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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 22, 2024 18:49:44 GMT
I guess the speech itself is too sappy and sincere to really take as a spoof I'm afraid. At least for me.
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Post by timleschild on Apr 22, 2024 21:14:17 GMT
Indeed. And a companion that he had barely met (before Big Finish's retcons) - and a Doctor that, crucially, is appearing in a charity skit. I wouldn't dissect this with any more care than to ask why Colin Baker is travelling with Tegan in the infamous Fix With Sontarans. A companion who's life was only in danger because of the Doctor's carelessness. True, but that applies to all companions. If they didn't travel with him they'd never be in danger.
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 22, 2024 21:56:48 GMT
A companion who's life was only in danger because of the Doctor's carelessness. True, but that applies to all companions. If they didn't travel with him they'd never be in danger. Exactly, so why should the character of the Doctor think anything special about him saving his companion when that's what he always does? Specifically when the Doctor blames himself for her almost dying within the very episode.
Also saving one person doesn't make up for failing to save another, especially when you're the person who has to live with that guilt.
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Post by Alastair on Apr 22, 2024 23:48:55 GMT
Revisiting Time Crash through this thread (I haven’t seen since it first aired), I’ve landed on a different personal interpretation that really resonates.
As somebody who (1) often looks back with disproportionate embarrassment on his own past self in an “I was so naive and stupid” way, and (2) has gradually learned to be kinder to the memory of somebody who was doing his best with what he had, I can buy the Tenth Doctor’s affection for the Fifth as the product of greater distance, reevaluation, even embellishment.
Maybe most of that self-loathing transferred to the War Doctor, putting the kid four lives beforehand in better perspective. Or maybe he’s seeing it through rose-tinted glasses, like any other fan might. I feel like Ten loves *having been* Five more than he loved it at the time.
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 23, 2024 0:01:35 GMT
Revisiting Time Crash through this thread (I haven’t seen since it first aired), I’ve landed on a different personal interpretation that really resonates. As somebody who (1) often looks back with disproportionate embarrassment on his own past self in an “I was so naive and stupid” way, and (2) has gradually learned to be kinder to the memory of somebody who was doing his best with what he had, I can buy the Tenth Doctor’s affection for the Fifth as the product of greater distance, reevaluation, even embellishment. Maybe most of that self-loathing transferred to the War Doctor, putting the kid four lives beforehand in better perspective. Or maybe he’s seeing it through rose-tinted glasses, like any other fan might. I feel like Ten loves *having been* Five more than he loved it at the time. I can kind of see that point of view, but not with Ten. Maybe ten revisited after he's gone through all of that character development with 12 and 13?
Maybe if it was more of an 'I forgive you/us/myself' and less of an 'I loved being you'?
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 23, 2024 13:16:44 GMT
Davison 7th Review
Aquitaine - Full Audio
This was good. Nothing super amazing, but solid.
The Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa answer a distress signal out in space. They land aboard a research ship hovering above a black hole. The entire crew is missing and the only one left is the ship’s computer and maid service, Hargreaves. He says the crew has only been gone for seven days, but there are clues to suggest that it’s been much, much longer than that; including the overgrown plant life in the garden.
This story is like a fusion of both Old and New Who. We got the timey-whimy stuff that was popularized by the revival, and classic plant monsters straight of The Seeds of Doom.
In fact it’s the melding of these two well worn plot lines that make this story so unique. It feels both familiar and fresh, at the same time. Now add in some good character work for the mains, some decent acting, and a charming side character in Hargreaves, and you got yourself a fun time.
It probably won’t ever be listed as a Big Finish classic, but it’s a nice way to spend two hours.
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Post by bonehead on Apr 24, 2024 8:30:21 GMT
Davison 7th Review
Aquitaine - Full Audio
This was good. Nothing super amazing, but solid.
The Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa answer a distress signal out in space. They land aboard a research ship hovering above a black hole. The entire crew is missing and the only one left is the ship’s computer and maid service, Hargreaves. He says the crew has only been gone for seven days, but there are clues to suggest that it’s been much, much longer than that; including the overgrown plant life in the garden.
