The Chimes of Midnight

For the 1966 film, see Chimes at Midnight.

The Chimes of Midnight
Big Finish Productions audio drama
Series	Doctor Who
Release no.	29
Featuring	Eighth Doctor Charley Pollard
Written by	Robert Shearman
Directed by	Barnaby Edwards
Produced by	Gary Russell Jason Haigh-Ellery
Executive producer	Jacqueline Rayner
Production code	8G
Length	116 mins
Release date	25 February 2002
Preceded by	"Invaders from Mars"
Followed by	"Seasons of Fear"

The Chimes of Midnight is the twenty-ninth audio drama of the British science fiction audio series Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures from Big Finish Productions. It was written by Robert Shearman and directed by Barnaby Edwards.

Plot

An Edwardian home, Christmas 1906. Or is it? The Doctor and Charley are caught in a mysterious house outside of time and when the grandfather clock strikes, someone will get murdered. Can the Doctor unmask the murderer? Or is something far more sinister at work?

Cast

• The Doctor — Paul McGann ^{[1] [2] [3]}
• Charley Pollard — India Fisher
• Edith — Louise Rolfe
• Shaughnessy — Lennox Greaves
• Mrs Baddeley — Sue Wallace
• Frederick — Robert Curbishley
• Mary — Juliet Warner

Release

The Chimes of Midnight was initially released as a CD on 25 February 2002. It was later broadcast on digital radio station BBC 7 in four weekly parts, starting on 17 December 2005, and has been rebroadcast on the same channel beginning on 17 December 2006, and again on 26 and 27 September 2007.

It had a limited release on vinyl on 15 September 2016, accompanied by a new behind-the-scenes documentary. ^[4]

A novelisation written by Shearman was published on 9 October 2025 in hardcover and ebook formats. ^{[5] [6]}

Notes

• In the Whoniverse timeline, this story takes place between Invaders from Mars and Living Legend .
• This is Charley's last chronological Doctor Who story to be broadcast on BBC Radio 7, although India Fisher continues to play her on a vast number of Big Finish commercial releases. The next chronological Doctor Who radio play to be broadcast by the BBC was Blood of the Daleks featuring the Eighth Doctor and new companion Lucie Miller (played by Sheridan Smith).
• The names of the characters Shaughnessy and Mrs Baddeley are derived from Alfred Shaughnessy and Angela Baddeley, the script editor and the actress who played Mrs Bridges in the famed British 70s drama series Upstairs, Downstairs which took place in an Edwardian townhouse. Other Upstairs, Downstairs influences includes Edith's similarity with the dimwitted scullery maid Ruby Finch.

References

1. "Doctor Who - The Chimes of Midnight - 20th Anniversary". The Sirens of Audio (Podcast). 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2025– via YouTube.
2. "A Novel Approach" (PDF). Big Finish Productions. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
3. "029. Doctor Who: The Chimes of Midnight - Doctor Who - The Monthly Adventures - Big Finish". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
4. "Doctor Who - The Chimes of Midnight Ltd Ed". Big Finish Productions. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
5. Shearman, Robert (9 October 2025). Doctor Who: The Chimes of Midnight – via www.penguin.co.uk.
6. "Robert Shearman talks new novels". Big Finish Productions. 9 October 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.

External links

• Big Finish Productions - The Chimes of Midnight