Good afternoon lady and gentle readers, recently it was Big Finishes 21st anniversary of releasing Doctor Who output. Blimey 21 years, what better way to celebrate than with a list and for your pleasure I have ranked the first 100 releases of The Big Finish monthly range. This is the second round of the rankings taking from 10-6. As usual beware spoilers and enjoy!
10. The Fearmonger, we go into the top ten with the first proper 7th Doctor story in which he is accompanied by Ace. So much of why this story is so high is due to the feel of this story, in which we had to wait an agonising six months for after Sirens of Time came out. I haven't mentioned it very much in these blogs but so much of what Big Finish does best is the sound design - making a story sound like it came from the era its set in. If you were to ask me what release in this ranking list sounded the most like a TV story from the era I say "The Fearmonger" every time. It genuinely sounds like it could have come from season 27 while also having the feel of a very early NA. Its moody and atmospheric in a way the TV show could never be. Added to this we have an engaging political plot, a good guest turn by Jacqueline Pearce off of Blakes Seven and is doing interesting things with the audio medium.
9. The Church and the Crown, without doubt this story if the best romp in this list. The 5th Doctor, Peri and Erimem land in 1626 and its essentially Doctor Who does the Musketeers. It is utter fun, full of witty lines, fun characters and a few eyebrow raising moments. The mission statement for this story must have been "FUN" as its so high in my list due to the enjoyment level. Peter in particular sounds like he's having a whale of a time, even when the plot kicks in theres an element of fun and Peter remains as breathy as he did during season 19. I refuse to put it any lower and sometimes being a good straightforward is enough to score high.
8. Arrangements For War, we're back in wandering into unexpected areas territory as we get an intimate love story nestled inside a war story. Its the 6th Doctor and Evelyn in a story that is pivotal to Evelyns overall story. Its both one of the smallest scale stories as well as feeling like an epic. This is a proper weepy, one for valentines day a story that will take your hart rip it to shreds and then put it back together again. Both The Doctor and Evelyn go on an emotional journey during this story with neither exiting the same as they entered. Going back to how I said it was pivotal to Evelyns overall arc neither character exit this story the same way they entered it.
7. The Pirates, this is going to be one of the hardest stories to sum up - on one hand its Doctor Who doing Mills & Boon with pirates and on the other hand its Doctor Who ripping your heart to pieces. This is one of the most emotional stories Big Finish have done while at the same time it has a singing Bill Oddie in it. This is a deep dive of emotions while being disguised as a romp, I love it when stories are working on multiple levels and the first time I heard this story it absolutely ruined me. An amazing story but a hard one to revisit.
6. The Kingmaker, its the 5th Doctor, Peri and Erimem in a witty romp that is also a whodunnit a whatdunnit, a history lesson and a morality lesson. Again this story is utter fun and packed with witty gun dialogue. However there is a lot going on, as opposed to a contract being taken out on The Doctor instead he has a writing deadline looming and what should be a fact finding trip to finish his book turns into four episodes of shenanigans and silly buggers that are a joy. There is twist after twist, revelation after revelation and a string of unexpected (off screen and on screen) cameos. Again we're working on multiple levels as when the jokes and revelations hit the stories asking the listener questions that linger long after the disc ends.
Thank you for reading and the top five will be published in the coming weeks.
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