This story is like a fusion of both Old and New Who. We got the timey-whimy stuff that was popularized by the revival, and classic plant monsters straight of The Seeds of Doom.
In fact it’s the melding of these two well worn plot lines that make this story so unique. It feels both familiar and fresh, at the same time. Now add in some good character work for the mains, some decent acting, and a charming side character in Hargreaves, and you got yourself a fun time.
It probably won’t ever be listed as a Big Finish classic, but it’s a nice way to spend two hours.
There were two audios released not too many months apart from each other - Equilibrium and Aquatime - that seemed especially to underline how good The Fifth Doctor and his team are. They were alright on television, but under Big Finish, have really become dependably reassuring, funny and likeable, even after all this time. So much so that Doctor Five hasn't needed any new injection of travelling companions (not long running ones anyway) to keep his stories solid and enjoyable. Not for the first time after reading your reviews, I'm thinking, 'I must listen to that again soon.'
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 24, 2024 14:27:50 GMT
Davison 8th Review
Enlightenment - Novelization
This was fun. I enjoy the tv version of Enlightenment a lot and this is basically a direct screen to script adaptation written by the actual author of the serial. Barbara Clegg; whom I've only just learned was the first woman to write for the show. It took this female co-created series twenty years to get a woman writer....Damn! Anyways, given how much of a visual spectacle the original episode is the novel is at a slight disadvantage. Especially since the author was obviously under some sort of page count limit/deadline. At only 12 chapters this is the shortest target novel we've covered thus far. However the writer tries to make up for the lack of detail and edited down humor by adding in more characterization. We get more on Tegan's feelings on Marriner, and you can absolutely tell this was written by a woman. Tegan is very relatable in trying discourage her stalker while still having to keep up appearances. The Doctor is spot on. The Eternals are arguably better realized in the book, what with them 'switching gears' so to speak between being animated or not. Even Turlough manages to not get on my nerves here, and even comes across as somewhat sympathetic as the narrator details his thought process as he goes though his redemption arc. Now that truly is a feat. However, while I enjoy these additions I still think I prefer the tv version. It's stylistic flare is what pushes it into classic territory I feel. But there's a enough substance to the core story that this novelization still remains one of the better ones I've read for the marathon.
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 25, 2024 12:49:54 GMT
Davison 9th Review
Skaro: 20 Years of Time Travel Reviews - Fanzine
So what is a fanzine? A fanzine is a fan published magazine. Before the days of the internet, chat rooms, e-mails, forums, blogs, and social media, there was fan clubs, news letters, charity publications, and magazines. The fanzine was the primary way to share opinions, analyzes, fandom news, fan fiction, and fan art. There have been several Doctor Who themed fanzines through out the decades; hundreds even. Skaro was one of the more professional looking ones that came out during the early 80s, and had connections with a fairly large fan club called the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. While Skaro is no longer in print, the DWAS is still going and even publishes a different fanzine today... albeit digitally now. www.dwasonline.co.uk/
As for today’s issue, I manged to grab a copy off of ebay for eight bucks, and it came with a bonus issue as well.
Each are about 8 by 5 inches, printed on thick matte paper, and are all in black in white. Despite being held together by obvious staples, each zine looks and feels more like a thin cover-less paperback than what you would think of as a magazine on a store shelf today.
As for the contents of the zine, this special 20th anniversary issue features reviews of each season up to that point by 20 different fans.
It seems rather pointless to review a bunch of other reviews however, so I will just point out two things.
First, the print and layout of the various articles and production photos was very well handled, easy to read, and pleasing to the the eye. Outside of the occasional typo and one or two tiny printing mistakes, I can see why this particular fanzine is well remembered in fandom.
The second matter, and perhaps my only real criticism of the issue, is that while by and large most of the reviews are full of love of the show, one or two reviewers couldn’t seem to stop nagging on the then current era.
I mean it’s an anniversary special for goodness' sake! You’re telling me you couldn’t find a single fan in all of the UK who enjoyed season 18 enough to write a positive review of it?
I’m fine with people voicing dissenting opinions, but there’s other times and places for that. Not at the anniversary celebration though.
The next issue gives a look at what the magazine normally featured and I gave it a quick glace through.
