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Post by Zagreus on Jan 8, 2020 0:07:23 GMT
personally, January and February's releases have me subscribed for the first time in ages, just because it seems like stories that once again "matter". Not that there's anything wrong with standalone adventures, but there was a time when the main range was the place to get the Continuing Adventures of The Doctor, more or less, while the occasional spinoff thing/set like Excelis or the Lost Stories were neat curios. But, once the Evelyn/Forge/Hex storylines wrapped up, and the Eighth Doctor was moved to his own range, and the first round of original companions were cycled out for the next... it really felt like the (then titled) Main Range was in a bit of a holding pattern, where the status quo never really got upset at all.
There was a time when the Sixth Doctor's last adventure, or his journeys with Jago & Litefoot, would have been a series of releases in the Main Range, or the New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield with the 7/Ace/Benny reunions, or the Fifth Doctor boxed set with the return of Mathew Watterhouse, and the Fourth Doctor would have been added to the range when Tom came on board, and so on and so forth.
I kinda feel like the cream of the crop of the Early Adventures, First Doctor Adventures, Third Doctor Adventures, Fourth Doctor Adventures, Lost Stories, Hinchcliff Presents, etc could have, for a good many years now, shored up gaps between the truly great Monthly Range releases and still given us thirteen releases a year but across seven Doctors instead of three.
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Post by tuigirl on Jan 8, 2020 7:05:05 GMT
You know what my suspicion is concerning the Main Range releases? I think this year we will get a few more event releases. Featuring a lot of surprises, both with guest cast and plot. This is why they hold back and wait for the surprise to drop. A change in strategy as opposed to the previous "Let everybody know a year in advance". Maybe with event releases, they will test the water for a change in the Main Range format.
We might be in for a treat...
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jan 8, 2020 7:40:16 GMT
You know what my suspicion is concerning the Main Range releases? I think this year we will get a few more event releases. Featuring a lot of surprises, both with guest cast and plot. This is why they hold back and wait for the surprise to drop. A change in strategy as opposed to the previous "Let everybody know a year in advance". Maybe with event releases, they will test the water for a change in the Main Range format. We might be in for a treat...
...So everybody please hold onto your concerns..
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,062
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Post by ljwilson on Jan 8, 2020 12:04:31 GMT
The big 'change' will be CD related, and the trend that they are on their way out and BF will want to move to mainly download.
All the bumf and hot air from BF is to help them phase CDs out, with possibly limited number runs for the collector remaining.
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Post by Digi on Jan 8, 2020 13:35:09 GMT
I do wish they’d announce some of it soon, though. I was less than thrilled that an impersonation Doctor made its way into Legacy of Time last year, and the unexpected/not-earlier-announced inclusion of Dudman impersonations in the Short Trips run last year eroded my trust a little bit; wouldn’t have subscribed for the year if I’d known that ahead of time. (Yes I know STs are more a reading than a drama, but I find I’m just not interested in readings when they’re done by folks who weren’t actually involved in that TV era).
My MR sub runs out in March right now and I’d definitely like to re-up (I need my Sixie Fix!), but now I’m hesitating on pulling the trigger.
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Post by mark687 on Jan 8, 2020 13:47:57 GMT
I think an update is incoming fairly soon Regards mark687
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2020 14:15:51 GMT
You know what my suspicion is concerning the Main Range releases? I think this year we will get a few more event releases. Featuring a lot of surprises, both with guest cast and plot. This is why they hold back and wait for the surprise to drop. A change in strategy as opposed to the previous "Let everybody know a year in advance". Maybe with event releases, they will test the water for a change in the Main Range format. We might be in for a treat... I don't know about big guests and plots but yes, I agree in principle - it's more fun to get news more often rather than in one info dump. I like when we get a trilogy reveal - like the news about Mags returning. That was a real surprise and it got it's own news cycle rather than be buried in one lump press release alongside, say, Peri's return, Kamelion's BF debut and Cicero's "crossover" all of which we got in the MR in 2019. It's cool to get that drip-fed.
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Post by cwm on Jan 8, 2020 16:54:46 GMT
The big 'change' will be CD related, and the trend that they are on their way out and BF will want to move to mainly download. All the bumf and hot air from BF is to help them phase CDs out, with possibly limited number runs for the collector remaining. It won't be.
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Post by Digi on Jan 8, 2020 16:57:42 GMT
The big 'change' will be CD related, and the trend that they are on their way out and BF will want to move to mainly download. All the bumf and hot air from BF is to help them phase CDs out, with possibly limited number runs for the collector remaining. It won't be. It may not be the 'big change,' but I think ljwilson is right about the rest. CDs are on the way out, have been for a long time. Honestly it's surprising that they still sell them at all, for good or for ill the home media market (and I don't mean just audios, I mean movies and TV and music as well) has been squeaking by on life support for 10+ years at this point.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,811
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Post by lidar2 on Jan 8, 2020 17:24:51 GMT
It may not be the 'big change,' but I think ljwilson is right about the rest. CDs are on the way out, have been for a long time. Honestly it's surprising that they still sell them at all, for good or for ill the home media market (and I don't mean just audios, I mean movies and TV and music as well) has been squeaking by on life support for 10+ years at this point. Going by the recent podcast when Nick talked about it, the BF position seems to be that as long as enough people are willing to buy them then they will continue to produce CDs. But, by implication, that means that if/when demand gradually drops off CDs will eventually come to an end.
I think it's a question of when not if. Costs will continue to go up, meaning prices rise and some customers are priced out. Others with huge collections will eventually decide to go DL for reasons of space. Some will just get fed up with DW audio and drift away from BF altogether. And I would imagine the new customers are more likely to be DL from day one. In my case, once I can no longer get a car with a CD player I will face a very tough decision.
