You can add Doctor Who audio plays to the list of content creators are releasing for free to tide us over while we do our socially distanced duty. Radio Times reports that Big Finish is making one Doctor Who production per week available for free downloads in April and May!
This is how it works: Every Monday for the next 8 weeks, starting April 6, a different Doctor Who audio drama will be free to download. First up is “The Innocent” by Nicholas Briggs. Starring John Hurt as the War Doctor and Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra, the play is set during the Time War.
Here’s the official synopsis:
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
As the Daleks mass their time fleet for a final assault on Gallifrey, something ancient is waiting for them at Omega One. And a sacrifice must be made.
Arch-manipulator and Time Lord strategist, Cardinal Ollistra receives shock news of the Doctor’s death.
Meanwhile, on the planet Keska, a parochial war has returned to plague a peaceful civilisation after decades of tranquillity. But how can such a war have any connection with the great Time War which, at any one moment in the whole of eternity, could threaten to tear the universe apart?
If only the Doctor were still alive.
If you’re not sure where to begin with the Doctor Who audio plays (and we don’t blame you—there’s a LOT), Erin Horakova has a handy guide to the best episodes and arcs to start with.
Big Finish’s productions aren’t the only Doctor Who freebies that have been released during coronavirus. Previous showrunners Steven Moffat and Russell T. Davies have returned to live-tweet anniversary screenings of past episodes, with Davies, Chris Chibnall, and writer Peter McTighe all publishing new short stories expanding the lore. Meanwhile, the Thirteenth Doctor herself (that is, Jodie Whittaker) has made an “emergency transmission” giving fans some handy coronavirus advice.