That last dance of chances

Day 6 - Confessions

Fic-

Talk by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

I'm... Fine by @breadbut3d (tumblr) (ao3)

Confession of a Dead Man by @velvetoceanparadise (tumblr) (ao3)

Little Worm Grows by USS_Genderprise (ao3)

I'm Not Sure by @sammys-magical-au (tumblr) (accompanying wallpaper)

a tunnel to follow (to a tunnel of its own) (tumblr) (ao3)

Torchwood Fan Week 2025 Chapter Six by @thelocalidiot (ao3)

Art -

@iotsketches' comic part 6 (tumblr)

@doctorwhommm's animation (tumblr)

Other -

@night-terrors-official's wallpaper (tumblr)

@definitely-not-5-frogs-frogs' confession (tumblr)

Day Seven - Alien Artifact

Fic -

There Was Something About Mary by @sammys-magical-au (tumblr) (accompanying wallpaper)

aim and epitome by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

Shattered Past by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

Of course John has blue hair and pronous by USS_Genderprise (ao3)

Team Bonding by @breadbut3d (tumblr) (ao3)

Torchwood Fan Week 2025 Chapter Seven by @thelocalidiot (ao3)

Art -

@iotsketches' comic part 7 (tumblr)

@1antos piece (tumblr)

Other -

Day One - Time Travel

Fic -

Meet Me at the Hotel Room by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

There's Just One Thing I Hope You Know by @breadbut3d (tumblr) (ao3)

Alone at the Edge of a Universe, Humming a Tune (For Merely Dreaming we Were Snow) by @sammys-magical-au (tumblr) (accompanying wallpaper)

Cinematic Parallels by USS_Genderprise (ao3)

from both sides now by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

Time Travel by @leaf-me-lone (tumblr) (ao3)

Torchwood Fan Week 2025 by @thelocalidiot (tumblr) (ao3)

'E Reckoned 'E'd Five Chances (An' 'E 'Ad) by @captainfairygodmother (ao3)

Art -

@iotsketches' comic (tumblr)

@fblckt's comic (tumblr)

Other -

@by-gray's textpost (tumblr)

@sammys-magical-au's wallpaper (tumblr)

Day Two - Cyber(wo)men

Fic -

Corrupted Flesh by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

Power Surge by USS_Genderprise (ao3)

Run Fast by @breadbut3d (tumblr) (ao3)

Torchwood Fan Week 2025 Chapter Two by @thelocalidiot (tumblr) (ao3)

It's a Small World After All by @sammys-magical-au (tumblr) (accompanying wallpaper)

have you and lose you by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

A Lingering Dwindling Delicate Sound by @captainfairygodmother (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@iotsketches' comic p2 (tumblr)

@1antos' piece (tumblr)

@fblcks' comic (tumblr)

Other -

@doctorwhommm's, @sp3akfromtheart's, and mini ianto's photoshoot (tumblr)

@by-gray's edit (tumblr)

@night-terrors-official's wallpaper (tumblr)

Day Three - Myfanwy

Fic -

Myfanwy the...? by @by-gray (tumblr)

in the forest by @myarmsaretoolong (tumblr) (ao3)

Or So They Say by @breadbut3d (tumblr) (ao3)

O Myfanwy by USS_Genderprise (ao3)

To Catch a Pternadon by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

in all the towns, in all the world by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

The Monster in Cardiff Bay by @velvetoceanparadise (tumblr) (ao3)

Let's Try This Again by @captainfairygodmother (tumblr) (ao3)

Torchwood Fan Week 2025 Chapter Three by @thelocalidiot (ao3)

Art -

@iotsketches' comic p3 (tumblr)

Other -

@leaf-me-lone's work (tumblr)

@by-gray's textpost (tumblr)

Day Four - Shrine

Fic -

Ghosts of the Future by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

Dimensional Shift by @velvetoceanparadise (tumblr) (ao3)

we haven't finished with you yet by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

The Iantolympics by USS_Genderprise (ao3)

Nothing Lasts Forever by @tolkien-anime-enthusiast (tumblr) (ao3)

Torchwood Fan Week 2025 Chapter Four by @thelocalidiot (ao3)

Art -

@iotsketches' comic p4 (tumblr)

Other -

@1antos website (epic btw) (tumblr) (the website)

@velvetoceanparadise at Ianto's Shrine! (tumblr)

Day 5 - Cardiff Bay

Fic -

Monster Queen of the Seas by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

Sunk and Drowned by @epandoniah (tumblr) (ao3)

