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Post by number13 on Dec 19, 2018 11:56:46 GMT
Android? ANDROID!? He’s an ART CRITIC not an ANDROID!!
Panda's a cyborg really - there's a vigorous little living heart beating furiously inside that mechanical body.
No android would ever get so cross or want to give people 'a punch on the hooter' - it would be against their Prime Directive! But Panda will happily oblige!
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Post by vivdunstan on Dec 19, 2018 12:57:19 GMT
They should try to get American actors to voice American characters via skype or something. One of the American characters, the wife, *was* voiced by an American actress, from Baltimore. Fair enough her husband was voiced by an English actor. But by Big Finish standards this is better than usual. I also didn't groan at the accents as much as I did in Red Planets, when most of the Russian accents were terrible, with the notable exception of one genuinely Russian actor.
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Post by elkawho on Dec 20, 2018 13:22:58 GMT
They should try to get American actors to voice American characters via skype or something. One of the American characters, the wife, *was* voiced by an American actress, from Baltimore. Fair enough her husband was voiced by an English actor. But by Big Finish standards this is better than usual. I also didn't groan at the accents as much as I did in Red Planets, when most of the Russian accents were terrible, with the notable exception of one genuinely Russian actor. Yeah, I thought the actor did a particularly good job with the accent. There have been some terrible attempts at American accents in past BF audios.
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Post by fingersmash on Dec 20, 2018 14:06:31 GMT
One of the American characters, the wife, *was* voiced by an American actress, from Baltimore. Fair enough her husband was voiced by an English actor. But by Big Finish standards this is better than usual. I also didn't groan at the accents as much as I did in Red Planets, when most of the Russian accents were terrible, with the notable exception of one genuinely Russian actor. Yeah, I thought the actor did a particularly good job with the accent. There have been some terrible attempts at American accents in past BF audios. I find it hilarious that every time we have an American actor show up, almost everyone thinks the accent is terrible.
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Post by mrperson on Dec 20, 2018 21:12:38 GMT
Yeah, I thought the actor did a particularly good job with the accent. There have been some terrible attempts at American accents in past BF audios. I find it hilarious that every time we have an American actor show up, almost everyone thinks the accent is terrible. It was the husband that grated on me.
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Post by constonks on Dec 20, 2018 23:16:02 GMT
One thing I liked about this one is it doesn't feel so much like a Doctor Who story with Iris in it as it did a true crossover between the Main Range and the Iris series - part of it is the presence of Panda for the first time in an Iris DW story, but the tone is a perfect blend as well.
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Post by eric009 on Dec 24, 2018 22:51:22 GMT
more Panda
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 19:05:04 GMT
I'm almost always in the position of having to defend Paul's work but glad to see this seems to have gone down well with most. I loved it. It was a great setting for both a DW and an Iris story. I'd kinda have liked it to end with Iris' classic theme but you can't have everything.
Panda was so missed in Wildthyme Reloaded, it was lovely to have a classic adventure with him and Auntie Iris here. Everyone seemed to be having a ball.
Easy 10/10 for me.
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Post by Hieronymus on Dec 28, 2018 20:33:28 GMT
As an American, I thought the (American) accents were fine.
The cameos were better.
Iris was brilliant, played on far more levels and with more subtlety than I expected she would be.
But Panda stole the show.
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Post by slithe on Jan 2, 2019 11:12:11 GMT
If I'm honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this one. The blurb didn't really fill me with enthusiasm and coming after a mixed run of 7th Doctor Audios, I wasn't sure if this was going to work. As such, I listened to The Hunting Ground first, expecting it to be the better story. From reading through the posts here, it seems as if I wasn't the only one who had similar thoughts.
OK - hands up, I got it totally wrong. I LOVED this story - it was a thoroughly entertaining tale and had me engaged throughout the four episodes. Although not overly comical, this one isn't entirely played with a straight bat and it does send up some of the pretentiousness of the art world sublimely, which helps to make it great fun. I also thought this was well casted as well - McCoy is clearly having a ball here (and it shows with his performance) and he gets to play the more mischievous 7th Doctor with a dash of humour. I also like the fact that the 'brooding chess player' gets his just desserts by thinking the worst about Iris and, ultimately, does very little to resolve the story. However, the final scenes still belie the more darker Doctor with his thoughts on the 'deaths' of Kevin/Iris/Panda. The fact that Iris is able to comment on the changes between the incarnations of the Doctor is a nice touch and adds depth to the story.
It is great to see Olivier back as Hex. Although more useful as comic fodder for the Doctor/Iris, his portrayal of Hex shines and is a good reminder of the earlier adventures that the Doctor/Hex/Ace had at the start (before the darker arc that developed). Certainly, it is clear why this TARDIS team was such a winner - the three actors have good chemistry and complement each other well. Aldred comes across well here and is less 'shouty' and gets involved with the plot. Her interactions with Panda are amusing (if not farcical) and the dynamic between her/the Doctor makes a good contrast with Hex/Iris. She is also quite sympathetic and is able to remind the Timelords of the need to consider the human consequences of preserving the web of time.
