It was after I first saw The Movie that started to dip my toe into “alternative media.” I’d really enjoyed McGann as Eight, and wanted more of him. Of course, there was no more in the most-often-held-as-canon televised sector. Even then, though, I knew there are more versions of “canon” out there than there are fans, so I wasn’t too worried about where these other media might take me, especially knowing that many Old School Fans (OSFs) grew up reading Target novelizations and such (though, come to think of it, I might not have known about those at the time). Suffice it to say, the lure of Eight was strong enough to overcome any minor misgivings I might have had.

I started with Shada. OSFs will know this as the Four story that never (quite) was. Filming began, but was never completed, due to a labor dispute not directly related to the Who team. Re-imagined as an Eight story – but still with Romana II – the webcast version gave me a chance to learn about both a famous yet unfamiliar story and a still unfamiliar Doctor. It was a nice way to get a first taste – but I wanted more.

Enter Big Finish. For ages, Big Finish (BF) has been creating audio dramas (and other good stuff, but I have been most familiar with their audio work) in various fandoms. Their original content for Doctor Who is top-notch. I was lucky enough to come across some of the first, second, and third series of The Eighth Doctor Adventures that had been (re?)broadcast on BBC Radio 7. (Thank you, Interwebs!) Game over. I was in love with BF, and even more with Eight.

I recently splurged on the fourth series, and couldn’t have been happier. There was something to love (not just like) in almost every one. For example, The Book of Kells, written by the disgustingly talented Barnaby Edwards (you may know him best as one of the Dalek operators in post-Hiatus Who), included a beautiful cliffhanger twist. Nearly cheered out loud. Scooby Doo fans out there would appreciate the baddie’s “…and I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for your meddling” in Resurrection of Mars, and there were so many delightful little moments in Relative Dimensions – including the return of One’s granddaughter/Companion Susan and her son (voiced by Paul McGann’s actual son) – that I can’t even begin to enumerate them here.

My biggest problem now was that I was throwing all my spare cash down BBC Worldwide’s gaping maw, keeping up to date with new DVD releases. How was I ever going to get more BF product? Well, I still haven’t really solved that problem long term, but I’ve managed a couple here and there, and with guidance from various friends, have not yet acquired a clunker. Perhaps some day I’ll have more disposable income with which to explore the BF back catalog.

Before I knew what had hit me, though, I stumbled across The Minister of Chance (MoC). It’s essentially really well done in-universe non-Doctor/Companion fan fic (though that description rather does it a disservice). What’s bloody brilliant about MoC – well, there are a lot of things, but let me start with this one – is that it’s superlatively executed audio drama outside of the confines of the business. It’s a fabulous example of that crowd funding process you may have heard about lately. They get fans to donate (the campaign to fund Episode 4 is in progress now, having started approximately 24 hours before this post and reaching 15% within about 12 hours – a sign of just how much listeners love it) and then put the results up on iTunes for free. (Episode 3 was just released this past Saturday, the 21st. Go get them all. Really.) And what do you get? You get more Paul McGann (as a baddie! ooh!), you get Sylvester McCoy (another baddie – he even swears, which is a bit startling for those of us who only know him as Seven), you get Julian Wadham, Paul Darrow, Jenny Agutter, Tamsin Greig, Gethin Anthony, and Lauren Crace (most of these names will mean more to British readers than they do/did to me). It’s glorious stuff.

All of this is even before I get into the novels! That’s a medium into which I’ve only peeked briefly, so I suppose I should leave long comments for later. I’ll just say that the one story I’ve read (not a novelization of a televised story, but a completely new story) was quite enjoyable, even if I don’t necessarily choose to take it into my personal canon wholesale (it was Lungbarrow – I’ll leave the whole Loom debate for another time).

Regardless, my worldview – or, more correctly, my Whoinverse-view – has been beautifully expanded by these “alternative” media. If you love Who but haven’t ever tried anything but the televised version, I recommend you give something else a shot. You might be surprised how much you like what you find.