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Why supporting Big Finish directly matters

A love-letter to our listeners.

As passionate storytellers at Big Finish Productions, we’re proud of our wide output of audio drama productions – and ask our listeners to purchase them from us directly. 

You’ve discovered our vast universe of Doctor Who audio adventures, from Christopher Eccleston’s triumphant return as the Ninth Doctor to Jodie Whittaker's exciting new Thirteenth Doctor Adventures. The sheer volume of content can feel overwhelming – and expensive. We understand the temptation to download pirated copies. 

But piracy harms us. Here’s why choosing to support us directly isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s an investment in the stories you love. 

Every Purchase Fuels Future Adventures 

When you buy a Big Finish audio drama, you’re not just getting a story – you're funding the next one. Our average production timeline is 18 months from script development to release. That’s 18 months of writers crafting intricate plots, directors and producers coordinating recording sessions, and sound designers creating those spine-tingling effects and soundscapes. Piracy breaks this creative cycle, making it harder for us to commission new adventures featuring your favourite Doctors and companions. 

Supporting the Talent You Love 

Every purchase directly supports the actors who bring these characters to life. When Tom Baker steps into the recording booth as the Fourth Doctor, or when Billie Piper returns as Rose Tyler, they’re not just reprising beloved roles – they’re earning a living. Our productions employ dozens of people: writers, directors, sound engineers, musicians, and of course, the actors themselves. Piracy undermines their livelihoods and makes it challenging to attract top talent for future releases. 

Quality You Can’t Pirate 

Big Finish audio dramas aren’t just recorded and released. Each production undergoes meticulous sound design, professional mixing, and quality control that creates those cinematic experiences you love. Our stories come with exclusive artwork, behind-the-scenes and bonus content, and liner notes you simply can’t get from pirated copies. Plus, legitimate purchases give you access to our free audiobook player app, designed specifically for the optimal listening experience. 

Exclusive Content and Community 

When you purchase directly from us, you join a community of listeners who receive exclusive newsletter content, early-bird pre-order discounts, and access to special releases. Our listeners get exclusive content that’s never available elsewhere. Piracy cuts you off from this vibrant community and the special perks that come with being a legitimate supporter. 

Money Well Spent 

Because we sell our productions directly from our own website, and ship them from our own warehouse, we don’t have to give up a share of our income to a large retailer. This means that the money you spend goes directly into funding future productions and paying royalties to creatives. We’re sure you’ll agree that’s a worthwhile investment. 

The Completionist’s Dilemma 

We know our listeners – you have that completionist mentality. You want every story, every variant, every special release. But here's the thing: once our current CD stocks sell out, we don’t re-press them. Pirated copies can’t capture the collectible value or the satisfaction of owning authentic Big Finish releases. Your collection deserves to be legitimate. 

A Small Investment in Big Stories 

From single stories for under £10, to box sets containing multiple adventures at a higher price, each purchase represents incredible value – hours of entertainment, professional production quality, and direct support for the creative teams. Compare that to a cinema ticket or a night out, and you’ll see that Big Finish offers exceptional value for money. 

Legitimate Ways to Listen for Free 

If you want to listen to Big Finish audio dramas but are on a budget, there are ways to listen for free while still supporting us. Large selections of our back catalogue are available to stream at no cost on BBC Sounds, Spotify, and Amazon Music. We also have a collection of downloads available for free, which allow you to sample our newest releases before committing to buying them. 

The Future Depends on You 

Every time you choose to support Big Finish directly, you’re voting for more stories. More adventures. More of the characters and universes you love. Piracy doesn't just hurt us financially – it threatens the very existence of the stories that bring us all together. 

For the love of stories, please choose to support the creators who craft them. 

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big day for ninth doctor and rose tyler enjoyers!!!

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people who don’t wear glasses will never understand the absolute humiliation of dropping your glasses under your bed or in a dark area and feeling around on all fours muttering “my glasses…. where are my glasses” like fucking Velma Dinkley and thinking to yourself BOY WOULD THIS BE A LOT EASIER IF I COUKD FUCKING SEE

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I wondered if anyone had requested this yet on Cameo and then remembered that I have money to exchange for goods and services

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Y'all ever think about how the memory we hear of Solas taking Mythal's power from Flemeth bears little resemblance to what we literally watched happen in Inquisition, and that the fragment of Mythal in the crossroads says that the murals are the recollection he's cultivated (and also that he hasn't visited her since he awoke), implying he's an unreliable narrator, and how Varric says that he makes himself the villain so that everything he's done feels like a choice (implying it's not), and how at the end, Solas says that the world without the Veil is the world 'She' wanted?

Yeah

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i will never forgive the internet for making the phrase “fiction affects reality” inherently suspicious because like fiction absolutely does affect reality in the sense that the themes and messages of media can challenge or affirm people’s biases, it can impact one’s ideology, so much of fiction is commentary on real social issues

and yet! everyone who uses the phrase fiction affects reality is using it as a pro-censorship argument and i simply do not fuck with that

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"We have a new AI feature!" "With the power of AI..." "Our AI..."

