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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2021 12:54:18 GMT
Of the three Doctor Who buys this month (this and the Early Years releases), I'd say I enjoyed this the most (and the others are very good). I've a soft spot for big, sprawling stories. Could this have been a four-parter? Yes, if you cut out this scene and that scene. Having said that, if you then cut out more scenes, it could have been a single discer. Does the story justify the extra length? I would say yes: there's enough going on here, and the pace is leisurely enough to tell the tale but also put flesh on the bones of the characters. I'm all for that. The villain's voice: I would never have questioned if if someone hadn't said he sounds like Papa Lazarous (is it deliberate? At one point, Flindor even says, "It's my ship nooow!")! He sounds deranged and menacing enough to put the wind up me, in the best unsubtle Michael Spice style, and he inspires quite a few other genuinely eerie moments.
Leela's rage is very effective, as is the whole 'Doctor Who/folk horror' style.
The Doctor is reflective and angry much of the time and reminds me very much of the Series 18 version, and Tom's full of vigour and fire.
This certainly isn't the most dynamic or spectacular story ever told (although there's a wonderfully charged, apocalyptic finale) and probably shouldn't be attempted in one sitting - but that is true of all six-parters, I think. I certainly hope we get more longer stories like this in the future. |
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Aug 23, 2021 17:16:20 GMT
Of the three Doctor Who buys this month (this and the Early Years releases), I'd say I enjoyed this the most (and the others are very good). I've a soft spot for big, sprawling stories. Could this have been a four-parter? Yes, if you cut out this scene and that scene. Having said that, if you then cut out more scenes, it could have been a single discer. Does the story justify the extra length? I would say yes: there's enough going on here, and the pace is leisurely enough to tell the tale but also put flesh on the bones of the characters. I'm all for that. The villain's voice: I would never have questioned if if someone hadn't said he sounds like Papa Lazarous (is it deliberate? At one point, Flindor even says, "It's my ship nooow!")! He sounds deranged and menacing enough to put the wind up me, in the best unsubtle Michael Spice style, and he inspires quite a few other genuinely eerie moments.
Leela's rage is very effective, as is the whole 'Doctor Who/folk horror' style.
The Doctor is reflective and angry much of the time and reminds me very much of the Series 18 version, and Tom's full of vigour and fire.
This certainly isn't the most dynamic or spectacular story ever told (although there's a wonderfully charged, apocalyptic finale) and probably shouldn't be attempted in one sitting - but that is true of all six-parters, I think. I certainly hope we get more longer stories like this in the future. That is the best reminder/piece of advice I’ll receive all week. |
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Post by masterdoctor on Aug 23, 2021 19:00:22 GMT
Out of the Classic Who releases this month, this was my least anticipated. But after listening to all three, It’s by far my favourite!
I split it up over the course of a day in the airport, but apart for Part 5 dragging a tad, I think it was paced wonderfully. The entire cast was excellent, but Tim Faulkner, Nigel Fairs and Sam Stafford(who is a friend through my podcast) we’re all especially good.
As for Tom and Louise, I think Louise nudges for better performance(though I think that for most 4 and Leela stories). Just so rounded and the genuine emotion Jameson brings to some of the phantom scenes was phenomenal.
One thing I would have changed is the Gallifreyian connections. Just felt a bit unnecessary, and didn’t add too much IMO.
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Post by muckypup on Aug 23, 2021 21:24:37 GMT
Ok, so it was pretty good in the end…….just a bit saggy in the middle……and the papa laz voice did make me smile (pity there was no one called dave!)
But entertaining, and enjoyed it……like that leela had lots to do.
Here’s to hoping we get a volume 5
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Post by mark687 on Aug 24, 2021 12:37:48 GMT
Extended DL of Music Suite available in Bonus Content Box in Accounts
Regards
mark687
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Post by Chakoteya on Aug 26, 2021 12:47:06 GMT
Soo... not gotten around to this yet.
Please be honest with me.
It appears that Discord channel people hate it and are happy to say so, forum people are more polite and refrain from negative speech...?
Or is it that Discord channel people have got into the habit of saying negative things because it's easier and gets you noticed?
Because I want to like it when I hear it, but don't want to go into it with too high expectations. If that makes sense.
