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Post by silverednickle on Feb 16, 2016 17:33:40 GMT
It also allowed for a little bit of individual development for each of them, particularly Jackie. Hopefully Cody can have his own adventures away from the teens, not that I don't want him to hang out with the others. It's just refreshing to see characters paired up differently and forming some bonds with the adults in Collinsport. I feel like that is the one weakness of Return to Collinwood is that by the early 2000s, there are little Collinses/Jennings/Stoddards (or whatever name Carolyn opted for).
Rob did a fantastic job and needs to calm down on his humility. I'm sure he will be brilliant along with the rest of the team for the mysterious Bloodline.
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Post by kimalysong on Feb 16, 2016 22:27:22 GMT
Well that was a lot of fun and Andrew Collins was great as Barnabas. I hardly noticed he was doing all the voices in the Egypt parts. I was really drawn in by his performance. This story was really creepy and atmospheric. I can still hear those flys buzzing, darn it. And although I don't know Julia I thought this story did a wonderful job conveying how much Barnabas cared about her. I am also really loving the bonding of the adult supernatural adukts with the teens (this time Harry & Barnabas). I also didn't see that twist in the framing device. I also went back and listened to the combined podcast for this episode and Panic with Roy and Rob. That was fun (and yay some bonus Dorian). Definitely helped me get through a long busy day at work... I also bought the last 2 post-bloodlust audios so I'm completely ready for this group listen.
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Post by Trace on Feb 17, 2016 2:05:28 GMT
Rob, did you have to do a lot of historical research for this or is it a special interest of yours? The setting and atmosphere surrounding burial rites seems very realistic. I must commend you for creating just the right mood and "visual" scenery through your words. I also like that Shurafa is not your typical Egyptian King/Pharaoh...it was a nice touch that the tomb was not a pyramid, and I liked Barnabas and Harry's conversation about that.
By the way, I love the cover art and font for the title. Going with a retro Boris Karloff "The Mummy" poster look was a stroke of design genius. Kudos to graphic design this series. Lovely work!
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Post by barnabaslives on Feb 17, 2016 7:15:13 GMT
By the way, I love the cover art and font for the title. Going with a retro Boris Karloff "The Mummy" poster look was a stroke of design genius. Kudos to graphic design this series. Lovely work! It is a wonderful cover and (as I think was discussed in a podcast) I also really like the way they've struck a balance between trying to inform people that it's a Barnabas story and informing them that Andrew Collins plays him in the story. I've gotten way behind on listening to things lately and not sure when I'll get caught up but I've heard this story enough times to know how brilliant it is both in the detail and the way the characters are handled. This is basically both the debut of both Barnabas and Julia in the monthly stories, and Julia's debut in Big Finish - it is momentous to the 3rd power and as such it would be soooo easy to be picky about it, except that it's virtually flawless as far as I'm concerned. I cannot conceive of even a single complaint about it. Now THAT is one fine story!!
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Post by Rob Morris on Feb 17, 2016 10:11:47 GMT
Thanks for all the kind words! I'm glad it's being enoyed first and second time around (delete where applicable). So in answer to a few questions. Oddly enough, Elka, no nightmares here after I'd written it. The flies themselves and their method of possession, though, as mentioned in the CHS podcast were from a nightmare which very helpfully presented itself when I was scratching my head trying to come up with the monster. I took it as a sign - after all Dan Curtis himself came up with Dark Shadws from a dream. And not much research really, Trace. When Joe first asked me if I wanted to pitch my first thought was not to set it in a pyramid as I felt that could be a bit too obvious. I then wondered if the City of the Dead was a real place or just something I'd heard of from Mummy films. I was delighted to discover that not only was it real, but that people actually lived there so the setting instantly had a greater level of threat. I then found a photo library online which helped really fix the images in my mind and is where a lot of the descriptive setting at the start comes from. As for burial traditions, I by chance came across a reference to burials typically taking place before sunset (although I think this is more pratcial than anything as I think the deceased needs to be interred within 24 hours of death). That obviously posed problems for Barnabas' presence, so a quick line was inserted to fix that... There comes a point where accuracy gets in the way of a fun story so I didn't want to go too deep. Let's face it Dark Shadows is a show where they still had witch trials in 1797 so you get a bit of licence. I probably spent more time on the names, to be honest. I think all the actors in this are amazing. Obviously Andrew carries most of it and is magnificent, but it's easy to overlook Stephanie and Scott because of that. Amy's role is small, but pivotal and it's always great to hear her, but Scott really impressed me at the recording. Spoilered just in case: {Spoiler} That moment at the end where his performance changes just sent shivers down my spine when he performed it. He was a bit worried about how to pitch the reveal and didn't feel comfy with doing moustache-twirling viliain type stuff - which Joe and Davy were keen to avoid anyway - but what you hear is basically his first and only attempt. It was a startlingly good acting choice. That boy will go far.
