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Post by Timelord007 on Dec 27, 2017 7:38:55 GMT
Top quality audio drama, great storytelling, excellent cast & production values & sir Derek Jacobi gives a mesmerizing performance as the war master.
Big Finish have brought there 'A' game to nearly every release this year, roll on 2018.
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Post by shallacatop on Dec 27, 2017 15:27:41 GMT
The Sky Man is fantastic, isn’t it? I was unsure until about a third of the way in, but I think that’s perhaps the intention. After that it’s top notch, building its way up slowly. And then the last 5 minutes are utterly sadistic of the Master.
I can definitely see the parallels to the Cybermen people are noting. Far more than the Daleks, and just as effective.
Fantastic all round.
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Post by Bazoolium on Dec 27, 2017 23:37:09 GMT
Wow. Just wow.
That was amazing. Like others have said, Sky Man was the standout. I've watched 12 episode television series that didn't have as much story as that. I am glad I listened to this as a download and couldn’t really see the covers. The suits being built and the twist took me surprise. I loved how it was slow, we grew to like a world and then watch it slowly die over the course of about an hour. James Goss has outdone himself.
I also imagined them as Cybermen, especially with what we learned in The Doctor Falls, it all fit together quite well
The other stories were also great, the finale was very well done. The Master changing things for the worse, well, it was hardly going to work out for him was it.
He's in Gallifrey:Time War, so I don't think the finale means we won't see more of him. We always knew where he was ending up anyway. If this is the only set Jacobi gets by himelf then we can't grumble that it wasn't good.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2017 23:50:53 GMT
I loved that this set took us right to Utopia. BF have already, through multipleJohn Hurt and McGann sets as well as more Gallifreys, really streeeeetched the war out to the point we always seem to be near the start or somewhere in the middle of the bigger story. And why not? They've got a rather shiny new sandbox to play in. So for this set to essentially catch us up to TV continuity in one box is something I thought was a really nice surprise. I kept expecting an out, that he'd just think about doing it now but no....there's the baby crying at the end of the universe. A real subversion of what I expect from BF, in the best way.
Jacobi was just fantastic. He had the nicest mix of panto villain and thesp that was just right for this incarnation who is actually....quite nice.Who seems to genuinelly care about the standard of coffee in 1970s England and who really does seem to want his companion tolive....for a bit. He doesn't seem to be as chaotic as his other selves and seems to take less pleasure in killing. It's like the War Doctor became a bit darker and the War Master a bit lighter - but both ultimately are the same person they were going in to the War - whether they realise it or not.
Just gorgeous stuff. I know he's joining UNIT and Gallifrey for a story - I'd love more with Jacobi after those two hours.
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Post by Bazoolium on Dec 27, 2017 23:58:54 GMT
Jacobi was just fantastic. He had the nicest mix of panto villain and thesp that was just right for this incarnation who is actually....quite nice. He doesn't seem to be as chaotic as his other selves and seems to take less pleasure in killing. It's like the War Doctor became a bit darker and the War Master a bit lighter - but both ultimately are the same person whether they realise it or not. He is certainly more Delgado than Ainley. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said less Chaotic, like the difference between Pertwee and Colin.
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Post by shallacatop on Dec 28, 2017 10:52:59 GMT
Just finished The Heavenly Paradigm. Well that was a terrific finale, wasn’t it? Everything comes together and the Master is in over his head.
Brilliant set overall, Derek Jacobi is just superb as the War Master; camp, cold and calculating. I don’t think I want this set to turn into a range. I’d much rather have an overall Master range, in which set is just one release from that. I’m looking forward to his appearance in the Gallifrey set, however.