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Post by mark687 on Aug 26, 2021 13:48:10 GMT
Soo... not gotten around to this yet. Please be honest with me. It appears that Discord channel people hate it and are happy to say so, forum people are more polite and refrain from negative speech...? Or is it that Discord channel people have got into the habit of saying negative things because it's easier and gets you noticed? Because I want to like it when I hear it, but don't want to go into it with too high expectations. If that makes sense. So Honest Answer if You Like the others in the Range You'll Like this as i Posted earliar its not groundbreaking but good solid cozy classic Who. Regards mark687 |
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Post by masterdoctor on Aug 26, 2021 16:18:37 GMT
Soo... not gotten around to this yet. Please be honest with me. It appears that Discord channel people hate it and are happy to say so, forum people are more polite and refrain from negative speech...? Or is it that Discord channel people have got into the habit of saying negative things because it's easier and gets you noticed? Because I want to like it when I hear it, but don't want to go into it with too high expectations. If that makes sense. Well… I can’t speak for anyone specifically, but I know that when I posted my thoughts, I posted what I thought freely. I’ve never been on said discord, but they likely are under the impression that their vacuum chamber of thought means others differing opinions are less valid. Discord is also a private group chat compared to our public forum, so we rightfully voice our opinions in a respectful way realizing anyone might read what we post. |
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Post by Chakoteya on Aug 26, 2021 16:51:11 GMT
Soo... not gotten around to this yet. Please be honest with me. It appears that Discord channel people hate it and are happy to say so, forum people are more polite and refrain from negative speech...? Or is it that Discord channel people have got into the habit of saying negative things because it's easier and gets you noticed? Because I want to like it when I hear it, but don't want to go into it with too high expectations. If that makes sense. So Honest Answer if You Like the others in the Range You'll Like this as i Posted earliar its not groundbreaking but good solid cozy classic Who. Regards mark687 Cozy/cosy I'll take. Many thanks you two (Mark and masterdoctor) for taking the time to reply. |
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Aug 26, 2021 23:36:07 GMT
I’m so glad I heeded the advice and spread this one out over a few days. A perfectly enjoyable 70s era Doctor Who story. Marc Platt is one of those writers who I either adore or well, not adore….fortunately this story was the former. I especially loved the writing for the final episode.
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Post by redsharkJason on Aug 27, 2021 1:28:36 GMT
So Honest Answer if You Like the others in the Range You'll Like this as i Posted earliar its not groundbreaking but good solid cozy classic Who. Regards mark687 Cozy/cosy I'll take. Many thanks you two (Mark and masterdoctor) for taking the time to reply. The overall story and its characters are middling. It is very evident though that PHP 4 from top to bottom was made with love. It's an opportunity to enjoy a "slow pace" storytelling (which was Phillip's aim) within a *rare* BF 6-parter that does have story padding just like you would come across on the original show. The ambience sounds are immersing and the soap opera-like character interactions are charming. A strong 7/10 and I chose 4/5 for this thread's poll. This audio especially on replay provided me with a lot of satisfaction. I didn't like the villain's voice on first encounter (I interpreted it too literally that it wasn't realistic) and then after that I loved its *intentional* over-the-topness. As Mark touched upon - God of Phantoms brought me back to the "cosy" times of watching Doctor Who during my childhood. |
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Aug 27, 2021 12:32:33 GMT
Didn't enjoy this. Baker & Jameson are surprisingly off form, Baker seemed bored just going through the motions & Leela as written here didn't feel much like the Leela from the TV show. The supporting characters were very two dimensional due to the cliched script & bad performances. The villain was awful, so annoying & not at all convincing or threatening with his stupid voice, growling & terrible acting; how many times did he say his own name? Too much time was spent on repetitive set up & going over the same plot ideas again & again, 6 episodes are just too many there is not enough story here to justify the running time. The plotting & pacing is a mess & I just ended up not being that engaged in what was going on. Adding a Gallifreyan connection to events seemed unnecessary & it's another story with the trope of the Doctor having his memory wiped which immediately bores me. My concentration wandered on many occasions especially during the overlong finale with so much dialogue, I kept thinking just get on with it! - when Baker said "It's time to end this nonsense once & for all" I couldn't have agreed more.
