Changes: The Companion Chronicles

Revision as of 12:39, 18 February 2017

The Companion Chronicles is a Big Finish Productions audio series that ran for eighty monthly releases across eight seasons between 2007 and 2014, before relaunching with periodic box set releases thereafter.

The general, but not invariable, ambition of the series was to tell stories using the companions of the first four Doctors. The typical release in the range used just two actors, a musical score, some foley work and sound design — meaning that the end result sat somewhere between an audio book and a full-cast drama.

Overview

Concept

Originally, the concept was to produce talking books featuring the companions of the first four incarnations of the Doctor who were unavailable to take part in the main range. While the range has remained primarily focused on companions who appeared earlier than Season 19, most releases in the range have not been true "talking books". In fact, all but one release — The Stealers from Saiph — use the convention of at least two characters in conversation with each other. Most have a sound design worthy of any title in the main range. On rare occasions, the range has moved away from its titular concern and featured characters who are more commonly considered "prominent guest stars" or "allies", such as King Peladon and Henry Gordon Jago.

Format and structure

In general, Companion Chronicles have a fairly standard format. They are usually two, approximately 25 minute long episodes divided by a single cliffhanger, barring special double length releases released regularly each season from the fourth onwards. The part of the story that has to do with the Doctor is almost always told in flashback, as a recollection of a past adventure. Thus, the central character of the piece (i.e., the companion) is often depicted in two time periods. That is, there is typically an "older" version of the companion who recounts the adventure with the Doctor, and the "younger" version of the character, who is as he or she appeared on television.

The actor not portraying a companion is used in a variety of ways to allow stories in the range to have markedly different structures. Some common narrative uses for the second actor are:

to voice a character trying to get the companion to recollect his or her past, as in Ringpullworld
to voice a friend of the companion, as in The Transit of Venus
to voice the principal adversary, as with Fear of the Daleks

Sometimes, the interrogator is revealed to be the principal adversary, as in Mother Russia or Frostfire; sometimes the listener knows the interrogator is the adversary right from the start, as with The Catalyst. In any case, the relationship between ex-companion and interrogator is usually a pretty obvious "framing device", which takes up a clear minority of the runtime of the release. However, in a few rare cases, as with the Home Truths trilogy, the interrogator is a co-star equal with the featured character and is given a a proper story with the "present day" companion woven into the companion's recollections of the Doctor's TARDIS.

Dwm companion chronicles — Preview art for the first series by Ben Wilsher from DWM 381.

The 2011 release Tales from the Vault was a departure from the "enhanced audiobook" format, being effectively a straight audio drama (albeit still one with a limited cast) that incorporated interviews with various companions.

Continuity

A few of the plays tie in to others in the Big Finish Doctor Who range. The Darkening Eye is a prequel to The Death Collectors; Night's Black Agents explicitly occurs between City of Spires and The Wreck of the Titan; the Leela trilogy which begins with The Catalyst relies to some degree on the listener's knowledge of the Gallifrey audio series; and The Prisoner's Dilemma occupies a complicated narrative space, tying together the Virgin New Adventures with Big Finish's Key 2 Time series.

All the plays add to the their main characters' televised continuities. Some detail an adventure that adds little to their lives; for instance, Mother Russia gives Steven an adventure in Napoleonic Russia between the main narrative of The Gunfighters and its conclusory scenes, which lead into The Savages. Even the interchange with his interrogator is set within the main story. Thus, Steven gains merely another adventure that fits neatly in his established, televised timeline.

By contrast, other plays expand greatly on the known fates of their principal character/s. For instance, the trilogy of stories featuring Sara Kingdom, the main narratives of which take place between episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan, reveals that she had other adventures with Steven and the Doctor besides the quest for taranium which was the central plot of her televised adventure. More significantly, the trilogy also gives Sara, or at least her consciousness, a thousand-year-lifespan, a way to have met a different incarnation of the Doctor and thus a second chance to travel in the TARDIS.

