@beadsland they're enrapturing, and exciting, and they tell more interesting stories than what you usually get on TV, like a story about a homicidal creature made of pure sound (Whispers of Terror), or a story about a fear-eating creature using a right-wing electoral candidate to stir up fear and then feed (The Fearmonger).

They're 100% Doctor Who, the writing is great, and the production quality is incredibly good.

@lizardsquid I think there might be three factors weighing in their favor:

1) They don't have to worry about set or costume design, so they can focus on story, and the elements thereof (acting, pacing, etc.)

2) They can do scenes where two or more actors might have been on camera in TV, but can mix in alternate line readings much more freely than just taking the best combined effort of everyone in shot.

@lizardsquid 3) Working at Big Finish's studio, from what the behind-the-scenes interviews of actors would suggest, is just consistently a whole lot of fun. Also, the lunches.

That said, Whispers of Terror and ...Ish, both, are painfully meta in their self-aware prodding of hanging lanterns suspended from the proscenium arch of the fourth wall. Of course, that tweaking of the audiences's collective noses, "Yes, this audio drama knows it's audio media." is part of the fun.

@lizardsquid As for Fearmonger. Yeah, The Masque of Mandragora has nothing on the Big Finish take on the same idea.

@beadsland yeah, definitely a major part of it is "everyone involved in this *wants* to be there"