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Post by redsharkJason on Aug 27, 2021 20:00:35 GMT
Didn't enjoy this. Baker & Jameson are surprisingly off form, Baker seemed bored just going through the motions & Leela as written here didn't feel much like the Leela from the TV show. The supporting characters were very two dimensional due to the cliched script & bad performances. The villain was awful, so annoying & not at all convincing or threatening with his stupid voice, growling & terrible acting; how many times did he say his own name? Too much time was spent on repetitive set up & going over the same plot ideas again & again, 6 episodes are just too many there is not enough story here to justify the running time. The plotting & pacing is a mess & I just ended up not being that engaged in what was going on. Adding a Gallifreyan connection to events seemed unnecessary & it's another story with the trope of the Doctor having his memory wiped which immediately bores me. My concentration wandered on many occasions especially during the overlong finale with so much dialogue, I kept thinking just get on with it! - when Baker said "It's time to end this nonsense once & for all" I couldn't have agreed more. Your thoughts about PHP 4 are probably not a crowd pleaser, but I do appreciate most of your pointed out interpretations. I differ in thinking that it's too well polished of a production to award it a minimum score and Tom Baker did not seem "bored". Tired and broken at times (that he was licked by the villain) and for long stretches too serious sounding to authentically match his happy-go-lucky 1977 Doctor, yes. I'm wondering if Nick Briggs was the director would he have amended that by trying to infuse even the tiniest bit of Doctor time humour. Whether Tom was written/told to be so serious or that was his personal interpretation of his part, I do have an unwavering impression that *he gave it his all* within his 87 year old body. |
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Aug 27, 2021 21:10:10 GMT
Didn't enjoy this. Baker & Jameson are surprisingly off form, Baker seemed bored just going through the motions & Leela as written here didn't feel much like the Leela from the TV show. The supporting characters were very two dimensional due to the cliched script & bad performances. The villain was awful, so annoying & not at all convincing or threatening with his stupid voice, growling & terrible acting; how many times did he say his own name? Too much time was spent on repetitive set up & going over the same plot ideas again & again, 6 episodes are just too many there is not enough story here to justify the running time. The plotting & pacing is a mess & I just ended up not being that engaged in what was going on. Adding a Gallifreyan connection to events seemed unnecessary & it's another story with the trope of the Doctor having his memory wiped which immediately bores me. My concentration wandered on many occasions especially during the overlong finale with so much dialogue, I kept thinking just get on with it! - when Baker said "It's time to end this nonsense once & for all" I couldn't have agreed more. Your thoughts about PHP 4 are probably not a crowd pleaser, but I do appreciate most of your pointed out interpretations. I differ in thinking that it's too well polished of a production to award it a minimum score and Tom Baker did not seem "bored". Tired and broken at times (that he was licked by the villain) and for long stretches too serious sounding to authentically match his happy-go-lucky 1977 Doctor, yes. I'm wondering if Nick Briggs was the director would he have amended that by trying to infuse even the tiniest bit of Doctor time humour. Whether Tom was written/told to be so serious or that was his personal interpretation of his part, I do have an unwavering impression that *he gave it his all* within his 87 year old body. Yeah. Tom Baker isn’t Paul McGann. I don’t think he does bored when it comes to the Doctor. I do think he sounded older than we perhaps used to hearing him. He certainly sounded a little hoarse through most of it. |
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Post by davygallagher on Aug 27, 2021 21:30:45 GMT
Your thoughts about PHP 4 are probably not a crowd pleaser, but I do appreciate most of your pointed out interpretations. I differ in thinking that it's too well polished of a production to award it a minimum score and Tom Baker did not seem "bored". Tired and broken at times (that he was licked by the villain) and for long stretches too serious sounding to authentically match his happy-go-lucky 1977 Doctor, yes. I'm wondering if Nick Briggs was the director would he have amended that by trying to infuse even the tiniest bit of Doctor time humour. Whether Tom was written/told to be so serious or that was his personal interpretation of his part, I do have an unwavering impression that *he gave it his all* within his 87 year old body. Yeah. Tom Baker isn’t Paul McGann. I don’t think he does bored when it comes to the Doctor. I do think he sounded older than we perhaps used to hearing him. He certainly sounded a little hoarse through most of it. Damn skippy. If anyone wants to know what Tom Baker phoning it in is like....I'd have a rewatch of Horns Of Nimon. |
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Post by The Brigadier on Aug 28, 2021 9:44:27 GMT
Sooo...judging by comments here..
A traditional 1970's teatime Doctor Who six parter that might be a bit overlong and possibly drag in the middle (sounds about right so far)..
A villain veering headlong into Graham Cowden levels of shameless overacting (again, ticks the right boxes)..
