March 27th, 2015
22 comments
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Doctor Who Big Finish licence Extended
Big Finish Productions is delighted to announce that its licence from BBC Worldwide to make original Doctor Who dramas on audio has been extended until 31st March 2020. The company released its first Doctor Who, The Sirens of Time, in 1999. A decade-anda- half, and several hundred productions later, Big Finish continues to go from strength to strength, winning a BBC Audio Award in 2014, and nominated for no less than five BBC Audio Awards in 2015.
‘Last year saw Big Finish celebrate 15 years of producing new Doctor Who audio drama,’ says executive producer Jason-Haigh Ellery. ‘A fantastic milestone for our company. I am delighted to be able to announce that our license has now been extended to 31st March 2020. We are very much looking forward to producing at least another five years of adventures with the Doctor and his companions, as we help them fight Daleks, Cybermen and Voord across the Universe!’
Executive producer Nicholas Briggs adds: ‘Working with the Big Finish team on the BBC’s and our beloved Doctor Who is a true privilege. We’re so glad to be continuing the adventure well past the 15 year landmark.’
‘We’re already underway, planning Doctor Who stories into 2017 and 2018,’ reveals line producer David Richardson. ‘There will be more adventures from the Fifth, Six and Seventh Doctors in the monthly range, more stories for the Fourth Doctor and his companions in The Fourth Doctor Adventures, and a new era for the Eighth Doctor, Liv Chenka and their new friend Helen Sinclair in Doctor Who: Doom Coalition. Plus we will continue to explore the contrasting worlds of our different and very popular spin-off series.’
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Joe
March 29th, 2015 - 12:29pmBrilliant news here’s to five more years to Big Finish and Alex MacQueen’s Master (Who must return in the Doom Coatlition)
timelord63
March 28th, 2015 - 9:44amIts great news but come on BBC,after 16yrs I think it’s time to give them full licence for nuwho and let them do 9th to 12th Dr audios!
booboo
March 28th, 2015 - 10:06amthat’s assuming doctors 9-12 would actually want to do full cast Dramas at the moment which are what big finish are all about
Anonymous
March 28th, 2015 - 3:42pmDon’t have a go at the BBC, they are very happy for Big Finish to start working on modern stuff, it’s just Big Finish aren’t making a deal with them.
booboo
March 28th, 2015 - 3:45pmHow do you know Doctors 9-12 would do it though, or any of the post 2005 companions for that matter.
It maybe they are not doing it because there is no point.
Its also quite possible its not financially viable at this stage
Anonymous
March 29th, 2015 - 5:30pmWe don’t know that, but what we do know is that the production team are very happy for Big Finish to use modern stuff, but for whatever reason no deal is being made.
I am aware that RTD had a problem with them but Steven Moffat has frequently spoken out in their support and even made the point of pointing departing actors in their direction for future reference should the situation ever change.
booboo
March 29th, 2015 - 6:35pmThat’s the problem though, why would they make a deal for something that may not be possible at the moment
we are assuming doctors 9-12 would want to do but they all seem to have what i’m sure is far more lucrative film and TV work for now
Anonymous
March 30th, 2015 - 3:25pmThey don’t need Doctors 9-12 though, there’s plenty of spin-of material available to them, and they have started looking into it now.
booboo
March 30th, 2015 - 3:31pmThe original question was let them do Doctors 9-12
Their core business is full cast audio dramas featuring the actual Doctor so there is little point in them going to the great expense of agreeing deals if none of them will do it yet.
Unit is a spinn off, its not Doctor Who
Anonymous
March 30th, 2015 - 5:57pmThey can still do a Doctor 9-12 audio through the “spin-off” range, just look at the Companion Chronicles (that depends on getting the companions in of course, but that’s a far easier task given they already have a couple of them working for them).
booboo
March 30th, 2015 - 6:04pmwere not talking spinn off’s
the companion chronicles dont have the actual Doctors in them which is the whole point
booboo
March 30th, 2015 - 6:14pmHow do you know its still viable for them do it
There are Doctors and main companions (Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy) that want to do it but big finish are saying no?
Anonymous
March 30th, 2015 - 10:34pmAs I said before, we don’t know anything. All we do know is that the BBC aren’t to blame which the original poster seemed to think was the case.
The TARDIS
March 31st, 2015 - 6:56amThe way I see it, making new series audios would be a major success for Big Finish – there is surely the demand there, plus there is the chance that new series fans would start buying them and even just possibly expand into the back catalogue. So I can’t see Big Finish holding back on new series audios.
Given that it only takes something like two days to record each story, it wouldn’t take too much time from the busy schedules of someone (like David Tennant who is a huge Doctor Who fan and has a history with Big Finish) to drop in and record them.
Steven Moffat and Russell T. Davies both spoke out in support of Big Finish, so it can’t be them holding back.
The only thing I can think of is the BBC themselves who are not quite ready to hand out the new series license yet.
I suppose it’s possible that Big Finish themselves don’t think it’s worth it if they’re not going to get many of the busy new series actors chipping in, but even if they only got one box set (e.g. ten and a new companion) it would be worth it, right?
booboo
March 31st, 2015 - 7:30amagain your assuming he, or any of them want to do at the moment
it could be its in his contract that he cant take on other work whilst signed up to other projects in case in interferes
contacts are usually at least 2 years so i would imagine it wouldn’t be worth the expense for one box set
There are so many factors, we just dont know what’s in play
I doubt if its just as simple as “bid finish dont want to make a deal” and lay the blame at either door when we dont know the facts.
The Doctor and Handles
April 2nd, 2015 - 1:56pmLet’s just say I agree with Booboo…
The Ninth Doctor
March 27th, 2015 - 6:50pmYES !!!
The Doctor and Handles
March 27th, 2015 - 5:31pmBig Finish are absolutely brilliant!
mick
March 27th, 2015 - 3:43pmI pre ordered dark eyes 4 and they didn’t have enough stock to fulfil all orders so im having to wait for them to get more stock in. so im less than impressed with big finish at the moment.
The TARDIS
March 27th, 2015 - 6:43pmBig Finish has never been great with dispatching orders quickly; in fact, I often don’t receive my orders for around two weeks or even more. However, the stories are fantastic, and easily enough to outweigh any disappointment.
The Doctor and Handles
March 28th, 2015 - 7:27amI agree, when the stuff does arrive, it’s brilliant! If you’re desparate to listen to your audios, you can get the download on your account page on their website to listen to on your phone/iPod or whatever.
Anonymous
March 27th, 2015 - 2:56pmGreat news but no real surprise…the BBC’s treasure is in safe hand with BF.