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Post by elkawho on Jan 26, 2023 19:38:17 GMT
I just listened to this for the second time, and I love it even more.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Jan 26, 2023 22:24:18 GMT
I just listened to this for the second time, and I love it even more. It is 100% on my " to buy" spreadsheet.. The less on my list, the fuller my book shelves are and the happier I am LOLZ
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Post by tuigirl on Jan 26, 2023 23:12:43 GMT
I just listened to this for the second time, and I love it even more. It is 100% on my " to buy" spreadsheet.. The less on my list, the fuller my book shelves are and the happier I am LOLZ I would have seriously questioned what you were doing on this forum if this release had not been on your to-buy list.
Seriously, this is one of these releases you can buy without any regrets. It is THAT good.
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Post by Ian McArdell on Jan 27, 2023 11:19:47 GMT
My take is up at CultBox - absolutely loved this, with so much time to see different sides of River (over and above the swagger and outrageous flirting). Incredible cast too! Part period drama, part ghost story, part fourth dimensional puzzle.
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Post by sherlock on Feb 4, 2023 22:50:16 GMT
Loved it.
This is the gold standard. Tim Foley wrote really elegantly; taking a high concept brief and breaking it down to its most human core, effortlessly characterising supporting characters in a handful of scattered scenes, and giving River some of her best material. The actors more than rise to the occasion and the result is so, so well down.
If anything I feel this vindicates all the bemoaning and bellyaching over crossovers fever, because when Big Finish finally put that stuff aside for River, we got this work of art.
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Post by sillytilly on Feb 8, 2023 16:59:30 GMT
Finished the set today. The story from start to finish was perfect. I always enjoy stories that allow time to get to know the characters and world they are set in. I think the pace of this story is perfect. The mystery of the house unwinds slowly allowing us time to invest in all the characters. Was just hooked from start to finish. Its without a doubt the best River Song set released so far. I hope this this is the direction they take the series in the future.
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Post by IndieMacUser on Feb 10, 2023 7:49:06 GMT
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Post by tuigirl on Feb 10, 2023 13:00:34 GMT
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Post by bonehead on Feb 10, 2023 14:07:31 GMT
Clearly I'm going to have to buy this. The inevitable question - can you go into it 'blind', or do you need some knowledge of previous sets?
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Post by mark687 on Feb 10, 2023 15:08:06 GMT
Clearly I'm going to have to buy this. The inevitable question - can you go into it 'blind', or do you need some knowledge of previous sets? Completely Stand Alone apparently Regards mark687
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Post by bonehead on Feb 10, 2023 17:06:12 GMT
Clearly I'm going to have to buy this. The inevitable question - can you go into it 'blind', or do you need some knowledge of previous sets? Completely Stand Alone apparently Regards mark687 That'll do me - thanks
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Post by tuigirl on Feb 10, 2023 19:37:58 GMT
Clearly I'm going to have to buy this. The inevitable question - can you go into it 'blind', or do you need some knowledge of previous sets? I think it is even better when you do not know the previous sets- depending on if you like River or not, that might cause some prejudice how it might go.
It is totally stand alone (as long as you know who River Song is!).
Do yourself a favor and get this- this is one of the releases you can go in without any hesitation or regret. It is a masterfully created tale. I am pretty sure you will love it.
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Post by bonehead on Feb 10, 2023 23:24:37 GMT
Clearly I'm going to have to buy this. The inevitable question - can you go into it 'blind', or do you need some knowledge of previous sets? I think it is even better when you do not know the previous sets- depending on if you like River or not, that might cause some prejudice how it might go.
It is totally stand alone (as long as you know who River Song is!).
Do yourself a favor and get this- this is one of the releases you can go in without any hesitation or regret. It is a masterfully created tale. I am pretty sure you will love it.
The River sets, like a few of the others BF release, just fall shy of essential purchases for me, mainly for financial reasons. They very much depend upon the reviews, and this is one of the most positively received releases I can remember. Thank you!
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Post by The Brigadier on Feb 12, 2023 17:46:04 GMT
Finally got round to listening to this in full yesterday evening.
A rich, intricate and utterly beautiful story...and the tears were flowing by the end.
I honestly cannot recall a previous Big Finish release that got to me in quite this way...
There isn't really anything I can add that hasn't already been said here, there and just about everywhere about Friend of the Family or the cast or Tim Foley (and truth be told I can't think of anything truly original anyway...), so I'm going to borrow a line from a book on my shelf called The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. It feels appropriate.."The secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don’t deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don’t surprise you with the unforeseen. They are as familiar as the house you live in...You know how they end, yet you listen as though you don’t...In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn’t. And yet you want to know again."
