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Post by sherlock on Aug 25, 2023 11:01:37 GMT
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enofa
Full Member
Likes: 122
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Post by enofa on Aug 25, 2023 13:52:22 GMT
With a number of ranges seemingly coming to an end, and a comparatively dry year for news, it does seem like there’s a restructuring going on. The main Doctor Who range was massively streamlined a couple of years ago, I wonder if they’re going to attempt something similar with the spin-offs. I know we still have a couple of ranges lined up for the future (War Room and Paternoster Gang), but with the loss of Dudman, the death of Warner, and the end of this and DoRS, it definitely feels like there could be a whole restructuring on the cards.
I wouldn’t like to guess how it would work if it happened. A catch-all ‘Worlds of Doctor Who’ range? I suppose we’ll probably find out after the 60th.
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Post by chronotis on Aug 25, 2023 14:18:22 GMT
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Post by mark687 on Oct 26, 2023 14:12:30 GMT
Trailer Online
Regards
mark687
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Post by timleschild on Oct 26, 2023 14:19:41 GMT
With a number of ranges seemingly coming to an end, and a comparatively dry year for news, it does seem like there’s a restructuring going on. The main Doctor Who range was massively streamlined a couple of years ago, I wonder if they’re going to attempt something similar with the spin-offs. I know we still have a couple of ranges lined up for the future (War Room and Paternoster Gang), but with the loss of Dudman, the death of Warner, and the end of this and DoRS, it definitely feels like there could be a whole restructuring on the cards. I wouldn’t like to guess how it would work if it happened. A catch-all ‘Worlds of Doctor Who’ range? I suppose we’ll probably find out after the 60th. It would appear so. With the 60th. The Disney deal. It seems an ideal opportunity for BF to restructure. Refine. & most importantly try to tap into a potential new wave of international fandom. Can't see it happening tbh.
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Post by shallacatop on Oct 26, 2023 15:08:47 GMT
Trailer sounds great. Even the little snippet looks like a conscious attempt to contrast the two incarnations; Eight being the gentleman that helps where he can and War being the one in the midst of battle, making and executing the tough decisions. Hope that shows through in the final episodes.
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Post by martinw8686 on Oct 26, 2023 16:20:54 GMT
I've bemoaned the x meets y releases recently but War Doctor meets 8 is one I'm really keen to hear.
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Post by mark687 on Nov 6, 2023 16:42:08 GMT
More Cast Info Online
Regards
mark687
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Post by mark687 on Nov 29, 2023 11:07:40 GMT
Regards
mark687
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Dec 13, 2023 9:04:41 GMT
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Post by shallacatop on Dec 13, 2023 18:36:40 GMT
Loved this. Cracking writing debut from Ajjaz with The Hybrid’s Choice, especially the Daleks who had me questioning their true intentions throughout. Fear Nothing had a great concept and imagery with the TARDIS dreadnought, some genuine consequences and elements of the political machinations we love in the Gallifrey range. I do think there’s a better story to be had with Exit Strategy, it somehow manages to seem quite busy and thin on the ground; not sure how! I thought the use of Eight was a little superfluous, especially given the number of occasions he or another character just repeat lines from The Night of the Doctor, which has been done to death.
Really liked the ending, though more as a wrap up to the previous two sets, rather than an end to the range; He Who Fights Monsters was perfect for that, so I think I’d re-order them on a relisten. I think that’d make Battlegrounds fare better too, as an intended diversion in the Case saga.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2023 8:31:58 GMT
Not many votes n posts, I'd have thought this range was pretty popular - especially with it being a finale. Busy time of year though - but don't let this one slide through the cracks - it's fab stuff. As this whole series has been. Sadly John Hurt never got the quality of scripts that Carley has had. But in-universe at least it's all the same. The Hybrid's Choice We get Daleks saying silly things occasionally, going back to Evil Of The Daleks, but usually it's because they've been tinkered with and it's a comic scene. To have peak Time War Daleks saying "This is a party. There is....cake"? Well, that's a turnup. The Facilitator Dalek is a way for the enemy to be able to be more emotionally manipulative with Case, it wouldn't work well with the average drone. But as a machination of his boss, the slimey Time Strategist, the Facilitator works so well. The word "hybrid" hasn't been used so mjuch since Series 9 on the telly but here Case has been built up and the two parts of her, three really, that are being forged together are all clearly defined. It's wise to put the Dalek and Case story to the fore here, we don't often have them able to converse so easily and in a way that makes sense. What an image their new weapon is too - to picture a battlefield of Timelords laying dead but looking amazed, in bliss (hey, she's McGann's Time War!) is quite an visual for the mind's eye. Like Joker Toxin in Who. The Dakej construction of Cases's past was a nice red herring. Why would they give her time travel as a reward? Well, because they haven't. Breaking her by seeing Karina's fate and having her turn her back on The Doctor all felt organic and not something we've seen before. Fear Nothing Jodail is a quadrigger! There's a bit of lore we don't get too often. I always love the way