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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Dec 15, 2015 7:54:14 GMT
I loved the humour, "what's that noise?" "It's my father" "does he normally make that noise?"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2015 8:57:44 GMT
Having just listened to 'The Innocent', I really, really enjoyed it. At first I was a bit wary this was going to be The Nick Briggs show (he plays three characters before the credits roll). I like Nick Briggs and think he does great things, but do get a little tired of his ubiquity. After that, though, it's just great. It's a slow burner, a good introductory story and has excellent production values. In fact, it's a lot better than I hoped it could be. John Hurt's Doctor is tremendous, truly melancholy, his self-loathing makes you want to give him a hug. Excellent. I hope the other episodes are as good as this.
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Post by grazey on Dec 15, 2015 9:52:30 GMT
So I have listened to it twice and here are my thoughts {Episode 1}
For me it feels like 1 feature length story rather than 3 episodes. I like the theme. It's a star trek/Dr who crossover
Episode 1: my favourite of the 3. Love how some of it features in a sort of flashback for the war doctor. It pretty much is a set up along with the start of episode 2 but as a set up it was enjoyable and the genesis and master plan mentions were the icing on top. John hurt is phenomenal in this. He kind of reminds me of A cross betwen flippant 6 and the likeability and twinkle in his eye of 8.
Not saying anybody is terrible but his acting runs rings round everybody.Lucy Briggs Owens done well. I'd happily have her as a companion.9/10 {Episode 2}
Episode 2: my least favourite of the 3. Kind of suffers of being in the middle with it not having a start or an ending. The first 10 minutes pretty much sets up the rest of the box set. Good banter here from pierce and hurt and is the highlight from the episode. Interesting twist with having Seratrix not actually wanting rescued but not entirely unexpected. The peace in our time cliffhanger didnt do anything for me as it is obvious knowing the history it would not last.7/10
{Episode 3}
Nice performance from John and great actually getting to hear some proper action from him after the brief bit at the start of episode 1. Nice exchange between the doctor and the daleks. As for the planet plan I kind of feel it's a bit of a typical nation add on plot point but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing.I do think that the events of this will ripple off to boxes 2 3 and 4. I like where it ends off at but it will be an annoying 2 month wait.8/10 |
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Dec 15, 2015 11:30:16 GMT
I love the little sparkle Hurt gives The Man in the Bandolier's voice whenever he gets a chance to be "Doctorish", his cheeky streak, his belief that people should defend themselves, that they should take responsibility for that defence, etc all shine through, but to balance that he is utterly convincing as a ruthless man who has enough daemons nipping at his heels that Hell is empty. He's old. He's tired. He genuinely wants peace no matter the form it takes.
What works for me, in The Innocent, is the fact we don't know what to expect of him, any other Doctor would have been right there, helping the defence of the innocents but were left thinking "he's just going to walk away isn't he?" and so forth.
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Post by Feroniya27 on Dec 15, 2015 13:55:05 GMT
I love the little sparkle Hurt gives The Man in the Bandolier's voice whenever he gets a chance to be "Doctorish", his cheeky streak, his belief that people should defend themselves, that they should take responsibility for that defence, etc all shine through, but to balance that he is utterly convincing as a ruthless man who has enough daemons nipping at his heels that Hell is empty. He's old. He's tired. He genuinely wants peace no matter the form it takes. What works for me, in The Innocent, is the fact we don't know what to expect of him, any other Doctor would have been right there, helping the defence of the innocents but were left thinking "he's just going to walk away isn't he?" and so forth. I know what you mean! More specifically... {Spoilers for the end of The Innocent}
When he insists that Rejoice's father be the one to push the button. Any other Doctor would have just done it and said "There! I've set up a shield," but not this one. I seriously believed he had set something up that would destroy the invaders and was making the Keskans take responsibility for it. That scene just wouldn't have worked with any other Doctor. (Well, maybe with McCoy.) Very, very moving. My one complaint about this story is one I have with most Gallifrey stories, however... {Spoilers for The Thousand Worlds and The Heart of the Battle}
It always bugs me when Time Lords die and there's no reason given for why they don't regenerate. The first Time Lord to die made sense, since they said he was incinerated, which would mean there wasn't enough of a body left to regenerate. But the other two were just shot, one with a Dalek weapon (which we've seen the Tenth Doctor regenerate from, so we know they can) and the other by one of the invaders' weapons. But that's really my only complaint, I feel the rest of it totally gripped me from start to finish. And for everyone who wants the new theme tune by itself... Disc 2 Track 2 uses a clean version of it, but you need to edit it to stop at 0:54. I was very surprised they didn't just make that track only the theme already. It's easy enough to do this in iTunes; just right click on the track and select Get Info, click on Options, set the end time for 0:54, then right click on the track again and select "Create MP3 version" (or whatever version you have your iTunes set to create). Don't forget to then go back and reset your end time for the original file. I've already got my War Doctor theme in with the rest of my music.  |
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Post by kfbate on Dec 15, 2015 13:59:49 GMT
Why does the fruity drink fell more like John is having a crafty whisky and soda!
