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Post by mark687 on Jul 15, 2019 15:58:30 GMT
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,060 
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Post by ljwilson on Jul 15, 2019 16:03:35 GMT
Well I've always rated it as a very good story, especially the first 3 parts which have the individual doctor stories with a common thread. The production values also hold up well.
And Maggie Stables is in part 1 with Mark Gatiss in part 2, how good is that?
Enjoy Number13, post your thoughts when you take the plunge.
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Post by Digi on Jul 15, 2019 16:13:41 GMT
Gonna revisit this one tomorrow. Been a while...I remember listening to it 3-4 years ago and finding the production quality (compared with modern releases) shockingly low.
Still looking forward to this little retrospective before Legacy of Time the next day!
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 15, 2019 16:38:52 GMT
I did my first listen months ago... but coming from the latest releases, it is very obvious how dated it is. Yes, the story is not bad, but the whole music, sound design, and even the actors finding their stride... it is just very obvious that it is very early days and of course overall production quality has increased A LOT since then. But we all have to start somewhere.
It is like coming in from the new TV series and starting with the very first episodes in the 60s and complaining that it was black and white.
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Stevo
Chancellery Guard
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Post by Stevo on Jul 15, 2019 17:01:32 GMT
In hindsight The Sirens of Time is an average enough Doctor Who story but it was very enjoyable to hear this multi-Doctor story back in 2000 when I bought it on cassette. It's not a bad story but definitely of it's time... Big Finish just do everything a whole lot better now.
I still have the cassette version and added the CD version a few years later... so I've two copies of this milestone story in my collection. I will do a re-listen of The Sirens of Time at the weekend in honour of the 20 year anniversary.
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Post by Digi on Jul 15, 2019 17:23:57 GMT
I did my first listen months ago... but coming from the latest releases, it is very obvious how dated it is. Yes, the story is not bad, but the whole music, sound design, and even the actors finding their stride... it is just very obvious that it is very early days and of course overall production quality has increased A LOT since then. But we all have to start somewhere.
It is like coming in from the new TV series and starting with the very first episodes in the 60s and complaining that it was black and white.
That is the best possible way to describe it. |
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Post by shallacatop on Jul 15, 2019 17:50:36 GMT
I think that depends entirely on what your criticism is.
If it’s the story, then I think it’s fair game. I rather like the Fifth and Seventh Doctor strands of story, but I’m not keen on the Sixth Doctor’s and I think the last part is a mess.
I find Sylvester McCoy lacking, but I think that’s also a fair criticism as it’s something I find he still does to this day. For me, it depends entirely on the material he’s given.
The sound design really does show how far Big Finish have come, but I do rather like how minimal it is. The Short Trips are similar, albeit cheaper than Sirens of Time was.
Of course, you were talking purely from a production standpoint. It’s a curious little story. It’s not a classic, nor do I personally think it’s all that great on the whole, but it’s exactly the right sort of story to debut Doctor Who at Big Finish with. And that’s all it had to do really.
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
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Post by melkur on Jul 15, 2019 17:52:27 GMT
'Agreed, it's not the greatest story ever, but still enjoyable for what it is.
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Post by muckypup on Jul 15, 2019 18:42:06 GMT
Did re-listen last week.....
It’s ok but time has not been kind, compared to today’s sound design and storytelling it’s definitely from a different era.......
I like the idea of only connecting the doctors for part 4 only, but it’s all s bit muddled.
Today I would not recommend it as a first listen, there are much much better intros
But still as a start, it was great and from little acorns and all that........
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Post by constonks on Jul 15, 2019 19:14:42 GMT
I believe this was the first Big Finish story I ever listened to. Not even sure if I'd seen Sylvester in anything but the TVM at that point!
The Fifth Doctor section is probably my favourite. It's also the best "interference" in the story because it's grounded in real history, rather than the Space Future.
I agree that it's not as strong as later stuff but I do really like the concept of three individual stories that dovetail into a final installment. And I think it's infinitely relistenable. Its segmented nature makes every moment of the story feel fresh and breezy, even though it's pretty light on plot.
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Post by slithe on Jul 15, 2019 19:18:56 GMT
It serves its purpose and I think it is designed to 'showcase' each of the Doctors rather than anything else. I think Davison and Baker come out well here and would go on to excel very quickly. McCoy still has work to do at this stage and I think he takes longer to get going.
A great staging post with BF marking its territory here. Small acorns grow big oak trees.
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Post by xlozdob on Jul 15, 2019 19:21:38 GMT
I listened to it a few years ago (might still relisten in honour of the anniversary this month), but I remember it feeling very "setty" if that makes sense? I could almost see the wobbly sets Doctor Who is popularly known for, like it was done with a very low budget.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,060
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Post by ljwilson on Jul 15, 2019 19:33:22 GMT
Right then, if everyone else is thinking of a relisten then so am I. I really like part 1, and still maintain that the first 3 DW Main Range releases are all pretty good, Phantasmagoria and Whispers of Terror especially.
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Post by Star Platinum on Jul 15, 2019 21:06:05 GMT
Sirens is a solid enough story.
The only bit I don't like is the bit with Maggie Stables, Ruthley is frankly quite irritating and the only weak point.( I think that is more the direction than the acting though, after all, released at the same time was Just War, in which the entire cast put's out an outstanding performance!)
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jul 15, 2019 21:07:47 GMT
....There wasn't a thread about this ? Wow..  |
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Post by mark687 on Jul 15, 2019 21:13:44 GMT
....There wasn't a thread about this ? Wow.. I know...shocked me too
Regards
mark687
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jul 15, 2019 21:33:58 GMT
Like a lot of those early releases The Sirens of Time can seem quaint when compared to what would come later. The story kind of hangs together and moves along at a pretty good clip. It isn't Nick's best effort, nor is it close to his worst. I do kind of wish that as a 20th anniversary present BF would go back and, if possible, give it a shine and a new edit using today's equipment.
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Post by Digi on Jul 15, 2019 22:18:36 GMT
I do kind of wish that as a 20th anniversary present BF would go back and, if possible, give it a shine and a new edit using today's equipment. I would be so chuffed if it turns out to be a surprise bonus included with Legacy. |
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Jul 15, 2019 22:34:24 GMT
Back in the day when CDs were still considered something of a novelty. I wonder if anyone still has it on cassette?
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Stevo
Chancellery Guard
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Post by Stevo on Jul 15, 2019 22:43:04 GMT
Back in the day when CDs were still considered something of a novelty. I wonder if anyone still has it on cassette? Me! I still have all 15 of the Doctor Who cassettes that BF released. (I posted a pic of them all not that long ago, but I can't remember what thread it was in... it is here somewhere though!) Found it! So here they are... |
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