|
Post by newt5996 on Nov 15, 2018 17:03:19 GMT
So audity made mention of potentially doing an awards type audience poll thing for the Big Finish releases of 2018, and as nothing came of that after a couple of days I had an idea of how we could at least determine the top 10 best releases of the year. The plan is to create a poll, month by month everyone being able to pick 3 releases from each month and after January 2019 I will compile a thread with the top 20 releases of the year with whichever has the most votes. This poll is for February 2018, more to follow after testing the waters. Of course, discussion is encouraged.
|
|
|
Post by mark687 on Nov 15, 2018 17:43:10 GMT
TW Aliens a satisfy end to series arc
DW Ghost Walk A Kinda that makes sense
Gailfrey Time War (Ducking for Cover) So a Solid opening Ep, 2 brilliant middle EPs, and an Ending Ep so dull to get to the obvious cliff-hanger that it doesn't make eager for Vol 2 at all.
Regards
mark687
|
|
|
Post by shallacatop on Nov 15, 2018 17:54:36 GMT
Gallifrey: Time War was my favourite, easily. A great opener, the middle two are fantastic and the final one is perhaps the worst, but still pretty good. Romana vs the Dalek Emperor was fab!
Ghost Walk was fun too.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2018 18:12:38 GMT
TW Aliens a satisfy end to series arc DW Ghost Walk A Kinda that makes sense Gailfrey Time War (Ducking for Cover) So a Solid opening Ep, 2 brilliant middle EPs, and an Ending Ep so dull to get to the obvious cliff-hanger that it doesn't make eager for Vol 2 at all. Regards mark687 Was Gally Time War not quite popular? It certainly was in the West End of Glasgow I'll be having it on my list when I get round to it later.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2018 19:31:13 GMT
I've got the same top 3 as Mark! 1. Torchwood: Aliens Among Us Vol. 3 Poker Face had me worried at the start, it broke the 4th wall twice in the opening 5 mins - but it quickly dropped that and ended up a rather nice psychological game of cat and mouse between Harkness and Hartmann. Liked Gwen adding Esther to the list of fallen TW agents she keeps in her memories. With Miracle Day the TW equivalent of B7 not being able to do much with Series D, a little nod was nice. I also like the different dynamics of the Aliens Among Us team - it's a bunch of people barely held together. The original Torchwood cast - certainly by Series 2 - really cared for each other and would die for each other. Here there's a real sense that they barely tolerate each other. They don't have the reverence for Jack that the OS cast had. They don't have a hierarchy with pre-determined roles. It would have been so easy for James Goss and co to make substites for Owen, Tosh and Ianto but instead they completely reinvented the idea. "Changes Everything" indeed. 2. Ghost Walk from The Main Range I was talking earlier with Number13 about a shared love of MR James ghost stories - that I think AudioWatchdog might share given our mutual fave Night Of The Demon - and I think this is actually much more in that vein than a lot of people expected. It was downright bleak - something we don't often get with the Fifth DOctor and certainly not with the S19 bunch. It had the most wonderful cliffhangers too, with each beating the last. Often 4 parters struggle with pacing but this built up wonderfully to an almost apocalyptic finale. Bravo! 3. Gallifrey: Time War It's not got a duffer in it and unlike Gally releases since pretty much the boxsets began it didn't feel convoluted. It didn't feel like a continuity fest. It was clear and everyone had goals and motivations that were nicely established. We need Brax to come back now and get on a different path because Jacobi is already doing the "amoral Timelord fears the War so runs away" shtick. I've no idea where Brax is heading but that's part of the fun of the character. The Master and Leela were a double act I never knew I needed so much. In the 4DAs, Lou just gets to bounce off Beevers as she would villain of the week but with this Master she gets a really fun antagonistic relationship. I almost got sucked in with her in being surprised he betrayed her...almost. Loved the last ep though Romana's argument at the debates was really quite weak and I could have done without the on-the-nose "Make Galifrey Great Again" line. Minor quibbles though as there was a real sense of dread to the story. Never, once, do you think Romana and co are winning here, the real tension isn't in the election but in what the War Council's ultimate goal is. While we know from TV that they resurrected Rassilon but I'm not sure any of us expected him to be back at the end of this.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2018 6:36:35 GMT
Ghost Walk and Vienna for me
|
|
|
Post by tuigirl on Nov 16, 2018 11:59:37 GMT
While I do like Ghost Walk (great atmosphere), Vienna Retribution was a revelation and a surprise hit for me. It is just awesome fun.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2018 19:00:30 GMT
While I do like Ghost Walk (great atmosphere), Vienna Retribution was a revelation and a surprise hit for me. It is just awesome fun. Same The Viennas are great wee box sets full of possibility am glad you persuaded me to give them a try.Do prefer them more than the Jenny set
