The first half of 2001 features the first appearance of the Eighth Doctor in audio dramas, accompanied by new companion Charlotte Pollard (Charley).
Where to get them
The early Main Range titles are available for purchase from the Big Finish site for a small amount individually, or you can get an Early Years subscription. The Big Finish subscription system allows you to get 12 Main Range releases, starting from a release of your choosing. The first 100 releases are available as part of an Early Years Discount, which is less expensive than the later releases.
Alternatively, the first 50 of the Main Range releases are available on Spotify for free, or are available as part of a Google Play Music subscription.
| Story | Doctor | Featuring | Listen? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storm Warning | 8th | Charley | Yes |
| Sword of Orion | 8th | Charley, Cybermen | Definitely warning: cyber conversion scenes |
| The Stones of Venice | 8th | Charley | Yes |
| Minuet in Hell | 8th | Charley, Brigadier | Maybe warning: religious references, sex trafficking, mistreatment of medical patients |
| Loups-Garoux | 5th | Turlough | Yes |
| Dust Breeding | 7th | Ace, Bev, The Master | Definitely |
| Story | Doctor | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Warning | 8th | Charley |
| Sword of Orion | 8th | Charley, Cybermen |
| The Stones of Venice | 8th | Charley |
| Minuet in Hell | 8th | Charley, Brigadier |
| Loups-Garoux | 5th | Turlough |
| Dust Breeding | 7th | Ace, Bev, The Master |
A story featuring the Wirrn from the TV story The Ark in Space.
Where to get them
Due to the no-longer-existing nature of BBV, listening to a BBV audio drama requires either finding someone with a disc, or finding copies being shared around online.
| Story | Doctor | Featuring | Listen? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wirrn: Race Memory | The Wirrn | Yes |
| Story | Doctor | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| The Wirrn: Race Memory | The Wirrn |
(The MaximumSpidercide guide put The Killing Stone here as well, but I can’t find any info on it aside from “it’s not considered to be part of the Doctor Who Universe”)
A Big Finish special release, originally released with Doctor Who Magazine.
Where to get them
The Last of the Titans can be downloaded for free from the Big Finish website.
| Story | Doctor | Featuring | Listen? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Last of the Titans | 7th | Yes |
| Story | Doctor | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| The Last of the Titans | 7th |
Now back to the Monthly Adventures, to finish off the remaining stories for 2001.
Where to get them
The early Main Range titles are available for purchase from the Big Finish site for a small amount individually, or you can get an Early Years subscription. The Big Finish subscription system allows you to get 12 Main Range releases, starting from a release of your choosing. The first 100 releases are available as part of an Early Years Discount, which is less expensive than the later releases.
Alternatively, the first 50 of the Main Range releases are available on Spotify for free, or are available as part of a Google Play Music subscription.
| Story | Doctor | Featuring | Listen? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodtide | 6th | Evelyn, Silurians | Maybe |
| Project: Twilight | 6th | Evelyn, Nimrod, the Forge | Maybe warning: gruesomeness, gore, nasty people, torture |
| The Eye of the Scorpion | 5th | Peri, Erimem | Definitely warning: torture scene |
| Colditz | 7th | Ace, Klein | Definitely warning: nazis, sexual assault mentions |
| Primeval | 5th | Nyssa, Trakenites | Yes |
| The One Doctor | 6th | Mel | Maybe a fun farce |
| Story | Doctor | Featuring |
|---|---|---|
| Bloodtide | 6th | Evelyn, Silurians |
| Project: Twilight | 6th | Evelyn, Nimrod, the Forge |
| The Eye of the Scorpion | 5th | Peri, Erimem |
| Colditz | 7th | Ace, Klein |
| Primeval | 5th | Nyssa, Trakenites |
| The One Doctor | 6th | Mel |
Bernice Summerfield is back! Beginning with this series, Big Finish started creating its own original stories about her, and also published novels and short stories that fit in with the seasons.
Originally, the novels were released alternating with the audio stories, so they made up one continuous series – so if you want the full context of the series you should read them. (This system only continued for Series 2 and 3, after which they made the prose standalone.)
