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Post by slithe on Jan 27, 2019 10:29:20 GMT
With a few hours to kill, I decided to give this one a re-listen. With, nearly, 14 months gone since original release in December 2017, I wanted to see if it still was as good as I remembered or whether some of this was the 'hype' that was built up with comparisons to other releases (notably Chimes of Midnight).
I think this is an interesting release and, regardless of whether comparisons to Chimes are valid or not, is a highly entertaining and enjoyable story. This release rounds off a very good trilogy with the Sixth Doctor and all three leads are on great form.. I particularly like Colin Baker here - I think he portrays the Sixth Doctor as closely to his vision as he is able and it shows - he isn't the arrogant, brash show-off that we saw in Season 22, but there is still a little spiky core underneath. He is compassionate with Flip/Constance and his distraught at Constance's plight shows how much this incarnation deeply cares about people closest to him (bit like 13s 'Fam'), whilst he is still quick to snap and judge people - his rebuke of Andy is quite cutting (even though the guy is trying to do the right thing). His bombastic arrogance that he thinks he has *solved* the situation with the Static by trapping them in his mind is also an interesting question - has he really? Similarly, whilst Connie is *saved* - is she? You just get the feeling that the Seventh Doctor wouldn't have left anything to chance and may even have left Constance to her fate.
I also liked the 'timey-wimey' element to this. The fact that the TARDIS crew meet Percy when he has already met them in his past is a good plot driver - it is good to hear how this develops and the fact that Percy 'knows' the Doctor (and ultimately Constance's fate) does help to explain his somewhat bizarre actions at the start. Certainly, on a second listen, the clues as to Constance's death are a lot clearer - the cries for help at the start, the ID Tag, the stare at Constance when she arrives, the abandoned RAF station - it all ties together well. I also liked the fact that Flip 'finds' Percy's journal and photographs and how this is used to tie the two halves of the story together.
The caravan setting is probably more atmospheric and claustrophobic and comes across better. However, the RAF station works well but is less effective - possibly because we've heard this set-up before (very reminiscent of Criss-Cross). The return to the Second World War suits Constance well and you do get the feeling that she is quite looking forward to returning to 'normal' life again - possibility controversially, this could have been a good point to 'end' her run with the Sixth Doctor - either by letting her stay with Percy or by killing her off. You get the feeling that Constance is weary of her travels and longs for stability.
The fact that this release leaves several key questions unanswered is a real highlight. Perhaps these will be addressed in a future release? Possibly this is why I didn't enjoy the Sixth Doctor releases as much as I was hoping - Iron Bright, Lure of the Nomad and the Hunting Ground were solid enough but didn't really do anything to advance the cliff-hanger from Static.
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Post by shallacatop on Mar 7, 2019 20:43:44 GMT
Just given this a listen in preparation for UNIT Incursions. It’s fantastic. Great atmosphere and guest cast, especially David Graham. The TARDIS team all make for a nice contrast.
When I was listening, my mind kept getting drawn to The Testimony from Twice Upon A Time. The Static carry out their work by using technology that’s not really delved into. It seems logical that the Testimony could be the owners of that technology.
My slight criticism is that I wish the story was longer! Not an extra part, but extending the first three parts a little. There’s some great ethic and moral discussions to be had within the story, but it decides not to go in that direction. That’s fine, but I wish it was just that little bit longer to incorporate it. It could be something we get in the rematch with UNIT, though, and is perhaps better suited for that.
The Doctor has some rather ruthless moments in this and it’s all rather refreshing and makes for a change from the cuddly Doctor Colin prefers to play on audio, which doesn’t quite do it for me. In a way, it’s a shame he doesn’t maintain it throughout Static, instead going back to his normal audio self, though I’m not sure if that’s the writing or how Colin plays it.
Great stuff!
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Post by slithe on Mar 9, 2019 11:16:06 GMT
Just given this a listen in preparation for UNIT Incursions. It’s fantastic. Great atmosphere and guest cast, especially David Graham. The TARDIS team all make for a nice contrast. When I was listening, my mind kept getting drawn to The Testimony from Twice Upon A Time. The Static carry out their work by using technology that’s not really delved into. It seems logical that the Testimony could be the owners of that technology. My slight criticism is that I wish the story was longer! Not an extra part, but extending the first three parts a little. There’s some great ethic and moral discussions to be had within the story, but it decides not to go in that direction. That’s fine, but I wish it was just that little bit longer to incorporate it. It could be something we get in the rematch with UNIT, though, and is perhaps better suited for that. The Doctor has some rather ruthless moments in this and it’s all rather refreshing and makes for a change from the cuddly Doctor Colin prefers to play on audio, which doesn’t quite do it for me. In a way, it’s a shame he doesn’t maintain it throughout Static, instead going back to his normal audio self, though I’m not sure if that’s the writing or how Colin plays it. Great stuff! I would also have liked the ethical dimension raised by the story to have been looked at a bit more. Certainly, the underlying tension between Joanna, Susannah and Andy could have been explored a bit more - always got the impression that there was more to that relationship than we were told. I picked up an 'affair vibe' between Andy and the other sister, which might explain his guilt and motivation for wanting to raise the dead. Similarly, the idea of bringing back the airmen from the brink of death to find out what was happening in the war, only to send them back after the RAF get the info is a bit dubious - but the Doctor doesn't much go into that either. Perhaps the questions were deliberately left vague to make the story more mysterious, but looking at the ethics may have detracted from the key focus of the plot. The treatment the Doctor hands out to Percy is a bit harsh for the Sixth Doctor (reminded me more of the Seventh there), but I suppose it does show how much this incarnation cares about his companions (especially after thinking that he left Peri to die). Would like this story-arc to be resolved soon - it certainly is something that BF are making us wait for!!
