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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2020 19:23:53 GMT
I'm sorry 'Shadow', I'm sorry Brig, but I think this might be my favourite Main Range release of the year... {Spoiler} I will agree with another poster on here that the 'twist' is how 'Lure Of The Nomad' should have played out (not that that was a bad story, of course, this one just did it better...). I think you may be right about the Best of the year from MR. I like a story that I can replay and build on in my mind and this one has it in spades I would say.Plus we have an extremely great costume already for Peri in our minds from the glorious cover.I am sure the story has its faults but as an imaginative experience I cannot fault it
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melkur
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Post by melkur on Dec 11, 2020 19:31:43 GMT
I'm sorry 'Shadow', I'm sorry Brig, but I think this might be my favourite Main Range release of the year... {Spoiler} I will agree with another poster on here that the 'twist' is how 'Lure Of The Nomad' should have played out (not that that was a bad story, of course, this one just did it better...). I think you may be right about the Best of the year from MR. I like a story that I can replay and build on in my mind and this one has it in spades I would say.Plus we have an extremely great costume already for Peri in our minds from the glorious cover.I am sure the story has its faults but as an imaginative experience I cannot fault it I can't say that I've seen the cover in full before now (barring the 'miniature' version in the download folder), but, having looked at it just now, I will agree that it is certainly a gorgeous cover!
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Post by number13 on Dec 12, 2020 14:04:15 GMT
I had a great time with disk 1 yesterday though I did guess early on that expectations of good/bad characters were to be inverted again as in 'Scorched Earth' and that 'Percy' with his clearly alien wound was therefore really the villain of the piece - and then because of that, in the day before starting disk 2 I guessed (curses!!) the broad flow of basically what every character would turn out to be/do for the whole second half from the moment 'Percy' was shot point-blank at the cliff-hanger.
(I can 'explain my working' if anyone's really interested, but since it was only me it spoiled the reveals for, it doesn't really matter does it? )
I even guessed Oliver's twist ending. From the moment he accompanied Peri to Paris, he seemed designed (by Fate? ) to become the Pimpernel!
So it was my fault for overthinking, but despite being a really well done drama, unfortunately for me the Pimpernel's exploits didn't turn out to be 'elusive'. Drat!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2020 14:48:27 GMT
Things I would do if I had a voice like Anthony Howell: charm telephone cold-callers the world over; sharpen pencils with it; do an advert for dark, dark chocolate. I’d give anything for that voice. Talking of dark chocolate, there are some ripe and fruity French accents that brought back fond memories of Vicki ‘Oh Rene’ Michelle from UK sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo during the early parts of this excellent story.
Certain scenes reminded me a little of the 4DA ‘Justice for Jalxar’ – the sounds of destruction caused by the malfunctioning android really convey a sense of power and chaos.
I don’t usually like stories that change their style and setting halfway through. ‘The Plight of the Pimpernel’ is an exception. Much changes in episode three but it is done so skillfully it successfully enhances the story and ensures it is far more than the romp (not that there’s anything wrong with that) it seemed to be.
The Doctor’s self-deprecating outburst is wonderful – vitriolic, unforgiving and hugely theatrical. There are some blistering scenes between Colin Baker and Jamie Parker as Percy; but everyone is great here; there’s not a duff performance t be heard. I think perhaps, as was mentioned upthread, the last episode might have been trimmed a bit, but other than that minor point, John Ainsworth has crafted a wonderful world onto Chris Chapman’s best script to date, I think: monstrously good.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2020 1:33:07 GMT
Things I would do if I had a voice like Anthony Howell: charm telephone cold-callers the world over; sharpen pencils with it; do an advert for dark, dark chocolate. I’d give anything for that voice. Talking of dark chocolate, there are some ripe and fruity French accents that brought back fond memories of Vicki ‘Oh Rene’ Michelle from UK sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo during the early parts of this excellent story. Certain scenes reminded me a little of the 4DA ‘Justice for Jalxar’ – the sounds of destruction caused by the malfunctioning android really convey a sense of power and chaos. I don’t usually like stories that change their style and setting halfway through. ‘The Plight of the Pimpernel’ is an exception. Much changes in episode three but it is done so skillfully it successfully enhances the story and ensures it is far more than the romp (not that there’s anything wrong with that) it seemed to be. The Doctor’s self-deprecating outburst is wonderful – vitriolic, unforgiving and hugely theatrical. There are some blistering scenes between Colin Baker and Jamie Parker as Percy; but everyone is great here; there’s not a duff performance t be heard. I think perhaps, as was mentioned upthread, the last episode might have been trimmed a bit, but other than that minor point, John Ainsworth has crafted a wonderful world onto Chris Chapman’s best script to date, I think: monstrously good. I'd even go so far as to say that Chapman and Ainsworth have created an honest-to-goodness pseudohistorical thriller. There are wonderful moments in the script where we get a revelation that would typically occur an episode or so later, so I'm sitting there with the characters going: Okay... What do we do now? A lot of the character development is given space to breathe. The cliffhanger to "Part Three" is, I think, one of my favourites of the year and it's so much more effective because it's followed up with the Doctor and Peri. It's a really dangerous conversation. Fulfilling that initial mission statement for the Sixth Doctor, I really didn't know which way he was going to jump. Honestly, the best bit? I got swept up in it as much as the Doctor and Peri did. You're there with the characters at each turn. Their actions and reactions feel... true. Authentic to their experiences. A classic for the Season 23 crew. (There are some lovely little details too like... {Spoiler}{Spoiler}...the android being blind justice with her shining sword.)
