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Post by mark687 on Apr 27, 2021 8:52:42 GMT
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Apr 27, 2021 8:53:26 GMT
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Post by Kestrel on Apr 27, 2021 9:50:29 GMT
Ooh, finally! I'm really looking forward to this one, though it'll likely be a while before I can get around to listening to it. It'll be very interesting to see how they handle Shakespeare this time around, given the number of other stories he's popped up in.
I also wonder if this set will include anything to foreshadow or otherwise set up the "big changes" Big Finish has teased for the future of the range....
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Post by Whovitt on Apr 27, 2021 10:11:11 GMT
Does anyone know if they'll be releasing individual episode titles for these stories? They have for the previous four sets and my track listings will look inconsistent without them
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Post by mark687 on Apr 27, 2021 10:28:33 GMT
Does anyone know if they'll be releasing individual episode titles for these stories? They have for the previous four sets and my track listings will look inconsistent without them They Haven't but should they Mr Dorney?! Regards mark687
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Post by theillusiveman on Apr 27, 2021 11:05:18 GMT
Does anyone know if they'll be releasing individual episode titles for these stories? They have for the previous four sets and my track listings will look inconsistent without them Didn’t they stop them around Volume 2?
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Post by Whovitt on Apr 27, 2021 11:18:00 GMT
Does anyone know if they'll be releasing individual episode titles for these stories? They have for the previous four sets and my track listings will look inconsistent without them Didn’t they stop them around Volume 2? No. You can find the individual names in the Backstage section of all the previous volumes on the website.
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Post by mark687 on Apr 27, 2021 13:16:14 GMT
For the Glory is a great and at times darkly humored commentary on Society/ Inequality and Crown is another very good Historical Drama, added factor all 4 leads now seem fully comfortable in their roles and there are some very strong supporting performances.
Regards
mark687
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Post by theillusiveman on Apr 27, 2021 14:09:35 GMT
Just finished The Hollow Crown Was a fairly decent audio, Great Performances from The Leads, i did have an issue with one of the characters voices in the story which kinda made it a bit head scratching but its a minor quibble. The Ending was really good and with the nature in the final 5 mins i do wonder if leads into Volume 6 or another hartnell story
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Post by newt5996 on Apr 28, 2021 3:10:30 GMT
Honestly an excellent box set. I think I preferred The Hollow Crown for its historical stuff and I just love Susan and Judith Shakespeare's relationship.
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Post by Whovitt on May 1, 2021 8:33:07 GMT
I really loved the first two volumes of this series, and I thought the third was a very 50/50 split in terms of quality. Re-reading my opinion of Volume 4, I was surprised to find I'd enjoyed Return to Skaro at the time. I don't have any fond feeling for it retrospectively. And now we have Volume 5. If you enjoyed this set and/or don't want to read a lot of negativity about it, this is your friendly warning you mightn't want to read any further For what it's worth, I don't think For the Glory of Urth was a bad story at its core; I'm sure there's enough there for others to have really liked it. I didn't find myself enjoying it at all though. Well, I did enjoy a couple of scenes with Daddy Dominus because he had a few amusing lines ("Lasers..."), but nothing much beyond that. Of the five guest characters, you're only supposed to like one - Brooskin. I did like them, but the vocal distortion was so bad that I genuinely had to replay at least 50% of their lines two or three times before I had even a vague idea of what they were saying. That was a pretty instant strike against the story. Then you have the other four characters, none of whom were nice. They were all arrogant, selfish, sadistic, and generally unpleasant. And the xenophobic "theme" (xenophobia felt more like a character, that's how thickly it was laid on) was just plain nasty in places. The deaths of Mummy and Sissy was also one of the most ridiculous moments I've heard in anything. "Hey, I'm a cruel, sadistic person. I wonder what the pain of this really painful thing is like?" ZAP! Scream! I can't for the life of me comprehend