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Post by Hieronymus on Mar 24, 2018 21:06:39 GMT
This was the first Big Finish story to truly "wow" me, and the one that made me want to listen to so much more.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2018 21:33:19 GMT
Upon listening to this for the first time last week, it instantly became one of my absolute favourites. The writing, acting, just the feel of the audio was fantastic- A great introduction to Evelyn. 9/10
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Post by iainmclaughlin on Mar 24, 2018 22:38:34 GMT
This one blows me away every time I listen to it. The writing is beautiful, the plot strong, characterisation rich and the performances perfect. The sound and music are absolutely spot on, too. It's glorious.
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Post by Ela on Mar 25, 2018 5:21:04 GMT
This one blows me away every time I listen to it. The writing is beautiful, the plot strong, characterisation rich and the performances perfect. The sound and music are absolutely spot on, too. It's glorious. Yup, exactly this.
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Post by constonks on Mar 26, 2018 0:02:43 GMT
This was the first Big Finish story to truly "wow" me, and the one that made me want to listen to so much more. This was certainly the first Sixth Doctor story to land so well for me. It would probably make my Top 50 DW Stories - wonderfully executed time travel story and a fantastic introduction to a great companion. You can see some of the twists coming but it never feels cliche. And the sympathy that the Doctor feels for the Queen - despite her barbaric actions - and the respect he shows her is an extremely Doctorly thing. And I love Evelyn thinking that the Doctor is her great (...) great grandfather as a cliffhanger! Between that and "Oh no! You are going to sing!" Evelyn wins the last-line-of-an-episode contest forever.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Mar 26, 2018 0:04:41 GMT
One of the top two or three companion introduction stories in the show's history.
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Post by sherlock on Mar 26, 2018 0:16:21 GMT
Simply delightful. One of the best companion introduction stories and there's something lovely about a simple story well-told. The supporting characters are all characterised well and the Doctor is marvellously depicted throughout, still reticent about interfering post-Trial and able to look past history's tellings of people to feel sympathy regardless.
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Post by constonks on Mar 26, 2018 2:38:32 GMT
(...) the Doctor is marvellously depicted throughout, still reticent about interfering post-Trial and able to look past history's tellings of people to feel sympathy regardless. Oh man, I actually forgot that this is the story that really defined the Big Finish Sixth Doctor because I'm so used to the character the way he is now. But now, as I think back to my first listen, I remember this one redefining my view of Number Six a little bit.
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Post by omega on Mar 28, 2018 11:02:10 GMT
Everything clicks into place. Within a couple of scenes we get everything we need to know about Evelyn and how she works with the Sixth Doctor. Its not often we get the domestic day to day with companions, and the scene in Evelyn's rooms is a delight. She's witty, insightful, maternal but does not suffer fools gladly, even if she hasn't learnt to realise sometimes she needs to keep her mouth shut in regards to the relative future.
The characters are all written three dimensionally, even Mary. It's easy to write historical figures treated as villains as that, a mustache twirling villain. But it takes a great writer to show us that they aren't evil, and that circumstances plus public perception do most of the damage. Nev Fountain explores this in The Kingmaker.
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Post by iainmclaughlin on Mar 28, 2018 11:45:23 GMT
Everything clicks into place. Within a couple of scenes we get everything we need to know about Evelyn and how she works with the Sixth Doctor. Its not often we get the domestic day to day with companions, and the scene in Evelyn's rooms is a delight. She's witty, insightful, maternal but does not suffer fools gladly, even if she hasn't learnt to realise sometimes she needs to keep her mouth shut in regards to the relative future. That's one of the really terrific things about this one. Evelyn is there, bang on, from her first line. It can take a while for a character to settle in, but Evelyn is just on the money from her first scene. Great writing, terrific performance and smart direction and casting. Just terrific.
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Post by barnabaslives on Apr 1, 2018 21:00:52 GMT
That's one of the really terrific things about this one. Evelyn is there, bang on, from her first line. It can take a while for a character to settle in, but Evelyn is just on the money from her first scene. Great writing, terrific performance and smart direction and casting. Just terrific. It still amazes me that something this brilliant was already happening within the first half dozen MR releases. No wonder I've ended up with all of them.
