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Post by nitronine on Sept 20, 2019 20:18:42 GMT
Sorry if this has been asked before. I have a friend who wants to get into Big Finish and want to listen to some. They've never seen Classic Who but they don't mind if the Big Finish they listen to has classic doctors in, just don't want to give them anything that relies on knowledge from the classic show. I was thinking Doom Coalition because it's very similar to Nu Who and I don't think it requires knowing anything that's not already discussed in the new series, although I may be wrong. Are there any other stories you could recommend?
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Post by constonks on Sept 20, 2019 20:32:44 GMT
Doomco is a good choice - you can just say "Liv is a medic from the future" and you're set. Criss-Cross would be another personal pick.
And of course there are your standard starting points for BF: Storm Warning, The Marian Conspiracy & Blood of the Daleks. Personally I'd say of those three, Marian's the strongest story.
Oh and there's always the actual New Who stuff - the first couple River boxes require little to no classic series info despite starring classic Doctors, and then of course The Tenth Doctor Adventures are great.
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 20, 2019 20:43:16 GMT
Agreed on Storm Warning. Plus Seasons of Fear, which has the bonus of the Doctor narrating the story. It is an interesting timey-whimey story with lots of humor.
Doom Coalition is definitely a good choice, too.
I personally started my journey with Dark Eyes (without any previous contact to Classic Who)- the only thing I knew was that the previous companion of the Doctor had been killed by the Daleks, so he was pretty devastated by that. I totally fell in love with the story and the characters.
But if your friend is a NuWho fan, why not start on the 10th Doctor adventures? I know they are a bit hit and miss (at least for me) but they might be great for a start to familiarize your friend with the audio format.
Plus, I also find the River Song adventures quite enjoyable.
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Post by shallacatop on Sept 20, 2019 21:55:19 GMT
It probably depends how you like your Doctor Who prior to wanting to invest in Big Finish, but I would always recommend the two Classic Doctors, New Monsters sets, Only the Monstrous, The Tenth Doctor Volume One and The Diary of River Song Series One.
That way you get a sample of each Doctor to have worked with Big Finish, alongside lots of returning monsters, including Daleks and you’ve got some River Song thrown in for good measure. None of them have the baggage that some other Big Finish ranges carry. From those sets you could pretty much dive into any other Doctor Who range from Big Finish.
I’ve said it before, but if I were Big Finish, I’d be looking into doing a permanent cheap download bundle for those five sets. I’d find that more appealing than the odd release being discounted or convoluted “New to Big Finish” articles.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Sept 20, 2019 22:00:09 GMT
This may seem like an odd one but I think Eye of the Scorpion is a great one for newbies. I tend to recommend companion introductions as entry points for new fans and Scorpion may not be as good a story as say, The Marian Conspiracy but Eye of the Scorpion has a kind of sweep and scale to it that came at the point where Big Finish was starting to really find their feet on the technical end.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2019 22:34:24 GMT
Have you thought about pointing your friend in the direction of 'Big Finish for free!' under the Collections tab?
Call it the 'try before you buy' option. Plenty of free excerpts and free episodes from single release stories / boxsets from various ranges.. free special releases from Doctor Who Monthly.. and the odd free Short Trip.
Obviously it has a unique selling feature! 😊
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Post by Superium on Sept 20, 2019 22:50:37 GMT
Blood of the Daleks!
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Post by elkawho on Sept 20, 2019 22:57:08 GMT
I think the Eighth Doctor is a good place to start if you have no prior knowledge of Classic Who. Except for the TV Movie his whole life has pretty much been with BF. Start with Storm Warning or Blood of the Daleks, but starting with early MR stuff would be cheaper.
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Sept 20, 2019 23:59:47 GMT
As the Brig has pointed out, best to start with the Free section. Pick a few, see how your friend likes them: if they don't normally listen to audio drama, then there's a chance they may not 'get it'. If NuWho is their reference point, good to try those first to ease them in.
After that, if the boxsets are maybe still on the pricey side for their liking, you've got the first 100+ stories of the MR. Whatever style they like: pure historical, gothic historical, base under siege, space opera, psychologial horror, thriller, pulp adventure - find ones that match.
