The First Doctor

Here’s where it all starts. (Except I started this project with the Fifth Doctor and then came back here, but whatever.) The First Doctor’s era was known for having lots of historical stories, and for having lots of companions. That mostly gives Big Finish lots of options, except that Jacqueline Hill (Barbara) and Michael Craze (Ben) were deceased by the time Big Finish started recording, which limited their characters’ use, and Jackie Lane (Dodo) declined to participate, making her, as of the time of this writing, the only living companion actor from the classic series never to recreate her role. Of course, William Hartnell passed away in the 1970s, meaning that most of these stories aren’t full-cast dramas, but rather narrated stories in audiobook style. That said, William Russell (Ian) and Peter Purves (Steven), by the time they recorded for Big Finish, were as old, if not older, than Hartnell had been in 1963, so they’re able to do passable impersonations of him. The sequence of stories in the First Doctor’s era is all over the place, unlike the tidy runs of later Doctors where the chronological order matches the release order for lengthy stretches. That’s because these stories are spread over Companion Chronicles, Early Adventures, Lost Stories, and Short Trips.