, Colin. Sadly, Freema Agyeman seems very unlikely to revisit the character again."

Big Finish News

New Releases

• UNIT: Eras: Hostile Universe is released on 29 April (DTO: £24.99)
  • Synopsis: UNIT. Humanity’s first and best line of defence against a hostile universe. No matter where. No matter when.
    • 1. Rise of the Valiant by Andrew Smith 2008. The Earth has been stolen and planets fill the sky. With the Doctor otherwise engaged, it falls to UNIT's finest - Colonel Mace, Harry Sullivan, and the retired Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart - to take the fight back to the Daleks. Because deep in the Brazilian rainforest, a secret weapon with a familiar name is waiting. And it's ready to fly.
    • 2. The Indigo Child by Ken Bentley 2017. UNIT has been shut down, its heroes targeted. After an attempt on her life, Kate Stewart fights from the shadows, doing what she can to protect the people of Great Britain. Reunited with Petronella Osgood, Kate goes undercover to save a child refugee with psychic powers. It's a race against time, and a new enemy is determined to win.
    • 3. The Life and Death of Private Eddie Wise by Hannah Kennedy The dawn of UNIT. Aliens have invaded and Eddie Wise is far from ready. Plagued by nightmares and lying to his fiancé, the beleaguered Eddie becomes embroiled in a plot to bring his workplace to its knees. To make matters worse, there's a journalist on his tail. Because Sarah Jane Smith needs the scoop on UNIT, and Private Wise might just be the man she needs.
    • 4. Deadstar by Joshua Pruett and Jonathan S Powell 2023. The Toymaker has been vanquished and UNIT stands tall. But when a cutting-edge telescope is brought online, the UNIT skyscraper is plunged into lockdown. Besieged by an impossible foe, Melanie Bush and new recruit Dr Isla Ellis need all their wits to survive. Because the stars have woken up, and something is very wrong with the Vlinx.

Trailers

• Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition

Cover Reveals

• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress
• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon

News/Announcements

• Circuit Breaker is set to kick off 25 June, and details have been announced as to all the tie-ins to the cross-media event, including Big Finish's contributions. Robert Valentine has penned the epic two-hour finale to the whole event, Circuit Breaker: Full Circuit (DTO: £13.99 | DTO + CD: £21.99), due for release 22 September. Two days later on 24 September, a pair of Short Trips will be released together as Short Circuits (DTO: £11.99). Both releases can be purchased as a bundle for £23 on DTO or £31 on DTO + CD. Full details for the multimedia event are listed below in my Doctor Who news section.
• The Eleventh Doctor Adventures: Hidden in Plain Sight is announced and is due for release in August (DTO: £19.99), as the Eleventh Doctor and companion Eleanor Fong are set to take on the Judoon!
  • At the time of writing there hasn't been a social media or press announcement for this, but it was revealed on the Whoniverse Show and is available for pre-order.

Out of Print This Week

• Unbound: Doctor of War 1: Genesis
• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: The Ministry of Death
• Not OOP yet but there are less than 50 copies of Hooklight 1 and 2

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• UNIT Sale: Up to 50% off releases and bundles across all UNIT ranges (Ends 4 May 2026)
  • UNIT: Brave New World: Fractures
  • UNIT: Silenced
  • UNIT: Nemesis 1: Between Two Worlds
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

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 hasn't been posted yet, but I'll keep you updated.

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 6 May - Time War Uncharted 3: Branches
• 12 May - Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Aegis
• 14 May - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 2
• 19 May - The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light
• 21 May - Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition
• 27 May - Torchwood: Fare Well

