Allons-y, Alonso!
March 13, 2012 3:45 PM   Subscribe

Why yes, this is a question about Doctor Who.

I'm obsessed with Doctor Who and I'm tired of waiting for season 7 (argh!). Having watched every single episode that is on Netflix, I have now become intrigued by the Doctor Who radio dramas. However, there are a crap ton of episodes and I'm not really sure where to start or how they fit in to the show. Also, there seem to be different production companies--there's one called "SegalChord Production" that has Doctor Who podcasts on iTunes, and Big Finish Productions. Which ones are worth listening to and where do I begin? Please hope me!
posted by Lobster Garden to Grab Bag (12 answers total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Based on Philip Sandifer's recommendation on Monday, I'm going to get Spare Parts in the next hour or so. Sandifer calls it "very possibly the best Doctor Who story [his] blog has looked at so far" (As I'm sure you know, he's watching the whole thing in sequence, and has got up to early Peter Davison). Also highly recommended is Jubilee, the basis for Dalek in the first Eccleston series.
posted by Grangousier at 4:02 PM on March 13, 2012 [2 favorites]


Chimes of Midnight is pretty great.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:19 PM on March 13, 2012


My girlfriend is a huge Dr Who fan and I know she has a bunch of the Big Finish stuff.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:26 PM on March 13, 2012


You want the Big Finish's 8th Doctor Adventures. They take place between the 90s TV movie and the start of the new show. They're really, really good and worth watching in order.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:41 PM on March 13, 2012


Seconding the 8th Doctor's Adventures from Big Finish.
posted by KingEdRa at 6:11 PM on March 13, 2012


This (ginormous) Wikipedia list of Big Finish audios may be of some use. I've only listened to some of the Eighth Doctor ones so far. Storm Warning is the first episode of a very timey wimey story arc with a fantastic companion; Invaders from Mars is a mostly standalone installment guest-starring Orson Welles as the historical personage. Chimes of Midnight is wonderfully creepy, but I'm not sure it would work as well if you weren't already at least a little familiar with the companion involved.
posted by bettafish at 6:11 PM on March 13, 2012


Chimes of Midnight is wonderfully creepy, but I'm not sure it would work as well if you weren't already at least a little familiar with the companion involved.

Chimes of Midnight was my first Eighth Doctor adventure, and I had zero problems with it.
posted by Sticherbeast at 6:52 PM on March 13, 2012


Count me in as yet another person who recommends Big Finish's Eighth Doctor Adventures. I recommend starting with either Storm Warning or Chimes of Midnight. There are also the New Eighth Doctor Adventures starring a different companion, and you should definitely start with Blood of the Daleks with those.
posted by yasaman at 7:16 PM on March 13, 2012


I actualy found the Eighth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish to be a bit, meh.
But Spare Parts really is great. And so is Jubillee. And the Sixth Doctor ones with his older, female, historian companion, Dr Eveleyn Smythe really are good. I think that starts with the Marian Conspiracy.
posted by tonylord at 4:27 AM on March 14, 2012


The DiscContinuity Guide has a fairly comprehensive guide to most if not all of the various Who audios. Look around there and see what you fancy.
posted by permafrost at 4:47 AM on March 14, 2012


Yes, another vote for the 8th Doctor adventures. I'd vote that you start with Immortal Beloved, the fourth episode of the first season. It is superb, and if you like it, go back and listen to the first three to properly meet the new companion.

If you're interested in classic Doctors, then Demon Quest will be a lot of fun for you. It's Tom Baker, but more Tom Baker-y than ever.

(As far as podcasts: There are a HUGE number of them and the quality is all over the place. I'd ignore, if I were you, and focus instead on Big Finish and AudioGo.)
posted by jbickers at 6:33 AM on March 14, 2012


They're audiobooks rather than podcasts, but there are some fun ones from David Tennant's era. Tennant reads about five stories (all about 2-3 hours long in total). The best ones of those are, I think, The Last Voyage, and The Ressurection Casket. Catherine Tate also reads a couple of stories and does a good job. I liked The Forever Trap best. And Freema Agyeman also read a couple, and although I think I only ended up listening to The Pirate Loop, she did a very good job. There are a bunch read by other narrators, but I liked hearing the stories best in the familiar voices. David Tennant, naturally, does a very good job as the Doctor, although he never sounds much like Rose to my ears. And both Catherine Tate and Freema Agyeman do a very good Doctor impression, which is interesting listening.
posted by colfax at 7:55 AM on March 14, 2012


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