I’m a big listener of Doctor Who Fan Audio Dramas. It’s part of the reason I set out to review them for you. Let me explain.

In my type of business, the closer to a big city, the better I’ll get paid and the more work I’ll find. Unfortunately I’m not a city person, so I’ve condemned myself to a life of long commutes, and I’ve been doing it for far longer than I’d like to admit.

I mention this to you in order to stress the concept that I have a lot of time on my hands where I want to do something but what I CAN do is limited. One venture I used to occupy this time was to catch up on stories. I love stories, in all forms. Audio books and dramas quickly became a big part of that. In the early years though, I couldn’t afford to pay for the likes of Big Finish productions. My resources were very limited. Thus I went in search of free productions. Most were fan made. Some were of course of a rather poor value, but others could have perfectly fit into the television series itself. I became hooked and set out in search of every fan drama I could find.

Realizing there was no good resource for finding fan dramas, I got it in my head that I could create such a place myself. I set about designing a website and building up a huge backlog of reviews in preparation for an impending launch. Life has a way of changing quite suddenly however, and overnight I found myself in a position where I no longer could afford the time to devote to this venture. That was years ago, and all this work has sat all this time, untouched, until now.

Who Back When is the perfect place and time to provide these reviews. It’s nostalgic. it’s Dr. Who. It’s a fun place to be, and it’s all done in a fashion where we celebrate Who by both praising it, offering critical constructive commentary, and [at times] making fun of it. This thought was confirmed by fate when I emailed our beloved hosts and offered these reviews to the site. They immediately returned the email, stating that they were just about to reach out to people for additional content. Sometimes the universe just has a way of working out.

I know what you’re thinking, and yes, these fan audios ARE worth your time. If you’re listening to a podcast like WBW then you’re no doubt looking for all the Who you can get. These will help fill the void. I’ve checked people, and these productions are still out there. You should know about them. You should hear them (well, a lot of them). These productions may not be perfect, but neither is Dr Who proper. We’re okay with that, and you’ll be okay with these if you give them a chance, especially since you now have a good place to go to learn which are good.

 

A Note about format

Many of you will recognize the tongue-in-cheek format of these reviews as that of the one presented in the “Doctor Who Discontinuity Guide”. This is deliberate. It seemed fitting and pays homage to an amazing book at the same time.

A new adventure

If you are trying to decide if you should listen to a particular story, the overall “Summary” just under the title will provide you with an outline while trying not to give anything important away.

Minor Spoilers

If you would like slightly more storyline, try the individual “Episode Summaries”. However, in order to avoid spoilers, I recommend refraining from reading any more until you have actually listened to the entire story. Alternatively, you should feel free to listen to an episode, read its comments, then go on to the next episode, as I will never “foreshadow” what will come unless through speculation.

Looking Back

If you have already listened to the story once, then you might find it amusing to read my “Comments” first, then listen to the audio (or read and listen at the same time), looking for the things I point out along the way. Of course if you don’t care about spoilers, then feel free to read at your leisure, though if you haven’t heard the story, much of what I write won’t make much sense.

Read the first Dr Who Fan Audio Drama review now: A Cause For Carolling

This article was written by Peter Zunitch
Father, husband, video editor, writer. I want to experience and create stories of all kinds in all mediums and genres. I want to teach and learn something new.