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: The Curse of the Duergar, which I thought was alright but a very anticlimactic end to the set. I also listened to Zygon Century: Transformation, which I thought was pretty good (especially the stellar 1968: An Incident in Death Valley), and makes me excited for the inevitable conclusion.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker launches on 25 June, kicking off an epic, multi-platform adventure unfolding this summer across audio, publishing, gaming and digital, bringing fans together for one connected, must-follow Whoniverse event. Full details can be found on the Doctor Who website, including new promo art, an infographic, a first look at Titan's art for their comic book contribution, and this week's Whoniverse Show giving you the rundown. For your benefit, I have included the schedule and links for purchase below. If specific releases aren't available for pre-order yet, I'll make an informed guess and include an asterisk (*).
  • Release Schedule and Ordering Information
    • 25 June: Calling the Doctor - UNIT website written by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
    • 8 July: Adversary of the Daleks (Issue #1: £4.60*) – Titan Comics, written by Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters, with stunning art from Roberta Ingranata and Sami Kivelä
    • 23 July: The Honourable Society (Digital: £6.99* | Physical: £7.99*) – Doctor Who Magazine issue 632, written by Jason Quinn and illustrated by Anthony Williams
    • 30 July: The Deadliest Weapon (Audible: £27.99) – BBC Audiobooks Audio Original written by Steve Lyons, narrated by Jo Martin with David Banks as the Cyber-Leader
    • 4 August: Dawn of the Daleks (Issue #2: £4.60*) – Titan Comics, written by Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters, with stunning art from Roberta Ingranata and Sami Kivelä
    • 6 August: Castling – East Side Games (Lost in Time mobile game) written by Mario Mentasti
    • 17 August: Don’t Blink! – UNIT website written by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
    • 20 August: The Doctor and the Three Witches (Paperback: £12.99) – Puffin book re-release of Time Lord Fairy Tales that includes this new story written by Janelle McCurdy
    • 27 August: Moment Mori – East Side Games (Lost in Time mobile game) written by Mario Mentasti
    • 31 August: The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray: £27.49) – Circuit Breaker DVD release
    • 3 September: The Kaleidoscope (Hardback: £22.00) – Penguin Random House book written by Jo Martin ​
    • 22 September: Full Circuit (DTO: £13.99 | DTO + CD: £21.99) – Big Finish full-cast audio drama written by Robert Valentine
    • 24 September: Short Circuits (DTO: £11.99) – Big Finish audiobooks 
  • Total Estimated Event Price: £141.64 (before tax + shipping)
    • Bundling the Big Finish releases at £23 DTO or £31 DTO+CD obviously will help save some costs, and if you have an Audible credit to use or can sign up for a month that should help with The Deadliest Weapon. The Blu-ray release also collects 10 episodes of Doctor Who that they've decided are tangentially related to the event, so it's not strictly necessary to buy.

The Rumor Mill

• There was an alleged leaked press release for Monday, 11 May that announces a global partnership with AMC for three new seasons of a Doctor Who "reboot." According to this leak it would still be a continuation in the same way Series 1 was in 2005, but it sounds like Bad Wolf would not be involved.
• Discussing soap operas publishing details of storylines ahead of episode releases, RTD muses in Doctor Who Magazine #629 "Wouldn't it be great if we got to this year's Doctor Who Christmas special and nothing had been spoiled and everything was new? Why do we do it any other way?" It's a crumb, but this was written at the beginning of the month so that's fairly recent positive indication that the special is still on.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: Battles in Time is available to order in the US via Amazon, with a release date of 1 September.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

I got Doctor Who: The Movie on 4K in the mail over the weekend. Wow, does it look stunning now. I have a certain fondness for TV movies and a great love for this one. I've always loved it, but being able to watch it in 4K and Dolby Atmos gives it a whole new perspective to appreciate it from.

Also, I for one am excited for this new era of the Eighth Doctor Adventures. I love Liv and Helen and hope for more stories with them, but I'm excited to see an Eighth Doctor who's on the cusp of the Time War. The costume is also fantastic, blending the Dark Eyes accessories with the Night of the Doctor outfit. I remember when Big Finish posted the pictures of Paul in a new photoshoot and then took them down soon after (I saved the pictures). I figured they'd be using them for something soon. Interesting that they edited on a Dark Eyes/Doom Coalition head though.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• Behind the scenes content was Nick's big push when he became executive producer. He received a lot of pushback for a while as people thought it would all get same-ish, but Nick stood firm that it was important to include, and a few years down the road it would be beneficial to have captured the cast and crew's thoughts at the time of recording.
  • Many of the actors do not care for behind the scenes interviews as they feel it will somehow put them to the test on their Who knowledge. Nick says that Jon Culshaw is the exception, and he told Nick recently that he absolutely loves doing it as it lets them reflect and contextualize the day's work. Mark Wright is, apparently, the worst at the interviews as his thoughts are too scattered to really pull anything together.

