Jodie Whitaker’s run as the 13th incarnation of The Doctor has good stories and bad stories, but the controversial series for the first-ever female Doctor has its fans. With Whitaker’s Doctor returning in a new slate of audiobook adventures for Big Finish, the audiobook company's official social media has joined in on fans dog-piling the much-hated seasons.
Big Finish Mocks 13th Doctor Series
Following the announcement that the 13th Doctor and her companion/love interest Yaz would be returning via the Big Finish platform, fans leapt with excitement for new stories surrounding the two characters. Since its incarnation in 1998, Big Finish has given past versions of The Doctor hundreds of stories, even fleshing out Paul McGann’s 8th Doctor into a full-fledged version of the character.
However, amongst the hype, a large number of commenters decided to issue some backhanded compliments, most of which were liked by the official Big Finish platform. Numerous comments insulting the writing of Jodie Whitaker’s three-season run were liked by Big Finish on Instagram, boosting the comments higher up the search comments.
Spotted by a 13th Doctor fan account on Twitter, Big Finish liked tweets saying “time for her to get justice (god writing) and “finally, she will get decent writing.” One comment liked by the Big Finish account called the audiobook brand “the saviours of 13th”.
Fans have reacted negatively to the official blasting of the 13th Doctor’s seasons via the Big Finish brand, especially seeing as those interested in the continuation of that incarnation enjoyed the original seasons as they were.
“Hey Big Finish, fun fact: 13 fans, you know the ones who will pay for 13 Audios, they liked 13s writing. Liking comments like this is poor form,” one fan said. “Like are we serious here? So disappointed in BF social team.”
Is Big Finish Good?
Maybe ironic during this whole situation is that Big Finish itself is not a glowing example of great Doctor Who stories. While there are some fantastic stories told through its decades of audiobooks—all hail Frobisher, all hail the great giant bird—there are also some huge stinkers.
If we’re talking even just early Big Finish there’s the atrocious Minuet in Hell and the intriguing but boring Sword of Orion as well. Amongst the years, there’s been plenty of stinkers, some even worse than most of the 13th Doctor’s run. While none—that we know of—are as self-serving as whatever Power of the Doctor was, Big Finish has just as many examples of bad writing.
Doctor Who’s 13th Doctor audiodramas start their run in July 2025.