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Post by bonehead on Oct 25, 2022 21:32:54 GMT
Wow! That was certainly a story of two halves! Difficult to write about without spoilers. At times deadly serious, at others laugh-out-loud fun. Undoubtedly one of the strongest and most unpredictable stories this year. I think you have just sold me on this. I was on the fence if I should get it or not.... the whole Space Messiah thing turned me away.
But this is some great praise.
I've now been persuaded to buy this as well. That's 'Power of the Doctor' on Wednesday, and 'Kaleidoscope' spread over the next few days. What a week!
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 26, 2022 10:35:09 GMT
I have started on it. One thing I can commend about it already is the music and sound effects. They just fit perfectly to the era. You immediately know where you are. Very well done. And the performances- top notch, as per usual.
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 26, 2022 17:21:45 GMT
Finished it! Well, this was certainly interesting. I liked that it subverts the audience expectations and the villain turns out to be someone completely unexpected. Big plus from me, that this was not our usual alien invasion story, but more of a James Bond caper.
All in all, everything comes together very well. The performances are top notch, the sound effects and music fit perfectly with the era, there is lots of action and there is also plenty of humor. Everyone gets some special moments- Sarah Jane, the Doctor and of course the Brigadier! OMG, I loved the little bit of saucy backstory that he gets here! Sadly, it is pretty obvious that most of the UNIT family are missing- there is a pretty big Yates and Benton shaped hole in there. It is however not perfect, and there are a few headscratchers, a few bits dragged, other things did not make sense and confused me and that little jingle they added for Kaleidoscope.... they could not have created something more annoying if they actively tried! I get what they were trying to do and why it was there, but it drove me mad. Taken together, this is definitely worth getting, pretty much for the funny Brig scenes alone! Thumbs up from me.
Question for the other listeners:
{Spoiler} Where exactly did the silver nanobots go? First they were the big bad and then completely disappeared from the plot.
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Post by timleschild on Oct 26, 2022 21:15:49 GMT
Foh Kuss
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Post by newt5996 on Oct 27, 2022 2:36:53 GMT
Finished this yesterday and the more I think about it, the more I really, really enjoyed it. It felt like a mix of some of the best of the Pertwee era and is one of the few audios I've found to really get the 3/Sarah Jane dynamic down perfectly, especially by giving Sarah Jane this mirror in Jenny Nettles.
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Post by Kestrel on Oct 27, 2022 9:50:31 GMT
Also, anyone have any guesses/hopes what is on the docket for next years two 3DA's? A Jo Grant seems a sure thing, but if not, what about 3 and SJS or 3 and Liz vs Iris? I feel like I'm often hoping for the same thing no matter who the Doctor is, but I suppose the context is a bit different this time: no companions. Or, rather, I'd love a set that ditches the usual companions to focus much more on the Doctor and the Brigadier. I think that, very often, Third Doctor stories use the companion character(s) as a sort of barrier, to reduce the friction between the Doctor and the Brigadier... I think it'd be interesting to to see a full set exploring that relationship without that moderating force at play.
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Post by sidestep on Oct 27, 2022 12:10:58 GMT
Also, anyone have any guesses/hopes what is on the docket for next years two 3DA's? A Jo Grant seems a sure thing, but if not, what about 3 and SJS or 3 and Liz vs Iris? All of those would be amazing! I like all of those actresses & would preorder anything they’re in, hopefully they are in next year’s 2 3DAs, which I preordered. 😁 You guys weren’t exaggerating your effusive praise for this release. Kaleidoscope grabs you from the opening minutes. The sound design is so immersive, it’s like listening to a tv episode (I know that’s what full cast audio dramas aspire for, with varying degrees of success). The dialogue, the acting, the characters, the voices, superbly blend into a cohesive, engaging story. I’m only at part 1 track 6 & I’m thoroughly enjoying this. 👍🏻 So awesome if this were animated, even just in the Real Time style (not full motion).
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Post by theillusiveman on Oct 27, 2022 12:33:08 GMT
I Think Jo Grant is going to be in one of the boxsets given Katy Manning's comments
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Post by grinch on Oct 27, 2022 12:55:19 GMT
I actually wouldn’t mind seeing an original companion for the Third Doctor in one of the future boxsets. Could have the adventures set between Jo leaving and him meeting Sarah.