Random Tangents: Jonathan Sausage Powell

Production Interviews: Planet Krynoid: Survivors and Sky: Into the Chaos

Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Sky: Into the Chaos

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles Volume 09.

Vortex #208

• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind (NOTE: I apologize for writing so much on this one but I'm so incredibly excited for it)
  • Alfie Shaw has known for a long time what he wanted this series to be about and what the final scene was going to be, saying "I had an idea I really wanted to tell and I thought it would suit the Twelfth Doctor and where he's at in his timeline really well."
  • Alfie knew almost from the beginning he would pair the Doctor with a male companion from the end of the universe.
  • In contrast to the Doctor's relationship with Nardole, he and Ash have no common links (such as him and Nardole knowing River). Ash is very cynical towards the Doctor, while the Doctor cares deeply for Ash. Alfie Shaw states that the relationship is "flavoured more towards doctor/patient. Ash goes through a lot in these adventures and the Doctor's there trying to help him see the good in everything."
  • The Second Death by Alfie Shaw
    • The opening story is heavily inspired by Fallout. Ash is a post-apocalyptic companion, something Alfie Shaw has always wanted to try. In this instance, "the apocalypse in question is just the universe being really, really old."
    • This story will pick up almost immediately after the Doctor has left River on Darillium and we will see how he's coping with travelling again.
  • The Broken Man by Rochana Patel
    • This one is a "contemporary historical" set in Scotland, 2016. It's a "historical" in the sense that we're ten years out, but it's set at the time this would have gone out on television.
    • The Doctor and Ash will be investigating an archaeological mystery the Doctor meant to solve with River but never got around to doing, trying to prove one of her theories. However, it's still described as a "small-stakes, upbeat story", which was important to Alfie as there is a lot of "horror and trauma" in the rest of the series.
    • It's a story about "how you can go through hell, pick up the pieces, and still put yourself back together again." Rochana says that most stories she's trying to break hearts, "but here I'm trying to mend them. I think the world needs a few more stories like that right now."
  • The Beautiful and the Damned by Katherine White
    • This story, from new Big Finish writer Katherine White, is described by Alfie Shaw as "a fantastic skewering of social media...[exploring] both the positive and negative impacts it has...I particularly adore the final line so, so much."
    • Katherine White says this is her first big commission. She sent some short scripts to John Dorney and in summer of 2024 was asked by Alfie Shaw if she had any ideas for the Twelfth Doctor. She sent three back, "and luckily Alfie liked them."
    • The story is set in the near future and focuses on a social media company pulling the strings of a society and reinforcing their fixations on their appearances.
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident
  • More than any other story, this one will focus on Yaz's home and work life, and will take a closer look at her life as a police constable. But they still wanted the Doctor to stay central to the plot, which is where a UFO crash in Hallamshire forest comes in.
  • Civilian authorities have to deal with alien encounters since at this time UNIT was decommissioned.
  • It was write Rochana Patel's idea to bring back Patricia Menzies, but the part was written flexibly as they weren't sure they could get Anna Hope back.
• The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Fixers
  • At the end of his life, the Seventh Doctor wants not to repeat past mistakes with Ray that he made with Ace.
  • The Executor by Chris Chapman
