Cast
The plays feature both former actors who portrayed the Doctor and his companions, and new continuing characters as well as elements from other spin-off media. The canonicity of the audio dramas, as with other Doctor Who spin-off media, is unclear.
So far, productions have featured the Fifth (Peter Davison), Sixth (Colin Baker), Seventh (Sylvester McCoy) and Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann). Tom Baker recently began appearing as the Fourth Doctor in monthly releases that started in January 2012. Big Finish has not licensed the rights from the BBC to produce audio dramas featuring the Ninth, Tenth or Eleventh Doctors from the revived series.
Several of the companions from the original series have also appeared, voiced by their original actors. They include Susan (Carole Ann Ford), Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Steven Taylor (Peter Purves), Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh), Polly (Anneke Wills), Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines), Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling), Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury), Leela (Louise Jameson), K-9 (John Leeson), Romana II (Lalla Ward), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding), Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson), Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant), Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) and Ace (Sophie Aldred).
Several actors who played companions of previous Doctors have appeared in other roles including William Russell, Maureen O'Brien, Jean Marsh, Anneke Wills, Deborah Watling, Wendy Padbury, Caroline John, Katy Manning, Daphne Ashbrook and Elisabeth Sladen. Sladen also reprised Sarah Jane Smith in a spin-off series simply entitled Sarah Jane Smith, but never appeared as Sarah alongside any incarnation of the Doctor for Big Finish. Though a series with Tom Baker was planned, it was never recorded due to Sladen's untimely death in April 2011. Mary Tamm (along with Ward, Jameson and Leeson) appeared in the Gallifrey dramas. More recently, the companion Adric has appeared in a play, however not played by the original actor (Matthew Waterhouse), but recast and played by Andrew Sachs.
Big Finish also started the Companion Chronicle series of plays, a series of audios featuring a companion or friend of the Doctor along with sound effects and a supporting cast member. Ford, Hines, Padbury, Jameson, Ward, Sutton, Strickson and Aldred have all reprised their roles in this series along with Russell (Ian), O'Brien (Vicki), Marsh (Sara Kingdom), Wills (Polly), Watling (Victoria), John (Liz), Manning (Jo), Tamm (Romana I), and Peter Purves (Steven).
Read more about this topic: List Of Doctor Who Audio Plays By Big Finish
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