We start off with an introduction by the editor and some legal copy-write disclaimers and footnotes. Then comes an assortment of fan letters talking about fandom things, the DWAS, and expressing general appreciation for the magazine.
Following from that we get an article from a fan gushing over the Brigadier and how awesome his BrOTP with the Doctor is. Then we’re treated to more reviews, this time of three individual episodes from season 13. While the next submission is a more heady piece of intellectual analysis discussing gray morality in the series as a whole.
We also get treated with some fan art and the third part of a three part story featuring Nyssa and the Doctor. Sadly, I shall not bother reading this particular fan fic as I have no way of obtaining the rest of it.
After that we get a particularly whiny bitch complaining about Doctor Who ‘catering to Americans too much’ because JNT dared to make the next companion from the US and had the gall to advertise the show to overseas markets! Yes, how dare a TV producer do his job! Worst Show-runner Ever!
Moving past that outdated unpleasantness, we come to the ‘advertising’ portion of the issue, which is just listing previous issues and talking about what to expect in the next.
We end the zine on yet another fan pointlessly complaining about JNT and how ‘the show is not as good at it used to be’, and finally the most interesting piece in the entire publication, an actual interview with the then editor of the official Doctor Who Magazine and one of the professional Doctor Who comic artists. Out of everything here, I’m most likely to go back and properly re-read that instead of just speed reading it.
So is the Skaro fanzine something worth getting?
Not really.
There’s a certain amount of novelty in reading a fanwork that is physically older than you are. It’s like uncovering a time capsule. But, nothing therein isn’t anything you haven’t heard before elsewhere on the web.
The most unique things here, the ones really worth preserving are the fanfictions and you can’t even read the entire thing in a single issue. And issues can run ridiculously high, most averaging around $25 and some going up to even $50.
Unless you’re a collector of fanzines specifically, it’s not really worth it. I lucked out on finding two issues for ten bucks (once you count shipping), and honestly I wouldn’t pay much more than five dollars for an issues anyways.
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Post by bonehead on Apr 25, 2024 13:14:35 GMT
Ah yes, Doctor Who Fanzines - the JNT Years.
Vocal dissent against the show during this time went way, way beyond criticising a television show and became something quite frightening, and it reached a peak with Colin and Sylvester's run. I remember being genuinely gobsmacked by the amount of raging vitriol aimed at every aspect of the production, and cast and crew, that filled copies of a particular fanzine (not Skaro, as it happens) I bought on a trip into the big city. After I'd read open-mouthed a few of these articles, into the bin the fanzine went, with me - not averse to having a good old whinge myself - vowing never to buy another copy.
And then, the internet. Ah well, that's another story for another day.
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 26, 2024 12:24:28 GMT
Davison 10th Review
Lords of the Storm - Novel
There's a lot of interesting ideas and concepts in this book. Almost too many of them.
The Doctor and Turlough land on an Earth colony that was settled by mostly Hindus. The culture and social structure therefore resembles that of India.
The Sontarans have invaded though and are brainwashing the populace in order to experiment on them. And the Sontaran plot only continuously becomes ever more convoluted from there, so I won't explain too much of that set up.
The strength of this book is the world building. Both the Sontrans' and the Rutans' culture and way of life is vastly expanded upon, and it's refreshing to see a futuristic society not obviously based off of the UK or US. However I'm not sure what it really adds to the story as it feels cosmetic despite being used as a plot point.
Which leads to my first complaint. The Sontarans infect the humans by poisoning the water supply, and they get away with it because they trick the human leader into allowing it.
His reasoning is that he thinks it'll 'tag' the different castes.... and the narrative wants us to find this reasoning sympathetic? It treats this plot point as if the leader thought such an invasive action would 'help' people... despite doing so would have entrapped everyone in an oppressive class divide.
Sure the leader does get called out on such a mistake and in the end he resigns out of disgrace, but no one ever points out the inherent problem of still having a centuries old caste system on a colony planet so far away from Earth.
