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Post by martinw8686 on Aug 21, 2022 20:33:22 GMT
Break the ice is my favourite of the set, really creepy 9/10. Salvation 9 is a close second, really sweet.
I've enjoyed every single adventure released in the range, the middle story of most sets seems to be the weakest but still good fun solid 7/10 at least.
I don't normally enjoy the 45 minute to 1 hour releases as much but the quality of these releases has been the highlight of Big Finish since the range began with Ravagers.
Please Chris, sign up for more!
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Post by shallacatop on Aug 24, 2022 8:10:26 GMT
Mixed set for me.
Salvation Nine was sweet and fun, but it never felt like it went beyond a tick box of things that are the complete opposite of a typical Sontaran. If it was a two parter, then it would've been really special and taken advantage of that build up.
Last of the Zetacene I wasn't keen on at all. It was just a mashup of different idea that never felt like they got refined through the scripting process. I didn't really understand the purpose of the spider sub-plot, except for a news article saying Chris Eccleston & Maureen O'Brien recorded together. There were too many characters and it was the epitome of those stories that have a couple of passing lines of dialogue and feel like they've really had their say on the topic; in this case materialism and animal cruelty. It's just sloppy. And I couldn't believe that they emphasised that the Zetacene were the last of its species and never made any connection with the one incarnation of the Doctor that this really applied to! I thought Eccleston was particularly weak in this too, he sounded like he did in Ravagers, where it might as well be a different incarnation.
Break the Ice I thought was excellent. Absolutely loved Fisk, who was brilliantly rich and rounded from the get go, and the interaction with the Doctor. I thought Jack Frost was rather effective too. Looking forward to a relisten of this one in the leadup to Christmas.
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Post by nitronine on Aug 24, 2022 12:43:58 GMT
How Christmassy is Break the Ice? I’m considering leaving it until December to listen to but don’t know if I can hold out that long.
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Post by shallacatop on Aug 24, 2022 13:59:12 GMT
How Christmassy is Break the Ice? I’m considering leaving it until December to listen to but don’t know if I can hold out that long. Not massively. It uses Jingle Bells and it’s set around Christmas for the characters. It’s a bit like happily watching an Only Fools and Horses Christmas special in the middle of August.
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Post by masterdoctor on Aug 24, 2022 14:42:38 GMT
A bit behind in my listening meant I have only just listened to Salvation Nine. A very solid, near great story. The ideas of good Sontarans, female Sontarans and the theme of forging your own path from what is expected of you are all very enjoyable, though like Shallactop I think a a bit more time could have definitely helped. Looking forward to the next two stories!
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Post by Who Review on Aug 25, 2022 16:03:57 GMT
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Post by masterdoctor on Aug 28, 2022 16:21:05 GMT
I’ve listened to Last of the Zetacene, and I unfortunately think it might be the weakest the range has to offer, and is one I would actively class as bad/boring. Eccelston doesn’t sound engaged, the script has good ideas, but never gives them much more than broad strokes, and the overall pace of the story is so slow that nothing much happens in the first half of it.
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Post by Ian McArdell on Aug 28, 2022 18:58:58 GMT
My take on Into the Stars is now up at CultBox - another great set!
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 17, 2022 19:28:33 GMT
Salvation Nine
Wow. I had been already hyped for the Sontaran story since Eccleston was very happy about it at the convention panel. And I have to say, the story, the pacing, the characters, the humor and the fresh and original ideas are well above most of the recent BF releases. This was just amazing. It was fun, it had dark bits that made you think, and the performances were spot on. This is exactly what I am looking for in audio stories. I have no bigger praise than this. I think I am liking this range more and more.
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 18, 2022 0:15:25 GMT
Last of the Zetazene- I liked it. It was a bit of a run-around and the weakest story of the set. But it still had lots of energy in it.
Break the Ice- nice creepy story. Somehow feels a lot like "42" and "Waters of Mars" from the 10th Doctor era. Great villain, great sense of dread and urgency, great setting and most of all, fits perfectly into the tradition of the Who horror Christmas stories.
All in all very enjoyable set and worth it for the Sontaran story alone.
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 18, 2022 17:56:00 GMT
Last of the Zetacene I wasn't keen on at all. It was just a mashup of different idea that never felt like they got refined through the scripting process. I didn't really understand the purpose of the spider sub-plot, except for a news article saying Chris Eccleston & Maureen O'Brien recorded together. There were too many characters and it was the epitome of those stories that have a couple of passing lines of dialogue and feel like they've really had their say on the topic; in this case materialism and animal cruelty. It's just sloppy. And I couldn't believe that they emphasised that the Zetacene were the last of its species and never made any connection with the one incarnation of the Doctor that this really applied to! I thought Eccleston was particularly weak in this too, he sounded like he did in Ravagers, where it might as well be a different incarnation.Having just listened to Ravagers, I cannot agree to this at all.... The Doctor in Ravagers was pretty interchangeable and undefined and hard to recognize as 9.
