"Exciting Times" declared!

[Rob McCow]

A message from Facebook:

Big Finish is delighted to announce that its licence with BBC Audiobooks to make Doctor Who on audio has been extended for another year, up to December 2012.

“This is wonderful news,” says executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. “All of us at Big Finish love making the Audio Adventures of Doctor Who, and after a decade it remains both a thrill and an honour to continue doing so.”

“We have a great and fruitful relationship with both BBC Wales and BBC Audiobooks,” adds executive producer Nick Briggs. “And long may it continue. Big Finish and BBC Audiobooks work alongside each other to provide the best possible range of audio productions for fans of the series. I never forget what a great privilege it is for us to be in this position.”

“We have many plans for the future,” adds line producer David Richarson. “The main range starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann continues on a monthly basis, as do The Companion Chronicles. You’ll be hearing more from The Lost Stories and Jago and Litefoot. Plus… we’ve been in talks with Tom Baker, who is eager to join the audio range for a series of full cast plays.”

“Everything was planned up until the end of 2011, so now we can forge ahead with our plans for 2012,” says Nick. “These are exciting times indeed!”

It's news!

[Si Hunt]

My only worry is that after "The Dojen Chronicles" next year, they'll run out of characters in the original series to bring back.

Si.

[Lissa]

It's good news. They're producing a lot of good stuff at the moment and - unlike practically every other Doctor Who offshoot we've seen in the last 20 years - they haven't disappeared up their own collective arse yet*. Long may they continue. Especially the podcasts which are a guilty pleasure all of their own.



*Technically they did with Zagreus but they climbed out again and learned their lesson.

[Simon R]

They're missing a trick not getting Michael Jayston back and trying to lure Kate O'Mara. Didn't the legendary Dwm Season 27 article mention a Rani story? I hope Kate is being fingered.

[SiHart]

I can't comment. It's been an age since I last listened to any of their stuff.

Si xx

[Simon R]

The usual suspects in the Big Finish sale I see. It's a shame they never reduce recent stuff. Even just a couple of quid off might encourage us!

[Lissa]

They should start experimenting with modern contraptions like 3-for-2 offers and 10% off codes rather than trotting out the same packages every six months. Some of them do represent good value but only if you fancy 14 Gallifrey CDs and don't own any of them already.

[Si Hunt]

It's the same old stuff isn't it? I'm almost tempted by Iris Wildthyme but £35 is still a lot to shell out in one go.

I'm a lapsed listener, so they could do well to lure me back. I think maybe if a few of the recent McGann plays were lowered down into affordable range, say £6 each or something, I might get them. But they arn't.

I guess something a little bit imaginitive on the pricing front rather than just wheeling out all the 10 year old CD's again for reduced prices. Let's face it, if I was going to get "Gallifrey" I'd have got it by now.

I almost got into a sticky situation at a convention the other week as there was a bloke selling a huge table of them and he asked if I got them and I almost said "no, because I don't think they're much cop any more" then I realised he was a producer of some sort so I shut up.

Si.

[Paul Monk]

Last time I looked at their stuff was, like Si, when they announced their sale. I thought maybe if there was a bargain or two I'd be tempted back but all they had were old stuff lumped together and charging a small fortune for it!
I'd also be tempted if their downloads were a bit cheaper. Perhaps in line with other downloadable albums. At £7.99 a download I might splash out and get the odd one but you get something like £2 off which whacks it into double figures and loses my potential sale.

[Si Hunt]

Real albums are also no cheaper to download than CD's, bar a quid or something stupid like that. The difference with music albums is that you can spend 79p and get one song, where-as you can't really buy 1/11th of a Big Finish play as it wouldn't make sense!

Unfortunately the end result is the same - you can't pay less for opting out of the packaging, which is a shame as it must be a lot cheaper for them if you factor in postage as well.

Si.

[Lissa]

You can buy the first episode of each story in the main BF range for 99p and then £12 for the other three if you like it. Not quite the same as buying a single track but the best they could do with the product they sell.

Most of their costs are licensing and production rather than making the physical CDs but if they can charge Americans £7.99 for a download, why do we have to pay a fiver more than that?

