Thoughts on Underrated Big Finish

For me it's Time Works, The Game, and Seasons Of Fear.

Hmmm...

The Game definitely doesn't get enough praise. I quite liked Seasons of Fear and the Fearmonger, too, but I think those are both fairly well-regarded.

He Jests at Scars, the Apocalypse Element, and the Mutant Phase all come to mind as underrated stories. Hmm... Year of the Pig doesn't get enough praise, either, though it's not widely derided.

Finally, I rather enjoyed Destination Nerva. It's not perfect, by any means (it could easily have used another episode, for one,) but I couldn't see why it became such a bete-noir. And I'm not normally a big fan of nostalgia-driven stories, either.

Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge. It's solid, linear story and continuity-wise stands up well on its own while the other Seventh Doctor, Ace and Hex stories at the time were part of one big arc or another. If you're listening in release order it offers a nice transition between the Hex's Mother revelation and the Elder Gods trilogy. There's also this gem of a line from Hex, when he's about to be sacrificed:

I agree on Zagreus. I feel lots of the dislike and confusion stems from how it looks like an anniversary multi-Doctor story when it's actually a key transitioning story between two major arcs for the Eighth Doctor and Charley. If you look at it as an arc story, it's perhaps at times a bit too ambitious than it needs to be, but definitely sticks in your mind for one reason or another. The idea of having the figures in the various scenarios The story, the third disc specifically, acts as a backdoor pilot for the Gallifrey range, setting up Leela, Romana II, K9 and Braxiatel co-existing on Gallifrey at the same point in time.

The Rapture. It's got some interesting and thought-provoking ideas as well as a great soundscape. It also gives Ace some of what she needed at that point, someone to talk to who she could trust, and it's a pity the person who helps her hasn't shown up again. The cover is simplistic and eye-catching.

Equilibrium is another one I have to agree with. It's an interesting and relatively original concept that fits perfectly in the E-Space setting. The whole cast is amazing and you feel for each and every person considering the situation they have been in all their lives.

Yes, I recently listened to The Game after getting it in the 51-100 sale and while the main plot is fairly amiable nonsense, the sub-plot with Carlisle (I think that was his name) is basically the template for the entire River Song saga, minus all the parental and marriage complications. Very powerful stuff.

*Materialises*

I've said it before and will again ... Zagreus! If you take out all the "anniversary" hype, it's actually a good story with great interplay between the Doctor/Zagreus and the Tardis/Brig

*Dematerialises quickly* ...

Cheers

Tony

If you like The Death Collectors, Stewart Sheargold did a prequel with the Companion Chronicle The Darkening Eye, narrated by Nyssa and the only CC set in season 19. Make sure to ask Tim Bradley about it.

There's a fascinating little one-part story with Death Collectors, Spider's Shadow. It affords the listener a glimpse into the Doctor's perspective of his plans as we follow him going through the story in random order and learning the situation along with him. It's an original story idea considering we often follow the chronological series of events and it's the Doctor popping up in random order, like The Shadow Heart. For that reason alone Spider's Shadow is well worth a listen.

Another Seventh Doctor three-parter/one-parter I enjoy but gets little love is Kingdom of Silver and Keepsake. It's one of the few stories I've seen DWM get really negative about (others include Rings of Akhaten and Daleks Among Us), but it's a nice crossover into the Cyberman spin-off continuity (the Cyberman counter-part to Dalek Empire), another underrated range. A character from Keepsake even appears in the Cyberman 2 box set, both written by James Swallow.

The 3/1 releases in general are pretty good but don't get much discussion. It's kind of a pity that the format ended after only a couple of years, as it afforded stories that sat comfortably over three parts not to be stretched over four and a nice little one-part with an interesting concept to flourish. We've had stories that comprises of a series of phone calls, Rashamon-style, a companion's origin and a total mindscrew, among others. A Perfect World, released with Time Reef, allowed Thomas Brewster to be written out without shoehorning it into the main story of Time Reef. At least the anthologies allow writers to use their one episode story ideas.

I do have to agree with Fearmonger, Sandman, Seasons of Fear and Zagreus. I was lucky with the latter as i didnt hear it as part of the Anniversary. I only heard it last year or so straight after Neverland and that worked for me.

Out side of the main range i have to say that UNIT with Chaurdy is underrated

I listened to that twice - the first time I felt kind of 'meh', but on re-listen, I really loved it.  Two really cool sci-fi concepts in the British Empire conquering the stars, and the 'absorption' plague.  You really can't fathom how the Doctor's going to win, at one point.

Most underrated - gotta be Embrace the Darkness.  How on Earth is that not a classic?  The atmosphere!  Stands with Chimes of Midnight and Seasons of Fear easily, for me.

I'd also like to throw in the Seventh Doctor Lost Stories as underrated as, while not as good as Season 26 was, if on television would have still been very good in quality