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Post by omega on Nov 18, 2017 6:52:43 GMT
DOCTOR WHO - MAIN RANGE » 56. THE AXIS OF INSANITYReleased April 2004SynopsisWhat is the Axis? For the Doctor and his travelling companions, Peri and Erimem, it's a twisted playground, where reality, morality and sanity no longer apply. Stranded within a dimensional nexus, beset by the molten fury of the Firedbreed, they must unwrap a terrifying mystery of damaged timelines and dark science, before the corruption of the Axis spreads and reality itself crumbles. Pitted against a warped and deadly mind, the Doctor faces his own past transgressions, and the very nature of what it is to be a Time Lord. Written By: Simon Furman Directed By: Gary Russell CASTPeter Davison (The Doctor); Nicola Bryant (Peri); Caroline Morris (Erimem); Roy North (The Overseer); Garrick Hagon (The Jester); Liza Ross (Jarra To); Marc Danbury (Tog); Stephen Mansfield (Bird Trader); Daniel Hogarth (Carnival Barker)
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Nov 18, 2017 12:17:27 GMT
This is a very interesting story. Some interesting concepts here. Part of me just feels that it could have gone further.
Same Erimem didnt really have that much to do
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Post by mark687 on Nov 19, 2017 16:35:17 GMT
Ah Axis of Insanity this suffers because of when it was released. The first story after the first DU Season and what do we get? Another altered states twisted dimension story. And the villain is just an insane ranter. It could have been more subtle ( someone wanting to get back to family, but the result would be catastrophic for example). Erimem is once again well served the final act is virtually all hers, unfortunately disinterest seems to be seeping back to Davison and Bryant's performances.
Regards
mark687
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Post by barnabaslives on Nov 20, 2017 1:56:55 GMT
I think it's an interesting story and an edgy one (the deranged jester banter here might have come out cartoonish but it actually unnerved me in the same was as the ravings of The Eleven, so well enough done with that). Maybe there's something that's gone over my head, but I think the writing for Erimem may be a bit off-character and making her out to be some sort of peevish, almost brat-like being for the first half of the story or so, and it somehow manages to just get things off on the wrong foot for awhile. Perhaps she was scripted a bit hastily here, as might have been the details of her adventures with the English language? I shouldn't really be peevish about Erimem being peevish, though - to be fair I do think this story might have made for a pretty impressive TV episode even if it doesn't make Best of Big Finish. Ah Axis of Insanity this suffers because of when it was released. The first story after the first DU Season and what do we get? Another altered states twisted dimension story. Point taken - I think it's a neat idea to do that kind of story with the Fifth Doctor, but the original timing probably was unfortunate. Thankfully that part worked out much better for me for it being part of a Fifth Doctor listen-through rather than listening to the Monthly Range in strict order.
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Post by newt5996 on Nov 20, 2017 2:04:12 GMT
I quite like this one, using some pretty interesting ideas, being very experimental, especially considering it's post-Zagreus and the Jester is a brilliant villain.
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Post by Timelord007 on Nov 20, 2017 9:19:05 GMT
Started extremely well but i felt as it went along it sort of fizzled out.
I'd rate it a 6/10
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Post by elkawho on Nov 21, 2017 18:29:59 GMT
I don't love it, but I don't think it's a bad story. Kind of middle of the road, but I think it has some very interesting ideas that I wouldn't mind seeing used again. I know that they used the Axis in the Gallifrey series. Someone mentioned to me that it might be a good tie in to a Time War story somehow.
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Post by rran on Nov 28, 2017 17:20:27 GMT
I found this quite interesting. Far from mediocre, I actually liked it The Jester is an interesting character and I liked the Doctor in this one - particularly the speech towards the end about the responsibilities of Timelords. Somewhere, I felt that it brings out his subconscious guilt of being all pompous and showing off towards the so called "lesser mortals" compared to Timelords. And this - {Spoiler} Peter Davison playing the Jester impersonating the Doctor. Quite refreshing from his usual acting
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Post by mrperson on Nov 28, 2017 18:34:11 GMT
Hmm...
I haven't listened in a while but I'd put it perhaps between 6/10 and 7.5/10
So...definitely above average and pretty good, even. Lots of bizarre absurdity, but by no means campy. Perhaps I'll revisit the thread in several months. Should be beginning my long trek through the main range soon. (I go by release in chronological order. That way my listens are spaced far enough apart that I've forgotten between some of the episode and a whole lot of it; rarely, the whole thing).
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Post by omega on Nov 28, 2017 18:39:05 GMT
Do you guys think it'd have been better if Jarra-To was a manifestation of Tog's worst aspects, a dark mirror to the Tog going through the axis with Peri?
