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Post by escalus5 on Sept 27, 2016 16:52:51 GMT
I'll have to give this another listen. On first pass it seemed just OK.
Absent Friends is terrific and expands on Liv and Helen's characters in interesting and credible ways. Everything after seemed to be a bit of slog. I think Matt Fitton is a great writer and I loved what he did with The Diary of River Song (very underrated and my favorite BF release from last year), but the middle stories I found to be too convoluted -- especially for audio -- and I gave up trying to follow all of the stuff about the pieces of The Doomsday Chronometer. The fourth part is a bit distracting in that it reminds me too much of the DWM comic strips in which the Eighth Doctor was temporarily replaced by a fake Doctor (modeled on Nicholas Briggs).
Right now I prefer Doom Coalition 2.
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Post by chapwithwings on Sept 27, 2016 18:59:00 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 0:09:44 GMT
McGann and Hurt are the only releases I'm not storing away, and am listening to theirs ASAP on release.
Only heard Absent Friends so far - so not read other posts for fear of spoilers - but wow. What a wonderful little story. It's almost a shame it's in a boxset with stories that, I imagine, will be more epic and action-filled because this would be a stop you dead standalone story. It was a serene, deep little story that could be, quite easily, a beautiful play in its own right with the Who banner removed. It's not just great Who, it's great drama. Nicola Walker again shows why she's never off the telly - because she's absolutely amazing.
Who among us who has suffered loss wouldn't want one of those phonecalls...and who wouldn't be heartbroken when we did get one?
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Post by constonks on Sept 28, 2016 0:21:14 GMT
Could have been Alex. That's a good possibility, especially if we we're thinking in terms of family members. I think Lucie. As for other companions that died recently, he got to say goodbye to Molly and didn't actually have that deep a connection with Tamsin or even Alex. I mean as much as he mourned the others, it's her death that catapults us into Dark Eyes.
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Post by Ela on Sept 28, 2016 0:22:36 GMT
Could have been Alex. That's a good possibility, especially if we we're thinking in terms of family members. I think Lucie. As for other companions that died recently, he got to say goodbye to Molly and didn't actually have that deep a connection with Tamsin or even Alex. Yeah, I was actually thinking Lucy was a possibility, too. That was really the first possibility I thought of.
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Post by Ela on Sept 28, 2016 0:23:46 GMT
Could have been Alex. That's a good possibility, especially if we we're thinking in terms of family members. I think Lucie. As for other companions that died recently, he got to say goodbye to Molly and didn't actually have that deep a connection with Tamsin or even Alex. Yeah, I was actually thinking Lucy was a possibility, too. That was really the first possibility I thought of. But Alex is family. A lot of the calls seem to involve family members, so Alex makes sense, too.
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Sept 28, 2016 1:35:41 GMT
There's so many people it could be besides Adric. To be honest, I never thought it was him. I like how it was left a mystery, but for now, my guess is it was Alex during his travels with Lucie. Absent Friends Like everyone said, beautiful story and the highlight of the set. I love how the mystery was a red herring, and it's really about the characters and their families. Terrific start. 10/10 The Eighth Piece & The Doomsday Chronometer I listened to these twice before finally listening to the last instalment, and honestly found them a bit boring. There's lots happening (robots, time travel, The Clocksmith, the Eight, River and Cromwell), but the plotting just moves too quickly, without really getting me hooked into what was going on. Joint 6.5/10
I like how they did River, in disguise and taking on a persona. Honestly, if this is their approach to every encounter from now on, I'm satisfied, since the tip-toeing was starting to get a bit arduous. This way, you bypass the problems (while still having some potential to play with them "for all I know you could be wearing one" *awkward lol*), and it could be fun to see River get into some different characters. "Niles Ditty, attorney-at-law." The Crucible of Souls I love how this one is basically a big farce for the most part, with most of the fun coming from the big dance of complicated misunderstandings and winking nudges. And it had a good dramatic ending. Solid 8/10
The fourth set is really gonna have to stick the landing, since there's still a lot of mystery up on the air. I hope the crucible isn't the only element in play here, since it's reveal wasn't really foreshadowed much in the previous two stories, and it's a bit straight forward if this is all just about Padrac going mad with power. Niles Ditty. Cree K. Ballard. Beck Lay Brook Carol Aria Stream we cold go on forever.
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Post by icecreamdf on Sept 28, 2016 1:39:40 GMT
I so wanted to know who was on the other end of the line at the end of Absent Friends. I know it was part of the point to end the story right there, but still... my curiosity rages. Ditto. I've spent lost in thought going through all the companions and friends that I think it could be, and how the conversation would go. For some reason, I keep coming back to Adric. I doubt it was Adric. It was probably either someone much more recent, like Lucie, or someone from much longer ago, like Susan's grandmother or parent. I'm guessing Lucie though, since she would recognize his current voice.
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Post by Whovitt on Sept 28, 2016 2:05:48 GMT
Ditto. I've spent lost in thought going through all the companions and friends that I think it could be, and how the conversation would go. For some reason, I keep coming back to Adric. I doubt it was Adric. It was probably either someone much more recent, like Lucie, or someone from much longer ago, like Susan's grandmother or parent. I'm guessing Lucie though, since she would recognize his current voice. And we know that Sheridan Smith has been back recording...
