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Post by omega on Jun 9, 2018 23:34:14 GMT
DOCTOR WHO - MAIN RANGE » 67. DREAMTIMEReleased March 2005SynopsisThe Dreamtime is living Time. The Dreaming is living myth. A city travels the stars, inhabited by stone ghosts. At its heart, an ancient remembrance of Earth. Mythical creatures stalk the streets and alien visitors have come in search of trade. But there is nothing to trade. There is only fear. And death. And the stone ghosts. For Hex's first trip in the TARDIS, it's about the strangest place he could have imagined. Weird and very far from wonderful. Adjustment to his new life could prove tough. But he will have to adjust and do more, just to stay alive, and Ace will have to be his guide through this lost city of shadows and predatory dreams. And the Doctor is the first to go missing. The Doctor has crossed into the Dreamtime. Written By: Simon A. Forward Directed By: Gary Russell CASTSylvester McCoy (The Doctor); Sophie Aldred (Ace); Philip Olivier (Hex); Tamzin Griffin (Trade Negotiator Vresha); Jef Higgins (Co-Ordinator Whitten); Brigid Lohrey (Dream Commando Wahn); Josephine Mackerras (Toomey); Andrew Peisley (Dream Commando Mulyan); Steffan Rhodri (Commander Korshal); John Scholes (Baiame)
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Post by omega on Jun 9, 2018 23:38:53 GMT
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Post by omega on Jun 9, 2018 23:42:38 GMT
While the execution leaves a lot to be desired, but at least the writer tapped into a culture that isn't Euro-centric.
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Post by mrperson on Jun 10, 2018 3:10:57 GMT
Loved the first part(s) of the story, but something went wrong. It veered from wonderfully eerie to silly nonsense.
2/5 from me.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,788
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Post by lidar2 on Jun 10, 2018 6:56:42 GMT
The worst main range of all time. I would even have the dark husband over this one.
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Post by Timelord007 on Jun 10, 2018 7:01:33 GMT
Couldn't get into it somehow, it didn't hook me or hold my interest, i can't remember that much about it to be honest so that more or less sums up this release.
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Post by omega on Jun 10, 2018 7:06:58 GMT
The worst main range of all time. I would even have the dark husband over this one. The regulars are in character, that's something Dark Husband can't claim.
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Post by slithe on Jun 10, 2018 9:35:02 GMT
2004 - The Harvest. A great story sets up a new TARDIS team and lays the groundwork for a new era of the 7th Doctor. Then we have to wait... Nothing from this TARDIS team for nearly a year. I always felt (and hoped) that Big Finish were whetting our appetites for something great. So, Dreamtime arrives - with an interesting prospect: Aboriginal Culture (not something many know about and/or not traditionally covered by Doctor Who). Could be good.
Sadly, Dreamtime doesn't live up to the expectations. I don't necessarily think the story is terrible - there are some good ideas here, but after the good start of The Harvest it seems very flat. Personally, I wonder if this was one of those stories that was already written and needed Hex to be 'crowbarred' into it (a bit like The Moonbase had to be re-written to include Jamie). A key pitfall is that there isn't enough for 3 people to do - some of Ace/Hex's dialogue and actions have to be divided out. This stretches the story and slows the pace. The idea of the Doctor disappearing/turning to stone is a bit surreal (but entirely in keeping with the idea of the New Adventures that the Doctor would disappear). A better redraft/edit to clarify what is happening and giving the regulars more to do would really help with this.
The premise is interesting (and rather bonkers) and it is great to see an alternative culture/set of ideas portrayed but there isn't enough to hook in the listener. Clearly, the writer knows his stuff but the regular audience (certainly in the UK I would imagine) is not au fait enough with the context. This doesn't help with the understanding of the story and makes the plot even more complex. As a result, the story doesn't hold the interest of the listener and fails.
Not a great release. It could have been so much better. Again, probably a story that was not designed for Hex and hence it doesn't work with a TARDIS crew of 3. It also needs to be simplified and explained more so that it is clearer as to what is going on.