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Post by timleschild on Oct 27, 2022 12:58:48 GMT
I actually wouldn’t mind seeing an original companion for the Third Doctor in one of the future boxsets. Could have the adventures set between Jo leaving and him meeting Sarah. Yes I wonder what it would be like to give him a male companion? But I hope we get more of Liz Shaw. I think Daisy Ashford is really good playing the part, dare i say it even give her a spin-off?
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Post by Kestrel on Oct 27, 2022 13:23:28 GMT
Yeah, more Liz would be VERY welcome. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing an original companion for the Third Doctor in one of the future boxsets. Could have the adventures set between Jo leaving and him meeting Sarah. Might be fun to see Ron and Tony (the old couple from Stranded) fill-in as minor companions somewhere, too.
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Post by bonehead on Oct 27, 2022 14:38:06 GMT
Just finished the first half of this and, after initial reservations about buying this, I'm really glad I did on the evidence so far. I love the character of Kaleidoscope; he has a Tomorrow People/Ziggy Stardust vibe about him. It wasn't until hearing the extras though that the true inspiration is revealed. Bob Baker/Dave Martin's '70s ITV show Sky is something that terrified me as a kid, even more so than Doctor Who. The moment that gave me so many nightmares as a youngster is just after the 7 minute mark onwards ...
Back to Kaleidoscope, and there is much to love. The Brig's secret past, Sarah Jane and Jenny Nettles together (not as unlike each other as they'd like to think) and the very '70s sound/feel of the thing. Helen Goldwyn and Jasmin Hinds sound very similar to each other, which causes moments of confusion, and the peace protestors can be somewhat irrtating, but other than that, this is great fun, and the regulars are all on really good form.
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Post by ryan on Oct 27, 2022 18:41:46 GMT
Finished it! Well, this was certainly interesting. I liked that it subverts the audience expectations and the villain turns out to be someone completely unexpected. Big plus from me, that this was not our usual alien invasion story, but more of a James Bond caper.
All in all, everything comes together very well. The performances are top notch, the sound effects and music fit perfectly with the era, there is lots of action and there is also plenty of humor. Everyone gets some special moments- Sarah Jane, the Doctor and of course the Brigadier! OMG, I loved the little bit of saucy backstory that he gets here! Sadly, it is pretty obvious that most of the UNIT family are missing- there is a pretty big Yates and Benton shaped hole in there. It is however not perfect, and there are a few headscratchers, a few bits dragged, other things did not make sense and confused me and that little jingle they added for Kaleidoscope.... they could not have created something more annoying if they actively tried! I get what they were trying to do and why it was there, but it drove me mad. Taken together, this is definitely worth getting, pretty much for the funny Brig scenes alone! Thumbs up from me.
Question for the other listeners:
{Spoiler} Where exactly did the silver nanobots go? First they were the big bad and then completely disappeared from the plot. Actually, that's a very good question. My assumption was... ...the nanobots were stored in the ammo box that they were captured in and were kept somewhere secure like the Black Archive But as you say, it wasn't explicitly mentioned what happened to them. 🤔 And yes! Totally agree with the Kaleidoscope jungle. That was the only thing I didn't enjoy. It almost felt like a running gag which eventually outstayed its welcome.
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Post by IndieMacUser on Oct 28, 2022 9:28:26 GMT
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Post by bonehead on Oct 28, 2022 12:50:06 GMT
Finished this, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Often, I find Alan Barnes' writing to be too quirky for my tastes, but the balance was just about right here. It's my favourite story from him since Death in Blackpool. There were some very nice continuity teases - the Doctor's reference to the 'k-klak' is, well, see the illustration! The inclusion of Harry Sullivan seems at first to be there just for the sake of doing it, but it does provide a build up for this appearance in Robot. There are some really trippy moments too - I quite liked Kal's theme!
Since Flux aired, I've really embraced Doctor Who stories that are a bit 'messy' - lots of ideas going on, not all of them tied-up at the end; as tuigirl said earlier, {Spoiler} the dreaded silver nanobots suddenly vanish after contributing to an exciting cliffhanger. ryan's theory sounds very reasonable, but a bit of clarity in the story might not have hurt. As I said, though, I like that some plot strands are left dangling - perhaps it's Alan Barnes' tribute to The Green Death's Elgin character, who disappeared between episodes all those many years ago.