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Post by number13 on Dec 28, 2017 16:48:24 GMT
Agree with all the praise for TWM - it was a magnificent set with an amazing central performance and I too loved the ending being the proper end and beginning of the story we already knew. However... I have to disagree with the idea that this Master was in any way 'nice'! Nice? He's a total monster! (As every Master should be! ) I think his plan runs through the whole boxset from at least 'The Good Master' on - to activate the Heavenly Paradigm. He knows that to do this he will need a huge source of temporal energy - and that's what Cole is, from the moment that the Master (like Eight with Charley for genuinely good motives) prevents Cole's death-which-should-have-been. And this only happens because Arcking has influenced him to be 'The Good Master' enough that he doesn't kill Cole on the spot for interference. (We even hear the voice of the normal, alternate reality Master who takes the other view.) From then on, the longer he lives and the more events he influences, the more of a paradox Cole is and the more temporal energy he gathers. He's a living battery and as the Master says, 'precious' to him - but because of that only. When the Master talks about wine-growing in 'The Sky Man', deep down he's really talking about Cole - he is the vintage being allowed to slowly mature until it's ready to be consumed at its best. I'm sure the Master knew where Cole's plan to help would lead - more chaos yes, but more importantly, more Time War influence by a man who should not exist and thus more temporal energy stored within him. Cole is the Master's human vineyard - planted, slowly grown - and finally harvested and crushed for temporal 'juice'. And to do this, he fools Cole not only into staying with him by choice, but also into agreeing to help him stop the war even if the method requires 'some sacrifices' - Cole does not of course realise that he is to be the literal sacrifice. All this only hit me - and what a moment! - at the reveal in 'the Heavenly Paradigm' - I too was totally fooled by his pretence of friendship, but after all he is the Master and he will exploit you... Stonkingly brilliant set IMO and for me the top highlight of the BF year.
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Post by Bazoolium on Dec 28, 2017 17:07:34 GMT
Agree with all the praise for TWM - it was a magnificent set with an amazing central performance and I too loved the ending being the proper end and beginning of the story we already knew. However... I have to disagree with the idea that this Master was in any way 'nice'! Nice? He's a total monster! (As every Master should be! ) I think his plan runs through the whole boxset from at least 'The Good Master' on - to activate the Heavenly Paradigm. He knows that to do this he will need a huge source of temporal energy - and that's what Cole is, from the moment that the Master (like Eight with Charley) prevents Cole's death-which-should-have-been. From then on, the longer he lives and the more events he influences, the more of a paradox Cole is and the more temporal energy he gathers. He's a living battery and as the Master says, 'precious' to him - because of that only. When the Master talks about wine-growing in 'The Sky Man', deep down he's really talking about Cole - he is the vintage being allowed to slowly mature until it's ready to be consumed at its best. I'm sure the Master knew where Cole's plan to help would lead - more chaos yes, but more importantly, more Time War influence by a man who should not exist and thus more temporal energy stored within him. Cole is the Master's human vineyard - planted, slowly grown - and finally harvested and crushed for temporal 'juice'. And to do this, he fools Cole not only into staying with him by choice, but also into agreeing to help him stop the war even if the method requires 'some sacrifices' - Cole does not of course realise that he is to be the literal sacrifice. All this only hit me - and what a moment! - at the reveal in 'the Heavenly Paradigm' - I too was totally fooled by his pretence of friendship, but after all he is the Master and he will exploit you... Stonkingly brilliant set IMO and the highlight of the BF year. The Master has always been one to weedle his way into places of power. Ironically he does it subtley where as the Doctor just barges in.
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Post by shallacatop on Dec 28, 2017 18:24:29 GMT
Agree with all the praise for TWM - it was a magnificent set with an amazing central performance and I too loved the ending being the proper end and beginning of the story we already knew. However... I have to disagree with the idea that this Master was in any way 'nice'! Nice? He's a total monster! (As every Master should be! ) I think his plan runs through the whole boxset from at least 'The Good Master' on - to activate the Heavenly Paradigm. He knows that to do this he will need a huge source of temporal energy - and that's what Cole is, from the moment that the Master (like Eight with Charley for genuinely good motives) prevents Cole's death-which-should-have-been. And only this only happens because Arcking has influenced him to be 'The Good Master' enough that he doesn't kill Cole on the spot for interference. (We even hear the voice of the normal, alternate reality Master who takes the other view.) From then on, the longer he lives and the more events he influences, the more of a paradox Cole is and the more temporal energy he gathers. He's a living battery and as the Master says, 'precious' to him - but because of that only. When the Master talks about wine-growing in 'The Sky Man', deep down he's really talking about Cole - he is the vintage being allowed to slowly mature until it's ready to be consumed at its best. I'm sure the Master knew where Cole's plan to help would lead - more chaos yes, but more importantly, more Time War influence by a man who should not exist and thus more temporal energy stored within him. Cole is the Master's human vineyard - planted, slowly grown - and finally harvested and crushed for temporal 'juice'. And to do this, he fools Cole not only into staying with him by choice, but also into agreeing to help him stop the war even if the method requires 'some sacrifices' - Cole does not of course realise that he is to be the literal sacrifice. All this only hit me - and what a moment! - at the reveal in 'the Heavenly Paradigm' - I too was totally fooled by his pretence of friendship, but after all he is the Master and he will exploit you... Stonkingly brilliant set IMO and for me the top highlight of the BF year. A very well thought out and intelligent post. I enjoyed reading it and found myself in agreement; thank you. The set is structured really well. You get Beneath the Viscoid, which isn’t groundbreaking but serves as an ideal introduction. It then ends on a cliffhanger which isn’t strictly part of the set, thus implementing a gap that will cross over into other ranges. The following three stories then follow on from each other and serve as being the “meat” of the story. Them being varied in themselves; we get something involving the Daleks directly, something very low key, character driven and Master-lite and it all ends in a suitably high concept finale.
