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Post by elkawho on Mar 19, 2016 13:28:16 GMT
I haven't got this one yet but reading the feedback from you guys about the MR in general since episode 200, the stories do seem to be of pretty high quality. They really have been. I have been impressed with every one of them. I've only been listening to Big Finish for a couple of years, but I think this is what it must have fest like a number of years ago when you guys used to wait for the next great story. I've been so happy with the MR. |
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Post by mrperson on Mar 20, 2016 1:24:31 GMT
I'm halfway through this now. I keep trying to discipline myself to listen to one episode per week, but that hasn't actually come to fruition ... ever! Hah! I can barely stop myself from listening to an entire box set in one go... |
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Post by elkawho on Mar 20, 2016 14:30:43 GMT
This was one of those those stories that made me go and learn some history. I had never heard of The Peterloo Massacre so I went and looked it up. And it made me realize just how good a job Magrs did with this script; even more than before I did the research.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2016 14:48:31 GMT
What a story. What a trilogy! Three perfectly varied stories, all stand-alone, with no need to have listened to anything else to enjoy them. This is the essence of Doctor Who for me. I like the occasional story arc, but independant, unique storytelling is the way to go as far as I'm concerned. This is a bleak, massive human tragedy. The sound design, music and acting are all incredibly good - as many have said, Peter Davison's rage at the start of episode four is exactly the kind of thing that works for him. We're used to Sixie shouting and bellowing, which is why BF's 'softer side' to his character has worked so well. Here, the hardened Fifth Doctor is excellent for the opposite reasons - and who can blame him for being mortified, given the circumstances? This is a triumph, all round. As an aside, my favourite bit of the extras is when Peter Davison forgets his own name!  |
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Post by retrospecs on Mar 21, 2016 15:19:00 GMT
Really engrossed in this one. I live in Greater Manchester so it was really evocative to be standing outside the Free Trade Hall this morning and listening to part 3. I’d read the plaque and looked up the incident when I first moved up here, but this was the chance to visualise the area as it had been back then.
The historicals aren’t usually top of my list, but this one is definitely going up there. Great production across the board, from storytelling to sound design and all points inbetween.
Still room for a smile…assuming that Hurley is based on the real-life Birley who was there. (Hurly-Burly indeed!)
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Mar 21, 2016 15:57:10 GMT
How nice it is to have a revitalized & relevant Main Range again?
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Tony Jones
Chancellery Guard
Professor Chronotis
Still rockin' along!
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Post by Tony Jones on Mar 21, 2016 21:05:31 GMT
If you pick up the latest Starburst Magazine, my colleague Ed Fortune has an interview with Paul Magrs and Alan Barnes on this very release!
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Post by kimalysong on Mar 22, 2016 22:57:18 GMT
This was one of those those stories that made me go and learn some history. I had never heard of The Peterloo Massacre so I went and looked it up. And it made me realize just how good a job Magrs did with this script; even more than before I did the research. Same I loved this story. Besides finding it absolutely riveting it was a period of history I actually did not know about before this release. Look at that Doctor Who can be educational and entertaining (which was the original goal of the historicals) I also don't think knowing what is going to happen makes it any less exciting. I think that's the beauty of tragedy. This is a tragedy the Doctor can't prevent. I knew roughly how things would turn out but that didn't stop my enjoyment at all (well as much as you can enjoy a tragedy). In fact it made me more invested in the story. You want it to turn out differently even though you know it wont. The audience is the same position as the Doctor. |
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Post by elkawho on Mar 23, 2016 0:32:35 GMT
This was one of those those stories that made me go and learn some history. I had never heard of The Peterloo Massacre so I went and looked it up. And it made me realize just how good a job Magrs did with this script; even more than before I did the research. Same I loved this story. Besides finding it absolutely riveting it was a period of history I actually did not know about before this release. Look at that Doctor Who can be educational and entertaining (which was the original goal of the historicals) I also don't think knowing what is going to happen makes it any less exciting. I think that's the beauty of tragedy. This is a tragedy the Doctor can't prevent. I knew roughly how things would turn out but that didn't stop my enjoyment at all (well as much as you can enjoy a tragedy). In fact it made me more invested in the story. You want it to turn out differently even though you know it wont. The audience is the same position as the Doctor. I've learned a lot of history because of Doctor Who. Medicinal Purposes, Son Of The Dragon, The Angel of Scutari are just some of the audios that had me looking up the true history. Even the last Torchwood release, The Victorian Age, had me going to check on some facts about Queen Victoria. That's one of the things I love about Doctor Who. |
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Post by omega on Mar 23, 2016 6:43:07 GMT
This was one of those those stories that made me go and learn some history. I had never heard of The Peterloo Massacre so I went and looked it up. And it made me realize just how good a job Magrs did with this script; even more than before I did the research. Same I loved this story. Besides finding it absolutely riveting it was a period of history I actually did not know about before this release. Look at that Doctor Who can be educational and entertaining (which was the original goal of the historicals) I also don't think knowing what is going to happen makes it any less exciting. I think that's the beauty of tragedy. This is a tragedy the Doctor can't prevent. I knew roughly how things would turn out but that didn't stop my enjoyment at all (well as much as you can enjoy a tragedy). In fact it made me more invested in the story. You want it to turn out differently even though you know it wont. The audience is the same position as the Doctor. The Doctor is always best when put in a corner, unable to do anything meaningful to resolve the situation (or at least only at great cost where it really matters). It's when he shows his true self, with nothing to hid behind. If he weren't helpless to prevent the Massacre, I doubt we'd have had his outrage at Hurley. You know that when the Fifth Doctor is angry, he means it. There are even shades of this in The Butcher of Brisbane, where the Doctor knows he has to allow some things to happen because he knows that effects in the past rely on a cause happening in the present, down to Greel escaping with Mr Sin in the Time Cabinet where he met them in Talons of Weng-Chiang. |
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Post by paulmagrs on Mar 23, 2016 12:22:20 GMT
hello everyone,
Thanks for some lovely responses to 'The Peterloo Massacre'! I'm thrilled that so many have enjoyed it.