Carlen plays his total disdain for Tomasan. He may be The Warrior now..but he's still not got any time for someone as callously militaristic as she. It's telling that he warms up to her a bit over the course of a story where he loses all hope for Case and that ends up in him losing a lot of his fight. He's almost being turned into something against his will as much as Case is. What a concept the Dreadnought TARDIS is. An abomination of something that "should be elegant, even as a Battle TARDIS". Wonderful indignation and lovely to hear The Doctor still has such ideas over beauty and discovery. It's oddly rare to have essentially a big battleship in Who. This certainly gives us that. Quite harrowing to hear Case who seemed to be allowed to retain some individuality speak so...Dalek like when she tries to rebel and her programming overrides her. And from that moment on become quite a terrifying force. The ending here is arguably the moment the younger Doctor starts to become the weary, exhausted one John Hurt played. Exit Strategy Fun title for a range ending but with a character we know will continue in other ways. We've seen stories that feature the premise of The Doctor appearing in someone's timeline at various points many times. McGann's inclusion with such a prominent depiction on the boxset cover will probably have people thinking he's in this more than he is. It's a few minutes all totalled up. It would have been more apt for Tamasan, Mekklin or The Nurse to feature with the Time Specialist on the cover but hey - guess that doesn't shift copies to people who buy McGann stuff! The Doctor telling The Nurse "Physician? Don't forget to heal thyself, eh?" was far, far too cute a meta joke for a range like this and it's a clunky line anyway. As is McGann's "I'm a Doctor but probably not..." (how would he know what one The Nurse expects??) and "Cass?". No..just..no. However, I loved Case saying the worst thing that The Doctor did was to give her hope. That's very in-keeping with the Time War as is The Doctor crossing his own timeline to apologise for tinkering with The Nurse's implants...before he's done it. That kicks off quite a bit of timey-wimey stuff to take us to the end of the story, set and series. For Case to meet a "better" Doctor and have The Nurse vouch for him is a nifty idea. She wouldn't possibly be swayed by The Doctor she knows now. Too much water under the bridge, so meeting one who inspires her in a way The Doctor would like to think they do? Good stuff. Her Doctor gave up on her but the idealist before doesn't. And it IS quite thrilling to hear The War Doctor talk to his previous self. Before the revelation that Case IS dead and The War Doctor is letting her live on in a "time wafer" (?) I wondered how the hell we'd get Case with Alex, Cass and Bliss already out there. I'm glad that the hope brought from the Eighth Doctor didn't extend to The War Doctor as we KNOW things have to get a lot worse and from his appearance, over rather a long time. We know we're getting more from Jonathan as The War Doctor and, frankly, I can't wait for it as this has been one of BF's most consistent ranges of the 2020s if not the most given the amount of releases.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Dec 15, 2023 9:13:47 GMT
Purely $ , I haven't purchased it yet.. Will soon.
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Post by bonehead on Dec 15, 2023 14:33:09 GMT
The Hybrid’s Choice by Ajjaz Awad-Ibrahim. There’s a lot to love in the opening story, the most fascinating to me is the Daleks slow and deliberate treatment of Case. It’s intense stuff and somehow the Strategist in particular is colder than ever here, and its wonderfully creepy. Naturally Case has a large part to play in what is often a three-hander, but Ajjaz Awad makes excellent use of the character, and plays the relentless abuse Case – and Kareena - suffers really well. A brief but very effective performance from Nicholas Briggs too. This might feature the most original use of Skaro’s finest for a long time: violent and loud, with moments of very human drama. A great opener.
I liked the return of the Quadrigger idea in Mark Wright’s Fear Nothing, and Jodall is another interesting female character (the Doctor, Daleks and the final story’s Nurse are the only main male characters in this set), with her creepy little sing-song. Once again, the Time Lords are pushing the ‘Doctor/not Doctor’ into things he would rather avoid. This story is not so gut-wrenchingly raw as the previous one, but it’s still rich and thick with epic Time War imagery and ideas. If it has an ‘issue’, I’d say that Jodall is perhaps too similar to Case in style and substance. Nonetheless, terrific stuff.
I’m sad this range appears to be ending. I’m presuming it’s a sales-related decision, but I wonder if The War Doctor is too grizzled and blood-drenched to be favoured by the new Disney regime of the television show that is currently burning up the TV ratings (and music charts), and they’ve had a word with BF?
So, with Exit Strategy by Matt Fitton, we’re back in the midst of bucketloads of Daleks and the very singular issue of The War Doctor and Case, a duo who have become the central players in this set. How fascinating she is, and how difficult a decision it must be to remove her.
“I’m the Doctor, but probably -”
The Eighth Doctor has popped up a lot in ranges outside his own recently, and it’s always a pleasure to hear him. He’s actually becoming my current favourite audio Doctor. Thoughtful, contemplative, enigmatic. Crossovers have been very restrained in The War Doctor range, so if must have one, then Old Eightie is very welcome. With all this going on, it’s good to know Jonathan Carley’s excellent War Doctor isn’t upstaged. One consistent in this range is his brilliance – ‘replacing’ John Hurt can’t have been easy. Exit Strategy manages to be both epic and intimate at the same time, and those tiny moments – like when Eight and the War Doctor briefly ‘meet’, and Case’s final moments – are the ones to treasure.
