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Post by mark687 on Nov 7, 2015 16:31:27 GMT
Yet if I were BF and I knew I had all Post 2005 stuff coming I've ended the range in Dec 2016 and gone down the boxset route, NOT maintained a Monthly commitment for the next 5 years.
Regards
mark687
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Post by jasonward on Nov 7, 2015 16:35:16 GMT
Sure but does the fact they carried on with the range mean they are committed to it in a way that means good things for the stories and the customers, or are they committed to it because it's just the thing they do?
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Post by mark687 on Nov 7, 2015 16:44:44 GMT
Sure but does the fact they carried on with the range mean they are committed to it in a way that means good things for the stories and the customers, or are they committed to it because it's just the thing they do? I'd hope for the former.
Regards
mark687
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mbt66
Chancellery Guard
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Post by mbt66 on Nov 7, 2015 17:12:50 GMT
Yes Nick Briggs taking over from Gary Russell did shake up the range. Personally I think another such shake up is overdue. However that's not to say "Nick Briggs must go!" Perish the thought, it is simply that the range is no longer exciting me enough to subscribe. Especially as they are providing so much other content. How would you shake it up?
My idea as I've said many times would've been to drop the 4DA's and have a 4th Doc trilogy per year
Regards
mark687
Personally I think that it had run its course and 200 would have been a perfect number to go out on. You only have to look at the vote for the best story in Big Finishes Big 200 to see that the more recent nominations don't stand up very well to their predecessors. The three Doctors should have got their own series and/or boxsets. However Big Finish are committed to the range, so they probably have their own plans. A few suggestions made on the old forum would be to have a year long linked narrative. My suggestions was that Earth had been destroyed by the Daleks because the First Doctor had never "adopted" it has his new home planet. Not such a ridged trilogy structure. Have standalone single release stories, a linked pair of stories as well as the traditional trilogies or longer if the story arc warranted it. Make a writer act as a producer for a series with their chosen Doctor (three releases or more) with them being like Steven Moffat either writing them all or devising the stories. Look what Nick did with the first Dark Eyes box set for a prime example of what I mean. And finally for those of us who collect the physical product bring back the writers notes and cast photos and return it to being a CD booklet rather than a marketing pamphlet.
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Post by jasonward on Nov 7, 2015 17:24:38 GMT
A year long story arc? Please no, don't do it, Who has always worked best for me as adventures in time and space, year long arc means all sorts of things that don't fit that.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2015 19:10:18 GMT
Long arcs in the Main Range are not for me, that's what box-sets should be used for. I'd also put a Fourth/Eighth Doctor story in to the extra September release slot, at the very least; having a "Main Range" that only features three Doctors isn't very main in my eyes!
As for the CD collectors; yes the writers notes and art should be put back in to the booklet. The CD should be the premium product, so if the production costs increase, then charge more for it. Nobody has to buy a CD as there is a cheaper alternative. CD collectors like to buy the physical product to keep their collections going, so why take stuff from the booklet diminishing the product? Let people pay more if they want more. The CD booklet shouldn't just be for advertising.
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Post by grazey on Nov 7, 2015 20:44:45 GMT
Now I'm nowhere near the 2015 stories in the main range but I can agree that after a while any range can get a bit stale after a while especially when there is only 3 doctors. I wonder what would happen if 1 of the 3 had to stop for any reason (hopefully it's a long way off though) l. I can't really see it being much of a range with only 2 doctors. What I would do is in the next license renewel is transition the monthly range early adventures and 4th doctor stories into box sets and do 1 box set of each doctor throughout the year. Depending on who is available (and if other doctors have joined at that point) have something like this as an example:
January:4 February:5 March:6 April:7 May: 8 June: 10 July 11 August: war September: 12 October: 3 November: 2 December: 1
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Post by omega on Nov 7, 2015 22:02:34 GMT
I'd say that the Main Range is continuing because it's the only consistent range since the company began. The Bernice Summerfield releases have become more sporadic (one box set a year at this point, and that's with the Seventh Doctor and Ace in the cast). The Main Range is a point of stability where most, if not all, other ranges stop and start and have varying release patterns.
I do agree that the Main Range is getting stale in terms of content. Sarah Sutton and Sophie Aldred have been the bulk of their respective Doctors' stories for a number of years now. It's hard to use Nyssa and Ace well when they get some much exposure, and it gradually becomes the law of diminishing returns for exploring their character. The Fifth Doctor stories of late have usually included a sequel to a Fourth Doctor TV story (The Butcher of Brisbane, Eldrad Must Die!, the E-Space trilogy in general). The Seventh Doctor stories for much of the 2009-2012 schedules were part of a massive story arc. Some characters have been kept on longer than the should have. Hex's story could have easily ended in 2010, however it took until 2014 to finally let go of him. The 2013 Seventh Doctor trilogy felt like bringing Klein back for the sake of revisiting the character, and the second companion not getting enough development (the main offender being the one who created him in the first place and the script editor for the range!).
It's not all bad however.
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Post by Ela on Nov 8, 2015 1:10:09 GMT
You only have to look at the vote for the best story in Big Finishes Big 200 to see that the more recent nominations don't stand up very well to their predecessors. Or it could be that a lot of people voted who haven't heard the more recent releases, so they voted for what they knew, which was the earlier releases. I don't think any good data can be obtained from the poll, unless you only poll people who have listened to all 200 releases.
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Post by Hieronymus on Nov 8, 2015 2:30:18 GMT
You only have to look at the vote for the best story in Big Finishes Big 200 to see that the more recent nominations don't stand up very well to their predecessors. That observation has to be balanced against a couple of factors: (1) Many more listeners begin at the early stories and work forward, rather than the reverse, to avoid spoilers. (2) The earlier releases are significantly cheaper, and are thus more likely to be purchased in quantity.