Where to get them
The series 2 audio dramas are only available on CD. You can order it as a bundle from the Big Finish website.
The prose is in a more interesting position: over the course of 2019 and 2020, each of the novels was re-released as an audiobook read by Lisa Bowerman. Here’s a table that shows their availability according by format:
| Release | Paperback | eBook | Audiobook |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Dead Men Diaries | |||
| The Doomsday Manuscript | ✓ | ✓ | |
| The Gods of the Underworld | ✓ | April 2019 | |
| The Squire’s Crystal | ✓ | October 2019 | |
| The Infernal Nexus | January 2020 | ||
| The Glass Prison | ✓ | March 2020 |
At the moment, the novel The Infernal Nexus and the short story anthology The Dead Men Diaries are the only prose releases from this series that are unavailable.
If you don’t want to read the novels (or listen to the audiobooks), then here is what’s important to know:
Spoilers for the novels
The Braxiatel Collection is a private collection of many artifacts from history, run by Irving Braxiatel (a Time Lord). Home to Professor Bernice Summerfield after her home planet Dellah was destroyed (off-screen between series 1 and series 2). Her ex-husband Jason is presumed to be dead.
During the events of The Squire’s Crystal, Benny is possessed and has sex with Adrian Wall, a Killoran (big dog-person) construction worker. The characters are still reacting to this situation in The Stone’s Lament.
Benny does not find out that she’s pregnant until The Infernal Nexus. Also in the Infernal Nexus: Jason is brought back.
When The Skymines of Karthos starts, Benny is 5 months pregnant.
In The Glass Prison, Benny gives birth to a son, and names him Peter.
| Story | Featuring | Listen? |
|---|---|---|
| Short Stories: The Dead Men Diaries | Various | Out of Print |
| Novel: The Doomsday Manuscript | Brax, Joseph, Adrian, Fifth Axis | Maybe |
| The Secret of Cassandra | Yes | |
| Novel: The Gods of the Underworld | Brax, Joseph | |
| Novel: The Squire’s Crystal | Adrian, Joseph, Brax, Fenman | |
| The Stone’s Lament | Adrian | Yes warning: sexual references and creepiness |
| The Extinction Event | Brax | Maybe |
| Novel: The Infernal Nexus | Jason | Out of Print |
| The Skymines of Karthos | Brax | Yes |
| Novel: The Glass Prison | Brax, Joseph, Jason, Adrian, Isaac, Peter, Fifth Axis, Fenman, Chris Cwej |
| Story | Featuring |
|---|---|
| Short Stories: The Dead Men Diaries | Various |
| Novel: The Doomsday Manuscript | Brax, Joseph, Adrian, Fifth Axis |
| The Secret of Cassandra | |
| Novel: The Gods of the Underworld | Brax, Joseph |
| Novel: The Squire’s Crystal | Adrian, Joseph, Brax, Fenman |
| The Stone’s Lament | Adrian |
| The Extinction Event | Brax |
| Novel: The Infernal Nexus | Jason |
| The Skymines of Karthos | Brax |
| Novel: The Glass Prison | Brax, Joseph, Jason, Adrian, Isaac, Peter, Fifth Axis, Fenman, Chris Cwej |
The Dalek Empire stories started with a thread through 4 Monthly Adventures (The Genocide Machine, The Apocalypse Element, The Mutant Phase, and The Time of the Daleks), but then spun off into its own series.
Where to get them
Dalek Empire I is available for streaming on Google Play and Spotify. It is also available for download on the Big Finish website.
Warning: These stories feature a lot of death
The “Featuring” section of this table has been removed, to avoid spoilers.
| Story | Featuring | Listen? |
|---|---|---|
| Invasion of the Daleks | Definitely | |
| The Human Factor | ||
| “Death to the Daleks!” | ||
| Project Infinity |
| Story | Featuring |
|---|---|
| Invasion of the Daleks | |
| The Human Factor | |
| “Death to the Daleks!” | |
| Project Infinity |