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Post by tuigirl on Jul 14, 2019 11:31:19 GMT
When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was in regards to how manny Eighth Doctor stories we are getting at the moment and would Paul McGann or the listener get “burned out” by the experience!? Personally I have enjoyed everything they have done with the Eighth Doctor although I am still not convinced with the notion of having two ongoing series being released at the same time. The Time War range for the Eighth Doctor has been the weakest link for me. It has felt very bland in comparison to Ravenous. And although Liv wouldn’t be in my top 5 companions to the Eighth Doctor, at the moment Bliss wouldn’t be in my top ten. I would be very happy with the Eighth Doctor Main Range* continuing with another twelve disc season with a new companion to shake things up a little. The main creative players in the range have shown no sign of running out of ideas, so unless they want to move on to something I don’t see the need for change. *I still feel like these Eighth Doctor releases are Big Finishes main range, as he is their audio Doctor and these stories are his current adventures. You are right, the what you call "Main Range 8th Doctor sets" like Ravenous were just more gripping and engaging than his Time War stories. Although, I thought that the second Time War set was a big step up from the first one which was a bit... uninspired.
However, I really enjoyed his going up against the Master recently and I have high hopes for the third Time War set next month- his meeting the Valeyard could be amazing.
We will see.
As for the two ongoing series... I have the suspicion that if Lucie Miller proves to be a success, there might be a possibility we get another one next year, which would make this 3 (!!) ongoing series for the 8th Doctor 2 years in a row. Since I enjoy listening to McGanns voice (I think he could read the phone book and I would still be onboard ), that is fine by me...
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mbt66
Chancellery Guard
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Post by mbt66 on Jul 14, 2019 11:51:09 GMT
With next year being the 20th Anniversary of the Eighth Doctor at Big Finish I am hoping for an Eighth Doctor and Charley boxset between series like they have started to do with Lucie, so we could get even more!
I will not be a happy bunny if Big Finish put the Eighth Doctor in Charlotte Pollard series 3 and treat that as suitable anniversary celebration.
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Post by mark687 on Jul 14, 2019 11:58:25 GMT
With next year being the 20th Anniversary of the Eighth Doctor at Big Finish I am hoping for an Eighth Doctor and Charley boxset between series like they have started to do with Lucie, so we could get even more! I will not be a happy bunny if Big Finish put the Eighth Doctor in Charlotte Pollard series 3 and treat that as suitable anniversary celebration. Agreed BUT that is exactly what Nick keeps implying, I mean maybe they'll fix it in "Legacy", but I doubt it.
Regards
mark687
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 14, 2019 12:08:55 GMT
With next year being the 20th of the Eighth Doctor at Big Finish I am hoping for an Eighth Doctor and Charley boxset between series like they have started to do with Lucie, so we could get even more! I will not be a happy bunny if Big Finish put the Eighth Doctor in Charlotte Pollard series 3 and treat that as suitable anniversary I have so far avoided the Charley series although I like the character... the reviews just sound too depressing for my taste. But of course I would buy anything that has the 8th Doctor meeting Charley again. But I agree that I also would prefer a Lucie Miller style set... maybe even set (here is an unpopular thought) in the Divergent Universe ? Although I am aware that we will miss out on CRizz since the actor has moved on...