The acting is terrific throughout. Mark Elstob in particular really seems to be BF's man of many voices now, and the regulars really convince as the Third Doctor 'family'. The sound design is excellent, some of BF's most true-to-its-era, I think.
Another really strong entry in the 3DA range, which continues to be a definite favourite of mine.
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Post by shallacatop on Oct 30, 2022 8:19:54 GMT
I thought this was quite an odd listen. Very disjointed.
The first two parts are great, but then we get part three which seems to come out of nowhere and feels overly long. Part four steers us back on track but then unfolds into a bizarre and unnecessary final third in parts five and six.
I’m not really sure what the story was trying to achieve. We go from an intriguing build up, to suddenly being introduced to peace keepers, to a runaround in the Whomobile, to a magazine show and then to Russia, spies and everything in between, including a laughably brief snow chase that they’ve remembered is going to be on the front cover. There’s more than enough story for six parts, yet it feels overlong because there’s never really a sense of some overriding story. It’s just an ensemble of characters plodding through events as they’re written.
I don’t think any of our leads are well served. The Doctor is paint-by-numbers to the point of being generic, as is Harry. The Brigadier is just a grump that shouts. Sarah Jane seems to have some undercooked spat with another journalist, Jenny Nettles, that makes no real sense. Sarah wouldn’t get jealous of someone reporting on UNIT affairs post events of The Time Warrior or then start taking photos and reporting on the events in the story, as she does here. Which is then quietly forgotten about when they condemn Nettles for doing the same! Equally Nettles wouldn’t be jealous at Sarah for writing stories about, er, Third Doctor stories because she never would do them in the first place!
Still, it’s not as reductive as other Alan Barnes tales. The soundtrack and sound design is great, there’s some good gags (including a Smiths reference!) and plenty of good ideas, it’s just unfortunate that they don’t quite come together. I did like that it was a Bond-esque caper more than it was an invasion of Earth, it’s just that revelation came too late. Almost like a reverse Seeds of Doom with an offbeat two parter, albeit at the end of the story instead of the beginning.
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Post by timleschild on Oct 30, 2022 10:36:10 GMT
I thought this was quite an odd listen. Very disjointed. The first two parts are great, but then we get part three which seems to come out of nowhere and feels overly long. Part four steers us back on track but then unfolds into a bizarre and unnecessary final third in parts five and six. I’m not really sure what the story was trying to achieve. We go from an intriguing build up, to suddenly being introduced to peace keepers, to a runaround in the Whomobile, to a magazine show and then to Russia, spies and everything in between, including a laughably brief snow chase that they’ve remembered is going to be on the front cover. There’s more than enough story for six parts, yet it feels overlong because there’s never really a sense of some overriding story. It’s just an ensemble of characters plodding through events as they’re written. I don’t think any of our leads are well served. The Doctor is paint-by-numbers to the point of being generic, as is Harry. The Brigadier is just a grump that shouts. Sarah Jane seems to have some undercooked spat with another journalist, Jenny Nettles, that makes no real sense. Sarah wouldn’t get jealous of someone reporting on UNIT affairs post events of The Time Warrior or then start taking photos and reporting on the events in the story, as she does here. Which is then quietly forgotten about when they condemn Nettles for doing the same! Equally Nettles wouldn’t be jealous at Sarah for writing stories about, er, Third Doctor stories because she never would do them in the first place! Still, it’s not as reductive as other Alan Barnes tales. The soundtrack and sound design is great, there’s some good gags (including a Smiths reference!) and plenty of good ideas, it’s just unfortunate that they don’t quite come together. I did like that it was a Bond-esque caper more than it was an invasion of Earth, it’s just that revelation came too late. Almost like a reverse Seeds of Doom with an offbeat two parter, albeit at the end of the story instead of the beginning. I agree, it started really well then just gets more disjointed & less interesting as it goes on. The part with the rock star was particularly cringy, especially the awful Mick Jagger impression.
