Part III, Chapter II: "A Big Start"
“I was really surprised that we got the go-ahead to do it, but I think having a lot of the old actors involved helped out a lot in those earlier days. Nowadays, it seems like we end up working with people before they get involved with the show proper. The fans like the stuff that we put out, so we keep on making stories.”
-Nicholas Briggs on the role of Big Finish Productions in the
Doctor Who franchise.
Much like
Star Trek, the fandom of
Doctor Who was greatly influential on the franchise. However, unlike
Star Trek (under Rick Berman at least),
Doctor Who had no qualms about hiring fans of the show to work on it, and in fact, often encouraged it. One of these fans was Nicholas Briggs.
Before his joining the writing staff in 1994, Briggs had made a name for himself among the fan community, being involved with many fan video projects, and running the successful “Audio-Visuals” audio adventures in the 1980s. These productions were largely tolerated by the BBC, who permitted the fan adventures provided that they did not market themselves as being official productions. However, Nicholas Briggs wanted to do more, and with a number of the show’s former stars wishing to make a return, he realised that he had an opportunity.
In 1995, with the help of the then Doctor, Avery Brooks, and fellow
Doctor Who Gary Russell, Nicholas Briggs founded “Big Finish Productions”, and set about acquiring the rights to produce audio adventures of the television show. Though Brooks’ contract was not being renewed, this was not an uncontroversial move, as many fans had come to like his portrayal of the Doctor. It was their hope that this would allow for them to make more adventures with the Ninth Doctor, without contradicting the canon of the show, or having to make alterations to the character to avoid a lawsuit. [1]
By early 1996, a deal had been struck with the BBC, who still held the rights to the characters, to produce a line of audio adventures. As the show was still being aired, there were certain provisos, however. Firstly, the audio adventures would exist in a state of “grey canonicity”, unless directly confirmed or contradicted by the television show. This was in line with the BBC’s policy that viewers should not have to pay to experience the story of
Doctor Who as it was released, and Big Finish Productions was a commercial enterprise, after all.
Secondly, the productions could not use “main characters” until at least two years after they were last seen on screen, with exceptions being made for Brooks’ Ninth Doctor. This would allow for the writers on the show to use characters without having to worry that Big Finish would contradict their plans. [2]
Big Finish had little issue in bringing back many of the former actors to record. Firstly, recording a few hours of audio was far less demanding than days on set, and it could be done almost anywhere, with the tapes or recordings being sent off for mixing and production. Secondly, the presence of Avery Brooks and current writers from the show gave the audio adventures a legitimacy that most fan productions lacked.
Aside from Avery Brooks, Fourth and Fifth Doctor actors Tom Baker and Peter Davison came back to reprise their roles. Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee expressed an interest in returning, but sadly passed away before he could record any audio, just weeks after Patrick Troughton passed. [3]
Briggs and Russell were also able to bring back some old companion actors to reprise their roles. Louise Jameson and Sarah Sutton, who played Leela and Nyssa in the Classic Series both returned, though the Ninth Doctor would receive a new companions, with his adventures being set before his travels with Jennifer. His new companion, Ellie, would be voiced by Lisa Bowerman, a British actress. [4]
The opening adventure, “The Sirens of Time” would feature all three Doctors teaming up to stop “Sirens of Time” from disrupting the Web of Time. The story would be a success, and kicked off “The Monthly Range”, which saw a new story released every month.
The initial releases were a huge success, and Big Finish set about expanding their range of audio dramas. [5]
[1] Originally, I wasn't going to do this until later, but I figured I had all of the pieces out already, and this was actually a better place than where I was originally going to place this update.
[2] A bit of a modification of the rules that Big Finish had when Doctor Who came back IOTL, this should make things a bit easier for them.
[3] So, of the six former Doctors that are alive as of right now ITTL, they currently have three. Lloyd isn't going to come back unless he's paid big; Laurie is having a relatively successful film career; Siddig is busy with Star Trek.
[4] This is a little nod to Bernice Summerfield.
[5] Big Finish is looking to emphasise the BIG in their name.