Big Finish Short Trips

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Short Trips: Zodiac was the first anthology in the Big Finish-produced Short Trips range. Short Trips Zodiac.jpg
Short Trips: Zodiac was the first anthology in the Big Finish-produced Short Trips range.

The Big FinishShort Trips are a collection of short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC Television series Doctor Who , beginning with the collection Short Trips: Zodiac in December 2002 and ending with the loss of their license in 2009. The Short Trips name was inherited from similar collections published by the BBC, who decided in March 2000 that it was no longer financially viable to produce collections of short stories. Big Finish Productions negotiated a licence to continue producing these collections, publishing them in smaller runs and in hardback, thus allowing for a higher cover price and increased profit margins than on the BBC collections.

Contents

In May 2009 and after 28 collections, Big Finish announced that they were ending the Short Trips series as the BBC had not renewed it for a second licence, [1] eventually halting sales of the books on the Big Finish Website in December 2009. Even so, the books are still available via off-site retailers and a final 29th volume collected the editor's favourite story of each of the previous volumes.

Books

The Big Finish Short Trips volumes are produced in a slightly different manner from their BBC predecessors: instead of being centrally produced, Big Finish commissions editors for the volumes, who in turn commission stories from writers for the themed collections. Because of this, each volume is produced depending on the working methods of its editor – some editors commission stories on invitation from writers, whilst others welcome unsolicited submission of stories. How the Doctor Changed My Life featured stories all written by previously unpublished authors. This was as a result of a competition, run by Big Finish in 2007, to seek out new talent. [2]

Each collection is conceived around a single theme, with the individual stories exploring that theme:

TitleEditorPublishedTheme/Concept
Short Trips: Zodiac Jacqueline Rayner December 2002The signs of the Zodiac
Short Trips: CompanionsJacqueline RaynerMarch 2003The Doctor's companions
Short Trips: A Universe of TerrorsJohn BinnsJune 2003 Horror
Short Trips: The MusesJacqueline RaynerSeptember 2003The Nine Muses
Short Trips: Steel SkiesJohn BinnsDecember 2003Confined environments
Short Trips: Past TenseIan FarringtonApril 2004 Historical settings
Short Trips: Life ScienceJohn BinnsJune 2004The nature of life
Short Trips: Repercussions Gary Russell June 2004Unforeseen consequences
Short Trips: MonstersIan FarringtonAugust 2004 Monsters
Short Trips: 2040John BinnsOctober 2004The year 2040
Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury Paul Cornell December 2004 Christmas
Short Trips: Seven Deadly Sins David Bailey March 2005 Seven deadly sins
Short Trips: A Day in the LifeIan FarringtonJune 2005The hours of the day
Short Trips: The Solar SystemGary RussellSeptember 2005The nine planets of the Solar System
Short Trips: The History of Christmas Simon Guerrier December 2005Christmas past, present and future
Short Trips: FarewellsJacqueline RaynerMarch 2006 Death and other kinds of loss
Short Trips: The CentenarianIan FarringtonJuly 2006The life of one man – Edward Grainger
Short Trips: Time SignatureSimon GuerrierSeptember 2006Music, time and consequences
Short Trips: Dalek Empire Nicholas Briggs with Simon GuerrierDecember 2006The Dalek Empire series
Short Trips: Destination Prague Steven Savile May 2007The city of Prague
Short Trips: Snapshots Joseph Lidster June 2007The effect the Doctor has on people
Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas Cavan Scott & Mark WrightDecember 2007Christmas: past, present and future
Short Trips: Defining PatternsIan FarringtonMarch 2008The causes and effects of the universe
Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership Keith R.A. DeCandido May 2008The many leaders the Doctor has met
Short Trips: TransmissionsRichard SalterJuly 2008The art of communication
Short Trips: How the Doctor Changed My LifeSimon GuerrierSeptember 2008The after effects of meeting the Doctor
Short Trips: Christmas Around the WorldXanna Eve ChownDecember 2008Christmas in different countries
Short Trips: Indefinable MagicNeil CorryMarch 2009The magical life of the Doctor
Re:CollectionsVariousMay 2009The final book and a collection of the best stories from the series

The collections have mixed established Doctor Who writers from the television series, such as Ben Aaronovitch, Ian Briggs, Andrew Cartmel, Terrance Dicks, Glen McCoy, James Moran, Marc Platt, Helen Raynor and Eric Saward with writers who made their name in other Doctor Who spin-off ranges, such as Paul Cornell, Joseph Lidster, Kate Orman, Lance Parkin, Philip Purser-Hallard, Gareth Roberts, Gary Russell and Robert Shearman, and writers from other literary spheres, including Dan Abnett, Lou Anders, Scott Andrews, Jonathan Clements, Peter David, Richard Dinnick, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Brian Dooley, Diane Duane, Nev Fountain, Lizzie Hopley, Todd McCaffrey, Juliet E. McKenna, Paul Magrs, James Moran, Gary Owen, Stel Pavlou, Steven Savile, James Swallow and Matthew Sweet.

