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Post by brians on Apr 9, 2017 20:29:04 GMT
Not at all worried about Stephen Cole writing, in fact he's credited with writing my favorite story from the Gallifrey series, Spirit, among other things. No complaints spring to mind except that I still struggle a little with the continuity of Kiss of Death, but that wouldn't really be Cole's fault if sooner or later it's up to the individual fan to smooth out continuity to their own liking, and it could well be due to my own ignorance of continuity anyway. Going to be a fun week at Big Finish coming up, most likely. is insultingly bad. Its crimes include: 1. Making Gallifrey be utterly boring - really? Spoiled rich kids? 2. Completely getting the Faction wrong - they behave nothing like how they do in other works! 3. Trying and failing to negate the War. If "Grandfather Paradox" came from the future relative to the Doctor, if he cut his arm off out of shame over destroying Gallifrey, that means that the War still happens. The fact that he cut his arm off means that the War hasn't been averted - otherwise, how is he there? 4. Somehow the TARDIS is "persevering" the Metebelis timeline - even though it naturally leads to the Dust timeline. Just. What. 5. Above all else, it's a novel that isn't skippable in the narrative unless you start with The Burning. You can understand the overall plot of the early EDAs if you skip War of the Daleks, for instance. But if you're going through the War arc, you can't skip The Ancestor Cell without being confused. Basically... The Ancestor Cell is the Timewyrm: Genesys of the EDAs. It's something that's bad, but you can't skip it without missing something important. Fiven what he had to achieve with it I think it was a competent job. It's not tue first time Gallifrey has been dull - look at nearly every TV story. And I hated nearly all the Miles Faction Paradox stuff, so I have nothing against Cole for struggling to turn it back into something approaching Doctor Who. |
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aztec
Chancellery Guard
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Post by aztec on Apr 9, 2017 20:34:48 GMT
Well, I for one enjoyed The Ancestor Cell very much (despite the plot holes and overstuffed narrative), I disliked the War Arc of the EDA's and the faction paradox stuff often bored me so I was glad to see the back of it...
Stephen Cole was responsible for the creation of my favourite companion, Fitz Kriener so I'll always bee thankful for that at least.
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Post by redsharkJason on Apr 14, 2017 2:48:53 GMT
The character phone calling Nyssa in the trailer sounds an awful like Paul McGann. Is that Geoffrey Newland's voice?
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Post by TinDogPodcast on Apr 17, 2017 12:13:08 GMT
Don't worry
This is possibly the best release of the year
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guyadams
Big Finish Creative Team
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Post by guyadams on Apr 17, 2017 12:25:32 GMT
Then Steve's must be good!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2017 12:34:10 GMT
The Ancestor Cell is insultingly bad. Its crimes include: 1. Making Gallifrey be utterly boring - really? Spoiled rich kids? 2. Completely getting the Faction wrong - they behave nothing like how they do in other works! 3. Trying and failing to negate the War. If "Grandfather Paradox" came from the future relative to the Doctor, if he cut his arm off out of shame over destroying Gallifrey, that means that the War still happens. The fact that he cut his arm off means that the War hasn't been averted - otherwise, how is he there? 4. Somehow the TARDIS is "persevering" the Metebelis timeline - even though it naturally leads to the Dust timeline. Just. What. 5. Above all else, it's a novel that isn't skippable in the narrative unless you start with The Burning. You can understand the overall plot of the early EDAs if you skip War of the Daleks, for instance. But if you're going through the War arc, you can't skip The Ancestor Cell without being confused. Basically... The Ancestor Cell is the Timewyrm: Genesys of the EDAs. It's something that's bad, but you can't skip it without missing something important. Fiven what he had to achieve with it I think it was a competent job. It's not tue first time Gallifrey has been dull - look at nearly every TV story. And I hated nearly all the Miles Faction Paradox stuff, so I have nothing against Cole for struggling to turn it back into something approaching Doctor Who. All the same, I think Lance Parkin's attempt to salvage it in The Gallifrey Chronicles faired quite a great deal better. I think The Ancestor Cell is the last episode of Trial of a Time Lord. Punched out at the eleventh hour to set everything back to its factory standard. I've enjoyed Steve Cole's contributions a lot from The Apocalypse Element to The Kiss of Death, but it's not a story I enjoyed. It exists as a necessity, switch blades that got the EDAs on track after its initial bumpy tenure. Odd, I thought Alien Bodies was quintessential Who. It's a Bob Holmes script ("Gambit" if we want to be specific) wrapped around the TV Movie. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2017 19:42:54 GMT
Don't worry This is possibly the best release of the year Wow, I was intrigued by the two-stories-per-release idea (and such nicely diverse stories) but this now has me very excited to hear it! |
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Post by omega on Apr 19, 2017 8:20:51 GMT
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Post by IndieMacUser on Apr 19, 2017 8:51:13 GMT
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Post by chapwithwings on Apr 19, 2017 8:54:16 GMT
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Post by mark687 on Apr 19, 2017 11:10:27 GMT
Very good indeed The twist is simple but brilliantly played. Another almost from nowhere emotional range / depth filled performance from Sarah Sutton. There both good scripts but Dalek Soul has an "Edge" for want of a better term that makes it more memorable perhaps. Regards mark687 |
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Post by Digi on Apr 19, 2017 13:11:58 GMT
First story was fun, if a touch by-the-numbers.
