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Post by theotherjosh on Jan 4, 2017 15:18:04 GMT
I think it's safe to assume that anyone who posts on a message board dedicated to Big Finish can be considered a pretty big fan of their work. I go to cons when I can, and I see the cast photos when Big Finish posts then, so I have a good idea of what the performers look like now, and I'm probably not alone in this.
My question is, when you picture the characters, do you imagine them as they were during their television days, or is your mental image closer to what the performer looks likes now?
With me, it varies a bit. I was watching Dragonfire last night, and Sophie Aldred sounds exactly the same as she did back then. In fact, I’ve seen so many recent photos that I was shocked by how young Ace looked there.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2017 15:54:17 GMT
I'm aphantasic, which means I have no visual memory or imagination, so I don't picture the characters at all. This isn't an issue for me because my memories of Doctor Who are either information or memories of audio. I can remember the tone of voice Peter Davison used to deliver different lines and can here his attempts to sound like a fresh new Doctor in Psychodrama, but my mind attaches no pictures to any of the lines.
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Post by mrperson on Jan 4, 2017 16:36:08 GMT
More as they were. And since I usually listen to something before looking at the cover art (I get just about everything via download), my mental image of characters is often different from the actors' appearance.
But come to think about it, my mind tends to spit out scenery more often than it does the characters. If I try to force it, it spits out less imagery. Though much of the time, the scene is represented without images yet still very much arranged in some sort of 3D mental space; both with shape and shapeless. I alternate between feeling the story happen and seeing it happen.
Quite odd when I reflect on it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2017 17:32:46 GMT
Well, the Sixth Doctor still wears that horrible coat in my mind's eye, so 'as they were' seems to be my way. (Colin Baker or Tom running around as they are now probably wouldn't work in my head anyway!)
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Post by ulyssessarcher on Jan 4, 2017 20:24:09 GMT
When I think about it, it is probably as they were...but if it's a good story I don't even think about visualizing the audio, that's the great thing about BF, they are great at just audio...
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Post by agentten on Jan 4, 2017 21:00:11 GMT
I picture them however the character generally looks at the approximate time the story is set. I like to get rather detailed sometimes, too, especially if I'm really enjoying the story. For example, I will decide, based on the feel of the story, little things such as whether the Fourth Doctor is wearing his hat in the story or not or what sort of colorful outfit Romana has on. I'll ask myself questions like is the Tenth Doctor wearing his trench coat or just his suit? That kind of thing.
Often, my visual landscape for something like this will remain locked in, even many years later. I first read Dracula way back in the sixth grade and when I listened to the Big Finish adaptation the mental landscape and geography I created for the story in the sixth grade was still in place.
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Post by aemiliapaula on Jan 5, 2017 1:25:26 GMT
I'm listening to Six and Evelyn stories right now. For some reason, maybe because the companion is a bit older, I see Colin about how he looked in the 30 years in the Tardis special.
I can see the facial expressions in my mind, like the way Tom Baker looks away when he smiles while saying certain kinds of lines.
My mind did create an evening gown for Romana in Worlds of Doctor Who. I wish I could draw it!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2017 2:09:28 GMT
Something very strange happens to my imagination depending on the kind of story that I'm listening to. There are some like The Sandman where I visualise the Galyari being done with early 1990s claymation and puppets, others like Primeval where the soundscape makes me visualise those Graeme Harper touches to directing and then there's stories like Shada where I can just go nuts with how I see it.
In amongst all of this, the performers themselves tend to remain the same as they were on television, barring characters like the Eighth Doctor and Charley where there is no visual representation other than what we see on the cover art. Lisa Bowerman pops up immediately into my head for Benny whether I'm reading the NAs or listening to her own series, but she's always aged appropriately for the occasion. I remember that I had a particular idea of what Sixy's costume looked like depending on where it was in his timeline and Peri was allowed to let her hair down more closer we get to The Trial of a Time Lord. The Home Truths trilogy with Sara Kingdom I can't help but imagine in telesnaps because that's how I saw that part of The Daleks' Master Plan for a long time.
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Post by Digi on Jan 5, 2017 2:24:30 GMT
My brain sometimes slips into seeing Peter Davison or Colin Baker as they are now, but most of the time I think of them as they were. I find this is especially easy with certain actors who manage to sound exactly the same as they did decades ago--Sophie Aldred and Louise Jameson spring immediately to mind.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Jan 5, 2017 4:09:50 GMT
Having the benefit of not seeing the actors age throughout their career because a) living in Australia we don't get to see a lot of the work that folks in the UK might see and b) not watching too much telly anymore anyway, I always listen and imagine the characters as they are in the context of the story. Most actors played their part for long enough that they find it pretty easy to slip back into the part without too much effort or are skilled enough to mask the passing of time.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2017 4:13:09 GMT
I always use the cover art for the main characters and then if I know an actor by their voice and connect a face, I put them in a clothing the matches the setting. The rest is just luck of the draw.
