I haven’t heard the new set recently, but I honestly agree.
Personally, I think the Sixth Doctor has been on a decline ever since the ‘Monthly Range’ ended. He lost his reputation as The Golden Boy of BigFinish and has recieved several mediocre scripts.
Of all his stories released since 2021, I can think of one that genuinely felt like it matched the quality of his older stuff - ‘Broadway Belongs to Me!’
Truthfully, I think the Fifth Doctor is currently The Golden Boy of BigFinish. He’s been on a winning strike since ‘Forty 2’!
I’m really glad I found this place. Not only the best online Doctor Who environment I’ve ever known in recent times, but you learn something too! I was aware of Monica (or rather Lucy Campbell who played her) and her relationship with Stephen Cole, but not about Jonathan Blum’s tough time with his story. Am I right in thinking he never wrote for BF again? Shame, because he’s a terrific writer.
Agreed. I’m a big fan of Audio Sixie. but since the Water Worlds set, the only release I’ve enjoyed that has featured him would be the Born to Die episode from Sontarans vs Rutans. I’m not sure what’s gone wrong, but the stories are either unnecessary anniversary celebrations or … just not very good. A far cry from, as @PalindromeRose says, the monthly range, when his tales were consistently among the best.
Absolutely agreed. I think this is partly due to the Janet/Sarah/Matthew/Mark combination of regulars. Consistently strong characters, really well written (with a wonderful dose of character-led humour) and the always, almost effortlessly-sounding-brilliant Peter Davison. This is with stories that don’t feel the need to constantly bring back old friends and villains to maintain their interest.
Currently, my favourite audio Doctors are Three, Five and Eight. A great run of stories for this gang!
I really wanna start reviewing the new ‘Dark Gallifrey’ trilogy, so I decided to stick this box set on in the background and update my old reviews from the other site.
You genuinly cannot discuss this series without mentioning quite explicit content - John Hart is somehow more of a walking innuendo than Harkness!
Because of this, I’m having to add this disclaimer to the beginning of my updated reviews.
‘The Sins of Cpt. John’ features adult content and themes which may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion advised.
Genuinely one of the best things David Llewllyn has written, but the entire set is more raunchy than Barbara Windsor in the Carry On films!
Anyone that has listened to ‘The Death of Captain Jack’ will be aware that this is par for the course with any story featuring John Hart…
Genuinely shocked with what Llewellyn got away with in that one.
Whew, I’m glad I’m not the only one. Sometimes I feel like I’m being too harsh when I listen to audios, but I really am a simple creature when it comes to Six. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel for me or do anything extraordinary, so when a story misses the mark, I feel it intensely lol.
Big Finish feels a lot like Colin’s pimp. Any time they don’t have an actor to do a story, they spring it on him; and any time they need a throwaway Doctor, he’s the go-to. I’ve noticed that even going back before the MR ended. Each terrible crossover or uninteresting script they give him in the name of extra work only chips away at his reputation. It’s reached the point where, when I see new audios announced, I’m thinking “Oh no” instead of “Oh yay!” I know Colin needs the money, but I wish he’d be more selective. It’s embarrassing hearing him try to hype up stories everyone knows are bad.
I think the biggest issue with the Classic Doctor ranges is that many of them feature producers who are either unsuited to that incarnation and era… or producers that are just kinda crap.
These are the current producers for the Classic Doctor ranges.
1DAs - Nick Briggs & Mark Wright
2DAs - Mark Wright
3DAs - Heather Challands
4DAs - David Richardson
5DAs - David Richardson & Sonny McGann (No, really. Look at the credits for September’s set)
6DAs - Jac Rayner
7DAs - Emma Haigh
8DAs - David Richardson
Some have done incredibly well - mainly the David Richardson led series (though that’s to be expected from the company’s most senior producer).
Jac Rayner is absolutely magnificent as a script-writer, but I sadly don’t think she suits the producer role - not with how poorly the recent output has been recieved.
Heather Challands has been a huge success story. Like the 3DAs have been killing it of late, and I would easily call them the second most consistent range after the 5DAs nowadays.
