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Post by mark687 on Nov 23, 2022 19:21:27 GMT
I'm excited for Flatpack, can I listen to that first or will I miss something from the previous 2 stories? No Listen in whatever Order you like Regards mark687
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Post by martinw8686 on Nov 23, 2022 20:20:07 GMT
I'm excited for Flatpack, can I listen to that first or will I miss something from the previous 2 stories? No Listen in whatever Order you like Regards mark687 Thanks I've just finished Flatpack and really enjoyed it, although I'm a little confused about who or what was behind the whole thing, I feel like maybe I missed the explanation at some point, was it rogue tech that started the whole thing? I get the reason behind the masks but I feel like I missed the origin of the store?
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Post by mark687 on Nov 23, 2022 20:29:49 GMT
No Listen in whatever Order you like Regards mark687 Thanks I've just finished Flatpack and really enjoyed it, although I'm a little confused about who or what was behind the whole thing, I feel like maybe I missed the explanation at some point, was it rogue tech that started the whole thing? I get the reason behind the masks but I feel like I missed the origin of the store? Absolutely Correct A rouge/damaged Time Traveling DIY Store Regards mark687
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Post by martinw8686 on Nov 23, 2022 21:19:27 GMT
Thanks I've just finished Flatpack and really enjoyed it, although I'm a little confused about who or what was behind the whole thing, I feel like maybe I missed the explanation at some point, was it rogue tech that started the whole thing? I get the reason behind the masks but I feel like I missed the origin of the store? Absolutely Correct A rouge/damaged Time Traveling DIY Store Regards mark687 Thanks, I was worried I missed something:)
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Post by Kestrel on Nov 24, 2022 6:26:04 GMT
Oof. I am so behind on the 9DAs.
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Post by sherlock on Nov 24, 2022 8:59:38 GMT
The Seas of Titan was enjoyable on the whole though thought it’s ending was a bit easy really. The whole drama just kinda disappeared.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2022 9:33:23 GMT
Don't everyone sleep on the first two just because you can skip to Liv and Tania Seas Of Titan is a nice take on the base under siege story at first but with a really terrific use of Sea Devils. A real "who's the enemy....is there one?" type tale. Lay Down Your Arms is a lot of fun, moreso than Eccleston's last excursion with a Tsar. And totally worth it for a brilliant Spin Doctors joke from Diana Quick which was....YES. Flatpack is terrific but the best thing about it is it didn't go cheap. It could have seen an out of character Ninth doc be emo over seeing Liv again. Instead he no-sells everything and acts like it's a normal day. The story is a bit..Mummy On The Orient Express in a way but it's secondary to the interaction between the trio. Personally a reunion ep 5 years after Liv stops being a regular would be more resonant..we only heard from her a few weeks ago...but I can see why you would want this kinda special selling point out for a boxset. And the fact that it's Liv, another kinda understated slightly dour (in a sweet way) character means you can have that more emotional reunion with another Doctor, or companion pairing, another time. As it is, using two characters who feel a lot more than they say? Kinda the best way to have done this.
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Post by martinw8686 on Nov 24, 2022 9:34:23 GMT
I've enjoyed many of the 9th Doctor Adventures but I think the range needs to experiment with some 2 or 3 parters, even a multi set arc like Dalek Universe. With sets of individual 50 mins stories there is a risk of going stale.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Nov 24, 2022 14:21:54 GMT
Story one down. 9 is on fine form and the episode is tightly plotted and moves along really well. A solid 3.5 out of 5.
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 24, 2022 20:06:56 GMT
Seas of Titan- not really a fan. Problem is, these Sea Devil episodes always go the same way (either the Sea Devils get blown up or they agree to hide again). To do something different would have been for the Sea Devils to wipe out the human colony. But this is Who, so not going to happen, so it was clear from the start how it was to end for it to avoid the "blowing up" bit. I also thought the story was a little rushed. I think 1 hour was a bit too short. It would have been advantageous to give all the character drama more room and develop the characters a bit more. With all that threat and drama and existential crises going on for both humans and sea devils, having it resolved in 1 hour was completely breaking my suspension of disbelief. Just switch on the TV and see warring human factions of your choice (and some of them are on the brink of death and starvation!) how they go on and on and on- so nah, not buying this quick resolution. But as a little fairy tale fantasy it is alright.