Second half really reminded me of that ST Voyager episode "Living Witness" (albeit with a villainous twist). No bad comparison, since it was one of few VOY eps I actually enjoyed and thought was objectively pretty good. Was also a nice switch-up that it was Nyssa's inherent 'goodness' that shone through the reprogramming and saved the day, rather than the Doctor's.
Very solid MR release overall. Quite pleased.
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Post by theotherjosh on Apr 19, 2017 20:48:07 GMT
I thought the first story was a weaker offering than I’ve become used to from Big Finish. Not bad, but a bit by the numbers for my taste.
I did appreciate the reference to the Movellans. Man, they’re really getting a push lately! 2017 is going to be your year, guys!
I happened to check out What If?, a book by Randall Munroe (of xkcd fame) where he uses his understanding of science to answer various hypothetical questions. One of them happened to deal with what would happen if the earth stopped turning and the answer was pretty much what was outlined in the story. I think the book even phrased it in a similar way. I recall a line about 1000 mph winds in both. (Of course, if you’re discussing 1000 mph winds, there are only so many ways you can say 1000 mph winds.)
I really enjoyed the second story quite a bit more. It sparked an amusing exchange with my daughter about Nick Briggs.
Daughter: He does the voices for the Daleks?
Me: Yes.
Daughter: And the Cybermen?
Me: Yes.
Daughter: He must be really good at yelling one word repeatedly.
Me: He also voices the Judoon.
Daughter: Yeah, nobody cares about them.
I don’t know why she has it in for him.
It was a fun little story. I was very surprised that the Rebel Leader was not the Doctor. I was sure that’s where Adams was headed with that.
I like that Big Finish is willing to experiment with format, but I don’t want the double bill to be the default.
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Post by relativetime on Apr 20, 2017 2:50:52 GMT
Alien Heart was fine, but Dalek Soul was fantastic! I'd say Dalek Soul's the best Fifth Doctor story this year, followed closely by Zaltys. It reminded me a bit of The Natural History of Fear, one of my favorite Eighth Doctor stories, and it really, really works with the Fifth Doctor. Overall, if Vortex Ice and a Cortex Fire can match this quality, then I'll be very happy!
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Post by elkawho on Apr 20, 2017 4:27:16 GMT
I didn't like Alien Heart all that much. I felt that it had no real hook. The pacing was so incredibly fast and there weren't many character hooks to get me involved with the story. But Dalek Soul as FANTASTIC! I enjoyed it so much more. Sarah Sutton was wonderful, and I always love it when Peter Davison gets to do something completely different as The Doctor. He had a few chances in the Stockbridge Trilogy as well.
I also kept thinking about why The Movellans seem to be everywhere all of a sudden. I guess Doctor Who writers are running out of alien races to bring back.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2017 20:34:19 GMT
There's little doubting that 'Alien Heart' livened up once the Big Bads made their appearance, if only to have an alien aggressor who could speak for themselves. Interesting though the spiders had been throughout, their lack of communication neccessitated much explaining-what-is-going-on by the cast, making this a very talkie story. Enjoyable though, especially mention of the Movellans. Funny that for years, they have been figures of fun, disco robots, aggressors with all the menace of Hot Gossip (80's dance troup). Now, the blighters are everywhere! I look forward to hearing 'Dalek Soul' later on ... |
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Post by Star Platinum on Apr 21, 2017 6:51:48 GMT
Really enjoyed Dalek Soul, by now have done moments of evil, but this release assures me that Davisons doctor is the best at it.
The Fifth Doctor as an angel of death is quite poetic actually.
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Post by omega on Apr 21, 2017 8:55:46 GMT
There's still the matter of the Doctor and Nyssa duplicates that are on ice that was left unresolved.
Also, pretty much all the characters, even the Doctor and Nyssa, killed. That's got to be a record. Even Caves of Androzani left Timmin without a death in some form (Peri's android duplicate was part of the execution in Part 1).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2017 14:37:48 GMT
'Dalek Soul' - well, that was just excellent. What an incredible, ultimately tragic story. And what performances! The Doctor apparently screaming "Come back! I'll KILL you!" to Nyssa of all people is a truly shocking moment. I loved this. Loved it, loved it , loved it. 10/10 and all that.
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Post by kimalysong on Apr 21, 2017 20:03:36 GMT
Damn Dalek Soul was brilliant. I kept trying to figure out what was going on and while the twist wasn't a new trope I definitely did not figure out the twist. This was frightening and tragic. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. And yes at relativetime mentioned this story would make an excellent double bill with the Natural History of Fear. The Daleks seems to have done a better job making a better "dalek" out of the Doctor than Nyssa. That's interesting to me and I wonder if even the daleks can't fully corrupt even a copy of Nyssa. It left me with some food for thought. And Sarah and Peter were both excellent playing these different versions of their characters. As for the 2 part vs 4 parts, I think different stories fit best in different lengths. There are certainly times where even a 4 part story feels too long. Whereas other times (often with the 4th Doctor Adventures) I feel the 2 parts are way too rushed. Yes Dalek Soul was perfect as an hour story. But I wouldn't want every story to only be an hour. I think we would lose a certain variety of storytelling if that was the case. |
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