melkur
Chancellery Guard
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Post by melkur on Oct 26, 2018 12:46:05 GMT
If I'm being honest, I think this might be my favourite box of the year!
I started to listen to the extras at the library, but didn't last long as I was laughing too much
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Post by Whovitt on Oct 26, 2018 13:50:59 GMT
I was slightly wary going into this box set, as Aliens Among Us didn't really do it for me; everything just seemed a little bit off. I needn't have worried however, as this series really hit all the right beats!  (Well, except for *that* Tyler scene in Night Watch, which was a good representation of what I thought was very gratuitous and unnecessary in Aliens Among Us). I enjoyed this set far more than I was expecting to, so that's always a positive  {Spoiler} I'm sad that we've lost Colchester, as he was the only thing that really kept me interested in Aliens Among Us. Fingers crossed that something will happen to bring him back, but equally I'd rather he stayed dead as otherwise there would be a loss of consequence to everything that came before (it was quite the rug-pull to have him turn up at the end of See No Evil, I must say!). As for the Ianto fake-out/Norton reveal, I have to say I'm quite disappointed. There was that moment of, "No, they're not, surely they're not?!" followed by, "Oh, it's Norton... greeeeaaaat?". Have to say, not a huge fan of the character, though my opinion of him may be a bit tarnished after Goodbye Piccadilly, which I didn't enjoy as much as many other people seemed to. He wasn't bad in it, but the story in general left me feeling a bit cold, and some of that's rubbed off on the character. I also haven't listened to Ghost Mission since release (two and a half years ago - where does the time go?  ), so maybe I should give that a re-listen to give him a reappraisal. As it stands, I can't say I'm jumping for joy to have him back. Barring the aforementioned scene, this was a fantastic box set, and I'm really looking for to Part 2 in February |
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Post by IndieMacUser on Oct 26, 2018 18:09:09 GMT
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Post by kinghumble on Nov 2, 2018 18:40:13 GMT
Finished this today... I'm kinda hoping Tyler gets some karmic comeuppance for his actions in Episode 2
{Spoiler} Planting child-porn to frame his target? The dude deserved to be shut down, sure, but Tyler's actions there really disturbed me
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Post by davygallagher on Nov 6, 2018 10:22:56 GMT
I thought this was the best Torchwood boxset BF have put out. It refines a lot of what worked but could be better in the Aliens sets.
Future Pain was one of those episodes that's really a character piece and not about the threat at all. It's a good look at the new status quo with Colchester "dead" (think this set might be the first time he's called St John more often than Colchester) and the team having to move on without him. I wouldn't have guessed we'd use an episode about COlhester's death to develop Tyler more than anyone but that's what happened here.
The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood felt very much a 2010s story. It's the kind of tale that wouldn't have been needed when TW was on telly but in this day and age of online infuencers taking control of elections and referendums, and scare mongering replacing policy, it made sense. Pretty dark ending. THe story felt more like a monthly release than part of the ongoing story though.
See No Evil. I liked the premise but really it was a chance to get some pairings set up and developed. A bit more of how Jack and Ng are working together, a lot more of Andy and Yvonne and, oddly, some Jack and Colin. The resolution maybe seemed a bit quick but the set pieces were so fun it doesn't matter. A blindAndy firing from the car? That'll do. Colin's a bit of a wet blanket though.
Night Watch was a solid ending. Not too epic in scale but mysterious enough to seem dangerous. Very surprised to read what Mark wrote on the last page about Tyler just being Tyler in this set as surely of all the characters he's the one who grows the most here. He hits rock bottom and makes a conscious choice to get himself back on track when he says no to the coke and casual sex for the first time. In his waking nightmare we see how vulnerable he really is. Ng doesn't get moved on much in this set. It's still holding patterns for her relationship with Jack though Yvonne seems to warm to her.
Plenty to unwrap in the next set - the bait and switch of Ianto turning into a "Modern Series" debut for Norton Folgate, Is Colchester back? Is Orr dead? Is God alive and well and speaking with a Scottish accent eating toasties in Cardiff? A little of Norton goes a long way for me and I'd have thought him more suited to the monthly range as he has been but I'll see what's done with him. I think "God" will have more than a little to do with the futures of Orr and Colchester.
Yeah, happy with this set. Job's a good 'un.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2018 17:57:06 GMT
Of course I'm late listening to this. Of course I am. There have to be no distractions for these audios, because they deserve full attention. But I've just listened to Future Pain. He's not really gone is he, the old boy? A tour-de-force of acting in this from all in a very moving episode, especially from Roman Tikaram as poor Colin. The characters are great and continually getting fleshed out. Tyler's always interesting, and Orr is fascinating and at times hilarious. Yvonne's a delight and it's always good to hear from John Barrowman as the mighty Harkness. His 'everyone dies' speech is great.
The writing is great, although I can always do with less 'that's what I do' grandstanding. Probably that's a personal thing. James Goss has provided a very well balanced story which sets things up well and contains many wonderful character-based scenes. With Torchwood as strong as this, I'm still bemused as to why Big Finish are 'guest-featuring' monsters from the Doctor Who universe into the first four single-disc stories released next year ... although Torchwood exists in the Who universe too.
'Bruno, that was a b*ggering 8!'
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 21:19:15 GMT
The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood by Guy Adams.