Naturally such a system would evolve or meet resistance when faced with such a wide spread change in environments. Yet no one seems interested in examining these outdated traditions, even the couple who are arranged to be married since childhood fall in love on their own anyway, and the narrative doesn't seem to have any commentary on such things. Therefore what is the point of including them then?
The second issue is that the book is arguably too long. So many sub plots, convoluted battle plans, and just chapters dedicated to so much set up. It takes the Doctor six chapters just to get involved in the plot!
I like world building and slow burn mysteries as much as the next person, but I can't help but feel that maybe a subplot or two could have been dropped.
I read another review describing this story as a 'a forgotten six parter of the Davison era' and that feels like a good way to put it. However they had stopped making six parters by the Davison era for a reason.
But on to the good things, it is well written. There's lots of atmosphere. The new characters are likable, and even the villains have entertaining personalities. The characterization for the both the Doctor and Turglough are well done. I actually liked Turglough in this so that is an achievement.
I also can't decide if the mention of Kamelion being there without ever being seen or taking part in the plot is a hilarious meta joke or a wasted opportunity.
So all in all it's a well written novel with lots of world building, likable enough characters, and some genuine mystery. If you have the patience to get through it, that is, and so long as you're here for the space opera elements instead an actual serious sci-fi examination of society.
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Post by number13 on Apr 27, 2024 10:57:48 GMT
Davison 8th Review
Enlightenment - Novelization
This was fun. I enjoy the tv version of Enlightenment a lot and this is basically a direct screen to script adaptation written by the actual author of the serial. Barbara Clegg; whom I've only just learned was the first woman to write for the show. It took this female co-created series twenty years to get a woman writer....Damn! It's not impressive is it. And it's odd but the well-known 20thC women science-fiction writers I can think of were all American. British women writers became famous for crime/detective fiction, historical, romantic, children's, fantasy novels etc. throughout the 20th century, with hugely bestselling names among them and Agatha Christie at the top of all lists!
What makes it even stranger is, in the 18thC and 19thC, some of the giants of British Gothic fiction were female (Mary Shelley! but she was far from alone) - and some of that genre certainly counts as science-fiction by 'Doctor Who' standards. Robert Holmes might well have commissioned a script from Mrs. Radcliffe!
(S12B: The Fourth Doctor, Sarah and Harry tackle 'The Mysteries of Udolpho'... 'Whatever you do, don't lift the veil - no Sarah, stop!' 'What is it, Doctor?' 'Oh, I say...' )
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 27, 2024 15:50:36 GMT
Davison 11th Review
Graham Dilley Saves the World - Short Story
We got another Short Trips for this round. Past Tense focuses on the Doctor visiting historical moments through out Earth’s history.
The event for this story is a 1981 cricket game between the UK and Australia. During the game, a player named Graham Dilley catches the ball and basically wins the game for the UK.
This is Graham Dilley by the way.
Or at least that’s what is supposed to happen. Only the Doctor finds out that something has gone wrong.
While visiting the future with Peri and Erimem, the Doctor finds that the world has devolved into a fascist, post-apocalyptic dystopia, overrun with war and pollution.
He figures out that Graham Dilley is the nexus point where time went off the rails. He drops the ball, literally, and it leads to a civil war within the UK when police fail to stop a riot of butt hurt sports fans, which in turn leads to a world war as many world leaders are killed when a bomb goes off at Prince Charles and Diane’s wedding.
(Sadly, I fully believe the people of the UK would go to war over flipping cricket before they would fight to overthrow those that led them to Brexit.)
Well, anyways, what caused Graham Dilley to fumble the ball and cause time to go awry?
Why the Doctor himself of course!
Or more specifically Tegan.
Graham Dilley gets distracted when he sees her standing in the bleachers wearing a mini-skirt.
So it’s up to Peri and Erimem to stop Tegan from distracting Graham Dilley, while the Doctor avoids running into himself or his past companions. Also Peri and Erimem can’t be seen by the past Doctor or Turlough, nor can they tell Tegan that they are future companions of the Doctor.
Despite the timey-whimey plot, this is at it’s heart a character piece.
Most of the story is just Peri and Erimem goofing off and being the teenage girls that they are. (And for those that don’t know, Erimem is a former Egyptian pharaoh who travels with Five and Peri in the extended AU.)