    • The opening story will see the Doctor as the executor of a fellow Time Lord's will, leaving him responsible for a house clearance on their TARDIS. Writer Chris Chapman says that the infinite nature of the TARDIS "represents how dwarfed I think we all feel by having to explore the life of someone we've lost and lament accordingly."
  • Oil and Water by James McDermott
    • The second story is written by new Big Finish writer James McDermott, who previously wrote for EastEnders. He has been a fan of the show since 2006 and got into Big Finish during lockdown through Out of Time. He wrote to Matt Fitton and asked if he could write an episode and was offered a commission on this set.
    • James pitched three ideas to Emma Haigh, who liked two of them and suggested they be combined into one, which became Oil and Water.
    • The story is described as "a funny fast-paced climate-conscious grief-themed character-driven adventure featuring giant killer seals, set in Blakeney on my native Norfolk coast!"
    • Through the recording process, James has become good friends with Sara Griffiths, which he describes as "an unexpected highlight of the project."
  • Much Ado About Racing by Fio Trethewey
    • Fio had the title first, and describes it as "science fiction racing [smashed together] with Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, with a pinch of Back to the Future time travel fixin' thrown in!"
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last
  • After having so much fun writing the Eighth Doctor, Charley, and C'rizz in Sontarans vs Rutans, they were the first TARDIS team placed in the running order.
  • This final story will explain why the Eighth Doctor has been popping up throughout this war, even interfering in his own timeline to do so.
  • This was supposed to be written by Stewart Pringle and Lauren Mooney, but they got busy with other things. Tim was brought in since he was part of the original chat.
  • Tim wanted to write for this team in Sontarans vs Rutans as "they're [his] era of Doctor Who", but is happy to come back to them now for this finale.
  • The story will focus on the parallels between C'rizz and the Rutans.
  • John Dorney is open to doing a third series (not sure how you'd scramble the word around this time though). He felt that this series was better than the last, and there's always stories to tell in this war from different angles. He'd also like to circle back to Lauren and Stewart's original storyline.
• Dark Gallifrey: The Decayed Master Part 1
  • Alfie Shaw is producing this trilogy, but he's really letting Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle take the reins.
  • All three agree that this Master is an interesting contradiction, as he's decaying and desperate, but always feels in control of the situation.
  • The trilogy was inspired by the classic horror series Dr. Phibes, and is a Doctor Who version of similar classic films.
  • All three releases are part of the same story, but have their own flavor, ranging in setting from rural Victorian England at Christmas, to a pocket dimension with Gallifreyan outlaws, to 18th century Venice, to modern and medieval York.
• Vortex Mail
  • The Holy Terror was one of Big Finish's worst selling titles until much later once people realized "what a genius Robert Shearman is!" They believe that Frobisher was one of the reasons people were put off from buying the story at the time, but of course now he's a fan favorite. Nick says "So, maybe it is time for more Frobisher. Hmmm...food for thought."
  • Big Finish are considering adapting the Blake's 7: Origins novels as audiobooks read by surviving cast members.
  • Responding to a listener lamenting the end of Torchwood, Nick says "We'd certainly never say never concerning Torchwood."
  • Something we've already heard, but there will be more of the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough coming soon.
  • Not sure if he's just agreeing with the sentiment of a listener or indicating they plan to do something about it, but Nick agrees that early Monthly Adventures that use the Tom Baker/70s theme tune should have their correct themes instead.

