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Post by shallacatop on Jul 18, 2019 14:45:51 GMT
The Avenues of Possibility. I’m not actually a massive fan of Charley and I can be quite indifferent to Colin’s audio portrayal of the Doctor, but I really enjoyed their pairing here, alongside Menzies. The story is pretty much split into two, it seems to play all its cards and resolve itself about halfway in, before we move towards a different story strand where the stakes are higher and it feeds into the ongoing arc a lot more. Currently the arc isn’t dissimilar to the one running through Matt Smith’s tenure. A TARDIS has exploded and is causing riffs across time and space. It’s also expanding outwards on the ruins of a planet too. Great stuff. Collision Course tonight, I think.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2019 15:51:06 GMT
Collision Course{Spoiler} Observation #1: When Leela says that the Doctor has too many face, Romana comments that that's not even half....after having just seen nine of them. Eighteen is more faces for the Doctor is more faces than we've seen in any media yet Clearly this was referencing {Spoiler} The Morbius Doctors - they're now 100% canon.
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Post by SG. on Jul 18, 2019 16:17:53 GMT
A couple of interesting tidbits from the Behind the Scenes: {Spoiler} Colin Baker loves the idea of doing a multi-Doc story with David Warner - yes please.
Alex Kingston's been making the case to Peter Capaldi about Big Finish - YES PLEASE.
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Post by dannybl on Jul 18, 2019 16:32:00 GMT
{Spoiler} Colin Baker loves the idea of doing a multi-Doc story with David Warner - yes please. I've been saying this for years, but with Tim rather than Colin would be most obvious
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Post by xlozdob on Jul 18, 2019 19:06:21 GMT
Great adventures and a lot of grins along the way - Doctor Who at it's best here, and so many giving their best. Nice job everyone! {Spoiler} Complaint: I think a couple of lines from Tim Treloar as well as David Bradley's opening lines might have benefited from retakes, especially Bradley's - I couldn't figure out who that was at first who was talking like they're The Doctor. I had a strange split second of thinking it was David Morrissey.
Not really much of a complaint, but it's about all I have. {Spoiler} I had no problem with, but I did find it took me a minute to realise the other one was Hines as Two. I guess I'm just more used to the other two.
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Post by xlozdob on Jul 18, 2019 19:10:00 GMT
A couple of interesting tidbits from the Behind the Scenes: {Spoiler} Colin Baker loves the idea of doing a multi-Doc story with David Warner - yes please.
Alex Kingston's been making the case to Peter Capaldi about Big Finish - YES PLEASE. I love Alex!
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Post by xlozdob on Jul 18, 2019 19:20:07 GMT
Okay, third post in a row, but wotcha gonna do? It's all been said by now, but I really wanted to join in all the grinning. It's been one hell of a ride and I have to relisten to certain parts because I'm sure I've missed lots of things, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Some stories are better than other, some are romps and some more emotional (Sacrifice has to be the best of the set and I might have to try the UNIT range after it). And that last scene! It had me at the edge of my seat, literally, I couldn't contain the excitement specially when {Spoiler}Tennant, Bradley and Hines appear! Hearing Tennant talking to Benny and Leela... that's why I love Big Finish, deep down, the brilliant stories are just the cherry on top hahah. Anyway, here's to 20 more years of this and more!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2019 19:25:56 GMT
Great adventures and a lot of grins along the way - Doctor Who at it's best here, and so many giving their best. Nice job everyone! {Spoiler} Complaint: I think a couple of lines from Tim Treloar as well as David Bradley's opening lines might have benefited from retakes, especially Bradley's - I couldn't figure out who that was at first who was talking like they're The Doctor. I had a strange split second of thinking it was David Morrissey.