They tease the Doctor relentlessly, gossip behind poor Turlough’s back, befriend Tegan by talking about shoes, and at the end go on a drinking binge complete with ‘munchies’, much to the Doctor’s disapproval.
And can I just say, I love the idea of Peri and Tegan being besties. Like this story just makes me wish that they got to travel together.
There’s also a pathos here, as the Doctor reflects on his past with Tegan, and how they parted on bad terms. It’s hurts him in a way that most companions’ goodbyes don’t, because he knows that on at least some level it’s his fault.
It’s rather poetic now that we’ve got Power of the Doctor to bring closure to this plot point.
So in conclusion, this is a really strong Short Trip. I don’t know if it’s the best one we’ve covered so far, but it’s high up there. I fully recommend it.
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Post by number13 on Apr 27, 2024 21:54:21 GMT
Davison 11th Review
Graham Dilley Saves the World - Short Story ...
(Sadly, I fully believe the people of the UK would go to war over flipping cricket before they would fight to overthrow those that led them to Brexit.)
...
Sounds a fun story! But no, people in England & Wales (*sport trivia* it would be England & Wales, we play many team sports as four nations but cricket has a combined E&W board & team *sport trivia ends*) wouldn't be that bothered. Sadly cricket is a minority sport compared with the vast tribal obsession that is football - now that they might go to war over! While I put my feet up and had a cup of tea. Pity; cricket is much better and we can sometimes actually win at cricket...
As for Brexit, well, I didn't vote for it but the majority did and most people here do accept that. The rush of parties promising to reverse Brexit has been non-existent. It's the British way; we moan a bit, tinker a bit to improve things we don't think are working as well as they might, and then basically carry on regardless.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,681
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Post by shutupbanks on Apr 27, 2024 23:22:52 GMT
Davison 8th Review
Enlightenment - Novelization
This was fun. I enjoy the tv version of Enlightenment a lot and this is basically a direct screen to script adaptation written by the actual author of the serial. Barbara Clegg; whom I've only just learned was the first woman to write for the show. It took this female co-created series twenty years to get a woman writer....Damn! Anyways, given how much of a visual spectacle the original episode is the novel is at a slight disadvantage. Especially since the author was obviously under some sort of page count limit/deadline. At only 12 chapters this is the shortest target novel we've covered thus far. However the writer tries to make up for the lack of detail and edited down humor by adding in more characterization. We get more on Tegan's feelings on Marriner, and you can absolutely tell this was written by a woman. Tegan is very relatable in trying discourage her stalker while still having to keep up appearances. The Doctor is spot on. The Eternals are arguably better realized in the book, what with them 'switching gears' so to speak between being animated or not. Even Turlough manages to not get on my nerves here, and even comes across as somewhat sympathetic as the narrator details his thought process as he goes though his redemption arc. Now that truly is a feat. However, while I enjoy these additions I still think I prefer the tv version. It's stylistic flare is what pushes it into classic territory I feel. But there's an enough substance to the core story that this novelization still remains one of the better ones I've read for the marathon. I remember loving the Enlightenment novelisation when it came out, probably more than I did the episodes it was based on, which I thought were a bit of a return to 70s Who in some (good) ways. The novel range started out in the ballpark of 160 pages. During the late 70s they were being produced so quickly and by so few people (Terrance Dicks wrote nearly half of the entire range) that the page count shrunk to about 112 pages. By the time Enlightenment came out the page count had spun out to 128 pages (144 for the longer stories) and by the time the show wound up in 1989 they had gone back to the far more appropriate length they started with. In terms of women writers, I think Rona Munro, Jane Baker and “Paula Moore” were the only other women writers in the rest of the show’s run. Compare that to Blake’s 7 which had one female writer across the entirety of the series (Tanith Lee, who had more literary cred than a lot of the guys writing for it) or Star Trek (TOS and TNG) which had several women on their writing teams.
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Post by bethhigdon on Apr 30, 2024 13:13:19 GMT
Davison 12th Review
Worlds of Big Finish - Spin-off
Does anyone remember that Disney Afternoon magazine that ran in the 90s?
