A number of audio productions based upon Doctor Who have been produced over the years. The first, in 1976, was a children's audio adventure entitled Doctor Who and the Pescatons by Victor Pemberton. Around this time an audio version of the televised serial Genesis of the Daleks was released on record, with specially recorded narration by Tom Baker. Both of these early releases have since been reissued on CD. The same year, Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen reprised their roles in an episode of the BBC Schools radio play Exploration Earth. Main article: History of Doctor Who Doctor Who first appeared on BBC television on November 23, 1963. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Victor Pemberton is a British television and radio script writer and novelist. ... Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from March 8 to April 12, 1975. ... Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor Thomas Stewart Baker (born January 20, 1934) is a British actor, mainly associated with playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, whom he played from 1974 to 1981. ... Categories: Stub | 1948 births | British actors | Doctor Who actors ...

In 1985, during a period when the series was on a sabbatical at the BBC, BBC Radio hired Colin Baker and his TV companion Nicola Bryant to reprise their TV roles for a new production called Slipback, broadcast as part of the Radio 4 children's magazine Pirate Radio Four, which received quite a bit of press fanfare, though it did not receive good reviews. It too was later released on audio tape and CD. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. ... Colin Baker (born June 8, 1943) is a British actor who is best known for playing the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Nicola Bryant (publicity portrait). ... Slipback is a radio audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced by the BBC and first broadcast in six episodes on BBC Radio 4 from 25 July to 8 August 1985, as part of a childrens magazine show called Pirate Radio... Pirate Radio Four was a magazine show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1985-6. ...

Doctor Who audio adventures diversified somewhat in the 1990s, when the BBC began issuing the soundtracks of 1960s-era serials on cassette and compact disc, some with added narration. These releases were usually derived from serials that were incomplete in the BBC vaults, thereby making this the only format in which fans could enjoy the entire story. // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

BBC Radio, meanwhile, attempted to get a new series of Doctor Who stories made for radio. Although more were planned, only two were ever completed: The Paradise of Death (1993) and The Ghosts of N-Space (1996), both featuring Jon Pertwee in two of his final performances as the Third Doctor. The Paradise of Death was broadcast on Radio 5, and after that station's re-launch as a news and sport network in 1994 it seemed that there would be no home for any sequels. However, a repeat broadcast of The Paradise of Death that year on Radio 2 proved popular - despite episode five accidentally being broadcast twice in place of episode six, necessitating episode six being delayed by a week - and the station was happy to commission the sequel, The Ghosts of N-Space, for itself. 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... John Devon Roland Pertwee (July 7, 1919–May 20, 1996), better known as Jon Pertwee, was a British actor. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

In 1994, BBC Radio 4 in part of the series "Whatever Happened to ..?" broadcast a comedy drama entitled Whatever Happened to Susan Foreman? featuring Jane Asher as Susan Foreman and Andrew Sachs as Temmosus the Thal. 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... Whatever Happened to . ... Jane Asher Jane Asher (born April 5, 1946) is a British film and television actress and the author of several full-length novels. ... Susan Foreman is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Andrew Sachs (born Andreas Siegfried Sachs, April 7, 1930) is a British actor. ... Alternate use: The Thals, an alien race from the series Doctor Who Thal is a small village in Austria, near the city of Graz. ...

Several of the Target novelisations have been made into audio books narrated by actors who have appeared in the television series. For example, Peter Davison read the novelisation of Kinda. Target Books was a British publishing company, founded in the early 1970s as a subsidiary of WH Allen Limited. ... An audio book is a recording of the contents of a book read aloud. ... Peter Davison (born April 13, 1951) is a British actor, most commonly associated with playing Tristan to Robert Hardys Siegfried in All Creatures Great and Small and as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, whom he played from 1981 to 1984. ... Kinda is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from February 1 to February 9, 1982. ...

Beginning in 1999, Big Finish Productions, under licence from the BBC, began a range of audio plays on compact disc, with one released every month starring one of the surviving actors to play the Doctor, namely the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors. The ongoing Eighth Doctor series (which have been released in "seasons" of between four to six consecutive releases) is independent of the novel line, with the Doctor doing different things with a different companion, played by India Fisher in the role of Charlotte ("Charley") Pollard. None of the audio plays have featured Tom Baker (as the Fourth Doctor) who has declined invitations to reprise his role. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces audio plays released straight to compact disc, based on British cult science fiction properties. ... This is a list of audio plays based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who produced by Big Finish Productions. ... The Fifth Doctor is the name given to the fifth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... The Sixth Doctor is the name given to the Sixth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... India Fisher, who provides the voice for Charley Pollard India Fisher is a British actress. ... India Fisher, who provides the voice for Charley Pollard Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by India Fisher in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The Fourth Doctor is the name given to the fourth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ...

