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Post by shallacatop on Oct 18, 2020 9:20:14 GMT
There’s a nice 10 minute interview with Jonathan Carley in the latest podcast. Starts at the 22 minute mark. Sounds like this is something which has been in the making for a while, put on hold due to lockdown and then resumed.
They’ve recorded the first set, a mixture of remote and in studio recording. Nick Briggs was asking where they were up to in recording, which implies to me he’s not involved - so perhaps no Daleks, at least not in the first set? I’m sure he could record later on, but I know there’s usually the comments about actors loving that he does the voice live.
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Post by xlozdob on Oct 18, 2020 23:34:09 GMT
I just noticed that Rob Valentine is script editing these with Fitton which makes me incredibly excited!
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Post by project37 on Oct 19, 2020 11:05:04 GMT
It's a challenging position to be in, so it's good to see it being handled so well.
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Post by The Brigadier on Oct 19, 2020 12:59:12 GMT
Consider me intrigued. While I have absolutely no objection to recasting (in my mind the performances over the years of Messrs Hurndall, Purves, Bradley, Hines, Walker Thomson and Treloar have not supplanted but honoured the performances and memories of Messrs Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee) and the brief clip of Jonathon's performance that sherlock shared certainly has something of the late and much lamented John Hurt about it...I need just a little more detail before I commit to the further prising open of my wallet for another four boxsets. Whether Big Finish has been given a bit more free rein with their storytelling perhaps, or whether the boxsets will truly focus on the horrors of war (even one fought through Time) and whether the younger version of the War Doctor will embrace the darkness of his situation that the older version only slightly touched upon. Hopefully Big Finish won't keep us dangling for those answers for too long.
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Post by xlozdob on Oct 19, 2020 13:08:28 GMT
I just noticed that Rob Valentine is script editing these with Fitton which makes me incredibly excited! Sorry for quoting my own post, but discussion on another forum made me realise that this probably means that Rob Valentine is writing a story and he took over Fitton's role for a story penned by him. So that would be two writers confirmed (theoretically speaking). The third I would say is not Dorney because he would've been the go to substitute script editor for Fitton if he had been in the set (could also be a matter of John not being able to do it, and they went with the relative new-comer instead). The other name I think would be a good fit here would be Lisa McMullin, since she's done a few Time War stories already. Other's I find less likely but still equally possible are Guy Adams and David Llewellyn, since they have both worked for Fitton-Richardson on the other recast ranges and have written for the War Doctor and (in Llewellyn's case) quite a bit of Gallifrey: Time War. Lou Morgan has written for a couple of Time War ranges as well, so she could also be a candidate.
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Post by masterdoctor on Oct 19, 2020 13:49:21 GMT
I just noticed that Rob Valentine is script editing these with Fitton which makes me incredibly excited! Sorry for quoting my own post, but discussion on another forum made me realise that this probably means that Rob Valentine is writing a story and he took over Fitton's role for a story penned by him. So that would be two writers confirmed (theoretically speaking). The third I would say is not Dorney because he would've been the go to substitute script editor for Fitton if he had been in the set (could also be a matter of John not being able to do it, and they went with the relative new-comer instead). The other name I think would be a good fit here would be Lisa McMullin, since she's done a few Time War stories already. Other's I find less likely but still equally possible are Guy Adams and David Llewellyn, since they have both worked for Fitton-Richardson on the other recast ranges and have written for the War Doctor and (in Llewellyn's case) quite a bit of Gallifrey: Time War. Lou Morgan has written for a couple of Time War ranges as well, so she could also be a candidate. As an FYI, Rob is only script editing the first set, while Fitton and Dorney are volumes 2-4
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dorney
Big Finish Creative Team
Likes: 3,063
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Post by dorney on Oct 19, 2020 15:25:11 GMT
Sorry for quoting my own post, but discussion on another forum made me realise that this probably means that Rob Valentine is writing a story and he took over Fitton's role for a story penned by him. So that would be two writers confirmed (theoretically speaking). The third I would say is not Dorney because he would've been the go to substitute script editor for Fitton if he had been in the set (could also be a matter of John not being able to do it, and they went with the relative new-comer instead). The other name I think would be a good fit here would be Lisa McMullin, since she's done a few Time War stories already. Other's I find less likely but still equally possible are Guy Adams and David Llewellyn, since they have both worked for Fitton-Richardson on the other recast ranges and have written for the War Doctor and (in Llewellyn's case) quite a bit of Gallifrey: Time War. Lou Morgan has written for a couple of Time War ranges as well, so she could also be a candidate. As an FYI, Rob is only script editing the first set, while Fitton and Dorney are volumes 2-4 I think that’s a mistake on the website, as it’s news to me! The script editor credits aren’t 100% spot on at the moment - there’s at least one set where Matt is credited where I did it all, for example. I can kind of see why, but not sure what I can say beyond that. It’ll all become clear in time, I’m sure.
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Post by mrperson on Oct 19, 2020 23:40:51 GMT
I’m interested to see how this differentiates itself from all the other Time War series. I like that it’s a young War Doctor.. All the previous stories have shown him as a worn-out old man, so this is a nicely unexplored (outside of charity anthologies) area of the Doctor’s life.
