Noobie - Which Big Finish audio book should I start with?
- Thread starter FreddyE
- Start date
I was a Big Classic Who fan (In America) before the new Series came along.
I started a thread like this "Best Audio Book" and received some awesome suggestions. Since I knew Classic Who, I was able to say things I like about Classic Who to guide suggestions. You could still at least say what you like about nuWho and what enemies you like, that'll help get you in the Right Direction. I like the Gallifreyan Politics, so, I started with Gallfrey Adventures.
The Colin Baker stories with Evelyn Smythe are really good so far (I'm about 1/3 through the list).
Spare Parts is an awesome 5th Doctor Cybermen Origin Story
There are some great Dalek Stories and I haven't listened to any, but, there are also some great The Master Stories (Well, I've listened to a Doctor Who Unbound story with the Master [Doctor Who Unbound is alternate Universe Stories)
Spare Parts is definitely one you can't go wrong with
Jubilee - the Nu Who episode "Dalek" is based on it, but the audio is better
I just finished that one, and though I've been very with them all, out of those first 8 Evelyn/Doctor #6 Audios, that one is my favorite. It is most excellent indeed, and yes, as good as the TV episode was, Jubilee is even better.
You have a couple you wrote as well, don't you? What are they called, I've been wanting to try them out. If I remember correctly, you wrote one in a Series of 4 stories that are connected?
The Holy Terror is fantastic. The sixth Doctor, Frobisher, and a spooky medieval castle.
I love Time of the Daleks. "The Daleks revere Shakespeare!"
Speaking of Shakespeare, The Kingmaker is riotous. A drunk fifth Doctor, Shakespeare, Richard III (who sounds remarkably like Christopher Eccleston), Peri and Erimem, a robot, and Jon Culshaw's Tom Baker impression.
I like Sympathy for the Devil a lot. David Warner plays the third Doctor, only he arrives on Earth thirty years after he was supposed to be exiled. Mark Gatiss plays the Master. And David Tennant is in it as well as a UNIT colonel.
For road trips, Shada works really well. I like the Big Finish Shada a lot; McGann and Ward have a really good rapport.
I love Time of the Daleks. "The Daleks revere Shakespeare!"
Speaking of Shakespeare, The Kingmaker is riotous. A drunk fifth Doctor, Shakespeare, Richard III (who sounds remarkably like Christopher Eccleston), Peri and Erimem, a robot, and Jon Culshaw's Tom Baker impression.
I like Sympathy for the Devil a lot. David Warner plays the third Doctor, only he arrives on Earth thirty years after he was supposed to be exiled. Mark Gatiss plays the Master. And David Tennant is in it as well as a UNIT colonel.
For road trips, Shada works really well. I like the Big Finish Shada a lot; McGann and Ward have a really good rapport.
I like the mixture of the whimsical, funny but also sometimes dark personality traits of the nuDoctors. I don´t have any special preference for any of the recurring enemies, I like them all. I love the stories that have a bit of a fantasy theme to them or generally stuff with "one shot monsters".
I wrote Excelis Rising, the second story of the Excelis miniseries, which stars Colin Baker and Anthony Stewart Head, and the Seventh Doctor/Mel story Unregenerate!
(I'm not trying to emphasise anything with that exclamation mark, it's actually part of the title)
Well, this will be the second thread title I correct. They're audio plays and not audio books 
. Audio books are entirely different.
The Chimes of Midnight is the best Big Finish audio, though I highly recommend Jubilee, Spare Parts, Master, The National History of Fear and The Holy Terror.
I gave up following the new stuff because I found the latest Paul McGann and Tom Baker ranges incredibly lackluster.
. Audio books are entirely different.The Chimes of Midnight is the best Big Finish audio, though I highly recommend Jubilee, Spare Parts, Master, The National History of Fear and The Holy Terror.
I gave up following the new stuff because I found the latest Paul McGann and Tom Baker ranges incredibly lackluster.
I also really love the BF version of Shada
My favourite version, though the recent novelisation was good.
I love the Excelis mini series.
I think Big Finish puts out some damn good stories. Spare Parts and Master are two of their best (or, at least, from the ones I've heard).
Well, this will be the second thread title I correct. They're audio plays and not audio books
Well, Big Finish themselves call them "full cast audiobooks" in all their latest advertising. It's a marketing thing apparently.
No.
TV show first.
THEN audio.
TV show first.
THEN audio.
Yes. Not necessarily *all* of the show, but the best of each Doctor and something of the major companions, certainly.
