|
Post by xlozdob on May 26, 2020 11:15:02 GMT
From the sound of it. I think it’s just the fact that other than the fact that the Monthly Range will indeed transition to box sets for each Doctor, we don’t really know anything about what this is going to look like. I’m personally excited to hear we’ll be exploring stories with Dodo, the Season 6B Second Doctor, and Sarah Jane, but I’m not sure if that was what needed to be focused on first and foremost. I’m not sure whether box sets are exactly the best way to go myself. I think pursuing a subscription-based streaming service or something similar might be appealing if the goal is to attract new customers. I doubt the format alone is why boxsets sell so well - I’d think it was the special events like multiple Masters teaming up or a well-known New or Classic character meeting a particular Doctor - but I don’t have access to the figures myself so it’s just pure speculation and tin-foil here. Maybe that's what subscriptions will become in the future? Something akin to what audible does, where you pay a monthly subscription and you get something "free" each month and maybe a discount on everything else?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2020 11:17:42 GMT
Well..we've known for a while that this was coming at some point down the road..and now we know when.
While it has had less of an impact on me (I've dipped in and out of the Main Range over the past few years) than those I appreciate have subscribed regularly for a lot longer it will seem odd next April onwards to not see a listing for the Monthly Adventures. I'm also a little concerned about the potential costs involved.
So I'm going to watch which way the wind blows over the next year and a half, what plans Big Finish announce for these twelve new/revamped ranges, the future of other ranges such as The Companion Chronicles and The Early Adventures and obviously an idea of the pricing on these new boxsets.
Once I know that, then I can start to prioritise my listening habits.
|
|
|
Post by themeddlingmonk on May 26, 2020 11:25:04 GMT
I can easily see the Early Adventures being turned into The Second Doctor Adventures for the the Second Doctor, but I do wonder it’ll work out for the First Doctor.
Maybe they’re going to start branching out more with David Bradley, so maybe we’ll not always have the AAISAT cast and instead we might have a Bradley/Dodo boxset and a Steven/Vicki boxset all under the 1DA banner. Or perhaps they’re just going to have Bradley appear in all full cast 1DAs and Purves will stay with the CCs.
I can’t see them ending the CCs as it’s a different format and a legitimate one in its own right, but then if the sets don’t sell maybe they will just end it.
|
|
|
Post by mark687 on May 26, 2020 11:39:20 GMT
I can easily see the Early Adventures being turned into The Second Doctor Adventures for the the Second Doctor, but I do wonder it’ll work out for the First Doctor. Maybe they’re going to start branching out more with David Bradley, so maybe we’ll not always have the AAISAT cast and instead we might have a Bradley/Dodo boxset and a Steven/Vicki boxset all under the 1DA banner. Or perhaps they’re just going to have Bradley appear in all full cast 1DAs and Purves will stay with the CCs. I can’t see them ending the CCs as it’s a different format and a legitimate one in its own right, but then if the sets don’t sell maybe they will just end it. See I could see a position for ending CCs and doing Further 60s Adventures as full-cast series with re-cast actors. Age and a couple of recent overseas relocations spring to mind. Regards mark687
|
|
|
Post by Timelord007 on May 26, 2020 11:47:07 GMT
Doctor's 1-8 Monthly releases, Doctor's 9-12 box sets, subscribers get choose which 6 or 12 releases they want
There simple, problem solved, classic Doctor's get 4 part 2 hour stories, post 2005 Doctor's get box sets.
|
|
aztec
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,849
|
Post by aztec on May 26, 2020 12:14:34 GMT
I can’t see them ending the CCs as it’s a different format and a legitimate one in its own right, but then if the sets don’t sell maybe they will just end it. Maybe they could merge the CC's with the short trips (the formats have blurred a bit in recent years i.m.o anyway) and do a special 1st/2nd Doctor download only range with the original cast, boxsets/full cast productions are obviously the way BF is aiming to go, but there's still a place for standalone narrated stories i.m.o, the audience may be smaller but it's still there and I think moving them to download only could be a good compromise (and perhaps give opportunities for more CC's outside the 1st/2nd Doctor eras again).
|
|
mbt66
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 3,081
|
Post by mbt66 on May 26, 2020 12:21:10 GMT
I can’t see them ending the CCs as it’s a different format and a legitimate one in its own right, but then if the sets don’t sell maybe they will just end it. Maybe they could merge the CC's with the short trips (the formats have blurred a bit in recent years i.m.o anyway) and do a special 1st/2nd Doctor download only range with the original cast, boxsets/full cast productions are obviously the way BF is aiming to go, but there's still a place for standalone narrated stories i.m.o, the audience may be smaller but it's still there and I think moving them to download only could be a good compromise (and perhaps give opportunities for more CC's outside the 1st/2nd Doctor eras again). Sorry a bit of an tangent, but the discussion regarding CCs got me wondering...could we get a Second Doctor Chronicles set. Perhaps not narrated by Jacob Dudman, unless he can do the character, but I know there are 2nd Doctor impersonators out there.
