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Post by Kestrel on Sept 21, 2022 11:28:13 GMT
An Unbound 4th Doctor could be interesting, and I've certainly complained before (as fans tend to do) about Big Finish's unwillingness to do regeneration stories, but I can't imagine anyone replacing David Warner. It'd be a hell of an act to follow up. But then again, this is far from a new problem with Doctors. That one's gotta be in the running for an all-time best-trailer. It's been a while since I listened to the Unbound Universe stuff: I remember the Unbound Daleks (in Masters of War IIRC) but did the Doctor ever encounter Unbound Cybermen, too? Yeah, it'll be a while before I listen to it, myself. Gonna be rough goin'. Re: that spoiler, I've gotta ask, does this set end w/ any sort of indication as to where NABS might go (or not go) next? I dunno about y'all, but part of me -- a large part, if I'm being honest -- would rather see this range end than continue without David Warner. I’m not commenting with any info re the end, but while I’d like this strand of Benny’s life, I hope this isn’t the end of her adventures at Big Finish. I didn't mean to imply that I want Benny, the character, to end. There've been, what, a half-dozen soft reboots for Benny so far, right? What's one more. |
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Post by elkawho on Sept 21, 2022 17:11:03 GMT
That was quite a set. Dark and menacing and unrelentless. I don't think we've had the Cybermen as this much of a threat in a long time. I'm doing Benny re-listen at the moment and it reminds me of some of the darkest and brutal of the early Benny releases.
I feel like I barely know this Benny in these stories. She mentions Peter at one point, but it's like he's a memory. She has been so far removed from him by this point. And the setting of pre-War Germany gives the whole thing a palpable feeling of menace. Especially since Benny has had her experiences with it before.
I agree that David Warner sounds unwell through much of it, but he was certainly still The Doctor. Kudos to Scott Handcock for giving us this brutal but also thoughtful and amazing release. I think it might be my favorite of the year.
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Post by timleschild on Sept 22, 2022 16:57:39 GMT
It was well acted & the cybermen were really vicious but bored of WW2, nazis etc used on sci-fi.
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Post by ocdgeek on Sept 22, 2022 19:40:25 GMT
It was well acted & the cybermen were really vicious but bored of WW2, nazis etc used on sci-fi. Doctor Who and the EU have a long and storied history of doing World War II set stories and (almost) all of them are surprisingly great. |
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Post by timleschild on Sept 22, 2022 21:58:50 GMT
It was well acted & the cybermen were really vicious but bored of WW2, nazis etc used on sci-fi. Doctor Who and the EU have a long and storied history of doing World War II set stories and (almost) all of them are surprisingly great. I know. As does sci-fi in general which is why I am bored of it & I don't think a lot of them are great. I wonder if this is a uniquely UK/USA obsession? |
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,672 
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Post by lidar2 on Sept 23, 2022 8:40:58 GMT
Final episode was really bittersweet I guess with the subject tone and the location very introverted finale Annoying stereotype character aside the cast of characters are good Given we don’t know if the Warner Doctor will be in the 60th but as a ending to this Doctor it doesn’t feel like an ending Obviously I think If they ever do Vol 8 it will likely have a Time skip With either Bernice on her own or with a Prime universe Doctor I seriously doubt they will recast or even regenerate Warner’s Doctor for a huge list of reasons The other option is to do what BF did with Paul Darrow and Trevor Baxter - cobble together odd lines from elsewhere into a coherent whole in order to give the character a send-off. Would very much depend on how Lisa B felt about it, and we have no way of knowing that, but in my experience different people handle grief and loss in different ways - what is crass and insenstive for one person is meaningful and helpful for another. So a final farewell "scene" may be a possibility at some point in the future. |
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Post by chronotis on Sept 23, 2022 22:14:30 GMT
Final episode was really bittersweet I guess with the subject tone and the location very introverted finale Annoying stereotype character aside the cast of characters are good Given we don’t know if the Warner Doctor will be in the 60th but as a ending to this Doctor it doesn’t feel like an ending Obviously I think If they ever do Vol 8 it will likely have a Time skip With either Bernice on her own or with a Prime universe Doctor I seriously doubt they will recast or even regenerate Warner’s Doctor for a huge list of reasons The other option is to do what BF did with Paul Darrow and Trevor Baxter - cobble together odd lines from elsewhere into a coherent whole in order to give the character a send-off. Would very much depend on how Lisa B felt about it, and we have no way of knowing that, but in my experience different people handle grief and loss in different ways - what is crass and insenstive for one person is meaningful and helpful for another. So a final farewell "scene" may be a possibility at some point in the future. All good things must come to an end..
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Post by sherlock on Sept 24, 2022 11:36:50 GMT
Well Wulf is one of the best bits of drama Big Finish have released this year.
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Post by sherlock on Sept 24, 2022 13:27:51 GMT
Finished the set and it’s another solid gold outing for this range. It’s a brilliant showcase for the Cybermen and for Warner’s Doctor, does decent exploration of the historical setting, and Benny as ever is a solid anchor point for this range.