In it, they would feature articles on upcoming movies and shows, and regularly print comics featuring the current Disney Afternoon properties.
Well during the magazine’s early run Disney attempted a five part crossover with all of it’s main series. Despite the fact that none of the shows, save for two, had any connection to one another, took place in different locations and time periods, and had wildly different tones and premises.
Their solution?
Have the heroes face a reoccurring enemy by having them all come into contact with a particular plot MacGuffin one by one.
The story was called The Legend of the Chaos God.
Worlds of Big Finish is basically that, but done with Big Finish characters instead of Disney.
Each part is a mini-adventure highlighting one of the company’s numerous audio spin-offs; some Doctor Who related, some not.
Each hero faces off against an over arching enemy, the Magog in this case, on their own, until the next person in line comes across the crossover’s plot MacGuffin. Only instead of an evil ruby that possesses people, we get a book of prophecies that makes people go insane.
First up to bat is Graceless, and it’s also the most relevant part for this section of the marathon.
Graceless is about two sisters who can teleport themselves anywhere in time or space. They are two humanoid tracers created by the White and Black Guardians to find the key to time.
The ‘white’ sister, Abby, was assigned to assist the Fifth Doctor during Big Finish’s Key to Time squeal “Key 2 Time”. While the ‘black’ sister, Zara, was their main opponent in the race to find the key.
Zara, however, grew tired of her objective as she became ever more human. Eventually she and Abby reunited and form an alliance against the Guardians with the Fifth Doctor’s help.
Now while I have heard their introduction story, I myself have never listened to Graceless before now. According to people who have listened to it, it’s a very serialized story with a lot of slow burn character development.
With that in mind, this might be the weakest entry in the crossover.
The episode is supposed to take place between seasons two and three of the Graceless series, as such we get an opening that somewhat ties into that ongoing story line, which is arguably not the best way to kick off a crossover that’s supposed to be a sampling of various series to newcomers.
None of that continuity winds up mattering that much to the actual plot, but because this backstory is the inciting incident that kicks off the entire crossover, it can leave the viewer feeling a little lost.
There’s also the added problem of the fact that because this episode is what establishes the premise of the crossover, setting up the plot MacGuffin and where it comes from, the story has little identity.
You don’t get a good idea of who Abby and Zara are, nor what their ongoing series is about. The plot has a supernatural investigator vibe to it, what with the sisters’ precognition and physic abilities... and the fact that they are solving a murder mystery, but I get the feeling from other reviewers this isn’t the norm for the main series.
With that, the Sherlock Holmes entry was probably my favorite story of the box set.
There’s no tangible connection to Doctor Who here besides being a Big Finish project and being in this particular crossover, it’s just a straight up Sherlock Holmes adaption.
Now I can’t speak for the main series, but this particular story did something very interesting with the character. It made Sherlock old.
Not so old that he can’t do the job anymore if asked, but he is nearing retirement and Watson himself has already stepped away from the job due to illness.
Instead it’s Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, whom he is working with here, which is a delightful dynamic that probably doesn’t get explored enough in Holmes adaptations.
After Sherlock Holmes we get Dorian Gray.
Like with Holmes, I mainly know about Dorian Gray from pop-culture osmosis. I’ve seen the black and white film staring Angela Lansbury and that adaptation of Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and that’s it.
Also like Holmes, Gray has nothing to due with Doctor Who outside of this one crossover.
Which is more the pity.
From what I can tell from this singular sample the series explores the premise of an immortal being who made a devil’s pact for eternal youth, and pushes it beyond what the original novel could explore.
That jumping off point actually would make for a brilliant genuine Doctor Who crossover. Two immortals; one a morally gray anti-hero at best, the other an seemingly upright hero who often fails to live up to his lofty ideals, who are forced to work together to save the day..... Yes, Please!
But enough fantasies, the actual story is a tight little Gothic horror tale just as you would expect from a series based off of a classic Gothic horror novel.
Then for the fourth episode we meet Iris Wildthyme and Captain Turner again, bringing us back to the world of Doctor Who.
Funny enough this story is supposed to be the one that comes right before Comeback of the Scorchies, which we covered earlier in the marathon.