Not really much of a complaint, but it's about all I have. {Spoiler} I had no problem with, but I did find it took me a minute to realise the other one was Hines as Two. I guess I'm just more used to the other two. {Spoiler} Honestly I've just never thought Frazer's Troughton was as great as some do but yeah, even then this wasn't one of his best performances aping Pat. I thought Treolar was better than ever as Pertwee. What I like about Tim T is that, yeah, he's doing an impersonation but he also really manages to do the acting that goes with it. To compare to someone else BF use as a stand-in...I don't want to rag too hard on Jake Dudman but every time I hear him I hear someone who does a good Tennant and Smith impression for a mimic on youtube...but that over a story he isn't a very good actor while doing so. Wheras Treolar is able to really hit the emotional beats as Pertwee as The Doctor which is really quite something. That's special. His scene having dinner with Jo? That was just The Third Doctor and Jo to me, it didn't feel like someone aping Pertwee at all. I completely bought it was the same Jo and Doc having banter over food and wine as we saw in Day Of The Daleks nearly 50 years ago. Frazer kinda relies on a lot of ticks of Troughton's like the coughing, murmuring and clearing of the throat. It's more a caricature that I can imagine him doing to wind Patrick up back in the day than a rounded performance. Funny to think in a few months Frazer will be up against a completely different First Doctor in the Early Adventures! If BF were to find a Treolar for the Second Doctor - who can play both Troughton but also a Troughton as The Second Doctor....sorry Frazer, I'd be all over that option. When this comes up I'm always reminded of what Michael Sheen said about playing David Frost. You come out and do the catchphrase in as OTT a way as possible so as to get the impersonation out the way for the section who only want a soundalike, "Hello...good evening....and welcome" - take the applause, everyone's got their fan-service - then you can start the actual acting, worrying less about the voice itself and more about the performance.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2019 19:51:55 GMT
For anyone who listened to part of this, or just wants to make a guess, which stories do you think would be a good "recommended listening" to get ready for this set? I’m making a fully unsubstantiated guess that there will be an element or two of Sirens of Time in there. If I’m correct, you can quote me and if I’m wrong, please forget this post ever happened! {Spoiler} You've won the chocolate factory, Charlie! Well done on calling it and consider yourself quoted! When they popped up as the threat, I had my end of the Five Docs moment "Why not? After all....that's how it all started!"
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 18, 2019 20:51:49 GMT
Finally made it through Lies in Ruins. Oookaayyy... NOT what I had expected. At all. I admit- I am a bit shocked.
They certainly could not have made this any more meta if they had tried. Or tried harder.
{Spoiler} Also, they certainly could not have made this any more depressing if they had tried. I know, it was me who just a few days ago said I really liked the dark direction the 8th Doctor was taking. I think I now take everything back. Mea culpa.
This was VERY tough for me to listen to. It was shocking and heart wrenching. I certainly had not expected that they would start off this set with a story as heavy and emotional as this. I had expected a fun romp with River and Benny along the lines of the River sets.
Instead, we get the Doctor completely breaking down in tears and then pretty much losing his mind. This one puts the defeatist and broken Doctor in Scherzo to shame (and I rather liked Scherzo). I bet McGann absolutely LOVED playing this.
Beside these points- it is really quite clever what they did here. I LOVE how meta it is- they got all the 8th Doctor tropes from over the years and amplified them 10x and reflected them back at us- we get some amnesia (why can't he remember Benny at first?) and absentmindedness, then we get a completely over the top annoying companion (see Lucie, who is annoying for some of us), then we get a hint of Zagreus where the Doctor also turned bad, and of course we get the darkness turned up to 11.
Everybody who had complained about the 8th Doctor getting too dark- I make a bet, from now on, it can only ever get brighter again...
It is quite daring to start the anniversary celebrations with something as dark as this. I admire that they did it. It really makes an impact and drags you down, and it can only ever get better from now on. At least I hope it will brighten up. So yeah. Right now I am not sure what to think about this. Yes, it is very clever. It certainly made an emotional impact on me. I nearly cried! I really felt bad at having the Doctor a crying and whimpering wreck- hopefully they will go a little bit more easy on that front from now on. This caught me very off-guard. I will hold off on rating this until I have heard the rest of the set.
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Post by shallacatop on Jul 18, 2019 20:59:21 GMT
Collision Course. I was gripped by the Fourth Doctor side of the story. The two timelines intertwine seamlessly yet offer a suitable contrast, both from the different portrayal of the Doctor and the differences between Leela and Romana. Their personalities are different, as are their interactions with the Doctor, but they both have mutual similarities too, which is why they work so well in their Gallifrey series. Brilliant performances from Tom, Louise & Lalla, especially Louise, who is very moving in one particular scene. I have said in the past that I have Leela fatigue in the Fourth Doctor Adventures, but Louise Jameson is never less than great. Then we move forward with events, which I’ll discuss in spoiler tags: The multi-Doctor stuff is fun, as they always are. There’s a different dynamic than in previous stories, thanks to the addition of the Third Doctor, but also adding Leela, Romana & Benny into the mix. Of course The First Lady of Big Finish had to be in the centre of events didn’t she? Quite right too. Tim Treolar holds his own up against these original Doctors too, perhaps better than Colin and Sylvester actually.
