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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on May 3, 2023 10:19:36 GMT
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Post by theillusiveman on May 3, 2023 10:32:44 GMT
A solid and somewhat surprisingly gentle start, very good performances,not too OTT on nostalgia and it adds to continuity without having to contradict it 4/5 Regards mark687 I’d same the same except the last part it does create a lot of continuity Issues especially at the end but yeah it’s a fairly decent opening story
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Post by shallacatop on May 3, 2023 11:57:13 GMT
It’s fine and fun, if somewhat hollow. Each one of the cast are great in their own right, well performed and perfectly characterised, but the interaction between them is rather minimal aside from a couple of the obvious references. You’d expect that to be the driving force of the story, but instead it takes a back seat and the story just unfollows as it’s written to.
Loved the pre-titles, the degeneration was very well executed. I’m curious what someone who’s only buying these individually will think; there’s neither enough of the overall story to intrigue buying further or enough of the “story of the week” to feel satisfying.
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Post by martinw8686 on May 3, 2023 15:07:25 GMT
I enjoyed this, it was light and breezy, moved at a steady pace. If I have one criticism, it's that there wasn't much to it.
The one element drawing me to these stories is the Degeneration arc and past Doctor reflection on events happening after their original regeneration.
At the moment we have the excellent cycle through past lives with assorted cameos, then some minimal reflection with Sarah Jane and UNIT. I'm hoping for more in the following sets.
Perhaps given Tom's age, the decision was made to make his episode less complicated or being the first it was thought to keep it light.
Still my misgivings are based more on my expectations than the quality of the episode itself. Over all I'd say pretty good, a fun unchallenging adventure 3.5 out of 5.
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Post by jacobz40 on May 3, 2023 17:54:37 GMT
The FAQs said that the Special Edition CD has 15 minutes of extras, while the Special Edition Download has 45 minutes of extras. Has this proven correct? I worried it was a typo...
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Post by tuigirl on May 3, 2023 18:13:31 GMT
Thank you all for your thoughts. Planning on listening to this on the weekend when I am out camping and hopefully can take my mind off things.
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Post by sherlock on May 3, 2023 18:29:56 GMT
I found that a bit hollow, to be honest. It’s a bunch of characters in search of a conflict. Everything just…works out. It’s probably the least challenging adventure the Doctor’s ever had. The characters are here to do their thing, but it almost felt like going through the motions at times, as there’s no sense of urgency to be found. The story seems to be trying to make a point about nostalgia and need to let things be, but doesn't really make it with any particular passion. {Spoiler} I guess the Doctor sending Sarah home might be taken as fitting this theme, but it comes across as a bit of an afterthought on his part to be honest.
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Post by bonehead on May 3, 2023 18:30:54 GMT
Robert Valentine's story is a bright and breezy collection of characters and events thrown together in a tempestuous, and at the moment, enigmatic situation. First and foremost, it's great fun, and that's what it's all about. The very nature of this celebratory series, it seems, is to mix things up, to mix heroes and villains from the Doctor Who universe together - anyone hoping for anything else is going to be disappointed, judging by events listed for this and the next instalment. Tom Baker and Rufus Hound are ebullient company. Yes, I have fatigue with X meeting Y just for the heck of it, but this is a celebration and I think it's justified here. The swirling menagerie of eccentric characters and 'out there' locations keeps things racing along over a straightforward tale involving The Monk doing what he does best.
Sarah lifted straight from the end of Hand of Fear, Lethbridge-Stewart lamenting her postponed weekend in Cromer, mention of a 'cloaking device' ( ?), Bannerman assault rifles - there are continuity moments aplenty which might feel self-indulgent in a regular release. I'm actually no great fan of mash-ups and have avoided a number of releases for that very reason, but I enjoyed this. The bits and pieces slowly come together nicely - the Doc's relationship with Kate beginning in quite a touching fashion before becoming distinctly icy, and Sadie Miller sounding more like Sarah Jane than ever.
Perhaps this could have been darker, but I get the feeling things might go down that road as this series progresses. Of course, I could be wrong. For an opening episode, I enjoyed this.
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Post by nottenst on May 3, 2023 19:08:19 GMT
The FAQs said that the Special Edition CD has 15 minutes of extras, while the Special Edition Download has 45 minutes of extras. Has this proven correct? I worried it was a typo... The Special Edition download has 2 final tracks of Interviews (7:48 and 7:12) which should be the same as the CD (and probably the Standard Edition or maybe of one those is all that is on the Standard Edition). The Special Edition download then has Bonus Content consisting of Extended Extras (Interviews) of 30 minutes and an 8.5 minute Music Suite. I skipped right over the final 2 tracks of "regular" interviews assuming that they are part of the 30 minutes of Extended Extras interviews. As far as the story - lots of fun, but we have a long way to go. Added: I had 15 minutes to spend and did verify that those 2 tracks worth of 15 minutes were indeed all contained in the 30 minutes of Extended Extras Interviews.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on May 3, 2023 20:09:49 GMT
Thank you all for your thoughts. Planning on listening to this on the weekend when I am out camping and hopefully can take my mind off things. I had 1 legit unexpected "emotional moment" in the story- took me by surprise.