This arguably works better as an introduction for the series than that audio did, and is probably my second favorite story of the boxset. A perfect screwball comedy that really sells Iris Wildthyme as the Doctor Who parody that she is.
Vienna was the spin-off that I was the least familiar with coming into this crossover.
In fact I didn’t even know that it existed until I listened to this story.
From what I can gather, Vienna is a bounty hunter and an antagonist of the Seventh Doctor.
Not that this sample conveys that.
I mean we get she’s a bounty hunter, but there’s no mention of the Doctor at any point in the entire crossover so lucky for me google exists.
It was okay... a very middle of the road space noir pastiche.
Then there is Bernice Summerfield.
She’s a companion of the Seventh Doctor from the novels; an archaeologist from the 26th century. She's proven so popular that she’s gotten spinoff novels, comics, audios, and even an animated web-series!
I’m guessing Bernice was the big draw for this crossover, hence why she’s the one to end things off.
And it’s actually my least favorite story here.
True the Graceless entry might fail to tell me what Graceless is about, but it’s still at least interesting.
This is just generic sci-fi plot 101 condensed down to 30 mins. There’s no time to build tension or make me care about the characters as they all die one by one.
The most interesting thing was the villain’s motivations but he gets ‘redeemed’ too quickly to make much of an impact.
However I will grant that the ending twist with the plot MacGuffin is really clever circular storytelling.
So is Worlds of Big Finish worth getting?
It depends on how invested you are with any of the spin-offs featured here.
None of the stories are necessarily bad, not even the Bernice Summerfield one... it’s just unless you already have a personal connection to any of the series featured you might find it hard to justify the cost of buying the whole set.
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Post by Alastair on Apr 30, 2024 20:02:49 GMT
Ah, what amazing memories of that Disney Adventures arc. It’s nice to be reminded it was a real thing that happened and not some bizarre dream. That magazine was a big staple of my childhood, with covers like this forever intertwined with ‘90s culture. The Chaos God was, likewise, the first thing I thought of listening to this set. The memories came flooding back: The confusion of flicking through for the promised continuation of last month’s Talespin comic, over and over, with growing and disproportionate concern that it was apparently. The revelation of spotting the possessed gem in Rescue Rangers instead — perhaps my first real exposure to this kind of shared universe reveal — and feeling something unlock in my mind. The excitement of the penultimate chapter as Scrooge McDuck makes a call. “There’s only one person who can end this: Darkwing Duck!” The disappointment when we realised our family subscription ran out then and there, knowing it would probably be off shelves the next time we visited a populated town with a well-stocked newsagent. (I eventually found a copy at a cousin’s place, perhaps a year later, by which point it couldn’t possibly live up to the epic missing adventure I’d built up in my head. This anticlimax, too, is now a fond memory.) As for The Worlds of Big Finish, I got there the (very) long way around, using it as excuse to catch up on all of the ranges featured before listening. Approaching each on its own terms, I found every single series rather wonderful in its own way. After which I found WOBF a fun novelty, definitely more a Disney Adventures style treat for fans than any kind of introduction.
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Post by bethhigdon on May 1, 2024 16:15:24 GMT
Davison 13th ReviewCaves of Andozani Audiobook - Miscellaneous
Most, if not all, of the books and short stories covered in the marathon have been either read as e-books or physical copies. However I thought the audiobooks deserved a look in as well since they do offer a different experience.
Not only is there in an element of performance from the reader but many of the audio adaptations have added music, sound effects, and some few even have additional actors reading various roles.
This particular audiobook is read by Peter Davison who, along with David Tennant and William Russell, is one of my favorite audiobook readers to come out of Doctor Who. Along with a new score and sound effects this is one of the higher end productions to come out of the range.
But does it add to the original televised story?
Not really. Terence Dicks adds a little bit of extra world building and better explains some of the side characters' motivations but overall this is another direct script to prose translation. And Caves of Andozani is one of those serials that benefits immensely from its camera direction and performances, that of course can't make it to the page.
