|
Post by number13 on Mar 20, 2018 11:45:34 GMT
I've added the thread Poll - please give the Serpent your score in Mazzinis! (5=best)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2018 12:36:00 GMT
Very nice little Mystery/Comedy to mark the beginning of the End of an Era for the MRs (last one Line Produced by David Richardson). Particularly good one for Tegan and a rare example of the 5th Doctor proceeding with things almost at his own pace. Regards mark687 Glad to hear you enjoyed. Kingdom of Lies and Ghost Walk have been my favourite Fifth Doctor releases since the Psychodrome/Iterations of I box set, so I'm very much looking forward to hearing this one. Roll on the end of the working day!
|
|
|
Post by mark687 on Mar 20, 2018 12:45:32 GMT
Very nice little Mystery/Comedy to mark the beginning of the End of an Era for the MRs (last one Line Produced by David Richardson). Particularly good one for Tegan and a rare example of the 5th Doctor proceeding with things almost at his own pace. Regards mark687 Glad to hear you enjoyed. Kingdom of Lies and Ghost Walk have been my favourite Fifth Doctor releases since the Psychodrome/Iterations of I box set, so I'm very much looking forward to hearing this one. Roll on the end of the working day! Couldn't have said it better myself
Regards
mark687
|
|
|
Post by elkawho on Mar 20, 2018 14:38:22 GMT
This was a really enjoyable story. Nothing groundbreaking, but really good to listen to. Samuel West was a joy to listen to in all his roles! I think I liked the twins the most of all of his characters.
|
|
|
Post by omega on Mar 20, 2018 22:36:20 GMT
This was a really enjoyable story. Nothing groundbreaking, but really good to listen to. Samuel West was a joy to listen to in all his roles! I think I liked the twins the most of all of his characters. His Maria hitting on an awkward Doctor was hilarious. Bet there was lots of corpsing during recording.
|
|
|
Post by IndieMacUser on Mar 21, 2018 14:57:45 GMT
|
|
|
Post by shallacatop on Mar 21, 2018 21:17:06 GMT
Good fun; a nice comedic murder mystery. Plenty of good material for the Doctor and it’s nice to not have him eclipsed in his own story by a large TARDIS team. I thought Tegan was quite out of character, but a minor issue. Great trilogy overall!
|
|
|
Post by bohnny on Mar 22, 2018 1:38:44 GMT
I'm going to give this another spin next week, because the humour didn't really click for me - and it seems that I'm the odd one out. It wouldn't be the first time I've turned around on something after a relisten, so hopefully this is another of those instances.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 17:56:04 GMT
'I hope they don't play it for laughs,' I said in a previous post about this forthcoming audio. Me and my mouth! Ah, well. I enjoyed this nonetheless because a lot of the humour works - although some of it doesn't (for me, at least). Highlights include the attempted seduction of a nervous Doctor in episode 2, and his conversation with 'Bernard' in episode 3. Peter Davison has a way of playing humour - and he and Janet Fielding have some cracking lines here - in a certain dry fashion, which makes it so much more funny, and it is a real shame he wasn't allowed to channel that much on television. My only problem with this is reading in an interview (possibly Vortex) that the writer was inspired by giallo films to a certain extent. The fan in me has leapt on that and over-anticipated the connection. As the extras tell us, this has more in common with Kind Hearts and Coronets, and Sam West in particular is excellent in many roles. So yes, I enjoyed this because it was a good whodunnit with some interesting characters (and some irritating ones) and good use being made of the excellent regulars. It brings to an end a mixed trilogy, with Ghost Walk as the high-point and Kingdom of Lies. The things I love about giallo films aren't necessarily what David Llewellyn loves, and that is absolutely fair enough. I have a huge liking for them (and I apologise for the following obsessive rambling). Usually, they involve an exotic location, and a young lady being terrorized by some rotter in a black mask/black gloves, ending in a twist-upon-twist ending. While there is humour in them, it doesn't take centre stage as it does here. Sometimes this comedy works really well in this, sometimes it doesn't and becomes a selection of silly voices (' totally'). Equally, giallo films come complete with a terrific, stylised, memorable soundtrack. Listening to these soundtracks is perfectly enjoyable (Ennio Morricone's Short Nights of Glass Dolls or What Have You Done to Solange, or Carlo Savina's The Killer Reserved Nine Seats are good examples). There's nothing remotely unique or comparable in Andy Hardwick's usual orchestral swirls, which are nice enough, but content to sound pretty identical to virtually everything else he's done for Big Finish. Despite this production lacking many of the things I love about giallo films (with the exception being episode 4, where the inspiration becomes joyfully utilized), it strikes me much of Doctor Who (especially the classic series) is similar to that genre anyway. Doctor arrives, murder is done, Doctor gets blamed and much confusion arises as the real killer appears to retain the upper hand. I'm thinking of Black Orchid for some reason, which is very different to this story in many ways, but pretty similar in others. Blimey, that was a bit of a ramble
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2018 11:17:13 GMT
Another very solid Fifth Doctor story. I guessed the murderer early on, once time travel was mentioned - least likely suspect and all that - but Serpent in the Silver Mask was an enjoyable light-hearted murder mystery with some nice moments.
