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Post by tuigirl on Sept 15, 2020 7:39:27 GMT
Well, I also finished Flying Dutchman and I admit... not my cup of tea.
I was not a fan of the ridiculous pirate overacting and tropes.
And the story itself did not really grab me.
Concerning the critisism towards Sylvester and his acting- I thought he was fine. He was not at his best, granted, but it was far away from performances where I found him unbearable (like in the very first Benny New Adventures set).
Now onto the next story tonight.
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Post by Ian McArdell on Sept 16, 2020 10:06:39 GMT
My take on these two are now up on CultBox - particularly enjoyed Displaced. |
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 16, 2020 19:02:44 GMT
Well, I liked Displaced much more than the first story.
It was creepy, it kept you guessing, it had a nice mystery and some nice character scenes.
It was a really good story.
Not much else you could wish for in the Main Range.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 22:27:34 GMT
I thought Displaced was better than The Flying Dutchman but this is not my favourite Doctor companion combination so I can be hard to please when we get yet more Seven and Ace. I did like Displaced though, I thought it had a very eerie atmosphere which helped my enjoyment of the mystery. I gave this release 3/5 mainly for Displaced as The Flying Dutchman was a bit of a let down and we couldn't vote for the individual stories.
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Post by karldwilliams on Sept 16, 2020 22:41:07 GMT
I have to say I enjoyed both, although Displaced is the stronger of the two. But in the spirit of Scooby Do, Flying Dutchman was a fun bit of hokum that entertained me a lot more than some supposed Seventh Doctor classics as I'm not a big Seven/McCoy fan. It had good atmosphere, good sound design that convinced of a creaking wooden vessel at sea and a silly in an enjoyable way story. I'm certainly surprised at the amount of strongly negative reviews I've seen of it elsewhere.
Displaced though is really strong on atmosphere, mystery and performances.
But both will certainly be joining the list of limited Seventh Doctor titles I'll revisit in future.
Always nice to have Hex back, his original run and his recent returns (Shadow World / Muse of Fire) have been a strong era for Seven, even if it did all go a bit wonky with the later Hector tosh.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Sept 17, 2020 3:11:32 GMT
I liked both stories well enough on their own but was less fond of them combined. The Flying Dutchman was a lighter adventure and I really appreciated the Scooby Doo aspect to it whilst The Displaced was the weightier of the two with a little more on mind. It is also tough to ignore how the story really anticipates lock down. I will say complaining about the Doctor Hex can be rather grating. Still a release I enjoyed if did not love.
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Post by IndieMacUser on Sept 19, 2020 12:45:01 GMT
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Post by mark687 on Sept 29, 2020 14:28:49 GMT
Subscriber Extended Interview DL and Script PDF now in Accounts
Regards
mark687
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Post by grinch on Oct 6, 2020 19:23:01 GMT
Enjoyed both of them even if I don’t think they are the strongest stories the main range has to offer. Displaced is clearly the strongest of the two although the Scooby Doo fan in me thought The Flying Dutchman hit the spot. And I enjoyed how the threat of both was strictly of human origin. Alien intervention is great but too much of it and it can become rather tiresome. Rather liked how they actually commentated on that fact as well in both stories.
The Craw I also thought were a fascinating species with a lot left unsaid. In the end, they’re simply bystanders who have no concept of certain human matters. Makes a pleasant change from the usual inter dimensional entities who wish to conquer the material plane and all that.
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Post by slithe on Oct 28, 2020 9:29:54 GMT
Two very different approaches here. Generally, I approach 7th Doctor releases with hesitation - they are either brilliant or a bit flat. Still not sure what to make of this one.
The Flying Dutchman is a fun romp on a sailing ship. I quite like the Scooby Doo idea - the ghost ship being covered in glowing paint appeals for some reason that I didn't think it would. Again, I love the fact that the Seventh Doctor has solved the mystery from the start and is just leaving things to run their course. It does show him to be quite callous and manipulative - especially as both Ace and Hex make it clear that they don't really trust him anymore. Having a non-alien threat is nice for a change and the actions are understandable. It also helps that I've read a lot of Patrick O'Brien recently, so the setting is quite familiar.
