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Post by omega on Sept 3, 2017 10:39:54 GMT
Announced on the podcast, the role of the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in their Chronicles sets will be played by impersonator Jake Dudman. Another noted impressionist will be in the Tenth Doctor Chronicles, due for release April next year, John Culshaw. Culshaw, known for his Fourth Doctor impression, did a few lines as the Fourth Doctor for the 2006 story The Kingmaker, and was in the Philip Hinchcliffe Presents release The Genesis Chamber alongside Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor (John Culshaw played a different guest character).
What do you lot think about this?
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Post by shallacatop on Sept 3, 2017 10:55:46 GMT
I still think they should go a proper Companion Chronicles style route and just have the main guest do the role of the Doctor and narration. I'm indifferent to the choice of both Nick and Jake.
It'll depend on who they get to guest in the sets, I think. That was the deal breaker with the Ninth Doctor set, for me.
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Post by Digi on Sept 3, 2017 10:58:06 GMT
I am now immensely regretting purchasing this. I really dislike impressions and recasts; it's the key reason why I have zero interest in the Third Doctor Adventures range. I gave the Ninth Doctor Chronicles a pass because it's pretty unlikely we'll ever hear Chris Eccleston, and because it was Nick himself standing in. But this? This I don't care for one bit.
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Post by ollychops on Sept 3, 2017 10:59:38 GMT
He does pretty good impressions of both Ten and Eleven from what I've seen, so that's something. I'd still prefer something more alike to the Companion Chronicles.
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Post by omega on Sept 3, 2017 11:02:31 GMT
I still think they should go a proper Companion Chronicles style route and just have the main guest do the role of the Doctor and narration. I'm indifferent to the choice of both Nick and Jake. It'll depend on who they get to guest in the sets, I think. That was the deal breaker with the Ninth Doctor set, for me. Jacqueline King is confirmed to be in it. That means Sylvia Noble. As I said above, John Culshaw will be in it as well. Since Big Finish have employed the actress who played Martha's mother, there's potential for a story to flesh her out. As far as the RTD era companion families went the Jones family were the least interesting. Also, why not get Bernard Cribbins in to reprise the role of Wilf? I would prefer a full cast with Tennant, Tate, King and Cribbins all bouncing off each other. While Donna spends quality time with Sylvia the Doctor can be off with Wilf on a madcap adventure.
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Post by eldersensorite on Sept 3, 2017 11:03:59 GMT
I think the 9th Doctor set only worked for me because I was familiar with Nick's voice - otherwise it's just a bunch of people I don't know and (apart from a couple of the guest stars) weren't in the show.
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Post by omega on Sept 3, 2017 11:11:23 GMT
It's the first time Big Finish has brought in an outside impressionist hired precisely because of and to do an impression of a high-profile character. My feelings are mixed. On one hand it's a way to get more stories with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors while David Tennant and Matt Smith are able to make it into the studio for whatever reason. But on the other hand it makes it harder to say why outside impressionists shouldn't be playing the Doctor. Companion actors like Peter Purves and Frazer Hines are different, they already play pre-existing roles in the same stories. Tim Treloar had done stories with Big Finish before he was cast as the Third Doctor (he was in the 2012 release Return of the Rocket Men), so Big Finish had worked with him before deciding to recast that role to him.
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Post by mark687 on Sept 3, 2017 11:13:12 GMT
Unfortunately he's just off key enough for me to notice.
www.youtube.com/user/JakeDunsbridge Focus on the proper Docs while we've got them please BF and wait for the proper post 2005 performers (DW without a proper Doc or proper companion in it isn't DW.)
Edit
(Dangerous precedent set here for the future as well)
Regards
mark687
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Post by omega on Sept 3, 2017 11:19:53 GMT
Unfortunately he's just off key enough for me to notice. Focus on the proper Docs while we've got them please BF and wait for the proper (DW without a proper Doc or proper companion in it isn't DW.) Regards mark687 I agree. Try doing New Series Short Trips, eliminating the need to compensate for lack of Chris Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith. Maybe John Barrowman can read an adventure with the Ninth Doctor, him and Rose through his filter. That would be brilliant. And this girl had the most gorgeous eyes. I put on my most charming smile and introduced myself. "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service. And you are-" "Stop flirting and pass me those cables!" the Doctor interjected. "But Doctor, I don't even know her name." "Never stopped you before." "Rose dangling from a zeppelin, we we're in a position to share names."'Cables."