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Post by jacobz40 on May 3, 2023 20:43:54 GMT
The FAQs said that the Special Edition CD has 15 minutes of extras, while the Special Edition Download has 45 minutes of extras. Has this proven correct? I worried it was a typo... The Special Edition download has 2 final tracks of Interviews (7:48 and 7:12) which should be the same as the CD (and probably the Standard Edition or maybe of one those is all that is on the Standard Edition). The Special Edition download then has Bonus Content consisting of Extended Extras (Interviews) of 30 minutes and an 8.5 minute Music Suite. I skipped right over the final 2 tracks of "regular" interviews assuming that they are part of the 30 minutes of Extended Extras interviews. As far as the story - lots of fun, but we have a long way to go. Added: I had 15 minutes to spend and did verify that those 2 tracks worth of 15 minutes were indeed all contained in the 30 minutes of Extended Extras Interviews. Thanks so much for clarifying; looks like I'm making a purchase!
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Post by Sir Wearer of Hats on May 3, 2023 21:44:13 GMT
I love how convoluted the Monk’s very existence makes continuity. {Spoiler} Mister “I wasn’t there, yet” does seem to know a fair bit about the Doctor’s relative future.
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on May 4, 2023 9:00:31 GMT
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Post by Ian McArdell on May 4, 2023 12:04:01 GMT
My take on Past Lives has just gone up at CultBox- in short, an enjoyable romp and a great opener for Once and Future.
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Post by Who Review on May 4, 2023 13:34:01 GMT
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on May 4, 2023 20:13:42 GMT
Another review.
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 3,967
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Post by melkur on May 5, 2023 0:16:12 GMT
A fun-enough hour, and a decent-enough start to the 60th
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Post by agentten on May 5, 2023 5:48:03 GMT
Disappointed with this.
- The hook, that the Doctor is degenerating, is practically an afterthought and seems to have no real bearing on the plot. I felt the degeneration could be taken out and it would be the same story. - The Doctor carelessly sending Sarah Jane away with The Monk at the end of the story, trusting that The Monk will get her home safe, is bizarre. The Monk is irresponsible and dangerous. Why would The Doctor leave her with The Monk if he didn't have to? The Monk is not exactly blameless in companion deaths. If The Doctor felt their time traveling together should remain at a close, fine, but that's not a good reason to put her in danger. - The plot was one of the least compelling I have heard from Big Finish. The script really didn't seem to have much on its mind and was happy to just move along with no real difficulty or conflict. It had some odd moments that felt lazy, too. For example, when the script needs The Monk to escape The Doctor, The Doctor just comes out and tells The Monk how he's been tracking him when asked. Then, The Doctor seems surprised that The Monk vanishes almost immediately and can no longer be tracked. This made The Doctor seem a bit foolish.
This one just didn't do much for me, I'm sorry to say. Part of it is also probably that I've gotten my fill of The Monk. A little of him goes a long way and I've felt like he's been in a lot of Big Finish productions over the last few years. So much so that I've actually been avoiding buying anything he's in, so I was a bit dismayed to find that he was in this story. That's personal taste, though. I'm sure there are those who enjoy the character and were happy to have him appear in the story.
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Post by Kestrel on May 5, 2023 10:08:30 GMT
Honestly this all sounds a bit like what I expected -- a very loose premise that's not really going evolve into a strong, core plot weaving the stories together. Makes sense to me: gotta account for the folks like me who'll forget half or more of each episode in the time it takes the next one to release who are only buying one or some episodes, and not all. I just hope by the time it's over we get at least some good multi-Doctor interaction, somehow. - The Doctor carelessly sending Sarah Jane away with The Monk at the end of the story, trusting that The Monk will get her home safe, is bizarre. The Monk is irresponsible and dangerous. Why would The Doctor leave her with The Monk if he didn't have to? The Monk is not exactly blameless in companion deaths. If The Doctor felt their time traveling together should remain at a close, fine, but that's not a good reason to put her in danger. I feel like The Monk is sometimes depicted as though he's supposed to be that whole "rogue with a heart of gold" type of character, but none of the stories with him that I've seen really do anything to depict those last five words. And, I mean, I kind of get it -- it's a fond and familiar cliche, but it doesn't really fit unless and until we see behavior from him that isn't fundamentally amoral and self-serving.
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boffy
Full Member
Likes: 139
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Post by boffy on May 6, 2023 13:31:14 GMT
I enjoyed this overall, but at times I had the same issue I have with most of BF’s recasts. Especially if there’s more than one in a story, I can have difficulty figuring out which character is speaking at a given moment.
On stage or screen, you’d have costume etc. to make it clear. On audio, I personally need the voice to be spot-on if I'm going to follow the story and not get lost in a sea of RP.
They’ve got a few which really work for me, but none in this story.
I think my favourite moment might’ve been at the beginning when Tom read the Big Finish slogan instead of Nick. That was a nice little surprise.
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