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Post by number13 on May 1, 2019 1:19:44 GMT
Relistened ahead of UNIT:Incursions - and what a great story by Jonathan Morris! I'm a fan of classic ghost stories and for me this is a brilliant example of that genre meeting 'Doctor Who' and creating a modern classic with the best of both worlds. The splendidly atmospheric first half is more 'ghost story', the time-travelling second half is more 'Who', but the overall result is a cracker which is both unsettling ghost story and Who adventure all the way to the final ringing phone...
What a fabulous team are Sixie, Flip and Constance! I loved the way the story divided them in Time and gave Flip and Constance settings where both could shine, and they certainly did. I could imagine Seven looking back with some pride on the way Sixie handled this one - although he seemed to be taken along by events, with hindsight he must have had the plan forming in his mind from the moment that young Percy stepped out of the mist in 1940. And finding the 'sham' of Percy was the final confirmation for him; though he claimed his use of the stone circle was just a 'hunch', I think otherwise!
Also, Seven would have agreed with the quiet ruthlessness with which the Doctor took charge of Percy's new life and gave him the task of protecting the area, a task he knew Percy would carry out faithfully because he'd seen him still doing it 40 years later. Very much the Time Lord, doing what had to be done to protect the Web of Time and using Time to slowly weaken the Static he knew Percy carried within him until he could defeat it in the future. And by contrast, the Doctor's grief and anger at Constance's death were as 'human' as anyone's could be; Colin Baker brilliant as always, he is my favourite audio Doctor and stories like this remind me why.
With hindsight, the ending has 'sequel' written all over it! The secret of the 'resurrection machine' isn't explained, we've only seen the 'control panel', we don't know who the builders were - and we don't know what UNIT will do with the charge the Doctor has given them.
Mr. Morris, I'm about to hear your sequel to this great ghost story and I'm getting tiny prickles in the back of my neck at the very thought...
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Post by number13 on May 1, 2019 10:05:42 GMT
Update - And the UNIT sequel did not disappoint! I'm very pleased I relistened to 'Static' just before, because this is one 'crossover' between ranges where you really do need to have heard the first to make sense of the second, imo.
And some of those unanswered questions remain unanswered - leaving room for "Static III" to appear from the mist sometime in the future then? Hope so.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on May 6, 2019 23:15:28 GMT
For whatever reason I never listened to this one until today. What a great story. Johnny Morris delivers again.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2021 19:20:22 GMT
It’s one of those stories that has become one of my favourites . it’s one also where the Cover delivers on the creepiness of the actual tale in itself.Caravan care takers with axes, secret military areas,stones ,grief,loss and an eerie foe what is not to love? Still think it’s one of the top BF main range tales.Flip and Constance and the dependable six and a timely wimey element that delivers a true atmospheric tale.And a game changer for one of the Doctors companions Top Marks to Jonathan Morris,
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jan 23, 2021 21:55:03 GMT
I listened to this last week. What a great story. That ending..
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Post by grinch on Jan 27, 2021 12:34:00 GMT
All this talk of Static has got me itching for a relisten now. Definitely putting it on the list.
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Post by grinch on Jan 28, 2021 17:01:07 GMT
As promised I gave this one a relisten. Pleased to see that it’s just as good as I remember it. David Graham is by far the standout performer in this as the quite tragic Percy Till and I retract my earlier statement that it explains too much regarding the threat in this. By the end of it, we only know the name of the enemy but nothing at all about the original purpose of the machine, who built it and what ‘the thing under the ground’ is. All very ominous as you can tell.
Got me thinking though, surely you could do a prequel of this set in the time period where the Monks who originally inhabited the Abbey ended up encountering the Static?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2021 10:58:17 GMT
As promised I gave this one a relisten. Pleased to see that it’s just as good as I remember it. David Graham is by far the standout performer in this as the quite tragic Percy Till and I retract my earlier statement that it explains too much regarding the threat in this. By the end of it, we only know the name of the enemy but nothing at all about the original purpose of the machine, who built it and what ‘the thing under the ground’ is. All very ominous as you can tell. Got me thinking though, surely you could do a prequel of this set in the time period where the Monks who originally inhabited the Abbey ended up encountering the Static? We have the Unit story .....it’s a prequel that shouldn’t be rushed I think sometimes less is definitely more and I think this is one that should be left unexplored till the best tale that can be told gets told😂
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Post by elkawho on Feb 1, 2021 2:00:54 GMT
I love this story, but it bothers me that they have never dealt with Constance's return from the dead and the likelihood that she is carrying The Static.
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