Post by Kestrel on Sept 18, 2020 9:58:18 GMT
Did you know? This is the only NABS boxset without a discussion thread! After compiling that thread index, I'll probably be making a fair number of threads like this--partly to talk about underrepresented stories, and also partly to round out the index. Hope y'all don't mind! If you do, just lemme know, and I'll stop.
So I'm currently almost done with NABS 5, and looking forward to NABS 6 and am absolutely loving the whole dynamic between Benny and the David Warner Doctor... but I've gotta say, the stories seem to be... kinda unfocused? Like they don't really know how to balance deuteragonists. The typical formula is for Benny and the Doctor to approach the same problem from different angles, with the narrative spending equal time and both.
Which is great for lots of fantastic dialog... but kinda robs the stories of the usual dramatic arcs. We never get to see Benny be clever and save the day, nor do we get to see the Doctor be clever and save the day, because the stories are constantly shifting between the two. Sometimes this works well, sometimes it doesn't, but ultimately I think it leaves the plots relatively unengaging. When it comes to Benny/Warner NABS, I'm there for the characters, not the adventures.
And I suspect this isn't the case in the early ABS range, and these first two NABS sets (though I've not yet listened to NABS 1).
So: Sutekh. This was a great set of stories. Though I must say, it's kind of tiresome how Sutekh just refuses to die. Doctor Who has too many immortal foes! I especially loved how McCoy's Doctor was used as a foil to Benny -- sometimes an unreliable ally, sometimes an unpredictable opponent. This lent the stories some great tension, as it never really felt like Benny had her feet placed firmly on the ground--it always felt as though everything could fall apart and she could wind up desperately running for her life at any moment. Which is, oddly enough for an adventure series like Doctor Who, not a feeling I often get.
I also find it amusing how in so many of the NABS tracks, the writers talk about how seldom Benny stories involve actual archeology... when I kinda think most of the ones I've listened to have? It's at least been a substantial part of every boxset, IIRC. Just something weird--makes me wonder what the ABS range will be like, when I finally get into it. So far all I've got in my library is ...Ish, which was a freebie at some point.
I'm curious what y'all thought of Sutekh's Triumph here. It was my first real introduction to Bernice Summerfield (outside of her brief cameo in The Legacy of Time and I think it did a marvelous job of introducing her, and demonstrating why she's such a compelling character. Having the familiarity of a Doctor involved was certainly reassuring, and the core premise -- Egyptian pyramids and rogue gods -- is as much classic as cliche, and served to produce a very accessible premise with lots of room to go off in unique & interesting directions. I'm curious whether or not NABS 1 will feel like as good as an introduction to the character, because I can't imagine a better way to meet Benny.
So I'm currently almost done with NABS 5, and looking forward to NABS 6 and am absolutely loving the whole dynamic between Benny and the David Warner Doctor... but I've gotta say, the stories seem to be... kinda unfocused? Like they don't really know how to balance deuteragonists. The typical formula is for Benny and the Doctor to approach the same problem from different angles, with the narrative spending equal time and both.
Which is great for lots of fantastic dialog... but kinda robs the stories of the usual dramatic arcs. We never get to see Benny be clever and save the day, nor do we get to see the Doctor be clever and save the day, because the stories are constantly shifting between the two. Sometimes this works well, sometimes it doesn't, but ultimately I think it leaves the plots relatively unengaging. When it comes to Benny/Warner NABS, I'm there for the characters, not the adventures.
And I suspect this isn't the case in the early ABS range, and these first two NABS sets (though I've not yet listened to NABS 1).
So: Sutekh. This was a great set of stories. Though I must say, it's kind of tiresome how Sutekh just refuses to die. Doctor Who has too many immortal foes! I especially loved how McCoy's Doctor was used as a foil to Benny -- sometimes an unreliable ally, sometimes an unpredictable opponent. This lent the stories some great tension, as it never really felt like Benny had her feet placed firmly on the ground--it always felt as though everything could fall apart and she could wind up desperately running for her life at any moment. Which is, oddly enough for an adventure series like Doctor Who, not a feeling I often get.
I also find it amusing how in so many of the NABS tracks, the writers talk about how seldom Benny stories involve actual archeology... when I kinda think most of the ones I've listened to have? It's at least been a substantial part of every boxset, IIRC. Just something weird--makes me wonder what the ABS range will be like, when I finally get into it. So far all I've got in my library is ...Ish, which was a freebie at some point.
I'm curious what y'all thought of Sutekh's Triumph here. It was my first real introduction to Bernice Summerfield (outside of her brief cameo in The Legacy of Time and I think it did a marvelous job of introducing her, and demonstrating why she's such a compelling character. Having the familiarity of a Doctor involved was certainly reassuring, and the core premise -- Egyptian pyramids and rogue gods -- is as much classic as cliche, and served to produce a very accessible premise with lots of room to go off in unique & interesting directions. I'm curious whether or not NABS 1 will feel like as good as an introduction to the character, because I can't imagine a better way to meet Benny.