what the hell kind of place you have to be in mentally to do something like that. But maybe that's more a flaw in my perception than one with the story. Either way, it was a really uncomfortable moment to listen to. Then we have The Hollow Crown. Oh, boy. To me, it felt like everything in this story was wrong, from start to finish. Point 1: Changing History. This story makes two complete, unmistakeable references to The Aztecs, an adventure where this TARDIS crew learnt once and for all that "You can't rewrite history, not one line!". And yet... Exasperation is an understatement for the feelings I had listening to this. At every turn, pretty much everyone seems to believe they can change history this time. Even flipping Barbara is eventually convinced on the basis that Shakespeare apparently has a second son (who was so obviously a young woman that I refuse to acknowledge the frustration I had with how dense everyone was being)! What's the point in making a direct reference to the story in which she accepts she can't change history if your intention is to make her try anyway? It completely negates the existence of The Aztecs altogether if you're going to ignore all of that character development. If I've got to chose between the two in terms of maintaining continuity, I know which story I'm prepared to drop... Point 2: Whose Side Are You On? Seriously, what the hell was Susan doing in the first half of this? She says she isn't going to help Jude, then Jude tells her to jump out of a window. Susan says she can't do it, so Jude offers to jump with her. After this event, Susan was suddenly all for helping Jude in her endeavours. I mean... what?! How does someone forcing you to jump out of a first story window make you start agreeing with them? And then, after they've finally put the play on, having said she's going to support Jude no matter what, Susan suddenly becomes all concerned about how this is going to affect William! She had been told the position this would put him in and yet she went ahead with it anyway, so what was supposed to be the moment that she suddenly realised what she was doing was bad for Will? And why did she suddenly stop supporting Jude in favour of Will? I just didn't understand anything behind Susan's motivations in any way at all. Point 3: Pre-Existing Continuity. In The Shakespeare Code, Shakespeare is shown to have deduced that the Doctor and Martha are space/time travellers, who have seen more things than he can imagine. Suddenly, another "Doctor" turns up with tales of having encountered the Aztecs. How was this man, a supposed genius, not able to put two and two together here? It acts against everything the character was portrayed as in TSC and is kind of insulting as a result. And then we have the Queen, who met three different Doctor's simultaneously! As if she isn't going to be in the least bit suspicious of this new man who also goes by the name "the Doctor". It just seems so utterly absurd to me. There are probably other points about both stories that I can't think of in this moment, but I figure I've probably laid into them enough. Like I say, I really enjoyed the early days of this range, but as it's gone on I've found myself being really put off by it. This won't stop me from buying the range though because I know that it can be really, really good - just look at The Great White Hurricane, The Invention of Death, or The Phoenicians. I just hope I find at least one of the stories in the next volume as enjoyable as any of those. (And if you've actually managed to read this to end, I'm sorry I was so brutal here, but given I spent on this I'm entitled to at least one rant )
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Post by ollychops on May 3, 2021 10:28:55 GMT
Well... easily my least favourite 1DA set so far unfortunately. Both stories were very mixed for me.
Daddy Dominus was about the highlight of For the Glory of Urth. The story itself wasn’t bad per se, but I couldn’t get into it at all.
The Hollow Crown was a bit more engaging but the fact that Nicholas Asbury’s take on Shakespeare was nothing like Dean Lennox Kelly’s was distracting (and the characterisation was fairly different to TSC version...) and like Whovitt said, Elizabeth I was ridiculously non-suspicious of The Doctor - even as he asked for the TARDIS! Surely she wouldn’t have brushed it off so easily. I feel like the main problem with this story is that it doesn’t lean into the existing continuity from TSC - in fact, aside from one or two lines, it tries to ignore it completely which really doesn’t work in its favour.
Also, I’ve got to laugh at how ridiculous Shakespeare’s continuity is becoming in the Whoniverse, with this story, The Shakespeare Code, The Kingmaker and The Time of the Daleks. (Not to mention the Shakespeare Notebooks...)