|
|
|
Post by shallacatop on May 26, 2020 12:44:18 GMT
There's been some interesting discussion about pricing and I remember us all talking about this back when Big Finish discussed implementing the exchange rate change. I think some of us decided we thought the CD prices weren't too bad, but their download prices are expensive and just slightly cheaper than the physical releases. Certainly in the UK anyway. It will be interesting to see if any pricing changes to coincide with these new sets. All pure speculation, of course. I've often wondered if downloads are not as cheap as they could be and if DLs in effect subsidise CDs? But, as you say, all pure speculation Yep, there is that and I forgot to mention as much in my post. It is hard to tell, as their pricing is quite structured anyway, such as my example of Chronicles vs Stranded, which strikes me as being unfairly balanced. But none of us have any insider knowledge! I do empathise with Big Finish. Part of the reason we love them is that they're down to earth fans, rather than solely business people, and are quite informal compared to other companies. That also is why we criticise them, as they can often be frustratingly clumsy or sloppy with their news and announcements. It's a hard act to balance.
|
|
ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,062
|
Post by ljwilson on May 26, 2020 12:48:40 GMT
Incredibly selfish I know, but at some point all those CDs currently in storage could do with being sold at a bargain price! 151-200 anyone? 201-250? Oh, just imagine..
|
|
|
Post by shallacatop on May 26, 2020 12:55:38 GMT
I can easily see the Early Adventures being turned into The Second Doctor Adventures for the the Second Doctor, but I do wonder it’ll work out for the First Doctor. Maybe they’re going to start branching out more with David Bradley, so maybe we’ll not always have the AAISAT cast and instead we might have a Bradley/Dodo boxset and a Steven/Vicki boxset all under the 1DA banner. Or perhaps they’re just going to have Bradley appear in all full cast 1DAs and Purves will stay with the CCs. I can’t see them ending the CCs as it’s a different format and a legitimate one in its own right, but then if the sets don’t sell maybe they will just end it. I think you're right. I anticipate the Early Adventures morphing into a Second Doctor Adventures range. I think the First Doctor Adventures will branch out and become two streams - one involving the AAISAT team and another which is David Bradley with the actual companions, so two sets a year. Personally I'd be happy to see the AAISAT range go and then do a format similar to the monthly range transition, where it's presumably a 12 part set and can be utilised however Big Finish see fit, with varying story lengths and TARDIS teams. The Companion Chronicles will stay as they are until they're no longer feasible to produce, I think. It seems a reliant little range that's well received.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2020 12:56:02 GMT
I don't get the impression that's where it's going to go, though. Not from the current output. Given what's been done elsewhere with other Doctors, I'm imagining something closer to: I guess the main points of interest for me with the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, in particular, are the: - Pricing scheme (is the £27.50 for three-releases subscription a preview of what to expect for former Monthly Doctors?)
- Format (are they keeping the four-parters as their standard? Are they packed as a pair, trilogy or something else?)
- Schedule (when should we expect these to drop?)
I hope you're right in your forecast. I would agree the 3 questions you ask are probably the most crucial and that information was not in the announcement so it is hard to form a view on the changes. The answers to those questions will depend how I feel about those changes. For me format is the most important. I will be very miffed if it goes to NuWho style 60 minute episodes - I can cope with the occasional 2 or 6 parter, but overall I do like my traditional four parters!
I'm not really sure what to make of the 6B comment - given that BF has already gone with the alternate 5B theory in The Black Hole it is hard to see how they make this work. Plus, 6B was one of Magnus Magister's pet hates, we don't want to attract him back under any circumstances.
Yeah, likewise. I think format is the only dealbreaker of those three questions, personally. Price is something that can be soothed in a flash sale. Less content usually means more time to get creative with it. But the format is a clincher. It affects how the other two answers look by comparison and it can't be morphed into something else after the fact. I liked a lot of the premises behind the 4DAs, for example, but I found it a difficult range to persist with because so many stories didn't have the time to grow as they could have with 4-parts. I think Big Finish are deceptively flexible on 6B. I'm reminded of the change between Zagreus and The Company of Friends, where the parallel universes of the Eighth Doctor became one continuous timestream. If we're talking about reconciling The Black Hole, specifically, The Two Doctors actually has that already covered. Dastari mentions it isn't the Doctor's first time to Space Station Camera and the station computer recognises the Sontarans. Another possibility is the palimpsest theory: The War Games led directly to Spearhead from Space in the original timeline, but when the Time Lords (circa a later Doctor's era) went back and revised it, the Doctor's history split off down a tangent. We've already evidence of such meddling in Interference (the Third Doctor dies in the wrong place) and Trial of the Valeyard (there's a President on record who never existed). I get the reticence too, I do, but I don't think a professional company's output should be steered by the pet hates of people on the internet. Particularly when the productions themselves are made with an emotion as far from spite as you can manage. The brief insights we get from authors and producers here, they really try to make it all work, they really do. 6B, in particular, would be a strong opportunity to do something never really done with the Second Doctor before -- a dedicated arc "season" with stories that have a knock-on effect.