I absolutely adore Mark Wright, but I much prefer him as a writer than a producer, and I feel like some odd decisions have been made with both the 1DAs and 2DAs - bringing back Jamie and Zoe post-War Games felt really pointless, and the First Doctor stories don’t feel like they’re doing anything with Dodo.
The only range I would really say is being completely decimated is the 7DAs. I haven’t got a clue what Haigh is playing at, but the writing quality has been shockingly abysmal. I know ‘The Last Day’ has its fans, but you cannot deny it’s a complete and utter cluster****!
If the Classic Doctor ranges were given a producer shake-up, this is personally who I’d have in control of each.
1DAs - Simon Guerrier and David K. Barnes
2DAs - Simon Guerrier
3DAs - Heather Challands
4DAs - David Richardson
5DAs - Tim Foley (his stories are the best selling ones in that range currently)
6DAs - Jac Rayner
7DAs - Marc Platt (because he was a key player in the “Cartmel Masterplan” and the VNAs)
8DAs - David Richardson
I know I just spent ages complimenting Richardson’s handling of the 5DAs, but it cannot be denied he’s spreading himself too thin. That range is currently performing the best out of the Classic Doctor ones, and Tim Foley is their shining star. I would give him the producer role and let him run wild - that allows Richardson more time to focus on upping his game with the 4 & 8DAs.
Simon Guerrier is someone who has proven time and time again that he understands 1960s narratives and that era in general - the Oliver Harper trilogy, the Sara Kingdom companion chronicles, ‘The Sontarans’, ‘The Outliers’, ‘The Time Travellers’. I feel like he would be the absolute best choice to whip the 1 & 2DAs into shape.
Possibly alongside David K. Barnes for the 1DAs - because his ‘Early Adventures’ were just peak.
The 7DAs are the range I would say is cause for most concern, and so much heavly lifting needs doing to sort it out. Bring Marc Platt in - because he’s been with the franchise, and that incarnation, for donkeys years. Bring in an original companion - not hand-me-downs from Tom Baker - and have the adventures be set between ‘Lungbarrow’ and ‘The TV Movie’. Don’t be afraid to be dark and mature, attempt to evoke the tone of the VNAs and Season 26.
Gonna give you one piece of advice with the War Master range, Shauny.
It might be a good idea to skip over Volume Three and come back it later. It’s the weakeast of the bunch, and the Coney Island story is so bad I had to take a three motnh break from the set!
Tbh, it doesn’t help that it’s sandwiched in between two of the most adored ‘War Master’ sets - ‘Master of Callous’ and ‘Anti-Genesis’.
I wouldn’t even say that’s an issue confined to Colin Baker.
He’s my favourite incarnation by a large margin, but my third favourite incarnation has… well… let’s just say there’s no accounting for taste when he said this was his favourite script.
Ah yes, the one where the Doctor continually deadnames the Lumiat, Liv Chenka is about as much use as a chocolate tea pot, and BigFinish try to distract from this by bunging David Warner in for no good reason.
Just to say, I agree with everything in your post - especially this. The Seventh Doctor has, I would say, still loads of untapped potential to be explored. His time on TV was among the most experimental and daring the show has ever been. And yet recently with BF, it’s just … sludge.
To me, Sylvester is an excellent, genuinely eccentric, even dangerous performer, and BF should be writing for that side of his persona. He could be so good, and yet for a long while now, he’s being wasted on get-togethers and unneeded sequels.
That is the only Big Finish story with Chris Eccleston that I have heard so I guess it is my favourite by default
But I have to say that I actually quite enjoyed this one. I really liked both the Unbound Doctor and the Lumiat, and I think it made sense that he kept referring to her as the Master - yes this is post-Missy but last this fluctuating version of the Doctor met the Master, that we know of, it was the Dhawan incarnation that was quite maliciously evil - trust issues are rather justified I would say.
I just listened to that a few days ago haha, not my favourite River Song or War Master episode tbh, and if Volume 3 links in with that then I understand why it’s not very good…
