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Post by elkawho on Apr 19, 2020 3:22:46 GMT
I decided to add a poll to these threads.
I like this story, It's biggest drawback is that it comes right after The Harvest, which is difficult to compete with. But it's a great story for Peri and we get to learn more about her past than in all the years prior to this. I love Claudia Christian and to have her cast as Peri's controlling mother was perfect. I don't like her very much. She doesn't think much of her daughter for most of this story and her attitude toward her made me angry. Instead of being happy that her daughter is home and safe, she spends the story angry at her, and I can't tell if if it's anger that she went away or anger that she came home. And she blames Peri for the failure of her marraige, which is a terrible thing for a mother to do. It really shines a light on Peri's reasons for traveling with The Doctor.
It's a decent, passable Cybermen story, and they do try some new things, like the control of the police and media. I found the media telling the public to stay in their homes for their own good hit a little close to home. And the fact that it is a ruse to make it easier to convert the public is chilling. But the real story her is Peri's story. The guilt for leaving and the pull on her to stay. Colin is excellent as always.
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Apr 19, 2020 11:10:18 GMT
This is definitely Peri's show. And the ending is one hell of a gut punch, which should be expected with Cybermen
I do love the stuff in the church
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Post by Tim Bradley on Apr 19, 2020 11:17:49 GMT
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Post by Star Platinum on Apr 20, 2020 1:30:02 GMT
I enjoyed this story when I first heard it, but looking back it isn’t without flaw. It’s got a very new series feel to it, being very domestic, not to mention Steven Moffat would take the great concept in the cybermen plan and run with it.
It’s biggest flaw would be the performance given by Nate. He comes off as incredibly lifeless throughout the story. It’s either terrible acting or incredible foreshadowing and I’m not sure which it really is.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,062 
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Post by ljwilson on Apr 20, 2020 8:37:51 GMT
I've given The Reaping a 6 out of 10. The first half skips along and is intriguing as it explores Peri's wider family and the mystery of the murder (and the accused vagrant).
By part two the Peri part starts to get a bit much and the cyber plan becomes less interesting as we learn more.
A pity as it has some excellent parts and sound design, it just loses it's way in my opinion.
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Post by barnabaslives on Apr 21, 2020 4:25:16 GMT
Another Cyberman story I ended up listening to a half at a time due to distractions. It was really good to touch base with the story, it's a great one but on previous listens I thought it was too gritty for its own good and the first couple of times I was actually mad at The Doctor for leaving the you-know-what lying about. This time the story made a lot more sense in many ways, including for reasons that others have pointed out. It’s biggest flaw would be the performance given by Nate. He comes off as incredibly lifeless throughout the story. It’s either terrible acting or incredible foreshadowing and I’m not sure which it really is. There's another great observation, thank you. Well, if I just go with the latter, it's brilliant, so I will.  |
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Post by sherlock on Apr 21, 2020 22:50:14 GMT
I really love this story.
It’s well paced, the Cyber-Leader is truly monstrous, Peri gets meaty material and Nicola Bryant rises to the occasion and Sixie is firing on all cylinders from charming Mrs Van Gysegham to condemning the Cyber-Leader to comforting Peri.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2020 18:49:45 GMT
Can't say I was that impressed with The Reaping, it wasn't a bad story per se but I thought it was lacking something. The Reaping seemed more like a Peri family drama than a Cyberman story at times, which wasn't completely bad as Peri's backstory was worth visiting. However, knitting the two elements together didn't work out very well I thought. The shock 'for the sake of it' at the end seemed fairly pointless to me too. Colin and Nicola put in some good performances in this story though (as always), so I give The Reaping 3/5.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2020 1:05:25 GMT
"Keep playing."
The Reaping may be among the first Main Range titles to tap into the NuWho tone for a Classic Series tale. I can remember thinking at the time what a curious hybrid of '85 and '05 the story was. The irony of that, with a bit of distance, is that the Sawardian/RTD-style finish with a dash of mid-2000s fury has brought it not too far from the slasher films that were making headway (and headlines) in 1984. There's also an echo of the neo-noir stories of the decade gaining traction through series like Miami Vice or Edge of Darkness. Not quite human-interest stories in the latter, but very close. This is the first time we gain any concrete insight into Peri's background and her homecoming isn't a happy one.
Claudia Christian guest stars in her first and sadly only role for Big Finish Who as Peri's mother, Janine Foster. Emotionally worn and bitterly angry at losing people. First, Peri's father, then Peri (for a time), Howard and finally, Antony, a family friend who could have been something more. A compelling, if difficult, figure trying to hold everything together in the wake of the funeral. My favourite supporting character has to be Daniel Woods, though, the vagrant charged with the murder of Chambers. The writing there really allows the Sixth Doctor to shine. That conversation about time lost and gained is something you could only do with this incarnation, turning what is a deliberately brash observation into a means for Daniel to recognise just how much those three extra years with her mattered.
In the opposing corner stands the Cybermen... And they are truly hideous here. Their subtlety is reminiscent of their recent turn in The Harvest and far earlier in The Wheel in Space. Their brutality conjures up Attack of the Cybermen and (perhaps quite deliberately) Real Time. What's worse than being killed by a Cyberman? Well... What happens to the Chambers. Fundamentally, I think The Reaping's main themes centre around that -- "How do you cope with damage?" For all its doom and grit, the funeral at the end marks a turning point in the Doctor and Peri's friendship. An irrevocable one. The final capstone in a then 20-year-old character arc running between The Twin Dilemma to The Trial of a Time Lord. Things cannot be as they were, as the Leader proves, but there is a chance for something better. And it does get better.
Enjoyable for its performances, its writing and its then novel approach to its subject matter, I think The Reaping is a very worthy entry to the Cybermen's exploits. Quite excellent.
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