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Dec 28, 2017 21:30:46 GMT
What I liked the most about “The Sky Man” is how much of a “traditional Doctor Who story” it is, albeit one without the Doctor sticking his nose in. You can almost imagine it as a 70s story, rural folks start to get sick, UNIT asks the Doctor and Jo to investigate and along the way they meet the usual comedy bumpkins and stern but well meaning and good hearted farmers, all of whom start to sicken the Doctor is, naturally, blamed for some of it, but it’s not until they start to investigate that the vineyard of “that nice mister maestru vignaghjolu, he’s foreign you know” is the only one not affected by the blight. “Ohh good grief Jo! maestru vignaghjolu Is Corsican for “Master Winemaker”” “You don’t think He’s here do you?” “I very much fear he is ....”
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Post by Timelord007 on Dec 29, 2017 8:13:54 GMT
Relistened to this again, absolutely compelling drama, four brilliant episodes with The Sky Man being so emotionally dramatic hich built up to a gut punch ending, one of the best spin off ranges Big Finish have done.
It's a toss up between Static & Sky Man for best audio drama this year, both high quality story's from two excellent writers.
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Post by number13 on Dec 29, 2017 11:54:53 GMT
Agree with all the praise for TWM - it was a magnificent set with an amazing central performance and I too loved the ending being the proper end and beginning of the story we already knew. However... I have to disagree with the idea that this Master was in any way 'nice'! Nice? He's a total monster! (As every Master should be! ) I think his plan runs through the whole boxset from at least 'The Good Master' on - to activate the Heavenly Paradigm. He knows that to do this he will need a huge source of temporal energy - and that's what Cole is, from the moment that the Master (like Eight with Charley for genuinely good motives) prevents Cole's death-which-should-have-been. And only this only happens because Arcking has influenced him to be 'The Good Master' enough that he doesn't kill Cole on the spot for interference. (We even hear the voice of the normal, alternate reality Master who takes the other view.) From then on, the longer he lives and the more events he influences, the more of a paradox Cole is and the more temporal energy he gathers. He's a living battery and as the Master says, 'precious' to him - but because of that only. When the Master talks about wine-growing in 'The Sky Man', deep down he's really talking about Cole - he is the vintage being allowed to slowly mature until it's ready to be consumed at its best. I'm sure the Master knew where Cole's plan to help would lead - more chaos yes, but more importantly, more Time War influence by a man who should not exist and thus more temporal energy stored within him. Cole is the Master's human vineyard - planted, slowly grown - and finally harvested and crushed for temporal 'juice'. And to do this, he fools Cole not only into staying with him by choice, but also into agreeing to help him stop the war even if the method requires 'some sacrifices' - Cole does not of course realise that he is to be the literal sacrifice. All this only hit me - and what a moment! - at the reveal in 'the Heavenly Paradigm' - I too was totally fooled by his pretence of friendship, but after all he is the Master and he will exploit you... Stonkingly brilliant set IMO and for me the top highlight of the BF year. A very well thought out and intelligent post. I enjoyed reading it and found myself in agreement; thank you. Thank you - but the post just happened really. When the final reveal came I suddenly realised all the signs and clues that the writers had scattered through the various stories - sheer brilliance - and I had to put it down in text to sort it out for me as much as anything. BF's fantastic writers never run out of ways to thrill and surprise, but even by their high standards this set was something very special!
