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Post by omega on Jul 23, 2017 11:31:20 GMT
DOCTOR WHO - MAIN RANGE » 76. SINGULARITY Released November 2005SynopsisRussia, the near future. The Somnus Foundation knows the fate of mankind; they promise a tomorrow where humanity will evolve into a godlike form of infinite power. They will lead us there, to a destiny that spans the stars. This is how the future will unfold. The Doctor knows the fate of mankind; the human race is destined to fight and struggle for their very existence, to survive disaster and war and carve an empire from an unforgiving universe. He has seen it with his own eyes. This is how the future will unfold. Beneath the towering headquarters of the Somnus in the streets of Moscow, a dark power is building, and a conspiracy that stretches across eternity is nearing completion. Time is fracturing and the Doctor and Turlough are at the heart of the chaos. History is about to change and the galaxy will burn in its wake... Written By: James Swallow Directed By: Gary Russell CASTPeter Davison (The Doctor); Mark Strickson (Turlough); Eve Polycarpou (Qel); Maitland Chandler (Seo); Michael Cuckson (Cord); Natasha Radiski (Lena Korolev); Oleg Mirochnikov (Alexi Korolev); Max Bollinger (Pavel Fedorin); Dominika Boon (Natalia Pushkin); Billy Miller (Tev); Marq English (Xen)
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Post by omega on Jul 23, 2017 11:33:35 GMT
This came up from Ran in the podcast, and it reminded me of how great this story is. For once it's an Earth story not set in the United Kingdom, and the Russian accents don't sound too caricaturish. The plot is brilliant, and Peter and Mark's performances are superlative.
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aztec
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,849 
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Post by aztec on Jul 23, 2017 14:50:01 GMT
This was excellent, we need more Turlough/5th Doctor stories.
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Post by agentten on Jul 23, 2017 16:30:12 GMT
This story is quietly one of the best. Everything in it works extremely well. I'm glad to see it getting some love.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2017 19:24:56 GMT
Singularity is a good solid story, and the Fifth Doctor and Turlough combination is one that I enjoy. We don't get enough of them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 2:50:29 GMT
I love it. Such good dialogue. I've yet to encounter a Five/Turlough story I didn't adore and the plot riffs on Evangelion in such a way that I think it manages to outdo its influence. I also like the nature of the villains and how they're ultimately thwarted by their own petty cruelty. It's also one of the very few stories that puts the TARDIS itself in danger rather than the Doctor as a cliffhanger.
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Post by Timelord007 on Jul 24, 2017 6:35:48 GMT
Excellent entertainment one of my favourite Fifth Doctor & Turlough stories, a shame James Swallow hasn't written more for Doctor Who.
9/10
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Post by omega on Jul 24, 2017 6:54:46 GMT
Excellent entertainment one of my favourite Fifth Doctor & Turlough stories, a shame James Swallow hasn't written more for Doctor Who. 9/10 He's also written: - Companion Chronicles 2.3 Old Soldiers (performed by Nick Courtney as the Brigadier)
- Main Range 112 Kingdom of Silver (ties into Cyberman 2, which he also wrote)
- Destiny of the Doctor 7 Shockwave
- Short Trips Rarities 2 Museum Peace
For other ranges he's done:- 2000AD 9 Judge Dredd: Deadline (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- 2000AD 13 Judge Dredd: Jihad
- 2000AD 17 Judge Dredd: Grud is Dead (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- 2000AD 1.02 Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - Blood Will Tell
- 2000AD 1.04 Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - Double Zeri
- Seige Mentality from the Bernice Summerfield: Something Changed novel anthology
- The Inconstant Gallery from the Bernice Summerfield: Collected Works novel anthology
- Stargate 1.3 Stargate SG-1: Shellgame (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Stargate 1.6 Stargate Atlantis: Zero Point (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Stargate 2.1 Stargate SG-1: First Prime (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Half-Life from the Stargate SG-1 Series Three Part One box set (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Cyberman 2 (part of the collected Cyberman set and by itself)
- Liberator, Point of No Return and Escape Velocity from the Blake's 7: A Rebellion Reborn collection
- The Hard Road from Volume 7 of Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles
- The Red Moon Mystery from Dan Dare Volume 1
He also wrote the Tenth Doctor and Martha novel Peacemaker, set in the Wild West. |
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Post by omega on Jul 24, 2017 6:59:55 GMT
I really like Turlough's speech to Lena about how fighting against time is useless, which is so true for him because he'll refuse to fight back until his heroic side comes out (usually because he's looking after his own skin, but at least the heroic side is there). Great cliffhangers as well, none of the Doctor and companion in peril. As mentioned already, it's the TARDIS in peril at the end of Part 3! The music at the Somnus open function reminded me of the music that plays in the Pokemon games when you're in the Pokemon Center
And I really do want to know what the Doctor did at the Kremlin.
