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 60-51. Enjoy!
60. Winter For the Adept, another early one with release number 10 in the range featuring the 5th Doctor, Nyssa, Andrew Cartmel as writer, a first appearance on books by India Fisher, a guest appearance by Peter Jurasik of Babylon 5 fame and those eagle eyed among you will spot Sally Faulkner who appeared in the Patrick Troughton era. Blimey thats one hell of an introduction and we haven't touched on the story yet. Its still early days for the 5th Doctor and the story does something brave by introducing Nyssa an entire episode before The Doctor. We're in classic isolated location with spooky things going bump in the dark territory and the majority of this story has a cracking eerie atmosphere. Its a scene away from sticking the landing as "The Adept" don't quite fit in with the rest of the story but its still a string entry for Peter Davison after a few good but not great stories.
59. Master, this is the 7th Doctors entry into the villain trilogy leading up to Zagreus and its The Master with a defining performance by Geoffrey Beevers. Anthony Ainley didn't work with Big Finish before he sadly passed away but one actors loss is another actors gain. Another guest actor heavyweight appears in the form of Philip Madoc he of the "don't tell him Pike" fame. I want to mention Joseph Lidster as a few of his stories have already come up which weren't my thing however this is his most memorable and its a fantastic example of how to do a deep dive and examine a villain in prose format. We're in late era solo 7th Doctor territory here and theres a heavy dose of Virgin New Adventures atmosphere to this story. It feels like the 7th Doctor is moments away from regenerating and he's paying for the sins of earlier deals and bad decisions.
58. Faith Stealer, we're back with the 8th Doctor, Charley and C'rizz in the divergent universe. After the heavy going of the previous season we get a fun start to this season and its saying interesting things about religion without making me cringe which is no mean feat. Its a strong moment for the range as for the first time in a while the 8th Doctor and Charley are having fun and this may be the first story to do something interesting with C'rizz. The Kro'Ka who at this point we're not sure if he is the antagonist or a bemused observer becomes far more interesting. All in all this is a good fun story which the storyline and incarnation of The Doctor needed.
57. Year of the Pig, its a rare appearance for the line up of the 6th Doctor and Peri in a wonderful dark comedic PG Wodehouse pastiche. A witty script that you can tell aroused the actors full of laughter and a few moments that will make you shudder. Its another stellar cast featuring Maureen O'Brien off of the 1st Doctors era, Adjoa Andoh off of the 10th Doctor era and Michael Keating off of Blake and his Merry 7. For a long part of this story it doesn't feel like Doctor Who and I'm all for it - Doctor Who is at its best when its trying to be something else. Its very close to being higher in this ranking, all it needs is a bit of a trip and a pig who is an actor not a line reader.
56. The Sandman, its the 6th Doctor and Evelyn in a very interesting story set aboard "The Clutch" a collection of spaceships controlled by the alien race the Galyari. A very memorable setting that in hindsight feels like a low level Valerian and the City of a 1000 Planets. Also the major plot of The Doctor being a bogeyman for a race is interesting and engaging - also amusing with the digs on the 6th Doctors coat.
55. Dust Breeding, the 7th Doctor and Ace feature in a play written by Mike Tucker who I mostly associate with the 7th Doctors era in the BBC books. In short when I see Mikes name I know I'm going to enjoy it. This story is all about the first listen for me, its packed with returns including Bev Tarrant, Caroline John, a monster from the books and Geoffrey Beevers. Added to this is another return that I didn't see coming and squee every time I remember that cliffhanger
54. The Stones of Venice, we're in the first 8th Doctor season as he takes Charley to Venice. This story is Paul Magrs at his barmy best with the added delight of Michael Sheard in the guest cast. I've always regarded this as feeling more like a play than most of Big Finishes releases. Theres a very surreal number of scenes as Charley gets drugged and drugged and as it a production it feels like Big Finish flexing its muscles and growing.
53. The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, a proper good romp featuring the 6th Doctor, Evelyn and the Brigadier in the English countryside. James Bolam and Susan Jameson appear in the cast and this story just brings back memories of 1970s era Doctor Who - in fact you could easily fit the 4th Doctor into this. In short its more Doctor Who than jelly babies and hat stands.
52. Embrace the Darkness, the underrated gem of the 8th Doctors second season, its a proper Nick Briggs story in that the play is absolutely nailed to the plot which is Nicks greatest strength. The only flaw in this story is that there is no part three and is blatantly padding. Bar that this play is engaging with good horror and makes full use of the audio medium. Also the character ROSM is one of the most memorable one off characters in the range - Paul McGann and Ian Brooker are clearly having a ball in their scenes. Very memorable, full of good low level horror and has a very different vibe in this story to the usual house style.
51. The Sirens of Time, where it all started as the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors team up to get the range rolling. I don't want to talk about the strengths or weaknesses, whatever anyones opinion of this is I'm cool with it I just think about the first time a Big Finish delivery came through my letterbox and hearing these Doctors in new material for the first time. Also Maggie Stables who would go onto become an original range companion is in it which I think makes for good karma. All the Doctors get to do a bit of solo action before teaming up and it sets the tone for the early releases. Of note is the 6th Doctor and there are some hints that its time to forget what we now about him as he's starting with a fresh slate - its a lovely early mission statement.
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