Most plays settle somewhere between these two extremes. Thanks in part to the typical interrogative "framing device", most of the plays reveal something about the lives of the Doctor's companions after leaving him. In the very first Companion Chronicle, for instance, Vicki is shown to have remained with Troilus and to have had a large family. Equally, the series shows that Susan Foreman stayed with David Campbell, Jo Jones continued her globe-trotting life with Dr. Clifford Jones and Victoria settled down to raise a family.

List of stories

Season 1

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
1	Frostfire	Marc Platt	First Doctor	Vicki Pallister Steven Taylor	January 2007
2	Fear of the Daleks	Patrick Chapman	Second Doctor	Zoe Heriot Jamie McCrimmon The Daleks	January 2007
3	The Blue Tooth	Nigel Fairs	Third Doctor	Liz Shaw Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart Cybermen	January 2007
4	The Beautiful People	Jonathan Morris	Fourth Doctor	Romana II K9 Mark II	January 2007

Season 2

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
5	Mother Russia	Marc Platt	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Dodo Chaplet	October 2007
6	Helicon Prime	Jake Elliott	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon	November 2007
7	Old Soldiers	James Swallow	Third Doctor	Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart	December 2007
8	The Catalyst	Nigel Fairs	Fourth Doctor	Leela	January 2008

Season 3

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
9	Here There Be Monsters	Andy Lane	First Doctor	Susan Foreman Ian Chesterton Barbara Wright	July 2008
10	The Great Space Elevator	Jonathan Morris	Second Doctor	Victoria Waterfield Jamie McCrimmon	August 2008
11	The Doll of Death	Marc Platt	Third Doctor	Jo Grant	September 2008
12	Empathy Games	Nigel Fairs	Fourth Doctor	Leela	October 2008
13	Home Truths	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Sara Kingdom Steven Taylor	November 2008
14	The Darkening Eye	Stewart Sheargold	Fifth Doctor	Nyssa Adric Tegan Jovanka	December 2008
15	The Transit of Venus	Jacqueline Rayner	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton Barbara Wright Susan Foreman	January 2009
16	The Prisoner's Dilemma	Simon Guerrier	Seventh Doctor	Ace Zara	January 2009
17	Resistance	Steve Lyons	Second Doctor	Polly Wright Ben Jackson Jamie McCrimmon	March 2009
18	The Magician's Oath	Scott Handcock	Third Doctor	Mike Yates	April 2009
19	The Mahogany Murderers	Andy Lane	None	Henry Gordon Jago George Litefoot	May 2009
20	The Stealers from Saiph	Nigel Robinson	Fourth Doctor	Romana I	June 2009

Season 4

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
21	The Drowned World	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Sara Kingdom Steven Taylor	July 2009
22	The Glorious Revolution	Jonathan Morris	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Zoe Heriot	August 2009
23	The Prisoner of Peladon	Cavan Scott & Mark Wright	Third Doctor	King Peladon Ice Warriors	September 2009
24	The Pyralis Effect	George Mann	Fourth Doctor	Romana II	October 2009
25	Ringpullworld	Paul Magrs	Fifth Doctor	Vislor Turlough Tegan Jovanka	November 2009
26	Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code	Eddie Robson	Seventh Doctor	Bernice Summerfield	January 2010
27	The Suffering	Jacqueline Rayner	First Doctor	Vicki Steven Taylor	February 2010
28	The Emperor of Eternity	Nigel Robinson	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Victoria Waterfield	March 2010
29	Shadow of the Past	Simon Guerrier	Third Doctor	Liz Shaw	April 2010
30	The Time Vampire	Nigel Fairs	Fourth Doctor	Leela K9	May 2010
31	Night's Black Agents	Marty Ross	Sixth Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon	May 2010
32	Solitaire	John Dorney	Eighth Doctor	Charley Pollard Celestial Toymaker	June 2010