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Post by Timelord007 on Jul 24, 2017 8:52:37 GMT
Excellent entertainment one of my favourite Fifth Doctor & Turlough stories, a shame James Swallow hasn't written more for Doctor Who. 9/10 He's also written: - Companion Chronicles 2.3 Old Soldiers (performed by Nick Courtney as the Brigadier)
- Main Range 112 Kingdom of Silver (ties into Cyberman 2, which he also wrote)
- Destiny of the Doctor 7 Shockwave
- Short Trips Rarities 2 Museum Peace
For other ranges he's done:- 2000AD 9 Judge Dredd: Deadline (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- 2000AD 13 Judge Dredd: Jihad
- 2000AD 17 Judge Dredd: Grud is Dead (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- 2000AD 1.02 Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - Blood Will Tell
- 2000AD 1.04 Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - Double Zeri
- Seige Mentality from the Bernice Summerfield: Something Changed novel anthology
- The Inconstant Gallery from the Bernice Summerfield: Collected Works novel anthology
- Stargate 1.3 Stargate SG-1: Shellgame (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Stargate 1.6 Stargate Atlantis: Zero Point (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Half-Life from the Stargate SG-1 Series Three Part One box set (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Cyberman 2 (part of the collected Cyberman set and by itself)
- Liberator, Point of No Return and Escape Velocity from the Blake's 7: A Rebellion Reborn collection
- The Hard Road from Volume 7 of Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles
- The Red Moon Mystery from Dan Dare Volume 1
He also wrote the Tenth Doctor and Martha novel Peacemaker, set in the Wild West.I knew the Doctor Who stories he wrote but didn't know he'd written all those others as well. |
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Post by omega on Jul 24, 2017 8:59:44 GMT
He's also written: - Companion Chronicles 2.3 Old Soldiers (performed by Nick Courtney as the Brigadier)
- Main Range 112 Kingdom of Silver (ties into Cyberman 2, which he also wrote)
- Destiny of the Doctor 7 Shockwave
- Short Trips Rarities 2 Museum Peace
For other ranges he's done:- 2000AD 9 Judge Dredd: Deadline (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- 2000AD 13 Judge Dredd: Jihad
- 2000AD 17 Judge Dredd: Grud is Dead (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- 2000AD 1.02 Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - Blood Will Tell
- 2000AD 1.04 Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles - Double Zeri
- Seige Mentality from the Bernice Summerfield: Something Changed novel anthology
- The Inconstant Gallery from the Bernice Summerfield: Collected Works novel anthology
- Stargate 1.3 Stargate SG-1: Shellgame (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Stargate 1.6 Stargate Atlantis: Zero Point (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Half-Life from the Stargate SG-1 Series Three Part One box set (unavailable from Big Finish now)
- Cyberman 2 (part of the collected Cyberman set and by itself)
- Liberator, Point of No Return and Escape Velocity from the Blake's 7: A Rebellion Reborn collection
- The Hard Road from Volume 7 of Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles
- The Red Moon Mystery from Dan Dare Volume 1
He also wrote the Tenth Doctor and Martha novel Peacemaker, set in the Wild West.I knew the Doctor Who stories he wrote but didn't know he'd written all those others as well. I can definitely recommend Cyberman 2. The Stargate ones are great as well if you can track them down. Shell Game uses the trope of the unreliable narrator to great effect, no surprise it's a story focusing on Vala. The Rebellion Reborn stories are worth a listen, and are an interesting glimpse into an alternate interpretation on the series. If you want to look into other ranges, then following a writer you know you like isn't such a bad way to go about it. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2020 10:42:26 GMT
an all Male Tardis team and not a hint of unrequited love 🤪refreshing.
I always found this a strong tale and the Somnus Foundation intriguing and its intriguing script by James Swallow .It has great characterisation of Turlough but I have found him great in Loups Garoux and A little less in Phantasmagoria...some of these early releases show how good audio Who is
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Post by Tim Bradley on Jan 15, 2021 20:48:22 GMT
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Post by Kestrel on Mar 27, 2022 14:20:24 GMT
I got excited as soon as Davison said, "inherent causal discontinuities." I do love a good timey-wimey story! And also Turlough is there.
Which is fantastic, right? Audio Turlough is great. I like him so much more here than on the TV show. I don't think it's necessarily down to the performance or characterization, though. Rather, I think the difference is that because Strickson is older, his voice is likewise older, so the sarcasm and cynicism that came across as immature petulance on TV now reads, instead, more as a kind of world-weariness. Basically: Turlough feels much more confident of who he is.
And also his whole attitude is a great deal of fun, and complements the Doctor's perfectly. He's almost like a "Peri done right" -- in that he likewise has a negative personality, but never comes across as disdainful. I haven't listened to many a Turlough audios so far (I think this is only my second or third) but I'm definitely gonna prioritize them in the future.
A random thought: this talk of "instrumentality" a reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion? I know it's also a concept in psychology, but in this context it feels closer to Eva's weird transhumanist nonsense.
Quote of the story: "You have a cruel streak, Turlough. You've got the wolf in you."
Anyway -- I find it really fascinating how you can see the "bones" of other, future stories in Singularity. An anachronistic techno-cult spouting vaguely-new-agey rhetoric messing around with Earth's timeline, hailing from a desolate and dead future Earth? That's Stranded. Humans at the end of time evolving beyond their physical bodies, traveling back in time to invade their own past, heedless of the paradox? That's Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords. All of the stars going out, leaving the universe an unbroken abyss? That's The Big Bang.
The second commonality I find especially interesting. There's something deeply cynical agouti that, yeah? This notion that the final fate of humankind is to degenerate into its worst possible, most destructive and cruel impulses. Plenty of fiction plays with the question, "is this world worth saving," and with span ultimate fate like this... it's hard to imagine an answer in the affirmative.
It would seem that the Time Lords were right to abandon humanity to the heat Death of the universe.
I don't think I'd rate Singularity too highly, given the fact that I've seen these ideas before, arguably better executed (perhaps Singularity was trying to do too much at once) but it was still a pretty enjoyable adventure. And Turlough, as always, was an acerbic delight.
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