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Post by barnabaslives on Jan 5, 2017 7:11:49 GMT
I was watching Dragonfire last night, and Sophie Aldred sounds exactly the same as she did back then. In fact, I’ve seen so many recent photos that I was shocked by how young Ace looked there. I've heard so many Seventh Doctor audios that I'm shocked there is video of the Doctor and Ace. This sounds very silly because I know that perfectly well, but I go to watch any and I'm all "OMG! I don't believe it, there are pictures with this audio!" :-) I generally don't picture the stories very vividly - I wish I did because that would probably help me a lot to remember the stories - but I do picture the characters as age-appropriate to the storyline (as well as picturing the actors in the bonus interviews as roughly their current age).
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Post by elkawho on Jan 6, 2017 3:15:51 GMT
When I first started listening to Big Finish, I had seen very little Classic Who. None of 5, and only Vengeance on Varos and Renaissance of the Daleks for the others. But for some reason, I have always seen the younger 5 and 7 when listening, but I used to have a hard time seeing Colin as he was then. Now that I've seen most of their stories, I have a much easier time picturing a young Colin when listening. When I do picture them at all, that is.
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Post by kimalysong on Jan 6, 2017 16:21:10 GMT
I don't visualize at all when I am listening so I never really thought about it. But I guess I consider them at the time.
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ljwilson
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Post by ljwilson on Jan 6, 2017 16:50:40 GMT
My mind creates the images of the Doctors as they were, very vividly! I suppose that's why i like audio so much with my mind able to create detailed pictures.
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Post by Ela on Jan 8, 2017 5:19:54 GMT
I think, generally, I see the characters as they were at the time the story is supposed to be taking place, not as the actors portraying the characters currently are. There may be some exceptions to this, but overall, it's as they were.
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Post by number13 on Mar 13, 2017 10:22:15 GMT
With curious variety:
First, Second and Third are frozen in Time, just as they looked when in mid-season form. I imagine the Third Doctor as when Jon Pertwee was about 50% on the 'bouffant' scale. Fourth is also the mid-term Tom Baker, before the scarf became ultra-long, with the youthful grin, the curls and the immense energy that he still transmits on audio. Five - sometimes I imagine him looking older (because sometimes I think Peter Davison sounds older) but not always. Depends on the story. Six - just a few years older, with the edges smoothed a bit by Time. And because Colin Baker is my favourite Big Finish Doctor, I never imagine The Coat unless the story mentions it specifically! (Something plain and sumptuous instead, but still conspicuous, maybe very deep red.) Seven - Time does not trrrouble him, I see him just as he was. Eight - Also as he briefly was on screen.
The companions - no matter what they now sound like, I see them just as they were, with three exceptions: Ian and Victoria are definitely somewhat older, and Jamie is more like the later view from 'The Two Doctors' with the posh Highland plaid.
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Mar 13, 2017 10:28:10 GMT
On the whole - as they were. Except Tegan, who for some reason resembles modern Janet.
And, as I've said in the past, narrator mode Ian resembles silver-fox and moustache William Russell, most times narration is just that, narration, but with Ian for some reason his narration is part of the story, he's in-character telling the story.
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Post by number13 on Mar 13, 2017 10:36:22 GMT
On the whole - as they were. Except Tegan, who for some reason resembles modern Janet. And, as I've said in the past, narrator mode Ian resembles silver-fox and moustache William Russell, most times narration is just that, narration, but with Ian for some reason his narration is part of the story, he's in-character telling the story. Agree, he's in character and I especially like Ian's companion chronicles because William Russell really gives them the air of the older Ian telling thrilling tales of his adventurous youth, with the performed sections being almost like the older Ian playing himself as a younger man in 'flashbacks'.
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Post by acousticwolf on Mar 13, 2017 11:25:46 GMT
On the whole - as they were. Except Tegan, who for some reason resembles modern Janet. And, as I've said in the past, narrator mode Ian resembles silver-fox and moustache William Russell, most times narration is just that, narration, but with Ian for some reason his narration is part of the story, he's in-character telling the story. Agree, he's in character and I especially like Ian's companion chronicles because William Russell really gives them the air of the older Ian telling thrilling tales of his adventurous youth, with the performed sections being almost like the older Ian playing himself as a younger man in 'flashbacks'. ^This^ Generally I see all companions and Doctors as they were, apart from Colin who has had so much development that he comes across as older. Paul is pretty much "Night of the Doctor" to me at the moment. Cheers Tony
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