History AudioPlay / BigFinishDoctorWho

* ''[[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/the-confessions-of-dorian-gray The Confessions of Dorian Grey]]'' ([[Series/TheConfessionsOfDorianGray Which also has its own Tropes page now).]]

* NamedAfterTheInjury: In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho081TheKingmaker The Kingmaker]]", the publican that the Doctor consults for information on the missing Peri and Erimem is known only as "One-Armed Clarrie," despite being in possession of two working arms. Turns out that Clarrie made the mistake of [[BerserkButton grabbing Erimem's backside]] back when they first met, prompting her to break his arm; even now that Clarrie has fully recovered, the nickname is too popular to get rid of.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Whilst Nicholas Briggs is essentially ''the'' voice of the Daleks and the Cybermen today, the audio dramas of the early 2000s had him share this duty with Alistair Lock, who most notably voiced the Dalek Emperor in "Neverland".

* LateArrivalSpoiler: The cover art for [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS1E7HumanResourcesPartOne "Human Resources: Part One"]] spoils its own plot twist by blatantly listing [[spoiler:Nicholas Briggs]] as [[spoiler:The Cybermen]].

** The titles for the Seventh Doctor's Lost Stories weren't Andrew Cartmel's preferred ones, but since they'd become established in fanon courtesy of a speculative Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine article, they decided to go with them (apart from "Ice Time", which became "Thin Ice"). The intended titles were "Action at a Distance" for "Crime of the Century", "Bad Destination" for "Earth Aid", and "Blood and Iron" for "Animal" (Though, to be fair, DWM were the ones who revealed the intended titles as well).

** ''Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead, Zagreus sees you in your bed and eats you when you're sleeping...'' The rhyme was first sung by the Sixth Doctor two and a half years before Zagreus even showed up. It was spoken by Eight a while later. In between Zagreus' first appearance and his very own episode, a CliffHanger which infamously was not resolved for a year and a half, the rhyme was referenced by a few other characters.

Additionally, [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/v/doctor-who---the-lost-stories The Lost Stories]] are episodes that were intended for the TV series, but never made (the stories in this range vary from scripts that were completely written before being abandoned, to plot outlines that have been adapted into complete stories). Various adaptations of existing Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse stories, such as the ''Series/DoctorWho'' stage plays or various novels, have also been recorded; there is currently an ongoing range of Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures adaptations. The company also publishes original tie-in novels, and used to publish Short Trips books.

** The Eighth Doctor, played by Creator/PaulMcGann, constantly gets [[Film/WithnailAndI called a "ponce"]] and MistakenForGay. The Eighth Doctor's second outfit, which made its debut in "Dark Eyes", greatly resembles Paul [=McGann=]'s outfit in ''Withnail and I''. The leather jacket is a peacoat version of Marwood's jacket.

* BreakoutCharacter: The Eighth Doctor, to the point where he has the longest-spanning StoryArc, the entire 40th anniversary centred on him, and the release of the "Dark Eyes" boxset was so popular it ''crashed the Big Finish website''.

* ForegoneConclusion: From 2005 onwards, the new TV series established that the Doctor would one day destroy Gallifrey in the Last Great Time War. As of 2012, the Eighth Doctor is slowly starting to understand that he's at ''war'' with the Daleks, and that it can't end well. In the ''AudioPlay/{{Gallifrey}}'' audio series, a lot of background is given to the start of the war; the Eighth Doctor series "Dark Eyes" tiptoes around it.

* GambitPileup: "Prisoner Of The Sun" and "Dark Eyes".

* ImportantHaircut: Eight gets one around "Dark Eyes", which neatly allows Paul [=McGann=] to do new promo pictures without having to wear the movie wig again.

** In "Dark Eyes", the Eighth Doctor ends up in a place that's stated to be the result of the Time War... [[spoiler: although it turns out to be AllJustADream]].

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The reason Molly was DemotedToExtra in "Dark Eyes 3" was because Ruth Bradley had filming commitments in LA and it was thought she would have to record what few lines she did have over there. Turns out she got finished ahead of time, but production had reached the point where the scripts couldn't be rewritten to give her a larger role. [[spoiler: Ruth was so busy during the production of "Dark Eyes 4", they decided that Eight should meet here forty years after they parted ways and cast a new older actress.]]

