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Post by elkawho on Jul 23, 2019 5:06:54 GMT
I'll do the "Well, it's so hard narrowing it down, there's so much great..." caveat at the start Singling one out doesn't mean there aren't dozens (hundreds) of others I've loved. What I'll do is pick my favourite, not necessarily what I think is the best, or most important but the one that hit me hardest for whatever reason. 1st Doctor - The Rocket Men. Yes, it IS that good. The reason for it isn't because of the pulpy sci-fi villains though, it's entirely down to the Ian and Barbara relationship. "When do you know?", indeed. It's also a really good Dan Dare like adventure story in the background too - which returns for the villains have doubled down on - but the emotion of this one is the almost puppy love Ian realises he's starting to feel for Barbara and just how much it'd mean to him if anything happened to her. It's the reason the Companion Chronicles was such an inspired idea. It may well have started as a way to use characters from eras where the Doctor was dead, or unwilling to return like pre-2011 Tom, but it quickly became an outlet for giving depth to characters who may have been good on screen but who really got more developed as "people" by the format. We can hear in a full-cast what a character is doing or saying but here we can hear thoughts Ian would NEVER be able to say. Half-thoughts, urges, internal conflict. Some of that can come across in full cast but the best of the CCs used the limited format and made it work for them, not against them. None more so than Dorney here. I think Simon Guerrier does it brilliantly well too, a LOT of my favourite CCs are from him. A massively underrated 1st Doc is the sublime Across The Darkened City. I think a big problem with the boxset format for the Companion Chronicles is that titles like this are buried, released at once with 3 others under a generic "First Doctor Volume 2" title and doesn't get the attention that it would have done when the CCs came out individually, each with their own news story and drop date. You could say that about, say, McGann's adventures too but the difference is they're an ongoing narrative we're all hooked on and they get ten times the promotion - twenty time - the CC boxes do. These CC sets are essentially one-off stories from across the timelines and feel, a bit like Short Trips, like they don't get the love. I think they're being missed by too many. If Across The Darkened City came out as a monthly standalone it would have been called an instant classic. Essentially this is just Steven having to make his way across an exceptionally dangerous city, with a ridiculously unexpected companion in tow. What could be gimmicky ends up teaching us quite a bit more about Steven and the race of the companion, who I won't name as the BF synopsis doesn't and I think it's fair if I'm assuming this is under-heard that others won't know what/who it is. When The CC range was standalone titles it would often be, on the old board, we'd post "ANother month where the CCs are better than the MR" - now there's hardly any talk of the CC titles. Bit sad, really. Hon. mentions: Home Truths, Time Museum, Library At Alexandria, Great White Hurricane (Bradley's best story so far). I've waffled on too much so I'll only do the first Doc now, then come back to the others (hopefully with more brevity) later. I completely agree with you on both, two of my very favorite 1st Doc stories. I really come to love Peter Purves and Stephen because of BF. BF have really done quite a few remarkable 1st Doctor stories. I find I look forward to them quite a bit after they are announced.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 23, 2019 6:08:12 GMT
I'll do the "Well, it's so hard narrowing it down, there's so much great..." caveat at the start Singling one out doesn't mean there aren't dozens (hundreds) of others I've loved. What I'll do is pick my favourite, not necessarily what I think is the best, or most important but the one that hit me hardest for whatever reason. 1st Doctor - The Rocket Men. Yes, it IS that good. The reason for it isn't because of the pulpy sci-fi villains though, it's entirely down to the Ian and Barbara relationship. "When do you know?", indeed. It's also a really good Dan Dare like adventure story in the background too - which returns for the villains have doubled down on - but the emotion of this one is the almost puppy love Ian realises he's starting to feel for Barbara and just how much it'd mean to him if anything happened to her. It's the reason the Companion Chronicles was such an inspired idea. It may well have started as a way to use characters from eras where the Doctor was dead, or unwilling to return like pre-2011 Tom, but it quickly became an outlet for giving depth to characters who may have been good on screen but who really got more developed as "people" by the format. We can hear in a full-cast what a character is doing or saying but here we can hear thoughts Ian would NEVER be able to say. Half-thoughts, urges, internal conflict. Some of that can come across in full cast but the best of the CCs used the limited format and made it work for them, not against them. None more so than Dorney here. I think Simon Guerrier does it brilliantly well too, a LOT of my favourite CCs are from him. A massively underrated 1st Doc is the sublime Across The Darkened City. I