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Post by number13 on Mar 1, 2024 13:53:05 GMT
An Interesting Detail on the Big Finish website prior to March 1st Volume 1 had it credited Starring Tom Baker and Christopher Naylor
now it has been changed to Starring Tom Baker and Eleanoar Crooks
Wonder if Vol 2 and 3 will get the same treatment?
They only highlight two names on the website listings, the first is the Doctor of course (or Doctors), the second is usually the first Companion in alphabetical order. Occasionally this 'rule' is broken for a more generally famous actor.
Personally I think they should always give the full list as printed at the top of the cover artwork, but no doubt there's something in the website template that says 'NO! Only two names allowed.'
(CDNM4 proves the rule: four Doctors but still only room for two names so it helps if your name is 'Baker'! Computers really do need to be told who's boss. )
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Post by mark687 on Mar 1, 2024 16:33:11 GMT
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Post by aussiedoctorwhofan on Mar 5, 2024 9:11:07 GMT
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Post by number13 on Mar 5, 2024 9:59:36 GMT
Yes, it's here and they are back!
( I appreciate authenticity as much as the next fan, but did this set really have to rise from the garden pond covered in a lace tablecloth and waving an old bicycle lamp... )
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Post by Timelord007 on Mar 5, 2024 16:37:31 GMT
Bow down to the legend that is Sir Tom Baker.
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Post by mark687 on Mar 5, 2024 22:43:59 GMT
Storm of the Sea Devils
I wonder if parts of this were from an idea for a Torchwood MR.
Kamal is the petty Human abusive Ars**ole archetype it sits odd in a 4DA
Otherwise its a very good story and a strong reintroduction of Harry and the Sea Devils
Worlds Beyond
Tried and true Story method but makes an intriguing point right at the very end.
Now we "Finally Meet" Naomi Cross
What is she supposed to know? Apparently she's the UNIT Officer who never got the chance, she gets the chance, she's got The Doctor and Harry assisting her (personal perception),seems intrigued the Doctor's an Alien, yet she TARDIS travels and she's completely non-pulsed. Puts me in mind of Amy Pond but more actively capable and a more comfortable Acting Performance.
Still solid start to a "new" TARDIS Team roll on June.
Regards
mark687
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Post by timleschild on Mar 6, 2024 9:23:51 GMT
Storm of the Sea Devils isn't very good a boring 'nice aliens lets share the planet' story that seems quite normal for Sea devils only the setting makes it interesting. & lets not forgetting Nicholas Briggs as an alien sounding like Nicholas Briggs as an alien. The usua 'acting' from him.
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Post by theillusiveman on Mar 6, 2024 11:01:19 GMT
Storm of the sea devils
What is there to say the plot was forgettable (had to try to listen 3 times), the pacing is was over the place, Tom Baker, Christopher naylor and Eleanore Crooks were the best things about it
its a 5/10 average not terrible but i feel as though it could have done with more of a rewrite
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Post by timleschild on Mar 6, 2024 12:10:49 GMT
Worlds Beyond is Doctor Who doing Monsters Inc with a bit Elementary My Dear Data. Fun but nothing too special.
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Post by elkawho on Mar 6, 2024 12:31:53 GMT
Was I listening to a different story than the rest of you? Because I really enjoyed this set. I liked Storm of the Sea Devils tremendously. Especially since the last TV Doctor Who story that had them was, well, underwhelming. I thought it was the Harry's best Big Finish story. He's usually just there as the bumbling friend who trips over the right solution. We have finally put the puzzle of how Naomi and Harry were thrown together and how they ended up travelling with the Doctor. I still say the decision to introduce this team in the middle of their travels was not a good one. Tracey Wiles is always a treat, and the rest of the cast was terrific.
Worlds Beyond may not have been groundbreaking, but it was certainly enjoyable.
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Post by timleschild on Mar 6, 2024 12:45:15 GMT
Was I listening to a different story than the rest of you? Because I really enjoyed this set. I liked Storm of the Sea Devils tremendously. Especially since the last TV Doctor Who story that had them was, well, underwhelming. I thought it was the Harry's best Big Finish story. He's usually just there as the bumbling friend who trips over the right solution. We have finally put the puzzle of how Naomi and Harry were thrown together and how they ended up travelling with the Doctor. I still say the decision to introduce this team in the middle of their travels was not a good one. Tracey Wiles is always a treat, and the rest of the cast was terrific. Worlds Beyond may not have been groundbreaking, but it was certainly enjoyable. I think part of it is that I am not invested in the Harry & Naomi subplot. Naomi was fine. I liked Harry on TV but not really interested in seeing him return to travel with the Doctor. In fact once companions leave I'm not bothered about seeing them return in BF (e.g. older versions of Jo & Vicki). Also I'm not sure when these stories are set. Naomi seems like a very modern companion but Harry sounds no older than he did on TV.
