10 Best Doctor Who Big Finish Releases
4. Spare Parts
The origins of the Cybermen is something that has popped up in Doctor Who a few times over the years, but at Big Finish, it was in ‘Spare Parts’ by Marc Platt. From the most recent 2017, ‘World Enough and Time’ and ‘The Doctor Falls’ as well as their introduction to the new series in ‘Age of Steel’ and ‘Rise of the Cybermen’, the latter of which Platt received an acknowledgement for partially inspiring.
Similar to the unproduced Fifth Doctor story, ‘Genesis of the Cybermen’, this classic Big Finish adventure, sees the Doctor and Nyssa arrive on Mondas to witness the creation of the Mondasian Cybermen. For better or worse, Davison’s Doctor is probably the Doctor who’s seen the least development and is still very much the boyish and naïve incarnation seen onscreen. But that does not mean he doesn’t shine. ‘Spare Parts’ is one of, if not, the best Fifth Doctor Big Finish story. It’s shocking and horrific. With characters you genuinely care about and a gripping origin for one of Doctor Who’s greatest monsters. For villains which are emotionless, this story is incredibly emotional.