think a big problem with the boxset format for the Companion Chronicles is that titles like this are buried, released at once with 3 others under a generic "First Doctor Volume 2" title and doesn't get the attention that it would have done when the CCs came out individually, each with their own news story and drop date. You could say that about, say, McGann's adventures too but the difference is they're an ongoing narrative we're all hooked on and they get ten times the promotion - twenty time - the CC boxes do. These CC sets are essentially one-off stories from across the timelines and feel, a bit like Short Trips, like they don't get the love. I think they're being missed by too many. If Across The Darkened City came out as a monthly standalone it would have been called an instant classic. Essentially this is just Steven having to make his way across an exceptionally dangerous city, with a ridiculously unexpected companion in tow. What could be gimmicky ends up teaching us quite a bit more about Steven and the race of the companion, who I won't name as the BF synopsis doesn't and I think it's fair if I'm assuming this is under-heard that others won't know what/who it is. When The CC range was standalone titles it would often be, on the old board, we'd post "ANother month where the CCs are better than the MR" - now there's hardly any talk of the CC titles. Bit sad, really. Hon. mentions: Home Truths, Time Museum, Library At Alexandria, Great White Hurricane (Bradley's best story so far). I've waffled on too much so I'll only do the first Doc now, then come back to the others (hopefully with more brevity) later. You know what? Your glowing review made me get the Rocket Men Companion Chronicles (I only had the Leela ones so far).
Plus last night last minute I got the first Bradley set in the sale.
Damn it, I did not want to spend more money... Anyways, thanks for the review!
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Post by elkawho on Jul 23, 2019 12:18:28 GMT
I'll do the "Well, it's so hard narrowing it down, there's so much great..." caveat at the start Singling one out doesn't mean there aren't dozens (hundreds) of others I've loved. What I'll do is pick my favourite, not necessarily what I think is the best, or most important but the one that hit me hardest for whatever reason. 1st Doctor - The Rocket Men. Yes, it IS that good. The reason for it isn't because of the pulpy sci-fi villains though, it's entirely down to the Ian and Barbara relationship. "When do you know?", indeed. It's also a really good Dan Dare like adventure story in the background too - which returns for the villains have doubled down on - but the emotion of this one is the almost puppy love Ian realises he's starting to feel for Barbara and just how much it'd mean to him if anything happened to her. It's the reason the Companion Chronicles was such an inspired idea. It may well have started as a way to use characters from eras where the Doctor was dead, or unwilling to return like pre-2011 Tom, but it quickly became an outlet for giving depth to characters who may have been good on screen but who really got more developed as "people" by the format. We can hear in a full-cast what a character is doing or saying but here we can hear thoughts Ian would NEVER be able to say. Half-thoughts, urges, internal conflict. Some of that can come across in full cast but the best of the CCs used the limited format and made it work for them, not against them. None more so than Dorney here. I think Simon Guerrier does it brilliantly well too, a LOT of my favourite CCs are from him. A massively underrated 1st Doc is the sublime Across The Darkened City. I think a big problem with the boxset format for the Companion Chronicles is that titles like this are buried, released at once with 3 others under a generic "First Doctor Volume 2" title and doesn't get the attention that it would have done when the CCs came out individually, each with their own news story and drop date. You could say that about, say, McGann's adventures too but the difference is they're an ongoing narrative we're all hooked on and they get ten times the promotion - twenty time - the CC boxes do. These CC sets are essentially one-off stories from across the timelines and feel, a bit like Short Trips, like they don't get the love. I think they're being missed by too many. If Across The Darkened City came out as a monthly standalone it would have been called an instant classic. Essentially this is just Steven having to make his way across an exceptionally dangerous city, with a ridiculously unexpected companion in tow. What could be gimmicky ends up teaching us quite a bit more about Steven and the race of the companion, who I won't name as the BF synopsis doesn't and I think it's fair if I'm assuming this is under-heard that others won't know what/who it is. When The CC range was standalone titles it would often be, on the old board, we'd post "ANother month where the CCs are better than the MR" - now there's hardly any talk of the CC titles. Bit sad, really. Hon. mentions: Home Truths, Time Museum, Library At Alexandria, Great White Hurricane (Bradley's best story so far). I've waffled on too much so I'll only do the first Doc now, then come back to the others (hopefully with more brevity) later. You know what? Your glowing review made me get the Rocket Men Companion Chronicles (I only had the Leela ones so far).