I want to hear what thus far BBC and BF (I don't know about books/comics) do not seem to want to do: The Doctor commits crimes, because the alternative is worse.
"The man who never would" always bothered me. He would, and did. Blew that Rutan away in Fang Rock, for one example. He did when he had to. The Time War is the ultimate place where someone might have to.
I don't want him to be some raving bloodthirsty maniac. But I'd like it if he went a little too far sometimes, because he had to. I think we all have a darker side. With a Timelord, there are more opportunities for it to come out. I rather want to see a bit of that. Being The Doctor, it wouldn't be gratuitous. Just a set of impossible choices, rather than just the one (double genocide, or so he thought).
I'm almost certain to buy them either way, but I just don't see the point to a recast for a young War Doctor unless it goes there. If he's just The Doctor we know and we saw in Hurt's role, might as well have McGann do it.
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Post by obluda on Oct 22, 2020 12:17:46 GMT
I usually have a strong dislike of recasts in full cast stories but these setes sounds inticing enough that I may find myself making an exception. I was very impressed by the quality of the performance.
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Post by Kestrel on Oct 25, 2020 6:35:58 GMT
I absolutely adore the War Doctor, and prior to this announcement... I was actually pretty excited at the (then) rumors of a "Young War Doctor" range. Now, however, I find my enthusiasm much diminished after listening to that clip of the voice actor they chose. I don't know if he's the man for this role or not, but that performance certainly isn't the direction I'd've gone with, and I'm not sure it's one I'll be able to tolerate.
By which I don't mean to disparage the impressionist: rather, my issue with the performance is that it's too good of an impression. It falls quite squarely into an aural uncanny valley for me. It's so close to John Hurt's voice, that I cannot hear it without constantly thinking to myself, "this is not John Hurt." Which is why, in retrospect, I think it is ultimately a good thing that David Bradley does not do a close impression of William Hartnell. Rather than mimic the voice, Bradley mimic's Hartnell's performance, and the 1DAs work so beautifully for me (aside from that one exception) -- Bradley perfectly captures that impish energy that made Hartnell's Doctor so compelling to watch.
I also find myself questioning the necessity of this range in the light of... allow me to gesture about generally... all of these other Time War ranges. There are a lot of Time War stories already! And more, undoubtedly, on the way! What, then, requires the invention of this new Doctor? What will they be able to do with this range that they failed to do with John Hurt's original range, or cannot do with McGann's range, or Susan's War, or Gallifrey's Time War range? What, exactly, is the point?
I don't mean to sound overly cynical. I will, of course, give the first set at least I shot. I do love the character, and I want to see more of him, but... Big Finish is going to have to really -sell- the idea of more War Doctor sets to me. Especially with an impressionist--I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but to me, the primary appeal of Big Finish's audios is the fact that they use the TV series' cast. I just can't get into other Doctor Who media--the books, the comics--because the writers almost always fail to fully capture the voice of the Doctor they're writing... a failure that is all-but-impossible when you've got the actor who gave that character life actually speaking the lines. Using an impressionist effectively makes the resulting product, for all intents and purposes, feel more like fanfiction to me. Less appealing. Less genuine. Does that make any sense? I'm not writing off this range, but again, Big Finish will need to sell this idea to me beyond the superficial premise of, "buy this media with the character you like." They'll need to deliver their -best- stories, and wring the -best- possible performances out of the cast. If they can't knock the first set out of the park, I very much doubt I'd be willing to try any more.
...Do I sound too cynical? I hope I don't sound too cynical. I think I've alluded to my health problems before? Well, it's one of those loooong days today. One of those days where I don't think very clearly, and tend to write far too much, in a vain effort to explain myself. I may, perhaps, look at this post in a few days and think, "what the heck was I even thinking?" I don't know. I want to be excited for this range, I do, but... I don't know. I just don't know. My big fear isn't that The War Doctor Begins will be bad, it's that it'll be a perfunctory, token effort. That so many recent releases, from Time Lord Victorious to the Sixth Doctor and Peri, have so underwhelmed me... is, perhaps, contributing to the cynicisms. Possibly by tomorrow I shall find a greater pool of optimism, somewhere.