I never got that feeling in this set, although I agree that Zetacene was the weakest story in the set. I personally got the impression that they covered some of the emotions and pain of the Doctor, and the feeling of loss and of being the last was brought up several times. Maybe I am imagining it, but I thought some of the pain and suffering carried in the Doctor's voice.
This performance is still miles better than in Ravagers. Ravagers was all over the place. No wonder I did not finish it when I first tried to listen to it.
I personally think that Eccleston is getting better at this.
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Post by shallacatop on Sept 18, 2022 18:11:47 GMT
Last of the Zetacene I wasn't keen on at all. It was just a mashup of different idea that never felt like they got refined through the scripting process. I didn't really understand the purpose of the spider sub-plot, except for a news article saying Chris Eccleston & Maureen O'Brien recorded together. There were too many characters and it was the epitome of those stories that have a couple of passing lines of dialogue and feel like they've really had their say on the topic; in this case materialism and animal cruelty. It's just sloppy. And I couldn't believe that they emphasised that the Zetacene were the last of its species and never made any connection with the one incarnation of the Doctor that this really applied to! I thought Eccleston was particularly weak in this too, he sounded like he did in Ravagers, where it might as well be a different incarnation.Having just listened to Ravagers, I cannot agree to this at all.... The Doctor in Ravagers was pretty interchangeable and undefined and hard to recognize as 9.
I never got that feeling in this set, although I agree that Zetacene was the weakest story in the set. I personally got the impression that they covered some of the emotions and pain of the Doctor, and the feeling of loss and of being the last was brought up several times. Maybe I am imagining it, but I thought some of the pain and suffering carried in the Doctor's voice.
This performance is still miles better than in Ravagers. Ravagers was all over the place. No wonder I did not finish it when I first tried to listen to it.
I personally think that Eccleston is getting better at this.
I was talking purely about Zetacene, not the whole of Into the Stars. I didn’t feel the material was up to scratch and Eccleston’s performance mirrored that. The Zetacene was the last of its species and from memory not one connection is made about that throughout, which is crazy. That would’ve really highlighted that this was written for Nine specifically and I think we’d have gotten more out of our lead. I’d never say someone is imagining what they’re listening to, but for me he didn’t sound engaged whatsoever. I don’t disagree that Eccleston is getting better. He did great at the lighthearted elements in Salvation Nine and was blistering in Break the Ice. I still think his best performances are Respond to All Calls & Back to Earth, but a lot of that is down to those style of stories being exactly what I’d want from the 9DAs and the perfect foil for Eccleston, not that that means they should be like that every single time.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Sept 25, 2022 8:43:02 GMT
I just noticed on the digital version of this boxset.. The story "Break The Ice".. Just looking at the jpg's of the 2 different covers.. On the wrong cover the Doctor looks fine- on the correct cover that corresponds to his era's logo he has a cut on his neck..
Does anyone else see this?
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 25, 2022 9:47:40 GMT
I just noticed on the digital version of this boxset.. The story "Break The Ice".. Just looking at the jpg's of the 2 different covers.. On the wrong cover the Doctor looks fine- on the correct cover that corresponds to his era's logo he has a cut on his neck.. Does anyone else see this? After you pointed it out, I can now see it too. Completely missed it when copying over my digital files to the external hard drive.
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Post by ollychops on Oct 3, 2022 19:51:59 GMT
Finally got around to this set...
Salvation Nine was the stand-out for me, I love it when a story does something interesting with an established/recurring monster. Last of the Zetacene was fine but there seemed to be too many different elements - the spiders especially seemed superfluous - maybe could have done with another go over of the script. Break the Ice was fun, not quite as strong as Foley's previous 9DA but still thoroughly entertaining with Eccleston on fine form.
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Post by sherlock on Oct 3, 2022 21:50:08 GMT
I also finally got around to finishing this set. A neat set of stories that continue the usual trend of consistent quality for this range.
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Post by timleschild on Nov 12, 2022 1:34:07 GMT
Didn't really enjoy this one much. Probably won't listen to it again.
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Post by nottenst on Jun 21, 2023 20:00:01 GMT
Finally noticed this in my directory and listened to it this past week. Salvation Nine is probably my favorite of the 3 because it is such a wacky concept pulled off amazingly well. Break the Ice was extremely tense with some very moving moments. Last of the Zetacene thus comes in third. I agree with the others that it was a little lacking, especially in comparison to the other two.
I also don't remember the 9th Doctor comparing himself as the last Timelord to the Zetacene, but he does say it when taking to Jack in Break the Ice. Maybe only mentioning it in the third story was an overall decision for the set. (In the BTS for Zetacene CE says he addresses the 9th Doctor's loneliness and being alone in the episode, so I guess it manifested itself differently than expected.)
In the BTS, Maureen comparing CE to Hartnell and talking about her time on the show is a nice highlight.
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