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aztec
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,849
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Post by aztec on Sept 3, 2017 11:41:10 GMT
I am now immensely regretting purchasing this. I really dislike impressions and recasts; it's the key reason why I have zero interest in the Third Doctor Adventures range. I gave the Ninth Doctor Chronicles a pass because it's pretty unlikely we'll ever hear Chris Eccleston, and because it was Nick himself standing in. But this? This I don't care for one bit. Agreed, I have no interest in supporting further recasting, if they aren't able to schedule/persuade the actors who played the Doctor's, they should just work around their absence rather than drawing attention to it with a recast, I don't understand why they didn't go down the companion chronicles or short trips route, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Jacqueline King, Noel Clarke and Arthur Darvill have all worked with BF, some of whom would presumably be willing to do these stories, it's a great opportunity to explore/look at the Doctor from the companion's perspective. Obviously the Who license is expensive and BF is wanting to expand its New Who ranges, but this news makes me feel very uneasy, whilst I'm aware various fans are respected impressionists and do do voices for the New Who Doctors, hiring them merely to plug a gap on the market gives the impression each Doctor can easily be recast, doing stories with the character more important than the actor who plays him, for me a large part of the charm of BF is the nostalgia factor, listening to old actors reprising the character decades later, if BF didn't see fit to recast the 1st and 2nd Doctors approximately a decade after the Companion Chronicles started, why are they doing it with the New series Doctors already? It uncomfortably reminds me of some of the horrible responses after Sir John's sad passing, some on Gallireybase were already discussing who could replace him as the War Doctor hours after his death was announced...
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Post by Bazoolium on Sept 3, 2017 12:25:33 GMT
I can't quite explain why I am uninterested in these. The format is the same as the Early Adventures. Maybe it's the fact that the narration is not by a companion.
It's a shame that BF don't have the right to make straight up audiobooks.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2017 12:47:41 GMT
Personally, I don't like impressionists, and I don't like recasts. So I won't be supporting these releases on those grounds. Not saying they shouldn't exist, just why I won't be buying them.
The problem with impressionists is that they don't act, they mimic an already established performance. Give them brand new lines to say, where they can't rely on the original actor's previous performance to copy, and it is always off. Even more so if they have no actual acting experience or training to rely on, or no comedic gag to hide behind. And that's even putting aside the fact that even the better impressionists tend to create an audio version of the uncanny valley effect, where it becomes distractingly obvious that the voice in question isn't who it is pretending to be the longer that it goes on, which I find takes me right out of things far more than a voice that obviously isn't the original actor to begin with. For those reasons give me an actor doing some sort of a serviceable impression (such as in the CC's) over an impressionist trying to act any day.
As for recasting, I'm never a fan, particularly in regards to the Doctor, where the defining characteristic of each incarnation is the actor who played that version. To me, that isn't something that can just be replaced by another actor, or an impressionist for that matter. But even though Big Finish has proven that there are other viable ways to go with telling stories with those Doctors without needing to recast, using the companion chronicles format for example, I can accept, however begrudgingly, that they may still feel the need to recast actors who have long since left us so that they can utilize other storytelling styles and formats. I'm still not personally a fan of it, but I accept it. And they've made a reasonably good stab at it with the Third Doctor adventures (casting an actor who worked on getting the impression right, rather than the other way around). However recasting actors who are still with us feels like it crosses a line to me, even if those actors are too busy to work for Big Finish currently. And recasting Tennant, who actually has done two sets as the Tenth Doctor for Big Finish, seems especially egregious, and borderline disrespectful if he wasn't made aware of such plans being afoot.
Maybe I'd feel slightly different if they had the blessings of the actors involved to recast their roles, or official confirmation that said actors have no current or future interest in resuming the role on audio during the next few years, not just hearsay and assumption, but actual concrete confirmation of such. And with that knowledge then maybe I could more easily accept it if Big Finish just bit the bullet and recast like they did the Third Doctor, for better or worse, rather than these kind of awkward halfway measures, which just don't seem to serve any master particularly well.
I don't know, obviously I'm all kinds of conflicted as far as what would be preferable to this, but all I do know for sure is that what they are planning isn't something that holds any appeal to me personally in the least.
