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Post by mark687 on Feb 3, 2017 11:07:43 GMT
Excellent as always with my usual little niggle Why have a story arc if your going to have stories that don't mention it at all.
I'm exactly the opposite. There should almost always be episodes in arcs that have nothing to do with the on-going stories. Things don't always link up in nice lines. It's actually more realistic that every now and again the team should hear mention of The Committee rather than every time they encounter adversaries, they bring up The Committee. And storytelling-wise the variation is better. Even the Key to Time season, which really HAS to feature the Key in every story, has the sense to vary things - for example in five of the six stories the Doctor and Romana spend whatever adventure they're having trying to find out what and where the Key segment is - and it turns out to be something that is also important to the storytelling of the individual adventure. In The Androids of Tara, they find it within five minutes of landing and it's got nothing to do with the adventure they get caught up in. When the Poirot TV series still had The Big Four and The Labours of Hercules to adapt, I said it was a shame they couldn't go back to series of six one-hour slot episodes - serialise The Big Four over one series of six episodes and then do Labours over two more series - one episode per Labour. A friend pointed out that there'd never been an adaptation of The Lemesurier Interitance. I said to bung it somewhere in the middle of The Big Four. And then at the end Hastings says "But there's one thing I don't understand... how did the Lemesurier thing tie in...?" " Ah mon ami. You need everything tied up in ze big bow. Poi-Ro knows that life, it is not like zat'. Honestly, I should just be in charge of everything. Not before me you shouldn't LOL
Regards
mark687
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Post by Zagreus on Jul 19, 2017 23:02:23 GMT
I kind of hope Roger Pugh comes back again. He said he'd got an archaeological degree of some sort, didn't he? Maybe they can have that come into play in a future release. Want to repeat this. Don't really have anything new to say. Lovely piece, good Torchwood. The appearances from Andy really bring it together actually, make it feel like much more of a real setting.
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Post by Kestrel on Dec 21, 2022 6:47:25 GMT
More Than This is my second foray into Torchwood -- all of Torcwhood, not just the audios.
It's been a while since I actually bought the thing but, you know, that's just how these things go sometimes. I'm not sure why I picked this one out of all the others to buy, but I suspect it's because the premise sounded like a good introduction to the series. You know, like how when a new companion gets brought onboard the TARDIS they kind of function as an audience surrogate, making for an adequate (at least) introduction to the series for new audiences.
Of course, it may also have been that the premise sounded very Douglas Adams-y, and what's more Doctor Who than that?
Now, in the immediate aftermath of listening, I'm not entirely certain this was a good choice. Don't get me wrong, it's a great story, but I don't think it really did much to inform me about what all Torchwood, you know, is. It's mostly a very self-contained adventure focusing on Gwen Cooper and Roger Pugh. Though Andy does pop up and get some amusing lines. (I suppose I should say I've technically already been introduced to Torchwood via Andy's role in the Stranded miniseries, but I don't really think that counts.)
And Andy's great.
Gwen I'm not so sure about yet.
Anyway, I don't think there's too much to say about this story as it's ultimately a rather generic plot. Alien plots to foil, for the sole sake of foiling alien plots. A bit-too-contrived story ripped from straight out of a Douglas Adams story simply because that's a thing we all like. There's not a lot here that's really unique or memorable or interesting. BUT what elevates More Than This to something greater than its constituent parts is its tone. Essentially, it takes that generic story and makes us care with a deeply human story of melancholy, grief and dread. Of expectation and failure. Of wanting more and achieving less. It is, in short, a mature story of the sort I would not immediately expect from a series famous for putting a cyberman into a metal bikini.
In short, Pugh is a very well-performed character with a surprising amount of depth, and the melancholy tone of his story carries this whole release. Pugh is, to use a word that has lost almost all of its meaning by now but, I hope, still possesses some small utility, very relatable.
And I think that's what ultimately makes the story work -- that inversion of expectation. We think we're going into a farcical, almost satirical story of the sort we've seen so many times before. What we get, instead, is melancholy introspection. Lovely.
That said, I do leave this story with a similar feeling to the one that possessed me after finishing my first Torchwood story, Postcards from Mr Colchester. Specifically that the ending felt a bit out-of-step with the preceding narrative. Concluding on a note a bit more optimistic than, I think, the story earned. Or, to put it another way, the ending didn't flow as smoothly as it could have or perhaps should have. I'm not I can fully articulate why. Maybe it's a length thing? I definitely think that proper denouement is a bit of a dying art form. Those final few scenes that wrap everything up... they take time. Or, in other words, they can't really be rushed. And that's really what these two conclusions feel like to me -- like skipping ahead to write the final sentence of an essay for an exam because you've only got so much space left on the page, and you can only write so small.
....
Anyway, I'm not entirely sure where to go next from here. I suppose the obvious next choice for Torchwood proper would be TOR 001: The Conspiracy... but maybe not? After all, I don't think MR 001: The Sirens of Time is a good story in its own right, or that good of an entry point to the Monthly Range in general. Any advice/recommendations?
Well, it's not like I've managed to make much of a dent in my backlog lately, so I've plenty of time to figure it out. I already own a three more Torchwood audios -- The Victorian Age, Fortitude and Save Our Souls. But my understanding is that all three of those are historicals that are almost entirely or entirely independent of the modern-day Torchwood stuff.
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Post by sidestep on Dec 21, 2022 12:21:57 GMT
Anyway, I'm not entirely sure where to go next from here. I suppose the obvious next choice for Torchwood proper would be TOR 001: The Conspiracy... but maybe not? After all, I don't think MR 001: The Sirens of Time is a good story in its own right, or that good of an entry point to the Monthly Range in general. Any advice/recommendations? Well, it's not like I've managed to make much of a dent in my backlog lately, so I've plenty of time to figure it out. I already own a three more Torchwood audios -- The Victorian Age, Fortitude and Save Our Souls. If you like Ianto… Fall to Earth. 😊 it’s a two-hander, & they’re both super good. 👍🏻⭐️ The TW Queen Victoria stories are among my favorites. There’s lots of 15 minute drama teases in the BF podcasts. Torchwood Soho: Parasite Torchwood One: Latter Days Drive (if you like Tosh, this is also nice. & the drama tease gives you a good sample of what the story is like) Lease of Life (Owen. Mould) I own this & someday I’ll overcome my mould phobia & will give it a listen) Madam I’m (need to listen to other stories before this) The Black Knight (need to listen to other stories before this) Restricted Items Archive Entries 031-049 (Ianto. I also liked this story very much.) Torchwood: Aliens Among Us part 2 Iceberg Gooseberry Dead Man’s Switch (Billis) The Green Life (Jack & Jo) Expectant Torchwood: God Among Us part 1 & 3 (in different podcasts) Smashed Coffee Empire of Shadows (Zachary Cross Flane. I liked this) The Sins of Captain John Believe Torchwood One: Machines Sync (Suzie. first Torchwood I ever bought. Fun!) Serenity Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4 (haven’t listened to this yet, but people say it’s very good) Torchwood Soho: The Unbegotten Also on the website, excerpts of Dissected & Red Base
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