Back in December 2010, Big Finish released an extremely special story on CD and download. Doctor Who: The Four Doctors by Peter Anghelides starred Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann as the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctors in one single story. And all four of them were up against the Daleks! For many fans, it sounded unmissable!
However, there was a catch. The release was only available to those who subscribed to Big Finish's main range of Doctor Who audios. They could purchase a six-release subscription that included The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories - the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa anthology released in Dec. 2010 - or a twelve-release subscription, beginning with any story, and selecting The Four Doctors as a free bonus.
Understandably, this meant that the audio had been available to a very limited audience, even by Big Finish's standards. But that changed as of Oct. 17, when Big Finish made the story available for free to all listeners. All that's required to download the story is simply to register an account with Big Finish and add the story using this link.
It's a great gift to Big Finish's fans old and new, especially for their 25th anniversary year of making Doctor Who audios. However, that feels like only part of the reason why this previously exclusive audio is now free to own. To be honest, the free story feels like a goodwill gesture on Big Finish’s part.
You see, back at the end of July, Big Finish launched a new website and a new app. At least, they tried to. However it became very clear that they had a lot of issues, and as a result, both the app and website were rolled back to their previous versions in August. This should have fixed the issues.
Unfortunately, for many of Big Finish’s customers, it was just the beginning. Because while they could use the old app again, many could not access their download libraries. This was due to an issue with large libraries - the larger the library, the more unlikely a customer would be able to access it, at least on the app.
This issue lasted for a couple of months. and for many long-term fans, it was a frustrating one. True, we could still download the stories onto the computer and transfer them to our phones. But after several years of using the app, it was hard not to notice the loss of its convenience.
This is why, after initial beta-testing, it was great to see the app updated and finally showing the Big Finish library once again. Speaking as a fan of Big Finish’s many audios, it feels great to be able to access them so easily at almost any time. And getting a multi-Doctor story for free is an excellent bonus.