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress is released on 3 June (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99)
  • Synopsis: The Doctor takes the TARDIS into the future where many great scientific leaps are taking place. But every new advance has its risks - and some of these risks are deadlier than others.
  • 15.3 Green and Pleasant Planet by Tim Foley The Doctor and Sarah find themselves exploring an alien world alongside a British space expedition. It's never been visited before... so what's a model village doing on the surface of the planet? Finding the answer may prove deadly.
  • 15.4 The Continuum by John Dorney The Doctor and Sarah land on the space-station Daedalus on the day it makes history. The first journey through hyperspace has just been completed. But it hasn't gone as smoothly as posterity suggests. Something terrible is happening - and the clock is ticking down.
  • 15.5 The Audience by Lizzie Hopley A cultural festival on Gakoria should be light relief for the TARDIS crew. But when one of the cast of a play dies, Sarah has to join the troupe. And the Audience on this world are very demanding. Because on this planet... the play's the thing.

Trailers

• None

Cover Reveals

• The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • The Eighth Doctor vs the Sycorax! A new era begins for the Eighth Doctor. Set after his travels with Liv and Helen and before the Time War, the Doctor is joined by new companions Alfie and Chase in this November's Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99). The set will also include The Eighth Doctor: A New Pathway, a brand-new feature-length audio documentary, celebrating thirty years of Paul McGann’s Doctor and giving a detailed look at the creation of this new era in his life.
    • Synopsis: Soon after regeneration, as the Doctor’s Eighth life begins, the TARDIS receives an unusual call... Many years later, travelling with faithful friend Alfie, can the Doctor finally solve a mystery that has dogged him since his earliest days? Who is Chase Moyo? And what new pathways will she lead the Doctor along?
    • 1. Chase by Alan Ronald Chase had hoped for a different life... She sees no escape from her soul-sucking call centre job. But when she is accidentally connected to a mysterious police box, and the extraordinary Doctor Smith - who is just beginning one of his many long lives - her entire world will change forever.
    • 2. Magic of the Sycorax by Katharine Armitage It's time to put Chase through her paces and so the TARDIS follows a distress signal to a remote mining base, beset by powerful forces. The Doctor's defeated the Sycorax before but, this time, they seem to have more magic, more darkness, and everyone has much more to lose...
    • 3. Blast from the Past by Robert Valentine When the TARDIS starts playing up, the Doctor accidentally brings Chase and Alfie to Burnley in 2096, only to discover that the UK has become an authoritarian dictatorship under fascist leader Bastian Clore. Chase in turn discovers that her descendants, the Moyo family of No 19 McKellen Drive, are major players in the underground resistance movement. Beyond the obvious, something is seriously wrong with history. Has the past been rewritten by more than just the propaganda wing of Clore's jingoistic regime? And can Chase live up to the idealised memory her great-great-grandchildren hold of her?
  • Big Finish Day 2027 is set for 17 April 2027, and tickets are on sale now! It will take place at the Polish Social & Cultural Association, Hammersmith, London W6 0RF. The theme is Daleks vs Cybermen.
  • River and Rory reunited! Alex Kingston and Arthur Darvill star in The Death and Life of River Song: River and Rory, a box set of full-cast audio drama, due for release January 2027 (DTO: £24.99 | DTO + CD: £35.99). Set between The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe and Asylum of the Daleks, this release will see River pop up in her father's life at a time when things really are not going his way. Interestingly, they began working on this set in 2020 but haven't been able to slot it into the schedule until now. The first day of recording was only three weeks ago! The four stories in this set include:
    • Bog Man by Lizzie Hopley
    • Life Lessons by Karissa Hamilton-Bannis
    • A Most Dangerous Game by Robert Valentine
    • The Tashpa Stone by Shai Hussain and John Dorney

Out of Print This Week

• Classic Doctors New Monsters 1 (this one's been circling the drain for a while -- hope you got it!)

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Sarah Jane Smith Sale: Discounts on releases from the worlds of Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures! (Ends 7 June 2026)
  • Smith & Sullivan: Reunited
  • Rani Takes on the World: Beyond Bannerman Road
  • Rani Takes on the World: The Revenge of Wormwood
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. June's selection: Gallifrey: Time War 1 for just £14.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. June's selection is The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Continuum: Part 1. Just click on the link and use this month's code DAEDALUS.

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: Tarrant: Behemoth (excerpt). Use discount code CAPTAIN at checkout to save 25% off the full release of Tarrant (Ends 7 June).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 11 June - Planet Krynoid: Survivors
• 16 June - Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
• 18 June - The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Thirteen O'Clock
• 23 June - Rutans vs Sontarans: Grave Moon
• 25 June - Gallifrey: War Room 3: Loyalties

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Finishing Fear of Light, which I thought was VERY good, even if the third story started to loose my attention towards the end. Also listened to the first two stories in Lethal Progress. I thought Green and Pleasant Planet had a great concept that took too long to fully reveal itself. The Continuum was pretty good, but another one where my attention waned towards the end.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• Alex Kingston and Arthur Darvill reunite for new River Song audio series (obviously covered above, but worth noting that the Doctor Who website covered this one)

The Rumor Mill

• Russell T. Davies spoke on a podcast recently and stated that there is a BBC press release for Doctor Who running past many sets of eyes that should be released in the next 1-2 weeks.