I Miss Our Little Talks by @sammys-magical-au (tumblr) (accompanying wallpaper)

we're leaving this planet (and you can't come) by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

Sleeping With the Fish by USS_Genderprise (ao3)

Torchwood Fan Week 2025 Chapter Five by @thelocalidiot (ao3)

Cardiff Bay and Confessions by @vikith21 (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@breadbut3d's piece (tumblr)

@iotsketches' comic p5 (tumblr)

Other -

@night-terrors-official's wallpaper (tumblr)

prompts

Monday - Time Travel

Tuesday - Cybermen/Cyberwomen

Wednesday - Myfanwy

Thursday - Shrine

Friday - Cardiff Bay

Saturday - Confessions

Sunday - Alien Artifacts

faqs

what counts as a fan work?

anything you want! art, fic, video edits, metas, analysises, character studies, collages, a nice little crotecheted myfanwy. all of it! you can't go wrong!

can i post...?

yes. the answer is almost certainly yes. its only a no if your work has absolutely zilch to do with torchwood, which frankly is unlikely. fandom crossovers, obscure big finish characters, 'pre-canon', ocs, and anything else along these lines is 100% welcome

how do i post?

here on tumblr! tag this blog and/or use tag your post with #torchwood fan week and i'll be sure to see and add it to the masterlist. for works on other sites, such as fics posted to ao3, your tumblr post can just be a link to the fic. additionally, there is an ao3 collection for fics, open during the week of the event

do i have to...?

no <3 you can do whatever you fancy really. you can only do the one prompt that you like, do five different versions of the same prompt cos you couldn't decide. you can mash them all into one. you can purposefully misinterpret a prompt and take it off somewhere weird, whatever floats your boat

i have another question

shoot me an ask im house trained, promise

blog navigation

in the spirit of keeping everything quick and easy to find, some links for your viewing pleasure

#admin post - previous admin posts, though most if not all of the information here is now found somewhere in the above.

#prompt post - for now just the one, but keep those eyes peeled

#torchwood fan week masterlist - again just the one for now, this is the place to find a wonderful treasure trove of fan works (you're all brilliant i love you)

First off, the Ninth Doctor is easy! Christopher Eccleston agreed to come back to Who and reprise his role for Big Finish a few years ago—probably the biggest coup they’ve gotten since Tom Baker—and so his stuff is very straightforward and there’s not too much of a backlog. There have been three seasons of Nine audios, under the title “The Ninth Doctor Adventures.” Each season is four sets of three stories each, and each set of three stories is usually connected, sometimes very loosely, sometimes very very closely. Billie Piper is joining for his fourth season and they’re releasing those as twelve single episodes: 4.1-4.12, apparently.

You can purchase them as downloadable files or as CDs. All the CDs come with immediate downloads. Big Finish does have an app, but it’s kind of clunky and they make everything available in MP3 and M4B from their website.

You could listen straight through those and that would be (almost!) everything for the Ninth Doctor at Big Finish.

(Big Finish has just helpfully reminded me that there are technically four other Nine stories, three of a special “Short Trips” variety explained below, and one anniversary special. Christopher Eccleston was only on one of them and none of them are important to the Ninth Doctor Adventures continuity.)

River Song is similar, in that she has a well-regarded series of her own, "The Diary of River Song," and you can simply start at the beginning and go straight through. At some point it looks like they changed the name and maybe did a soft reboot on the series; I’m honestly not a big River fan so I’ve never listened to any of these, but I’ve heard really good things about them. (Which makes sense. River was expy’d from Benny Summerfield, and Big Finish got their start in Benny Summerfield. They know how to do good sci-fi archeologist drama.)

She also did a three-part story in the Tenth Doctor Adventures titled, I think “The Tenth Doctor and River Song,” all of which is listed both individually and under the collected title in case that wasn’t confusing enough.

Good recommendations for “Doctor on Gallifrey”/“Doctor and Time Lords” is a little more complicated, so I’m going to back up a bit and switch to the longer answer.

Big Finish was, more or less, started by a group of fans making audio stories for Virgin New Adventures novel companion Bernice Summerfield. The earliest stories are heavily intertwined with the novelized narrative, and Big Finish was also publishing books and short stories for her at the time, so the first few series of Benny stories move between audio and text. Big Finish was successful enough to be able to successfully petition the BBC for license to produce Doctor Who audios using characters under BBC copyright. (Most of the people involved were already doing this anyway, producing the fan Audio Visuals, but now they could legally sell and advertise and such.)