Voted this 4/5 in the poll.
|
|
|
Post by number13 on Mar 24, 2018 12:36:14 GMT
That was a lot of fun and a cracking mystery too from David Llewellyn, as 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' meets Agatha Christie with a science-fiction twist for a great conclusion to the trilogy. The Doctor is doing a 'Poirot' and we're left in no doubt about this; there's a name-check for Agatha Christie early on, and Superintendent Galgo sarcastically tells the Doctor to 'get back to playing Miss Marple' (perhaps he forgot she always solves her cases too!) And there's a vital and classically 'Christie' element of the story given a neat 'Doctor Who' inversion, but it's a big spoiler clue so... {Spoiler Clue}The killer has a secret family connection as so often in Christie's novels, which shows up in the present in the classic Christie style. Except here the secret family connection is from the future, not the past! Only in 'Doctor Who'! I always enjoy it when Peter Davison has the chance to play the rather serious Fifth Doctor in comic situations and there are some priceless moments here - the Doctor being vigorously chatted up by Maria Mazzini has to be the comedy highlight of the whole story for me - especially when we remember that Maria is played by Samuel West! (No wonder they laughed a lot in studio over this bit!) He's absolutely brilliant as Maria, Angelo, Joe and the "Made In Argentia" twins ( oh yah!), making all the characters different and distinct but clearly part of the same (mostly obnoxious) family. The first two episodes are Mazzini-rich and I enjoyed the character comedy of this part of the story very much, before (inevitably!) we start to run out of Mazzinis as the plot thickens and (also inevitably) the Doctor is accused and locked up - but it took the Superintendent two episodes longer than usual, so that's progress! This is about the most familiar situation in 'Doctor Who' but here it's used very cleverly in the structure and the plot. It gives the three Companions space to go investigating and have their own good scenes, always important with a busy TARDIS. And it gives the Doctor peace and quiet to "exercise the little grey cells" just like Poirot in his armchair - and when Tegan (exactly as Captain Hastings would) makes a seemingly obvious comment - that's the key! M. Poirot (I mean the Doctor ) has his solution and sets off to confront the killer - but (again in keeping with the best traditions of the genre) he doesn't reveal who the killer is... Episode 3 is the heart of the 'detective story' and I was riveted to the plot, trying to work out where the clues were leading and who 'The Serpent' really was - and I failed completely, as usual! I'm always Hastings, never Hercule!, but as a fan of the 'Queens of Crime' and their classic 'Golden Age' 1920s/30s novels, I loved this clever homage and the cheeky way the Doctor (unlike Poirot and all the others) is open about his motive for being secretive - he does so because it's more fun!And finally, after all the splendid nods to Ealing comedy and crime fiction, the solution is pure 'Doctor Who' science fiction, just as it should be. I always enjoy stories like this one that remember the Doctor isn't only a hero, but a Time Lord hero and has unique skills. As Adric says - the killer had the plan for 'the perfect murder' but they forgot one thing - they forgot the Doctor! I've had high hopes of this trilogy since we got the first details and it fully lived up to them; I've loved each story and for me it has been the best run of Fifth Doctor stories since the wonderful box set duo. We know there are changes coming in the MR/Monthly Adventures, but if the future MR/MA is as good as the last six months or so have been, I'll be well pleased.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2018 12:44:18 GMT