A plot that might be a labour of love, just about on point or all over the place with unnecessary or not Gallifreyian connections bolted in (ditto)..
And our series leads either bringing or not bringing their usual 'A' game to the production and in the case of Tom sounding either his age, too serious or just plain bored (Tom Baker? Bored? As if! Frankly though if a still working octogenarian sounds his age or is too serious or a little bored then I'm more than happy to cut him some slack)..
....you do know I'm going to have to buy this one now just to satisfy my curiosity..
😊
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Post by muckypup on Aug 28, 2021 9:58:05 GMT
Soo... not gotten around to this yet. Please be honest with me. It appears that Discord channel people hate it and are happy to say so, forum people are more polite and refrain from negative speech...? Or is it that Discord channel people have got into the habit of saying negative things because it's easier and gets you noticed? Because I want to like it when I hear it, but don't want to go into it with too high expectations. If that makes sense. Has the name not given you the clue yet……. discord……..spreads discord…….vile place…… trust me, it’s not the best in the range but stick with it enjoyable enough……..silly voices aside do yourself a favour……delete discord, I used it for a game I play and people forget they talking to humans i would rather be top 100 rather than be top ten and use that place |
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Post by Chakoteya on Aug 28, 2021 10:28:26 GMT
Soo... not gotten around to this yet. Please be honest with me. It appears that Discord channel people hate it and are happy to say so, forum people are more polite and refrain from negative speech...? Or is it that Discord channel people have got into the habit of saying negative things because it's easier and gets you noticed? Because I want to like it when I hear it, but don't want to go into it with too high expectations. If that makes sense. Has the name not given you the clue yet……. discord……..spreads discord…….vile place…… trust me, it’s not the best in the range but stick with it enjoyable enough……..silly voices aside do yourself a favour……delete discord, I used it for a game I play and people forget they talking to humans i would rather be top 100 rather than be top ten and use that place But they invited me.... and there's more to the Whovian fandom channel(s) than the few audiodrama naysayers...
Anyway, I only go there for the updates and freebies on a passive online game that my computer plays for me.  Thanks for the reply.
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Post by Chakoteya on Aug 28, 2021 16:33:23 GMT
Just making a start on listening, in amongst all the other stuff I have got to get done. Yikes, do low tech colonists always need to have Mummerset accents and mutter into their beards? Mystery building up nicely though. |
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Post by redsharkJason on Aug 28, 2021 22:05:47 GMT
Sooo...judging by comments here.. A traditional 1970's teatime Doctor Who six parter that might be a bit overlong and possibly drag in the middle (sounds about right so far).. A villain veering headlong into Graham Cowden levels of shameless overacting (again, ticks the right boxes).. A plot that might be a labour of love, just about on point or all over the place with unnecessary or not Gallifreyian connections bolted in (ditto).. And our series leads either bringing or not bringing their usual 'A' game to the production and in the case of Tom sounding either his age, too serious or just plain bored (Tom Baker? Bored? As if! Frankly though if a still working octogenarian sounds his age or is too serious or a little bored then I'm more than happy to cut him some slack).. ....you do know I'm going to have to buy this one now just to satisfy my curiosity.. 😊 You're a perceptive notetaker and with number13 on a DU holiday the brunt of cheerful disposition rests on you.  God of Phantoms was a "lot of time spent / 2-3 years in development" (paraphrasing from David Richardson) labour of love from Phillip. Louise and Tom don't do a 'B' game and neither one of them would knowingly put in a bad performance. Phillip said: "Tom and Louise enjoy it enormously" (participating in Big Finish audios). Tom is at a stage of his life where he takes his Doctor Who pretty seriously and is trying to leave us fans with the best possible legacy of his Doctor that he can. I can understand that this longer style of story won't be for everyone. It doesn't have any mind blowing happenings and you're not going to find any truly memorable side character personalities such as Jago and Professor Litefoot. Phillip doesn't have his specialized ace (Bob Holmes) anymore, so he does his best to be a sufficient writer. This offering is a nice alternative to the 1-hour whiz-bang and done type of experience. It was Marc Platt's selection to do a 6-parter. Another thing that hasn't been directly brought up in this thread is that Joe Kraemer's music and sound design are always amazing. If I was a Big Finish producer, I would be constantly clamoring to obtain his services. Good on David Richardson for locking up Joe for PHP 4. |
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