Plus last night last minute I got the first Bradley set in the sale.
Damn it, I did not want to spend more money... Anyways, thanks for the review!
You won't be disappointed in The Rocket Men. In fact, I think you'll love it! I don't know you well, tuigirl, but what I do know makes me think that you'd really like the CC range. When you get a little more cash to spend you should really listen to Solitaire. It's a fantastic Eighth Doctor one, and a little experimental at that.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 23, 2019 17:44:31 GMT
You know what? Your glowing review made me get the Rocket Men Companion Chronicles (I only had the Leela ones so far).
Plus last night last minute I got the first Bradley set in the sale.
Damn it, I did not want to spend more money... Anyways, thanks for the review!
You won't be disappointed in The Rocket Men. In fact, I think you'll love it! I don't know you well, tuigirl, but what I do know makes me think that you'd really like the CC range. When you get a little more cash to spend you should really listen to Solitaire. It's a fantastic Eighth Doctor one, and a little experimental at that. Haha, well, I do not have many from the CC range- but I got Solitaire, Peri and the Piscon Paradox and the ones with Katy Manning. I liked Solitaire and Piscon Paradox made me cry. I love Katy Manning and could listen to her all day, however, I never shared the communal love for the Scorchies. I think it is as someone on here said ,that for this you need a background in old childrens TV shows (which I did not really have, TV was always only just a treat for us as kids, we were mostly parked in front of the cassette player to listen to audio plays).
So far, I have not seen or heard much of the first Doctor. It just never enticed me.
However, when I read such a nice review plus the story is written by John Dorney who usually does a great job (plus the prospect of some emotional developments!) just sounds interesting. So I am curious. Thanks for the recommendations!
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Post by Ela on Jul 23, 2019 23:39:20 GMT
The Piscon Paradox is fantastic.
Other companion chronicles I personally loved include Tales from the Vault and Mastermind.
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Post by project37 on Jul 24, 2019 0:00:58 GMT
Oh, you're in for such a treat with The Rocket Men. I just re-downloaded it to my app to enjoy again. As I'd mentioned earlier - the end of Episode 1 is one of my all-time favorite cliffhangers.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jul 24, 2019 0:31:48 GMT
Oh, you're in for such a treat with The Rocket Men. I just re-downloaded it to my app to enjoy again. As I'd mentioned earlier - the end of Episode 1 is one of my all-time favorite cliffhangers. I love The Rocket Men but truth be told, I kind of prefer the sequel with Steven.
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Post by Ela on Jul 24, 2019 3:09:35 GMT
Oh, you're in for such a treat with The Rocket Men. I just re-downloaded it to my app to enjoy again. As I'd mentioned earlier - the end of Episode 1 is one of my all-time favorite cliffhangers. I love The Rocket Men but truth be told, I kind of prefer the sequel with Steven. Ditto.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jul 24, 2019 3:12:49 GMT
5th Doctor "Prisoners Of Fate" for me.. That to me, has everything..
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Post by Timelord007 on Jul 24, 2019 4:47:20 GMT
5th Doctor "Prisoners Of Fate" for me.. That to me, has everything.. Great Choice bro.
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Post by Timelord007 on Jul 24, 2019 4:48:21 GMT
Night Thoughts, that ending still gives me shivers.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jul 24, 2019 5:04:48 GMT
Night Thoughts, that ending still gives me shivers. YES bro
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2019 9:19:07 GMT
Oh, you're in for such a treat with The Rocket Men. I just re-downloaded it to my app to enjoy again. As I'd mentioned earlier - the end of Episode 1 is one of my all-time favorite cliffhangers. Particularly given... {Spoiler}That the scream from Barbara was sourced from Jacqueline Hill on television. Hell of a fright first time I heard it, I wasn't expecting it. Oh, you're in for such a treat with The Rocket Men. I just re-downloaded it to my app to enjoy again. As I'd mentioned earlier - the end of Episode 1 is one of my all-time favorite cliffhangers. I love The Rocket Men but truth be told, I kind of prefer the sequel with Steven. It's a bit like comparing Alien and Aliens for me. I like the raw energy of The Rocket Men, but I also like the slowburn character story for Return as well. They're both really strong character pieces for their respective leads.
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