Doctor Who news: Major relaunch for Big Finish in 2022

In 2022, Big Finish will be relaunching their Doctor Who audios in a big way. But first, we’ll be saying goodbye to the range that started it all…

On Monday, Big Finish Productions announced some major news. Across the next couple of years, we can expect to see some major changes across all their ranges of Doctor Who audios. Especially The Monthly Adventures.

Since 1999, Big Finish has been giving us brand new stories with some of the Classic Doctors on a monthly basis. Overall, The Monthly Adventures has focused on the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors, although Eight’s earliest audio adventures were included in this range, too. In short, it has been a core part of Big Finish’s output for over twenty years.

Next year, that range will come to an end. Number 275 – currently scheduled to be released in Mar 2021 – will be the final installment of the Monthly Adventures. But this isn’t just an ending for Big Finish – in fact, it’s a new beginning.

We’ve seen individual ranges given to the First, Third, Fourth, Eighth, War, and Tenth Doctors – and it looks like it could soon be true for all of them…

(Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions)

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Relaunch

You see, it’s far from the end of Big Finish producing Doctor Who audios. In fact, it’s not even the end of audios featuring the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors. After all, many ranges have been created outside of The Monthly Adventures. Right now, the Third, Fourth, and Eighth Doctors have their very own ranges, with Six getting his own box set of adventures soon.

So it’s unsurprising that, starting in Jan 2022, Big Finish’s regular release schedule will be relaunched as a series of ranges focused on each of the first twelve Doctors. This means that each Doctor will be getting their own box set of audio stories throughout the year.

There’s no question that this is a massive shakeup for Big Finish. Honestly, I’ll be sad to see the monthly range go. But in many ways, it makes a lot of sense. Especially when you consider Big Finish’s reasons for doing this, as revealed by executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery.

"One comment we hear more often from new listeners is that they find it hard to know where to begin with our back catalogue of Doctor Who adventures. This change to our release schedule will make it easier for people to start. With a range for each Doctor, there will be a natural ‘stepping on point’ for fans."

Fresh start

This actually sounds like a smart move in the long-term. Big Finish is very dependent on the direct income it receives through sales, and therefore, it needs to be as accessible to as large an audience as possible – especially with a market as big as the Doctor Who fandom. Not at the compromise of good storytelling, but as great as some of their long term arcs have been, there need to be clear starting points for newcomers. Having entire ranges focused on particular Doctors is perhaps the best way to go.

It’ll be sad to say goodbye to the range that started Big Finish’s long journey with Doctor Who. But at the same time, it’s also exciting to see what they’ll do next.

What are your thoughts on Big Finish’s massive relaunch? Do you think its approach to introducing ranges for each Doctor will be effective at bringing in more newcomers? Let us know in the comments below.