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mbt66
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Post by mbt66 on Jul 14, 2019 12:19:53 GMT
With next year being the 20th of the Eighth Doctor at Big Finish I am hoping for an Eighth Doctor and Charley boxset between series like they have started to do with Lucie, so we could get even more! I will not be a happy bunny if Big Finish put the Eighth Doctor in Charlotte Pollard series 3 and treat that as suitable anniversary I have so far avoided the Charley series although I like the character... the reviews just sound too depressing for my taste. But of course I would buy anything that has the 8th Doctor meeting Charley again. But I agree that I also would prefer a Lucie Miller style set... maybe even set (here is an unpopular thought) in the Divergent Universe ? Although I am aware that we will miss out on CRizz since the actor has moved on... Her first series was OK, but it had it’s issues. I refuse to accept there was a second series, so even with the Eighth Doctor I doubt I will be getting series three. Which is a crazy situation, because Charley is my favourite audio companion. At least when Nick Briggs put Lucie Miller through hell he did it so much better and had the decency of killing off the character.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 14, 2019 12:26:37 GMT
I have so far avoided the Charley series although I like the character... the reviews just sound too depressing for my taste. But of course I would buy anything that has the 8th Doctor meeting Charley again. But I agree that I also would prefer a Lucie Miller style set... maybe even set (here is an unpopular thought) in the Divergent Universe ? Although I am aware that we will miss out on CRizz since the actor has moved on... Her first series was OK, but it had it’s issues. I refuse to accept there was a second series, so even with the Eighth Doctor I doubt I will be getting series three. Which is a crazy situation, because Charley is my favourite audio companion. At least when Nick Briggs put Lucie Miller through hell he did it so much better and had the decency of killing off the character. That bad, huh? I am curious what the sales pitch will be... as far as I gathered it was not popular at all, so will just the return of 8 be enough to draw people in?
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mbt66
Chancellery Guard
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Post by mbt66 on Jul 14, 2019 12:47:56 GMT
Her first series was OK, but it had it’s issues. I refuse to accept there was a second series, so even with the Eighth Doctor I doubt I will be getting series three. Which is a crazy situation, because Charley is my favourite audio companion. At least when Nick Briggs put Lucie Miller through hell he did it so much better and had the decency of killing off the character. That bad, huh? I am curious what the sales pitch will be... as far as I gathered it was not popular at all, so will just the return of 8 be enough to draw people in? Well there are plenty of glowing review quotes on the website, so a lot of people must have liked it.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 14, 2019 12:55:24 GMT
That bad, huh? I am curious what the sales pitch will be... as far as I gathered it was not popular at all, so will just the return of 8 be enough to draw people in? Well there are plenty of glowing review quotes on the website, so a lot of people must have liked it. Well, it would be a marketing strategy worse than usual for BF if they put all the negatives up... I am always a bit hesitant believing everything on any commercial website... and the general impression I got was pretty much on the negative side...
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Post by themeddlingmonk on Jul 14, 2019 13:07:36 GMT
I’m probably very much in the minority wanting a Further Adventures of Tamsin Drew sooner than a Charley set.
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Post by barnabaslives on Jul 14, 2019 13:37:43 GMT
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I feel like the announcement of the Robots was what really made me realize how much this team feels nondescript. I think I'm still somewhat optimistic that if Liv is going to be the star of a range, that maybe she will get the kind of character development that I've been hoping for. If they do a good job of it, it might help change the way I feel about Liv lately. When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was in regards to how manny Eighth Doctor stories we are getting at the moment and would Paul McGann or the listener get “burned out” by the experience!? Same here, I've been listening to a lot of Eight Doctor stories lately and still loving every minute of Paul McGann.
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Post by project37 on Jul 14, 2019 14:50:36 GMT
I've appreciated the effort to reinvigorate the Eighth Doctor over the years. I thought it was very inspired to "update" the format by breaking away from the main range in 2007, experimenting with 45 minute episodes, bringing in a new modern companion, and broadcasting them on the radio. A bit of refinement to get to where Lucie's run ended up, but those four 8DA series ended up being some of the best BF listening experiences I've had. Along those lines, I might be the only one who enjoyed Series 3, which was released on the BF website as weekly episode downloads.
As a fan that doesn't have the money or time to listen to everything, I like seeing how things moved from the 8DA format to Dark Eyes (which started by flirting with a vague Time War prelude) to Doom Coalition (bringing in New Series elements) to three (!) parallel series of Ravenous, The Time War itself, and now a "nostalgia" set with Lucie - each of which can be heard/enjoyed on their own. I personally don't have the need to hear them all, but I like having the variety of options and can choose what interests me (right now, that's revisiting Lucie's era; the other stuff doesn't call out to me).