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Post by elkawho on Dec 15, 2015 15:32:06 GMT
I am in a very difficult dilemma. I LOVED this set. I loved everything about it. I really loved Lucy Briggs Owen especially, although every single actor was fantastic. John Hurt was exceptional. The story was fantastic and my worries regarding anyone tackling the Time War have been eased. You get the sense of how bad it is without any details, which is how it should be. The music was perfect and gets you emotionally right into the story.
But I STILL have difficulty with the concept of The War Doctor. I can't really describe it. I still think it's a Moffat cop out and poorly retcons everything RTD did with 9. (This an over simplification of how I feel, and I'm not really a Moffat hater.)
That being said, I am planning on pre-ordering the next box. I was hesitant until after I heard this, but now there is no choice.
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Dec 15, 2015 22:48:13 GMT
Why does the fruity drink fell more like John is having a crafty whisky and soda! I'm half expecting it to be some sort of peach drink - leading eventually to the later Doctors dislike of the fruit! |
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Post by brax on Dec 16, 2015 0:19:37 GMT
I am in a very difficult dilemma. I LOVED this set. I loved everything about it. I really loved Lucy Briggs Owen especially, although every single actor was fantastic. John Hurt was exceptional. The story was fantastic and my worries regarding anyone tackling the Time War have been eased. You get the sense of how bad it is without any details, which is how it should be. The music was perfect and gets you emotionally right into the story. But I STILL have difficulty with the concept of The War Doctor. I can't really describe it. I still think it's a Moffat cop out and poorly retcons everything RTD did with 9. (This an over simplification of how I feel, and I'm not really a Moffat hater.) That being said, I am planning on pre-ordering the next box. I was hesitant until after I heard this, but now there is no choice. It's funny, I have exactly the opposite feeling. It bridges the old and the new in a truly magical way. Moffat's alterations to the Time War mythos have been the best continuity nudge in an awfully long time. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2015 6:12:43 GMT
Well, I really enjoyed that!
What a production. The War Doctor era is known! Not a glimpse (such as in The Day of The Doctor or Engines of War), but there. Present. As if it always was. A Big Finish venture into an era which never was.
I do have a few gripes, however.
1) For me, I didn't find the 'monstrous' enough. Yes, it's The Doctor wanting to cling onto his morality since past, particularly with Replenish' presence, but after all the hype, yes, it's all about what is to come, but it it was still a bit of a letdown.
2) I like the theme, but I was expecting something far more darker and mournful, rather then the 'valient warrior'. It's all before War's relisation, after all.
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Post by acousticwolf on Dec 16, 2015 9:23:22 GMT
I listened to part 1 yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Part 2 today if life lets me ...
Cheers
Tony
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Post by jasonward on Dec 16, 2015 11:33:42 GMT
I am in a very difficult dilemma. I LOVED this set. I loved everything about it. I really loved Lucy Briggs Owen especially, although every single actor was fantastic. John Hurt was exceptional. The story was fantastic and my worries regarding anyone tackling the Time War have been eased. You get the sense of how bad it is without any details, which is how it should be. The music was perfect and gets you emotionally right into the story. But I STILL have difficulty with the concept of The War Doctor. I can't really describe it. I still think it's a Moffat cop out and poorly retcons everything RTD did with 9. (This an over simplification of how I feel, and I'm not really a Moffat hater.) That being said, I am planning on pre-ordering the next box. I was hesitant until after I heard this, but now there is no choice. It's funny, I have exactly the opposite feeling. It bridges the old and the new in a truly magical way. Moffat's alterations to the Time War mythos have been the best continuity nudge in an awfully long time. Me too Brax, I never understood why RTD had the Time War, or more descriptively, on balance it seemed to me to be the wrong decision, in that I understand why he did it, but those reasons never then played a significant part in what Who became, the only brief period it was significant Tennant's Doctor seemed to become a power mad hypocrite. The return of the Timelords was also inevitable, in so much as what I mean is that it's Sci-Fi, it's Doctor Who the stories will run for years, someone at sometime will bring them back. So Moffats resolution to this seemed somewhat brilliant to me. |
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Post by Digi on Dec 16, 2015 12:52:41 GMT
Quite enjoyed this. Hurt, Seymour, Pearce, and Briggs-Owen were all just stellar. Also loved how the story juxtaposed peaceniks with a Doctor who won't believe in that any more.