They got the actors for Five, Six and Seven to reprise their roles and started the Big Finish Main Range/Monthly Range, which put out a single story every month until a few years ago. This is where a lot of the “classic” Big Finish stuff can be found and it’s hard to navigate because charging straight through 275 audios is a lot. This is all Classic Who—they got the rights to the Eighth Doctor pretty early on—and you can basically follow this by picking a Doctor and following that doctor’s continuity through, advancing chronologically and picking up every audio with 5/6/7/8. They establish stable groups of companions and maintain continuity across audios, although they’re about as episodic as televised Doctor Who. This is very much Classic Who: each episode is a short serial of about two hours, divided into four thirty-minute segments that queue in and out with the theme song.

In among these I would definitely recommend the Eighth Doctor stuff: this is what got me hooked, and his companion Charley is <3 amazing show-stopping incredible and I love her. This range is also credited for doing a lot to rehabilitate the Sixth Doctor’s era by giving him really good stories and a great companion. Some of this really early stuff is incredible; it was deep in Doctor Who’s Wilderness Era and there weren’t a lot of guardrails on what you could and couldn’t do. As a result, there’s some of the highest high points and also some stuff that you can just avoid. Big Finish is also definitely still getting their feet under them for the first year or two, and after that they get much better at audio mixing and quality and not yelling into the microphone every time the Daleks show up. (It’s Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks. Yes, really.) The first fifty episodes are free on Spotify, so you’re free to jump in and see how you like it and if it’s to your taste or not.

There’s a kind of…tonal shift that happened between older Big Finish and newer Big Finish. The older stuff is definitely more psychological, darker, grounded or the opposite of grounded, and newer releases and releases for New Who more closely align with the tone of the modern show: more adventure, more discovery, and play a little more carefully with the characters because the show’s still ongoing. (Big Finish has a very strong “put the toys undamaged back on the shelf when you’re done with them” policy.) (The shelf is the BBC.) (I guess mental-emotional trauma doesn’t count?) The more recent stories also just settle into more modern sensibilities about storytelling; the older stuff has dated some very well, some very poorly, and your mileage may vary.

So there’s going to be a huge range in the kinds of stories you can listen to, depending on what you’re interested in, what you’re in the mood for, and so on. There’s actually not a ton of stuff with the Doctor on Gallifrey specifically, as far as I know, but there are single episodes:

with the Rani: The Rani Elite, and Planet of the Rani; with Drax (of The Armageddon Factor): The Trouble with Drax; with Omega: Omega; and with the Monk: The Secret History, and The Black Hole. There’s a Fourth Doctor Adventures series with Romana I, another with Romana II and, like, a million and one Master stories. Of course.

I would be remiss not to mention the Fifth Doctor story Time in Office, in which the Doctor is forced to try and handle Gallifreyan politics.

Come to think of it, there might be some stuff in the War Doctor and The War Doctor Begins ranges? I’m not sure. And I found this rec list with sources for details about the Doctor and the Deca which includes some audio stories, although I don’t know how much is part of the main story and how much is offhand remarks/flashback-style.

The Eighth Doctor’s first arc in the Main/Monthly Range ends on a Gallifrey story, Neverland, which segues directly into Zagreus, which is either a masterpiece or a disaster depending on who you talk to. (It’s a masterpiece.) Zagreus was their big celebratory fiftieth audio and it is very long and has a lot of cast members and it is very fun. And Neverland/Zagreus also has a lot of the Doctor interacting with other Time Lords! In case that sweetens the pot.

But the best thing about it is that it spins off to the best story I could recommend and also my favourite Big Finish story ever, and, honestly, one of my favourite stories ever, period: Gallifrey.

Gallifrey is Big Finish’s answer to the endless showrunner excuse “Gallifrey is boring,” which is: no, it’s not. Gallifrey is sci-fi adventure/political intrigue, starring Fourth Doctor companions Romana II and Leela trying to navigate the changing landscape of intergalactic time travel relations and unrest on Gallifrey as its Lady President, determined to effect change, and its perennial outsider, respectively. The cast is rounded out by Narvin, head of the CIA, and Irving Braxiatel, secret art collector and definitely not the Doctor’s brother. The first three seasons are absolutely pitch-perfect science-fiction drama and the only reason I am not making a claim for the rest is because I’m not finished with it yet. It is without a doubt some of the best plot and narrative and character work I’ve experienced. This one is not episodic, and definitely needs to be listened to in order. I cannot recommend Gallifrey enough.