And for an added treat we get the First, Second & Tenth incarnations! There’s a lovely contrast having the Tenth with the two Sixties Doctors, but also having Tennant opposite two recasts. The scene itself is completely self indulgent, and doesn’t have any bearing on the plot, but I wouldn’t remove it for the world. They’re rather substantial too by cameo standards. I didn’t think it was Frazer’s finest day, which is a shame. That might be because his almost caricature take on Troughton is up against two on screen portrayals.
Having said all that, it doesn’t really amount to much, does it? They come in, have some banter, push some buttons and then it’s done. The ending is very abrupt, especially as it turns out the app has merged the music suite with the episode so I was expecting another 15 minutes! I did lose track a little bit too. I thought they were in the very first TARDIS built, but there’s also dialogue saying the Doctors had moved things around throughout their lives, implying they’re in their TARDIS. I don’t think the arc amounted to anything other than serving a way to have 15 minutes of multi-Doctor interaction at the end of the set.
One tiny little nitpick is that getting all of the Big Finish Doctors on board really highlighted John Hurt’s absence for me. Obviously it’s due to reasons out of Big Finish’s control, but I would’ve liked a couple of lines of dialogue to be repurposed, even if the other Doctors or Benny mention he’s in a time lock or whatever. Overall, it’s a varied set that celebrates 20 years of Doctor Who at Big Finish well. The Sacrifice of Jo Grant is my favourite from the set, which is nice, and I hope it might bring those on the fence about recasts to try out the Third Doctor Adventures. The Split Infinitive could’ve been a little more welcoming and Relative Time a little more substantial, but those are my major criticisms. Having listened to it all, I’m surprised that the arc doesn’t really amount to anything or heavily link the stories. In fact, they’re quite independent of each other. That’s not necessarily a criticism, though! Happy Anniversary to Doctor Who at Big Finish.
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Post by xlozdob on Jul 18, 2019 21:14:20 GMT
{Spoiler} I had no problem with, but I did find it took me a minute to realise the other one was Hines as Two. I guess I'm just more used to the other two. {Spoiler} Honestly I've just never thought Frazer's Troughton was as great as some do but yeah, even then this wasn't one of his best performances aping Pat. I thought Treolar was better than ever as Pertwee. What I like about Tim T is that, yeah, he's doing an impersonation but he also really manages to do the acting that goes with it. To compare to someone else BF use as a stand-in...I don't want to rag too hard on Jake Dudman but every time I hear him I hear someone who does a good Tennant and Smith impression for a mimic on youtube...but that over a story he isn't a very good actor while doing so. Wheras Treolar is able to really hit the emotional beats as Pertwee as The Doctor which is really quite something. That's special. His scene having dinner with Jo? That was just The Third Doctor and Jo to me, it didn't feel like someone aping Pertwee at all. I completely bought it was the same Jo and Doc having banter over food and wine as we saw in Day Of The Daleks nearly 50 years ago. Frazer kinda relies on a lot of ticks of Troughton's like the coughing, murmuring and clearing of the throat. It's more a caricature that I can imagine him doing to wind Patrick up back in the day than a rounded performance. Funny to think in a few months Frazer will be up against a completely different First Doctor in the Early Adventures! If BF were to find a Treolar for the Second Doctor - who can play both Troughton but also a Troughton as The Second Doctor....sorry Frazer, I'd be all over that option. When this comes up I'm always reminded of what Michael Sheen said about playing David Frost. You come out and do the catchphrase in as OTT a way as possible so as to get the impersonation out the way for the section who only want a soundalike, "Hello...good evening....and welcome" - take the applause, everyone's got their fan-service - then you can start the actual acting, worrying less about the voice itself and more about the performance. {Spoiler} I think Christopher Walker-Thompson could be a great option, and he's already worked with the Big Fin (as James Moran would put it).
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jul 18, 2019 22:17:28 GMT
The Split Infinitive was a cracking good Counter Measures romp with the Doctor and Ace adding spice to the dual time structure. The Sacrifice of Jo Grant was something all together different and moving. I starting tearing up when Osgood began stammering on the radio speaking to the Doctor and the wet works continued the rest of the way through. It is nice to know that after 20 years of telling Doctor Who stories Big Finish can still produce something this special, this moving, this good. Bravo to everyone and especially to Guy Adams.
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Post by fingersmash on Jul 19, 2019 5:54:01 GMT
Listened on the flight to Alaska. I can't say it was anything less than 10/10. Every single story was pitched perfectly and it's an absolutely wonderful way to celebrate 20 years.
