Looking for Big Finish Audio Recommendations

[JD]

I just discovered that the free library app Hoopla has a ton of Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas, and I thought this might be a good opportunity to check them out. So now I was just looking for a good place to start, I'm mainly interested in the 4th, 5th, and 8th Doctors, and I was hoping for stuff with the original cast members. I was really hoping to start with some of the new series stuff, but they don't have any of that on Hoopla, so it's strictly Classic Who, at least for starters. If I like them enough, I might be willing to start buying them, but for starters I want to stick to stuff I can listen to for free.
Here's the Hoopla Doctor Who audiobooks page, so you can see what they have available. Yes, I know these aren't the same as audiobooks, but that's how they have them categorized on there.

 

[Csalem]

Spare Parts is a must I would say. One of the first I listened to. After that I started on the Eight Doctor stories but none have really stuck out for me like Spare Parts did.

Storm Warning is worth a listen since it is the first Eight Doctor story (though not first one recorded).

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

A few suggestions if you have no idea about audio and dont want to start with audio-only companions.

Fourth: Foe from the Future, Philip Hinchcliffe Presents #1
Fifth: Psychodrome, Spare Parts, Omega
Sixth: Davros, Holy Terror/The Maltese Penguin, The One Doctor
Seventh: Colditz, The Fires of Vulcan, Master
Eighth: Hard to say, since most of his stories are connected, but if you have to hear his best in order to convince you to get started, its Chimes of Midght, easily - though I would suggest Storm Warning onwards, really. Its a whole era ahead that you should enjoy.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Fourth
The Ghosts of Gralstead, The Foe from the Future, Luna Romana, The Justice of Jaxlar, The Trouble with Drax, The Romance of Crime, The English Way of Death, The Well-Mannered War

Fifth
Spare Parts, Rat Trap, Prisoners of Fate, The Emerald Tiger, Equilibrium, Cobwebs, Cold Fusion

Sixth
The Holy Terror, ...ish, Voyage to Venus, Year of the Pig, The Feast of Axos, The Wrong Doctors, The Marian Conspiracy

Seventh
The Harvest, Live 34, Flip-Flop, Night Thoughts, Master, The Magic Mousetrap, Colditz

Eighth
His eras are divided in four major sections (with a solo trilogy with Mary Shelley, including the amazing The Silver Turk): Charley Pollard, Lucie Miller, Liv Chenka, and the Time War. Each are all arc based to a certain degree with some solos here and there. The truly best stories are ones that in the middle of the runs (or the climaxes).

Personally, I'd recommend starting with the Charley Pollard stories because you'll hit a bunch of great stories fairly quickly, including Storm Warning (the first story), The Chimes of Midnight, Seasons of Fear, and Embrace the Darkness, which accumulates to Neverland and Zagreus, which then leads to a different type of storytelling (saying more would be spoilers) and the quality drops (but still has a couple of amazing stories with Scherzo and A Natural History of Fear).

Lucie Miller: A bit more basic adventures but slowly build up to bigger events much further down the road which is where the run truly shines. Her first story is Blood of the Daleks and features Hayley Atwell (where I first knew her before she became Peggy Carter).

Liv Chenka: The format changes to box sets and larger, somewhat more confining story arcs. The first one (of sixteen stories) is very hit and miss but the series gets much better after that.

Time War: I haven't gotten to them yet myself. I'm rather behind.

I don't know if that website has them, but I would also highly recommend the Gallifrey series which features Leela, Romana (II...and I), K-9 Mark I & II, and a few other familiar faces along the very long road. I cannot recommend them enough, even if some people thought it has dipped in quality over time.

 

[Saul]

I've read that I Davros is good. I think anything with the 8th Doctor is worth listening to.

 

[Relayer1]

Is Hoopla available outside the USA ?

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I also didn't get to the Time War sets, myself. I am looking forward for the fourth set to hit September to go through all of them as a proper season. I am not sure if I'll wait until then for Susan's War, though.

 

[Turtletrekker]

If you like multi-Doctor stories, "The Light at the End" is a must.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I've read that I Davros is good. I think anything with the 8th Doctor is worth listening to.

Oh, I forgot to mention this one. If you're a fan of I, Cladius and/or curious about Davros" past, then this is a must.

 

[zarkon]

Don't forget to take advantage of the freebies:

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/big...downloads-of-one-audio-play-each-week.303838/

 

[Redfern]

Oh, I forgot to mention this one. If you're a fan of I, Cladius and/or curious about Davros" past, then this is a must.

The first of the four discs (yeah, it's a bloody "saga") starts with Davros as a child. Molloy is featured, but primarily to "bookend" the "flashback" type narrative. But he does take center stage with the second disc onwards. It's a tad odd because we are introduced to Davros as a young (and uninjured) young man, he almost comes across decent. At least you don't yet want to gun him down with a Dalek's weapon. Yet, that first disc presents Davros as a teen already doing truly horrid things, almost at odds with his young adult personality. One could argue, "Well, just start with the second disc." You really can't. Events in the three remaining discs depend heavily upon events in the first.

I will say it was great they got Nyder's original actor to reprise his role, first allying himself to the brilliant scientist.

 

[JD]

Wow, thanks for all of the recommendations, I did find several of the ones you guys mentioned on Hoopla, so I'll try my first one pretty soon.

Is Hoopla available outside the USA ?

I'm not sure, you just have to make sure your library has access to it and that you have a library card.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Be sure to let us know how you like them, pros and cons, so we can better direct your tastes. Big Finish's catalog is quite daunting (hell, it was when I finally started listening a decade ago) so it helps to narrow the field down a bit.

 

[Saul]

Stepping outside the free audios I would definitely check out the Time War if you can find it or anything leading up to it 'Dark Eyes', 'Doom Coalition' etc
The Sixth Doctor's final adventures is pretty good.

Besides I, Davros, I heard the Omega, Davros and Master trilogy Audio stories were good too.

I feel I'm only scratching the surface here. Most of the stuff I listen to is 8th Doctor related but that has lead me to some other stuff.