I´m up to date with NuWho, I just got three classic who box sets. But I´m looking for an additional dose of the doctor, and why not listen to some Doctor Who on the train to work? :-)
You can easily skip the Sixth Doctor on TV - his audios are *way* better. And obviously the eighth was only on screen for about 40 minutes anyway...
Strongly disagree. The character was severely watered down and lost his edge in the audios, with his signature arrogance being removed almost entirely. His audios often feel like they're aimed at people who didn't enjoy the Sixth Doctor's TV era, which has always bothered me. All the other Doctors have their personalities translated.
You're not counting Shada?
My wife and I have listened to a ton of audio drams in the car-- she's a big New Who fan, but when we started listening to the eighth Doctor ones, she'd only seen a few, if any, classic series stories. The audios will hold up for a "modern" audience much more than the old show, I think.
I'll add my voice to those who loved Paul McGann's Shada. As already mentioned before, McGann and Lalla Ward share a wonderful rapport (which we hear again in Neverland and Zagreus) and the supporting cast from John Leeson to James Fox as Professor Chronotis and Andrew Sachs as Skarga is wonderful. Not only easily one of my favorite Paul McGann audios, but one of my favorite Big Finish audios period.
As for recommendations, I'll break it down by Doctor:
First Doctor
1. Home Truths
2. Farewell, Great Macedon
3. The Rocket Men
Second Doctor
1. The Forbidden Time
2. The Memory Cheats
3. Echoes of Grey
Third Doctor
1. Old Soldiers
2. The Doll of Death
3. The Magician's Oath
(It should be noted that for the first three Doctors, the audios are companion chronicles, which features one or two companion actors with one or two additional voice actors)
Fourth Doctor
1. The Foe from the Future
2. The Justice of Jalxar
3. The Wrath of the Iceni
Fifth Doctor
1. Spare Parts
2. Rat Trap
3. The Emerald Tiger
Sixth Doctor
1. The Holy Teror
2. ...ish
3. Peri and the Piscon Paradox
Seventh Doctor
1. Live 34
2. Flip-Flop
3. Night Thoughts
Eighth Doctor
1. The Chimes of Midnight
2. Shada
3. The Silver Turk
(There are some better Eighth Doctor audios that I would normally recommend, including Scherzo, The Natural History of Fear, Neverland, and Solitaire, but they require knowledge of companions and storylines proceeding them to fully enjoy)
Additionally, I would also recommend Sympathy for the Devil (an alternate Third Doctor story featuring David Warner as The Doctor, Nicholas Courtney, and David Tennant), I, Davros (a four-part mini-series on the history of Davros as told in the style of I, Claudius), and The Mahogany Murderers (the backdoor pilot for the ongoing Jago and Litefoot adventures).
The best of the best of the above stories are Spare Parts, The Chimes of Midnight, The Holy Terror, Old Soldiers, and Shada.
As for recommendations, I'll break it down by Doctor:
First Doctor
1. Home Truths
2. Farewell, Great Macedon
3. The Rocket Men
Second Doctor
1. The Forbidden Time
2. The Memory Cheats
3. Echoes of Grey
Third Doctor
1. Old Soldiers
2. The Doll of Death
3. The Magician's Oath
(It should be noted that for the first three Doctors, the audios are companion chronicles, which features one or two companion actors with one or two additional voice actors)
Fourth Doctor
1. The Foe from the Future
2. The Justice of Jalxar
3. The Wrath of the Iceni
Fifth Doctor
1. Spare Parts
2. Rat Trap
3. The Emerald Tiger
Sixth Doctor
1. The Holy Teror
2. ...ish
3. Peri and the Piscon Paradox
Seventh Doctor
1. Live 34
2. Flip-Flop
3. Night Thoughts
Eighth Doctor
1. The Chimes of Midnight
2. Shada
3. The Silver Turk
(There are some better Eighth Doctor audios that I would normally recommend, including Scherzo, The Natural History of Fear, Neverland, and Solitaire, but they require knowledge of companions and storylines proceeding them to fully enjoy)
Additionally, I would also recommend Sympathy for the Devil (an alternate Third Doctor story featuring David Warner as The Doctor, Nicholas Courtney, and David Tennant), I, Davros (a four-part mini-series on the history of Davros as told in the style of I, Claudius), and The Mahogany Murderers (the backdoor pilot for the ongoing Jago and Litefoot adventures).
The best of the best of the above stories are Spare Parts, The Chimes of Midnight, The Holy Terror, Old Soldiers, and Shada.
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