Season 5

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
33	The Guardian of the Solar System	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Sara Kingdom Steven Taylor	July 2010
34	Echoes of Grey	John Dorney	Second Doctor	Zoe Heriot Jamie McCrimmon	August 2010
35	Find and Replace	Paul Magrs	Third Doctor	Jo Grant Iris Wildthyme	September 2010
36	The Invasion of E-Space	Andrew Smith	Fourth Doctor	Romana II Adric	October 2010
37	A Town Called Fortune	Paul Sutton	Sixth Doctor	Evelyn Smythe	November 2010
38	Quinnis	Marc Platt	First Doctor	Susan Foreman	December 2010
39	Peri and the Piscon Paradox	Nev Fountain	Fifth Doctor Sixth Doctor	Peri Brown	January 2011
40	The Perpetual Bond	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Oliver Harper	February 2011
41	The Forbidden Time	David Lock	Second Doctor	Polly Wright Ben Jackson Jamie McCrimmon	March 2011
42	The Sentinels of the New Dawn	Paul Finch	Third Doctor	Liz Shaw	April 2011
43	Ferril's Folly	Peter Anghelides	Fourth Doctor	Romana I	May 2011
44	The Cold Equations	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Oliver Harper	June 2011

Season 6

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
45	Tales from the Vault	Jonathan Morris	First Doctor Second Doctor Third Doctor Fourth Doctor	Steven Taylor Zoe Heriot Jo Grant Romana I	July 2011
46	The Rocket Men	John Dorney	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton Barbara Wright Vicki Pallister Rocket Men	August 2011
47	The Memory Cheats	Simon Guerrier	Second Doctor	Zoe Heriot Jamie McCrimmon	September 2011
48	The Many Deaths of Jo Grant	Cavan Scott & Mark Wright	Third Doctor	Jo Grant Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart	October 2011
49	The First Wave	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Oliver Harper	November 2011
50	Beyond the Ultimate Adventure	Terrance Dicks	Sixth Doctor	Crystal Jason	December 2011
51	The Anachronauts	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Sara Kingdom	January 2012
52	The Selachian Gambit	Steve Lyons	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Polly Wright	February 2012
53	Binary	Eddie Robson	Third Doctor	Liz Shaw Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart	March 2012
54	The Wanderer	Richard Dinnick	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton Susan Foreman Barbara Wright	April 2012
55	The Jigsaw War	Eddie Robson	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon	May 2012
56	The Rings of Ikiria	Richard Dinnick	Third Doctor	Mike Yates Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart John Benton	June 2012

Season 7

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
57	The Time Museum	James Goss	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton	July 2012
58	The Uncertainty Principle	Simon Guerrier	Second Doctor	Zoe Heriot Jamie McCrimmon	August 2012
59	Project: Nirvana	Cavan Scott and Mark Wright	Seventh Doctor	Lysandra Aristedes Sally Morgan	September 2012
60	The Last Post	James Goss	Third Doctor	Liz Shaw Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart	October 2012
61	Return of the Rocket Men	Matt Fitton	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Dodo Chaplet Rocket Men	November 2012
62	The Child	Nigel Fairs	Fourth Doctor	Leela	December 2012
63	The Flames of Cadiz	Marc Platt	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton Susan Foreman Barbara Wright	January 2013
64	House of Cards	Steve Lyons	Second Doctor	Polly Wright Jamie McCrimmon Ben Jackson	February 2013
65	The Scorchies	James Goss	Third Doctor	Jo Grant Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart	March 2013
66	The Library of Alexandria	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton Barbara Wright Susan Foreman	April 2013
67	The Apocalypse Mirror	Eddie Robson	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Zoe Heriot	May 2013
68	Council of War	Simon Barnard & Paul Morris	Third Doctor	John Benton Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart	June 2013