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Post by Who Review on Mar 6, 2024 17:03:01 GMT
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Post by timleschild on Mar 6, 2024 18:34:19 GMT
"Nicholas Briggs brings Taurix, leader of the amphibious beasties, to life with flair"
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Post by bonehead on Mar 7, 2024 19:34:56 GMT
Storm of the Sea Devils by David K Barnes.
I haven’t followed Naomi Cross across the ranges and am not a big fan of cross-story-characters (bit of a sly means of getting you to buy different ranges) and I find her pretty flat to be honest. “Say ‘my girl’ again and I’ll chuck you in the river,” she says. That’s Harry told. So, she’s ‘feisty’ then. Perhaps I’d be more invested in her if I’d heard her in earlier (later?) stories but I haven’t because I can’t afford to buy everything. Having Sadie Miller available, and with Sarah and the Fourth Doctor being such a highly regarded team on television, I’m not sure why BF haven’t just gone for a Series 12 ‘vibe.’ Ah well. Perhaps by mixing up the companions like this, BF hope we won’t notice the similarities between this and other such stories featuring ancient sea-originated threats. Secondly, I’m running out of ways not to let the ubiquitous voice of Nick Briggs stop me investing in the latest monster/villain. Here he is again, sounding exactly the same as ever, voicing most of the Sea Devils (all of them as far as I can tell, except the female Shurak, which means once again, he fills scenes talking to himself). “Sounds to me like you’ve got a problem with him, you bullying Briggs basher.”I feel I have to justify my comments by saying yes, he’s done wonders with Big Finish over the years. I’m just sick of hearing his voice again and again. How good it is that Dan Starkey is voicing the majority of the Sontarans (even he has back up from John Banks and Christopher Ryan), or I’m sure Nick would be voicing them as well. Wouldn’t it have been great if, just once, a different actor had voiced the Sea Devils? Just to give them a sense of … well, sounding different from every other famous returnee. “He does the Daleks on the telly though.”
Yes, and he’s great. He’s also a writer, director, artistic producer, voice artist, actor, podcast host and opening narrator to nearly every BF production I buy. It won’t change a thing me going on like this, but I’m seriously considering avoiding audios in which he’s playing yet more Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Daleks, Sea Devils. They’re no longer hugely anticipated returning monsters, they’re just more Nick Briggs. Ah look: The Silence (who?) are back in this month’s much delayed Classic Doctors New Monsters. Guess who’s voicing them? Phew, that’s good then innit? Moving on then … Is that a trace of Malcolm Clarke’s gurgling, churning electronic psychedelia in Jamie Robertson’s musical soundtrack? I like it, although the sound design is a bit heavy-handed in places. Certain moments of dialogue are washed out by music and effects. I enjoyed the story as a whole. I liked Calcutta as a location for a story. Once the villains were revealed, things became a little dull, as if events were stretched to fill the running time. This is a trait of some stories from the classic series however, so maybe this is a homage! The tale isn’t quite up to David K Barnes’s Dalek Occupation of Winter, but it’s full of enough intrigue and drama, and makes good use of the location and characters. Centrally, it’s a retread of much of Jon Pertwee’s original story (and others) but there’s a good sense of pacing in the second half, leading up to an exciting final episode. Nice to hear Harry written less as an ‘imbecile’; he possibly emerges as the real hero of this story, and Silas Carlson is excellent as Ramesh.
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Post by martinw8686 on Mar 8, 2024 12:57:50 GMT
Storm of the Sea Devils - Overall, I'd score the adventure 4/5 but the actual Sea Devils element 3/5. Their not my favourite returning monsters, and their appearance was quite generic.
I thought the three leads were brilliant, with some great dialogue for the Fourth Doctor. I thought Harry was well written, with his more heroic elements at the surface. Naomi was strong, and I enjoyed her moment when tested by the Fourth Doctor.
I enjoyed the swamp setting and the human villain with his dodgy hotel in the middle of nowhere. It felt reminiscent the Hinchcliffe era. Although I'd have liked just a little more depth to the idea of auctioning off the captured Sea devil. Although I have a lot of good will to an adventure that's main objective is introducing a new companion/Doctor dynamic.
