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Post by slithe on Dec 16, 2018 10:04:07 GMT
The MR is great, but I have just found the McCoy ones a bit lacking as of late. I've still got Muse of Fire left and I hope it proves me wrong. Well, it is said that variety is the spice of life. Rather than being a critic of the MR in its entirety, i understand that you seem not to be a fan of some of the later McCoy stories - fair do’s. My fave from this year’s offering was Red Planets which was a while back. Mind you, if BF were to adopt across the board what appeals to one person, we listeners would end up with a pretty homogenised offering that would with delight or fall flat, depending on individual tastes. Personally, the MR is STILL my favourite range after all of these years, because you never know what you are are going to get. It may be a run of terrific stories.... or not. Indeed, it’s the essence of the show itself in that respect! Yes, I would agree with your interpretation of that. I love the MR and have been a subscriber/purchaser since the start in 1999. During the 'dark' days of the late 90s and early 2000s, they were *Doctor Who* and seemed to be the way forward. The early years offered a real variety and seemed to push the character in a new direction. I take the point that my tastes don't appeal to everyone and it would be rather dull if we were all the same. I also praise BF for continuing with the 'past' Doctors and (i.e. pre-2005) not neglecting them as the BBC seems to have done (Ok - Paul McGann was used in 2013, Davison did the Time Crash Spoof and there have been 'cameos' in other stories, but the 50th anniversary entirely skipped them). Ironically, Red Planets is the release that I've enjoyed the most as well. Clever and compelling. It is how I like to see the Seventh Doctor adventures develop. Possibly, this might explain my interest in the NA approach - I think McCoy's stories should be more political/social criticism based. The set up in The Assassination Games is also another one of my favourites - the idea of the Seventh Doctor as a low-key MP, quietly pushing events in a certain direction, is one that I would love BF to develop. However, I agree that doesn't appeal to others either. I suppose Doctor Who is such a broad spectrum that it is impossible to keep everyone happy. However, at least BF continues to provoke debate and interest - shows the relevance of the MR. Here's to another 20 years! |
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Post by eric009 on Dec 16, 2018 22:36:19 GMT
The MR could learn a lot from this approach. I’ll defend the MR from the slight slight levelled at it! The MR reproduces the traditional 4x25 min format (more or less!). There are those of us that grew up with and love the format - warts and all. The great thing about BF is that both formats (and plenty of others besides) can exists side-by-side in harmony. I loved the New Adventures boxset, too. I hope we get more announced early in the new year. i totaly agree |
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Post by Ian McArdell on Jan 15, 2019 8:53:57 GMT
My take on this box set is now up at Cultbox - in short, great! Nice to see Andy Lane back and to have some new writing talent too - plus I love that version of the theme. |
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Post by fantasticalice on Mar 17, 2019 10:37:08 GMT
The Jabari Countdown - great story from start to finish. Not even the heavy handed, unnecessary gender identity stuff whinge at the end spoiled it. Looks like my earlier comment got deleted... fair enough, I guess it was snarky and maybe someone got upset. My bad for using sarcasm to make a point. Heaven forbid a snowflake feel any heat.But the point itself deserves to stand, so here it is in black-and-white, and directly-connected to the topic of the title of the thread: 1) The gender identity of the character in the story was a key part of the plot of the story, as it was the secret this character carried that caused them to be pulled into the plot. As it was a key element of the plot, it was neither misplaced, nor unnecessary. 2) Transgendered people are human beings, and human beings deserve respect - including the respect of being represented holistically in our media - as this story made a point of saying. Human beings deserve better than to have their appearances in our media incorrectly catagorized as "heavy-handed whinge." Before you disagree with me, please research the violence and murder-rates suffered by transgendered individuals - unjustified violence, as this story alluded to - and then reflect on your comfort for aligning your values aside those of their killers. There's more I'd like to say, but hey, I appreciate that sometimes the community finds it best to bury heads in sand than allow a justified confrontation against a member, so cool, I'll wrap up here. Speaking as someone with experience the trans character's experience was almost word for word identical to situations that happen in real life. I was born intersexed and although my situation is compeltely different from the person in the story the cruelty of the one character towards the woman who had decided her own life was almost identical to some of the patronizing and cruel comments I have received in my life. to say anything negative about the portrayal is for someone to have no clue what actually happens to tranfolk, non binary people, and people like me. I was actually kind of emotional because it's rare to see something that accurate in the media. Also, .... the first trans surgeries were done in the 40s so I found it historically appropriate to have someone in ww2 england have that history. I also really loved the ending. Jabari was my favourite piece because it just felt so grounded in reality. I am also a huge fan of maths and was hoping Alan Turing would show up. As much as I liked all the stories I felt like Jabari had the most real characters in it. My favourite was the actress because of how open minded she was. I would think an actor would be more open to aliens and other worlds even an actor from the 40s, so I really liked that aspect of it. And Chris continues to be a favourite male companion! |
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Post by number13 on Mar 17, 2019 12:44:11 GMT
This set was a bit of a last-minute impulse buy for me as it's not my era - I was 'away' from Who during the Wilderness Years and I've not read any of the VNAs (mea culpa, mea Septimus culpa!) But as I understand it, part of the uniqueness of that range was that it went to places - socially and culturally speaking - that classic TV 'Doctor Who' had never been (and back then, probably could never have gone.)
So I thought the 'Jabari' storyline was exactly what I'd expected from this boxset - characters with real lives and backstories and a darn good science-fiction story. It was possibly my favourite of the set (a close-run thing with 'The Dread of Night', I do love ghost stories  ) and Chris is a good bloke, just the sort the Doctor needs as a Companion, especially with Roz there to be his older and wiser mentor. I enjoyed meeting both of them and they and Mysterious Seven make a great team.
More volumes please BF!
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Post by SG. on Mar 21, 2019 15:49:40 GMT
I too bought this on an impulse in the bundle with the Comic Strip Adaptations, having originally skipped it because I wasn’t an avid reader of the VNAs - I’ve only read Human Nature and listened to the BF adaptation of Damaged Goods, which to be fair both of which I enjoyed.
I’ve finished the first two stories and I’m about midway through the third and yeah, I’m really enjoying it. I’ve not really listened to much of the Seventh Doctor audios either but this format really makes me want to hear more. More volumes please, Big Finish!
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) and Chris is a good bloke, just the sort the Doctor needs as a Companion, especially with Roz there to be his older and wiser mentor. I enjoyed meeting both of them and they and Mysterious Seven make a great team.