Big Finish Productions today confirmed that its license in association with BBC Studios to make original Doctor Who and spin-off audio adventures has been extended through March 2030.
For more than two decades, Big Finish has been producing high quality, full-cast audio drama featuring characters from the worlds of Doctor Who. The first, The Sirens of Time, was released in July 1999 and, since then, over a thousand new adventures have been released on collector’s edition CD, digital download or vinyl LP.
This year, the company was awarded a Guinness World Record for the longest-running science fiction audio play series, in recognition of the achievements of its Doctor Who range. 2022 will see the release of a raft of new “classic era” box sets (starring original series actors Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann) plus new adventures for the Ninth and Tenth Doctors (played by Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant respectively).
Jan Paterson, director of books and audio at BBC Studios, said: “Our partnership with Big Finish has been going for over 20 years. Over this time the team there has created the most extensive range of original Doctor Who audio dramas and readings, working with the original casts. This renewal of our long-term license secures our partnership to allow Big Finish to create fantastic new adventures for the Doctors and their friends for many more years.”
Big Finish also produces the spin-off audio drama series Torchwood, Class, The Diary of River Song, Jenny – The Doctor’s Daughter, The War Doctor Begins, The War Master, UNIT, The Year of Martha Jones, Peladon, The Lone Centurion, The Robots, and The Lost Stories, plus a range of audio novels.
Jason Haigh-Ellery, Big Finish chairman and co-executive producer, added: “We are very grateful to the BBC for once again placing their faith in Big Finish and extending our license into another decade – this time up to 2030. This allows us to really plan ahead and create long term story lines and character development not just for the Doctors and the companions but also for new series and elements that we can’t talk about yet! We are excited about the next decade and the adventures we are going to create in the TARDIS for us all to enjoy together.”
Nicholas Briggs, Big Finish creative director and co-executive producer, said: “This rather lovely license extension from the BBC for us to continue making Doctor Who audio drama until 2030 takes me past my official retirement date — although I have no plans to retire from anything. I look forward to working with Big Finish’s great creative team and our colleagues at BBC Studios for many years to come!”
All the above Doctor Who titles and more are available to own from the Big Finish website at www.bigfinish.com.
