100 Reasons Why We Love Big Finish

[SiHart]

To celebrate the impending 100th release from BF's main Doctor Who range, lets see if we can up with 100 reasons to love Big Finish! It could be a big thing like a Doctor, or a story or a little thing like a tiny moment you love... anything goes.
All you have to do is write your thing you love and a little paragraph explaining why!

So I'll start with:

1. Rehabilitating the Sixth Doctor
I think one of the best things BF have done is rehabilitate the 6th Doctor. Who'd have thought that the 6th Doctor would be the one Doctor that come out on top from the BF ones? It seemed really unlikely that people would ever really love this Doctor, but now Colin has an era to be proud of, thanks to BF! They've softened him yes, but made him a Doctor that everyone can love. Isn't that a great thing!

Si xx

[Dirk Gently]

2. They keep a part of my childhood alive.
In a world fuelled by nostalgia, Big Finish keep the Doctors alive that I grew up with & still fighting the bad guys . Sure it would be superb to have Tom on board but I doubt he's interested or willing to get paid the same, but I was only about 10 when Peter made his debut & there will always be a part of me that needs the past Doctors. Lets hear it for a second childhood!

[Rob McCow]

3. They brought new writers to Doctor Who.
Rob Shearman, anyone? Joe Lidster? Even Trevor Baxendale's stuff was quite good really. Got to be a good thing!

[Pip Madeley]

4. They gave us the fantastic new voices of the Daleks

Nick Briggs is the man.

[Si Hunt]

5. Proper Paul McGann stories!

Do you know, Paul McGann is almost my favourite Doctor? He's certainly at least 3rd favourite, and he only made one poor American pilot visually. If anyone says the McGann era is one story long, I tell them they're wrong. Because it's not, it's amazing. Everyone knows that McGann's audios are the best (next to Colin's of course). He has lovely old Charley, "The Chimes of Midnight" (according to Mark Campbell's "Dimensions in Time and Space" it's the best story EVER, including on TV. Whisper it, it might be), "Other Lives", the amazingly big quest in the Divergent Universe (which now alarmingly is viewed with the most wonderful nostalgic air), and isn't he just completely great? I love Paul McGann! And it's all down to Big Finish.

Si.

[SiHart]

6. Dr Evelyn Smythe
Evelyn is the best new companion Big Finish have given us. A perfect foil to Colin's Doctor, a woman who stands up to him and pierces his pomposity, while at the same time remaining very fond of him for all his faults. An older companion was something mooted by Tom Baker because it seemed like a funny idea, BF have proven that the idea has loads of merit. She's one of my all time favourite companions and Maggie Stables is just so lovely!

Si xx

[Wayne]

7. Dalek Empire

And a load of other great Spin-offs!

[stuartdg]

Erimem

[cullsoft]

On the guess that Stuart might be being a bit on the sarcastic side...

8 (and 9?) - The Chimes Of Midnight and Spare Parts

Kinda ties in with Si Hunt's suggestion, and also kinda counts as two reasons... though I could also sum it up as fantastic stories that work brilliantly as audio plays and arguably outclass a number of the TV shows to make it just one reason. While I'm aware that there's a debate over which of the two is the greater story, they're still examples of Big Finish - and perhaps Doctor Who as a whole - at its best.

[Si Hunt]

10. New Doctor Who Story Every Month For The Last Eight Years

Including six without any TV show. It's hard to forget how lovely it was to have that! I remember I used to go through a bizarre ritual of 'not finding out' about new releases to keep them a surprise. I'd cover up the news page of GG with my hand, avoid any news about them, and hope that I'd be opening up the envelope to discover a new title, cover and story. Marvellous! Big Finish not only "kept us going" through a lot of the wilderness years, but they gave us some great stories to boot.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

11. The Free Covermounted CDs with DWM

Always nice to have.