Big Finish have also produced a limited-run series of audio plays based around one of the Doctor's former television companions, Sarah Jane Smith, as well as a limited Doctor Who Unbound series that explores possibilities contrary to the established mythos (for instance, "What if the Doctor had never left Gallifrey?"). The format of the Unbound series allows well-known actors such as Derek Jacobi and David Warner to play the Doctor, albeit alternate versions of the character. Bernice Summerfield, the Doctor's companion from the New Adventures novels, also features in her own series of audio plays, the character being voiced by Lisa Bowerman. Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Sir Derek George Jacobi KBE, (born October 22, 1938), is a British actor, knighted in 1994 for his services to the theatre. ... David Warner David Warner (born July 29, 1941 in Manchester, England) is a British actor, whose image might be described as sinister. ... Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield Lisa Bowerman is a British actress. ...

The BBC has extended Big Finish's licence to produce the audios until 2007, but the licence only covers the original television series and not the new series, thus Big Finish cannot do audio plays featuring the Ninth Doctor or other characters from the 2005 revival. 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ninth Doctor refers to the ninth official incarnation of the fictional character known as the Doctor, in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ...

From 6 August 2005, four of the Eighth Doctor audio dramas will be broadcast on the digital radio station BBC 7 — these are Storm Warning, Sword of Orion, The Stones of Venice and Invaders from Mars. August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... The Eighth Doctor is the name given to the eighth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... Digital radio describes radio technologies which carry information as a digital signal. ... BBC 7 is a digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and childrens programming 24 hours a day. ... A storm warning generally refers to an advisory issued by an official meteorological department to warn citizens of approaching dangerous weather. ... Sword of Orion is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The Stones of Venice is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Invaders from Mars is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ...

Other Doctor Who-related mini-series include

• Dalek Empire, Dalek Empire II: Dalek War, and Dalek Empire III, produced by Big Finish Productions;
• Gallifrey, also produced by Big Finish, with Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson reprising their roles as Romana and Leela;
• UNIT, another Big Finish production, with a new UNIT crew, and some audios guest-starring Nicholas Courtney as the now-retired General Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.
• the Kaldor City series, produced by Magic Bullet Productions, which expanded on the setting and characters created for the serial The Robots of Death, but also ties in with the BBC television series Blake's 7; and
• The Faction Paradox Protocols, stories about the rebel crime syndicate/voodoo cult introduced to the Doctor Who novel line by author Lawrence Miles. The first six Faction audios were published by BBV, but Magic Bullet have recently announced that they will be taking over the series.

The status of the various audio adventures in terms of canonicity has not been confirmed. While it is a question that has vexed fans, it appears that, broadly, the BBC care little about the matter. Both Virgin's and Big Finish's output are believed by some fans to be canonical since they have been officially licensed by the BBC. However, the continuity of Virgin's novels and the audio adventures differs considerably. While no official announcement has been made, general publicity for the new televsion series makes clear that it will make little or no reference to either the audio adventures or novels in order to remain accessible to a wide audience. The Daleks (pronounced DAH-lecks; IPA: ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... // Headline text A Vardan spaceship approaches Gallifrey from space (from The Invasion of Time). ... Lalla Ward (publicity portrait from 1990). ... Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951) is a British actress, most famous for playing Leela, the leather-clad barbarian warrior companion of the mysterious Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Leela is a fictional character played by Louise Jameson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (also known as UNIT) is a fictional military organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Nicholas Courtney Nicholas Courtney (born William Nicholas Stone Courtney on December 16, 1929) is a British television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. ... The Kaldor City audio plays (see Doctor Who spin-offs ) are violent tales of power, sex and intrigue set in the universe of Chris Bouchers Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death, the Blakes 7 episode Weapon and his Doctor Who novel Corpse Marker. ... The Robots of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from January 29 to February 19, 1977. ... Blakes 7 was a BBC science fiction television series created by Terry Nation that ran four seasons from January 2, 1978 to December 21, 1981. ... // Overview Faction Paradox is the fictional time travelling voodoo cult/rebel group/organized crime syndicate created by Lawrence Miles. ... A large sequined voodoo banner by the artist George Valris The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor-based theist-animist religious tradition. ... This article does not discuss cult in its original sense of religious practice; for that usage see Cult (religion). ... In the context of fiction, the canon of a fictional universe comprises those novels, stories, films, etc. ...

See also

• List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish
• Kaldor City

This is a list of audio plays based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who produced by Big Finish Productions. ... The Kaldor City audio plays (see Doctor Who spin-offs ) are violent tales of power, sex and intrigue set in the universe of Chris Bouchers Doctor Who serial The Robots of Death, the Blakes 7 episode Weapon and his Doctor Who novel Corpse Marker. ...

External links

• Big Finish
• Tertiary Console Room a guide to the audio dramas
• Doctor Who page on BBC 7 drama site