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Post by theillusiveman on May 13, 2021 8:20:15 GMT
15 mins in its been decent so far Eccleston’s performance is pretty good
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2021 8:30:24 GMT
Off for a swim at 10am - I expect the reviews will be in by the time I get back
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2021 8:42:32 GMT
I'm already 10 minutes into Sphere of Freedom, and it's all sounding FANTASTIC!!
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on May 13, 2021 9:08:35 GMT
I have it, downloaded. Did anyone think this day would really come? I didn't.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2021 9:09:43 GMT
Well Totally nails his Doctors persona and captures his era congratulations to NICK BRIGGS on the first episode....looking forward to the rest of the stories. Chris turns in a tuned down (a plus) performance totally loving it
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Post by theillusiveman on May 13, 2021 9:13:37 GMT
Well finished listening to episode 1 It was alright nothing really groundbreaking and it didn’t really hold my attention Eccleston gave a good performance though it’s kinda jarring at times with the enthusiasm from his tv performance
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Post by shallacatop on May 13, 2021 9:13:47 GMT
I'm going to cry with how gorgeous and perfect this is: Brilliant trailer, love how it utilises that very first trailer Eccleston did back in 2005 to cover the Big Finish tenure. And that glimpse of the Cyberman at the end! Loving the design; a cross between the Tomb variant and the Machine Man.
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Post by Kestrel on May 13, 2021 9:15:54 GMT
Just finished Sphere of Freedom. My immediate post-listen hot take? Nova > Rose. Immediate slightly-more-nuanced take(s): - The nonlinear story structure works really well.
- The big-budget, completely imaginary set-piece of the 1959 scene was fantastic--really set up the scope and scale and stakes of the adventure beautifully.
- It's been 15 years, but Eccleston slips back into the role perfectly, like he'd never left. Easily one of the best debut stories for a new Doctor (and that's essentially what this is, being pre-Rose.
- I don't really think often of Briggs' writing (too busy thinking of him making Dalek noises), but it's hard not to notice how perfectly he captures the 9th Doctor's voice here. The dialog is all just... completely spot-on.
- Will definitely have more to say on this after finishing the set, but so far it feels like Ravagers is striking a significantly distinct tone to RTD's Who, and the Doctor's character also feels somewhat different--in a good way. Like they're leaving themselves room for the character and universe to "grow into" what we ultimately see in Rose.
- Music and sound mixing are superb!
I'm so excited! After all the hype and expectation, it would have really sucked if this had turned out to be a mediocre release, huh? This is incredible. Everything I could possibly have wanted out of the 9DAs and then some. Here's hoping the story gets even more deliciously timely-wimey in the back-half!
Now i just have to decide if I should grab a couple ours of sleep, or keep listening and just push through 'till dawn.
EDIT: I have it, downloaded. Did anyone think this day would really come? I didn't. Yeah, it's pretty surreal when something ya' hype up for so long finally comes out. Especially if it winds up being even better than you'd expected. Only happened to me a handful of times: The Two Towers, Persona 4, Witcher 3, and... that's about it. In my entire life, I've never anticipated any Doctor Who media more than this. It's incredible. I can't help but think it must be similar to how it felt for all the older times the other time Eccleston's Doctor debuted.
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Post by Ian McArdell on May 13, 2021 9:17:12 GMT
My review is now up on CultBox - "... a planet hopping, temporal conundrum full of universal implications." I loved it and Eccleston feels like he's never been away. Fantastic! (obvs).
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2021 9:27:44 GMT
Mine is downloading, and looks set to continue for a while, so I'm going for a walk to take my mind off how much I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure a man of my years should be this excited.
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Post by Kestrel on May 13, 2021 9:31:43 GMT
Mine is downloading, and looks set to continue for a while, so I'm going for a walk to take my mind off how much I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure a man of my years should be this excited. Never let your inner child die! Personally, as soon as I heard, "You're listening to a Big Finish Production," I loudly declared, "You're damned right I am!" At 4AM. My very, VERY sleepy golden retriever sat up, rolled over and glowered at me. Then she made me scratch her chin for the next 25 minutes straight.