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Post by noneofyourbusiness on Mar 8, 2024 17:17:08 GMT
Storm of the Sea Devils isn't very good a boring 'nice aliens lets share the planet' story that seems quite normal for Sea devils only the setting makes it interesting. & lets not forgetting Nicholas Briggs as an alien sounding like Nicholas Briggs as an alien. The usua 'acting' from him. Sea Devils are Earthliens.
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Post by timleschild on Mar 8, 2024 17:19:52 GMT
Storm of the Sea Devils isn't very good a boring 'nice aliens lets share the planet' story that seems quite normal for Sea devils only the setting makes it interesting. & lets not forgetting Nicholas Briggs as an alien sounding like Nicholas Briggs as an alien. The usua 'acting' from him. Sea Devils are Earthliens. My point still stands.
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Post by bonehead on Mar 8, 2024 17:52:22 GMT
Worlds Beyond by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky.
Oh dear, Naomi’s not impressed with the TARDIS but she’s eager to get her own room. Her character reminds me of Hebe. She speaks her mind and doesn’t mind telling people what she thinks of them. To balance this out though, there’s not a huge amount to like about her, so I’m left to assume her boldness is supposed to be her appealing aspect. There’s little lightness of touch here, and I just occasionally find her a bit rude (whereas Eleanor Crooks sounds like a lot of fun in the interviews). The story is quite charming. A stop-off point for the Doctor, and for the listeners, after their tussle with Sea Devils; a time where they can talk about themselves, and we can get to know them, which is welcome. After spending time saying how much I prefer the four-parters for classic Doctors, I actually liked this more than the Sea Devils story. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but tells quite a touching, quiet tale, well played too (always nice to hear from Anthony Howell). There’s something strangely comforting about hearing the familiar TARDIS dematerialising amidst the sound of climactic explosions. Despite my reservations about Naomi, I like her more here than earlier on, and Harry is well played – the team-up just seems a little odd more than anything else. Always good to hear from Tom of course, who sounds just as strong and committed as ever.
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Post by number13 on Mar 10, 2024 10:42:50 GMT
Storm of the Sea Devils
I have a lot of fondness for the Sea Devils because they premiered right in the middle of my TARDIS team's wonderful three-year-run and it was a stonkingly good story - and the BBC obviously thought so too because we got to see it repeated (almost unheard of) not just once at Christmas but again in the summer holidays when (I think) the cricket was rained off. 'Well John, that's a new one on me. Match abandoned due to Sea Devils. Oh look, that one's just disintegrated middle stump, good shot sir!'
So I hoped for the usual from this story and I got it - Sea Devils on the attack after human interference, the Doctor and friends trying to hold the line and make peace between the two intelligent species who call Earth home.
But (and this is what made the story stand out for me) we also got a lot more - a brooding, rain-soaked 'human' drama (where some of the humans are Homo Sapiens and some are Homo Reptilia) of greed, power and its misuse, ancient prejudice and instinctive fear and through it all, people of both species managing to overcome instinct and prejudice and see the better side of others. Of course, being a 'Doctor Who' story there's one character who simply doesn't have a better side (really quite the Bond villain I thought - one of the lesser-known stories in the anthology 'For Your Eyes Only' came to mind) and he gets his inevitable come-uppance in a way that would have never have made it onto BBC1 even in the Gothic years!
The Doctor uses only his intelligence to steer events - no techological wizardry this time - but steer them he does, successfully; Harry has an excellent story as both skilled doctor ( clearly not 'only qualifed to work on sailors' ) and as action-man UNIT/naval officer 'and a jolly good one' hear! hear! Harry, you jolly well are; and this was my first meeting with Naomi so I got her chronological intro story as the actual intro and she was more or less as I'd expected. She is after all a member of UNIT, which tells us a lot - adventurous, intelligent, open-minded, no-nonsense; it's pretty much the basic CV for the job isn't it? Knowing in advance that she and Harry would be joining the Doctor gave her extra importance and the story served the character well. I'm looking forward to following their travels.
Finally, I thought the unusual setting of a Bond villain's lair (sorry, luxury hotel) deep in the Sundarbans came across very well, the sense of remoteness, darkness (it's mostly a night story) and the incessant, pouring rain made for a rich soundscape, with some electronic twangs of authentic 'The Sea Devils'-inspired music to complete the audio picture. Excellent and unusual story.
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Post by martinw8686 on Mar 10, 2024 12:10:34 GMT
Worlds beyond- 4/5
A really enjoyed this one, an interesting idea with the main three players firing on all cylinders.
The story being 1 hour long, could use a little more depth to explore the main concept and villains of the piece.
I particularly enjoyed the thought that after defeating the villains, Naomi teases the Doctor with the idea that there was no threat and the adventure itself was the Doctor's ideal holiday.
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