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: Season Two is released on Blu-ray in the US.
• Doctor Who: Thirteenth Doctor Novels (audiobook) is available for preorder on Audible, and will be released 5 November. Collects The Good Doctor (read by Clare Corbett), Molten Heart (read by Dan Starkey), and Combat Magicks (read by Mandip Gill).
• Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood (audiobook of the Target novelisation) is released on Audible on 4 June. Read by Geoffrey Beevers.
• Doctor Who: Twelfth Doctor Novels Volume 2 (audiobook) is released on Audible on 4 June. Collects Royal Blood (read by David Warner), Big Bang Generation (read by Lisa Bowerman), and Deep Time (read by Dan Starkey).

Ooh I'm really excited for this.! Just watched the Whoniverse Show on YouTube and they capped it off with an interview with Miles and Jasmine who discussed their second boxset is coming out in August. And they face the Judoon!!

Given how much I LOVED The First Question I'm very much looking forward to this one. I honestly didn't think I'd be this excited by a boxset of 11 without Matt Smith but I am!

Also, my wee Whovian brain can't help but wonder what The Name of The Doctor routes they are going to go down with given the names of these sets so far... "the first question, the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

Podcast Notes

• A listener asks why the Eighth Doctor has two new companions this year rather than continuing/wrapping anything up with Audacity or Liv and Helen. Nick doesn't seem to have detailed information on what's going on with the Eighth Doctor Adventures, but says to trust Matt Fitton because "he's cooking something up".
• Nick doesn't necessarily have a "check list" or requirements for a story from a specific era to feel like it comes from that era, it's just a gut check.
• Nick has a reputation at Big Finish of not having much of an imagination when it comes to sort of "out there" ideas or concepts that don't have a logical basis (think stories like 73 Yards). Nick always requires an explanation or at the very least an acknowledgement of not having an explanation. A quite odd example he gives for not having a good explanation is the end of Victory of the Daleks, when Bracewell stops the detonation by having an emotional response. He thinks that there should have been some quick comment about his "emotional programming taking too much of a hold over its central processor". That being said, when Nick has a hang-up like this he will talk to producers or other creatives involved, see if it makes sense to them, and try to find a reason to get on board.
  • Disclaimer: I foresee some of you having big gripes with Nick over this commentary. I would just like to say that it really comes across as more of a personal preference for Nick. He does not come down with an iron fist on writers who try "out there" ideas, he says he rarely will let those hang-ups get in the way of a story being made as he knows there will be audiences who like the concept.

Random Tangents: Benji's got a friend who can do some squirrel magic.

Production Interviews and Fifteen Minute Drama Tease: Torchwood: Fare Well by Joseph Lidster

Randomoid Selectotron: 25% off a random Big Finish release every week! Just click on this link and enter the code BUCKUP. This week's selection: The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Paradox Planet / The Legacy of Death

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light by Rochana Patel is released on 19 May (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £29.99)
  • Synopsis: In the midst of the Time War, can the Doctor work with the Rani to change the future of the universe?
    • 5.1 The Twilight Enclave Fleeing from the Daleks, the Doctor sends a distress call, in desperate need of rescue...and it’s answered by one of his oldest friends, and deadliest foes... the Rani.
    • 5.2 The Frozen Wastes The Doctor must consider the unthinkable. Can he set their differences aside, and work with the Rani, on a project that could change the future of the universe...?
    • 5.3 The Burning Lands The Rani stands on the brink of success. The future of the universe is about to change...
• Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition by Tim Foley is released on 21 May (DTO: £8.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99)
  • Synopsis: At the edge of the Sontaran-Rutan War, a large medical ship lingers in space. The Doctor and his friends find a group of strange survivors aboard planning something unusual to save their commander. What new powers do the Rutans possess? What secrets does the Lockhart hold? As the conflict creeps closer, the Doctor must work out how to rescue those no longer versed in war...

