|
|
Post by shallacatop on Jan 10, 2017 20:05:58 GMT
With the recent news that the novel adaptations range has come to an end - following the release of Cold Fusion - due to poor sales, which novels would you liked to have seen adapted and released by Big Finish?
I would have liked Blood Harvest. It's a great little Seventh Doctor adventure with Ace and Benny. The Doctor and Ace spend most of the story in late 1920's Chicago, teamed up with a Duggan-esque private investigator. Bernice is on a mission on a vampire infested planet, in which she encounters Romana II. It's a little mythology dominated on the Benny / Romana side of the story, being a sequel of sorts to both State of Decay and The Five Doctors, though it could be stripped down where necessary for an adaptation. It could then be followed up with the sequel Missing Adventure, Goth Opera. That features the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Romana II.
My absolute pipe dream would be an adaptation of Engines of War, featuring the War Doctor. The book itself is only a couple of years old, but I think it's the best characterisation of the War Doctor outside of his televised appearances, though I am enjoying BF's own take on the character. It's a bit of an epic, but it's split into three episodes, so handily follows the format of the existing War Doctor range. It would require Timothy Dalton as Rassilon for what is essentially a cameo, but I think the novel could be adaptable on the whole. I was hoping Big Finish might have pulled this one out of the bag if it looked like John Hurt wasn't able to reprise the role on a regular basis.
|
|
|
|
Post by relativetime on Jan 10, 2017 20:40:06 GMT
Goth Opera and Blood Harvest would have been great, but I'd have also liked an adaptation for The Sands of Time, which is a pretty strong Fifth Doctor and Tegan adventure (though, sadly, Nyssa takes a backseat for most of it) with pretty close ties to The Pyramids of Mars. I know the book has been reprinted and it probably wouldn't work out, so consider it a my own little pipe dream.
I also would have liked to have a few more adaptations with Chris, Roz and/or Bernice. Bernice because she's absolutely amazing and I'd love to have more stories set during her travels with Seven, but Chris and Roz because it'd be a shame to have them in only two audio adventures. That's why I'm hopeful that they at least enter the Main Range - we could do with more of them.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2017 20:44:07 GMT
Always thought Last Of The Gaderene would be good.
|
|
mbt66
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 3,081 
|
Post by mbt66 on Jan 10, 2017 20:50:34 GMT
Goth Opera and Blood Harvest would have been great, but I'd have also liked an adaptation for The Sands of Time, which is a pretty strong Fifth Doctor and Tegan adventure (though, sadly, Nyssa takes a backseat for most of it) with pretty close ties to The Pyramids of Mars. I know the book has been reprinted and it probably wouldn't work out, so consider it a my own little pipe dream. As I have already said on another thread I didn't subscribe to the last run, however if they were to announce a fresh set of three adaptations with those three stories I would pre-ordered. Perhaps they sound consider a kickstarter style pre-order system - once they receive a certain number of those orders the project goes ahead. |
|
ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,063
|
Post by ljwilson on Jan 10, 2017 21:00:06 GMT
Always thought Last Of The Gaderene would be good. I agree, a good bodysnatchers story |
|
|
|
Post by agentten on Jan 10, 2017 21:20:33 GMT
I echo the desire for Goth Opera/Blood Harvest. I also dream of Fear of The Dark being adapted.
The Kickstarter style pre order is an interesting idea, though BF does run the risk of disappointing those who pre order. Collecting pledged money could be a headache, too. Crowd/fan funding projects is happening more and more, especially in the world of independent video games. Some anime companies are using the model to help pay for dubbing the anime they license, too. I wonder if it's something BF have discussed internally.
|
|
|
|
Post by kfbate on Jan 10, 2017 21:31:38 GMT
Also it is a little insurance against immediate piracy as it controls initial output to the market to just those initially who have committed. I worked with a company in Australia who went down this path to try a stem issues of copies being illegally downloaded of their training material and guides. I am not saying it will stop it but it stems the flow a little.
|
|
|
|
Post by Audio Watchdog on Jan 10, 2017 22:11:26 GMT
I wonder if the box set route would be better than individual releases for novel adaptations. And not those "deluxe" box sets they were shoving down our throats for a year or so.
|
|
|
|
Post by nucleusofswarm on Jan 11, 2017 0:37:34 GMT
Now impossible, but Shadow of Weng Chiang and/or Managra would've been nice.
Maybe have a second crack at Corpse Marker.
|
|
|
|
Post by Timelord007 on Jan 11, 2017 7:28:21 GMT
The Dark Path, don't know how they'd do it but i loved that novel, Blood Harvest, Goth Opera & Shadow Of Wing Chiang would've been amazing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Timelord007 on Jan 11, 2017 7:29:07 GMT
Always thought Last Of The Gaderene would be good. Now your talking, that would've been amazing. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2017 8:33:31 GMT
A five or six-part adaptation of Venusian Lullaby with William Russell at the height of his powers would have been an incredible feat, I'd have loved to have seen it adapted with a deft touch by Marc Platt.
The Witch Hunters by Steve Lyons is a stunning novel that makes you jump up in anger at the people in Salem for their cowardice, injustice, and cruelty. I can't imagine what it would have looked like as an audio drama, but I have a feeling it would have sat proudly alongside Son of the Dragon and The Council of Nicaea as seriously powerful historicals.
If you got in the synthesisers and eighties-style effects, an adaptation of Players could have very much felt like a lost Season 22 story.
I'd say ditto for Corpse Marker, but sadly Russell Hunter passed away shortly after Kaldor City concluded and without Uvanov the story kind of falls apart.