Other highlights, for me, from Big Finish—running loosely off the fact that I know we have similar tastes in Arrowverse, if that means anything—I would recommend the Torchwood Monthly Range for sure. (It’s listed under Torchwood -> Torchwood.) You can listen to Torchwood without having watched the show—I actually watched the show because I wanted more context for the audio dramas—and they’ve really managed to refine and elevate the best parts of the TV show. Torchwood can also go extremely off the beaten path, and there was a fan effort to list common content warnings on the EU website here: https://torchwood-eu.xyz/ because sometimes you start listening to something and then it turns out there’s cannibalism in it. (A shout-out to @thatlastdanceofchances.)

I also really love some of the Companion Chronicles, which is the range for stories led by actors who played companions when the associated Doctor wasn’t available (One, Two, Three, and Four for a long time when Tom Baker was declining to reprise his role). I particularly love The Flames of Cadiz, which is a pure historical which feels just like an old First Doctor serial: silly and serious in turn, wanders, turns on almost nothing moments of character decision. I really love these eras so these audios are a bit of a treat…and honestly, that’s probably my strongest piece of advice?

Pick the era or the characters you love most and jump in there. Big Finish is absolutely a fan endeavour and it’s written with the same kind of glee and love that fandom brings to the table. David Tennant is somewhere in the backlogs (Galanar, on Dalek Empire III), because way back in 2004 he really really wanted to be part of Doctor Who and bugged Big Finish for a role until they let him in. If you can’t find someone, or you’re getting lost, put their name or their actor’s name into the search bar; search is pretty good. Generally the “Audiobooks” tag will take you to the exact series and the “Collection” tab is more vibes-based. (e.g. “Audiobooks”->”Gallifrey” will take you to the audio series Gallifrey. “Collection”->”Gallifrey” will give you anything with Gallifrey in the title.) The mobile site is not great.

Here’s the unofficial Big Finish forum board: https://notthebigfinishforum.freeforums.net/

Here’s the review site for all things Doctor Who, audios included: https://thetimescales.com/

You mentioned not knowing how to figure out what’s any good, and that’s where The Time Scales can be really helpful. While Doctor Who fandom opinion is vast and wide, this has been the most helpful tool for me in figuring out what’s worth listening to. As a very general rule, when a rating drops below a 6, it’s usually because there’s a group of fans raising a red flag about the episode in the reviews. It’s a nice tool to have open when you’re trying to navigate the Big Finish website.

Here’s Big Finish’s Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2PKm8aJ43kvEqtzTmggKdn

Here’s someone on Reddit sorting out the Spotify playlists: https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/j2pwsn/free_big_finish_audios_spotify/

Here’s Big Finish’s Soundcloud, which for some reason does not have the same stuff as the Spotify: https://soundcloud.com/big-finish

One note: like a lot of serialized media, it can get expensive. The “save money with a bundle” button helps bring down the cost, if you know you’re going to march straight through a range, but the best places I’ve found to check are:

A random audio at 25% off every week here, from the podcast page: https://www.bigfinish.com/offers/v/randomoid (The code is BUCKUP. It’s BUCKUP every week. I don’t know why they still make you put it in.)

The newsletter has a book club selection at a discount for the month: https://www.bigfinish.com/collections/v/the-big-finish-book-club, and another link + code for a free download, usually the first half-hour episode of a new audio so you can see if you’re interested.

This page of free audio stories: https://www.bigfinish.com/collections/v/big-finish-for-free, which also includes a lot of samplers.

And then usually every week they put something up for really cheap and advertise it on their front page.

If you get the Doctor Who Magazine, at least sometimes there used to be a free audio code in those issues a few times a year.

“Bundle” on Main/Monthly Range is called “subscription,” because it was a subscription originally

A further note about language: Big Finish says they make audio dramas, which is what, for example, BBC Radio 4 does. It’s closest to modern fiction podcasting or old broadcast radio, and very different from a modern audiobook. They do also have traditional audiobooks, and they have “Short Trips” and this long anniversary thing called “Destiny of the Doctor” which are both short stories read by a single person. But most of the time there’s a full cast, a score, a soundscape, etc. (Check out their YouTube: sometimes the Big Finish trailers are better than the TV show’s, to be honest. Also might be a good place to check out anything you’re interested in!) Very honestly, at the risk of sounding like I’m shilling for Big Finish, I think they’re probably the best at what they do besides professional radio. I’ve seen a lot of major companies announce enhanced audiobooks or audio dramas or podcasts only to trip at the starting line making really basic mistakes, and Big Finish has had twenty plus years’ experience figuring out how to pace information, how to differentiate voices, how to let audio rise and fall, etc. I would absolutely put it up there with the BBC’s adaptations and NPR’s podcasting work.

