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Post by thegreendeath on Jun 15, 2023 12:40:48 GMT
Still got a fair few releases yet to pass full judgement, but I wonder if they made a mistake allowing these to be purchased individually? It means there’s not enough content to satisfy a standalone story or an overriding arc. It may get more arc heavy as we go further in, but then we move further away from standalone stories that are presumably the reason they were available individually in the first place? Will be interesting to see how the story unfolds as we go on; I’d like to see more emphasis on the degeneration and how the incarnations react already knowing their futures. Totally understand your point, but for me not having them be too arc heavy and instead being a “story of the month” approach is actually more appealing. I’ve missed the monthly range and love having a different Doctor every month in a different story. With an arc I’d rather they drop the whole thing at once so I don’t forget the details between stories.
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Post by bonehead on Jun 15, 2023 13:44:39 GMT
In which the Doctor’s daughter, played by the Doctor’s daughter, teams up with her Dad and meets the Curator, played by Colin Baker, at the Eye of Orion. The Fifth Doctor – not quite himself admittedly – is talked over, undermined and consistently made a bit of a fool of (“Another failure,” he says at one point). It’s a bit much, to be honest. Even though this is part of a celebratory series, the potentially fascinating story of art and finality seems to play second fiddle to everything else. The first three Doctors show up to remind us of the over-reaching degeneration plot, but the melancholy tale at the centre of things I rather like. It’s a small, eccentric tale, and Colin’s Curator reminds me of Old Man from Logan’s Run, giving a charming child-like dimension to the character. I imagine the main arc will take more of a hold later on, but I agree with thegreendeath that it’s good to have a new story with a new Doctor every month once again. Even if things aren’t quite as they seem. I found Jenny less irritating than she was in Legacy of Time (the speedily spoken witticisms that no-one would actually say got on my nerves a bit) and Georgia Tennant plays her well. Peter Davison always delivers the goods, injecting energy and appeal into his performance. The story is solid and often thought-provoking (I particularly liked Abi Harris’s Robo-Guide – seemingly a relative of Sistermatic from Enemy of the Daleks).
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Post by fitzoliverj on Jun 15, 2023 16:04:29 GMT
Not sure how I feel about this one. It wasn't bad by any standard (although I kinda feel the Curator wasn't right - perhaps a late revision or addition?) but the trouble is that it was just as inconsequential as the first episode. I'm going to be disappointed if EVERY release is just a character piece where people come together for a heartfelt - oh, hang on, it's 7 and Davros next month. Fingers crossed that it's just that two tonally-similar releases got scheduled together, and that next time we might get some monsters and shooting and evil from beyond the dawn of time.
I've not got to the extras yet, but they are apparently worth listening to, the extended extras particularly.
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Post by martinw8686 on Jun 15, 2023 16:04:32 GMT
Still got a fair few releases yet to pass full judgement, but I wonder if they made a mistake allowing these to be purchased individually? It means there’s not enough content to satisfy a standalone story or an overriding arc. It may get more arc heavy as we go further in, but then we move further away from standalone stories that are presumably the reason they were available individually in the first place? Will be interesting to see how the story unfolds as we go on; I’d like to see more emphasis on the degeneration and how the incarnations react already knowing their futures. I've got to say I was really underwhelmed by Past Lives. The main draw with this Degeneration for me was, a strong story arc and past Doctors reflecting on events after their original era. The 4th Doctor interacting with Sarah Jane after abandoning her, was such an intriguing premise, so to virtually ignore that and the Degeneration plot in favour of some generic dull Crocodile aliens was really disappointing. I was hoping there'd be more substance to this second story but from the sounds of the feedback I've read, it appears these sets are just an excuse for x meets y. So we've had, 4 meets New Unit, Sarah Jane and the Monk Followed by 5 meets Jenny and the Curator Followed by 7 meets The General and Davros With 9 due to meet the David Warner Doctor. I'd be less frustrated with the dropped Degeneration arc if it was for high quality stand alone adventures but x meets y has become rather stale with each anniversary. Day of the Doctor managed to be a rare exception of an anniversary special that gathered returning elements and told an interesting story with a plot filled with new ideas. 11th Doctor meets 10th Doctor, War Doctor, New Unit while fighting Zygons. But also we get to see the day the Doctor ended the Time War and cameos of so many Doctors. A sentient weapon in the form of Rose rather than a contrived return. Dotd had so many callbacks but also so many new concepts that it felt fresh and vital. Past Lives felt like flogging a dead horse, so much so that I'm waiting for a cluster of 5 star reviews before buying another in this series.