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Post by mark687 on Oct 30, 2022 10:41:47 GMT
I thought this was quite an odd listen. Very disjointed. The first two parts are great, but then we get part three which seems to come out of nowhere and feels overly long. Part four steers us back on track but then unfolds into a bizarre and unnecessary final third in parts five and six. I’m not really sure what the story was trying to achieve. We go from an intriguing build up, to suddenly being introduced to peace keepers, to a runaround in the Whomobile, to a magazine show and then to Russia, spies and everything in between, including a laughably brief snow chase that they’ve remembered is going to be on the front cover. There’s more than enough story for six parts, yet it feels overlong because there’s never really a sense of some overriding story. It’s just an ensemble of characters plodding through events as they’re written. I don’t think any of our leads are well served. The Doctor is paint-by-numbers to the point of being generic, as is Harry. The Brigadier is just a grump that shouts. Sarah Jane seems to have some undercooked spat with another journalist, Jenny Nettles, that makes no real sense. Sarah wouldn’t get jealous of someone reporting on UNIT affairs post events of The Time Warrior or then start taking photos and reporting on the events in the story, as she does here. Which is then quietly forgotten about when they condemn Nettles for doing the same! Equally Nettles wouldn’t be jealous at Sarah for writing stories about, er, Third Doctor stories because she never would do them in the first place! Still, it’s not as reductive as other Alan Barnes tales. The soundtrack and sound design is great, there’s some good gags (including a Smiths reference!) and plenty of good ideas, it’s just unfortunate that they don’t quite come together. I did like that it was a Bond-esque caper more than it was an invasion of Earth, it’s just that revelation came too late. Almost like a reverse Seeds of Doom with an offbeat two parter, albeit at the end of the story instead of the beginning. I think its trying to encompass the flavour of all 4 years of the Era which has this weird blend of difference but at the same time consistence. I enjoyed the story but get where your coming from. Regards mark687
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Post by Who Review on Oct 30, 2022 14:20:23 GMT
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Post by shallacatop on Oct 30, 2022 21:33:11 GMT
I thought this was quite an odd listen. Very disjointed. The first two parts are great, but then we get part three which seems to come out of nowhere and feels overly long. Part four steers us back on track but then unfolds into a bizarre and unnecessary final third in parts five and six. I’m not really sure what the story was trying to achieve. We go from an intriguing build up, to suddenly being introduced to peace keepers, to a runaround in the Whomobile, to a magazine show and then to Russia, spies and everything in between, including a laughably brief snow chase that they’ve remembered is going to be on the front cover. There’s more than enough story for six parts, yet it feels overlong because there’s never really a sense of some overriding story. It’s just an ensemble of characters plodding through events as they’re written. I don’t think any of our leads are well served. The Doctor is paint-by-numbers to the point of being generic, as is Harry. The Brigadier is just a grump that shouts. Sarah Jane seems to have some undercooked spat with another journalist, Jenny Nettles, that makes no real sense. Sarah wouldn’t get jealous of someone reporting on UNIT affairs post events of The Time Warrior or then start taking photos and reporting on the events in the story, as she does here. Which is then quietly forgotten about when they condemn Nettles for doing the same! Equally Nettles wouldn’t be jealous at Sarah for writing stories about, er, Third Doctor stories because she never would do them in the first place! Still, it’s not as reductive as other Alan Barnes tales. The soundtrack and sound design is great, there’s some good gags (including a Smiths reference!) and plenty of good ideas, it’s just unfortunate that they don’t quite come together. I did like that it was a Bond-esque caper more than it was an invasion of Earth, it’s just that revelation came too late. Almost like a reverse Seeds of Doom with an offbeat two parter, albeit at the end of the story instead of the beginning. I think its trying to encompass the flavour of all 4 years of the Era which has this weird blend of difference but at the same time consistence. I enjoyed the story but get where your coming from. Regards mark687 Oh yeah, it was absolutely trying to capture the whole Pertwee era in one story. You’ve got the serious side of season 7, the belief that the Master may be behind it all of season 8, the politics and wider ranging UNIT from seasons 9 and 10 with the TARDIS team of season 11. It’s certainly ambitious and has potential, but the end product just feels disjointed to me. Characterisations aside, I think it’s the last two parts I have the biggest issue with because they’re just so randomly incorporated and poorly seeded in the preceding episodes. If it removed the Russian element and became a more focused four parter then I think it could’ve been a celebration of the Pertwee era as well as a decently tight story of its own. Still, I’m glad others got more out of it than I did. And I appreciate the ambition.
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