I am going to abandon technology and start only inscribing things on clay tablets

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absolutely in Love with how much Solas was an asshole in DATV. He was just too babygirl in DAI (and a terrible liar too—hello mr. i-miss-court-intrigue) for me to fully believe that he was the elven god of lies. Batting his eyelashes at Inky when taking her hand, ir abelas vhenan everywhere etc...

But to Rook? He is such a Little Lying Piece of Shit. He would leave Rook dead in a ditch no second thoughts i love it

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You know who truly treated Solas as Wisdom? The Inquisitor.

Whether romanced or befriended.

Of course, I'm going to focus on Solavellan for this.

Inspired by this post (x)

You go to Solas to seek answers, advice, and knowledge. And he approves.

Such as in regards to his life, experiences in the Fade, and knowledge of spirits.

The approval dialogue plays out in a respectful, inquisitive, and knowledge-seeking way, especially in Haven.

Then you reach Skyhold, and you can ask for advice in regards to the Grey Wardens, Orlais, and Corypheus.

But what if find most interesting in perspective of Veilguard, you can knock him back down a peg when he becomes Pride (at least that's my interpretation) when discussing the Dalish

The full dialogue tree and credit can be found here (x)

Solas is finally not a leader of a rebellion, he is not even an adviser. His title is the Inquisition's Fade expert.

He had a lot of time on his hands, so much time he got to paint murals.

Do you know what's easier than lying? Not lying. He literally could just be the nerd that he was who had all the Inquisition's resources when it came to gaining knowledge through books and tomes the Inquisition acquired. And occasionally answer the Inquisitor's questions. He was so himself that he fell in love. Because he let himself believe the lie that he was just Solas.

He got to be just the source of wisdom. Just Solas.

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“once upon a time” in other languages

korean: “back when tigers used to smoke” (호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에) [x]

czech: “beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers” (za sedmero horami a sedmero řekami)

georgian: “there was, and there was not, there was…” (იყო და არა იყო რა, იყო…)

hausa: “a story, a story. let it go, let it come.” [x]

romanian: “there once was, (as never before)… because if there wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been to told” (A fost odată, ca niciodată că dacă n-ar fi fost, nu s-ar mai povesti…)

lithuanian: “beyond nine seas, beyond nine lagoons: (už devynių jūrų, už devynių marių)

catalan: “see it here that in that time in which beasts spoke and people were silent…” (vet aquí que en aquell temps que les bèsties parlaven i les persones callaven…) [x]

turkish: “Once there was, and once there wasn’t. In the long-distant days of yore, when haystacks winnowed sieves, when genies played jereed in the old bathhouse, [when] fleas were barbers, [when] camels were town criers, [and when] I softly rocked my baby grandmother to sleep in her creaking cradle, there was/lived, in an exotic land, far, far away, a/an…* (Bir varmış, bir yokmuş. Evvel zaman içinde, kalbur saman içinde, cinler cirit oynar iken eski hamam içinde, pireler berber [iken], develer tellal [iken], ben ninemin beşiğini tıngır mıngır sallar iken, uzak diyarların birinde…)

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starting to suspect that tech bros actually just don’t know what reading is

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Weapon of Choice

Life, love and a term spent in a medieval time bubble have kept me away from my comics, but I'm sort of home now and wanted to get at least one more done before the upcoming Gallifrey One. It's going to be a super special one for Gallifans, particularly Narvinettes!

So here's a scene from the episode that started it all, Gallifrey S01 Ep01: Weapon of Choice, written by Alan Barnes. 

I really ditched on the background here but I can always return in future to sketch it out more with a few elements.

I have almost all remaining scenes (from series 1-6) planned and ready to sketch, just need the time!

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i love the idea of solas and lavellan getting married over and over throughout their eternity together. sometimes it happens with a plan in mind, and others just when the mood strikes. sometimes they wed in quiet seclusion, with only the wisps and the spirits to witness, or sometimes with loved ones, when they're craving excitement and a brief visit home. occasionally there is tradition. more often there is not.

i can see it becoming part of their myth over centuries: clans marking the end of the final blight with a yearly party that looks quite a bit like a dalish wedding. it's not uncommon for couples to say their vows throughout the celebration, or to cloak each other in wolf pelts, or give carved trinkets in the shape of a hand.

and though it is difficult to substantiate through time and history, some clans claim to have seen them amongst their own revelers: the dread wolf and his bride, come to celebrate with the people, laughing and dancing and gone by morning, back to the fade.

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honestly, the radicalizing event that made me ditch faux-ironic detachment is when I sent a hard-to-write sentimental message to someone I was (at the time) close with, and they sent the vomiting emoji back. it was like oh okay, that sucks. I am now of the opinion that it is 100x cooler and braver to be sappy with the people you care about.

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While it was a longshot, I do appreciate that Gimli did try chopping the Ring up with an axe first. It was worth a shot, and they'd have all felt like bloody idiots if they took the Ring all the way to Mordor only to find out it could have been chopped up by an axe all along.

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