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2018 19:02:39 GMT
I've got the same top 3 as Mark! 1. Torchwood: Aliens Among Us Vol. 3 Poker Face had me worried at the start, it broke the 4th wall twice in the opening 5 mins - but it quickly dropped that and ended up a rather nice psychological game of cat and mouse between Harkness and Hartmann. Liked Gwen adding Esther to the list of fallen TW agents she keeps in her memories. With Miracle Day the TW equivalent of B7 not being able to do much with Series D, a little nod was nice. I also like the different dynamics of the Aliens Among Us team - it's a bunch of people barely held together. The original Torchwood cast - certainly by Series 2 - really cared for each other and would die for each other. Here there's a real sense that they barely tolerate each other. They don't have the reverence for Jack that the OS cast had. They don't have a hierarchy with pre-determined roles. It would have been so easy for James Goss and co to make substites for Owen, Tosh and Ianto but instead they completely reinvented the idea. "Changes Everything" indeed. 2. Ghost Walk from The Main Range I was talking earlier with Number13 about a shared love of MR James ghost stories - that I think AudioWatchdog might share given our mutual fave Night Of The Demon - and I think this is actually much more in that vein than a lot of people expected. It was downright bleak - something we don't often get with the Fifth DOctor and certainly not with the S19 bunch. It had the most wonderful cliffhangers too, with each beating the last. Often 4 parters struggle with pacing but this built up wonderfully to an almost apocalyptic finale. Bravo! 3. Gallifrey: Time War It's not got a duffer in it and unlike Gally releases since pretty much the boxsets began it didn't feel convoluted. It didn't feel like a continuity fest. It was clear and everyone had goals and motivations that were nicely established. We need Brax to come back now and get on a different path because Jacobi is already doing the "amoral Timelord fears the War so runs away" shtick. I've no idea where Brax is heading but that's part of the fun of the character. The Master and Leela were a double act I never knew I needed so much. In the 4DAs, Lou just gets to bounce off Beevers as she would villain of the week but with this Master she gets a really fun antagonistic relationship. I almost got sucked in with her in being surprised he betrayed her...almost. Loved the last ep though Romana's argument at the debates was really quite weak and I could have done without the on-the-nose "Make Galifrey Great Again" line. Minor quibbles though as there was a real sense of dread to the story. Never, once, do you think Romana and co are winning here, the real tension isn't in the election but in what the War Council's ultimate goal is. While we know from TV that they resurrected Rassilon but I'm not sure any of us expected him to be back at the end of this. Perhaps i will Give Gallifrey Time war a shot then
|
|
|
Post by masterdoctor on Nov 17, 2018 0:53:07 GMT
I can only give a top release for this month which is Torchwood. By far in away the strongest range from Big Finish at the moment and I’ve yet to find a clunker in it. A much more mature and nuanced take on sci-fi and just an absolute joy as you can hear how much they enjoy doing it.
|
|
|
Post by number13 on Nov 17, 2018 1:41:22 GMT
1. Ghost Walk - my favourite MR (MR James near enough lol!) of the year so far after relistens, narrowly ahead of 'Hour of the Cybermen'. Dark and creepy with two genuinely shocking cliff-hangers and head-spinningly timey-wimey. Of all the stories I've heard this was the one I was most grateful to have the subscriber scripts for because it helpfully said at the start of each scene what time-period it was in. Four interlocking 'ghost stories' {Spoiler}where all the TARDIS crew are ghosts - or at least dead -at one Time or another and considers death as a 'quantum state' because this is 'Doctor Who' so we can do science-fiction ghosts; M.R.James meets that bloke's indeterminate cat. Terrific (in both senses.) 2. The Martian Invasion of Earth - well I loved this adaptation even if nobody else does! It will be another of my top releases of the year for sure. 3. The Churchill Years Volume 2 - so much fun and some great storytelling with lots of variety between the first three stories. Let down a bit by the last part imo but that wasn't the only release this month for which I thought that was true... I couldn't vote for 'Gallifrey:Time War 1' because even though the Ace/Brax and Leela/Master stories were excellent, I simply hated the final episode and how it made Romana seem politically inept and entitled in the cause of a glaringly obvious and I thought overdone satirical parallel. I like political satire but this was the second clunky 'Trump' satire I'd heard from BF and I didn't like the first one either. ('The Quantum Possibility Engine' recently was much better, clever and funny as I think good satire should be.)
|
|