It's a bit unconventional, but with the stories going however long they needed to, there may even have been space for something similar to the adapted preludes for Love and War wherein you could adapt short stories using the same cast or even bundle in a preexisting short trip. It would have been interesting to listen to Venusian Lullaby and have it follow up with The Nine Day Queen or The Book of Shadows.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Jan 11, 2017 8:44:58 GMT
Now impossible, but Shadow of Weng Chiang and/or Managra would've been nice. Maybe have a second crack at Corpse Marker. Shadow would still work with Romana 2, just have them detect the Dragon Paths rather then a false Key Segment trace. there is nothing in the story that requires it to be Romana 1. |
|
|
|
Post by omega on Jan 11, 2017 9:36:25 GMT
Sanctuary would have been a great story, the two hour format tightening up the plot yet still maintaining the excellent character work. The only pure historical of the New Adventures range as well.
Bad Therapy. It's an excellent book for Chris (while Original Sin and Damaged Goods are fantastic audios, here is the point in the novels where the character took off), and tying it into the multi-Peri revelation from Piscon Paradox would be a great way of reconciling it with the other fates Peri has been seen to have. Who wouldn't want to see BRIAN BLESSED as a Mexican wrestler? For more Chris, The Room With No Doors would be another great audio.
|
|
|
|
Post by omega on Jan 11, 2017 9:38:33 GMT
Now impossible, but Shadow of Weng Chiang and/or Managra would've been nice. Maybe have a second crack at Corpse Marker. Shadow would still work with Romana 2, just have them detect the Dragon Paths rather then a false Key Segment trace. there is nothing in the story that requires it to be Romana 1. I don't think it would work. If you have to change one of the companions, even in Romana's unique circumstances, that wouldn't make it a faithful adaption. |
|
|
|
Post by nucleusofswarm on Jan 11, 2017 10:29:43 GMT
Shadow would still work with Romana 2, just have them detect the Dragon Paths rather then a false Key Segment trace. there is nothing in the story that requires it to be Romana 1. I don't think it would work. If you have to change one of the companions, even in Romana's unique circumstances, that wouldn't make it a faithful adaption. Plus, it'd be a little disingenious to Mary. And it's way too early for a Ben-style recast. |
|
|
|
Post by whiskeybrewer on Jan 11, 2017 12:54:17 GMT
There are a few I would have loved to have heard. But i would only have done the Pairing where absolutely necassary:
Blood Harvest/ Goth Opera
So Vile a Sin
Sleepy
(Others to be added lol)
|
|
|
|
Post by CookieMaster on Jan 11, 2017 13:31:43 GMT
The Dark Path
No Future
First Frontier
Happy Endings
There are more, but those are my top four choices that won't see the light of day. I'd love to at least get a main range trilogy with characters from the books. Maybe even mention these adventures in passing.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2017 14:48:03 GMT
Perhaps they sound consider a kickstarter style pre-order system - once they receive a certain number of those orders the project goes ahead. Personally, I don't think a company like Big Finish (with it's officially licensed properties) using Kickstarter to fund it's products sends out the right message. It's like, we want to make this story but don't have the money, please fund this in advance for us, thanks. That might not be the case obviously but it can come across that way, and I don't think Big Finish would want to go down that route for funding Doctor Who audios. |
|
aztec
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,849
|
Post by aztec on Jan 11, 2017 16:43:35 GMT
I've not read any of the Virgin books, but I've read Engines Of War and around 50 of the EDA's.
As much as I enjoyed Engines Of War I don't really see the point in adapting it (at least not for a few years) it's only been out a few years, there's already a audio-book reading and with so few War Doctor stories I'd prefer BF to focus on making new War Doctor stories rather than adapting old ones.
I.m.o it's very unlikely BF would ever adapt the EDA's for three reasons A) As the BBC is releasing audiobook readings of the PDA's they are presumably going to do the same for the EDA's, BF might not be able to secure the rights to do adaptations if this happens (and probably wouldn't want to anyway as they'd be in competition with the audiobooks, not that I'd personally be interested in audiobook readings) B) The BBC might not be too keen on the idea of the EDA time war getting greater exposure (especially the events of The Ancestor Cell...) lest it undermines the time war of New Who and C) McGann has such limited availability they'd presumeably want to spend their time on new stories looking forwards in his timeline, rather than adapting ones from 20 years before.
McGann is my Doctor and I've enjoyed the majority of the BBC EDA's, so I'd have loved to be proven wrong someday, ah well, the books will always be there.
As this is all hypothetical, of the EDA's I've read I'd have especially liked to hear adaptations of:
Vampire Science
The Bodysnatchers
War Of The Daleks
Alien Bodies
Kursaal
Dreamstone Moon
Seeing I
The Scarlet Empress
The Taint
Demontage
Dominion
Unnatural History
Autumn Mist
Interference Books 1/2
The Blue Angel
Frontier Worlds
(I loved The Shadows Of Avalon, but it wouldn't feel the same without The Brigadier)
The Ancestor Cell through to Earthworld was a fantastic run of stories
Eater Of Wasps
The Year Of Intelligent Tigers
The City Of The Dead
Grimm Reality
Mad Dogs And Englishmen
Hope
Not just because they were all excellent stories that took the Doctor/Companions in some very interesting directions, but several of them (Empress and Tigers spring to mind) would have fascinating soundscapes as Audio dramas, and as the EDA's at times leaning closer to fantasy than hard sci fi they would have been very different in tone to many of McGann's audio stories.
|
|