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Post by Hieronymus on Nov 8, 2015 2:34:56 GMT
I do agree that the Main Range is getting stale in terms of content. Sarah Sutton and Sophie Aldred have been the bulk of their respective Doctors' stories for a number of years now. That may have been part of the reasoning for pairing Mel with the 7th Doctor again in 2015. Colin Baker's Doctor has had an easier time of it, having had only two companions on screen (with no overlap), so it's a comparatively simple matter to invent new companions for Six.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2015 4:02:13 GMT
I'm not sure if I agree that the main range has become stale - I personally believe the stories are as strong as ever - , but I can see how people might tired of certain number of Ace and Nyssa tales (Billy2's scream of Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! is heard from Australia and perhaps the range is in need of a shakeup. Who knows, perhaps Ace will depart next year (perhaps Mel will her challenge her about staying with The Doctor and how she has changed?) to echo in all the new beginnings at Big Finish and 2017 will see Five (post- Entropy Plague, perhaps? Yes, I am repeating myself) and Seven with new gateway companions for customers coming in for the revival series content?
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Post by elkawho on Nov 8, 2015 5:20:58 GMT
I actually think the Main Range is very strong right now. I think it's because BF really wanted to make 201 a jumping on point, but I've loved the last few releases. And I think Equilibrium from the last trilogy leading up to the Locum Doctors can stand up to the best of the MR of any era. It was fantastic.
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Post by Ela on Nov 8, 2015 15:21:23 GMT
I personally love Ace stories and hope there will be more.
I'm not as crazy about Nyssa.
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Post by iank on Apr 16, 2016 23:10:23 GMT
2008 implemented a download service alongside CD purchases. I think that is the best thing that Big Finish have ever done! As an international customer postage charges and delivery times are a thing of the past. So for me, it was brilliant when Big Finish started their download service. We take it for granted today, but at the time it was a big change. I still wouldn't be listening to them without it.
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Post by iank on Apr 16, 2016 23:18:03 GMT
Perhaps I haven't heard enough to get "tired" of companions, but I'm in the boat where half the point of buying the BFs is precisely to hear the actors and characters I love from the TV series. The only audio-only companions I've heard so far are Charley, who I'm not keen on, and Evelyn, who's alright but I'd still rather hear Colin with Peri because she will always seem more 'legit' to me. Likewise, the notion of giving Tom a "new companion" doesn't really excite me. As yet, I've heard very few of his admittedly (mostly because they're so expensive - I haven't heard any with Leela yet, just two Lallas and one Mary), but when I get round to more I'm still more likely to plump for one with him and Lalla, Mary or Louise than some newbie. But I guess I'm in a different place to some; classic Who remains my primary fandom, and my interest in BF is a reflection of that. I'm not too keen on the idea of arcs either; BF is pretty hit and miss to me so far and given the cost I'm unlikely to ever get ALL of them, just the ones that genuinely sound like my cup of tea. Complex and convoluted arcs where many of the stories were poor but had to be read to know WTH was going on pretty much killed the EDA books for me.
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Apr 17, 2016 20:52:49 GMT
What would people say to each Doctor getting a Boxset a year in lieu of monthly releases? BF has eleven Doctors in their franchise now, that leaves space for someone to double up each year if they go one Doctor a month.
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Post by Ela on Apr 17, 2016 21:26:16 GMT
I don't like that idea. Box sets are generally much more expensive per box set, and I don't always want to spend that much money. Sometimes I want to pay less and get a single release.
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Post by SoundableObject on Apr 17, 2016 21:28:44 GMT
I think the main range should always be the centre of everything Big Finish do. It has to be the range that stays while every other range fades away. One day we'll see the final release and that will also be the day Big Finish releases its final ever release. I do think it needs a bit of shaking up though. It has been shook up several times in the past which has kept it fresh so it can always do with another. A few things I would suggest to shake up the range: - Re-introduce the Eighth Doctor into the range
- Introduce a companion box set to the main range to replace Doom Coalition and rotate the 4 Doctors with two releases a year (so each Doctor's output isn't reduced overall once the Eighth Doctor joins the main range)
- Experiment with new episodes formats. 6 x 23 minute stories (interviews on download). 2 x 2 x 30 minute stories. 2 x 3 x 23 minute stories (this would be particularly good for the McCoy releases!)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2016 21:37:46 GMT
On the Main Range:
I think Big Finish keeps the Main Range around only for 'legacy support.' New users are meant to use each Doctor's range page. I don't personally see the problem with this. I'm guessing it was created as a way to differentiate the 'range' with Doctors 5-7 from the Bernice Summerfield line.
With the rise of the trilogies, box sets, and other ranges not based on Doctor Who at all I think separating each Doctor into their own range makes more sense than bringing them all back into a 'main range.' Bringing Paul McGann back into the Main Range, for example, makes no sense with his arc-heavy box set series. Keeping the Doctors separate also allows users to find all the stories with a particular Doctor more easily.
I'd also like to point out that the Ranges page is overwhelming and needs an overhaul, probably involving being separated into a series of pages to allow users to drill down into what they want. At that point the 'pick a doctor' page becomes inevitable.
On box sets:
One box set a year could work, even if they do nothing but bring each trilogy under one box. However that does prevent people buying stories individually. I think it depends on the trilogy structure. Are they just a way to collect a year's worth of stories into 4 even parts? Or are the stories more connected? I don't know as I've only just reached the trilogies myself, but I'm guessing the former. In that case the structure they have at the moment works well.
I also don't think one 3- or 4- story box set per year will work for arc-heavy series (I don't want to have to wait a year for each new installment of Doom Coalition), although this currently only applies to Paul McGann and some Special Releases.
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