David Ferguson marks Pride Month in this month’s 5 Doctor Who audio feature with a look at some of the LGBTQ+ creators involved with Big Finish…
From the very first episode of the television series, directed by Waris Hussein, Doctor Who has had LGBTQ+ people involved. Big Finish has continued this tradition and I am covering five people who have been involved with stories that I have enjoyed. So more than five stories in this one. And, as I am wont to do, I have named some stories that are good jumping on points.
James Goss
James Goss is a writer and producer who has worked in variety of roles in the world of Doctor Who. From commissioning the animated episodes for the missing episodes of the Second Doctor serial The Invasion(1968) for the BBC, to novelisations to writing Torchwood and Doctor Who stories for Big Finish. Even within Big Finish, he has had a bunch of roles and his writing takes him all over the worlds of Doctor Who.
Here are some of his stories that I enjoyed:
World and Time Enough (2016) – released as part of The Diary of River Song Series Two, episode 3. No one is better at bringing down corrupt regimes than River Song but, when she arrived at Golden Futures, she realises someone has already started the job. The Doctor (Colin Baker) is already on the scene. (As a sidenote, each set of River Song is kind of stand-alone. A few of them feature a different Doctor or Doctors. Series One was the Eighth and series two was The Seventh and The Sixth).
The Sky Man (2017) – The third episode in the first War Master box set, Only The Good (2017). The Master (Derek Jacobi) indulges his new friend Cole (Johnny Green) in his futile quest to save a planet during the Time War. I really enjoyed this story. The Master takes a backseat as he says his people won’t let him interfere. It is fun that we know more than Cole and that the Master could help if we wanted to and is always up to something.
(The War Master boxsets are all standalone too and aren’t in chronological order but I recommend Only The Good (2017) as a good starting point. James Goss also wrote two stories in the second volume, Master of Callous. Very dark!)
No Place (2019) – The Tenth Doctor Adventure Volume 3, episode one. The Tenth Doctor and rest of the Noble family (!?) are part of a reality show called Haunted Makeovers. This one is notable for the return of Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott. Jacqueline King also returns as Sylvia Noble. The cast manage to recapture the chemistry of the TV show and this is a nice twist on a ghost story. I’m a Donna Noble fan, so only bought her two volumes of the Tenth Doctor Adventures and the stories are all standalone. This one can be purchased separately.
Masterful (2021) – A story to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of the Master in Terror of the Autons (1971). The Master invites his other selves to celebrate his final victory – but he has forgotten to invite Missy! She’s annoyed, but she is also not convinced that The Master is telling the truth. She knows herself. It was fun to hear the interactions some of the TV and movie incarnations (Geoffrey Beevers, Eric Roberts, Derek Jacobi, John Simm and Michelle Gomez) along with Big Finish ones (Mark Gatiss, Alex Macqueen and Milo Parker). As is often said, Big Finish does a lot to expand on existing creations. Also starring a classic companion!
The Artist At The End of Time (2023) – The second story in the Big Finish Doctor Who 60th anniversary story, Once and Future. It features Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Georgia Tennant reprising her roles as The Doctor’s Daughter and Colin Baker, but not in the role you think. No story details as it would spoil it for newbies. I think this storyline had mixed reviews but I enjoyed it overall.
Tom Allen
Tom Allen is a comedian, actor, writer and presenter. He won the So You Think You’re Funny at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2005, which marked his breakthrough as a comedian. He has since become well-known as a presenter on shows such as The Great British Bake-Off: An Extra Slice and has just written his first novel.
Back in 2011, he starred as Oliver Harper, the first ongoing companion created by Big Finish for The Companion Chronicles and the chronologically first queer companion for The Doctor. In this era, The Doctor and Steven Taylor are traveling alone. Oliver’s story takes place after the Daleks’ Master Plan (1965 – 1966), which killed off Katarina and Sara Kingdom, and before The Massacre (1966), the introduction of Dodo.
Oliver only lasted for three stories, the stories feature Peter Purves as Steven Taylor and The First Doctor:
The Perpetual Bond (2011) – The TARDIS materialises in a familiar junkyard in the 1960s. The Doctor and Steven are still recovering from the shocking death of Sara. However, they soon become embroiled in a mystery in the City of London. There are strange bowler hat wearing businessmen with deadly umbrellas. There is also Oliver Harper, a young man trying desperately to hold on to a secret.
The Cold Equations (2011) – Its Oliver’s first trip in the TARDIS but now he finds himself in the remnant of a floating satellite above a ruined Earth, dying alongside his companion Steven. Both are facing their pasts and long kept secret is revealed.
The First Wave (2011) – When the Doctor is apparently killed, Steven and Oliver attempt to survive against the odds. But those odds are narrowing. Their borrowed time has expired.
Writer Simon Guerrier has cited the excellent film Victim (1961), about a homosexual man on the run from the law, as one of his inspirations for Oliver’s character and the experience of homosexuality in the 1960s. Coincidentally, Oliver’s name comes up in the Tenth Doctor story I have already mentioned, No Place (2019).
Matthew Waterhouse
Matthew Waterhouse is a writer and actor who played the Doctor Who companion Adric from Full Circle(1980) to Earthshock (1982), with cameo appearances in Time-Flight (1982) and Caves of Androzani(1984). After leaving the show, he began a stage career but returned to the role of Adric with Big Finish, starring in both Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Fifth Doctor (Peter Davidson) stories. He had turned down a return to the role for many years, feeling he might not be able to recreate the youthful essence of 15 year old Adric.