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Post by relativetime on Sept 21, 2019 0:55:03 GMT
The cheapest option would be to start with one of the first 100 Monthly Adventures audios and go from there. Davros is a great choice that doesn't rely on much knowledge a New Who viewer wouldn't already have. The Marian Conspiracy is also a great way to start listening to the Sixth Doctor stories and it does give the impression of watching a season of Classic Who if you follow it all the way - though I'm a bit peeved at how the resolution to the arc was handled. Storm Warning is another great choice.
If this person wants something a little more in their comfort zone, then the Tenth Doctor Adventures is beyond a doubt the best way to go. Unless they don't like the Tenth Doctor. Then I'd recommend the Eighth Doctor Adventures or one of the Classic Doctors, New Monsters boxsets.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
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Post by ljwilson on Sept 21, 2019 6:59:12 GMT
Chuck them in the deep end and see if they swim....Night Thoughts.
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 21, 2019 7:20:20 GMT
It probably depends how you like your Doctor Who prior to wanting to invest in Big Finish, but I would always recommend the two Classic Doctors, New Monsters sets, Only the Monstrous, The Tenth Doctor Volume One and The Diary of River Song Series One. That way you get a sample of each Doctor to have worked with Big Finish, alongside lots of returning monsters, including Daleks and you’ve got some River Song thrown in for good measure. None of them have the baggage that some other Big Finish ranges carry. From those sets you could pretty much dive into any other Doctor Who range from Big Finish. I’ve said it before, but if I were Big Finish , I’d be looking into doing a permanent cheap download bundle for those five sets. I’d find that more appealing than the odd release being discounted or convoluted “New to Big Finish” articles. Honestly, that would be a fantastic idea and exactly what I would have looked for when I had started out. |
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 21, 2019 7:22:45 GMT
Chuck them in the deep end and see if they swim....Night Thoughts. You do not want to scare them off, do you? This is without kidding one of the most terrifying horror stories BF has ever done. It is near perfect.
But I would only ever recommend it if the person in question was already into horror.
It is not really representative for the usual Who stories BF are doing. This is pretty much a one of it's kind. At least in that quality.
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Post by nitronine on Sept 21, 2019 10:03:38 GMT
Thanks for all your suggestions everyone, I think I’m going to recommend they start with the free stuff and if they like them carry on with either the eighth doctor adventures or some of the early main range releases because they’re cheaper.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2019 10:39:10 GMT
Have you thought about pointing your friend in the direction of 'Big Finish for free!' under the Collections tab? Or if they are on Spotify direct them to the free Big Finish stories that are on there. The first fifty MR stories are on Spotify in full, as well as some 8DA's, Lost Stories, CC's plus there's also some random spin-off ranges for people to try out. |
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Post by fitzoliverj on Sept 21, 2019 11:13:03 GMT
"Human Resources". Always "Human Resources". Best DW story, in any format, ever.
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Post by project37 on Sept 21, 2019 21:01:57 GMT
Have you thought about pointing your friend in the direction of 'Big Finish for free!' under the Collections tab? Or if they are on Spotify direct them to the free Big Finish stories that are on there. The first fifty MR stories are on Spotify in full, as well as some 8DA's, Lost Stories, CC's plus there's also some random spin-off ranges for people to try out. If you're based in the US, these same titles are also available for free via Hoopla (many libraries offer this service; you can always ask them to look into it if they don't have it yet).
On a side note - there's a TON of other BF titles available there as well, including Dorian Gray, Vienna, Iris, Cicero, Jago and Litefoot, Benny, Sherlock Holmes, Dark Shadows...hours and hours of legal free listening waiting for new fans!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2019 5:01:51 GMT
Personally, the Monthly Range Starter's Pack, so to speak, for me would be Eye of the Scorpion, The Marian Conspiracy, The Harvest and Storm Warning. They all have that same lovely, soft reboot feeling of something like Terror of the Autons or Remembrance of the Daleks from the classic series where you don't need any prior explanation and each collection goes incrementally deeper and deeper into story arcs. The only hurdle I can think of is why Ace is calling herself McShane in Harvest. However, that's an arc that got dropped very quietly without much fanfare, so in the context of the story, it could be treated as just another alias.
*scratches head* I'm flipping backwards and forwards on recommending The Reaping. It's cheap to purchase, it's got a great pairing of Sixie and Peri, and it melds the New Series with its Classic predecessor quite well, but I've no idea how a newcomer would react to it. It might be one to save for later after they've gotten to know the characters or it might be ideal. Buyer's discretion. It's got a fantastic trailer, still holds up after all these years.
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