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Post by theillusiveman on May 13, 2021 11:09:48 GMT
Finished the boxset i will say that the story did improve as it went by so was a fairly decent release
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Post by project37 on May 13, 2021 11:24:50 GMT
Listened to the first episode during my morning walk and plan on savoring these over the next few days instead of binge-listening. A few spoiler-free thoughts after hearing Sphere of Freedom...
I've seen it said elsewhere but I really applaud the creative decision to *not* recreate Saturday nights in 2005. The Tennant audios haven't aged well for me personally because most of them tread water within a general style and tone. Many of them feel more like supplements to his television episodes rather than exploring new territory (and I recognize the creative boundaries the team had to respect).
I agree with Eccleston's take that his television episodes stand very strongly on their own, so I was very pleased to hear what felt like a natural step forward for the Ninth Doctor in terms of characterization, plot, supporting cast, and even the music (I was dreading Murray Gold-lite). I appreciated the effort to cast fresh voices, establish new characters, limit the technobabble, and set a new tone. It's not 2005, it's 2021, and with this first story at least, I got a Ninth Doctor that was familiar yet doing something different and interesting instead of trying to recreate the past. I love that! I'm only one episode in, but I respect and appreciate the bold choices made here and what they accomplished (introducing a companion before Rose and somehow making her quite likeable!). It's not an all-time classic by any means, but it's a solid start that has me wanting to hear more. Maybe a 7.5/10? That said, it's been a while since I've felt energized about new BF Doctor Who, and so far this is delivering.
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Post by mark687 on May 13, 2021 11:40:36 GMT
Done
Fantastic Performances Ok Story
Chris is flawless Camilla is very strong Companion material, sound design very good, unfortunately I found the antagonist over aggravating, as in lets pause the story and antagonize instead of providing any useful information or even as the story pans out be slightly sympathetic with the frustration of the situation.
4/5
Regards
mark687
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Post by theillusiveman on May 13, 2021 12:15:14 GMT
Done Fantastic Performances Ok Story Chris is flawless Camilla is very strong Companion material, sound design very good, unfortunately I found the antagonistic over aggravating, as in lets pause the story and antagonize instead any useful information and be sympathetic with the frustration of the situation. 4/5 Regards mark687 Pretty much how i felt about the whole thing. i must admit i kept getting real Scream of the shalka companion vibes with Nova which she did grate on me though
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Post by mark687 on May 13, 2021 12:18:37 GMT
Done Fantastic Performances Ok Story Chris is flawless Camilla is very strong Companion material, sound design very good, unfortunately I found the antagonistic over aggravating, as in lets pause the story and antagonize instead any useful information and be sympathetic with the frustration of the situation. 4/5 Regards mark687 Pretty much how i felt about the whole thing. i must admit i kept getting real Scream of the shalka companion vibes with Nova which she did grate on me though
Nova fills the Companion Role in a what you hear is what you get way so she was fine. Regards mark687
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2021 12:39:39 GMT
Sphere of Freedom has obviously been put together with a great deal of love and feel for the Ninth Doctor's era. The quick-paced opening, the 'take my hand' stuff' and post-credits subsequent relaxing of pace is reminiscent of the way Rose opened all those many years ago. The story I found a bit of a clutter, if I'm honest, albeit with a great pay-off - I'm not sure about the decision to make much of the actual adventure very unlike most of what the Ninth Doctor faced on television. Some of the dialogue was lovely, some of it quite awkward - which actually did echo the style of Chris's television stories (no complaint re: the dialogue, by the way. The way the Ninth Doctor speaks is often packed with twisting sentences).
Howard Carter - always a welcome name in the credits - provides some great music. I wasn't a huge fan of the way Murray Gold's scores used to swamp everything in those early episodes, so it's nice to have a balanced level of incidental music.
I can't fault Chris Eccleston's performance. The danger is, after such a lot of anticipation, the results could be anti-climactic; but that's not the case here. He's on fire, full of energy, enthusiasm, even when the story doesn't keep up with him.
Roll on Cataclysm!