Audio

On 31 December 2009, Big Finish lost their license to produce or sell their short story anthology book series Short Trips. On 10 February 2010 Big Finish announced that the range would be relaunched as double CD audiobooks featuring eight new short stories each. The stories were to be read by popular Doctor Who actors. Also on this day Big Finish asked for short story submissions, from anyone who hadn't written for them before, for possible inclusion on the CDs. Soon after the closing date it was announced that they had received 500 entries and that Colin Baker would be among the actors reading the stories, as well as writing the Sixth Doctor story for Volume 1. After four volumes, this series was discontinued, but the range was relaunched yet again as a monthly download-only series in 2015. The person in brackets in the "Featuring" column is who the story is read by.

Single Short Trips (2009–21)

The releases listed below were single releases made available by Big Finish as subscriber and magazine exclusives and podcasts. Starting from September 2016, Big Finish is releasing these exclusives to general customers under the banner, Short Trips Rarities. There will be at least a two-year delay between a story's subscriber exclusive release and its wider general release, in order to still keep these an incentive to subscribers of the main range.

TitleRead byWritten byFeaturingReleased
"One Small Step" Nicholas Briggs Nicholas Briggs Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot January 2009 (2009-01)
"Museum Peace"Nicholas Briggs James Swallow Eighth Doctor, KalendorfNovember 2009 (2009-11) (MR 128)
"The Doctor's First XI"Stephen Critchlow Ian Atkins Fourth Doctor, Romana I March 2010 (2010-03) (MR 132)
"The Switching"Duncan Wisbey Simon Guerrier Third Doctor, Jo Grant, The Brigadier, Mike Yates, Sergeant Benton June 2010 (2010-06) (MR 135)
"Lepidoptery for Beginners" Duncan Wisbey John Dorney Second Doctor, Jamie, ZoeSeptember 2010 (2010-09) (MR 138 & MR 139)
"The Little Drummer Boy"Beth Chalmers Eddie Robson First Doctor, Steven Taylor, Sara Kingdom December 2010 (2010-12) (MR 142)
"Sound the Siren And I'll Come To You Comrade"Stephen CritchlowJohn PritchardFourth Doctor, Leela March 2011 (2011-03) (MR 145)
"Twilight's End"Beth Chalmers Cavan Scott
Mark Wright
Seventh Doctor, NimrodJune 2011 (2011-06) (MR 148)
"Neptune"Beth Chalmers Richard Dinnick Third Doctor, Sarah Jane September 2011 (2011-09) (MR 151 & MR 152)
"Lant Land"Duncan Wisbey Jonathan Morris Fifth Doctor, Tegan, TurloughDecember 2011 (2011-12) (MR 155)
"Breadcrumbs"John Banks James Moran Fourth Doctor, Romana IIMarch 2012 (2012-03) (MR 158)
"Intuition"Stephen CritchlowRob Nisbet Sixth Doctor, MelJune 2012 (2012-06) (MR 161)
"A Room With No View"Stephen Critchlow David Bartlett Fifth Doctor, PeriSeptember 2012 (2012-09) (MR 164 & MR 165)
"Only Connect"John Banks Andy Lane Fourth Doctor, Sarah JaneDecember 2012 (2012-12) (MR 168)
"The Young Lions"Stephen CritchlowAlice CavenderEighth Doctor, LucieMarch 2013 (2013-03) (MR 171)
"Crystal Ball"Stephen CritchlowRob NisbetSeventh Doctor, AceJune 2013 (2013-06) (MR 174)
"Methuselah"John Banks George Mann Fifth Doctor, PeriSeptember 2013 (2013-09) (MR 177 & MR 178)
"Tweaker"John Banks Dan Abnett Fifth Doctor, NyssaDecember 2013 (2013-12) (MR 181)
"The Piltdown Men"Hugh Ross Paul Dale Smith Second DoctorMarch 2014 (2014-03) (MR 184)
"Late Night Shopping"Hugh RossMatt FittonEighth Doctor, LucieJune 2014 (2014-06) (MR 187)
"Waiting for Gadot"Hugh RossJohn DorneyThird Doctor, Fourth Doctor, JoSeptember 2014 (2014-09) (MR 190 & MR 191)