Displaced was very good. A dark, under-rated Gem. I will listen to this one again at some point. The claustrophobia of the house fits quite well with lockdown at the moment and made me think. The mystery element was good and it is a nice twist on the 'locked-room' puzzle that seems very popular at the moment. Again, the Doctor comes across as quite dubious and unethical in places. The story develops the relationship with Ace/Hex nicely and shows them to be at lot closer than perhaps we would have seen had this been on TV.
I thought McCoy was quite good in this and was one of his better performances. It's always great to have Hex back and this TARDIS crew does work well together. It would be interesting to see where this is placed - the 1980s console room is still in use here, rather than the Movie one that we have in later releases.
As ever, BF continue to surprise. You go from a light hearted silly release to something more serious. In these strange times, you can't ask for more than that.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
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Post by lidar2 on Oct 29, 2020 10:59:08 GMT
I enjoyed The Flying Dutchman a lot. It's a 'Scooby-Doo' isn't it? Which gets high nostalgia points from me anyway! You know the thing - it all seems very spooky when the gang turn up in the old haunted ship/mansion/castle/funfair etc., and then the "ghosts" turn out to be people in facepaint organised by a character with a grudge planning to get his way by exploiting superstition and fear of the unknown. And he'd have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that meddling kid! And some helpful time travellers. 
I thought I'd worked out where the story was going and how the characters fitted together - then it did a 'Kerblam!'-like switchover and broke the usual Who stereotypes about who is likely to be the goody and the baddy. But it also did two very traditional pieces of Who character development which work every time imo - the character who finds confidence to be herself and the character who abandons his superstitious beliefs and becomes a rational person.
Maybe it's a British thing, but I also enjoyed the tone and style. Ace and Hex had some serious person-to-person moments with other characters, which worked well, but the not-so-jolly shipmates were just one 'ar-harr' this side of going the full Panto at times and with 21stC-dialogue breaking into their usual "scurvy crew" language. As when pointed out that their mutinous new 'leader' was actually hiding at the back of the fight, the reply was 'he's got a different leadership style'; very nautical 18thC I don't think.
And having the 'principal boy' actually being a girl extends the Panto tradition (where the 'principal boy' is a male character played by a female actor), while her "magical" transformation from Cabin 'Boy' into the First Mate was the classic 'rags-to-riches' ending. It's an impossible promotion for any 15-year-old on any ship at any time, if you think about it in reality, but in this style of story it's just what we expect. Anna leaves home in disguise to seek her fortune, and because she's the hero, she succeeds, with a bit of help from a wandering 'wizard' and his friends and a nobleman who learns to be a better person, in part because of the example Anna sets him. (Curtain call, applause!)
And of course there was lots of shouting! It's only because it was audio that we couldn't see the thigh-slapping, gurning and lip-curling that went with it, but I imagined it anyway.  I think you have just coined a new term to describe a whole sub-genre of Doctor Who - the Scooby Doo historical. Your place in the history of Who fandom is assured. |
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Post by slithe on Oct 30, 2020 11:04:00 GMT
The Scooby-Doo approach has been used in the TV series itself. I remember the end of Episode 2 of The Moonbase with the Cyberman 'hiding' under the bed sheet (surely the boots sticking out would have been a clue, if not the handle-bars on the head?!)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2020 16:06:51 GMT
The Scooby-Doo approach has been used in the TV series itself. Scooby-Who? |
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Post by grinch on Oct 30, 2020 16:16:47 GMT
The Scooby-Doo approach has been used in the TV series itself. Scooby-Who? Love it. Remind me, have they ever done a straight pastiche of Scooby and the gang in a Doctor Who story? Not including The Crooked World? |
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Post by number13 on Nov 7, 2020 23:53:50 GMT
I enjoyed The Flying Dutchman a lot. It's a 'Scooby-Doo' isn't it? Which gets high nostalgia points from me anyway! You know the thing - it all seems very spooky when the gang turn up in the old haunted ship/mansion/castle/funfair etc., and then the "ghosts" turn out to be people in facepaint organised by a character with a grudge planning to get his way by exploiting superstition and fear of the unknown. And he'd have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that meddling kid! And some helpful time travellers. I think you have just coined a new term to describe a whole sub-genre of Doctor Who - the Scooby Doo historical. Your place in the history of Who fandom is assured. Thanks lidar2 , I accept the honour with pleasure.  I officially adopt @stevo 's name for the sub-genre as 'The Scooby-Who', of course. It started me thinking about the idea and there are other 'Scooby-Who' stories which aren't historicals, plus some which are. If we include any story which appears to be 'aliens' or supernatural and is actually humans scheming.