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Tony Jones
Chancellery Guard
Professor Chronotis
Still rockin' along!
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Post by Tony Jones on Dec 16, 2015 13:59:22 GMT
A hit for me, John Hurt, Pearce, Briggs-Owen and Seymour all very good, even if Pearce was very Servalan on Gallifrey!
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Post by kimalysong on Dec 16, 2015 20:20:53 GMT
Finished today and loved it...way way more than I expected. Honestly when I bought this I was more curious than excited as while John Hurt is of course a great actor (does it even need saying) I wasn't 100% sure how I felt about the concept of the War Doctor. But I wanted to give Big Finish a chance.
Well Hurt and the writing completely sold me here. Now that Hurt wasn't excellent in the Anniversary special....but it's hard to sell your Doctor not only in one episode but in one episode when you have to share the spotlight with 2 other already established Doctors.
What this set did is it allowed Hurt's Doctor the chance to really shine and develop when the spotlight was completely on him. The guest cast was also superb. I especially enjoyed both actresses who played Rejoyce (sp?) and I liked how we saw that character develop across the box sets and of course Jacqueline Pierce as Ollistra.
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Stevo
Chancellery Guard
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Post by Stevo on Dec 16, 2015 20:43:53 GMT
This was a surprise package for me as I didn't know what to expect from War Doctor audios, but obviously there is a reasonably blank canvas for Big Finish to work with as there was only one TV appearance of John Hurt's 'Doctor' . So I went in to this with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the story and the performance of John Hurt. This was a very very enjoyable box set to listen to and for once, a fresh Doctor Who era to listen to. The War Doctor might not to be everyone's tastes, but this box set was damn good: well written, well produced and well performed, this is my favourite Big Finish Doctor Who release of 2015. Roll on 2016 for the next instalment.
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Post by Ela on Dec 17, 2015 6:22:25 GMT
A hit for me, John Hurt, Pearce, Briggs-Owen and Seymour all very good, even if Pearce was very Servalan on Gallifrey! Yes, I noticed that about Pearce, too. I kept thinking I was listening to Servalan.  Overall I really enjoyed the set. Want to listen again to pick up details I may have missed the first time around. And you all cracked me up with your "waiting for the release posts." I avoided this thread all day yesterday and it was mostly a page and a half of "Is it out yet?!" Considering how late it was released, glad I didn't log onto the computer before work to see if it was there. I was tempted, but I would have been late for work. |
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Dec 17, 2015 9:12:20 GMT
Speculation time; in "The Innocent", Cardinal Servelan used power from the Eye of Harmony itself to drag the War Doctor back to Galifrey. It's an act he's worried by, saying that it could open up Gsllifrey's past to attack if there are any Dalek Timeships left.
I speculate that there is and they did. They left a Dalek replicant there. Someone with specfific skills and knowledges that would mean during a war they'd rise to the top.
As a Cardinal perhaps.... Cardinal Ollistra in fact.
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Post by acousticwolf on Dec 17, 2015 15:58:07 GMT
I listened to part 1 yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Part 2 today if life lets me ... Cheers Tony Well so much for that - I'd planned on listening at work yesterday but a fire alarm and power cut put paid to that idea! Managed to listen to parts 2 & 3 today tho' and have to say it was brilliant. Yes it sounded like Servalan had moved to Gallifrey, but that didn't spoil the enjoyment (in fact if a different actor played the role I doubt we'd even notice). How long until February and boxset 2? Cheers Tony |
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on Dec 18, 2015 9:02:02 GMT
"What's that phrase again? Ohh yes....." BOG OFF!!"
Perfect.
Obviously Lucie rubbed off on him after all.
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