Sounds great, I’m probably going to give this range a try then
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I was really interested in this boxset when it was announced, now I’ll probably wait till the reviews are out. Lizzie Hopley is just not a writer I’m confident in, she’s just not for me (I’ve disliked all but one of her stories I’ve listened too). And with two new writters, I’d rather wait to see if it’s good considering it’s got the new hiked price.
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“The Blue Shift Ritual by Adam Christopher… Adam Christopher, who is best-known as a New York Times bestselling novelist…” He’s the guy who the Star Wars novel Shadow of the Sith that I listened to earlier this year. Granted, I’ve never read anything else he’s written, but it’s a name I surprisingly recognize.
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He clearly knows his stuff, who else but a Who fan would reference a VNA in the episode title
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I’ve read a few of his original books (off the top of my head, Empire State, The Age Atomic, The Burning Dark, The Machine Awakes, Seven Wonders), all of which I enjoyed. I’ve also met him in real-life, because he used to live in the same town as me (not sure if he still does now though). He mostly seems to write licensed fiction these days, and he’s written for Doctor Who before on at least two occasions (yesterday’s new audio original, What Still Remains, and a Seventh Doctor interlude for Big Finish which I can’t remember the name of). I think Doctor Who was a big inspiration for some of his original books, if I remember rightly, so I’m glad to see him writing more things set within the show’s universe - I think he’s a great fit (and more importantly, just a great writer!)
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Cool. I’ve only ever encountered him from his Star Wars novel.
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I can’t speak for any of his licensed work, but I definitely enjoyed his original novels. The Machine Awakes and The Burning Dark very much felt like they could slot into the Doctor Who universe without issue. Empire State and The Age Atomic are alt-universe sci-fi in 1940s New York, Seven Wonders is a superhero novel, and he also has a series about a robot assassin in 1930s/60s(?)[1] LA which I’ve read the first one of. Would definitely recommend people give his books a try!
I don’t remember the exact decade ↩︎
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Two new writers is so exciting! The War Master series seems like a great one to test new talent on, it’s latterly pretty standalone episodes with a general direction, and it observes pretty much every rule and convention of Doctor Who, but completely upside down. If you can nail one of those you’re likely to be great on a slightly higher profile 9 or 13 etc! And also, acting-wise, is there a safer pair of hands than Sir Derek? Not many!
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NEW ENHANCED AUDIOBOOK RANGE INCOMING! 
Click Doctor Who Audio Novellas - News - Big Finish to read more about the first releases in the Doctor Who – The Audio Novellas range, due for release in January 2026.
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Still too long for my liking tbh - 2 hours is a LOT. That said, it’s a lot shorter than those abysmally long audio novels! They could be amazing but the length puts me off.
I do find it odd you’ve gotta buy both. It’s alienating in a sense that you could have a fan who only wants the 3 story or the 1 story and not both. Regardless it’s good news another new BF range!
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I am glad they will be doing Novellas too! It’s nice to get something shorter and in many ways, while my experience with the audio novels has been limited (did 5 out of the 6 Parts of one), they have filled a good enough place of Narration for me. So this will be something to look forward for me!!
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Yes, this does seem odd. It’s like “we heard you that these Audio Novels are very long, so we have solved that problem by selling you two of them at once, which is more or less how long the long ones are.”
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The Audio Novels are average audiobook length which is cool
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Absolutely, there is nothing wrong with that format at all. It’s just that the main Audio Novels are about three times longer than the main range stories which plenty of people already feel are way too long, so it’s just its own niche of a niche to get into!
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Exciting! These enhanced audiobook things are growing in popularity because the music and sound effects make them a bit more engaging than a simple narrator reading a story. I look forward to listening to these!
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The thing is, I don’t get why they’re being marketed so hard as enhanced audiobooks. As a person who listens to a lot of audiobooks, most fiction audiobooks have at least a little music here and there. Star Wars novels have lots of music and sound effects and I have never heard them called “enhanced”. When I hear enhanced, I think of something closer to an audio drama (similar to say the companion chronicles) where you have multiple readers doing different parts. I don’t get the excitement or emphasis on enhanced when that stuff is just normal.
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I think it’s the sound design, and the fact that music and FX are present throughout. Most of the audiobooks I’ve heard have a small amount of music at the start and end (occasionally between chapters), but never FX. The Star Wars ones sound like outliers to me. But then, it’ll also be marketing.
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£24.99 for 4x hours here vs £19.99 for 7-8x hours in the Audio Novels series? 
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Big Finish: for the love of sales 
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Back in my day, we had Short Trips.
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