[WhiteCrow]

12 Giving Nyssia a chance

She was rather cruelly overshadowed by Tegans big fat trap in the TV show - she spent all of Earthshocked in the Tardis being angsty. In fact it was suggested that one character who died in episode 4 has been kept alive just to give her someone to talk to.

So its nice that the audio stories have redefined her and her relationship with the Doctor in Spare Parts and of course Circular Time, which the last two eps are more about her than the Doctor in a way.

[terrycooper]

12 Giving Nyssia a chance

lol! I hope you mean 'Nyssa', as 'Nyssia' is my daughter's name! (pronounced 'neesha')

But I give her too many chances too! heheheheee!

[terrycooper]

13. Proving the Tenth Planet Cybermen can work. Well.

Nick Briggs - is there nothing he can't do?? While younger fans laugh at the voices and outfits, Spare Parts brought the original Cybermen to life in such an eerie and tragic way - far greater than the (imho) terrible, messed up Lumic/Cybus nonsense.

From a design standpoint, the Cybus-men are okay -ish. But they're just too robot-like. Give me plastic, pipes and that ghastly 'open my jaw and let the words sing-song out' speech method. *shudder*

Spare Parts - Davison's finest hour and nigh on the best DW story bar none.

[stuartdg]

I wasn't being sarcastic

14)Erimem-for breathing new life into Peri and her relationship with the Fifth Doctor

[WhiteCrow]

Nick Briggs - is there nothing he can't do?? While younger fans laugh at the voices and outfits, Spare Parts brought the original Cybermen to life in such an eerie and tragic way - far greater than the (imho) terrible, messed up Lumic/Cybus nonsense.

From a design standpoint, the Cybus-men are okay -ish. But they're just too robot-like. Give me plastic, pipes and that ghastly 'open my jaw and let the words sing-song out' speech method. *shudder*

I totally agree. When I first saw the new Cybermen I thought they looked too robotic. The original concept was scarier, kind of moving once human zombies. And Spare Parts brings this horror home far more effectively than Sally the Cyberman.

However that said, to bring them on screen in such a manner might be a bit too horrific for what is after all a kids show. Also there's a danger of them seeming too much like the Borg then.

[cullsoft]

I wasn't being sarcastic

14)Erimem-for breathing new life into Peri and her relationship with the Fifth Doctor

My bad - the emoticon crossed with what I've gathered to be general opinion of Erimem herself gave me the wrong idea.

[SiHart]

15. Lalla Ward
Well I would choose her, wouldn't I? Bringing her back as President of the Time Lords has been great fun to hear! I love her releationship with McGann's Doctor as well. They're great fun in Shada and that lovely little scene in Neverland where they're pretending to repair the TARDIS.

Si xx

[stuartdg]

16-Mary Tamm in the Gallifrey series-far superior to Lalla Ward in every concievable way

The original you might say!

[Lord President]

17 - Don Warrington as Rassilon!

[Si Hunt]

18. Guest Stars

One day someone will compile a list of all the great names they've got in Big Finish and it will look stunning. James Bolan, Susannah Harker, Nigel Havers, Gareth Thomas, Derek Jacobi, Philip Madoc, Ron Moody, Roy Hudd... oh I'm rubbish at remembering names but there are hundredsof them!

Si.

[stuartdg]

19-Bernice Summerfield-despite her Doctor Who roles both in print and audio,her main range has been a joy and Lisa Bowerman is perfect in the role

[Rob McCow]

20. The Photos In The CDs of The Cast
You don't have to shave if you're doing audio. You don't have to put on make-up, dress smartly or even wipe your food from your face. So it's fantastic that BF take photos of the cast au naturel, bundling them all outside (in the old days) to stand by a wall for the shoot. They all look very happy and homely, like an old family or friend re-union.

[stuartdg]

21/22-The Tomorrow People/Sapphire And Steel-for reintroducing them to a modern audience-quality dramas,enjoyably acted and produced

[SiHart]

23. Jane Elphinstone's music in Seasons of Fear
I love it!

Si xx