The twist at the end, by the way, wasn't in the original pitch. The original pitch had a deliberately imperfect solution to leave it open for a sequel if I got lucky, and when Alan suggested that the framing sequence should be tied in, the framing sequence sort of became the sequal instead. I kind of like that.
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Post by kimalysong on Feb 17, 2016 11:47:45 GMT
Well I do love Harry and Amy they were my two favorites along with Quentin in Bloodlust. So I was happy to hear them in this story.
Not that I didn't enjoy Barnabas in Bloodlust but I actually felt he shined a bit more in this story. Obviously because he was the main actor but I'm always impressed when I barely notice that there aren't any other actors in a scene. Sometimes that type of situation takes me out of the story but it never once did here.
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Post by Rob Morris on Feb 17, 2016 12:00:39 GMT
I really like the Harry and Barnabas relationship. There's something friendly and teasing about it, the two outsiders getting along.
You see a brief snatch of it at the end of Bloodlust when Harry comments on how pale Barnabas is in the photo and I was keen to bring that out a bit more. It's nice to see Barnabas relaxed enough to be doing the teasing in fact.
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
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Post by bobod on Feb 17, 2016 12:15:41 GMT
Amy fans should check out her starring roles in The Lucifer Gambit and The Happier Dead. And there's a Stephanie interview podcast as well. (Not that I want to pull focus from The Curse of Sharafa - look on this as a 'if you liked that then you may like...')
I *LOVE* Amy Jennings - Stephanie is fantastic in the audios, it's such a strong character as written and then there's that performance on top. And I've now seen about twenty episodes with Denise Nickerson as my 'new' Amy. And she's amazing too.
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Post by Rob Morris on Feb 17, 2016 12:29:36 GMT
Ah... the Happier Dead.
When Aaron Lamont heard Shurafa he looked me dead in the eyes and went "and people call me the sick one." (Moot point when I heard Deliver Us from Evil, frankly.)
But actually I think the most disturbing DS release is the Happier Dead. In my opinion it's basically "Torchwood: Miracle Day" done right. Adam Usden does a great job with it and it is basically the most jaw-dropped I've been listening to a DS audio (and as you can imagine that's up against some pretty stiff competition).
And while you can never have enough Stephanie Ellyne there you have the added bonus of Murray Melvin too.
Lucifer Gambit is amazing too. Sheila Steafel is an amazing harridan!
Amy wasn't supposed to be in Shurafa by the way. It was originally just Barnabas and "one of the kids from Bloodlust" but I just wanted her in it.
Draft 1 also had a cameo from Quentin. (I gambled that if I put two additional characters in I might get to keep one. Bwahahahaha.)
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Post by kimalysong on Feb 17, 2016 12:35:54 GMT
Well that's the writers privilege and as the listener I am glad you got your way.
I love Amy, she's a well rounded strong female character. She's been through a lot but is not treated like a victim.
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Post by Trace on Feb 18, 2016 4:31:52 GMT
Thanks for the info Rob! Very good point you made about not getting too mired down in historical accuracy! As you say, the original series never did.
I agree with all who love Amy. Stephanie Ellyne is so good!