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Post by Kestrel on Feb 12, 2023 21:06:25 GMT
I'm halfway through the set now, so perhaps it's premature of me to comment on anything, but... goddamn, y'all were right. This story is fantastic. I went into it fully prepared for my recurring iconoclastic tendencies to lead me into thinking, "Eh, it's not that great," but nope. Even at the half-way mark I'm pretty confident calling it an S-tier release. And I think it likely also benefits a lot from having four episodes to work with. That really is just the perfect amount of time to tell a sweeping, complicated story like this one. Really hope we get a few more of these before DRS inevitably transitions to the three-episode format. I do wanna comment on two specific things while m here, though. First and most immediately (in what has rapidly become a pattern) I gotta say that Big a finish has really upped their game in terms of sound mixing and music. Friend of the Family (easily) has some of the best music and sound design in the whole franchise, IMHO, Murray Gold's lovely work on the TV show included. With all these exorbitant price hikes this past year or two, I've sometimes found myself thinking, eh, maybe I should give up on this hobby, or at least dial things down a bit. But then there are stories like this -- or last year's Peladon -- that just make me fall in love with Doctor Who audio dramas all over again. The other thing I want to comment on is the writing. I don't exactly feel comfortable calling him out directly (so no @), but if John Dorney happens to see this post and isn't immediately turned off by the too-much-text, I would be very interested to know just what all he's doing (as he works w/ the writers) in his capacity of script editor. I've noted before that Dorney has a remarkably keen sense for dialog, deftly weaving exposition and banter into snappy, punchy, and always-engaging back-and-forths. And I can't help but notice that the dialog in these first two stories is just like that. Though, granted, I've also been pretty impressed by several of Tim Foley's recent stories, and I don't want to imply that I think he necessarily needs help to write dialog like this... but I've just noticed a fair amount of Dorney-esque dialog in stories where he's credited as script editor. The River sets, like a few of the others BF release, just fall shy of essential purchases for me, mainly for financial reasons. They very much depend upon the reviews, and this is one of the most positively received releases I can remember. Thank you! Ah Hm, yeah. I'm in the same boat. I'm interested in the range, but generally don't find it essential. But, man, when The Diary of River Song knocks a story out of the ballpark, it really knocks it far.I really hope Friend if the Family sets the tone for future DRS boxsets, as I've gotten kinda weary of the "gimmicky" set that pair River up with the leads from other ranges. I really do think River is at her most fun and compelling when she's not forced to share her spotlight with old Doctors or Companions.
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Post by bonehead on Feb 17, 2023 14:45:42 GMT
I'm half way through this, just having finished The Key to the Door.
I'm not really familiar with audio River, nor with This Is Us, the format of which has inspired this. So apart from other posters' overwhelming positivity, I've gone in blind - and it's all shaping up rather beautifully so far. A plethora of interesting - and we are increasingly aware, quite fragile - characters for River to contend with, and all she has to confide in (and explain the plot to!) is the brilliantly always-put-out Hugo (Mark Elstob on fine form as always). I'm aware that something big is soon to be revealed, and the wistful piano-drenched score (Howard Carter can do no wrong) is preparing me for something melancholy and powerful. So far, the performances are great throughout, I'm enjoying not knowing what is to happen; there's something very arthouse about the style of this, and I'm really glad I took a gamble and bought it.
Thanks for the recommendations!
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Post by bonehead on Feb 20, 2023 19:42:23 GMT
Couldn't put off listening to the second half of this set. You know sometimes everything you want to say has already been said? Well that's the case here. This will win an award, I think. Very powerful, beatifully written, played and designed. A very moving experience. Now, I've got to go, my face appears to be leaking ...
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Post by tuigirl on Feb 21, 2023 7:14:10 GMT
Couldn't put off listening to the second half of this set. You know sometimes everything you want to say has already been said? Well that's the case here. This will win an award, I think. Very powerful, beatifully written, played and designed. A very moving experience. Now, I've got to go, my face appears to be leaking ... If this does not win an award, then something is very wrong with the world.
Glad you liked it!
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Post by bonehead on Feb 21, 2023 9:09:19 GMT
Couldn't put off listening to the second half of this set. You know sometimes everything you want to say has already been said? Well that's the case here. This will win an award, I think. Very powerful, beatifully written, played and designed. A very moving experience. Now, I've got to go, my face appears to be leaking ... If this does not win an award, then something is very wrong with the world.
Glad you liked it!
Thank you for recommending it 🙂
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dorney
Big Finish Creative Team
Likes: 3,070
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Post by dorney on Feb 21, 2023 15:39:54 GMT
The other thing I want to comment on is the writing. I don't exactly feel comfortable calling him out directly (so no @), but if John Dorney happens to see this post and isn't immediately turned off by the too-much-text, I would be very interested to know just what all he's doing (as he works w/ the writers) in his capacity of script editor. I've noted before that Dorney has a remarkably keen sense for dialog, deftly weaving exposition and banter into snappy, punchy, and always-engaging back-and-forths. And I can't help but notice that the dialog in these first two stories is just like that. Though, granted, I've also been pretty impressed by several of Tim Foley's recent stories, and I don't want to imply that I think he necessarily needs help to write dialog like this... but I've just noticed a fair amount of Dorney-esque dialog in stories where he's credited as script editor. Oh, I barely had to touch this one. I think I did suggest one joke at one point, but really this is entirely Tim. He’s great.
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