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Post by sidestep on Nov 25, 2022 13:46:33 GMT
I continue to greatly enjoy these 9th Doctor stories. I could easily imagine them as tv episodes. I feel so lucky that we get more 9th Doctor. The people he met before/in between? Rose are fascinating & memorable. The Seas of Titan. I liked the location transitions in this story. The submarine scenes & near empty base were atmospheric. I was pleasantly surprised & pleased that the governor wasn’t a one dimensional caricature, that he had more depth to his character. I like the ending & count this among my favorite Sea Devils stories. I’m also glad to see Yasmin Mwanza in more roles. I liked her as Private Lauren Huff in Unit Nemesis. Lay Down Your Arms. The plot takes a while to get going, but once it does, what a roller coaster! I didn’t realize this was a sorta historical til the end (I looked for her wiki page & went ohhh. Wow.) The pressures of getting married & to a suitable person are still prevalent in some societies, & I felt those scenes were realistically written (not the courting nobles thing, the mother pressure thing). Liked the mention of the Shadow Proclamation I think it’s great that the writer Lisa McMullin chose this historical figure. It follows what the show originally intended, to be an “educational programme using time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and famous moments in history.” And it resulted in a very entertaining story. Flatpack. I like Liv & Tania’s banter. & Liv’s conversation with 9 about 8 was sad. I like stuff like that though. Their conversation about death & the past is very poignant. Their story is strange & mysterious. I’m writing my thoughts as I listen to them try to exit, & their conversation continues to sparkle. I’m so happy 9’s stories just continue to get better & better. And if not better, on par with the other great stories in this range. Tania mentioning connections, I wonder if Tania will show up in the TW Monthly Range? My favorite part is when 9 says it’s not …. And he mentions a lot of names. A wonderful, entertaining story. This wasn’t a simple Liv & Tania meet 9 story. I’m glad this was written & I’m glad those words were said. I give all 3 stories & this boxset 5s all around. I am especially impressed how the 3 writers interpreted the Hidden Depths theme in their own unique way. Loved the interviews as well
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Post by sherlock on Nov 26, 2022 9:56:20 GMT
Lay Down Your Arms
A fine historical runaround with a nice epilogue. The pre titles sequence was a bit weird though.
Flatpack
This did nothing for me. Absolutely nothing. I think I’m just done with Liv and this did nothing to change that. There’s a plot too, but it’s nothing special and really takes it time to go anywhere. I found myself looking at the runtime often to see how much more there was to go.
If Big Finish want to reheat School Reunion they might do well to remember that story used to the reunion to make actual subtantive points about the Doctor’s relationships with his companions. Flatpack offers none of that. Liv feels a bit down that Eight’s dead but the Doctor assures her she might meet him again anyway and no doubt she will eventually cos that’s just how Big Finish works. At the end she cottons on to the Time War a bit, but in a very similar way to how the Brig did in Old Friends so nothing new there.
For me, Flatpack cements that I will never pre order a bundle without all the story details again.
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Post by Whovitt on Nov 26, 2022 11:52:10 GMT
Some spoilers follow, so read on at your own risk! After having listened to a few good new releases over the last few weeks, I find myself a bit underwhelmed by this release. The Seas of Titan wanted to act like it was doing something new with the Sea Devils, but all it did was delay them turning up until about a third of the way in. After that, it all boiled down to "prominent Sea Devil wants peace but subordinate has unleashed something on the human population to kill them, while the humans decide to kill the Sea Devils without even meeting them". Sure, it had the "twist" of the humans changing their minds... until we learn that a faction hadn't changed their minds. And then everything's basically resolved offscreen and we essentially get a "happily ever after". It didn't feel like the ending was earned to me. Lay Down Your Arms was a very standard story. There was nothing particularly bad about it or anything, it was just fine. But I've never even heard of the historical celebrity (I didn't even know it was a celebrity historical!), so that part of the story fell pretty flat for me. And then we have Flatpack. I could hear Eccleston's voice as the Manager before the cold open was over, and although I couldn't guess from that where the story was going, it became even more obvious when Tania and Liv's counterparts turned up (painfully so! How they didn't recognise the older Liv is utterly beyond me!!!). The whole conceit of the shop that exists forever wasn't too bad, but I was already starting to piece some of that together because I recognised the actor's dual roles and I was trying to work out how that could be, so it didn't work as well for me as it probably should have. And it might just be me, but Eccleston sounded very lifeless throughout the whole script during the Doctor scenes. He seemed quite energised while playing the Manager, but to me, the Doctor came off as very detached and disinterested to everything that was going on around him. It made the listening experience a bit boring as a result. And there didn't really feel like there was anything done with the fact he was re-meeting Liv. It wasn't like the Brig two-parter or School Reunion where there was any kind of proper interpersonal/emotional material (that hadn't been done before, at least), it was just "hey, here's Liv. Oh, and Tania too". It kind of felt like they were just saying "we're doing this for the sake of it" as opposed to anything else. I haven't listened to the behind the scenes for any of the episodes yet, but there felt like a bit of a lack of knowing what to do with any of the stories was going on. The whole set feels a bit half-hearted and, at times, a little lifeless, which is not what I'd come to expect from the Ninth Doctor range. I trust this is likely to be a one-off though, and we'll be back into the swing of things for the "Series 2" finale for the range
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 26, 2022 14:06:58 GMT
Lay down your arms- I liked this story more than the first one. One of the reasons might be that I now live and work in a world heritage German spa town ( Bad Kissingen, the „Bad“ is German for „Spa“) and I can see first hand all the historic buildings, the spa culture, we even have an annual festival were people re- inact all the historic celebrities ( like the Zar or the Austrian Empress). You can even visit all the old salt grinding and water treatment facilities so from what I have seen, the story is well researched. So this was nice and believable. Also that mother. Could have been mine. If she gave me an euro for every time she told me „you will never find a husband“ I would be a millionaire. Yeah, rural Germany. Like traveling back 100 years. I also loved that they did not use any bad German accents but used normal English. Which makes more sense because of Tardis translating. Story itself is a bit standard, but the villains are quite nice ( at least in my SFX imagination). Maybe not the best story this year, but entertaining, well researched and fun enough.