* TimeyWimeyBall: "The Chimes Of Midnight", "Jubilee", "Seasons Of Fear", "The Four Doctors", "The Eye Of The Scorpion", "Flip-Flop" and "Dark Eyes" are just a ''few'' examples of the many different ways time travel can work. The Web Of Time is a fickle thing as well; "Storm Warning", "Doctor Who And The Pirates" and "To The Death" all show wildly different things that may or may not happen, should someone who's supposed to be dead get rescued. In addition to that, the entire Divergent arc takes place in a separate ''universe'', which operates under its own laws of physics and technically doesn't even have time.

*** It's heavily implied that the Eighth Doctor's clashes with the Dalek Time Controller, particularly over the course of Dark Eyes and its sequels, are the earliest days of the Last Great Time War. Notably, some factions predict that a Dalek/Time Lord war is coming and would devastate the Daleks, but annihilate the Time Lords. [[spoiler: In fact, this is revealed to be why the Time Lords resurrect the Master.]]

* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/hubs/v/bernice-summerfield Bernice Summerfield]] (has [[Franchise/BerniceSummerfield its own Tropes page]])
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/charlotte-pollard---series-one-box-set-1020 Charlotte Pollard]]
* [[http://bigfinish.com/ranges/v/doctor-who---companion-chronicles Companion Chronicles]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/class Class]]
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/v/counter-measures Counter Measures]] (a spin-off from the 1988 TV story ''Remembrance of the Daleks'', has [[AudioPlay/CounterMeasures its own Tropes page]])
* [[http://bigfinish.com/Cyberman Cyberman]]
* [[http://bigfinish.com/Dalek-Empire Dalek Empire]] (has [[AudioPlay/DalekEmpire its own Tropes page]])
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/v/gallifrey Gallifrey]] (has [[AudioPlay/{{Gallifrey}} its own Tropes page]])
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/graceless Graceless]]
* [[http://bigfinish.com/I-Davros I, Davros]]
* [[http://bigfinish.com/Iris-Wildthyme Iris Wildthyme]] (has [[Franchise/IrisWildthyme its own Tropes page]])
* [[http://bigfinish.com/Jago-and-Litefoot Jago & Litefoot]] (a spin-off from the 1977 TV story ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'', has [[AudioPlay/JagoAndLitefoot its own Tropes page]])
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/jenny---the-doctor-s-daughter-1701 Jenny -- The Daughter's Doctor]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/lady-christina-1829 Lady Christina]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/missy-series-01-1884 Missy]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/rose-tyler---the-dimension-cannon-1989 Rose Tyler - The Dimension Cannon]]
* [[http://bigfinish.com/Sarah-Jane-Smith Sarah Jane Smith]] (has [[AudioPlay/SarahJaneSmith its own Tropes page]])
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/doctor-who---short-trips Short Trips]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/tales-from-new-earth-1683 Tales From New Earth]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/doctor-who---the-diary-of-river-song The Diary of River Song]] (has [[AudioPlay/TheDiaryOfRiverSong its own Tropes page]])
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/coming_soon_reverse/the-lives-of-captain-jack The Lives of Captain Jack]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/coming_soon_reverse/the-paternoster-gang The Paternoster Gang]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/v/the-war-master The War Master]]
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/coming_soon_reverse/torchwood Torchwood]]
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/doctor-who---unbound Unbound]]
* [[http://bigfinish.com/UNIT UNIT]] / [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/coming_soon_reverse/unit---the-new-series UNIT - The New Series]]
* [[http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/vienna Vienna]]

And thanks to [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-worlds-of-big-finish-1206 one big-ass crossover,]] we've also got (if somewhat tangentially):

* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/sherlock-holmes Sherlock Holmes]]
* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/released/the-confessions-of-dorian-gray The Confessions of Dorian Grey]] ([[Series/TheConfessionsOfDorianGray Which also has its own Tropes page now).]]