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Post by number13 on May 9, 2021 22:43:08 GMT
There are probably other points about both stories that I can't think of in this moment, but I figure I've probably laid into them enough. Like I say, I really enjoyed the early days of this range, but as it's gone on I've found myself being really put off by it. This won't stop me from buying the range though because I know that it can be really, really good - just look at The Great White Hurricane, The Invention of Death, or The Phoenicians. I just hope I find at least one of the stories in the next volume as enjoyable as any of those. (And if you've actually managed to read this to end, I'm sorry I was so brutal here, but given I spent on this I'm entitled to at least one rant ) Indeed you are. And far from being brutal, I think you were gentle, kind and considerate towards 'For the Glory of Urth'.
Just wait until I get started on it, "Daddy"s" 'lasers' would be merciful by comparison... (Summary: a story set in a space dustbin and rightly so.)
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Post by shallacatop on May 10, 2021 13:21:06 GMT
I really do try to be balanced in my views on things in general, Big Finish more so. If something isn't my cup of tea, I do have positives or an inkling of how I'd have changed the story instead. Having said that, I thought For the Glory of Urth was a painful listen.
I genuinely don't have any outright positives about it. I don't think Guy Adams can sustain a story longer than 60 minutes; what we get here is dull and as subtle as a kick in the teeth. The guest characters aren't likeable, they're not terribly well performed either, and I didn't feel the love for Daddy Dominus at all; he acted exactly how the story needed him to be, rather than a rounded character. I struggle to find him convincing when he's spouting nonsense one scene and then is almost channelling Thatcher in the next! I'm not keen on Claudia & Jemma as Susan & Barbara, respectively, but if the story is good then it's less of an issues; unfortunately, I think all their flaws showed in this. I wasn't enthralled by Jamie Glover either and I felt David Bradley put in his weakest performance yet, only showing small glimpses of what I like about his portrayal every so often.
The music and sound design took a rare drop in quality too and is both sparse and forgettable. That's a real shame, as even in my least favourite productions it's always a highlight.
I hate to be so negative, but I felt this was poor all round. I can't remember the last time I said this about the whole production!
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Post by theillusiveman on May 10, 2021 14:21:08 GMT
i know it sounds weird but why did they name a character called Daddy Dominus it sounds like a fetish kink name
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Post by number13 on May 10, 2021 16:32:40 GMT
i know it sounds weird but why did they name a character called Daddy Dominus Dominus is one Latin title for a religious/academic master as in the old 'schoolmaster'... so that explains why he was such an unbelievable and OTT character - it was really 'Old Pointy-Beard' doing the Time-Flight again!
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Post by number13 on May 10, 2021 16:51:27 GMT
I really do try to be balanced in my views on things in general, Big Finish more so. If something isn't my cup of tea, I do have positives or an inkling of how I'd have changed the story instead. Having said that, I thought For the Glory of Urth was a painful listen. I genuinely don't have any outright positives about it. I don't think Guy Adams can sustain a story longer than 60 minutes; what we get here is dull and as subtle as a kick in the teeth. The guest characters aren't likeable, they're not terribly well performed either, and I didn't feel the love for Daddy Dominus at all; he acted exactly how the story needed him to be, rather than a rounded character. I struggle to find him convincing when he's spouting nonsense one scene and then is almost channelling Thatcher in the next! I'm not keen on Claudia & Jemma as Susan & Barbara, respectively, but if the story is good then it's less of an issues; unfortunately, I think all their flaws showed in this. I wasn't enthralled by Jamie Glover either and I felt David Bradley put in his weakest performance yet, only showing small glimpses of what I like about his portrayal every so often. The music and sound design took a rare drop in quality too and is both sparse and forgettable. That's a real shame, as even in my least favourite productions it's always a highlight. I hate to be so negative, but I felt this was poor all round. I can't remember the last time I said this about the whole production! Thatcher???! Err no, not from my recollections of the 1980s! Maybe the 'Spitting Image' version?