Burnout happens, it's natural when you listen and care as much as we do. Time and distance can help. Ravenous will wrap up at some point, companions will move on to make room for new ones, new writers are gradually being brought into the fold; a new "jumping on" point is inevitable.
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Post by fingersmash on Jul 14, 2019 15:10:00 GMT
A new jumping on point is really what is needed. I'd argue the last true jump on was all the way at Blood of the Daleks since Dark Eyes 1 is such an immediate follow up to Lucie Miller/To the Death. I imagine Further Adventures is something of a pallet cleanser as well. Part of me wonders if Eight is going to have 2 series running at the same time from here on between the darker ongoing boxsets and The Time War or Further Adventures of *insert Eight companion here* I'd love to hear us go back to the days of Mary Shelley and Charley or even see some adventures with Samson and Gemma or his time with Benny (although that might also be a New Adventures set waiting to happen) or BF can get Matt D'Angelo back to play Fitz for a set.
What I really want to know is if John Dorney is lurking around these parts and his responses. I'm sure there's a lot of behind the scenes reasons that would just be genuinely fascinating to hear.
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Post by axelotl38 on Jul 14, 2019 15:32:25 GMT
My only "slight concern" with 8 is the dropping of Main/Monthly Range years ago, and the lack of inside cd covers pictures of him with the cast.. Mr McGann must be the busiest actor in the UK atm for the last 5-10 years as he can only find time for the special event boxsets. (This sounds harsher then it is meant too ) I think this has been mentioned before, but apparently McGann isn't terribly huge on doing promo photos after some incident a decade or two ago with paparazzi photos or something like that. So it's not that he doesn't record with the others, most of his sets are recorded along with everybody else (with some exceptions here and there I believe). He just refuses to take part in the photos for the most part, barring special circumstances.
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zebediahdoe
Member
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Post by zebediahdoe on Jul 14, 2019 16:50:32 GMT
I think the important thing to remember, with regards to Eighth Doctor burnout, is that really, for me at least, I will buy anything Eighth Doctor, because each and every story becomes a part of an "era" for the Doctor that never was. I think the difficulty comes from a lack of direction for the eighth doctor line as a whole, beginning with Dark Eyes. Dark eyes was meant to be a bridging point between Doctors 8 and 9, seeing him turn from the frock coated adventurer, to a more sombre, leather clad figure with a streak of darkness. For my money, Dark eyes 1 was the last great McGann story. Immediately afterwards, Dark eyes became increasingly convoluted, chucking in often pointless references to BFs own continuity, and seemingly being plotted with no idea of where the story was going. But we had Molly, the last great McGann companion, and we had Alex Macqueens glorious master. What's strange is, even though his range was a mess, it became the template for the eighth doctor from then on. It isn't so much that Liv and Helen were bad characters per se, but it was the metamorphosis of the doctor into almost a secondary character at times, brooding in the background whilst Liv, Helen and River Song seemed to propel most of the action in both Doom Coalition, and Ravenous, that annoyed me. And all 3 of these women were largely written in the same way, tough, sarcastic and with a strong line in ironic one liners, with a few self pity monologues thrown in for good measure, before ultimately saving the universe without the doctors help. For my money, there has NEVER been a companion that I care about more than the Doctor, and the reason we fell in love with Paul McGann all those years ago was because he was boisterous, full of life and could save the day. He's the one Big Finish doctor who deserves a companion who isn't sarcastic and jaded. He needs a best friend to share in the wonders of the universe, which is why Charley was so great, and why Mary Shenley WILL ALWAYS BE the perfect Eighth Doctor companion. I want fast, exciting stories, with Eight fighting the forces of evil, not moping about in the background whilst his companions moan at him, then leave him behind. Listening to Paul McGann is always so special, that it feels like a shame that he's being squandered in a run of interchangeably dense boxsets, stuck with the same companions. The Eight Doctor range has never felt so static. All that said, I still anticipate each new McGann release eagerly. But lately, I always come away feeling disappointed. I want his Doctor to be the dashing, unashamedly heroic adventurer that I fell in love with all those years ago. I want air-punching standoffs with villains, exciting entrances, killer speeches and a companion that feels like they'd actually want to spend time with the doctor. Please Big finish. Make 8 feel special again. Don't stay tied to the safety of the 4x4 format. Cut loose. Experiment. But most of all, make Paul McGann feel like The Doctor again, not just another character who is along for the ride.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
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Post by ljwilson on Jul 14, 2019 17:10:31 GMT
There has been some cracking stories lest we forget, including Doom Coalition 1 and Absent Friends for instance.