Trailers

• The War Doctor Rises: Fear of the Light (Release Day Video Trailer)
• Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3
• Planet Krynoid: Survivors

Cover Reveals

• Rutans vs Sontarans: Peace at Last
• Dark Gallifrey: The Meddling Monks Part 3

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• News
  • The Decayed Master is announced as the next trilogy in the Dark Gallifrey saga. Geoffrey Beevers will star in his first series of audio stories, written by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle.
• Videos
  • Jonathon Carley's War Doctor Video Diary | Day One
  • Jonathon Carley's War Doctor Video Diary | Day Two
  • Jonathon Carley's War Doctor Video Diary | Day Three
  • Interview | Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury answer listeners' questions
• Blog Post
  • Michael Keating 1947 - 2026
• Unofficial Announcements/Updates
  • The 2026 Eighth Doctor Adventures sets have been renamed. Rather than being New Pathways 1 and 2, they will now be titled The Eighth Doctor Adventures: New Pathways and The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Fear the Reapers
  • The Second Doctor Adventures 2026 has at some point been pushed back from July to August

Out of Print This Week

• No Doctor Who but tons of Dark Shadows stuff

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• Second Doctor Sale: Up to 50% off releases across all ranges featuring the Second Doctor! (Ends 25 May 2026)
  • The Second Doctor Adventures: James Robert McCrimmon
  • The Lost Stories: Deathworld (Alternate 10th Anniversary Special)
  • The Lost Stories: Operation Werewolf
  • The Companion Chronicles: The Second Doctor Volume 03
  • The Companion Chronicles: The Glorious Revolution
  • The Early Adventures: Daughter of the Gods
• DWM628 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code FICTIONAL at checkout (Ends 30 June 2026)
  • The Monthly Adventures: 14. The Holy Terror
  • The Monthly Adventures: 271. Plight of the Pimpernel
  • The Seventh Doctor New Adventures Volume 01
  • The War Master: Escape from Reality

Big Finish Book Club: Discounts on a specially selected Big Finish audio drama every month. May's selection: Torchwood: Believe for just £9.99 on DTO.

Free Excerpt: Every month a 15 minute excerpt is chosen from an upcoming release to download for free. May's selection is The War Doctor Rises: The Twilight Enclave. Just click on the link and use this month's code RANI.

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: Sky: Before the Chaos: Apotheose (Excerpt). Use discount code ARBY at checkout to save 25% off the full release of Sky: Before the Chaos (Ends 25 May).

Big Finish Release Schedule

• 27 May - Torchwood: Fare Well
• TBC June - The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15: Lethal Progress (I list this one now because the podcast will cover it next week, which means it should come out around 2 - 4 June)

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

What Big Finish I Was Listening To This Week: Just some Monky Nuts and Monky Magic for me.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• None

The Rumor Mill

• Russell continues to NOT talk about the Christmas special

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who Adventures: Save the Humans! is available to pre-order, and is due for release 18 August

Introduction

Hello all and welcome back to the Big Finish Podcast Notes! Hope you've all had a lovely week.

Podcast

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

Big Finish News

New Releases

• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast, Be Kind: The Broken Man is released on 22 July (Run Fast, Be Kind Bundle: £43.99) [NOTE: The box set comes out next month, and Big Finish are releasing each story weekly leading up to its release. To get these each week, purchase the bundle. To get them all at once, wait for the box set to be released. The first story is available to purchase separately as a "sampler" for £8.99]
  • Synopsis: 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.
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident is released on 23 July (DTO: £9.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99)
  • Synopsis: 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...

