Post by Kestrel on Dec 23, 2021 23:25:21 GMT
Why yes, this is my third attempt at posting this. We... we may have too many sub-forums here.
...Anyway--
Got this as a freebie some time ago and kept saving it for the right moment--it is a nice and short story, clicking in at just over 20 minutes or so)--and that moment wound up being while I was waiting at the vet yesterday.
And honestly? I'm kind of bummed I waited so long. The Coup is way better than I expected it to be.
What really makes this story work so well is how it inverts the scenario and plays with our expectations. The moment I realized it was the Brigadier who was performing the titular coup, I started grinning and didn't stop until the tale was done. It's delicious fun seeing the Brigadier cast as the maverick revolutionary, facing off alone against establishment forces--the forces he used to embody, set against the Doctor's own iconoclastic tendencies. It's great fun seeing the Brigadier "go rogue" and, as a follow-up to the Classic TV episode where he faced off--and ultimately genocided--the Silurians, it's enormously fun to see this reversal happen in response to a new, better resolution to the Silurian "conflict."
And y'all know I love lizards, so seeing the Silurians at all is a treat.
Quote of the story: "You're dealing with ISIS now, Mr. Curry. We're not as cuddly as the U.N. lot.
So, erm... yeah, not everything has aged spectacularly well here. And while not explained in any great detail, The Coup also manages to give off Brexit vibes, with UNIT pulling out of the U.K. entirely and handing their operations and responsibilities over to a local organization (though at this point it's not clear whether or not ISIS is an agency of the U.K. government or a private company).
My memory being what it is, I like to be cautious with broad, declaritive statements like this (no, really)... but I think I can say that The Coup is probably the BEST inaugural story to a Big Finish range out there. It's very short and focused, and does an excellent job demonstrating the tone and content of the range--very quickly and effectively communicating what this series has to offer and why we might want to continue.
The downside to this, of course, is that there's no time to really explore the ramifications of these events. We have here a very public First Contact event... which would doubtlessly produce tremendous effects on basically every aspect of human society... but there's no time. And, as always with "big" stories like this, there's that looming specter of the Status Quo shadowing each line, promising us that this will all be for naught, as the retcons are inevitable.
But for now? It's a fun ride.
Unfortunately this range is pretty short--just five stories in total--which I can only assume is due to the unavailability of Nicholas Courtney (who here, as always, delivers an impeccable performance as Alistair Leftbridge-Stewart). I'm definitely very excited to see where the Brigadier goes after this, but I am also already disheartened by the limited number of stories. Will we see this end in a conclusive character arc? Or will it just sort of peter out, with the unstated expectation of subsequent stories that never came to be? Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough.
Well, those are my thoughts. Anyone else listen to The Coup recently, or remember it well enough to weigh in? What did y'all think of this one?
...Anyway--
Got this as a freebie some time ago and kept saving it for the right moment--it is a nice and short story, clicking in at just over 20 minutes or so)--and that moment wound up being while I was waiting at the vet yesterday.
And honestly? I'm kind of bummed I waited so long. The Coup is way better than I expected it to be.
What really makes this story work so well is how it inverts the scenario and plays with our expectations. The moment I realized it was the Brigadier who was performing the titular coup, I started grinning and didn't stop until the tale was done. It's delicious fun seeing the Brigadier cast as the maverick revolutionary, facing off alone against establishment forces--the forces he used to embody, set against the Doctor's own iconoclastic tendencies. It's great fun seeing the Brigadier "go rogue" and, as a follow-up to the Classic TV episode where he faced off--and ultimately genocided--the Silurians, it's enormously fun to see this reversal happen in response to a new, better resolution to the Silurian "conflict."
And y'all know I love lizards, so seeing the Silurians at all is a treat.
Quote of the story: "You're dealing with ISIS now, Mr. Curry. We're not as cuddly as the U.N. lot.
So, erm... yeah, not everything has aged spectacularly well here. And while not explained in any great detail, The Coup also manages to give off Brexit vibes, with UNIT pulling out of the U.K. entirely and handing their operations and responsibilities over to a local organization (though at this point it's not clear whether or not ISIS is an agency of the U.K. government or a private company).
My memory being what it is, I like to be cautious with broad, declaritive statements like this (no, really)... but I think I can say that The Coup is probably the BEST inaugural story to a Big Finish range out there. It's very short and focused, and does an excellent job demonstrating the tone and content of the range--very quickly and effectively communicating what this series has to offer and why we might want to continue.
The downside to this, of course, is that there's no time to really explore the ramifications of these events. We have here a very public First Contact event... which would doubtlessly produce tremendous effects on basically every aspect of human society... but there's no time. And, as always with "big" stories like this, there's that looming specter of the Status Quo shadowing each line, promising us that this will all be for naught, as the retcons are inevitable.
But for now? It's a fun ride.
Unfortunately this range is pretty short--just five stories in total--which I can only assume is due to the unavailability of Nicholas Courtney (who here, as always, delivers an impeccable performance as Alistair Leftbridge-Stewart). I'm definitely very excited to see where the Brigadier goes after this, but I am also already disheartened by the limited number of stories. Will we see this end in a conclusive character arc? Or will it just sort of peter out, with the unstated expectation of subsequent stories that never came to be? Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough.
Well, those are my thoughts. Anyone else listen to The Coup recently, or remember it well enough to weigh in? What did y'all think of this one?