So I went back and read your message again and I definitely went a bit off-track, huh. Okay, that was a lot of information, so here’s a more straightforward tl;dr:

For New Who-style adventures, shenanigans, and character-focused stories, check out The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers or The Diary of River Song: Series Eleven: Friend of the Family. (Or start with The Diary of River Song: Series One, but the reviews look pretty good about S11, and it doesn't look like you need to know what happened before.)

For Classic Who-style adventures that lean more into Wilderness Era elements, start with Whispers of Terror or Storm Warning and follow one of the Doctor + companion teams through the main range. (i.e. Jump to either The Marian Conspiracy, for Six, or Sword of Orion, for Eight, and so on.)

For Gallifrey stories, check out either Gallifrey: Weapon of Choice or Time in Office, or pick your favourite renegade Time Lord and check out one of their stories.

If you find you enjoy it, personally I’d recommend checking out the Torchwood monthly range as well. Fall to Earth and Ghost Mission are both excellent bellwethers for where the series ends up going. (Corpse Day is a personal favourite, but mostly because Owen Harper makes me want to scream and yell and throw up. Please check for content warnings if you start with Corpse Day.) The Torchwood Monthly episodes are all stand-alone and fit in at different times in the main show, with a loose continuity across the whole of Big Finish’s Torchwood stories.

And I say all this but I’m by no means an expert! I just had a really intense Doctor Who period in my life and apparently, as I just messaged a friend, “Big Finish” still triggers the unskippable dialogue. If any Big Finish Doctor Who people are still reading this, feel free to chime in with recommendations or more information about the ranges I haven’t explored! I have not listened to nearly enough.

Day One - Mind Control

Fic -

The Master and The Freak by @jantostolemyheart (tumblr) (ao3)

playing dead by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

Think Only of the Darkness by @captainfairygodmother (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@fblckt's work (tumblr)

@sp3akfromtheart's work (tumblr)

@iantistic's work (tumblr)

@dw-humps-n-snarkives' work (tumblr)

Day Two - Rarepair

Fic -

It Was Simply, Really. They Were In Love by @jantostolemyheart - tosh/martha (tumblr) (ao3)

On the invariable fallacy of the human soul and its gentle redemption- jack/angelo by @b1uetrees (tumblr) (ao3)

Rhys and Ianto's Excellent Trip to Anglesey by @myarmsaretoolong - rhys/ianto (tumblr) (ao3)

share the same space for a minute or two by @girlsaturday - suzie/blon fel-fotch passameer-day slitheen (tumblr) (ao3)

Outsider by @captainfairygodmother (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@doctorwhommm's work - tw polycule (tumblr)

@sp3akfromtheart's work - jily kitzinger/vera juarez (tumblr)

@fblckt's work - john frobisher/the 456 (tumblr)

@dw-humps-n-snarkives' work - lisa/ianto (tumblr)

@greendreamer's work (tumblr)

@iantisic's work (tumblr)

Day Three - Death

Fic -

How Long Was I Dead This Time by @jantostolemyheart (tumblr) (ao3)

this is the life of suzie cosello by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

Choices by @velvetoceanparadise (tumblr) (ao3)

Safe Heaven by @sammys-magical-au (tumblr) (wattpad)

Crashing and Burning by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

It's the Fear, Not the Ghosts by @captainfairygodmother (That Leave Me Haunted) (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@doctorwhommm's work (tumblr)

@fblckt's work (tumblr)

@dw-humps-n-snarkives' work (tumblr)

Day Four - UNIT

Fic -

and it makes me feel close to you by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

@sp3akfromtheart's work (+ fanart) (tumblr)

The (Not So) Daring Rescue by @myarmsaretoolong (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@fblckt's work (tumblr)

Day Five - Rift Gift

Fic -

Blast from the Past by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

Last Night by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

A Gift by @sammys-magical-au (tumblr) (wattpad)

Tosh and Owen's Amazin Aliensitting Service by @captainfairygodmother (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@fblckt's work (tumblr)

Day Six - Lies

Fic -

don't stop me now by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

Lies by @greendreamer (tumblr) (ao3)

Second Week by @myarmsaretoolong (tumblr) (ao3)

Making Liars Out Of Honest Men (Just Forget) by @captainfairygodmother (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@fblckt's work (tumblr)

@night-terrors-official's work (tumblr)

Day Seven - Side Character

Fic -

stop the world to stop the feeling by @girlsaturday (tumblr) (ao3)

These New Rocky Hills by @brittasfan (tumblr) (ao3)

Someone I Have Loved But Never Known by @captainfairygodmother (tumblr) (ao3)

Art -

@fblckt's work (tumblr)