The Lost Stories


 * Lost_Stories_Poster.jpg to be confused with missing episodes, televised Doctor Who stories that were made, transmitted, and subsequently lost by the BBC.

The Lost Stories was a range of Doctor Who audios released by Big Finish Productions beginning in 2009. It took scripts or story treatments that had been officially proposed to the BBC from 1963 to 1990, converted them into audio-appropriate scripts and recorded them with as many of the original cast members as possible. The line was wholly separate from their monthly Doctor Who and The Companion Chronicles ranges. During the production of this series, the Doctors and companions involved continued to be as active as they normally were in other ranges.

Concept
Initially, the range was to have produced the stories intended for production during season 23. When that season was delayed, these stories were abandoned in favour of what became The Trial of a Time Lord.

Big Finish expanded the ambition of the range soon after announcing it. As the range developed, it changed from being about "the season 23 that never was" to more generally producing a whole range of never-made television stories. As of 2012, Big Finish had announced stories from the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors' eras. Stories involving the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors were full cast audios, while stories from the First, Second, and Third Doctors' eras had a format more akin to the "enhanced audiobooks" of the Companion Chronicles range.

The key factor for the producers was that the stories in this range must have at some point been officially proposed to the BBC. In some instances, the scripts produced by Big Finish were essentially those that had been delivered to the BBC; in others, they were wholly written for Big Finish based upon story ideas that had been proposed to the script editor of the era. In a few cases, finished scripts like The Song of Megaptera (originally titled The Song of the Space Whale) were tweaked for the audio medium. In others, as with Leviathan, they were more substantially altered.

Sixth Doctor stories
As the original impetus for the range, the Sixth Doctor stories deserve special consideration. Originally, the idea was that all known season 23 scripts and story ideas would be produced. Due to rights issues and writer availability, this proved impossible. Additionally, Big Finish research into "the season that never was" revealed scripts and story ideas actually meant for season 22. The producer of the range decided to take a more liberal approach to the concept. He put together a "new" season, comprised of most of the stories known to have been destined for season 23 and some stories meant for season 22. He knit all the stories together with continuing narrative elements not present in the original television scripts and story treatments. The result was an enhancement of the original goal of simply adapting the known stories for audio. The very fact that there were eight stories in the first run of Sixth Doctor stories immediately suggests a different season length than would have been possible on television during the Colin Baker era (however it was common for the BBC to commission more stories for a season than would necessarily be broadcast, in case one fell through, so the number of Season 23 stories in existence is not a reliable indicator of how long the season might have been; plus, at the time Season 23 was being planned there was every likelihood that Baker would have stayed on into Season 24 or beyond, so any leftover stories could have been used for later seasons).

As produced, the Sixth Doctor stories do possess a different tone from the standard Big Finish Doctor Who range. They employed a style of electronic music evocative of the one that would likely have been used had the stories been produced for television in 1985. Moreover, the characterisations of Peri and the Sixth Doctor are closer to the season 22 versions of the characters than typical for the main Big Finish Doctor Who range.

Big Finish announced in a special Lost Stories podcast that further Sixth Doctor stories beyond the initial eight were possible, depending upon sales. A second series of Sixth Doctor stories included some of those meant-for-season-23 stories not produced during the first run.

Seventh Doctor stories
In addition to the full-cast Sixth Doctor stories, the Lost Stories range also includes a Seventh Doctor series. In contrast to the first Sixth Doctor series, the first Seventh Doctor series are closer to the intention of the unmade Season 27. Perhaps due to the personal involvement of then-script editor, Andrew Cartmel, this branch of the Lost Stories hit the main beats planned for that season. Ace was joined by the new companion, Raine Creevy. Brigadier Winifred Bambera and UNIT returned, as had been planned. As of 2013, the effect of these major character developments on the Seventh Doctor's general usage in the main Doctor Who range has not been revealed. Of particular interest is whether Raine, having been established in The Lost Stories, will cross over into the main, monthly line. She made her first appearance outside of The Lost Stories in AUDIO: UNIT: Dominion.