"A Home From Home"Stephen Critchlow Nick Wallace Third Doctor, Liz, BentonDecember 2014 (2014-12) (MR 194)
"String Theory"Stephen CritchlowKini BrownFourth Doctor, LeelaMarch 2015 (2015-03) (MR 197)
"Sphinx Lightning"Stephen CritchlowJohn PritchardThird Doctor, JoJune 2015 (2015-06) (MR 200)
"The Warren Legacy"Stephen Critchlow Julian Richards Fourth Doctor, Romana ISeptember 2015 (2015-09) (MR 203 & MR 204)
"The Toy"Sarah Sutton Nigel Fairs Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, AdricOctober 2015 (2015-10) (Issues 4 & 5 of The Complete History)
"The Caves of Erith"Stephen CritchlowAlice CavenderEighth Doctor, LucieDecember 2015 (2015-12) (MR 207)
"The Horror at Bletchington Station"Stephen CritchlowChris WingFirst Doctor, DodoMarch 2016 (2016-03) (MR 210)
"The Monkey House"Stephen CritchlowNic FordFifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough, NyssaJune 2016 (2016-06) (MR 213)
"The Shrine of Sorrows"Stephen CritchlowJulian RichardsSeventh Doctor, AceSeptember 2016 (2016-09) (MR 216)
"The Christmas Dimension"Stephen CritchlowRob NisbetThird Doctor, Liz, BentonDecember 2016 (2016-12) (MR 219 & MR 220)
"Collector's Item"Stephen CritchlowPaul J SalmanoffFourth Doctor, SarahMarch 2017 (2017-03) (MR 223)
"The Horror of Hy-Brasil"Stephen CritchlowRussell McGeeSecond Doctor, Jamie, ZoeJune 2017 (2017-06) (MR 226)
"Helmstone"Stephen CritchlowTony JonesFirst Doctor, StevenSeptember 2017 (2017-09) (MR 229 & MR 230)
"The Night Before Christmas"Stephen CritchlowNic FordSeventh DoctorDecember 2017 (2017-12) (MR 233)
"Mission Improbable"Stephen CritchlowChris WingSixth Doctor, Evelyn SmytheMarch 2018 (2018-03) (MR 236)
"Taken For Granted"Stephen CritchlowIan HidewellThird Doctor, Jo Grant, BentonJune 2018 (2018-06) (MR 239)
"The Smallest Battle"Stephen CritchlowStephen OsbourneFourth Doctor, LeelaSeptember 2018 (2018-09) (MR 242)
"Tuesday"Stephen CritchlowTony JonesEighth Doctor, Harry SullivanDecember 2018 (2018-12) (MR 245 & MR 246)
"Loud and Proud"Stephen CritchlowAndrew AllenSixth Doctor, MelMarch 2019 (2019-03) (MR 249)
"Still Life"Stephen CritchlowMax CurtisThird Doctor, Jo GrantJune 2019 (2019-06) (MR 252)
"An Ocean of Sawdust"Stephen CritchlowPaul StarkeyEighth DoctorSeptember 2019 (2019-09) (MR 255 & MR 256)
"A Song For Running"Stephen CritchlowFio TretheweyTwelfth DoctorDecember 2019 (2019-12) (MR 259)
"Not Forgotten"Stephen CritchlowBenjamin Holland-SmithSixth Doctor, PeriMarch 2020 (2020-03) (MR 262)
"Home Again, Home Again"Stephen CritchlowFelecia BarkerFirst Doctor, Susan, Barbara, IanJune 2020 (2020-06) (MR 265)
"The Beast of Muir"John BanksNicole PetitFourth Doctor, LeelaSeptember 2020 (2020-09) (MR 268)
"Crime at the Cinema"John BanksMH NorrisThird Doctor, Sarah Jane SmithDecember 2020 (2020-12) (MR 271 & MR 272)
"Soul Music"John BanksVictoria SaxtonTenth DoctorMarch 2021 (2021-03) (MR 275)

Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trips (2016–present)

The annual Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip will continue to be released individually.

No.TitleDirected byWritten byFeaturingReleased
"Errors – Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  • "Short Story Comp". BBC. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
  • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Doctor Who – Short Trips Volume 11 - Short Trips - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  • 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Doctor Who – Short Trips Volume 12 - Short Trips - Big Finish". www.bigfinish.com. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  • No.TitleDirected byWritten byFeaturingReleased