The Audio Visuals were an unlicensed series of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

audio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

made by British fans in the 1980s. Featuring

Nicholas Briggs Nicholas Briggs (born 29 September 1961) is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is associated with the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Dale ...

as the Doctor, twenty-eight audio plays were recorded and distributed on

audio cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...

between 1985 and 1991 (a pilot, in which the Doctor was voiced by Stephen Payne, was recorded at Chris Corney's house in Hamble near Southampton in 1984). The first three seasons (released 1985-1988) were produced by

Bill Baggs William Calhoun Baggs (b. 1923–1969) was an American journalist and editor of ''The Miami News'' (1957 to 1969). He was one of a small group of Southern newspaper editors who campaigned for civil rights for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960 ...

, and the fourth and final season (1989–1991) by Gary Russell. Although the Audio Visuals audios were a violation of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

, the BBC chose to look the other way. Gary Russell later told an interviewer, :"We were fans doing some stuff for a handful of people. We never advertised in professional magazines, we kept ourselves to ourselves. In doing so, we broke every copyright rule in the book (hell, Terry Nation would have crucified us - although I think our Dalek stories knocked spots off Saward's!) JNT was certainly aware of us, but he didn't care. Why should he? We were no more than any other fan product and at least we weren't printing articles about him or the show. I doubt Saward knew or cared. He wouldn't know drama if it bit him." Many of those involved in the Audio Visuals went on to work in more professional, licensed science fiction audio drama, either through BBV (founded by Bill Baggs) or through

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

(which in 1999 began producing licensed ''Doctor Who'' audio drama under the guidance of Gary Russell).

has worked for both BBV and Big Finish as an actor and as a writer; he also worked on additional ''Doctor Who''-related/inspired productions for

Reeltime Pictures Reeltime Pictures Ltd is a British film, television and video production company and a distributor of the films of other companies, founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather. As well as producing corporate and business television, it has made a number ...

and, beginning in 2005, provided vocal work for the new ''Doctor Who'' series. Several Audio Visuals scripts have been remade professionally, either by BBV (with the ''Doctor Who'' elements removed, as part of the video series '' The Stranger'') or Big Finish (as licensed ''Doctor Who'' audios). The Big Finish audios which were adapted from Audio Visuals plays are ''

The Mutant Phase ''The Mutant Phase'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who. It forms the third serial in the Dalek Empire arc, following on from events in ''The Genocide Machine ...

'', ''

Sword of Orion ''Sword of Orion'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. This audio drama was broadcast on BBC 7 in four weekly parts starting from 3 September 2005, and w ...

'', ''

Minuet in Hell ''Minuet in Hell'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Unlike the other Eighth Doctor audio plays from this "season", ''Minuet in Hell'' was not broadcast ...

'' and the ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...

'' special releases ''

Last of the Titans ''The Seventh Doctor Adventures'' is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series '' Doctor Who''. It sees the return of Sylvester McCoy reprising his role as the Seventh Doctor. History In 1999, beginning with the ...

'' and ''

Cuddlesome ''The Fifth Doctor Adventures'' is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series '' Doctor Who''. It sees the return of Peter Davison reprising his role as the Fifth Doctor. History In 1999, beginning with the stor ...

''. Elements from various Audio Visuals plays also appear in Gary Russell's contributions to the licensed ''Doctor Who'' novel ranges published by

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

and the BBC, most notably in ''Deadfall''. The Nicholas Briggs incarnation of the Doctor has also appeared in the ''DWM'' comic strip both as an unspecified future version, and the form taken by Shayde when posing as the Ninth Doctor.

References

{{DoctorWho-stub