I always enjoy it when Peter Davison has the chance to play the rather serious Fifth Doctor in comic situations and there are some priceless moments here - the Doctor being vigorously chatted up by Maria Mazzini has to be the comedy highlight of the whole story for me - especially when we remember that Maria is played by Samuel West! Forgive me for snipping your excellent review, but this needs repeating! I dislike it when people make sweeping statements like, 'this is one of Big Finish's funniest scenes ever' ... but this is one of Big Finish's funniest scenes ever! A laugh-out-loud moment
|
|
|
Post by number13 on Mar 24, 2018 13:35:45 GMT
I always enjoy it when Peter Davison has the chance to play the rather serious Fifth Doctor in comic situations and there are some priceless moments here - the Doctor being vigorously chatted up by Maria Mazzini has to be the comedy highlight of the whole story for me - especially when we remember that Maria is played by Samuel West! Forgive me for snipping your excellent review, but this needs repeating! I dislike it when people make sweeping statements like, 'this is one of Big Finish's funniest scenes ever' ... but this is one of Big Finish's funniest scenes ever! A laugh-out-loud moment Cheers @paz, feel free to snip away! I was listening late in the evening and that scene had me almost choking with the effort not to burst out laughing and wake people up! I enjoyed your review discussing the 'giallo' side of the story - I don't know that genre at all, so it was good to see where that influence did/didn't feed through here.
|
|
|
Post by Timelord007 on Mar 25, 2018 7:34:41 GMT
Nice one, entertaining quirky audio drama, the humour wasn't to over the top barring Maria vigorous attempt at trying to seduce the Doctor, a enjoyable adventure with great characters & wit.
8/10.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2018 20:41:59 GMT
I wasn't expecting such a light, fun story to cap this trilogy. There's almost always a more serious "straight" story in a BF trilogy but this was another massively fun over the top delight. Maybe a bit on the nose when a murder mystery actually namechecks Agatha Christie but hey.
|
|
|
Post by omega on Mar 28, 2018 9:35:54 GMT
Nice one, entertaining quirky audio drama, the humour wasn't to over the top barring Maria vigorous attempt at trying to seduce the Doctor, a enjoyable adventure with great characters & wit. 8/10. Easily the funniest seduction scene since Angvia tried to get the Seventh Doctor.
|
|
|
Post by number13 on Mar 28, 2018 11:35:29 GMT
28/3
Script and Extended extras are now in our DL accounts.
|
|
|
Post by mrperson on Apr 2, 2018 22:32:17 GMT
Heh; as others said. An enjoyable light episode.
4/5 - 4.5/5
|
|
|
Post by Audio Watchdog on Apr 4, 2018 17:56:38 GMT
What a delightful romp. Loads of fun. The 5th Doctor trilogies are on a roll three years running.
|
|
|
Post by theotherjosh on Apr 5, 2018 19:17:53 GMT
Humor is very subjective and there is nothing worse than a funny story that falls flat. Fortunately, this really tickled my funny bone. I really enjoyed Llewellyn’s earlier work with Crowmarsh and here he shows he has a deft comedic touch as well.
The Doctor is there because he wants something, which is a nice change of pace. It’s such a goofy line, but I really laughed at “Dumber than a bag of space hammers.” I’m assuming that “That’s just like your opinion” is a Big Lebowski reference, right?
Nyssa gets to show some character, especially in the beginning. She’s not deliberately mean, but unintentionally condescending and I could absolutely believe that about her. Peter and Janet really play off each other well.
I liked the concept of the station being slightly out of sync with time to serve as a tax haven, which reminded me of a similar concept from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. The sink pods were an interesting concept as well.
Apparently I’m the only person in the world not familiar with Kind Hearts and Coronets, but the story still worked even in the absence of that knowledge. It was fun, it was funny, it worked as a mystery and it kept me guessing right up until the end. Stories like this make me glad I have a subscription.
|
|