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Post by elkawho on Dec 31, 2017 0:26:47 GMT
Agree with all the praise for TWM - it was a magnificent set with an amazing central performance and I too loved the ending being the proper end and beginning of the story we already knew. However... I have to disagree with the idea that this Master was in any way 'nice'! Nice? He's a total monster! (As every Master should be! ) I think his plan runs through the whole boxset from at least 'The Good Master' on - to activate the Heavenly Paradigm. He knows that to do this he will need a huge source of temporal energy - and that's what Cole is, from the moment that the Master (like Eight with Charley for genuinely good motives) prevents Cole's death-which-should-have-been. And this only happens because Arcking has influenced him to be 'The Good Master' enough that he doesn't kill Cole on the spot for interference. (We even hear the voice of the normal, alternate reality Master who takes the other view.) From then on, the longer he lives and the more events he influences, the more of a paradox Cole is and the more temporal energy he gathers. He's a living battery and as the Master says, 'precious' to him - but because of that only. When the Master talks about wine-growing in 'The Sky Man', deep down he's really talking about Cole - he is the vintage being allowed to slowly mature until it's ready to be consumed at its best. I'm sure the Master knew where Cole's plan to help would lead - more chaos yes, but more importantly, more Time War influence by a man who should not exist and thus more temporal energy stored within him. Cole is the Master's human vineyard - planted, slowly grown - and finally harvested and crushed for temporal 'juice'. And to do this, he fools Cole not only into staying with him by choice, but also into agreeing to help him stop the war even if the method requires 'some sacrifices' - Cole does not of course realise that he is to be the literal sacrifice. All this only hit me - and what a moment! - at the reveal in 'the Heavenly Paradigm' - I too was totally fooled by his pretence of friendship, but after all he is the Master and he will exploit you... Stonkingly brilliant set IMO and for me the top highlight of the BF year. Love this. So much.
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Post by sherlock on Dec 31, 2017 10:13:38 GMT
Agree with all the praise for TWM - it was a magnificent set with an amazing central performance and I too loved the ending being the proper end and beginning of the story we already knew. However... I have to disagree with the idea that this Master was in any way 'nice'! Nice? He's a total monster! (As every Master should be! ) I think his plan runs through the whole boxset from at least 'The Good Master' on - to activate the Heavenly Paradigm. He knows that to do this he will need a huge source of temporal energy - and that's what Cole is, from the moment that the Master (like Eight with Charley for genuinely good motives) prevents Cole's death-which-should-have-been. And this only happens because Arcking has influenced him to be 'The Good Master' enough that he doesn't kill Cole on the spot for interference. (We even hear the voice of the normal, alternate reality Master who takes the other view.) From then on, the longer he lives and the more events he influences, the more of a paradox Cole is and the more temporal energy he gathers. He's a living battery and as the Master says, 'precious' to him - but because of that only. When the Master talks about wine-growing in 'The Sky Man', deep down he's really talking about Cole - he is the vintage being allowed to slowly mature until it's ready to be consumed at its best. I'm sure the Master knew where Cole's plan to help would lead - more chaos yes, but more importantly, more Time War influence by a man who should not exist and thus more temporal energy stored within him. Cole is the Master's human vineyard - planted, slowly grown - and finally harvested and crushed for temporal 'juice'. And to do this, he fools Cole not only into staying with him by choice, but also into agreeing to help him stop the war even if the method requires 'some sacrifices' - Cole does not of course realise that he is to be the literal sacrifice. All this only hit me - and what a moment! - at the reveal in 'the Heavenly Paradigm' - I too was totally fooled by his pretence of friendship, but after all he is the Master and he will exploit you... Stonkingly brilliant set IMO and for me the top highlight of the BF year. Oh that is brilliant. Cole was never even a plaything of the Master, just a lamb being fattened up for the slaughter. Building on the I'd assumed his mission in The Good Master was at the behest of the Time Lords but perhaps it wasn't. Arcking's clearly got a temporal phenomena so the Master investigates to see if he can use it to the power the Paradigm and when that fails 'cultivates' Cole instead... that is brilliantly evil.