Speaking for myself, when I started collecting the CDs they were all still in print and available from BF. A complete collection of mint condition CDs was easily achievable, if expensive, but if I was starting now and knew that so many are out of print, I would probably just go download from day one to save the cost/heartache of trying to amass a collection.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jan 8, 2020 20:05:07 GMT
Something that I thought would never happened occurred over the weekend. I put all my Main Range CDs into a plastic bin to clear space on my shelves. Oh and I have serious doubts BF will ever completely eliminate physical media. Even more limited print runs? Yeah probably. Totally phased out? I’ll believe it when I read the BF press release.
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Post by tuigirl on Jan 8, 2020 20:10:56 GMT
Something that I thought would never happened occurred over the weekend. I put all my Main Range CDs into a plastic bin to clear space on my shelves. Oh and I have serious doubts BF will ever completely eliminate physical media. Even more limited print runs? Yeah probably. Totally phased out? I’ll believe it when I read the BF press release. Well, for the oldest and longest running German audio drama series, there are even still CASSETTES produced, to keep the collectors happy. One of the only instances you can still buy cassettes, although they had real trouble last year with supply and delivery was delayed for months.
So yes, I am inclined to agree with you. Never underestimate the power of collectors.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2020 22:50:11 GMT
Yeah, as Vinyl hasn't been phased out I don't see CD's completely going either, but like vinyl I do expect CDs to be aimed more at the collector market and not something that 'everyone buys' though. If people continue buying stories on CD I'm sure BF will continue to produce them, when BF start losing money on producing CDs, they won't.
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Post by number13 on Jan 8, 2020 23:19:32 GMT
I do wish they’d announce some of it soon, though. I was less than thrilled that an impersonation Doctor made its way into Legacy of Time last yearThere were two, counting Fraser's Two - or three depending on how you view the 1DAs. And of course I loved the Third Doctor story and I can't get enough of Tim Treloar's splendid take on 'my' Doctor. 'The Sacrifice of Jo Grant' was the best of the set imo, wonderful in every way.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jan 9, 2020 1:42:14 GMT
Yeah, as Vinyl hasn't been phased out I don't see CD's completely going either, but like vinyl I do expect CDs to be aimed more at the collector market and not something that 'everyone buys' though. If people continue buying stories on CD I'm sure BF will continue to produce them, when BF start losing money on producing CDs, they won't. Exactly. If vinyl & cassette tapes can make a comeback, the format which industry writers & insiders have been proclaiming the death of for decades probably has a little more life in it than most people think.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jan 9, 2020 1:45:24 GMT
I do wish they’d announce some of it soon, though. I was less than thrilled that an impersonation Doctor made its way into Legacy of Time last yearThere were two, counting Fraser's Two - or three depending on how you view the 1DAs. And of course I loved the Third Doctor story and I can't get enough of Tim Treloar's splendid take on 'my' Doctor. 'The Sacrifice of Jo Grant' was the best of the set imo, wonderful in every way. Impersonation really sells what Treloar does very short. He is an actor playing a part. He plays it with a huge debt to Jon Pertwee but he has more than made the role his own. The Sacrifice of Jo Grant was far and away the best adventure in the set and a lot of that credit has to go to Tim Treloar.
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Post by polly on Jan 9, 2020 2:34:24 GMT
You know what my suspicion is concerning the Main Range releases? I think this year we will get a few more event releases. Featuring a lot of surprises, both with guest cast and plot. This is why they hold back and wait for the surprise to drop. A change in strategy as opposed to the previous "Let everybody know a year in advance". Maybe with event releases, they will test the water for a change in the Main Range format. We might be in for a treat... I hope you're right. I would like this range to regain some vitality and importance. Slowly making my way through the first 50, I really enjoy how cohesive it was despite its disparate threads.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jan 9, 2020 4:02:31 GMT
You should see the biggest monopoly music retail store in Australia "JB Hifi" is their name.. It's FULL of cd's and vinyl and dvd's/blurays plus a games section. All physical products. It's packed everyday 7 days a week they are open.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,811
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Post by lidar2 on Jan 9, 2020 11:29:24 GMT
Another thought that just occurred on the loss of interest in the MR in recent years. The MR IMHO went through a really good period in 2012-16 and look how often Messrs Fitton, Dorney, and Jonathan Morris wrote for it during that period.
Since 2016 however Fitton and Dorney have written one story each, while Jonathan Morris has written 2 1/2. Mr Briggs himself has not written for it since The Defectors in 2015. So BF is no longer using their top* writers on it
*Admittedly the concept of who are the "top" writers is a very subjective one, and this is perhaps where my argument falls down
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Post by antartiks on Jan 9, 2020 12:05:13 GMT
Another thought that just occurred on the loss of interest in the MR in recent years. The MR IMHO went through a really good period in 2012-16 and look how often Messrs Fitton, Dorney, and Jonathan Morris wrote for it during that period. Since 2016 however Fitton and Dorney have written one story each, while Jonathan Morris has written 2 1/2. Mr Briggs himself has not written for it since The Defectors in 2015. So BF is no longer using their top* writers on it *Admittedly the concept of who are the "top" writers is a very subjective one, and this is perhaps where my argument falls down Guy Adams is writing this month's MR episode, probably the reason why this is my most anticipated episode in a while for this range. But clearly, when comparing the DW MR to the Torchwood Main Range which is constantly exciting and rarely less than good, I get the impression the DW MR is just a way to give their three oldest Doctors episodes on a regular basis. I thought Seven's New Adventures box set was far better than any MR episode he has had in recent years.
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