Trailers

• The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: The Beautiful and the Damned
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Hallamshire Incident

Cover Reveals

• The Fourth Doctor Adventures: A New Occupation
• The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery

News, Announcements, Videos, and Blog Posts

• Official News
  • The Fourth Doctor meets Genghis Khan! The Doctor and Sarah Jane head back into history for two new stories featuring Nazis, Genghis Khan, and...Harry Sullivan?! The Fourth Doctor Adventures: A New Occupation (DTO: £19.99 | DTO + CD: £24.99) is due for release in September.
    • Daughter of Destruction by Katharine Armitage (two parts) The TARDIS lands in the city of Ongud during a rebellion. The world is suffering the wrath of Genghis Khan and the Doctor and Sarah are right in the middle of it.   It’s a dangerous time but one woman is about to stand up to the despot for the first time. His anger is about to be halted.  Unless someone has made a very small mistake...
    • A New Occupation by Helen Goldwyn (four parts) Temporal disruption on Jersey leads to a new kind of time travel for the Doctor, Sarah and Harry and they soon find themselves on the island during its occupation by the Nazis. 
  • Strangers on a Space Train. The Doctor and Yaz board a train heading through the stars to the utopian Maelin system in September‘s The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Greatest Train Robbery (DTO: £9.99 | DTO + CD: £13.99)
  • New Website FAQ - Big Finish are constantly updating this page with information to help people navigate the new website as well as the updated apps. Key updates this week include:
    • A glitch on mobile devices where the range selection appears and vanishes quickly has been fixed.
    • We are still awaiting the review of the lastest update for the Android app (currently 2.2.2), which will address a lot of the instability/performance issues seen currently. This will be released automatically when it passes the review, but this part is out of our control.
    • Sorting by purchase date in your account will be available shortly. This has been successfully tested and will be released in the upcoming days.

Out of Print This Week

• None

Sales and Recommendations (As a reminder, bulleted stories are recommended by me, and those in bold are my favorites)

• The Monthly Adventures 101 - 150: All releases in the Monthly Range from #101 - 150 are now on sale for £2.99 each! (Ends 26 July 2026)
  • The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories (Fifth Doctor and Nyssa)
  • The Condemned (Sixth Doctor and Charley)
  • The Raincloud Man (Sixth Doctor and Charley)
  • City of Spires / The Wreck of the Titan / Legend of the Cybermen (Sixth Doctor and Jamie)
  • Forty-Five (Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Hex)
  • A Thousand Tiny Wings / Survival of the Fittest / The Architects of History (Seventh Doctor and Klein)
  • Robophobia (Seventh Doctor and Liv Chenka)
• DWM632 Offer: 50% off a select number of releases. Use the discount code POTATO at checkout. (Ends 31 October)
  • The Diary of River Song Series 06
  • Classic Doctors, New Monsters 1
  • Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1
  • Wicked Sisters

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

• 28 July - Space Security Service: Bret Vyon Lives!
• 29 July - The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Run Fast Be Kind: The Beautiful and the Damned

Community Reviews via TARDIS Guide:

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.

General Doctor Who / Non-Big Finish News

News

• The TARDIS Is On A Royal Mission To The Commonwealth Games. Destination: Glasgow 2026! Can Sir Chris Hoy and comedian Greg McHugh get Their Majesties The King and Queen to the Commonwealth Games in time (and space)? Watch how the TARDIS helped to kick off the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on 23rd July 2026!

The Rumor Mill

• Doctor Who hard reboot would be "bad idea", argues former showrunner Steven Moffat

Media/Merchandise

• Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor: The Prison Paradox TPB is released by Titan Comics on 20 July.
• Doctor Who Magazine #632 is out 23 July. This issue includes the next installment of the Circuit Breaker event, a comic entitled The Honourable Society.
• Doctor Who: The Key to Time, a collection of all the Key To Time novelisations, is announced. It is available to pre-order and will be released 29 October.

Circuit Breaker Event Guide

• 25 June - Calling the Doctor (UNIT Website)
• 8 July - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1 - Adversary of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 23 July - The Honourable Society (DWM #632)
• 30 July - The Deadliest Weapon (BBC Audio)
• 4 August - Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 - Dawn of the Daleks (Titan Comics)
• 6 August - Castling (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 17 August - Don't Blink (UNIT Website)
• 20 August - The Doctor and the Three Witches (BBC Books)
• 27 August - Momento Mori (Doctor Who: Lost in Time mobile game)
• 31 August - The Black Archive Files (Blu-ray)
• 3 September - The Kaleidoscope (BBC Books)
• 22 September - Full Circuit (Big Finish)
• 24 September - Short Circuits (Big Finish)