As for Liv, I like her and The Robots sounds very intriguing. I'm not sure it is really burn-out to be fair!
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Post by project37 on Jul 14, 2019 17:18:48 GMT
My only "slight concern" with 8 is the dropping of Main/Monthly Range years ago, and the lack of inside cd covers pictures of him with the cast.. Mr McGann must be the busiest actor in the UK atm for the last 5-10 years as he can only find time for the special event boxsets. (This sounds harsher then it is meant too ) I think this has been mentioned before, but apparently McGann isn't terribly huge on doing promo photos after some incident a decade or two ago with paparazzi photos or something like that. So it's not that he doesn't record with the others, most of his sets are recorded along with everybody else (with some exceptions here and there I believe). He just refuses to take part in the photos for the most part, barring special circumstances.
He's done some fairly recently - Lucie boxset, Legacy of Time, Time War 3:
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Post by fingersmash on Jul 14, 2019 19:03:05 GMT
There has been some cracking stories lest we forget, including Doom Coalition 1 and Absent Friends for instance. As for Liv, I like her and The Robots sounds very intriguing. I'm not sure it is really burn-out to be fair! I never said anything was horrid though. The worst I said it's gotten was a solid "meh". We're far away from the dregs of Minuet in Hell and The Divergent Universe (which, outside of Creed of the Kromon and The Twilight Kingdom, I actually rather enjoy) here. I do however think that Liv and Helen are two massive reasons for my burnout though. There's only so much sarcasm and one liners can do for me until I just start getting sick and tired of it. And I was tired of it around Doom Coalition 2 or 3. Sadly, I just might be tapping out of the Eighth Doctor if they keep dragging Liv and Helen along with no real reason for them to feel like they should still be there other than what feels like them being "fan faves" through yet another set of four box sets that don't really seem like they're telling the story or follow through on the themes they promise to tell.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2019 20:47:22 GMT
Well there are plenty of glowing review quotes on the website, so a lot of people must have liked it. It's easy to do a glowing review if you are gettng a free review copy from BF... and want to keep getting them! Personally, I think they should have kept McGann in the Doctor Who main range but even with all the box set malarky there's still some pretty good Eighth Doctor adventures in there, so I haven't reached Eighth Doctor burnout level yet. (I just don't like the multiple box set format.)
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Post by Ela on Jul 14, 2019 22:16:41 GMT
I love Liv and I, for one, am not suffering from Eighth Doctor burnout. I don't have a problem with Helen, either. My two cents worth.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jul 14, 2019 22:27:00 GMT
My only "slight concern" with 8 is the dropping of Main/Monthly Range years ago, and the lack of inside cd covers pictures of him with the cast.. Mr McGann must be the busiest actor in the UK atm for the last 5-10 years as he can only find time for the special event boxsets. (This sounds harsher then it is meant too ) I think this has been mentioned before, but apparently McGann isn't terribly huge on doing promo photos after some incident a decade or two ago with paparazzi photos or something like that. So it's not that he doesn't record with the others, most of his sets are recorded along with everybody else (with some exceptions here and there I believe). He just refuses to take part in the photos for the most part, barring special circumstances. Yeah, him recording with/without the others has never been an issue (this isn't a Tom/Lalla situation). Paparazzi vs a BF person taking a couple photos in a controlled environment in the studio is a bit different. I do make note I have seen a few recent pics, which is a welcome change. I did mention it to BF a while back and they said he was "shy". Whatever..
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