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Post by number13 on Apr 1, 2018 23:52:45 GMT
I'd already heard a few of these stories, enough to know how wonderful Maggie Stables was with Colin Baker (my favourite audio Doctor), and what a great Doctor / Companion pairing Sixie and Evelyn are. But most of the listen-through will be new to me, like this one - and what a treat to discover stories like this! I love historicals (may have mentioned this! ) and this is a beauty with a 'Doctor Who' twist, a Tudor 'Back From The Future' with fading manuscript family trees instead of fading photos (appropriately enough for an historian like Evelyn.) A cracking introductory story where the new Companion and her ancestry are the heart of the story - brilliantly plotted and written by Jacqueline Rayner, with excellent music and sound design. Evelyn instantly comes across as a great Companion - clever and knowledgable (obviously, Dr. Smythe ) and warm, witty, and brave with the nerve to hitch a lift on a time machine within five minutes of discovering one exists. And delightfully human too, with her handbag to match any Doctor's famously cluttered pockets and a taste for chocolate I applaud! (*nibbles bit of Easter Egg*) She has a lot to learn about what not to say when time-travelling and this is worked perfectly into the story. I could see it coming but I still winced when Evelyn in the tavern raised a toast to 'Good Queen Bess' - three years too soon lol! The plots and counter-plots and our friends getting pulled into them are very well done. It would all have been so much simpler if the Doctor had realised who was actually Queen to begin with - but this was the right moment to arrive even if he did it by accident... I presume the TARDIS was being helpful again! Some moments that were highlights for me include: The tavern scene as Evelyn takes her first steps in her new and exciting life. The Doctor and Evelyn outwitting De Noailles' 'poison' plot by explaining and appealing to the Queen's intelligence and logic. The Doctor being unusually open while talking with Lady Sarah, describing his life and the lives he has saved - and caused to be lost - by his influence. With hindsight, Jacqueline Rayner seems to have described the climax of the Time War several years early through a Doctor who pre-dates it - it's a terrific scene. Evelyn persuading the Doctor that while he can't save everyone (or change history) not only can he save one or two people (and their families), he should. And (in a story with serious themes like assassination plots and religious persecution) the humour is wonderful too - I laughed no end at Evelyn "discovering" the Doctor was her great-great-...-...-great-grandfather I knew it couldn't really be true, but imagining the Doctor's face at that moment was priceless! 5* of course and what a terrific beginning.
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Post by Timelord007 on Apr 2, 2018 7:51:04 GMT
Excellent story & a very strong debut adventure for Evelyn who is relatable & immediately likeable, Sixth Doctor is toned down & far more likeable, a Big Finish classic.
9/10.
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Post by slithe on May 21, 2018 19:24:39 GMT
For me, this was when Big Finish finally *clicked*. I had always been a bit sceptical of Doctor Who on audio and, to be honest, had found the first five releases in the Main Range (or Monthly Range as it was then) a bit hit and miss. The Sirens of Time had great premise but fell short (with McCoy's section being downright boring), Phantasmagoria was much better (but still not spectacular), the same with Whispers of Terror and the less said about Land of the Dead the better. Whilst these stories were better than the BBCs attempt in the early 1990s, it didn't seem as if Big Finish weren't going to do much beyond re-tread a few ideas and, perhaps, continue with the series for a couple of years or so.
Fortunately, the Marian Conspiracy is where it goes absolutely right and shows the real strength of Big Finish and the audio medium. I find it ironic that Colin Baker's Doctor should be the one to properly launch the range - particularly as his Doctor was so unpopular on TV. However, as said before, Big Finish have really done their homework here. The story peels away a lot of the bluster and unpleasantness of the TV persona and gives Baker the chance to play the Doctor in a much more sympathetic light. Perhaps it is ironic that Baker's foil here is Queen Mary (and equally controversial figure) and his scenes with her are well handled and show a real warmth to his character. The Doctor is far less condescending and condemning and his attempts to understand the suffering of the ageing, and unloved, Queen - whilst trying to challenge her views is a real highlight. For once, the Sixth Doctor has to tread gently as he knows that a false step could send him to his death in the Tower. Unlike the brash figure on the TV, the Doctor has to play it gently and carefully and Baker manages this very well. As a result, we get a character that is less shouty and more sympathetic.
The real gem here is the introduction of Evelyn Smythe. For the first time, the Sixth Doctor has a real 'equal'. As an intelligent and confident woman, Evelyn is not easily bullied by the Doctor and is more than a match for him. The initial scenes in the lecture theatre are a joy to listen to and Evelyn's sarcastic put downs show that she is not easily swayed. Perhaps I'm being unfair, but Evelyn is also great because she is as interesting as the Doctor - she knows the period of history she is visiting with the Doctor and can actually understand events (and indirectly shape them). Unlike Peri (or Mel) she doesn't scream her way through a scene, but is able to take a more mature approach to the situations she finds herself in. She is more than a match for the drinkers at the pub and her quick witted ways of thinking to get herself out of the little mishap with the time differences (pretending to be a spy is a great one) injects much needed humour into the Sixth Doctor adventures. I also think the relationship between the Doctor and Evelyn 'works' because they both need each other in different ways - Evelyn is bored and sees herself as on the 'scrapheap', whilst the Sixth Doctor (one presumes after his Trial) is lonely and quite likes the idea of enjoying the universe again. The relationship between the two characters is friendly and Evelyn's offer of 'cocoa and chocolate cake' clearly shows a closeness that was sadly lacking from the earlier Sixth Doctor adventures. It has been said many times before, but the Saward-JNT approach to the Sixth Doctor would have been much better had they gone for an older companion and cut the bickering between the TARDIS crew. The listener feels relaxed and is able to enjoy the story, rather than drowning out bickering and needless pettiness.
