July 31st, 2023
44 comments
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Big Finish Doctor Who: Doom’s Day Dying Hours
Available to order from www.bigfinish.com
Prepare to meet thy Doom!
Sooz Kempner makes her Big Finish debut in four full-cast audio adventures as part of the multi- platform Doctor Who story, Doom’s Day. The stunning cover artwork and guest cast details are today revealed for Doctor Who – Doom’s Day: Dying Hours, a four-part audio drama due for release in September 2023. Someone has sent literal Death after Doom. She can only outrun it for 24 hours. Unless she can find the Doctor… Tick… Tock…
Producer and director John Ainsworth said: “It’s exciting to be part of something that’s one element of an even bigger adventure. Big Finish’s contribution is just one part of telling the Doom’s Day story. “Each of our four stories has something from somewhere in the Doctor Who universe. The first one very much takes elements and characters from the television story, The Daleks’ Master Plan. The second one features Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri) – which is brilliant fun – and the third one has the Silence in it. The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) and Charley (India Fisher) feature in the fourth story, and it’s a great script for them.”
Doctor Who – Doom’s Day: Dying Hours is now available to pre-order as a four-disc collector’s edition CD (+ download for just £29.99), or digital download only (for just £22.99), exclusively from www.bigfinish.com.
As Doom’s final hours come into sharp focus, she’ll need to do whatever’s necessary to complete her missions, find the Doctor, and escape what increasingly seems like the inevitable. But how best to find the person who can save Doom’s life? Will the Doctor’s friends be her salvation? Or perhaps the Doctor’s enemies will be the route to survival?
Doom is about to travel across thousands of years of time, and light years of space in search of her last, best hope. But even if she finds the Doctor, will a person who is all about saving lives help a person whose only job is to take them? Doom’s day is almost over. Time is running out. This could be the end.
The four thrilling episodes in this box set are as follows:
Dawn of an Everlasting Peace by Jacqueline Rayner
Venus, 3975. The day of the non-aggression pact. The perfect ironic location for an assassination! But Doom’s mission is about to become much more complicated thanks to an explosive plot to undermine the treaty itself.
A Date with Destiny by Robert Valentine
A romantic dinner turns life-threatening for an unsuspecting human in 2007. But this time, Doom has competition. And if she loses, then her last chance to find the Doctor could be snatched away. Cue an action-packed chase through the streets of London. But has Doom met her match?
The Howling Wolves of Xan-Phear by Simon Clark
A warring world of wolves. Doom’s target turns out to be the puppeteer of the warring Xan: a Silent. But what if she’s already completed her mission? How will she know? What if this wasn’t even her mission in the first place? No time to waste. The countdown is on.
The Crowd by Lizzie Hopley
“Follow the crowd”, that’s what they say, right? In this case, however, devastation, murder and destruction follow this particular Crowd – Doom’s next target. But amongst them – an unfamiliar face, with a familiar name. Could this be Doom’s salvation?
All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release.
Please note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mailout of collector’s edition CDs will be delayed, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.
Categorised under: Big Finish, CD, spin-offs
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Bob James
August 12th, 2023 - 11:55pmI still love Big Finish. But that photoshop stuff, or whatever they’re using to put heads on bodies? Laughable.
Bookcollector
August 10th, 2023 - 9:51pmRight, I can judge a little now having weakened and bought the novel, extraction point. So the book arrived today and I read it this evening. Hmmm. It’s okay. The writing isn’t bad although the author Maria Harris makes a big mistake towards the end of the first day. Doom is shocked to bump into a mysterious man… then the TARDIS arrives. The 9th doctor is then introduced… but the mysterious man is never explained, the inference is it’s the doctor but if so he arrived before the TARDIS! The plot is standard slitheen. An alien race whose popularity eludes me. Doom herself is okay but I can’t say I’m bothered about knowing her ultimate fate. If the book had included a “previously in Doom’s Day” that filled in the previous 11 hours then I might have cared more but frankly doom is an assassin and as such I can’t say I cared what happens to her. The we have the doctor’s. Characterisation is decent but troughton is barely in the book. Eccleston is present more but still doesn’t really impact the story much. Some people will be disappointed to learn they don’t meet.
After finishing the book I felt underwhelmed by it. It’s not bad just not great. Too little doctor doesn’t help. I hope they stop these multi-platform projects because like time lord victorious too many people will not be able to experience the whole of doom’s day and in all honesty I’m not that bothered about only reading a single part of it.