Another absolute belter from Guy Adams. I'll be honest - I found Mr Adams' entry into this month's Doctor Who main range very disappointing. Strange then that all his Torchwood stuff is utterly brilliant, and this is no exception. Featuring an acting tour-de-force from Tom Forrister as a terrifically impotent internet avenger Brent who is carried away by his 'hits' (why, that's an anagram of ... never mind). Arrogant and unsalvageable, his altercations with Colchester (sadly only available in flashback) notwithstanding, he's a supremely slappable 'legend in his own lunchbox'. A terrific character in the centre of a powerful story. His 'fan' Tyler isn't that far above him in the grand scale of things. Two unpleasant people, but fascinating, and Torchwood itself feeding his fragile little ego. Brent? Yes, there's an element of Ricky Gervais's famous office character in there too. An affected superficial cockney, a wonderfully horrible, weeping juvenile Ian Beale, who just wants to be special. "That handsome amazing genius of a B*****D!" Love it! Brilliant, brilliant stuff. An excellent episode - one of my favourites. Can you tell?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2018 21:38:39 GMT
See No Evil by John Dorney.
I'm still waiting for this series to put a step wrong. This story of widespread blindness is hugely effective and very frightening. Shades of Day of the Triffids and Doctor Who's own Midnight, pleasingly. SPOILER - there I sat listening to the extras in the previous story as Mr Clayton mourned the fact that his character Colchester was only available in flashback, and he 'hoped' he would be back. I could only echo that - he's a brilliant character. So, after the enjoyable horror of this story, after the huge sense of jeopardy and occasional quite moments, the romantic/lustful twists toward the end hit a massive air-punching moment when that familiar voice boomed "Harkness, what are you doing with my husband?" Fantastic!
The cast remains excellent. Ramon Tikaram and TraceyAnn-Oberman are wonderful and I'm so glad they remain part of this new set-up.
So just to dwell for a moment - Colchester seems to have come back from the dead, Yvonne has come back from the dead, Ng has sort of come back from the dead, and The Captain comes back from the dead every other week. Very interesting. I suppose it is too much to ask that Tosh could do the same? No? Ah well (my favourite character, you see).
Anyway - wonderful stuff. Dorney's debut for Torchwood, I think? More please, to coin a phrase. It's great to hear the cast so enthusiastic about the material too. Can't blame them!
Last chapter tomorrow - how great to have an ongoing series of Torchwood again. Currently my favourite BF range.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2018 17:10:31 GMT
I'm not massively enthused by Night-Watch. Perhaps I should listen again. I'm sure I will at some point anyway.
Spoilers ...
You can't really listen to Torchwood if you are a prude. I hope I am not one, but I did find elements of this episode unpleasant to listen to. And the returning character at the end is my least favourite, I'm sorry to say. On the upside, there are interesting developments for Colchester and Orr. Just what does the future have in store for them, if anything? Perhaps it was the strength of the opening episodes made this suffer in comparison a little, I'm not sure, and it would be unfair to expect every story to be an absolute belter. Still, and interesting, reflective 60 minutes that does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for the second box-set ...
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Post by nottenst on Nov 29, 2018 15:11:15 GMT
Finished this some time back. The biggest surprise to me is that they wrapped up Aliens Among Us basically off-screen. The Skorvix just ran away (where?) after their god arrived. Yvonne Hartman finds this out after the fact.
Onscreen Yvonne interrogates Ro-Jedda via Ng and on her own and eventually blasts her away. What happened to Orr was quite shocking and I wonder if somehow she will return. We finally find out who/what Ng actually was.
I am looking forward to hearing where they go in subsequent volumes.
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Post by elkawho on Dec 23, 2018 5:16:44 GMT
What bothers me is how easily they accept Ng. I mean, she murdered Gwen's mother!!! It's a terrible thorn in my side that she's just part of the team now. I was really hoping Gwen would kick her proverbial ass.
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Post by masterdoctor on Dec 23, 2018 15:47:42 GMT
What bothers me is how easily they accept Ng. I mean, she murdered Gwen's mother!!! It's a terrible thorn in my side that she's just part of the team now. I was really hoping Gwen would kick her proverbial ass. I do think that no one except Jack really knew the real Gwen or had a connection with her, except for Colchester, but he obviously hasn't really meant Ng, therefore they were very much able to see past that in favour of her value to the team. And even still Jack has a very uneasy relationship with her so I'm looking forward to how it all goes down. |
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Post by dangerwillrobinson on Jan 9, 2019 10:12:49 GMT
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Post by mark687 on Jan 9, 2019 10:27:21 GMT
Someone's missing deliberate tease?!
Regards
mark687
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Post by Whovitt on Jan 9, 2019 11:44:00 GMT
Someone's missing deliberate tease?! Regards mark687 More to the point, someone else is still credited! |
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Post by mark687 on Jan 9, 2019 11:47:50 GMT
Someone's missing deliberate tease?! Regards mark687 More to the point, someone else is still credited! True
Regards
mark687
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2019 14:17:40 GMT
I hope they tone Norton 'Oopseee' Folgate down a bit, he gets right on my noyves.
Mind you, I've just noticed David Warner is in it. That balances things out a bit! Terrific casting!
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Post by Star Platinum on Jan 9, 2019 21:12:07 GMT
I'm surprised Warner is in it, I didn't think the committee was going to play into this.
Not complaining though, Warner is a treasure.
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Post by Zagreus on Jan 11, 2019 17:09:38 GMT
Oh my! Well isn't that interesting. I'd kind of assumed the whole Committee thing was being kept out of the "Continuing Seasons" releases...
I wonder if God Among Us is involving some of the stuff they originally pitched to RTD before he redirected them on where to go with Aliens Among Us, and we're now seeing the integration of all their Monthly Torchwood plot threads into the main line...
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Post by TinDogPodcast on Feb 5, 2019 9:40:10 GMT
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(Well, except for *that* Tyler scene in Night Watch, which was a good representation of what I thought was very gratuitous and unnecessary in Aliens Among Us). I enjoyed this set far more than I was expecting to, so that's always a positive 
), so maybe I should give that a re-listen to give him a reappraisal. As it stands, I can't say I'm jumping for joy to have him back.