|
|
|
Post by mark687 on May 26, 2020 12:56:40 GMT
Incredibly selfish I know, but at some point all those CDs currently in storage could do with being sold at a bargain price! 151-200 anyone? 201-250? Oh, just imagine.. I'm half expecting it as soon as CDs start being sent out again. Regards mark687
|
|
|
Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on May 26, 2020 12:57:53 GMT
Incredibly selfish I know, but at some point all those CDs currently in storage could do with being sold at a bargain price! 151-200 anyone? 201-250? Oh, just imagine.. I'm half expecting it as soon as CDs start being sent out again. Regards mark687 I would be all over the 201 - 250 , I have big gaps there..
|
|
|
Post by johnhurtdoctor on May 26, 2020 13:04:04 GMT
I don't get the impression that's where it's going to go, though. Not from the current output. Given what's been done elsewhere with other Doctors, I'm imagining something closer to: I guess the main points of interest for me with the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, in particular, are the: - Pricing scheme (is the £27.50 for three-releases subscription a preview of what to expect for former Monthly Doctors?)
- Format (are they keeping the four-parters as their standard? Are they packed as a pair, trilogy or something else?)
- Schedule (when should we expect these to drop?)
I hope you're right in your forecast. I would agree the 3 questions you ask are probably the most crucial and that information was not in the announcement so it is hard to form a view on the changes. The answers to those questions will depend how I feel about those changes. For me format is the most important. I will be very miffed if it goes to NuWho style 60 minute episodes - I can cope with the occasional 2 or 6 parter, but overall I do like my traditional four parters!
I'm not really sure what to make of the 6B comment - given that BF has already gone with the alternate 5B theory in The Black Hole it is hard to see how they make this work. Plus, 6B was one of Magnus Magister's pet hates, we don't want to attract him back under any circumstances.
6B, 5B. All this stuff baffles me lol
|
|
lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,813
|
Post by lidar2 on May 26, 2020 13:07:32 GMT
Incredibly selfish I know, but at some point all those CDs currently in storage could do with being sold at a bargain price! 151-200 anyone? 201-250? Oh, just imagine.. I'm half expecting it as soon as CDs start being sent out again. Regards mark687 I dunno, I would imagine at that point there will be a huge backlog to clear and the last thing they would want is to be inundated with more CD orders from a clearance sale. Of course they could get their staff back in and clear the backlog before they publicly announce they are sending out CDs again and only then do a sale
|
|
|
Post by fingersmash on May 26, 2020 14:00:43 GMT
After sleeping on it, this is a move that I am ultimately happy with. The writing on the wall has been there ever since the move to producers for each Doctor. I think, overall, there's a lot of potential in a regular release for each Doctor. Hopefully it won't be all Eighth Doctor marquee style releases but I wouldn't be opposed to that coming up every now and then. As long as there's a healthy mix of 4 parters and 2 parters and maybe even the odd 6 parter, I think that this could be a great move and cheaper for everyone involved in the long run. I'm intrigued by the idea of One/Dodo solo adventures and 6b adventures. I'm also hoping the boxsets mean we might see some more experimental stories a la Scherzo or Live 34. But overall, I'm optimistic for this move.
|
|
|
Post by relativetime on May 26, 2020 14:07:16 GMT
I don't get the impression that's where it's going to go, though. Not from the current output. Given what's been done elsewhere with other Doctors, I'm imagining something closer to: I guess the main points of interest for me with the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, in particular, are the: - Pricing scheme (is the £27.50 for three-releases subscription a preview of what to expect for former Monthly Doctors?)
- Format (are they keeping the four-parters as their standard? Are they packed as a pair, trilogy or something else?)
- Schedule (when should we expect these to drop?)
I hope you're right in your forecast. I would agree the 3 questions you ask are probably the most crucial and that information was not in the announcement so it is hard to form a view on the changes. The answers to those questions will depend how I feel about those changes. For me format is the most important. I will be very miffed if it goes to NuWho style 60 minute episodes - I can cope with the occasional 2 or 6 parter, but overall I do like my traditional four parters!
I'm not really sure what to make of the 6B comment - given that BF has already gone with the alternate 5B theory in The Black Hole it is hard to see how they make this work. Plus, 6B was one of Magnus Magister's pet hates, we don't want to attract him back under any circumstances.