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Post by Who Review on Nov 27, 2022 13:18:44 GMT
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Post by martinw8686 on Nov 27, 2022 13:31:15 GMT
I don't know about weakest 9DA so far, I'd probably say it's better than Lost Warriors. Ravages 4/5 Responds to all Calls 4/5 (Planet of the End 5/5) Lost Warriors 3.5/5 (Monster of Metropolis 5/5) Old Friends 4/5 Back to Earth 4/5 ( Station to Station/Auld langs signe 5/5) Into the Stars 4/5 (Salvation 9/Break the Ice 5/5) Hidden Depths 3.5/5 (Flatpack 5/5)
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Post by tuigirl on Nov 27, 2022 14:02:19 GMT
Flatpack- I am in two minds about this story. On the one hand, I liked it, it was entertaining, it tried something new with a clever little idea, it was well performed.
{Spoiler} Especially the performances of the brain-washed Doctor and Tania, who are, after being drugged, only showing interest in buying new furniture, were well done and believable. And Nicola Walker is amazing as always.
I even liked the setting- the mundane large furniture store, where even when I was a child I imagined how it would be to get lost and stay overnight. It is always great if something boring and mundane is turned around, so here we get "evil IKEA".
I like Liv, and she is great here. It is not a bad story by any means.
However, I completely agree that the 9th Doctor meeting with Liv was a wasted opportunity and the Doctor was pretty interchangeable here.
I wonder if this was originally written as an adventure with 8, where Liv, Tania and 8 go shopping for the flat? After the flatmates of Baker street wanted the Doctor to "do up the kitchen"?
9 as the new Doctor just simply gets some side sentences about "Oh, new face, how did this happen" and then we are back to the story. Liv could as well have asked 8 if he had gotten a new haircut, without any less impact to the story. I think Flatpack might even have worked better with 8, to be honest, because this quick "going through the motions" of Liv meeting the "next" Doctor just came across as pretty superficial and awkward (at least for me).
9 is also not clearly characterized here, and it could equally have worked with, for example, 10.
So on this front, I am sad to say, it was pretty much wasted potential.
In conclusion- It is one of the weaker 9th Doctor sets. But for me, it is not the weakest. That honour goes to "Ravagers" and, sadly, followed by "Old Friends".
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Nov 27, 2022 19:26:17 GMT
BF Twitter reminder.. Get them before they $ell out.
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Post by martinw8686 on Nov 27, 2022 19:39:25 GMT
Flatpack- I am in two minds about this story. On the one hand, I liked it, it was entertaining, it tried something new with a clever little idea, it was well performed.
{Spoiler} Especially the performances of the brain-washed Doctor and Tania, who are, after being drugged, only showing interest in buying new furniture, were well done and believable. And Nicola Walker is amazing as always.
I even liked the setting- the mundane large furniture store, where even when I was a child I imagined how it would be to get lost and stay overnight. It is always great if something boring and mundane is turned around, so here we get "evil IKEA".
I like Liv, and she is great here. It is not a bad story by any means.
However, I completely agree that the 9th Doctor meeting with Liv was a wasted opportunity and the Doctor was pretty interchangeable here.
I wonder if this was originally written as an adventure with 8, where Liv, Tania and 8 go shopping for the flat? After the flatmates of Baker street wanted the Doctor to "do up the kitchen"?
9 as the new Doctor just simply gets some side sentences about "Oh, new face, how did this happen" and then we are back to the story. Liv could as well have asked 8 if he had gotten a new haircut, without any less impact to the story. I think Flatpack might even have worked better with 8, to be honest, because this quick "going through the motions" of Liv meeting the "next" Doctor just came across as pretty superficial and awkward (at least for me).
9 is also not clearly characterized here, and it could equally have worked with, for example, 10.
So on this front, I am sad to say, it was pretty much wasted potential.
In conclusion- It is one of the weaker 9th Doctor sets. But for me, it is not the weakest. That honour goes to "Ravagers" and, sadly, followed by "Old Friends".
Ravagers is a funny one as when I first listened to it I absolutely adored hearing new 9th Doctor Adventures, I raced through the stories and would score my listening experience as 5/5 but upon re-listening I'd say the story doesn't have the repeat value that others releases do, I can listen to the Holy Terror or Jubilee again and again and the enjoyment is always 5/5
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Post by mark687 on Nov 29, 2022 22:15:08 GMT
Regards
mark687
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