Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures

Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures, formerly subtitled as the Main Range, is a series that consists of full-cast <a href="/facts/Radio_drama/xXQeTQbA">audio dramas</a> based on the <a href="/facts/Television_in_the_United_Kingdom/DHyc8TAc">British</a> <a href="/facts/Science_fiction_on_television/sxtqpWqe">science fiction television</a> programme <a href="/facts/Doctor_Who/R7X9rdLc">Doctor Who</a>. They are produced by <a href="/facts/Big_Finish_Productions/2pT5v3d9">Big Finish Productions</a> and star one or more of the original actors to play <a href="/facts/The_Doctor_(Doctor_Who)/wjSkFCYc">the Doctor</a> on television in the <a href="/facts/History_of_Doctor_Who/3xWlDClD">classic era</a> of the programme.
Doctor Who revolves around the adventures of an <a href="/facts/Alien_life/arxCPFTQ">alien</a> called the Doctor, whose people are called the <a href="/facts/Time_Lords/aGo9Y37V">Time Lords</a>. He travels in space and time using a <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spaceship</a> called the <a href="/facts/TARDIS/QXq0jUhE">TARDIS</a>, which can <a href="/facts/Time_travel/3rmwahY9">travel</a> in time as well as space. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating foes. The Doctor often travels with <a href="/facts/Companion_(Doctor_Who)/qS9f92vE">companions</a>. The programme has a concept of <a href="/facts/Regeneration_(Doctor_Who)/TCgrsSqh">regeneration</a>, in which, when a Time Lord is fatally injured, their cells regenerate and they are reincarnated into a different body with a different personality, but the same memories. The series originally ran from 1963 to 1989. In 1999, Big Finish obtained a non-exclusive licence to produce official Doctor Who audio plays.
Big Finish Productions began producing audio dramas featuring the <a href="/facts/Fifth_Doctor/g3Ax1AFm">Fifth Doctor</a>, <a href="/facts/Sixth_Doctor/EIUjuIS9">Sixth Doctor</a>, and <a href="/facts/Seventh_Doctor/37Jas7hV">Seventh Doctors</a>, under the "Main Range" banner, starting with the multi-Doctor story <a href="/facts/The_Sirens_of_Time/p5LtYvBT">The Sirens of Time</a> in July 1999. They gradually developed a pattern of thirteen releases per year, one every month with two in September or December. From 2001 to 2007, the main range also included releases featuring the <a href="/facts/Eighth_Doctor/IIDAy7eD">Eighth Doctor</a>; future releases with the Eighth Doctor were more sporadic, coincident with the beginning of the <a href="/facts/The_Eighth_Doctor_Adventures_(audio_drama_series)/jQkWqxbk">Eighth Doctor Adventures</a>. Various companions appeared throughout the adventures in main and guest roles, mostly originating from television, though some originated from various <a href="/facts/List_of_companions_in_Doctor_Who_spin-offs/60laSpxt">spin-offs</a> such as novels and comics, and some debuted in the Big Finish audios themselves.
In May 2020, Big Finish announced that The Monthly Adventures (which had recently changed its subtitle) would conclude with its 275th release, to be replaced with regular releases of each Doctor in their own boxsets throughout the year from January 2022, as part of a revamp. The number of these boxsets for each Doctor was announced in May 2022, with the <a href="/facts/First_Doctor/lqYyFDH3">first</a>, <a href="/facts/Second_Doctor/BJ61rDs5">second</a> and fifth getting one boxset, and the other five, including the <a href="/facts/Third_Doctor/obd3kjpX">third</a> and <a href="/facts/Fourth_Doctor/TW3RLtrv">fourth</a>, receiving two. With 275 releases over 22 years, the series holds the <a href="/facts/Guinness_World_Record/Az88wVWk">Guinness World Record</a> for longest running science fiction audio play series.

Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures open-in-new

Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures