Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British audio production company founded in 1996 . Since 1999 , it has produced numerous licensed " Doctor Who " audio dramas , audiobooks and prose stories , as well as a number of series set within the DWU . History . Big Finish began in late 1998 with audio adaptations of novels featuring the Seventh Doctor ' s former companion Bernice Summerfield . It subsequently was licensed to produce authorised " Doctor Who " audio plays . Later , the company branched out into prose publishing , producing a long - running series of novels and short story anthologies featuring Summerfield , followed by its acquisition of the Short Trips line of " Who " - related short stories , previously published by BBC Books . In 2002 they released a straight - to - DVD Doctor Who documentary interview with Paul McGann about his role of the Eighth Doctor called " " . The name of the company originates from an episode " The Big Finish ? " of children ' s TV programme " Press Gang " , written by Steven Moffat , who in 2010 became the showrunner of the " Doctor Who " TV series . According to James Goss , by December 2017 , Big Finish has become the second largest producer of original audio dramas in the UK after Radio Four . Product lines . " Doctor Who " . Big Finish began their " Doctor Who " range with a series of monthly full - cast dramas in four twenty five - minute episode format , mirroring the format commonly used by the original TV series . Releases featured the Fifth , Sixth , Seventh , and , from 2000 on , Eighth Doctors . In 2007 , a separate monthly series of one - hour Eighth Doctor adventures was created that ran for four series , before being succeeded by boxset releases . The Eighth Doctor appeared very occasionally following this in the main range . In 2012 , following a box set of Lost Stories , Tom Baker returned to the role of the Fourth Doctor in a brand new series of " Fourth Doctor Adventures " , completing the set of surviving " Classic " Who " " Doctor actors . Unfortunately , by that time companion actors Elisabeth Sladen , Ian Marter and Nicholas Courtney were all deceased ; Baker was able to record a season of stories with Mary Tamm before her death in 2012 , but has primarily been paired with Louise Jameson . As of 2015 , Big Finish has been successful in recruiting every surviving classic - era companion actor to reprise their original roles save Jackie Lane . In addition , both " companion " actors from the 1996 TV movie , Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso , have recorded several " Who " releases for the company , but portraying different characters , as the company does not have the rights to non - Doctor movie characters . In October 2015 , Big Finish announced two new " Doctor Who " ranges starring their first BBC Wales era Doctor and companion actors , with Doctor actors John Hurt and David Tennant and companion actor Catherine Tate reprising the roles they originated in the television series . Big Finish ' s current licence to produce " Doctor Who " on audio extends to 20 June , 2025 . Connections with the current TV series . The licensing contract Big Finish originally held with BBC Worldwide allowed the company to produce material from the " classic " era , giving them use of the first seven incarnations of the Doctor and all of their companions , as well as the character of the Eighth Doctor from the 1996 telemovie . Initially , the terms of their " Doctor Who " licence restricted any intellectual property from the 2005 revival , preventing them from producing any stories featuring the Ninth , Tenth , Eleventh or Twelfth Doctor s , nor any related characters , even if they were no longer featured in the TV series . Numerous Big Finish personnel and employees , including David Tennant , Georgia Moffett , Anthony Stewart Head , Nicholas Briggs , Gareth Roberts , Gary Russell , Mark Gatiss , Paul Cornell , Matt Jones and Robert Shearman , have gone to do work for " Doctor Who " , " The Sarah Jane Adventures " and " Torchwood " . Shearman ' s " Dalek " was directly based on his audio drama " Jubilee " . Many , such as Briggs , were involved in the production of unlicenced audio productions ( such as Audio Visuals ) , as well as " Who - alike " audio and video productions such as The Stranger . Briggs currently serves as producer for the Big Finish line of " Doctor Who " audio adventures , concurrent with his ongoing voice - over work on the BBC Wales series . A number of actors from the BBC Wales TV series have worked with Big Finish after becoming known on TV , but playing characters other than their TV roles . Examples include Arthur Darvill and Noel Clarke . In late 2012 , Big Finish announced that it was partnering with AudioGO to produce a series of 11 audio dramas in 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of the franchise , a series entitled " Destiny of the Doctors " . These were Big Finish ' s first productions involving the Ninth , Tenth and Eleventh Doctors . It featured actors from the revival series including Catherine Tate and Jenna Coleman as readers , and the Eleventh Doctor cameoed in each story . Due to AudioGo going into administration , " The Time Machine " , the final release featuring the Eleventh Doctor , and the accompanying series boxset , were released solely by Big Finish . In later years , the BBC began to show varying degrees of leniency in terms of the breadth of licence . A number of stories contained allusions to the Time War , most notably " Dark Eyes " in 2012 and " Gallifrey VI " in 2013 . For " Gallifrey " , Big Finish were granted special permission to use the revival series Daleks on the packaging , and , in the first story , featured an attempted Dalek invasion of an alternate Gallifrey . The " origin " story " The Beginning " , released in the same year , was altered before release to depict the TARDIS capsule seen in the television story " The Name of the Doctor " and to reference Clara Oswald . Additionally , Big Finish depicted an apparent future Doctor ' s TARDIS on the cover of " Dominion " with the exterior of the Eleventh Doctor ' s . However , many references in the past had been able to get around licensing restrictions through vagueness and implicature : the 2006 story " The Kingmaker " mentioned a " northern chap with big ears " ; the 2010 story " Klein ' s Story " quoted from TV : " Time Crash " , referencing the TARDIS console ' s leopard skin desktop theme , " whilst another , " City of Spires " , quoting TV : " Rose " , referenced the " assembled hordes of Ghengis Khan " and their attempt to enter the TARDIS . Later stories such as " Luna Romana " , along with numerous " Gallifrey " and " The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield " releases more directly referenced an escalation in conflict on Gallifrey . Finally , the company ' s audio adaptation of the novel " Damaged Goods " directly referenced the Torchwood Institute and the Last Great Time War . Around August 2014 ( BFX : " Extinction " ) , it was revealed that the terms of their licence changed and that it was now extended to encompass a part of the " new series . " Big Finish announced that they would be producing stories featuring Winston Churchill , Strax , River Song , members of UNIT featured in the new series , and a new box set entitled " Classic Doctors , New Monsters " , featuring new series aliens such as the Weeping Angel s , Judoon and Sycorax , and the Sontaran s of the Time War as encountered by the Tenth , Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors . They also announced that they had gained the rights to produce audio dramas based on the spin - off series Torchwood . In October 2015 , Big Finish announced that John Hurt would reprise his role as the War Doctor in a series of box sets set during the Time War , and starring Paul McGann as an older Eighth Doctor during the early stages of the War would also be released . The company followed this announcement with the revealing of of " Tenth Doctor Adventures " starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate scheduled for release the following year , marking the company ' s first true foray into " New Series " " Doctor Who " . Around the beginning of 2018 , Nicholas Briggs confirmed during a Q & A on his Facebook that Big Finish ' s licence was extended , and now included the Twelfth Doctor era . Adventures of the first three Doctors . Alongside their full cast dramas , Big Finish launched a monthly series entitled " The Companion Chronicles " in 2007 , featuring hour - long " enhanced audiobooks " narrated by former companions of the Doctor . The story ' s companion narrates the adventure , relating the events to the listener in - character , while approximately one other major role in the story is performed by another actor . The series allowed Big Finish to produce stories involving the first three Doctors for the first time , despite their original actors being deceased , along with the Fourth Doctor , despite the fact that Tom Baker was currently unwilling to participate . As a result , all eight " classic series " Doctors were now been represented in some way within their range . Later releases featured stories from the perspective of a companion of the Fifth , Sixth , Seventh and Eighth Doctors . Companions such as Sara Kingdom and Liz Shaw , who did not get much screentime in the show , were given the opportunity to have much vaster development , in stories featuring the original actor . With the introduction of Tom Baker into Big Finish ' s cast , the last few series moved away from using the Fourth through Eighth Doctors and instead focused on the First through Third Doctors . The series has also introduced spin - off characters , including UNIT members Matheson and Sato , portrayed by TV movie actors Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso , whilst " The Mahogany Murderers " , reuniting detectives Jago and Litefoot from " The Talons of Weng - Chiang " , became a backdoor pilot for their own spin - off series . Big Finish also began to incorporate the first three Doctors into their Lost Stories range , featuring larger casts including original companion actors , and using such actors to provide narration and lines for the Doctor . At the conclusion of " The Lost Stories " and the monthly " Companion Chronicles " in 2013 , Big Finish announced the launch of a new range entitled " The Early Adventures " starring the surviving members of the black and white era stories . Nicholas Briggs said ( of the end of " The Companion Chronicles " ) " “ It ' s always sad to say goodbye to something , especially if they are popular . But at Big Finish we feel we must always be moving forward , and finding new ways to tell exciting Doctor Who stories on audio . ” " Following this , the company announced a brand new range for the Third Doctor , which began with the boxset release " The Third Doctor Adventures : Volume One " . Spin - offs . Apart from stories featuring the Doctor , Big Finish has produced numerous spin - offs set within the " Doctor Who " universe . Books . Through much of the 2000s , Big Finish complemented its audio line with a series of short story collections entitled " Short Trips " , a continuation of a series established by BBC Books . Most volumes centred around particular themes , with most books containing at least one story for each of the first eight Doctors , as well as occasional stories focusing on other characters . After BBC Books retire d its BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels at the end of 2005 in favour of focusing on the current Doctor , Big Finish ' s " Short Trips " became the only source for officially licensed fiction featuring the first eight Doctors . In April 2009 , Big Finish was forced to terminate its prolific " Short Trips " anthology series when the BBC did not renew its licence to publish " Doctor Who " - related prose . However , in February 2010 , Big Finish announced that they had opted to continue producing the Short Trips range in the form of anthology audiobooks featuring brand new authors accompanied by prolific Big Finish writers . Big Finish also published prose fiction featuring characters such as Erimem , Bernice Summerfield and Iris Wildthyme . Non - fiction books related to its series have also been published , including select audio scripts and " Bernice Summerfield - The Inside Story " . Other work . Big Finish previously produced original audio dramas based on franchises such as " Sapphire & Steel " , " Stargate SG - 1 " , " 2000 A . D . " , " Highlander " and " The Tomorrow People " , and continues to produce original audio dramas based on a number of other franchises including " Dark Shadows " , " Blake ' s 7 " , " Sherlock Holmes " , " The Avengers " , " Terry Nation ' s Survivors " , " The Omega Factor " and " The Prisoner " . It has also produced wholly original comedy and sci - fi audio dramas . Big Finish has also published original prose , including " Love Songs For the Shy & Cynical " and other short story collections by Rob Shearman and " The Mervyn Stone Mysteries " by Nev Fountain . " Doctor Who " related series . The ranges and series published by Big Finish are presented in the chronological order of the first release in the following table :