DDJ
August 8th, 2023 - 7:27amI saw the trailer and thought I was watching Cbeebies. The old Tardisodes from 1999 had better realised alien planets.
Dalek Eye Stalk
August 7th, 2023 - 10:25pmDoom is doomed to fail. A monumental waste of effort. A low point for the shows 60th.
MCTimelord
August 8th, 2023 - 12:24amUtterly dreadful – the character nobody needed
Anonymous
August 5th, 2023 - 11:20amAbsolute tripe. Like everything Doctor Who since 2017.
Anomie
August 5th, 2023 - 7:18pmWhatever…
beef
August 5th, 2023 - 7:29pmI too regularly visit obsessive fansites over shows I think are absolute tripe.
Kevin225
August 6th, 2023 - 6:59pmI think perhaps with BF there is a bit of over-familiarity at play in so far as there is an awful lot material now (across almost 25 years) and therefore something needs to be truly exceptional to stand out (e.g. the recent River Song release).
As with anything long standing the current releases are also competing with the ‘legend’ of previous classics such as Spare Parts. I call a lot of recent Big Finish output ‘6/10 releases’ – is that necessarily a bad thing though? These days everything seems to be considered brilliant or terrible – why can’t things just be OK?
Bunter
August 5th, 2023 - 9:53amI find the negativity towards BF disheartening. I don’t think there’s been any discernible drop in quality, and they certainly do everything with love. Indeed, they seem to go out of their way to make everything era-authentic and include every past actor who is alive/willing/available. Some stories are better than others, but how is that different from the TV series in any era?
As for too many multi-doctors, mash-ups etc, well those are the headline-grabbing releases but if you go through all the ‘normal’ release (and possibly the spin-offs as well), then I should imagine the ratio of multi/mash-up to ‘normal’ isn’t much different than on TV (no doubt someone will do the maths and prove me wrong). Multis etc are made special partly because of the ‘miles travelled’ during regular episodes and series, but if you just pay attention to the big releases you’re not going to feel that.
I don’t think we should complain too much about all these releases when all we seem to do as DW fans is wait wait wait for a TV episode.
And without BF, DWM would have nothing to review half the time…
Anonymous
August 5th, 2023 - 11:02amNot sure its unjust here tbh, i dont think its big finish that people are complaining about – but rather, the “doomsday” event as a whole. They butchered it before it began, by casting the wrong person. Its an event, that’s literally about a character fans hated within the first clip. If you are making an event, focusing on a specific character – you need to make a good impact with that character, and the actor is important to that. There is also the question of who its aimed at. She doesnt act like its aimed at adults, because you get a “being insulted and spoken too like an idiot” overacting vibe when she talks to the camera. Yet they chose paul McGann (one of my favourites) as a Doctor for the audio… but he doesnt strike me as the “trendy” one to go with for that audience
Bunter
August 6th, 2023 - 9:55amAnonymous – the Doomsday trailer was awful and I’m not likely to pursue any of it, although I’d lay a lot of the blame at the production team rather than just the actor. Whilst these comments are under a Doomsday thread though, I do see the negativity popping up under many BF releases now, notably under the Once & Future releases. Not that anyone can’t feel that way, I just think it’s a real shame and some of the flak going BF’s way is undeserved. Most of the ire seems focussed on too many combinations of doctor and companion, which is why I wanted to highlight that maybe it’s not so common in the grand scheme of things. Plus it is an anniversary year, and a time travel show…
Uncle Davros
August 6th, 2023 - 10:17amI think BF have gone off the boil quite significantly in the past decade or so, but I guess it’s understandable, as their first decade of work was generally of exceptional quality and despite the old cliche’ of “You can do anything with Doctor Who”, there’s only so many times you can come up with original ideas or interesting twists on familiar concepts.
I think ending the monthly range and replacing them with boxsets that cost £25 was a mistake. Also, there’s simply far too many spinoffs. Just look at The Time War. We’ve got Gallifrey: Time War, Gallifrey: War Room, Susan’s War, The War Doctor Begins, The War Master… as well as the two main series entries, The War Doctor (sadly only one season due to John Hurt’s passing) and The Eighth Doctor: Time War.
It just adds to the impression that Big Finish are milking these ‘franchises’ to death and also, since having the Nu Who license, they’re throwing in lots of unecessary mash-ups of Nu Who side characters (like Jackie Tyler) meeting several Doctors and it ends up with Big Finish feeling less like an extension of the show’s existing cannon/lore and instead its own fan service/fan fiction universe.