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Post by omega on Jun 10, 2018 9:56:38 GMT
2004 - The Harvest. A great story sets up a new TARDIS team and lays the groundwork for a new era of the 7th Doctor. Then we have to wait... Nothing from this TARDIS team for nearly a year. I always felt (and hoped) that Big Finish were whetting our appetites for something great. So, Dreamtime arrives - with an interesting prospect: Aboriginal Culture (not something many know about and/or not traditionally covered by Doctor Who). Could be good. Sadly, Dreamtime doesn't live up to the expectations. I don't necessarily think the story is terrible - there are some good ideas here, but after the good start of The Harvest it seems very flat. Personally, I wonder if this was one of those stories that was already written and needed Hex to be 'crowbarred' into it (a bit like The Moonbase had to be re-written to include Jamie). A key pitfall is that there isn't enough for 3 people to do - some of Ace/Hex's dialogue and actions have to be divided out. This stretches the story and slows the pace. The idea of the Doctor disappearing/turning to stone is a bit surreal (but entirely in keeping with the idea of the New Adventures that the Doctor would disappear). A better redraft/edit to clarify what is happening and giving the regulars more to do would really help with this. The premise is interesting (and rather bonkers) and it is great to see an alternative culture/set of ideas portrayed but there isn't enough to hook in the listener. Clearly, the writer knows his stuff but the regular audience (certainly in the UK I would imagine) is not au fait enough with the context. This doesn't help with the understanding of the story and makes the plot even more complex. As a result, the story doesn't hold the interest of the listener and fails. Not a great release. It could have been so much better. Again, probably a story that was not designed for Hex and hence it doesn't work with a TARDIS crew of 3. It also needs to be simplified and explained more so that it is clearer as to what is going on. The Harvest was recorded 30th and 31st March 2004, while Dreamtime was recorded 9th and 11th November 2004. The Harvest was released June 2004, so that's nearly six months where Hex's introductory story was out that Simon A Forward could have rejiggered the script to better incorporate him. Granted, Hex is in character well enough, so there's that at least.
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Post by mark687 on Jun 10, 2018 10:55:10 GMT
Its strange but boring nothing happens, and, although it makes no sense after the depth of his introductory story I'll agree Hex suddenly becomes generic.
Regards
mark687
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Post by slithe on Jun 10, 2018 10:55:18 GMT
The Harvest was recorded 30th and 31st March 2004, while Dreamtime was recorded 9th and 11th November 2004. The Harvest was released June 2004, so that's nearly six months where Hex's introductory story was out that Simon A Forward could have rejiggered the script to better incorporate him. Granted, Hex is in character well enough, so there's that at least. Did not know this... Kinda blows away my defence of why Dreamtime isn't so great. Just feels like there isn't enough for three characters to do, hence why I wondered whether the script was a 'last minute' one. Pity that the second Hex outing had to be a backward step - with the Evelyn stories (and Erimem) the quality held for far longer.
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Post by omega on Jun 10, 2018 11:05:48 GMT
The Harvest was recorded 30th and 31st March 2004, while Dreamtime was recorded 9th and 11th November 2004. The Harvest was released June 2004, so that's nearly six months where Hex's introductory story was out that Simon A Forward could have rejiggered the script to better incorporate him. Granted, Hex is in character well enough, so there's that at least. Did not know this... Kinda blows away my defence of why Dreamtime isn't so great. Just feels like there isn't enough for three characters to do, hence why I wondered whether the script was a 'last minute' one. Pity that the second Hex outing had to be a backward step - with the Evelyn stories (and Erimem) the quality held for far longer. Maybe this was an idea Simon really wanted to use, but just couldn't fit two companions into. At least it's not a story that's playing it safe. I miss the experimental stories like this period used to produce, and which our next story will certainly be.
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Post by Ela on Jun 11, 2018 14:23:10 GMT
It was a strange story. Interesting setting, but a bit too mystical for my taste, and the way the story line carried through wasn't as interesting as it could have been.
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Post by barnabaslives on Jun 19, 2018 6:37:49 GMT
I enjoyed that - in fact, that's the most I've ever enjoyed hearing it (I think that's my fifth listen now). It's one I bought at full price outside of a subscription very early on because it sounded very intriguing. I admit I've gone back to this a number of times a bit less because I think it's a great story, and more because I'm intrigued why I don't think more seem to highly of it for the number of good points I could name about it.