Unlike the other people on this list, I have not really gotten to listen to that many of his stories but I will mention some that I did:
A Full Life (2016) – A short trip. An elderly Adric recounts his life into a tape recorder. His life is full of death. His parents died when he was a child. His brother died a few months ago. Now, travelling with the Doctor and Romana, everywhere he visits, people die. But now they have arrived on Veridis. And on Veridis, the dead come back… An interesting story where we learn a bit more about Adric’s life and it makes him more likeable as a character.
The Ingenious Gentleman Adric of Alzarius (2017) Another short trip. Sir Keeyoht of la Koura, and his loyal squire Adric, are on a quest. A great and noble quest to stop that most vile of Enchanters, the Doctor, from claiming the greatest treasure in the land. Along the way they intend to battle giants (or possibly windmills), inspire adventurers, rescue a princess and ultimately come face to face with that most terrifying of all monsters, the Dragon. Except Adric knows there are no such thing as Dragons… In the story we see more of Adric’s thoughts and feelings and it all makes such sense and the character so much more likeable.
Companion Piece (2019). Part of the Eighth Doctor Who: Ravenous 3 (2019) boxset. The evil Time Lord The Nine comes across a rare and valuable item floating in the space-time vortex, his acquisitive nature means he can’t resist the urge to complete the set. This results in him kidnapping various companions including Katarina (Ajjaz Awad), Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines), Jo Grant (Katy Manning), Leela (Louise Jameson), Romana (Lalla Ward) and Adric. From Adric’s perspective, it is in the middle of travels with The Doctor. It’s another fun multi-companion story from Big Finish.
I am tempted to try the Fifth Doctor Lost Story: Genesis of the Cybermen (2025)…
Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi is an award winning actor known for a variety of roles on stage and screen. From classic drama I, Claudius (1976) to children’s TV favourite In The Night Garden (2007 – 2009) to the sitcom Vicious (2016 – 2019). It had long been his ambition to star in Doctor Who and he made his only TV appearance in Utopia (2007). He spent the bulk of the episode playing Professor Yana. We later learn that this a guise The Master has taken to escape The Time War. We only briefly see Jacobi’s Master at the end of the episode. As with a number of characters, Big Finish gave us a chance to see more of Jacobi’s Master, dubbed The War Master. Spoilers: it was worth the ten year wait.
As I mentioned earlier, the War Master volumes, at least the ones I have gotten to, are stand-alone and don’t seem to be in chronological order so you can just pick one to try. Some have obvious hints to where they fit in continuity which I think will add to fan enjoyment.
Here are five that may be of interest:
Only The Good (2017) – Volume One. The Master pretends to be The Doctor, actually becomes a doctor and gets a companion of his own (as already covered above). This boxset does a good job of setting up what Jacobi’s incarnation of The Master actually is.
Master of Callous (2018) – Volume Two. On the Callous mining colony, Elliott King struggles to meet the demands of its governor. Meanwhile, in the forest, a wild Ood wanders around carrying an old fashioned telephone. The voice on the other side promises much. This is very much a horror story and shows the patience and pure evil of the War Master. I also thought it was a great use of an existing alien.
Killing Time (2021) – Volume Six. The only way for The Master to succeed with his current plan is with the help of some old acquaintances. I love the use of the classic companions Jo Grant / Jones (Katy Manning) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), who fans may remember have had previous run-ins with The Master.
Self-Defence (2022) – Volume Seven. The Master calls upon his oldest friend in his hour of need. The problem is the Master doesn’t recognise this incarnation of the Doctor… while this Doctor knows this Master all too well. Featuring David Tennant as The Tenth Doctor.
Escape From Reality (2022) – Volume Eighth. Pursued by the Daleks, the Master escapes into the world of fiction. Once there, he decides to scavenge impossible artefacts as weapons. First he must face a host of legendary monsters, meet literary heroes and become the world’s greatest consulting detective.
I particularly enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes and Dorian Gray stories in this set. The latter seeing Alexander Vlahos reprise his role as Dorian from Big Finish’s Dorian Gray audios.
Derek Jacobi also shows up in, amongst other things, Gallifrey: Time War Volume One (2018), The Diary of River Song Series 5, Ravenous 4 (2019) and, as mentioned above, Masterful (2021). I recommend his Big Finish interview I, Jacobi (2021)
Rebecca Root
Rebecca Root is an actress, comedian and voice coach. She is most well-known for playing the leading role in the BBC Two sitcom Boy Meets Girl (2015). She voiced several roles for Big Finish before taking on the role of Tania Bell starting in the Eighth Doctor Stranded storyline. Tania is the first transgender companion in any media.
Stranded 1 – 4 (2020 – 2022) Stranded in one time and place, the Eighth Doctor and his companions Liv and Helen seek refuge in Baker Street, a house the Doctor owns. But the house has changed since the last time he visited. They now have neighbours – not all of them welcoming. Now they face their greatest challenge yet: living one day after another, in 2020 London. This story gave a lot of time for characters to develop and Tania is easily the most likeable of the neighbours, even if she has a secret that affects The Doctor’s future. Eagle eyed fans will see two familiar faces on the cover as The Curator (Tom Baker) and Torchwood’s Andy Davidson (Tom Price) appear. It is great to see Big Finish make use of a character who only appeared once on screen.
Even though I have only listened to her role in The Stranded Era, I really enjoyed Tania Bell as a companion of the Doctor. I am reminded that I definitely need to get The Twelfth Doctor audio novel, The Chaos Cascade (2024), which features The Twelfth Doctor, Tania and Missy. I am also contemplating picking up her appearance in The Ninth Doctor Adventure story Flatpack (2022).
David Ferguson
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David is a writer of stuff on comics and pop culture for GCN.ie. He is also a contributor and editor (Hugo nominated) for Journey Planet
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