Bunter
August 6th, 2023 - 12:58pmUncle Davros, I agree the monthly range should have continued as it was. A single story a month with a classic Doctor served the purpose of a weekly episode on TV quite well, and as such they were generally ‘normal’ stories rather than the ‘blockbuster’ events/mash-ups/multis, which subsequently served the bigger releases better. I do wonder how often the writers have to have the conversation “we cannot possibly call another release ‘ XXX of Fear’ or ‘XXX of Death’ or ‘Return of the…XXX'”.
I guess part of the point is you can easily avoid something like the Time War if you’re sick of it, there’s always an era-authentic 5th Doctor-with-Ice-Warriors or 7th Doctor-with-Cybermen on the release list any given year (for better or for worse). I’ll have to have a look at how many new releases poor old Jackie Tyler is in! (and how they explain it). The Time War stuff for me is fine because it’s ‘The Event’, and a lot of the TV show feels like a before-and-after of this game changer. But I might feel differently if they release Jackie’s Time War…
I also saw somewhere the 2nd Doctor Beyond Wargames stuff described as a cash grab, which seemed like a lazy criticism when it’s a widely accepted fan theory and deep cut for unexploited possibilities.
Still I think BF remain a wonderful and consistent supply of decent DW whilst we sit here month after month waiting for an actual TV episode.
DDJ
August 7th, 2023 - 7:56amBunter: overloud and continous incidental music in a modern style is not era authentic to the classic era. That’s partly where BF has gone wrong and it’s intrusive to the actors performances.
Rory
August 7th, 2023 - 10:48am@Bunter, also the 2nd Doctor post War Games has been officially acknowledged in World Game. I know that there is the general rule that only the TV show is canon, but World Game was published by BBC Books, so it’s about as close to canon as one could get (until it’s directly contradicted by the TV show).
BW
August 2nd, 2023 - 7:56pmEighth Doc and Charley looking swole.
Nb7
August 2nd, 2023 - 6:00pmIs this still going on?! Does anyone care?
Anonymous
August 3rd, 2023 - 12:43amYou cared enough to post here
Chris Howarth
August 3rd, 2023 - 9:38amI think very few people care about Doom’s Day per se. I think they may care about the wasted opportunity during an anniversary year.
Daniel Seymour
August 3rd, 2023 - 1:07pmI still think the best is yet to come in this Anniversary Year. Dooms Day should have been free across all platforms i.e. Iplayer, CBBC , Radio 7 (or whatever it is now), as its aimed for the younger fans.
Just putting it out there, I think the episode Wild Blue Yonder is a crossover episode either with Star Trek or Star Wars, its a wild theory but plausable now that both franchises have numerous TV shows in production.
Chris Howarth
August 3rd, 2023 - 2:28pmUnlikely to be Star Trek, given it’s on a rival streaming service. I suppose the Disney involvement means Star Wars or MCU characters or even Donald Duck could turn up. But would diluting Doctor Who’s big anniversary with unrelated characters really be a good thing?
HS
August 3rd, 2023 - 4:42pmYou’re getting way ahead of yourselves. Disney has no involvement in the making of Doctor Who, just the rights to streaming it. And they would never do any kind of crossover like that xd
Anon
August 3rd, 2023 - 7:24pmWild blue yonder has no link to star wars. It’s a well known phrase.
Definitions of wild blue yonder. the sky as viewed during daylight. synonyms: blue, blue air, blue sky. type of: sky.
Rex F
August 3rd, 2023 - 9:21pmHS: RTD himself has said that they get notes from Disney – helpful ones. They even redid the opening of the next series due to Disney notes (see DWM).
Chris Howarth
August 4th, 2023 - 10:33amHS, you misunderstand me. I don’t for one moment think there’s going to be a crossover this year. Just that it’s a theoretical possibility, if both parties are keen at some point.
Anon
August 4th, 2023 - 6:22pmThe death knell of doctor who rex f. Doctor who by Disney equals no physical releases at some point. I had little interest in the new series before but now I know Disney have input I have zero interest. The 60th anniversary episodes will be the last I watch, if I even bother with them.