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Post by Kestrel on Dec 13, 2020 7:13:53 GMT
So I'm kinda on a consective-MR-roll here, and I wouldn't mind seeing it through to the end, but this is the one story I'm hesitant on. Mainly because I literally only know the Pimpernel from that one Black Adder episode. So real quick, folks, thumbs up or thumbs down? This a Doctor-heavy story, or a (imagine me shuddering) Peri-heavy story?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2020 8:32:54 GMT
So I'm kinda on a consective-MR-roll here, and I wouldn't mind seeing it through to the end, but this is the one story I'm hesitant on. Mainly because I literally only know the Pimpernel from that one Black Adder episode. So real quick, folks, thumbs up or thumbs down? This a Doctor-heavy story, or a (imagine me shuddering) Peri-heavy story? I don't think you'll need much prep work beyond that episode of Blackadder. It's pretty standalone. As to whether it's a Doctor-heavy or Peri-heavy story... More Doctor-heavy, but both of them do a lot of the heavy-lifting. They're quite capable. We're well beyond their dynamic on television by this point and into the Big Finish end closer to The Trial of a Time Lord, where they've grown to be friends who rely on each other (think the Second Doctor and Jamie or the Tenth and Donna). In fact, if you're shuddering at the thought of Peri, give this one a go. Chris Chapman said in the Vortex Magazine article he wanted to capture the warm banter of Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant's real-life friendship. I think he's done that extraordinarily well. A thumbs up from here.
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Post by Kestrel on Dec 13, 2020 8:57:35 GMT
Good enough for me!
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Post by elkawho on Dec 13, 2020 14:42:03 GMT
Yes, enjoy it! It's one of my favorites of the year.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2020 15:40:19 GMT
The only Chris Chapman script that didn't work for me was Iron Bright. I've loved the rest, but I think this is his best - does anyone agree?
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Dec 13, 2020 15:53:26 GMT
Another fantastic script by Chris Chapman, starts off as a fun romp & then effortlessly changes to a more serious tale with a strong & not easily answered moral dilemma at it's core. {Spoiler} particularly interesting given the Doctor's subsequent genocidal actions to end the time war.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2020 16:35:57 GMT
The only Chris Chapman script that didn't work for me was Iron Bright. I've loved the rest, but I think this is his best - does anyone agree? it’s a great trip definitely may he continue to get better and better
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Post by Who Review on Dec 13, 2020 22:57:47 GMT
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Post by karldwilliams on Dec 14, 2020 1:13:42 GMT
The only Chris Chapman script that didn't work for me was Iron Bright. I've loved the rest, but I think this is his best - does anyone agree? I agree this is his best yet and I thought he'd be hard pushed to top Scorched Earth which I also loved but this has the edge. That said I also enjoyed Iron Bright, an enjoyable story although not his strongest.
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Post by number13 on Dec 14, 2020 1:44:07 GMT
As it's been mentioned... I liked 'Iron Bright' a lot, the Brunels, the setting and the sci-fi all worked very well imo.
One which hasn't been mentioned, so I will because it's my favourite CC story to date: 'Hosts of the Wirrn' in UNIT Vol 7. Exactly what I wanted from a New UNIT story, the perfect mix of science, action and human drama. I listened to it three times over when it came out!
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Post by barnabaslives on Dec 14, 2020 1:57:01 GMT
Haven't heard Scorched Earth yet but I think very highly of Iron Bright. I think I'd be hard pressed to say whether I like Iron Bright or Plight of the Pimpernel better although it's definitely better having Peri along.
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Post by Whovitt on Dec 14, 2020 3:42:53 GMT
I enjoyed this story well enough, but I'm a bit confused over one plot point: in the first half of the story, a point is made that it's a bad thing they've all be acting as the Pimpernel as they've been saving many lives that weren't meant to be saved. I may have missed the explanation, but I don't recall that problem being resolved. History was still changed and nothing was done to attempt to correct anything. Surely this causes some Web of Time problems?
Beyond that, I'll agree that the "epilogue" needed to be much shorter. I kept finding my attention wandering while I was waiting for it all to be over. The story itself was otherwise fine, though I thought the "twist" about what happened on the planet was painfully obvious. It's the way I'd expect a Doctor Who story to go, so if it hadn't I'd have probably been disappointed.
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Post by constonks on Dec 14, 2020 6:05:52 GMT
Finally got around to the second half of this story and loved it - totally get what other people have said about this being a great show of Peri and the Doc's character development - all that "I haven't seen him like this in a long time" stuff is marvelous. Like, he killed Shockeye, right? So it's believable that he might murder a genocidal maniac... even if you know he probably won't... Good story, definitely a strong final outing for this duo in the Monthly Range - only the second TARDIS team to arrive at Big Finish, and here they are, twenty-one years later, better than ever! Edit: to Whovitt's post above: Two thoughts: 1. Within the story, that plot point seemed to be more of a hint that time travel was involved at all, especially as they made sure the Pimpernel would keep on saving people - and they didn't seem to care about the Web of Time there. 2. Maybe it did cause ripples! It's not long now before they'll put the Doctor on trial for things like that...
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Post by fingersmash on Dec 14, 2020 14:21:51 GMT
I think this is one I'm going to have to return to just because it went in places I personally wouldn't have sent it in. I don't know how I feel about the Percy twist. What I did love was the supporting cast here, especially Oliver. Also, this might be one of the best Peri stories in all of Doctor Who. That final conflict between Peri and Percy was a masterpiece and really sells and adds to the Doctor-Peri friendship.
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Post by tuigirl on Dec 15, 2020 14:39:05 GMT
Just finished this. It was quite fun! I enjoyed myself. Plus, it has a great twist and the villain is presented in a very unique and original way. I however admit that I know next to nothing about the fictional literary character and these stories, so I am happy that Colin had so much fun with this and got his wish with doing this story. In general, the performance is great and Colin and Nicola are at their best. Isn't it amazing that Colin still brings so much energy to these stories?
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