As we end 2023 – another milestone for Doctor Who, marking its 60th anniversary – I thought I’d check out what was on offer in terms of Big Finish’s audio drama for the 50th anniversary.

The usual way to mark an anniversary in Doctor Who is with a multi-Doctor story and, in 2013, this was no different – we were treated to the superb The Day of the Doctor, which featured David Tennant, Matt Smith and John Hurt, as the Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor and The War Doctor respectively.

Over at Big Finish, they took full advantage of the freedom that their audio dramas allow – none of that pesky issue of real world actors aging nonsense for one thing – and brought fans a (mostly) five Doctor story.

I say mostly, because though the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors feature on the cover art, it actually finds a way to fit in the First, Second and Third Doctors – along with companions for each of those 8 – as well.

It’s as timey wimey a narrative as you’d expect, given that the first eight Doctors appear – and it cleverly takes place in and around the home of an average man, on the date of the debut of Doctor Who’s very first episode: November 23rd, 1963.

It’s wildly ambitious and really good fun – though the appearance of the older Doctors necessitates imitation of the actors who’ve long since passed on, their replacements all do a fantastic job.

I very much enjoyed the whirlwind trip through the Doctor’s timeline in The Light At the End; let’s face it though – it’s rare that Big Finish ever really go that wrong with their audio dramas (in my experience anyway); they’re great custodians of the series in this format.

As an anniversary story, this has everything you’d hope, with appearances from fan favourite companions, unusual combinations of Doctors interacting and neat references to Who history (as well as a familiar villain) to boot.

Though long out of print on CD – given that it’s now a decade old – you can still get yourself a digital download of The Light At The End from the Big Finish website here.

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