HS
August 8th, 2023 - 10:57amGetting notes from Disney that Russel may find helpful is not the same as Disney having creative control ^^
mac
August 2nd, 2023 - 5:56pmI’m still left cold by Doom, so I’m afraid I won’t be buying
Andyr
August 1st, 2023 - 10:12amIt must be part of the contract to include Jackie Tyler in every new audio produced. Maybe they should knock the Dooms day stuff on the head and have the adventures of Jackie Tyler – can she save the world from alien invasion and make it to the chip shop before it closes!
Anon
August 1st, 2023 - 9:54amYet another big finish confused mashup of random characters.
ddj
August 1st, 2023 - 5:43amI think I spotted a kitchen sink on that cover. If not it might as well be there. Another example of BF playing fantasy who character mix and match with no regards for continuity whatsoever. I’ve given up.
Anonymous
August 1st, 2023 - 8:47amI may be wrong, but I think it’s ever since they got the New Series licence in 2015, wanting to flaunt the characters they’d got while they had them. Now we’re at a point where because they’re still a niche, but now have no licence limitations placed on them and they also have a whole plethora of characters and actors to use, they’re free to do whatever they want, so they just…do. It’s a far cry from the early 2000s when getting Anneke Wills or Deborah Watling for even a guest role in a Colin Baker audio had a spectacle to it because Big Finish’s output was still relatively small and a bit more focused.
Alex Oswin
August 8th, 2023 - 9:08amI might be wrong, but I think they have to produce so much content a year with NuWho characters in order to maintain the license. That’s partly why we get things like Lady Christina and the Doctor Chronicles.
Anonymous
July 31st, 2023 - 10:02pmDying hours? More like wasting hours! Couldnt they have just done another India Fisher and Mcgann Box set! Not a fan of Sooz Kempner, i just feel like shes a bit pantomime. Very Similar to Whittaker. I can’t take her seriously, it needs someone who can actually play a strong female lead. An actor with the vibes that the likes of Jo Martin, Karen Gillan, Alex Kingston, Gillian Anderson, Helen McCrory, Michelle Gomez, Jodie Comer to name a fraction of talent! Actors who can portray depth in their characters. I think the pose looks a bit Try Hard, and has that over trying to be cool thing going on. And not in that “trying to look cool, while looking uncool – but simultaneously being genuinely cool” thing that Matt Smith had.
JR
July 31st, 2023 - 9:10pmHow popular is the Doom stuff? I don’t go on any forums these days so I’m curious about the fan feedback. I’ll get this because I collect BF but I’m not really interested in the rest, at the moment. Doom feels like one of those tangential spin-offs, like the Erimem books or Lucy Wilson, except she has no history with the range. I find it an odd enterprise but, for all I know, it may be very entertaining.
Loobop
August 1st, 2023 - 7:24amshe’s not popular going by doctor who official twitter every time doom stuff gets posted it’s more negative than positive comments.
Anonymous
July 31st, 2023 - 8:25pmMaybe we should just enjoy the fact that we are getting something a bit fun. Maybe we should make our comments AFTER its released and maybe we can take a lesson from the doctor and not be cruel or cowardly.
This is clearly aimed at a younger demographic of doctor who fans.
So tired of negativity and everyone complaining about everything…………..
tich
August 1st, 2023 - 8:02amWhat age is this younger demographic that it’s so clearly aimed at?
Auton
August 1st, 2023 - 1:00pmNo younger fans would be able to collect all the stories across multiple formats, plus an assassin isn’t really designed for younger audiences so this whole multi media event has ended up being a confused morphed mess as they don’t seem to be able to decide who to aim this whole thing at
FH
July 31st, 2023 - 8:19pmThe expression on Sooz Kempner’s face here shows exactly why she’s terrible for this role. It’s actually embarrassing.
Doctor Stu
July 31st, 2023 - 7:54pmI’m so tired of big finish pretending that Jackie Tyler wasn’t just living in her flat having a normal life. It makes no sense she’s meeting all these doctors and companions and monsters and then just not mentioning any of it to Ten and Rose. There’s been such daft decision making lately in big finish, have they changed staff? I swear some folk like Scott who have been there for years have gone and it’s started to dip in quality in their absence. Lately it’s felt like BF don’t have a clue what they’re doing in almost every release that gets announced
Silver dalek
July 31st, 2023 - 7:14pmThat cover has some major BAD photo manipulation in there.
Especially Charlie’s tiny head.
Deano
July 31st, 2023 - 6:58pmGlad it’s a full cast drama rather than individual readings and good to see the 8th Dr and Charlie who’s been much missed.