But otherwise, agree. I do wonder what the regular cast thought of the story. Because one of my major criticisms of it is that they were unnecessary! This was a Doctor Why? more than a Doctor Who? The TARDIS crew change nothing, do nothing, achieve nothing. The regime collapses because the outside world breaks in and the dictator finally goes completely off his rocker and abdicates. It would all have happened just the same if the TARDIS had never landed in Urth. 'Mummy Marshal' would have had to send the plague ship with a brainwashed or coerced or suicidal 'emissary' instead of tricking Susan into going willingly, but she'd clearly have done it, if that's what it took.
Near the end, the Doctor talks about how he will interfere, but then he does no more than stand in an office while "Daddy" pours out what passes for his soul and then says 'tough, no sympathy from me' and leaves. It felt to me like a story designed to say (repeatedly) 'humans are often bad and xenophobia is BAD' (as if we didn't know this) over which the mantle of 'Doctor Who' had been draped.
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Post by shallacatop on May 14, 2021 13:58:49 GMT
Just to reiterate in my previous post, I really do try to be balanced in my views on things in general, Big Finish more so. If something isn't my cup of tea, I do have positives or an inkling of how I'd have changed the story instead. However, like The Glory of Urth, I thought The Hollow Crown was poor.
Where do we start? How none of them realised Judith was a young woman is beggars belief and actually a frustrating listen! It's a story that can't keep its own continuityy, never mind the wider scope of Doctor Who! Susan & Barbara both flip flop with their opinions throughout just because the story needs them to do so at that particularly moment in time. Then we have the references to The Aztecs, which fall flat because they do want to change history here. And Shakespeare & Elizabeth I both acknowledge meeting the Doctor, yet they supposedly can't add 2 + 2 together, completely disregards The Shakespeare Code & The Day of the Doctor, respectively. Which in itself is a crime because those two, along with The Aztecs, are infinitely better than what we get in The Hollow Crown.
I think the continuity point just epitomises what I feel about this range really. It tries to have its cake and eat it. And not very well. It can't decide if it's its own continuity, an alternate take for want of a better phrase, or if it's part of the First Doctor's era we see on screen. It's been a problem since the range was first announced and released, but The Hollow Crown has displayed the issue prominently than the preceding ones. I do sort of understand it; they had plans to do the range since An Adventure in Space and Time in 2013, but it never got off the ground. David Bradley going from William Hartnell to the bona fide First Doctor in Twice Upon A Time presented the opportunity / availability, but ultimately by having the AAISAT cast play the roles, you end up with a weird mish mash. It doesn't help that, five sets in, Claudia & Jemma haven't improved whatsoever.
It's a range that could do with a complete reassessment. Either pair Bradley with the actual companion actors, or give him some original ones. Perhaps the overhaul of ranges next year will prompt this.
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Post by Digi on May 15, 2021 17:55:53 GMT
i know it sounds weird but why did they name a character called Daddy Dominus it sounds like a fetish kink name Having just listened to For the Glory of Urth this morning....this is all I could think of any time the name was spoken So, yeah, Urth. It was okay, but I don't think it'll ever be a favourite. It started out quite well, and I really enjoyed the themes of (no such thing as) racial purity as it reached its conclusion, but a lot of the middle/meat of it sort of felt like it was just spinning its wheels. Was genuinely a bit surprised by this, as I find Guy Adams quite a reliable writer -- and he wrote one of my all-time favourite BF (and 1DA) stories, The Great White Hurricane. Planning on getting to the second story later today...
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Post by Digi on May 16, 2021 3:22:36 GMT
Finishing up The Hollow Crown right now. It's perhaps not a hall-of-fame historical, but it does what it does well, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Some solid character beats, even if the stakes never feel especially high. Now, please go ahead and announce more volumes, Big Finish
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