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Post by sherlock on Dec 16, 2023 19:03:14 GMT
I had a good time with this set. The way Case’s story developed was nicely done and the ending actually surprised me. It’s pretty bleak but it fits with the War Doctor’s gradual loss of hope. We should be surprised by this incarnation; he’s the one whose rules are most unpredictable.
McGann’s role is well incorporated. Putting him on the cover doesn't blow a twist, but actually covers up the bigger one. So nicely played. The conversation between him and the War Doctor is also well done.
This set also does some interesting things with the Daleks and how they manipulate Case, and their competing strategies for the war (nicely tying back to He Who Fights With Monsters, so that set now feels less of an oasis in this range). I hope this is last we hear of Time Strategist, as it does well in setting up his more conventional Dalek leader plots in the original War Doctor series and frankly I feel they’ve done they can with the pepperpot. If there’s more War Doctor material in offing, get a new Dalek leader for Briggs to mix up the modulator settings.
All in all, War Doctor Begins goes out on a good note for me.
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Post by elkawho on Dec 17, 2023 17:21:51 GMT
First off, I want to say that I LOVE this range. Jonathan Carley has proven to be an extraordinary casting choice. He is no longer just mimicking John Hurt, if he ever was. The writing for this set is tight, as it has been for all of them. Paul McGann is a welcome addition here and his Doctor is used perfectly. Case's ending reminds me of River Song. The Doctor did pretty much the same thing when she was dying, and let her end be a gift.
But there is a niggle in my mind, and I can't seem to get it to go away. I don't understand Case's choices. I don't understand her hate for The Doctor. I don't understand why she chooses to be a Dalek and live with nothing more that the idea of murdering and destroying whole civilizations. I just don't. And yes, I get it that she has been horribly abused and that is why she makes these choices. That being said, the fact that she continues to make these choices even when better ones are available to her make me care less about her. Maybe that says more about me than her, but as soon as she chooses to murder people with the Daleks, it makes any fondness I may have had for her disappear. By the end of the story I am more on the side of Veclan and Tamasan. I felt at that point that she needed to be eliminated.
But this is why this range is so good. The Doctor here does act in a way that the other regenerations (or his own subconcious) would want to forget. The way he uses the Nurse is awful. This is the only actual heroic character in the entire set, and it angers me that The Doctor uses him and lets him die, yet does everything he can to save Case, who at this point is well beyond saving. Nothing here is easy, no choices are good. What a masterpiece this range has been.
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Post by mark687 on Dec 18, 2023 14:51:25 GMT
Interestingly Cass gives the Range its final flourish it will end tragic but dose it damage the audience relationship going forward? It doesn't it oddly re=affirms it. Through her Our "Good Person" is always there if you look hard enough and has earned the "Privilege of lighting the Flame".
Regards
mark687
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2023 15:07:39 GMT
Interestingly Cass gives the Range its final flourish it will end tragic but dose it damage the audience relationship going forward? It doesn't it oddly re=affirms it. Through her Our "Good Person" is always there if you look hard enough and has earned the "Privilege of lighting the Flame". Regards mark687 Case, not Cass - we've got enough time slippages going on in The Time War without mixing up companions via typos! I think that's always been one of the tenets of the War Doctor. That despite his protestations he is still - sometimes deeper down than others - The Doctor. Some people didn't like the Hurt audios as he was thoughtful and wasn't just maniacal. I disagreed then and I think the audios have proven it - I never imagined that being a psychopathic incarnation was part of the intent. He may operate in more shades of grey but it was the use of The Moment, that one act, that made him so terrifying that even The Doctor tried to forget that incarnation existed. The character is too protected to have an incarnation that was bloodthirsty like some seemed to expect of it. And I'm glad. It's far more interesting this way. Even The War Doctor wants peace. He's just prepared to fight for it unlike his predecessor or successor - though if Moffat's ideas came off it WOULD have been Ecleston and McGann as back up before Chris said no, and the BBC said Paul wasn't a big enough deal for the 50th. So the original intent would have seen either the Ninth or Eighth Doctor do all these things. With that in mind it's easier to say that's another reason the character's action wouldn't be too extreme - if they were, they would never have worked with McGann or Eccleston's Doctors.
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Post by wolfdog95 on Dec 18, 2023 21:43:48 GMT
This range has had a strong showing from pretty much everyone, but I think Howard Carter deserves an award for his contributions to this set. The War Doctor's hero theme is already my favourite Doctor theme, but the way he varied it in this set was phenomenal. What is supposed to be a heroic theme (though a very serious one for a very morally grey Doctor) is used to convey the sheer tragedy of the ending, while also signifying a happy ending of sorts.
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Post by martinw8686 on Dec 18, 2023 22:28:36 GMT
Does anyone have any thoughts on what's next for Jonathan Carley's War Doctor?
I know he's due to appear in the Sontaran releases early next year but will we see a new rebranded range, War Doctor:End of the Beginning or War Doctor:Midlife Crisis?
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