Not being familiar with Panda/Iris (except in The Wormery, which was offered on sale a while ago), I wasn't sure what to make of these. Certainly, Iris was the more interesting character in this one. Manning plays her well and she is enjoyable on audio. Her love/hate relationship with the Doctor is interesting, although I think she was better against Colin Baker (possibly because of the interaction between her and the Doctor in the Wormery). Certainly, she is more complex than the Doctor - but has her secrets and is not the fool she looks (perhaps a good contrast with the more scheming 7th incarnation). Panda was wonderful - acerbic and sarcastic, which made for some great lines. I genuinely though Gyles Brandreth was playing the part at first, and sadly couldn't get the image out of my head as I listened to this. I love the idea of Panda writing a journal and being an art critic. The image of him with a blaster is also quite, surreal and amusing.
The plot itself was ok, although very reminiscent of a, much better, Time and the Rani mixed with City of Death. Indeed, the City of Death vibe was what I picked up on and thought the whole approach mirrored Douglas Adams' more whimsical approach to Doctor Who. The deus ex machina ending didn't really matter with this one as it was a great production, but with a weaker cast, I am not sure it would have hung together as well.
Great story and I am really pleased I was proved wrong here. Hope to see similar styles in 2019. The MR ends on a strong note.
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Post by nottenst on Jan 4, 2019 14:45:51 GMT
Just finished it today. I was disappointed that there was no music suite on the CDs or as a download yet. Maybe it will be there once they put up the interview extras.
It was a lot of fun, but there was one bit which seemed a bit weird. When The Doctor and Panda are in the bookstore with Dora she wants to get serotonin from Panda and it is explained that he has none. Then a few minutes later in the salon she does the same thing. That didn't seem to make much sense. Also, when they went to check up on "one more thing" I thought they were going to take care of the map, but instead it was looking for the bus, which wasn't there. I guess they must have taken care of the map off screen.
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Post by IndieMacUser on Jan 9, 2019 16:07:17 GMT
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Post by mark687 on Jan 10, 2019 10:36:32 GMT
Subscriber Extended Extra DL is in Accounts
Regards
mark687
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Post by number13 on Jan 10, 2019 10:39:05 GMT
Subscriber Extended Extra DL is in Accounts Regards mark687 For this release I held off from listening to the interviews on CD, waiting for this!
EDIT: 51 minutes running time - about double the average, sounds like they'll be as special as I hoped!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2019 21:03:20 GMT
Subscriber Extended Extra DL is in Accounts Regards mark687 For this release I held off from listening to the interviews on CD, waiting for this!
EDIT: 51 minutes running time - about double the average, sounds like they'll be as special as I hoped!
I'm listening to the extras now and thoroughly enjoying them. The extras used to get a bit of stick, but I've always found them pretty interesting. Nice to hear so much from Mr Magrs.
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Post by theotherjosh on Jan 11, 2019 18:47:52 GMT
I had been anticipating this one since it was announced. I downloaded it immediately...and then dithered for nearly two weeks before starting it, afraid that it wouldn't live up to my expectations.
I do dearly love Paul Magrs. I'm not familiar with his non-Who works, but his Who and Who-adjacent writings are exactly what I want, that absurd and delightful mix of silly and sincere. The characterization is so good. He has a profound grasp of what makes these characters tick.
I'm hard pressed to think about an exchange I've enjoyed as much as I did the encounter between Ace and Iris.
My one tiny complaint is Kevin's American accent, which is a shame, because I very much liked that actor's performance very much otherwise.
Ace is at her best when Hex is around, Iris was her delightful self, McCoy was at the height of his powers.
David Benson was good as the bear, too.
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Post by nottenst on Jan 11, 2019 19:36:04 GMT
But still no music suite?
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Post by mark687 on Jan 12, 2019 0:29:37 GMT
But still no music suite? No unfortunately.
Regards
mark687
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Post by number13 on Jan 14, 2019 10:09:10 GMT
I had been anticipating this one since it was announced. I downloaded it immediately...and then dithered for nearly two weeks before starting it, afraid that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. I do dearly love Paul Magrs. I'm not familiar with his non-Who works, but his Who and Who-adjacent writings are exactly what I want, that absurd and delightful mix of silly and sincere. The characterization is so good. He has a profound grasp of what makes these characters tick. I'm hard pressed to think about an exchange I've enjoyed as much as I did the encounter between Ace and Iris. My one tiny complaint is Kevin's American accent, which is a shame, because I very much liked that actor's performance very much otherwise. Ace is at her best when Hex is around, Iris was her delightful self, McCoy was at the height of his powers. David Benson was good as the bear, too. BEAR??!
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Post by theotherjosh on Jan 14, 2019 13:42:41 GMT
I had been anticipating this one since it was announced. I downloaded it immediately...and then dithered for nearly two weeks before starting it, afraid that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. I do dearly love Paul Magrs. I'm not familiar with his non-Who works, but his Who and Who-adjacent writings are exactly what I want, that absurd and delightful mix of silly and sincere. The characterization is so good. He has a profound grasp of what makes these characters tick. I'm hard pressed to think about an exchange I've enjoyed as much as I did the encounter between Ace and Iris. My one tiny complaint is Kevin's American accent, which is a shame, because I very much liked that actor's performance very much otherwise. Ace is at her best when Hex is around, Iris was her delightful self, McCoy was at the height of his powers. David Benson was good as the bear, too. BEAR??!
Ow! Right in my hooter!
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