The Fifth Doctor

The Fifth Doctor’s era stands out in the TV series as having a lot of companions. That made for some logistical difficulties on Big Finish’s part, both in getting the actors to return (Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse were unwilling for several years), but also finding spots where the stories could fit between the TV episodes. The solution was to add a lengthy period of the Doctor traveling with just Nyssa, and then a period at the end of his tenure when he traveled with Peri for much, much longer than the TV series ever indicated, even adding an original companion into the mix with Erimem. As of 2019, all the actors have returned to their roles, leading to a wide variety of stories scattered throughout the Fifth Doctor’s tenure.

This is also the portion of the project where the "Main Range" or "Monthly Range" stories start to appear. Original Big Finish, back in 1999, had one range of stories that alternated between the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors, adding the Eighth after a short period of time. That lasted until 2021, when they had so many other Doctors with their own dedicated series, it made little sense to continue with the monthly releases. As a result, some of the oldest Big Finish stories are found in this section.

This is also the place where I started my project, as the Fifth is my favorite of the classic Doctors. I wasn't taking careful notes in the first stage, so many of the "listened" dates are approximations. Also, some of these reviews are very short; I may revisit them someday.