Doctor Who audio productions

A number of audio productions based upon Doctor Who have been produced over the years. The first, in 1976, was a children's audio adventure entitled Doctor Who and the Pescatons by Victor Pemberton. Around this time an audio version of the televised serial Genesis of the Daleks was released on record, with specially recorded narration by Tom Baker. Both of these early releases have since been reissued on CD. The same year, Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen reprised their roles in an episode of the BBC Schools radio play Exploration Earth.

Related Topics:
Doctor Who - 1976 - Victor Pemberton - Genesis of the Daleks - Tom Baker - Elisabeth Sladen

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In 1985, during a period when the series was on a sabbatical at the BBC, BBC Radio hired Colin Baker and his TV companion Nicola Bryant to reprise their TV roles for a new production called Slipback, broadcast as part of the Radio 4 children's magazine Pirate Radio Four, which received quite a bit of press fanfare, though it did not receive good reviews. It too was later released on audio tape and CD.

Related Topics:
1985 - BBC Radio - Colin Baker - Nicola Bryant - Slipback - Radio 4 - Pirate Radio Four

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Doctor Who audio adventures diversified somewhat in the 1990s, when the BBC began issuing the soundtracks of 1960s-era serials on cassette and compact disc, some with added narration. These releases were usually derived from serials that were incomplete in the BBC vaults, thereby making this the only format in which fans could enjoy the entire story.

Related Topics:
1990s - 1960s

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BBC Radio, meanwhile, attempted to get a new series of Doctor Who stories made for radio. Although more were planned, only two were ever completed: The Paradise of Death (1993) and The Ghosts of N-Space (1996), both featuring Jon Pertwee in two of his final performances as the Third Doctor. The Paradise of Death was broadcast on Radio 5, and after that station's re-launch as a news and sport network in 1994 it seemed that there would be no home for any sequels. However, a repeat broadcast of The Paradise of Death that year on Radio 2 proved popular - despite episode five accidentally being broadcast twice in place of episode six, necessitating episode six being delayed by a week - and the station was happy to commission the sequel, The Ghosts of N-Space, for itself.

Related Topics:
The Paradise of Death - 1993 - The Ghosts of N-Space - 1996 - Jon Pertwee - Radio 5 - 1994 - Radio 2

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In 1994, BBC Radio 4 in part of the series "Whatever Happened to ..?" broadcast a comedy drama entitled Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? featuring Jane Asher as Susan Foreman and Andrew Sachs as Temmosus the Thal.

Related Topics:
1994 - BBC Radio 4 - Whatever Happened to ..? - Jane Asher - Susan Foreman - Andrew Sachs - Thal

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Several of the Target novelisations have been made into audio books narrated by actors who have appeared in the television series. For example, Peter Davison read the novelisation of Kinda.

Related Topics:
Target - Audio book - Peter Davison - Kinda

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Beginning in 1999, Big Finish Productions, under licence from the BBC, began a range of audio plays on compact disc, with one released every month starring one of the surviving actors to play the Doctor, namely the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors. The Doctors are joined in the audio plays by companions from the television series and new companions created for the audio range. Stories in the ongoing Eighth Doctor series were originally released in "seasons" of between four to six consecutive releases, but this pattern ceased after Doctor Who returned to television in 2005. None of the audio plays have featured Tom Baker (as the Fourth Doctor), since he has declined invitations to reprise his role.

Related Topics:
1999 - Big Finish Productions - Range of audio plays - Fifth - Sixth - 2005 - Fourth Doctor

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Big Finish have also produced a limited-run series of audio plays based around one of the Doctor's former television companions, Sarah Jane Smith, as well as a limited Doctor Who Unbound series that explores possibilities contrary to the established mythos (for instance, "What if the Doctor had never left Gallifrey?"). The format of the Unbound series allows well-known actors such as Derek Jacobi and David Warner to play the Doctor, albeit alternate versions of the character. Bernice Summerfield, the Doctor's companion from the New Adventures novels, also features in her own series of audio plays, the character being voiced by Lisa Bowerman.

Related Topics:
Sarah Jane Smith - Derek Jacobi - David Warner - Lisa Bowerman

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The BBC has extended Big Finish's licence to produce the audios until 2007, but the licence only covers the original television series and not the new series — thus Big Finish cannot do audio plays featuring the Ninth Doctor or other characters from the 2005 revival.

Related Topics:
2007 - Ninth Doctor

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From 6 August 2005, four of the Eighth Doctor audio dramas will be broadcast on the digital radio station BBC 7 ? these are Storm Warning, Sword of Orion, The Stones of Venice and Invaders from Mars.

Related Topics:
6 August - 2005 - Eighth Doctor - Digital radio - BBC 7 - Storm Warning - Sword of Orion - The Stones of Venice - Invaders from Mars

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Other Doctor Who-related mini-series include

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• Dalek Empire, Dalek Empire II: Dalek War, Dalek Empire III and Cyberman, produced by Big Finish Productions;
• Gallifrey, also produced by Big Finish, with Lalla Ward, Mary Tamm, Louise Jameson and John Leeson reprising their roles as Romanas I and II, Leela and K-9, respectively;
• UNIT, another Big Finish production, with a new UNIT crew, and guest-starring Nicholas Courtney as the now-retired General Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in some audios.
• the Kaldor City series, produced by Magic Bullet Productions, which expanded on the setting and characters created for the serial The Robots of Death, but also ties in with the BBC television series Blake's 7; and
• the Faction Paradox series, about the rebel crime syndicate/voodoo cult introduced to the Doctor Who novel line by author Lawrence Miles. The first six Faction audios were published by BBV under the title The Faction Paradox Protocols. Subsequently, Magic Bullet took over the series, using the title The True History of Faction Paradox.

The status of the various audio adventures in terms of canonicity has not been confirmed. While it is a question that has vexed fans, it appears that, broadly, the BBC care little about the matter. No official announcement has been made on the subject. The first season of the new televsion series made no explicit references to the audio adventures, partly to keep the programme accessible to a wide audience, and partly in obedience to BBC guidelines about the relationship between public broadcasting and commercially licensed material.

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Doctor Who audio productions: See also ►