Big Finish Licence Extended to 2025!

[StCoop]

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/doctor-who-licence-extended-to-2025

Not to be horrible but giving the average age of the actors, I wonder who'll actually still be making them nine years from now. Hell, even Peter Davison is 65 now.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I think the Old Doctor will be gradually leaving the ship. But you know, they can go on as long as they wish to.

And I find the example of Davison hilarious, since he's the youngest of the Old Doctors. Tom Baker's passed 80 and he's still going.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

My mind is boggling at the reality of a quarter-century of Big Finish.

That's not a criticism! When Big Finish started, I imagined they'd have a nice five or six year run.

 

[kirk55555]

Wow, they've been doing this for a long time. To be fair, I can find at least one Doctor who story on fanfiction.net that is older then the first Big Finish Dr. Who production, so they aren't the longest running fan fiction group. But for audio and officially licensed fan fiction, Big Finish seems to be the longest running

Seriously though, I am surprised they could survive so long. Its a very niche product that really only appeals to hardcore Who fans. I know they have other licenses, but I'd imagine Who makes them the most money. I bet they are just loving this year without Who on TV. Its probably helping their sales.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Not only is it amazing that Big Finish has lasted as long as it has (as well as being creatively and financially successful), but I'm also impressed by how long of a renewal time it received this time. Nine years! That's by far the longest renewal. BBC clearly has a lot of faith in Big Finish at this point.

 

[kirk55555]

Well, who else would license audio rights from the BBC if not Big Finish? Probably no one. So even if the BBC thought BF was just mediocre, as long as BF don't hurt the Doctor Who brand, and have the money to renew, the BBC will probably always renew the license. Its a way to make money off Doctor Who without any effort.

 

[tenmei]

I can't pretend to be enthused by this - the quality of product has been going steadily downhill for the past three or four years. I used to be a regular subscriber to the main range and the New 8th Doctor adventures, through to the first volume of Doom Coalition - but the previously high hit rate has dropped dramatically and out of the past six 8th Doctor box sets (so 24 episodes), there have only been about five really good stories (and only one of them from Doom Coalition - Helen's introduction story).

If this were 2007/2008, then I would be overjoyed - but for the moment, I'll save my money and stick with the final series of Dorian Gray and maybe the second box set of the Omega Factor.

 

[Nightowl1701]

Not only is it amazing that Big Finish has lasted as long as it has (as well as being creatively and financially successful), but I'm also impressed by how long of a renewal time it received this time. Nine years! That's by far the longest renewal. BBC clearly has a lot of faith in Big Finish at this point.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that the show itself could be 'rested' again in the next couple of years, for a variety of reasons (only some of which have to do with the show itself). Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi will gladly join the Big Finish cast given the chance (and the door left open for Christopher Eccleston), so this nine-year renewal forms a nice, affordable Plan B way to continue the series should BBC again have to take Doctor Who off the air.

 

[Stevil2001]

2025 means that Big Finish will have run for 26 years-- the length of the classic show it strives to emulate.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

While I agree that BF hasn't been as grand as it used to be, lately they have had a kind of resurgance in creativity - no doubt bolstered by the NuWho licence that is now part of their deal. Jago & Litefoot & Strax is the most fun DW story ever since Matt Smith left, I believe, and rightly so. And last year's The Sixth Doctor's Last Adventure box-set was great, great fun, and also a very necessary bridging of the gap for his era with Seven's BBC and onward run.

So, unlike with the BBC equivelant, I still have hope for betterment. Not that I don't hope for the best with Chibnail, but how likely is it, as of now, that it'll be anything as great as RTD's first five years or Moffat's one and a half?

 

[Csalem]

If the show keeps going till 2025 on tv and Capaldi leaves after 2017, then we could be on Doctor 15 by then. Which means BF could stories with 8,9,10,11,12,13 if the original Doctors retire from their audio roles. Don't think they need to worry about running out of Doctors. Plus in 2025 the show will have been back twenty years at that point, and the movie will nearly have been thirty years old. The RTD era could be considered Classic Who by that point.
Now there's a thought...

 

[Turbo]

2025 means that Big Finish will have run for 26 years-- the length of the classic show it strives to emulate.

I hadn't even thought of that. That's awesome.

Nothing but good things from this renewal!