While it’s a bit harder to reconsile The Two Doctors with Season 6B if you include The Black Hole in your canon, there’s still evidence of it in The Five Doctors where the Doctor is somehow aware of Jamie and Zoe’s mind wipe even if the only possible way he could have known that is if it takes place after his trial. It’s still a viable theory in my opinion. And, I mean, if Human Nature and Shada can both happen twice (or three times if you consider the Shada novelization different enough to count) then who’s to say Dastari didn’t receive more than one visit from the Second Doctor to solve the exact same problem? It seems like Big Finish is a lot more willing to contradict other media these days. A Life of Crime directly contradicts the Virgin New Adventures, which are canon to Big Finish to some extent; The Deathboat and the Lifeboat contradicts previous stories about what happened to the Master post-TV movie, including a previous Big Finish story; The Sixth Doctor’s Last Advenure contradicts all the previous media that purported to show the Sixth Doctor’s final adventure. I wouldn’t put it past Big Finish to intentionally contradict The Black Hole sometime in the future for the sheer fun of it and to make us continuity nerds froth from the mouth!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2020 14:11:02 GMT
Incredibly selfish I know, but at some point all those CDs currently in storage could do with being sold at a bargain price! 151-200 anyone? 201-250? Oh, just imagine.. Had a look at the old spreadsheet this morning, and I see that I have 203 in the range, and of those I do not have, all but 7 are post release number 200, so the numbers have been slipping away from me for some time, as I have really slowed down to the occasional purchase of late, with less frequent offers of MR releases post 170 onward. One plus is that for myself it means a light at the end of the tunnel in being able to complete the range at some point. I only hope that physical copies remain available for as long as I have a backlog of purchases to get. It's been good to think, over the past 20 years, that there has been a new, Four Part, full cast Doctor Who, released every single month, with the Classic TV Series Doctors and Companions. One 25 minute episode of brand new Official Classic Series Doctor Who every single week, since 1999. Just think about that. And that's without counting the more recent Fourth & Eighth Doctor Ranges/Box Sets. I agree with what others have said regards not being into over-long story arcs and 16 part 'epics' with more padding than a DFS Sofa, that take a couple of years to record & release. Neither do single disc stories cut it for me - they never seem any more substantial than the likes of Black Orchid or The Sontaran Experiment were back in the day. Without the temptation of a 2 Disc release on offer, that to me, is original cast Classic Who, and at a price that makes no big dent on the budget, I can see myself making do with (an admittedly extensive selection of) re listens at some point in the not too distant future.
|
|
lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,813
|
Post by lidar2 on May 26, 2020 14:29:18 GMT
I hope you're right in your forecast. I would agree the 3 questions you ask are probably the most crucial and that information was not in the announcement so it is hard to form a view on the changes. The answers to those questions will depend how I feel about those changes. For me format is the most important. I will be very miffed if it goes to NuWho style 60 minute episodes - I can cope with the occasional 2 or 6 parter, but overall I do like my traditional four parters!
I'm not really sure what to make of the 6B comment - given that BF has already gone with the alternate 5B theory in The Black Hole it is hard to see how they make this work. Plus, 6B was one of Magnus Magister's pet hates, we don't want to attract him back under any circumstances.
While it’s a bit harder to reconsile The Two Doctors with Season 6B if you include The Black Hole in your canon, there’s still evidence of it in The Five Doctors where the Doctor is somehow aware of Jamie and Zoe’s mind wipe even if the only possible way he could have known that is if it takes place after his trial. It’s still a viable theory in my opinion. And, I mean, if Human Nature and Shada can both happen twice (or three times if you consider the Shada novelization different enough to count) then who’s to say Dastari didn’t receive more than one visit from the Second Doctor to solve the exact same problem? It seems like Big Finish is a lot more willing to contradict other media these days. A Life of Crime directly contradicts the Virgin New Adventures, which are canon to Big Finish to some extent; The Deathboat and the Lifeboat contradicts previous stories about whar happened to the Master post-TV movie, including a previous Bog Finish story; The Sixth Doctor’s Last Advenure contradicts all the previous media that purported to show the Sixth Doctor’s final adventure. I wouldn’t put it past Big Finish to intentionally contradict The Black Hole sometime in the future for the sheer fun of it and to make us continuity nerds froth from the mouth! In fairness, Ravenous 4 tied it all up fairly well
|
|
|
Post by nottenst on May 26, 2020 14:45:09 GMT
Well, I wrote to them
They replied
It doesn't really help. One point is that when things get back to normal they will have a bunch of releases all ready to go in one shot instead of one by one. I may just wait until the main range finishes and then try try to get the whole thing then.
|
|