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2021 14:16:56 GMT
I was very wary of these when announced as I cannot say I was a great fan of the Ecclestone era but it’s a 5/5 for me the excesses have been stripped back and Ecclestone gives a superb performance as for the script it’s relisten worthy and again all I ask for but for a first listen I totally enjoyed it incidental music direction performances and soundscaping with fine performances from all who were cast.I shall in due course be ordering Volume 2 as it was pretty entertaining
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Post by shallacatop on May 13, 2021 14:31:01 GMT
I thought the Ravagers story itself was a bit of a mess. I couldn't really tell you what went off; it has a weird imbalance from frantic pacing to stopping to a complete standstill to spout some exposition and technobabble. Sphere of Freedom played its hand too late with the flashbacks; they felt they existed to justify what was happening in the present at that particular moment, rather than something meaningful and organic in the episode. And I don't think anyone could have sold that last five minutes of Food Fight.
The sound design and music was brilliant throughout, just what we expect from Big Finish. I think it does take cues from Murray Gold's great big score, but it does its own thing too and feels masterfully placed. Guest cast wise, I thought Camilla Beeput was great as Nova, I liked the character, she's straight to the point and she holds her own opposite Eccleston. I didn't mind Jayne McKenna as Audrey, but felt a lot of the material she was given was too antagonistic and exposition heavy, so I never got a good feel for the character and McKenna feels worse off as a result. I love Dan Starkey, but he just played Strax in this and it kept taking me out, especially in Food Fight.
And as for our lead man himself? He's a real tour de force! The energy and enthusiasm Chris showed through it infectious, I cannot fault him for that at all. I still maintain that he plays the Doctor akin to if he had a second or third series, and I do find that hard to reconcile, but I think it's something I will just need to get over. Chris doesn't want to touch upon what he did on TV and the irony is we have a tenure that is pretty much exclusively TV; sometimes you just have to make these concessions in order to get the output. Having said that, his final confrontation in Food Fight was a real highlight; a throwback to 2005 and Chris was giving it his all. I think if he shows more of that in the later sets I can live with that.
In terms of the Ninth Doctor's overall era, it's difficult to accept this is pre-Rose if you put much thought into it. Even down to the ending where the Doctor offers Nova a trip. It does undermine his one series, but as I said above, it's one of those things where you need to make a concession or you wouldn't be getting Chris at all. I shouldn't complain too much, as I am all for new eras and original companions, it's just we're dealing with an incarnation that doesn't really have that. Certainly the coup of getting Chris back does overshadow it for now!
Looking forward to the second set. We don't know anything about it, I'm assuming it'll have a variety of writers. Chris shows glimpses of a performance more like what he did on screen in Ravagers, I just hope we can tap into that a bit more.
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Post by barnabaslives on May 13, 2021 14:33:18 GMT
I've heard the first two stories. Excellent IMHO, and welcome back, Christopher!
I sometimes try to keep myself in the dark about details of releases - authors, cast, synopses - especially with something as huge as this where I think there's that risk of building up unrealistic expectations.
I think besides the amazing work by the cast there's probably a bit to be said to Nick's credit so far, including that I'd really gotten curious who wrote it by the end of the second story, I figured probably two up and coming writers whose names I should really know.
I don't want to make it sound like I don't think Nick can come up with very good stories on his own, lol, but I am curious how closely he might have worked together with Chris on this first outing regarding content and direction. I'm surprised, but I really like the feel of this so far in contrast to the Ninth Doctor's TV run.
Also I think Nick and Camille must deserve some praise over how well Nova is working out for me as a companion, and amid all the other adjusting to do here (As in OMG is it really him? On audio? etc - all new data to process, lol). That's really not as easy to do as they made it look to have bang, instant companion, whereas I'm probably still trying to think of Bliss as a companion and Yasmin really only relatively recently, but I think Ninth Doctor companions might be especially tricky as there may be a bit of a void there that can fill up with high expectations.
There also seemed to be some special care taken with the Ninth Doctor's lines, and I appreciated that I could just listen to the dialog and think, "Yup, that's him!" while my ear was still adjusting.
Very enjoyable and very painless start to things so far, which I think calls for a big "Well done!", even if I've a couple mixed feelings about whether I needed another female scoundrel in the particular vein (I think they're starting to run together?), but maybe that pans out with a poignant reason for being in the next part.
I just hope it's not a cliffhanger, I can only hang from so many cliffs at a time, lol.
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