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Post by dannybl on Jul 19, 2019 10:40:30 GMT
I listened to this as soon as I could download it (!) but I only have time to post my thoughts now!! I'd describe the format as a mix between The Sirens of Time and The Worlds of Doctor Who. I skipped to Episode 2 on Wednesday only because I was going out in the evening and wanted to make sure I heard the lot! I already listened to episode 1 at Big Finish Day and my word, a small cast but epic! McGann, Kingston and Bowerman are a great combination, four strong and popular characters with poor Ria dragged along for the ride. The Split infinitive was good, I got a long with it a lot more than other stuff with Counter-Measures, but the Sacrifice of Jo Grant was a beautiful piece of work! I can't help but feel a little bias, as the Pertwee era has been on my mind the past few weeks. The two eras blend together seamlessly as old meets new, reminding you that Doctor Who is all one thing, not 'classic' and 'new'. The same can be said about Relative Time, father and daughter play well at ... father and daughter. it's a lot of fun, and a Big Finish Original villain thrown in, from one of my all-time favourite sagas, Doom Coalition. If any Doctor has come a long way since 1999 it's dear Ol Sixie. This is represented in Episode 5, The Avenues of Possibility. Here, he's accompanied by Charley Pollard, a companion inherited from the Eighth Doctor, giving a groundbreaking experimental arc. And at last! DI Patricia Menzies is also back. It's sad this episode could have starred Jago & Litefoot before Trevor Baxter's death. If this box set shows anything then it's the evolution of Doctor Who on audio over the past 20 years. Beginning with Benny, a Virgin New Adventures character adapted for Big Finish's first ever range; then we have Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, whom Big Finish has hired and developed since 2001; Counter-Measures - stars of just one TV story who BF have given their own series; characters from the New Series who weren't licenced by the audio company when they did The Light at the End in 2013 - which brings us to our final episode, Collisiion Course starring Tom Baker. Of course until just under a decades ago, we thought we'd never have Tom play the Doctor again. Indeed, after his refusal to participate in The Five Doctors we thought he'd never appear with other Doctors properly so it's fitting he takes the lead in this final episode. I thought that this would feel like an episode of Gallifrey with the Fourth Doctor, but no, we flash back to Romana and Leela travelling with the Doctor before the story is wrapped up in the second half. This was a fun boxset full of epic stories, a love letter from Big Finish to the many world of Doctor Who, so many old friends returning. I don't think you need a huge knowledge of past stories to understand the boxset - so I would recommend this as a starter! Spoiler Time: {Spoiler}
The cameos are magnificent, though possibly written in after? Not that that's a problem - we have a moment where Kate Stewart hears her dad's voice (Jon Culshaw) is very touching, and at first I thought that the Tenth Doctor may have been Jacob Dudman, but they got Tennant! thrown in with David Bradley and Frazer Hines! I'm so glad they got Bradley as he is the 'current' First Doctor despite being his own version of the character and not a copy of Hartnell. Interestingly Frazer Hines played alongside William Russell's First Doctor in The Light at the End; David Bradley here; and Peter Purves in Children of the Gods!!
Also we get to hear The Tenth Doctor talk to Leela and Benny with the sixties Doctors in tow, which feels bizzare and wonderful at the same time. Plus he talks about Temperons - which brings me to them using The Sirens of Time as the villains, 20 years after we last heard them. A lovely touch.
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Post by project37 on Jul 19, 2019 10:56:02 GMT
A fan posted some photos of the physical package:
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Post by shallacatop on Jul 19, 2019 11:06:19 GMT
Looks taller and thinner than the other limited edition sets. I instantly saw the big dent in the set too!
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Post by sherlock on Jul 19, 2019 11:21:07 GMT
The Avenues of Possibility {Spoiler} A solid outing for Sixie, Charley and Menzies all in all.
So arc-wise we have more damage to time, presumably also a result of the crashing TARDIS, and the Sirens feeding to build up for a paradox that threatens the Time Lords.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2019 11:30:32 GMT
Today's post has come and today's post has gone and unfortunately it appears my hard copy of The Legacy Of Time is either lost in the depths of the space-time vortex or lost in the depths of the UK postal system. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's in the space-time vortex.. 😋
So as the likelyhood of me crossing paths with the postie before I leave for my holiday tomorrow is remote to non existent, and rather than wait a fortnight to listen to the boxset (waiting the last two days has been hellish enough) I've caved in and chosen to press the download button.
Which would be fine, except today the WiFi signal keeps constantly dropping... 😱😱😱
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jul 19, 2019 12:07:56 GMT
I saw someone about 1 hour ago post on the BF bookface page their copy.. then they deleted it pretty much immediately..
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