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Post by xlozdob on Oct 25, 2020 12:12:24 GMT
I absolutely adore the War Doctor, and prior to this announcement... I was actually pretty excited at the (then) rumors of a "Young War Doctor" range. Now, however, I find my enthusiasm much diminished after listening to that clip of the voice actor they chose. I don't know if he's the man for this role or not, but that performance certainly isn't the direction I'd've gone with, and I'm not sure it's one I'll be able to tolerate. By which I don't mean to disparage the impressionist: rather, my issue with the performance is that it's too good of an impression. It falls quite squarely into an aural uncanny valley for me. It's so close to John Hurt's voice, that I cannot hear it without constantly thinking to myself, "this is not John Hurt." Which is why, in retrospect, I think it is ultimately a good thing that David Bradley does not do a close impression of William Hartnell. Rather than mimic the voice, Bradley mimic's Hartnell's performance, and the 1DAs work so beautifully for me (aside from that one exception) -- Bradley perfectly captures that impish energy that made Hartnell's Doctor so compelling to watch. I also find myself questioning the necessity of this range in the light of... allow me to gesture about generally... all of these other Time War ranges. There are a lot of Time War stories already! And more, undoubtedly, on the way! What, then, requires the invention of this new Doctor? What will they be able to do with this range that they failed to do with John Hurt's original range, or cannot do with McGann's range, or Susan's War, or Gallifrey's Time War range? What, exactly, is the point? I don't mean to sound overly cynical. I will, of course, give the first set at least I shot. I do love the character, and I want to see more of him, but... Big Finish is going to have to really -sell- the idea of more War Doctor sets to me. Especially with an impressionist--I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but to me, the primary appeal of Big Finish's audios is the fact that they use the TV series' cast. I just can't get into other Doctor Who media--the books, the comics--because the writers almost always fail to fully capture the voice of the Doctor they're writing... a failure that is all-but-impossible when you've got the actor who gave that character life actually speaking the lines. Using an impressionist effectively makes the resulting product, for all intents and purposes, feel more like fanfiction to me. Less appealing. Less genuine. Does that make any sense? I'm not writing off this range, but again, Big Finish will need to sell this idea to me beyond the superficial premise of, "buy this media with the character you like." They'll need to deliver their -best- stories, and wring the -best- possible performances out of the cast. If they can't knock the first set out of the park, I very much doubt I'd be willing to try any more. ...Do I sound too cynical? I hope I don't sound too cynical. I think I've alluded to my health problems before? Well, it's one of those loooong days today. One of those days where I don't think very clearly, and tend to write far too much, in a vain effort to explain myself. I may, perhaps, look at this post in a few days and think, "what the heck was I even thinking?" I don't know. I want to be excited for this range, I do, but... I don't know. I just don't know. My big fear isn't that The War Doctor Begins will be bad, it's that it'll be a perfunctory, token effort. That so many recent releases, from Time Lord Victorious to the Sixth Doctor and Peri, have so underwhelmed me... is, perhaps, contributing to the cynicisms. Possibly by tomorrow I shall find a greater pool of optimism, somewhere. Yeah, I get what you mean. As much as I have defended this range (especially elsewhere), I'm still a bit wary. The previous War Doctor range didn't really do enough to differentiate itself from the rest of Doctor Who. I like to think that was due to time restraints and that these new stories have been brewing for a while and will shoot to be Doom Coalition to the power of 100. On Jonathon Carley, I also get what you mean when you compare it to Bradley's performance. I was hoping they'd go with someone like Sam Riley (I keep bringing him up, but I really really wanted him as a young War Doctor), who has the voice but could have made the performance unique while recapturing the spirit of Hurt's original one. I know they have worked with Carley and I hope his performance isn't just "good enough". I have the same fears as you, that these stories won't be significant or different enough and that they will be just there to fill a gap. That filling has to be significant and appropriate. So yeah, I'm all for giving them a chance (they've done wonderful things with other ranges in the past, they deserve at least that) but I'm still, of course, wary, as with any other new direction they have taken or take in the future.
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Post by sherlock on Oct 29, 2020 18:30:41 GMT
Unusual way of revealing the cover, through a montage of the artist putting it together-
Also we have the title of the first set.
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Post by ollychops on Oct 29, 2020 18:33:26 GMT
Not sure about the cover myself, but it’s a nice piece of artwork.
Also according to the product page, Veronica Roberts is playing Ohila. Strange that they’ve recast her.
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Post by masterdoctor on Oct 29, 2020 18:34:35 GMT
Unusual way of revealing the cover, through a montage of the artist putting it together- Also we have the title of the first set. Love the painted look. Also is that the creature from Survival?
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Post by jacobz40 on Oct 29, 2020 18:34:50 GMT
The drawn and kind of rain-smudged image feels like both a nice artistic touch and a nice way to acknowledge that it's not, in fact, John Hurt. Reminds me of the shading on Pertwee's face in the early 3DAs.
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Post by grinch on Oct 29, 2020 18:36:38 GMT
Unusual way of revealing the cover, through a montage of the artist putting it together- Also we have the title of the first set. Love the painted look. Also is that the creature from Survival? Looks like a Tharil from Warriors Gate to me.
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Post by antartiks on Oct 29, 2020 18:42:33 GMT
I love that this is a drawing and not some picture of a younger John Hurt.
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Post by grinch on Oct 29, 2020 18:46:14 GMT
I wonder how much of a prominent role Ohila would have in this.
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Post by jahawk2009 on Oct 29, 2020 18:58:34 GMT
I wonder how much of a prominent role Ohila would have in this. I imagine fairly prominent as she's one of 3 cast members named on the cover itself.
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Post by sillytilly on Oct 29, 2020 19:00:21 GMT
Really like that cover. I do like that the use of the young War Doctor has lead them to be a bit more creative with the cover. Not that I dislike the usual covers, its just nice to have a change of style and it gives the range a distinctive look.
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