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Post by number13 on Dec 31, 2017 15:42:58 GMT
Agree with all the praise for TWM - it was a magnificent set with an amazing central performance and I too loved the ending being the proper end and beginning of the story we already knew. However... I have to disagree with the idea that this Master was in any way 'nice'! Nice? He's a total monster! (As every Master should be! ) I think his plan runs through the whole boxset from at least 'The Good Master' on - to activate the Heavenly Paradigm. He knows that to do this he will need a huge source of temporal energy - and that's what Cole is, from the moment that the Master (like Eight with Charley for genuinely good motives) prevents Cole's death-which-should-have-been. And this only happens because Arcking has influenced him to be 'The Good Master' enough that he doesn't kill Cole on the spot for interference. (We even hear the voice of the normal, alternate reality Master who takes the other view.) From then on, the longer he lives and the more events he influences, the more of a paradox Cole is and the more temporal energy he gathers. He's a living battery and as the Master says, 'precious' to him - but because of that only. When the Master talks about wine-growing in 'The Sky Man', deep down he's really talking about Cole - he is the vintage being allowed to slowly mature until it's ready to be consumed at its best. I'm sure the Master knew where Cole's plan to help would lead - more chaos yes, but more importantly, more Time War influence by a man who should not exist and thus more temporal energy stored within him. Cole is the Master's human vineyard - planted, slowly grown - and finally harvested and crushed for temporal 'juice'. And to do this, he fools Cole not only into staying with him by choice, but also into agreeing to help him stop the war even if the method requires 'some sacrifices' - Cole does not of course realise that he is to be the literal sacrifice. All this only hit me - and what a moment! - at the reveal in 'the Heavenly Paradigm' - I too was totally fooled by his pretence of friendship, but after all he is the Master and he will exploit you... Stonkingly brilliant set IMO and for me the top highlight of the BF year. Oh that is brilliant. Cole was never even a plaything of the Master, just a lamb being fattened up for the slaughter. Building on the I'd assumed his mission in The Good Master was at the behest of the Time Lords but perhaps it wasn't. Arcking's clearly got a temporal phenomena so the Master investigates to see if he can use it to the power the Paradigm and when that fails 'cultivates' Cole instead... that is brilliantly evil. Yes, I think that's right - the Master was looping round and round the same point in Time at Arcking just before the Daleks destroy the planet. I'm guessing he would be building up temporal energy in the Heart by his repeated interference in events on Arcking and his plan was to take the Heart and use it as you said. He has obviously broken the Laws of Time by living through the last few days of Arcking over and over again, not meeting himself because (I think) each visit is in a very slightly separated parallel reality. We even hear the temporal ghost voices from the other realities seeping through. But he couldn't work out how to take the Heart safely despite multiple visits and then Cole (a random new factor in the mix) short-circuits the Heart by touching it and probably soaks up most of its stored temporal energy because he's already a living paradox from the moment the Master saves his life after the crash, because the Master shouldn't have been there for the nth time. So the Master works out his new plan in seconds - and takes Cole instead...
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Post by Ian McArdell on Jan 2, 2018 21:46:09 GMT
My relatively spoiler-free take on this devilishly good release is now up at CultBox (Spoilers: I loved it!)
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jan 12, 2018 22:26:23 GMT
The Sky Man.....Wow. THE Big Finish story of the year.
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Post by omega on Jan 13, 2018 1:21:54 GMT
The Sky Man is fantastic, isn’t it? I was unsure until about a third of the way in, but I think that’s perhaps the intention. After that it’s top notch, building its way up slowly. And then the last 5 minutes are utterly sadistic of the Master. I can definitely see the parallels to the Cybermen people are noting. Far more than the Daleks, and just as effective. Fantastic all round. The point where you realise where the story is going will utterly break your heart. The road to hell is paved with good intentions indeed.
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Post by omega on Jan 13, 2018 1:23:52 GMT
I'm entirely open to a War Monk box set. I can believe he'd Chameleon Arch himself out of self preservation and end up being a hero before his Monk personality is restored. Failing that, some kind of Suicide Squad with rogue Time Lords.
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Post by icecreamdf on Jan 13, 2018 6:35:41 GMT
I'm entirely open to a War Monk box set. I can believe he'd Chameleon Arch himself out of self preservation and end up being a hero before his Monk personality is restored. Failing that, some kind of Suicide Squad with rogue Time Lords. I can see him doing something really stupid, that causes more harm than good, but with good intentions.
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