This listen it occurred to me that the story seems to have a sense of timing that can be hard to follow, and maybe compounded by the sense that Baiame is having one scene too many at Hex's expense. I think that relates to being very keen to know more about the new companion, and there not really seeming like that much character building going on with him here. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, it would certainly be much better to leave things where they were with The Reaping that to head off on the wrong foot in another direction. That sort of makes Dreamtime seem like something that would have come later in sequence when we have gotten to know Hex better, and naturally I think this would seem like a better story to me just for it having been maybe being Hex's sixth or seventh audio adventure with The Doctor rather than his second. Even put together, I'm not sure these are terribly weighty complaints.
Obviously how perfectly paced and eventful I thought the story was this go-round calls into question anything different that I'd thought about it previously. Dreamtime does have an number of interesting ideas as well as the obligatory DW moment that puts a big smile on my face, and in fairness while its not too close to the top of my list of Big Finish favorites, that doesn't mean all that much just for there being so many. If this story had been part of Seven's TV tenure, it probably would be an OS favorite of mine for it's novelty, its wonderful sense of the surreal and just how well I think it would round out the existing OS stories.
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Post by Kestrel on Feb 3, 2021 9:24:43 GMT
Oh, wow. This is not a well-received story, huh? Well... I can't say I enjoyed it much, but I can't say I thought it was that bad, either. Though it was pretty cringey when they started talking about multiculturalism as if it were some great and terrible thing that was destroying the world, and Hex's line about how they "paved paradise to put up a parking lot" by allowing women to wear traditionally male clothing was pretty yikes.
That said, I did enjoy the fact that there was no big monster to defeat, or evil villain: just a problem to be solved. It was nice to see the Clutch again, too, though I felt like they were building up to something with the Sandman references that just... never really went anywhere. And just, in general, I'm a sucker for big talky lizards. Always did love dinosaurs, what can I say?
And I liked the the big scary aliens were just there to trade or--if everyone was dead--maybe pick up some salvage. Too often Doctor Who feels less the universe it could and should be, and more like a horribly contrived TV show, with clearly-defined good guys and bad guys. I liked that everyone here was basically just doing their jobs and trying to be decent, no matter where they came from.
Though I wonder if I'd've felt differently had I been aware of this story's reputation before listening... I wonder. I've got two more stories in my queue for relatively soon that are notorious for being bad (Criss-Cross and Nekromanteia) so I guess we'll see if I can find a more charitable take for those despite going in with lower expectations.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,061
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Post by ljwilson on Feb 3, 2021 9:51:21 GMT
I like Dreamtime, but it does take quite a few listens for it to start to make a bit of sense. I say a bit, because it is fairly out there but all in all I do enjoy it.
Cross Cross is well received generally (but I get bored of it mid-way) and for me the biggest problem with Nekromanteia is not the mis-placed 'adult' bits but the muddled sound design. The dialogue is hard to catch in places and the whole thing just sounds a bit sloppy.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2021 3:53:13 GMT
I love it, love it, love it. It's the kind of strange and complex story I like to revisit occasionally and pick at it because I still haven't unravelled it all. I love the other-worldly, Mara-esque epic feel of the thing (the sound design helps immeasurably with conveying the scale of it all), and all in all, it's a shame Simon Forward isn't writing more for BF.
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Feb 5, 2021 11:03:01 GMT
Its definitely one i need to give another listen
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Post by number13 on Feb 5, 2021 12:57:52 GMT
'Criss-Cross' is "notorious for being bad"? Bad? BAD?!! (To go full TV Sixie. )
It's brilliant! Superb! Splendid! With Mrs. Clarke and old Sixie and spies and Nazis and aliens and codes and ships and submarines and what more could you want?
It's a cracking, code-cracking war movie with aliens and one of BF's very best Companions and I love it!
(On-thread-topic: 'Dreamtime', not so much. Not very much at all really.)
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2021 15:21:02 GMT
Dreamtime falls in to that group of average MR stories that are not very exciting but aren't bad stories per se, they just are. I do remember it being a bit on the slow side and drifting off to sleep during part of it, so I suppose that's not a great advert. However, I have heard Dreamtime a few times since on my random MR listen-throughs and while it is a bit lacklustre it's not the worst story out there...
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