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Post by icecreamdf on Sept 28, 2016 2:11:14 GMT
I doubt it was Adric. It was probably either someone much more recent, like Lucie, or someone from much longer ago, like Susan's grandmother or parent. I'm guessing Lucie though, since she would recognize his current voice. And we know that Sheridan Smith has been back recording... I doubt it will be for that phone call though. If it was, we probably would have heard it at the end of Absent Friends.
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Post by Ela on Sept 28, 2016 17:34:52 GMT
Re-listened to Absent Friends last night. Even though I knew what was coming, it still brought tears to my eyes. Fabulous story.
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Post by mrperson on Sept 28, 2016 20:28:18 GMT
Wow, ok. Finished. That was something else, and quite the cliffhanger.
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Post by mrperson on Sept 28, 2016 20:35:57 GMT
Could have been Alex. That's a good possibility, especially if we we're thinking in terms of family members. Presumably, he had a wife or some sort of partner earlier and presumably there was a death/split/something, since this all started with him and granddaughter slumming it on Earth; could be such a person.
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Post by Ela on Sept 28, 2016 21:23:13 GMT
Yup, could have been, depending on what we think about his origins.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 21:41:40 GMT
I'll have to give this another listen. On first pass it seemed just OK. Absent Friends is terrific and expands on Liv and Helen's characters in interesting and credible ways. Everything after seemed to be a bit of slog. I think Matt Fitton is a great writer and I loved what he did with The Diary of River Song (very underrated and my favorite BF release from last year), but the middle stories I found to be too convoluted -- especially for audio -- and I gave up trying to follow all of the stuff about the pieces of The Doomsday Chronometer. The fourth part is a bit distracting in that it reminds me too much of the DWM comic strips in which the Eighth Doctor was temporarily replaced by a fake Doctor (modeled on Nicholas Briggs). Right now I prefer Doom Coalition 2. I'm with you, and against most of the posters it seems. This set opens with a true classic but nothing else is more than fine. Indeed, I thought the middle two stories were hard to follow runaround stuff that is not something I enjoy on audio at the best of times. When it's in a set I've looked forward to for months I enjoy that waste all the more. Those two middle stories were frenetic but with little resonance and I've yet to see what Helen adds to the team at all bar someone else who River can bounce off for a bit without having to pair her with The Doctor too much. It felt to me like Absent Friends was a standalone then the remaining three stories were pretty much one large saga like the Hurt-Doctor sets with their 3-story model. f Absent Friends were removed - and for story purposes it may as well be because the other 75% works fine without it but not without each other - this would be one of the most mediocre Eighth Doctor releases in a long time. The cliffhanger is interesting enough I suppose but the choice of villain doesn't inspire me with confidence that the final box will be much different as I don't see much potential in his story. Another rogue Gallifreyan....we'll add him to the list. I didn't feel like there was much fresh here, much that hadn't been done better elsewhere. I think it's telling that most posts here are debating "who was on the Doctor's phonecall" (which felt to me like something intentionally left open to interpretation rather than something to return to) than anything about the plot, the characters, the villain or the future. A rare "meh" from me.
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Post by Ela on Sept 28, 2016 21:56:48 GMT
I found the two middle stories a bit hard to follow also. Sometimes had trouble differentiating characters and who the story was with now, based solely on the voices. That's one of the reasons that I'm in the process of re-listening to it.
But honestly, I don't think the fact that people are debating who was on the phone call says anything particular about the whole box set. It's just an unanswered question that people are curious about. And I suspect more people have finished the first story, so far, than have finished the whole box set.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 22:36:12 GMT
Right, but my point is...it doesn't matter who is on the phone. Adric, Lucie, Alex....the sense of loss and regret would be there regardless. Does anyone seriously think that's something that'll be revisited? Leaving who called ambiguous lets everyone have their own interpretation rather than be definitive about who "should" be calling. It wouldn't be anywhere near as effective if it was all tied up in a bow.
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Post by xlozdob on Sept 28, 2016 22:36:29 GMT
Well, I, for one, really enjoyed the two middle episodes.They were what I think a perfect time-travel archaeological epic should be like. Sort of Dan Brown meets Doctor Who, if you will. It was pretty interesting seeing how all the pieces fitted together across time, and I thought River's (sort of) subplot was honestly brilliantly well executed. In fact, for me, the whole story was pretty well executed in all its convolution. And the fact that they perfectly work as a well defined two-parter (even in the highly serialised range that is DC) is another plus in my view. But, again, it's just my opinion. Good thing is, thought, that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Post by christmastrenzalore on Sept 28, 2016 23:12:09 GMT
Right, but my point is...it doesn't matter who is on the phone. Adric, Lucie, Alex....the sense of loss and regret would be there regardless. Does anyone seriously think that's something that'll be revisited? Leaving who called ambiguous lets everyone have their own interpretation rather than be definitive about who "should" be calling. It wouldn't be anywhere near as effective if it was all tied up in a bow. I think we're all on the same page about that. We're just discussing possibilities.
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Post by kimalysong on Sept 28, 2016 23:47:25 GMT
Right, but my point is...it doesn't matter who is on the phone. Adric, Lucie, Alex....the sense of loss and regret would be there regardless. Does anyone seriously think that's something that'll be revisited? Leaving who called ambiguous lets everyone have their own interpretation rather than be definitive about who "should" be calling. It wouldn't be anywhere near as effective if it was all tied up in a bow. Agreed it's supposed to ambiguous because for the Doctor it could be anyone. He has lost so many and each have touched him in different ways.
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