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Post by pdt on Jun 15, 2023 17:26:42 GMT
The biggest problem with these releases being an excuse for X meets Y is that every second press release these days already seems to be doing it.
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Post by timleschild on Jun 15, 2023 18:14:53 GMT
This whole idea sounds awful
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Post by martinw8686 on Jun 15, 2023 20:02:43 GMT
Maybe I'm being overly harsh with this whole premise and it's my expectations that are tainting the listening experience. Because I still adore the Five Doctors, which was also a blatant case of x meets y.
I guess I'm pineing for the joy I got from the first Dark Eyes set. I love serialised drama and box set binging, I'd dearly hoped for a Doctor Who epic, where I would be on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next installment.
As I said in an earlier post, I was really dissapointed in Past Lives, it was bad just really bland. To me it felt like a pointless exercise and I fear similar dissapoinment if I purchase anymore in this series.
I will check in on the reviews to see if I'm wrong but at the moment, I'm out.
Best wishes and Happy listening to those continuing with Once and Future. I hope the stand alone greatest hits shenanigans please the larger audience, because for all my grumbling, I'm just one slightly picky old fool. 😅
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Post by Audio Watchdog on Jun 15, 2023 20:18:09 GMT
Still got a fair few releases yet to pass full judgement, but I wonder if they made a mistake allowing these to be purchased individually? It means there’s not enough content to satisfy a standalone story or an overriding arc. It may get more arc heavy as we go further in, but then we move further away from standalone stories that are presumably the reason they were available individually in the first place? Will be interesting to see how the story unfolds as we go on; I’d like to see more emphasis on the degeneration and how the incarnations react already knowing their futures. I've got to say I was really underwhelmed by Past Lives. The main draw with this Degeneration for me was, a strong story arc and past Doctors reflecting on events after their original era. The 4th Doctor interacting with Sarah Jane after abandoning her, was such an intriguing premise, so to virtually ignore that and the Degeneration plot in favour of some generic dull Crocodile aliens was really disappointing.I was hoping there'd be more substance to this second story but from the sounds of the feedback I've read, it appears these sets are just an excuse for x meets y. So we've had, 4 meets New Unit, Sarah Jane and the Monk Followed by 5 meets Jenny and the Curator Followed by 7 meets The General and Davros With 9 due to meet the David Warner Doctor. I'd be less frustrated with the dropped Degeneration arc if it was for high quality stand alone adventures but x meets y has become rather stale with each anniversary. Day of the Doctor managed to be a rare exception of an anniversary special that gathered returning elements and told an interesting story with a plot filled with new ideas. 11th Doctor meets 10th Doctor, War Doctor, New Unit while fighting Zygons. But also we get to see the day the Doctor ended the Time War and cameos of so many Doctors. A sentient weapon in the form of Rose rather than a contrived return. Dotd had so many callbacks but also so many new concepts that it felt fresh and vital. Past Lives felt like flogging a dead horse, so much so that I'm waiting for a cluster of 5 star reviews before buying another in this series. 100% agree. Such a rich vein to mine and to have it introduced and then so quickly discarded felt like such a huge missed opportunity.