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Post by number13 on Dec 4, 2017 9:27:19 GMT
I found this quite interesting. Far from mediocre, I actually liked it The Jester is an interesting character and I liked the Doctor in this one - particularly the speech towards the end about the responsibilities of Timelords. Somewhere, I felt that it brings out his subconscious guilt of being all pompous and showing off towards the so called "lesser mortals" compared to Timelords. And this - {Spoiler}Peter Davison playing the Jester impersonating the Doctor. Quite refreshing from his usual acting Yes, I also liked it - some very good ideas about strange worlds made from (as I understood it) possibilities, time-lines which were cut short. And the Jester began as a laughing villain but was revealed as {Spoiler}the fractured personality of the scientist whose experiments had put a broken copy of her world into this nightmare, much deeper. And on a classical 'Doctor Who' level, all the lava fields and Firebeasts sounded properly spectacular and 'monstery' to back up the illusory world of the Axis, and I do like a good alien world with big monsters now and then! The section on the respnsibilities of Time Lords was the highlight for me too - I thought it harked back to the original vision of them as remote semi-"godlike" figures, observing the Universe from their higher plane but only interfering directly when Time was threatened. (Although they weren't above using the Doctor as an agent for other problems too.) This version owed a lot to Pertwee-era producer Barry Letts, who had a strong interest in Bhuddism which shows in several of the stories he co-authored. Quite different from the later idea of the corrupt oligarchy which really began with Robert Holmes in 'The Deadly Assassin' of course. {Spoiler}Peter Davison is always excellent as "evil Doctor"! For a Doctor who is so obviously a nice guy, I think the Fifth has apparently "gone bad" more often than any other - maybe the various villains think nobody would suspect such a good chap of being an evil alien impersonator - it just wouldn't be cricket! I can see what Mark means (post above), this story would suffer if it was heard following a long run of stories set in a strange Universe, but coming to it as a stand-alone adventure, for me it scored a solid 4*.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2017 21:41:04 GMT
Wasn't this story released during a year where Gary Russell promised all writers would be new to Big Finish? I seem to remember that, and finding Axis of Insanity quite refreshing. I liked the character of The Jester and was surprised when he didn't make a comeback in a subsequent story; from what I remember, he seemed set up to be a recurring villain if need be. It's a while since I've heard this (2004? No, that can't be right!). Perhaps I should listen again as part of a Fifth Doctor/Peri/Erimem marathon or something. I remember being surprised to see Roy North's name pop up in the credits - I remember him as the 'straight man' to Basil Brush all those years ago. I also remember being surprised how brief his role was.
It's good to revisit these older stories. Big Finish have such a huge back catalogue, I like being reminded of former glories.
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Post by Ela on Dec 20, 2017 18:48:44 GMT
I have to admit that Axis of Insanity was not one of my favorites.
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Post by Tim Bradley on Jan 15, 2021 20:31:25 GMT
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Post by Kestrel on Feb 3, 2021 9:17:40 GMT
I have to admit that Axis of Insanity was not one of my favorites. Yeah, my reaction is basically the same. I just don't think the "randomly insane villain" trope has ever really produced an interesting story, and the antagonist's performance really made me think of that one really, really bad Deep Space Nine episode from season 1, which basically made it impossible to take the story seriously. The only time I can think of where a "fool" character has really worked well has been in Wyrd Sisters, where Terry Pratchett made the character compelling by making them distinctly humorless. .... Anyway, the story also didn't seem to make much sense logistically. Erimem learning English is a "cute" moment, but then they made it into a plot point and... I dunno. That just draws attention to the fact that they're ignoring the 'Tardis Translation Circuit' -- don't highlight Erimem's ignorance of written English if you're not going to address her perfect fluency with spoken English! For the most part, I've really enjoyed the stories with Erimem thus far. She's a fun companion and benefits enormously from not being Peri. But this is definitely the weakest story I've heard with her as a companion, unfortunately.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2021 13:10:40 GMT
The axis of insanity which i really wasn’t expecting to like, never mind love. It was so good! Like genuinely good, not in a so bad its good kind of way. Well maybe a bit but still.
The villain was a bold and brave choice and theres many times where an actor can go for an OTT performance and it falling on its face. But he pitched it just right, as did all the other cast members playing the part. Yes its Dr Who vs. The Joker but thats such a zany and crazy idea it works. The axis is a fascinating concept. Doctor who rarely delves into that side of time travel, the multiverse angle. It dabbles, with parallel worlds and fixed points in time but all in all it kind of avoids it where here we see partly that whole other universe, as well as an answer why we don’t see that crossover often
Really great. Its not the most eloquently written work ever no, its cheesy and the tor character did nothing for me, but the pets speech and the doctors speech about death really gave the play some heart and added depth that didn’t need to be there but makes this already bonkers and unique story all the better for it. Such a good pallet cleanser after Nekromanteia as well - it feels axis succeed in what nekromantiea, creating a caves if androzani 0 with a crazy situation with a serious doctor. And it works so well.
I don’t usually do numbered scores anymore, but i’m going to give this one a five
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