Season 8

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
69	Mastermind	Jonathan Morris	None	The Master	July 2013
70	The Alchemists	Ian Potter	First Doctor	Susan Foreman	August 2013
71	Upstairs	Mat Coward	First Doctor	Vicki Pallister Steven Taylor	September 2013
72	Ghost in the Machine	Jonathan Morris	Third Doctor	Jo Grant	October 2013
73	The Beginning	Marc Platt	First Doctor	Susan Foreman	November 2013
74	The Dying Light	Nick Wallace	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Zoe Heriot	December 2013
75	Luna Romana	Matt Fitton	Fourth Doctor	Romana II Romana I Trey	January 2014
76	The Sleeping City	Ian Potter	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton Barbara Wright Vicki Pallister	February 2014
77	Starborn	Jacqueline Rayner	First Doctor	Vicki Pallister Ian Chesterson Barbara Wright	March 2014
78	The War To End All Wars	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Dodo Chaplet	April 2014
79	The Elixir of Doom	Paul Magrs	Eighth Doctor	Jo Grant Iris Wildthyme	May 2014
80	Second Chances	John Dorney	Second Doctor	Zoe Heriot Jamie McCrimmon	June 2014

Season 9

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
81	The Sleeping Blood	Martin Day	First Doctor	Susan Foreman	June 2015
82	The Unwinding World	Ian Potter	First Doctor	Vicki Pallister	June 2015
83	The Founding Fathers	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Steven Taylor Vicki Pallister	June 2015
84	The Locked Room	Simon Guerrier	First Doctor	Steven Taylor	June 2015

Season 10

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
85	The Mouthless Dead	John Pritchard	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Polly Wright Ben Jackson	June 2016
86	The Story of Extinction	Ian Atkins	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Victoria Waterfield	June 2016
87	The Integral	David Bartlett	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon Zoe Heriot	June 2016
88	The Edge	Rob Nisbet	Second Doctor	Jamie McCrimmon	June 2016

Special releases

#	Title	Author	Doctor	Featuring	Released
*	The Three Companions	Marc Platt	Second Doctor Third Doctor	Polly Wright Brig. Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart Thomas Brewster	Serialised over 12 chapters beginning with AUDIO: The Magic Mousetrap in April 2009
*	The Mists of Time	Jonathan Morris	Third Doctor	Jo Grant	19th August 2009 (free download with DWM 411)
*	Freakshow	Mark Morris	Fifth Doctor	Vislor Turlough Tegan Jovanka	4th March 2010 (free download with DWM 419)
*	The Companion Chronicles: The Specials (box set compilation of The Three Companions, The Mists of Time, Freakshow)	Various	Various	Various	August 2011
*	The Revenants	Ian Potter	First Doctor	Ian Chesterton Barbara Wright	31st May 2012 (free download with DWM 448)

The Three Companions was a twelve-part serialised story issued as a bonus with the regular monthly Big Finish Doctor Who releases, beginning with The Magic Mousetrap in April 2009 and concluded with Survival of the Fittest in February 2010. An omnibus edit of the story is available in The Companion Chronicles: The Specials box set, released in August 2011.
Three stories were available for a limited time as free downloadable content for readers of Doctor Who Magazine: The Mists of Time in August 2009 via DWM 411, Freakshow in March 2010 via DWM 419 and The Revenants in May 2012 via DWM 448. The Mists of Time and Freakshow are also available in The Specials box set, while The Revenants was included in the Limited Collector's Edition of The Light at the End.

External links

Official The Companion Chronicles page at bigfinish.com

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-'''The Companion Chronicles''' is a [[Big Finish Productions]] audio series that ran for eighty monthly releases across eight seasons between 2007 and 2014, before relaunching with periodic box set releases thereafter.
+'''''The Companion Chronicles''''' is a [[Big Finish Productions]] audio series that ran for eighty monthly releases across eight seasons between 2007 and 2014, before relaunching with periodic box set releases thereafter.
 The general, but not invariable, ambition of the series was to tell stories using the [[companion]]s of the first four Doctors. The typical release in the range used just two actors, a musical score, some [[foley]] work and [[sound design]] — meaning that the end result sat somewhere between an audio book and a full-cast drama.

Tardis