But to say which ones would be HUGE spoilers for anyone who doesn't know that Emperor Ming is really Mr. Jones the Janitor in a mask and a cape with a megaphone to make a big, booming voice. However if anyone really wants to 'Check it out, Scoob!' '(Who? Me?)' these are the ones I've thought of so far... From the EAs: {Two Massive Scooby-Spoilers}'The Bounty of Ceres' and 'The Morton Inheritance' And from the 3DAs, although there is one bit of alien tech involved, I would include: {Scooby-Spoiler}6.2 Operation Hellfire |
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Post by shadow on Nov 20, 2020 10:13:43 GMT
Just got the chance to listen to these. The Flying Dutchman had a fun premise and the soundscape was quite effective, but I didn't care much for the interactions between Ace and Archie/Anna, especially at the end. Ace's encouragements to Anna didn't seem at all appropriate for the time and place....all I could think at the end was that Ace was putting Anna into a great deal of danger.
Displaced I thought was far better....brilliant really! I loved the repetition and significance of the song, and the way the song was the entire introduction to the story. Also loved the way Hex, searching for clues in that mysterious house, became so very attached to the missing family. The dynamics between Ace, Hex, and the Doctor were amplified wonderfully by the way they were trapped. So many lovely little character bits were present, like the Doctor's distress over having a boiled kettle in front of him, yet with no way to make tea. The Craw that appeared was a fascinating alien, and its weird speech patterns made it even more effective. The frozen, nonresponsive house was incredibly spooky. Having the villain actually be an ordinary human was a very nice touch. I'll be listening to this one many times... it has already become a favorite of mine.
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Post by number13 on Nov 20, 2020 14:29:07 GMT
Seeing this thread bumped up reminded me I hadn't commented about 'Displaced' so...
A very atmospheric story of "haunting", evil and tragedy; the claustrophobic "lockdown" feel was so of the moment and keeping it to a small cast enhanced that feeling. Even though in this one the otherworldly elements are real, giving us two contrasting stories in one volume where the villains turn out to be human was a daring double-bluff, and it worked perfectly imo.
The special artefact as the door, and the long family line rooted deeply in the area and the Norfolk setting reminded me of something and I couldn't think what. Then I realised - it's that same feel of the land, the people, long history and - something else - that was in some of the later classic BBC 'Ghost Stories for Christmas' after they moved away from the M.R.James adaptations. I think I've mentioned I'm rather a fan of ghost stories and even though in this case the "ghosts" are benign and the villain is alive and human, the same strange atmosphere lives again in this story to great effect.
As this is a detective story too, 'just one more thing'... the story is set in spring 2020. And the murderer's motivation was 'he killed… for… land…' (as Ace says.) And Hex says, looking out at the Fens : 'By my time this was all new housing and no-one seemed particularly upset about it.'.
But Hex's time is almost now. 'The Harvest' is set in 2021, October to be precise (thanks sherlock for the handy 'Future History' timeline.) With the killer revealed, the land clearly won't be developed by anyone else in the space of 18 months, and maybe not ever now it will become notorious as the scene of a terrible crime. So the travellers have changed a small part of Earth history and the Matriarch, whose 'circuitry grew into the ground and across the land', has perhaps at least preserved that very special land which meant so much to her and her adopted human family. |
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Post by vivdunstan on Mar 30, 2021 20:55:51 GMT
Just listened to Flying Dutchman. Enjoyed that, way more than I expected to given some of the reviews elsewhere! I never get on too well with audio pirate stories, including the earlier “Doctor Who and the Pirates”. But this entertained me, and kept me listening. And very much in a Scooby Doo way. Also it didn’t outstay its welcome, which I really appreciated compared to some of the truly awful Mags ones. Though I do think the gender twist was far too obvious. I clocked it from the pirates shouting at the start. A happy 6/10. |
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Post by Tim Bradley on Apr 16, 2021 14:48:53 GMT
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Post by Ela on Oct 18, 2021 20:19:33 GMT
I enjoyed both these stories, but then I usually enjoy the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Hex (except for one awful timeline about him). I have to say that I don't notice the issue many of you complained about with Sylvester's reading the scripts, maybe I'm just a less critical listener.
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I officially adopt @stevo 's name for the sub-genre as 'The Scooby-Who', of course. 