* [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/cicero-series-01-1777 Cicero]]

** Any time ''any'' Master actor appears, ''especially'' Alex MacQueen who seems determined to eat ''the entire world''. He often succeeds.

** Davros makes an admirable effort to out-ham everything else on the planet, including entire ''armies'' of Daleks.

%%* FalselyReformedVillain: The Daleks pull this one at least thrice. One attempt involved them going undercover as ''Shakespeare scholars''.

The company started producing ''Series/DoctorWho'' audios in 1998, with a range of stories focusing on companion Franchise/BerniceSummerfield. The following year, the licence for stories starring the Doctor was secured. The main ''Doctor Who'' range released a new story every month [[LongRunners from 1999 to 2021]], with an extra one every September; the monthly range was currently made up of four trilogies of stories (having previously bounced from Doctor to Doctor every month), plus one standalone release (usually an anthology of short stories) every year, and featured the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors.

The company started producing ''Series/DoctorWho'' audios in 1998, with a range of stories focusing on companion Franchise/BerniceSummerfield. The following year, the licence for stories about the Doctor himself was secured. The main ''Doctor Who'' range releases a new story every month, with an extra one every September; the monthly range is currently made up of four trilogies of stories (having previously bounced from Doctor to Doctor every month), plus one standalone release (usually an anthology of short stories) every year, and features the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors.

Following the huge success of Paul [=McGann=]'s audio adventures, the Eighth Doctor's episodes were expanded beyond the monthlies and replaced by a long separate series from 2007 onwards ("The New Eighth Doctor Adventures"), which were also broadcast on BBC radio; these were wrapped up in 2011 and the Eighth Doctor's continuing adventures were next told in the Dark Eyes series of boxsets (and their successor, Doom Coalition). The Fourth Doctor, the War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor also exclusively star in their own series outside of the monthlies. Some stories are presented as special releases or in separate box sets. Big Finish originally did not have the licence for the 2005 revival, but now can use every Doctor up to the [[Characters/DoctorWhoTwelfthDoctor Twelfth]]; their "classic series" (also known as the "heritage" licence) and "new series" licences were broadly kept separate at first, but have begun to crossover more and more so stories where the Fourth Doctor meets the Weeping Angels and the Fifth Doctor takes on the Slitheen start to appear.

* WhamLine: The end of episode 2 of "Dust Breeding" features the surprise, out of the blue appearance by an old foe[[labelnote:Spoiler]]To expand, Anthony Ainley turned down the offer to reappear as TheMaster, and so Creator/BigFinish hired Geoffrey Beevers, who had played the character in "The Keeper Of Traken". As he hadn't been associated with the role for a good few decades by the time of the story, fans didn't make the connection, especially since the story also guest-starred his wife Caroline John[[/labelnote]].

* WhamLine: The end of episode 2 of "Dust Breeding" features the surprise, out of the blue appearance by an old foe[[labelnote:Spoiler]]To expand, Anthony Ainley turned down the offer to reappear as TheMaster, and so Creator/BigFinish hired Geoffrey Beevers, who had played the character in "The Keeper Of Traken". As he hadn't been associated with the role for a good few decades by the time of the story, fans didn't make the connection[[/labelnote]].

** There were some licensing troubles in the past with mentioning the Last Great Time War, but the Eighth Doctor from that era shows up in "Mary's Story" regardless. It's just never ''explicitly'' stated what kind of terrifying war he's been in.

* BloodierAndGorier: The audio dramas sometimes take advantage of the fact that they are not limited by a visual medium, nor are they limited by Ofcom regulations, and so they are able to get away with things that the television stories definitely wouldn't get away with, even at their most violent. For example, the audio drama ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho040Jubilee Jubilee]]'' features shootings, stabbings, an "offscreen" beheading and an "onscreen" dismemberment, none of which would fly on television.

* BrokenBird: Molly.

** In an interesting variation, the monster in "Nocturne" is a ''living'' brown note.

* TheBusCameBack: Every single companion and villain from the classic series came back for Creator/BigFinish when they were asked, unless they were either dead or really not available. From Susan to Sara Kingdom to the Brigadier, and from Davros to Omega to the Master, they're all in there. The only exception was Jackie Lane's Dodo.