The story is well written and the four episodes are tightly plotted, with the science fiction elements kept to a minimum. Apart from Baker and Stables, who are excellent, Ruddin is excellent as Queen Mary. She avoids the clichés of the 'Bloody Tyrant' and is portrayed as deeply conflicted, complicated and lonely woman. It is is a pity that there have not been subsequent adventures between the Doctor and Queen Mary as it would be great to see this relationship develop.
Despite a few minor wobbles, this release was, in my opinion, pivotal in securing the success of the Big Finish range. Baker and Stables begin a run of adventures that I think rarely falls below par for many releases (certainly most of their stories in the first 50 are very, very good). Listening to this makes me mourn for what could have been on the TV had the BBC had a production team that handled the Sixth Doctor properly. The story also, quite rightly, redeems Colin Baker and the Sixth Doctor.
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Post by fantasticalice on May 26, 2018 19:27:14 GMT
I go back and forth o. my opinion of Evelyn as since I am a young woman she is the only companion team I am unable to relate to. That said... I LOVED this. It was a perfect and brilliant use of the character she would develop and become. Her compassion, her electric grandma aesthetic and the humour in this piece is brilliant. I love how she treats a possibly dangerous pub like it's the local teahouse. It's a trait we often see with the Doctor but not as much with companions. In a lot of ways she's a blueprint for Donna and Bill Potts in being a companion who is strong and compassionate but will call the Doctor out when he needs to be. Colin is well suited for this because Peri did the same thing albeit in a very different manner and not always with confidence. It's also why the Charley series worked so well because Charley didn't question him and you can tell it throws him off quite a bit.
It's also a great start to his character's redemptive arc. Having someone who he can see as more of an equal doesn't allpw him to get away with as much as he will despite Peri's protestations. He's still young as timelords go and in many ways I think realising he can change so much in one incarnation is why he is open to so many things after he regenerates.
Also, even though we of course have dozens of new adventures for every Doctor this is the first Doctor we have with a wide open future. We don't really know how old six was when he regenerated. We know 7 had aged noticea which for a timelord could be a couple 100 years but Six is the first chance to really do open ended adventures in a massive gap.
Also I think trying out new companions with six was an excellent idea. It gave us freedom for Peri and Erimem with the fifth Doctor and when we come back to Peri and 6 it makes more sense how combative they are.
Peter will always be my favourite but I have quite the impressive rack of sixth Doctor tales in my collection and for good reason!
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2018 20:41:44 GMT
This story is LOVELY. Very low stakes as well (or at least it feels like very low stakes) so it's quite a nice one to put on to de-stress.
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Post by mark687 on May 28, 2018 14:57:37 GMT
Don't know if there's much I can add, like others this was the release where I thought "BF mean business".
Evelyn's a mature, confident, forthright but not condescending, Colin is gives such a measured and thoughtful performance I'm thinking "This is how the Doctor should be"., in short a perfect Doctor/Companion combo.
Now for the rest of the characters
They're all absolute in their convictions and to a certain extent sympathetic so its a classic morality tale.
10/10
Regards
mark687
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Post by mrperson on May 28, 2018 16:10:57 GMT
Love this one. A flawless historical.
(Though I did quite like most of those early ones).
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2018 19:18:13 GMT
Though I did quite like most of those early ones. Me too! Those early Doctor Who audio adventures - especially this story - are among my favourite Big Finish releases ever.
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Post by slithe on May 29, 2018 9:38:21 GMT
Though I did quite like most of those early ones. Me too! Those early Doctor Who audio adventures - especially this story - are among my favourite Big Finish releases ever. They certainly are impressive. Once Big Finish found their feet, the first few years were a very high standard. Yep there was a few duds (Land of the Dead, Bang-Bang-a-Boom, The Rapture and Sword of Orion) but the first 50 are generally very enjoyable and high quality. The intervening years have been a bit hit and miss, but I've felt that the quality of the Main Range has improved massively since 2015 and I hope this continues with the new approach and moving away from trilogies of Doctors.
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