Here's a little round-up of pull-out review quotes, which I hope will encourage those who haven't yet to try it!
Red Rocket Rising:
“There is an enormous amount to admire with this release… I’d like to focus on Paul Magrs’s crafting of this outstanding tale. Given the political nature of the material, it would have been easy to tell a big angry story, have Tegan shout a lot and present events without drawing the listener in as deeply as he has.”
Blogtor Who:
“The drama is first rate, the performances wonderfully realistic, Magrs and Big Finish prove that the Doctor doesn’t need aliens and monsters to tell a compelling and historical yet relevant story.”
Planet Mondas:
“This is an exceptional release and there have been a lot of those lately, but this really is something special. Paul Magrs, Jamie Anderson and all involved in the production can take a bow – this story can proudly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of the best.”
Mass Movement Magazine:
“I don’t make any secret of the fact that I’m a huge fan of Paul Magrs work, both literary and audio, and he has once again rewarded my eternal faith by delivering a story that, while adhering to the facts, is moving, absorbing, suffused with intricate and carefully constructed characterisation and motors along at a fair old clip.”
Gallifrey Archive:
“The final moments of the third part of The Peterloo Massacre might well be some of the most upsetting and darkest that Big Finish has ever done (…) it really knocked me for six like no other form of Doctor Who ever has.”
Warped Factor:
“At its heart (The Peterloo Massacre) never forgets that it also has a mission to be two hours of rollercoaster Who, set in a world where the inevitability of history is the Big Bad, and the mean spirits of human beings are the chief motivators of action. Listen to this rapid couple of hours of character-rich Who today, and welcome another Paul Magrs classic into your collection.”
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Tony Jones
Chancellery Guard
Professor Chronotis
Still rockin' along!
Likes: 2,132
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Post by Tony Jones on Mar 23, 2016 13:13:27 GMT
Paul - welcome aboard and thanks for pulling my review amongst others!
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Post by iainbenson on Mar 23, 2016 17:05:14 GMT
I'm really enjoying the story (just finished part 3) as I love the pure historicals, but I do wish to make a small observation: the Free Trade Hall was built on the site of the Peterloo Massacre in 1853, the speeches would just have been presented from a platform in St Peter's Field, as it was a nice big open area, cleared for road building. It's also quite interesting to see how you have stuck close to the documented events, but tweaked a few specifics, such as historically the yeomanry charge being led by Captain Hugh Hornby Birley, but the story has Captain Hurley, and the youngest recorded death being a 2 year old knocked from his mothers arms, but instead you have a baby "not yet a year old". hello everyone, Thanks for some lovely responses to 'The Peterloo Massacre'! I'm thrilled that so many have enjoyed it. |
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Post by paulmagrs on Mar 23, 2016 17:28:34 GMT
Yea, as ever with historical fiction, all errors and tweaks are absolutely my responsibilty! The Free Trade Hall was a mistake I realised after recording, but the changes to real names, etc were deliberate.
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Post by glutamodo on Mar 25, 2016 15:09:51 GMT
I just finished listening to this on the way home from work this morning and found it to be a very ... atypical, and very sad, 5th Doctor story. It was like a travelogue through a horrible event in history, more than anything else. But that doesn't mean I didn't like it, it was very well played, they all nailed their readings in this. Thanks for bringing a piece of history to life, one that I'm sure was never even mentioned in my history lessons in the U.S. and I knew nothing about.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2016 11:57:20 GMT
That was astoundingly intense. The Yeomanry are some of the most contemptible and evil people I have seen in Doctor Who period, all the disgusting, malicious arrogance, prejudice, self-satisfaction and quiescence whipped up into a chaotic and disaffirming furore. This is the series at its finest, inspiring outrage at tyranny, iniquity and cowardly denial. Hats off to Magrs for scripting, the cast for performing and the crew for pulling together a truly moving and powerful force majeure, one that I think will be remembered for years to come. A true credit to their craft and a remarkable story.
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Post by Timelord007 on Mar 27, 2016 8:15:24 GMT
I put this story on for my mum (she's a fan also), she cried and said it was gut wrenching, heartbreaking, powerful, atmospheric & emotional, she loved it.
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Post by omega on Mar 27, 2016 8:25:20 GMT
I predicted the twist about Cathy and baby Peter early on thanks to a TV story that used the same twist, only less heartbreakingly. Mrs Hurley is the most detestable character in the story because she's one of the only characters not to learn anything from the tragedy. Indeed, the Massacre never touches her, a character who had the most she needed to learn from it.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Mar 27, 2016 22:36:48 GMT
I'm halfway through and really appreciating it. I feel like this kind of historical drama truly highlights how flexible the concept of the show can be. Epic space opera with sardonic robots one month and gut-wrenching historical, and very real, human drama the next. Paul Magrs wrote a beautiful script and Jaime Anderson directed the hell out of it.
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Post by paulmagrs on Mar 29, 2016 14:58:32 GMT
Big Finish have just made the 'extended extras' available for the Peterloo Massacre. It's a thirty minute documentary featuring interviews with all, but mostly me (!) - talking about the writing process, research, characterisation and writing for Doctor Who.
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