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Post by Bazoolium on Sept 3, 2017 13:03:34 GMT
Personally, I don't like impressionists, and I don't like recasts. So I won't be supporting these releases on those grounds. Not saying they shouldn't exist, just why I won't be buying them. The problem with impressionists is that they don't act, they mimic an already established performance. Give them brand new lines to say, where they can't rely on the original actor's previous performance to copy, and it is always off. Even more so if they have no actual acting experience or training to rely on, or no comedic gag to hide behind. And that's even putting aside the fact that even the better impressionists tend to create an audio version of the uncanny valley effect, where it becomes distractingly obvious that the voice in question isn't who it is pretending to be the longer that it goes on, which I find takes me right out of things far more than a voice that obviously isn't the original actor to begin with. For those reasons give me an actor doing some sort of a serviceable impression (such as in the CC's) over an impressionist trying to act any day. As for recasting, I'm never a fan, particularly in regards to the Doctor, where the defining characteristic of each incarnation is the actor who played that version. To me, that isn't something that can just be replaced by another actor, or an impressionist for that matter. But even though Big Finish has proven that there are other viable ways to go with telling stories with those Doctors without needing to recast, using the companion chronicles format for example, I can accept, however begrudgingly, that they may still feel the need to recast actors who have long since left us so that they can utilize other storytelling styles and formats. I'm still not personally a fan of it, but I accept it. And they've made a reasonably good stab at it with the Third Doctor adventures (casting an actor who worked on getting the impression right, rather than the other way around). However recasting actors who are still with us feels like it crosses a line to me, even if those actors are too busy to work for Big Finish currently. And recasting Tennant, who actually has done two sets as the Tenth Doctor for Big Finish, seems especially egregious, and borderline disrespectful if he wasn't made aware of such plans being afoot. Maybe I'd feel slightly different if they had the blessings of the actors involved to recast their roles, or official confirmation that said actors have no current or future interest in resuming the role on audio during the next few years, not just hearsay and assumption, but actual concrete confirmation of such. And with that knowledge then maybe I could more easily accept it if Big Finish just bit the bullet and recast like they did the Third Doctor, for better or worse, rather than these kind of awkward halfway measures, which just don't seem to serve any master particularly well. I don't know, obviously I'm all kinds of conflicted as far as what would be preferable to this, but all I do know for sure is that what they are planning isn't something that holds any appeal to me personally in the least. I am not a fan either, but these aren't exactly recasts as they are doing the narration as well.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Sept 3, 2017 13:24:06 GMT
I understand Big Finish's need to release product with Nu Series Doctors and without having regular access to them, this is their solution.
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Post by Whovitt on Sept 3, 2017 13:46:08 GMT
Let's just all calm down a little This is the same discussion as when the Doctor Chronicles were announced in the first place. A lot of people were unhappy that Nick Briggs was being brought in to 'replace' Christopher Eccleston, which we know isn't/wasn't the case - these are essentially audiobooks, but for the sake of trying to make the main character sound more authentic they've cast someone who can do the voices reasonably well. This isn't recasting the roles in any way, simply providing the closest reasonable approximation for an audiobook. If they were replacing David and Matt, then people like Billie Piper, Karen Gillan, and Jenna Coleman would be appearing in these releases, and they would all be accompanied by a full cast, but they are not - they are just two person audiobooks
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Post by mark687 on Sept 3, 2017 13:57:31 GMT
I understand Big Finish's need to release product with Nu Series Doctors and without having regular access to them, this is their solution. I'm going to be controversial here in all respect to BF but is their approach to post 2005 stuff commercial greed slightly, people want it, but we can only afford to record with DT for 3 1 hour productions once a year, here's an affordable for us alternative, never mind ithe possible perception of the TV Actor who thinks "oh they don't need/want me then".
Regards
mark687
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Sept 3, 2017 14:22:47 GMT
I don't think it is greed Mark. They have a license which can't be cheap. Spin offs are great but have a limited audience in relation to Doctor specific titles, so in order to pay for the license they need to produce products featuring Nu Who Doctors. I don't think it is a case of BF not being to afford time with Nu Doctors but rather questions of availability. I think Big Finish is making the best choice they can in a difficult circumstance. I don't begrudge them that but like many of you, these releases don't hold a lot of interest in their current configuration.
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Post by trinitymaster491 on Sept 3, 2017 15:04:37 GMT
I'm going to hold back on buying until more story details and supporting cast emerges. The trailer might convince me, it's too early to tell just yet.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2017 15:11:55 GMT
Just out of interest - because I genuinely find it a curious thing - why is it an issue for people to have new series narrated productions with actors other than the Doctor, when the Short Trips range routinely tell stories within eras where the Doctors are in full-cast productions at Big Finish. Why does the new series have to be only one and not the other? Surely there's room for audiobooks and full-cast to exist side by side. One doesn't lessen the other?
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Sept 3, 2017 15:21:48 GMT
I like Jon Culshaw but I hope he's not doing it in place of somebody else alongside Jaqueline King from the new series. It would be more than a little disappointing if Sylvia is the only character played by the same actor featured.
I'd like to see Bernard Cribbins on-board, or at least Noel Clarke.
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