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
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Post by bobod on Feb 18, 2016 9:42:53 GMT
It also allowed for a little bit of individual development for each of them, particularly Jackie. Hopefully Cody can have his own adventures away from the teens, not that I don't want him to hang out with the others. It's just refreshing to see characters paired up differently and forming some bonds with the adults in Collinsport. I feel like that is the one weakness of Return to Collinwood is that by the early 2000s, there are little Collinses/Jennings/Stoddards (or whatever name Carolyn opted for). Rob did a fantastic job and needs to calm down on his humility. I'm sure he will be brilliant along with the rest of the team for the mysterious Bloodline. 'Cody'...'adult'...'bonds'...the story writes itself...
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
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Post by bobod on Feb 18, 2016 9:48:17 GMT
Well that's the writers privilege and as the listener I am glad you got your way. I love Amy, she's a well rounded strong female character. She's been through a lot but is not treated like a victim. And, brillantly, for those who knew the character from her previous audios, it was easy to pick up on Amy not being very-Amy-like for the first couple of episodes of Bloodlust and wonder when that would resolve itself...
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Post by omega on Feb 18, 2016 21:33:24 GMT
Well that's the writers privilege and as the listener I am glad you got your way. I love Amy, she's a well rounded strong female character. She's been through a lot but is not treated like a victim. And, brillantly, for those who knew the character from her previous audios, it was easy to pick up on Amy not being very-Amy-like for the first couple of episodes of Bloodlust and wonder when that would resolve itself... Naturally it was being married to a patronising jerk that did that. It wouldn't have helped that she was trying to escape her past after a particularly traumatic series of events. It was when she caught him out on his true intentions that her fire was re-ignited and she became her old self again.
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Post by Rob Morris on Feb 19, 2016 0:20:42 GMT
Patronising doesn't go far enough in my opinion. He's domineering, controlling, and abusive (at least psychologically).
But yes, the Amy we meet in Bloodlust is worn down. And she finally comes back from the brink!
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Post by omega on Feb 19, 2016 0:55:46 GMT
Patronising doesn't go far enough in my opinion. He's domineering, controlling, and abusive (at least psychologically). But yes, the Amy we meet in Bloodlust is worn down. And she finally comes back from the brink! She was worn down from the events of The Happier Dead and Carriage of the Damned (which concluded with her running from Collinwood in tears vowing never to go back), and Andrew could lay on the charm when he wanted to (ie when he wanted something from someone or to someone he couldn't afford to annoy). Amy was still a better parent to Harry than Andrew was, so perhaps part of her motivation for staying was to look out for Harry (it's likely she helped Harry to get to do his various hobbies). We can see from the start that Andrew is a horrible person (even if he didn't have an ulterior motive it was a dick move to move his family to the town his wife specifically never wanted to go to again), patronising Amy for going all baby brain over a toddler (he probably didn't think much of woman drivers), making Harry uncomfortable and trying to chat up the Sheriff at a crime scene. Father of the Year, he is not (Collinsport doesn't produce many eligible for that award). Matthew Waterhouse performs him admirably though, and it's a real shame when he dies, even though that's really when Amy Jennings returns.
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Post by Rob Morris on Feb 19, 2016 1:00:41 GMT
Oh I think she returns properly when Tommy gets aged. But yeah, I agree with all of that otherwise.
God she's an amazing character to work with. I can't wait to see what happens to her next.
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Post by kimalysong on Feb 19, 2016 1:04:10 GMT
Oh I think she returns properly when Tommy gets aged. But yeah, I agree with all of that otherwise. God she's an amazing character to work with. I can't wait to see what happens to her next. You wouldn't happen to be writing any of that would you? Of course you don't have to say. I am very much looking forward to it too and can be patient for any surprises. Also hoping the teens all have a part to play in Bloodline.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2016 8:32:18 GMT
Oh I think she returns properly when Tommy gets aged. But yeah, I agree with all of that otherwise. God she's an amazing character to work with. I can't wait to see what happens to her next. You wouldn't happen to be writing any of that would you? Of course you don't have to say. I am very much looking forward to it too and can be patient for any surprises. Also hoping the teens all have a part to play in Bloodline. I'm sure they will be active participants. Harry's up in Collinswood and Jackie and Cody are his friends after all (and Jackie is the Sherriff's daughter).
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Post by kimalysong on Feb 23, 2016 0:49:25 GMT
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