Doctor Who audio dramas will continue to be produced by Big Finish in a deal that will see them retain the license until at least 2030. While Doctor Who has proven to be an incredibly successful show, about to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2023, the show hasn’t always enjoyed its modern-day popularity. Fans may be familiar with ‘The Wilderness Years,’ a period from 1989 to 2005 in which the show was on a seemingly permanent hiatus. With no interest from the BBC, it was up to fan production of ancillary media to keep the flame of interest alive with the Doctor’s adventures continuing in books, comics, and most importantly, audio dramas.

Big Finish is an audio production company founded in the late-90’s who have produced fully-cast original Doctor Who audio adventures since 1999. These audio plays have featured 7 of the 10 living Doctors from Tom Baker to David Tennant and have proven to be a beloved part of the franchise. Big Finish has been renowned by fans for feats like giving badly treated lead actors a new lease on life, such as Colin Baker and Paul McGann, who have become fan favorites due to their audio portrayal. They were even able to convince Christopher Eccleston to play the Ninth Doctor after 15 years, despite the actors’ negative feelings toward his time on the show.

Related: Eccleston’s Doctor Who Return: Why Big Finish Is Better Than Live-Action

ComicBook has reported that Big Finish will produce new Doctor Who adventures until at least 2030 in a new agreement with the BBC. In a press release, Jan Paterson, Director of Books and Audio at BBC Studios, stated this will “allow Big Finish to create fantastic new adventures for the Doctors and their friends for many more years.” Jason Haigh-Ellery, Big Finish Chairman, indicated that this move will affect the company’s plans, saying, “This allows us to really plan ahead and create long term story lines and character development not just for the Doctors and the companions but also for new series and elements.

Also adding words of celebration was Nicholas Briggs, Big Finish Creative Director, whose name will be familiar to many Doctor Who fans and is indicative of how much influence the company has on the mainline show. Since its return in 2005, Briggs has been the voice of iconic villains such as the Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, and several other monsters and aliens. His casting was due to higher-ups being familiar with his prior work on the Big Finish plays, as they were essentially the only new Doctor Who stories being produced for fans. Several aspects of New Who’s writing have been influenced by Big Finish, with TV writers like Paul Cornell and Robert Shearman cutting their teeth in the audio format. Full audio plays have consequently been adapted for television, with Shearman reworking his play “Jubilee” into the seminal “Dalek” and aspects of the Cyberman origin story “Spare Parts” being used in “Rise of the Cybermen” and “World Enough and Time.”

It’s worth any Doctor Who fans time to pay attention to Big Finish, primarily for the consistent quality of their output but also as an indicator of what could lie in the future of the show. Recent production news suggests that the show's next era may incorporate a shared universe of Doctor Who spin-offs, inspired by the MCU. Big Finish has already produced a myriad of spin-offs and crossovers for years, including series based on organizations like Torchwood and UNIT or standalone characters like River Song or the Doctor’s Daughter, Jenny. With no regular run of episodes being produced until at least 2023, it’s never been a better time for Doctor Who fans to delve into Big Finish’s back catalog and look forward to what will be produced going forward.

Next: ‘Dalek’ Is Still The Best Dalek Episode of Doctor Who

Source: Comicbook