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Most of their costs are licensing and production rather than making the physical CDs but if they can charge Americans £7.99 for a download, why do we have to pay a fiver more than that?

Economy of scale?

I think the usual argument the products have to be competitively priced for comparable products in the American markets. That is to say, everything in America is cheaper ... except healthcare.

[Captain Tancredi]

To be honest, that was the point where I looked at the CDs on my shelf and decided that I didn't have the time, money or inclination to carry on with them. I could understand their arguments, but that didn't mean that being treated with contempt felt any better.

[Simon R]

They should do some sort of offer for lapsed subscribers. They must be able to see who used to order from them and who no longer does. Whack em a voucher of some sort and lure them back.

[Lissa]

BIG FINISH DAY~!

We’re delighted to announce that Big Finish Productions will be hosting a one-day internet-based event on Saturday 3 July 2010, beginning at 00:00 hours until midnight at www.bigfinish.com.

The centerpiece of the day is an exclusive, one-off massive sale during which the first 50 Doctor Who main range titles will be available to buy for just £5 each, on CD or download. This price is valid for the stated 24 hours only. So, if you’re missing anything from The Sirens of Time up until Zagreus, this is a unique opportunity to catch up.

“We’re aware that some Doctor Who fans have never tried Big Finish,” says executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. “And we’re also aware that some people have the more recent titles but have never dipped into the back catalogue. This is a chance for them to do so.”

For anyone who already has those 50 titles, there’s still plenty to enjoy on Big Finish Day. We’ll be releasing – for free, and for one day only – episode one of Cobwebs, the start of the new trilogy that reunites the Fifth Doctor with Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa for the first time in 26 years.

“We were thrilled that Janet has elected to join the Big Finish fold,” says executive producer Nicholas Briggs, “and I can promise that this trilogy of Cobwebs, The Whispering Forest and The Cradle of the Snake will delight all fans of that era. On Big Finish Day, you’ll get a chance to hear an early preview of that brilliant TARDIS crew in action.”

As well as additional sale items, the Big Finish website will be offering a selection of wallpapers for download, featuring some of Alex Mallinson’s most inspired artwork.

Big Finish Day is only at www.bigfinish.com on Saturday 3 July 2010.

The big announcement is at midday but I suspect the auto-feed from their website to Twitter has blown the story WIDE OPEN~!

[Si Hunt]

It's a nice idea, but am I heartless to consider £5 for an ELEVEN year old CD is still a bit steep? You'd consider £6 a reasonable price for a CD that's six months old, £2.99p for one that's about a year old. Bloody Sirens of Time is still only just about half price a decade on!

Also I'd release "Cobwebs" episode 1 free anyway because Doctor Who fans are collectors and NO-ONE is going to think Episode 1 is a substitute for the whole story. Either they'll want the story and buy it, or not want it and won't or hear Episode 1 and then want to buy the whole story. No-one is going to think "I've got Episode 1, I may as well not buy the rest!" are they! So hang that, I'd make EVERY episode 1 permenantly free!

Or am I being harsh and unsympathetic towards their business needs?

Si.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

That's actually a good idea. The only Big Finish story I've ever heard is Zagreus, and only because that was a present. There was also the odd cover CD with DWM I recall. But I've never had much interest in the range at all. However... if I heard that the first episode of every single story they'd ever made was available for free dowload, I'd more than likely be tempted to go and browse and download a bunch of them and may end up buying some stories if they tickle my fancy.

Despite the impression you might get on message boards and things, there's probably quite a lot of Doctor Who fans who never bothered with any of these spin off things, but might be tempted if they saw an advert in SFX or whatever.

[SiHart]

Well I'm prepared to gibe them another chance and have nabbed the free download of Cobwebs pt1. Who knows, might be good.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

Production is continuing on The Four Doctors, the eagerly awaited special release that unites the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctor in a time-bending battle against the Daleks.

The story, which is written by Peter Anghelides and stars Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Nicholas Briggs, is released in December and will be available only to subscribers of the main Doctor Who range.

Also, in a departure to previous years, there are no plans to subsequently make this story available for sale. The Four Doctors will only ever be available to Big Finish subscribers.

We subscribed to Big Finish! I can see at least 150 of their CDs from where I'm sitting!