And thanks to [[https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-worlds-of-big-finish-1206?range=27 one big-ass crossover,]] we've also got (if somewhat tangentially):

->''We Love Stories''

* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Subverted (boy, is it '''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments ever]]''') with Queen Angvia ([[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow Pat Quinn]]), who's [[BrawnHilda built like a butch Valkyrie]] and [[LargeHam has the lung capacity to match]].

* CreditsGag: ''Bang-Bang-A-Boom!'' gleefully pokes fun at the pat endings of ''Star Trek'', with at least 3 fake-out before it ends for real: In one instance, the Doctor delivers a leaden 'PatrickStewartSpeech' which appears to go over well with the villain, only for him to [[RealityEnsues turn around and take Mel hostage]]. In another, the ''Doctor Who'' theme is cut short by a [[RecordNeedleScratch needle scratch]].

* RealityEnsues: Creator/BigFinish dives headfirst into the trope a few times, most notably in [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho086TheReaping "The Reaping"]]. Poor Peri finds out exactly what happens when you introduce the Doctor to your family and friends. Its direct sequel, [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho087TheGathering "The Gathering"]], has Tegan dealing with the trope. [[spoiler: She doesn't make it.]]

* MrSmith: Made into a plot point a few times over, notably in [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho006TheMarianConspiracy "The Marian Conspiracy"]]. It becomes a hugely important concept in [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho049Master "Master"]], which basically asks the question: "what if ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresHumanNature Human Nature]]'' had happened to the Master?". It has the Master living as "Dr. John Smith", and the Doctor realising with increasing horror all the ways in which he and his archenemy are NotSoDifferent.

* NotSoDifferent: Five and Omega, Six and Davros, Seven and the Master, Eight and the Meddling Monk. Creator/BigFinish adores this trope.

Following the huge success of Paul [=McGann=]'s audio adventures, the Eighth Doctor's episodes were expanded beyond the monthlies and replaced by a long separate series from 2007 onwards ("The New Eighth Doctor Adventures"), which were also broadcast on BBC radio; these were wrapped up in 2011 and the Eighth Doctor's continuing adventures were next told in the Dark Eyes series of boxsets (and their successor, Doom Coalition). The Fourth Doctor, the War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor also exclusively star in their own series outside of the monthlies. Some stories are presented as special releases or in separate box sets. Big Finish originally did not have the licence for the 2005 revival, but now can use every Doctor up to the [[Characters/DoctorWhoTwelfthDoctor Twelfth]]; their "classic series" (also known as the "heritage" license) and "new series" licenses were broadly kept separate at first, but have begun to crossover more and more so stories where the Fourth Doctor meets the Weeping Angels and the Fifth Doctor takes on the Slitheen start to appear.

* BatDeduction: Problems arise in the 17th century after Nyssa is busted for carrying anachronistic currency into a market. The inquisitor, [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Sir Isaac Newton]], takes a gander at the coins and determines that a) the American colonies will break off from England, split the atom, and travel to the moon, b) the Doctor is an extraterrestrial time traveler, and c) the Earth will be invaded by hostile races in the future. (''Circular Time'')

* BreakoutCharacter: The Eighth Doctor, to the point where he has the longest-spanning StoryArc, the entire 40th anniversary centered on him, and the release of the "Dark Eyes" boxset was so popular it ''crashed the Big Finish website''.

* DeadpanSnarker: The Eighth Doctor becomes this whenever he's about to be killed, to the point where it starts to look like an emotional defense mechanism more than anything. (His enemies notice it too, at one point stating that "he uses it to suppress his fear".) A notable moment is when he tells someone that he's ''really'' glad the guy's going to kill them all on purpose. Because he'd hate to think that someone would do something that monumentally stupid by accident.

** Prior to its license being extended in 2015, Creator/BigFinish had been getting permission for more and more new TV series nods over the years; "The Beginning" features the original TARDIS design seen in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of the Doctor"]], which was quickly changed from Big Finish's own design after the TV episode aired and one of the scenes in that story is Susan's point of view of TheTeaser of "The Name of the Doctor", with Clara being referred to only as "someone".