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Post by pdt on Jun 15, 2023 22:42:15 GMT
I'm still confused about who this incarnation of the Doctor is and what he does/doesn't know. It had been a long time since he left Sarah behind in the first story, but in this one he doesn't seem to recognise Colin's Curator as being tied to his sixth incarnation... I know the man has changed somewhat, but what happened to "I never forget a face"?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2023 23:18:40 GMT
Let down, sorry to say. Cast were excellent and I liked the story but it all felt so...unremarkable. This event is realistically the last time we will have so many classic Doctors for a decade-anniversary and its now 2 out of 2 that have felt like normal BF crossover runaround stuff. They have killed any interest in crossovers for me. So sad when they have always been so careful to not over-do multi-Doc stories. But it now seems rarer to have a release with no crossover.
The idea of it being a modern Doctor but in a classic Doctor body seems pointless as everyone is playing it the same way. The Curator lost a lot of the mystique here. I just about dealt with him in Stranded but when its a Doctor who isnt himself meetin a Curator similiarly out of sorts? Not sure what grounds the story.
This is closer to Timelord Victorious so far in terms of "does this need to be an EVENT?"....but sorry to say that story seemed more structured.
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melkur
Chancellery Guard
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Post by melkur on Jun 16, 2023 0:13:51 GMT
As a whole I didn't mind this release, but, like with Harry & Naomi's, it would be nice to see where the arc as a whole is going...
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Post by Chakoteya on Jun 16, 2023 8:17:51 GMT
Controversially, I really enjoyed this poke at the pretentious art world with its snobbery, stupid prices and hoarding of objects in order to increase worth for a select few.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2023 14:00:58 GMT
Controversially, I really enjoyed this poke at the pretentious art world with its snobbery, stupid prices and hoarding of objects in order to increase worth for a select few. Not controversial...just not exactly a central theme when you think of a celebration of DW at 60. Especially when BF offer a limited edition version at a premium to encourage just that kind of behaviour with their own art!
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Post by Chakoteya on Jun 17, 2023 8:28:07 GMT
Controversially, I really enjoyed this poke at the pretentious art world with its snobbery, stupid prices and hoarding of objects in order to increase worth for a select few. Not controversial...just not exactly a central theme when you think of a celebration of DW at 60. Especially when BF offer a limited edition version at a premium to encourage just that kind of behaviour with their own art! It depends what you were expecting / wanting / hoping for.
Personally, I'm taking each story as it comes without (hopefully) preconceptions of what an overall arc should be.
(And at least BF limited editions are more than just 1 example... )
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mbt66
Chancellery Guard
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Post by mbt66 on Jun 17, 2023 17:00:33 GMT
I didn’t have as much fun with this release as I did with the 1st one.
There was an interesting idea at the centre of the story, but it didn’t feel very well developed and the villains of the story were not defined.
With so much to pack into this 60th anniversary celebration this release did feel lacking in characters.
I enjoyed the Fifth Doctor and Jenny together and I would love if Big Finish could somehow fashion a way to have them team up for a few box sets. As she is working with the Curator at the end, he could revisit another old face, that of his predecessor, but I would rather have more of the dad and daughter dynamic.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2023 21:00:07 GMT
I meant to say I was a bit worried as Colin sounded quite frail here. Then....back to normal in the extras! So it was part of his performance to illustrate the demeanour of the character rather than, say, Tom in the new Lost Stories where time has sadly caught up quite a bit.
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Post by Who Review on Jun 18, 2023 13:22:39 GMT
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Post by Ian McArdell on Jun 19, 2023 15:36:49 GMT
And here's my review, just up on CultBox.
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Post by selimpensfiction on Jun 26, 2023 14:46:22 GMT
I'm still confused about who this incarnation of the Doctor is and what he does/doesn't know. It had been a long time since he left Sarah behind in the first story, but in this one he doesn't seem to recognise Colin's Curator as being tied to his sixth incarnation... I know the man has changed somewhat, but what happened to "I never forget a face"? This was my question as well. Maybe it will be explained by the time we get to the end of the series.
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Post by martinw8686 on Jun 29, 2023 16:51:46 GMT
I enjoyed this much more than Past Lives, again the thinnest of connection to the overall arc but the stand alone story was decent.
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