The ending was obviously never intended to be the final outing for Warner’s Doctor, but at least this Doctor has gone out on a creative height.
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Post by IndieMacUser on Sept 27, 2022 7:16:07 GMT
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Sept 27, 2022 7:45:17 GMT
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Oct 6, 2022 7:47:43 GMT
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Post by cjr on Oct 11, 2022 6:49:23 GMT
Übermensch indeed.
Putting aside any comments about David Warner’s voice or the immense sadness of his passing, this was a brilliant showcase of the Doctor/Benny or Benny/Doctor dynamic.
The 1930’s in Germany holds so much pain for both, with Benny’s earlier experiences weaved into the background creeping horror of the rise of the Cybermen.
So many characters stand out and make their presence felt, but always, always, it comes back to the one simple fact that the Doctor or Benny will always come to the other’s aid… even if sometimes they’re too late.
The symmetry of the first and last stories, the investigation of the Doctor’s “love” for those he meets, the story-telling in Wulf. The resolution of the set also feels earned.
Amazing.
Auf Wiedersehen, mein Doktor.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
Likes: 5,672
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Post by lidar2 on Nov 9, 2022 12:15:24 GMT
Half way though this - episode 2 is not what I was expecting but is absolutely brilliant. Benefits from being diffferent to the DW norm, one of the best bits of BF in a long time
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 13, 2022 16:42:16 GMT
Just started on this. Off to a very good start. May I just express my UTTER DELIGHT of the fact that they again used German speaking actors as the German characters? It is like day and night compared to some of their absolutely ludicrous releases where some people who never had any contact with the German language make valiant attempts of totally butchering it. I am sorry, but stuff like this completely throws me out of my listening bubble every time- it is worst when some actors say supposedly German words and I as a native speaker have not a clue what they are trying to say (I think our American members have similar reaction to some of the false American accents). NOT SO HERE! When BF makes an effort, they are actually doing a really good job. Please keep this up for any other releases featuring Germans! I beg you! I myself speak English with a heavy German accent, so I have a bit of an idea what it sounds like, I might add.  As for the voice of David Warner... yes, I agree, he sounds strained. I admire him all the more, and I am grateful, he battled through this and gave us one last hurrah. I think it might even fit the atmosphere and tone of the story. Plus, I just love the sarcastic and irreverent attitude of the Unbound Doctor in this. Spot on. |
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 13, 2022 19:27:33 GMT
Willkommen- awesome.
This must be the best Cyberman body horror since "Space Parts" and "World enough and time".
And the acting is stunning.
The cold fury in the Unbound Doctor, and the pure vengeful sadism he shows here, absolutely amazing.
This is someone nobody messes with.
This is someone who will make Cybermen scream.
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 13, 2022 21:17:06 GMT
Second story- Wulf
Very raw and emotional take on the "Frankenstein" story.
Purely heartbreaking.
Also, the village teaming up to kick the Nazis out reminded me of the story of my great-granddad and his gang of old invalid WWI veterans wielding pitchforks, chasing the Waffen-SS out of our village at the end of WWII (the Americans were advancing and if the old people had not stood up against the SS, then the villages would have been bombed and eradicated).
And again, LOVE the authentic German accents.
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 14, 2022 13:57:07 GMT
Übermensch
This continues to be one of the darkest and more twisted releases BF did this year.
The writing is to the point, the historic aspects are well researched, the villains are believable and show shades of grey.
The acting is near perfect.
There even is some space for some humor in all the darkness.
And the Cybermen really are the most vicious since Spare Parts and World enough and Time, taking full advantage of their body horror.
And that cliffhanger!
Chilling. Goosebumps.
One of the best Who cliffhangers we had in a long time.
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 14, 2022 15:55:11 GMT
Auf Wiedersehen OMG. Those performances. Not only the leads are going above and beyond anything they did before, but also the side characters. The story is raw, brutal and mercilessly cruel. These might be the most drastic torture scenes the Doctor has ever faced, and we had quite a few of those with BF. I might speak heresy here, but this comes close to the torment of the Doctor in Jubilee. Not more to be said, really. This release is a tour de force. It might not be something that one can listen to very often, and nothing one might want to listen to when in a dark mood. But this is, without any doubt, the best release I have heard from Big Finish in a long time. And I take a bow to David Warner. This is the very best performance he has ever done for Big Finish, in any of his many roles.
EDIT: It was also haunting for a German to hear the banned first verse of our national anthem. Not sure how this will go down with other German fans, to be honest.
(after WWII, only the THIRD verse is ever sang anymore; if, for example at a sports event, someone makes the mistake and plays verse 1, there always is a big scandal and uproar.)
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 14, 2022 16:06:30 GMT
I also wonder who it was who gave this release a 1 out of 5.
Really, I would like to hear from you.
Was it the cruel brutality that turned you off?
The dark and miserable setting?
The use of the same old cybermen?
"Boring Nazis, AGAIN?"
Because it cannot be the writing.
Or the characters.
Or the research that went into this.
Nor can it be the absolutely stunning performances.
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That one's gotta be in the running for an all-time best-trailer.
