10 Best Doctor Who Big Finish Releases
7. The Beginning
The Doctor steals a TARDIS and runs away from Gallifrey with his Granddaughter, Susan. This is something fans have understood since the sixties. And whilst we caught a glimpse of that in the ‘Name of the Doctor’, we have never seen anything more. So instead of seeing it, the aptly titled ‘The Beginning’ provides a neat little ‘Companion Chronicle’, giving insight into this very first adventure. The advantage of ‘Companion Chronicles’ is the ability to use older faces of the show where unfortunately their Doctor cannot be utilised by their original actor, and pair them with a guest actor to tell a more narrated adventure.
The attention to detail in this story is incredible, from Susan entering one TARDIS to be dragged out into another (under the orders of Clara in the ‘Name of the Doctor’) to the Doctor being accompanied by a “bronze trunk”, which fans can decipher as the ‘Hand of Omega’ from ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’.
Accompanying Carole Ann Ford is Terry Molloy as Quadrigger Stoyn, a Gallifreyan TARDIS technician who returns for two more stories to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary. Whilst the concept of this story could be a worryingly anti-climactic piece of fan service of how the Doctor leaves Gallifrey, it is far from it! This insightful story is a fun adventure which is takes you right back to before ‘An Unearthly Child’.