Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include Doctor Who, the characters Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog from 2000 AD, Blake's 7, Dark Shadows, Dracula, Terrahawks, Sapphire & Steel, Sherlock Holmes, Stargate, The Avengers, The Prisoner, Timeslip, and Torchwood.
Louise Marion Jameson is an English actress with a variety of television and theatre credits. Her roles on television have included playing Leela in Doctor Who, Anne Reynolds in The Omega Factor (1979), Blanche Simmons in Tenko (1981–1982), Susan Young in Bergerac (1985–1990), Rosa di Marco in EastEnders (1998–2000) and Mary Goskirk in Emmerdale (2022–present).
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction series Doctor Who and two of its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged investigative journalist who first encounters alien time traveller the Doctor while trying to break a story on a top secret research facility, and subsequently becomes his travelling companion on a series of adventures spanning the breadth of space and time. After travelling with The Doctor in four seasons of the show they suddenly part ways, and after this she continues to investigate strange goings-on back on Earth. Over time, Sarah Jane establishes herself as a committed defender of Earth from alien invasions and other threats, occasionally reuniting with The Doctor in the course of her own adventures, all the while continuing to work as a freelance investigative journalist.
Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who, appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprising the role many times in subsequent decades, both on Doctor Who and its spin-offs, K-9 and Company (1981) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011).
Mary Tamm was a British actress, who appeared in many British TV drama series and serials, and is best known for her role as Romana I in the BBC's science fiction television series Doctor Who, appearing opposite Tom Baker in the 1978–1979 story arc The Key to Time.
Suzanna Hamilton is an English actress, notable for playing the role of Julia in the 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, as well as other film roles including Tess (1979), Brimstone and Treacle (1982), Wetherby (1985), and Out of Africa (1985). She has had numerous television roles such as the ITV drama Wish Me Luck (1988), the BBC medical drama Casualty (1993–94), and the STV drama McCallum (1995–97).
David John Tennant is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the sci-fi series Doctor Who. In 2023, he returned to the show as the fourteenth incarnation. His other notable screen roles include DI Alec Hardy in the crime drama series Broadchurch (2013–2017) and its 2014 remake, Kilgrave in the superhero series Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Crowley in the fantasy series Good Omens (2019–present) and various fictionalised versions of himself in the comedy series Staged (2020–2022).
Caroline Frances John was an English actress. She played classical roles on the stage and also portrayed Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, as well as several other television roles.
Sarah Sutton is a British actress. She played the role of Nyssa in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Lisa Bowerman is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Sandra Mute, the paramedic, in the BBC One medical drama Casualty, in the first two series (1986–1987). She also stars as Doctor Who companion Professor Bernice Summerfield in a series of the same name and many Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions productions, as well as directing many series for the company.
Amanda Root is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Anne Elliot in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Persuasion. A familiar face on both stage and screen, she worked regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company during her early career, performing as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, among other roles. In 2009, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Sarah in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests.
Richard Kimber Franklin was an English actor, writer, director and political activist. Principally a stage actor, he also appeared as a regular character in several high-profile British television programmes, including Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm, and he portrayed Captain Mike Yates of UNIT in Doctor Who from 1971 until 1974, returning to the role on a number of occasions both on television and in Doctor Who spin-off media.
Nerys Hughes is a Welsh actress and narrator, known primarily for her television roles, including her parts in the BBC TV series The Liver Birds (1971-1978) and The District Nurse (1984-1987).
Natalia Romanovna Makarova is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. The History of Dance, published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her as the finest ballerina of her generation in the West."
Lizzie Hopley is a British actress and writer born in Liverpool who trained at Manchester University and RADA.
Siân Brooke is an English actress. Her television work includes Cape Wrath (2007), Sherlock (2017), Doctor Foster (2017), Good Omens (2019), Guilt (2019), Trying (2020–), House of the Dragon (2022) and Blue Lights (2023-).
Anjli Mohindra is an English stage, screen and voice-over actress and writer. She is best known for playing aspiring journalist Rani Chandra in the Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008–2011) and would-be suicide bomber Nadia Ali in the hit BBC One political thriller Bodyguard (2018). Her other television roles include Surgeon Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty in the BBC One police procedural Vigil (2021), Detective Constable Josie Chancellor in the ITV crime drama Dark Heart (2016–2018) and Archie in the Sky science fiction thriller The Lazarus Project (2022–2023).
Dominic Mafham is an English stage, film and television actor. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Marty Ross is a Scottish writer, best known for his audio dramas for the British Broadcasting Corporation, Big Finish Productions and for the Wireless Theatre Company and 3Dhorrorfi. He is author of the 'Tartan Noir' thriller novel Aztec Love Song. He has had several plays performed on stage, mostly with an emphasis on Gothic horror and the surreal. He has dramatized stories by other Scottish writers such as James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his radio series The Darker Side of the Border. Among his influences are the work of Hammer Films and British science fiction dramatist Nigel Kneale.
In 2012, Big Finish Productions began producing audio dramas featuring Doctor Who's fourth Doctor, as portrayed by Tom Baker. Baker had previously declined to feature in any Big Finish releases, but after recording a trilogy of full cast audio boxsets for BBC Audiobooks, he decided to participate. This was also part of a spin off series of the Monthly range.