Nor can Davison, as much as I love his work as an audio reader, ever hope to re-catch the same lighting in a bottle performance that he gave in 1984. And it must be confessed that his Peri bizarrely sounds Irish not American. Not that Peri ever really sounded American to begin with, but the point still stands.
Still it's not bad for what it is. If collecting target audiobooks is your thing this is certainly one to add to the list.
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Post by bethhigdon on May 1, 2024 18:50:57 GMT
Davison Ranking Favorite Story: The Ingenious Gentleman Adric of Alzarius - I just really like Adric; especially when he's well written and given material that highlights the undercurrent of tragedy in his story; and I'm not talking about just his death either. Least Favorite Story:Doctor Who: The First Adventure - I think this is like the third video game to get the last place slot. What can I say? Doctor Who's poor reputation in gaming doesn't stem from a vacuum. 1. The Ingenious Gentleman Adric of Alzarius - Short Audio 2. Enlightenment - Novelization 3. Graham Dilley Saves the World - Short Story 4. Aquitaine - Full Audio 5. Earthshock: Cast Commentary - Behind the Scenes 6. Worlds of Big Finish - Spin-off 7. Four to Doomsday - TV Story 8. Caves of Andozani (Audiobook) - Miscellaneous 9. Lords of the Storm - Novel 10. Time Crash - Minisode 11. Skaro: 20 Years of Time Travel Reviews - Fan Work 12. The Moderator - Comic 13. Doctor Who: The First Adventure - Video Game
Davison is my favorite doctor so I enjoyed most of the era greatly. Now on to another doctor I really love, the Sixth.
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Post by bethhigdon on May 2, 2024 13:08:52 GMT
C. Baker 1st Review The Two Doctors - TV Story
I was so disappointed when this was the story that the randomizer chose.
Unlike most fans, I genuinely enjoy Colin Baker's time as the Doctor on tv. I would have gladly watched any other story, yes even The Twin Dilemma or The Mysterious Planet. Heck, I personally think Timelash is loads of fun.
But this....
Not only is The Two Doctors my least favorite C. Baker episode, it is perhaps my most disliked episode of the classic era. And quite possibly in the bottom ten stories out of the show's history.
However, fair is fair. This is what the randomizer picked and I haven't given the story an honest shot since my first viewing of it.
So is it as bad as I remember?
Yes.
It really is that bad.
Granted there are moments in the story that are entertaining, but these are few and far between and don't do enough to save the serial.
The first and foremost problem is that the story suddenly turns the Doctor into a racist!
These are Androgums. They're an enslaved race, born into servitude because they are deemed to be "less intelligent" then more "civilized" races.
The main villain has been experimented on by a mad scientist, used as a sentient lab rat, and has gained genius intellect and knowledge through her forced upon mutations.
She uses her brains to manipulate people, framing the time lords for crimes they, lets be honest, would have committed themselves anyways, and kidnaps the Doctor to force him to teach her time travel so that she may free her people and conquer those that had enslaved her.
You would have thought that the Doctor would be at least sympathetic to her motives, if not her methods, but no!
The Doctor constantly repeats through out the story that Androgums are inherently evil. That it's "in their nature" to destroy everything. That they can never become better people no matter what, and constantly dismisses their plight.
Worse, the story goes on to prove this outlook as correct when the Doctor is forced to become an Androgum himself through genetic experimentation and briefly becomes "evil."
Like why the hell would you write that into your story!?
Did you not stop to think at all that this might not be the best way to write your hero, nor the most appropriate message to put forth in your narrative?
Then again, this is the written by the same man who wrote The Talons of Weng-Chiang because he unironically loved Fu Manchu movies.
I don't place Robert Homes on any kind of pedestal unlike the rest of fandom and bullshite like this story is why.
Oh but there's more offenses to find here.
See, Homes is not only racist, he's also that smug fake leftist that pretends he's better than you because he doesn't eat meat.
His preachy, holier than thou, anti-meat arguments have popped up a couple of times on the show, but here is where it's at it's most overbearing and obnoxious.
See, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to adopt a vegetarian/vegan diet... from religious beliefs, to health and safety concerns in commercial processing, to personal dietary needs... but Homes never makes this argument.
No Homes believes that people who eat meat are no better then murdering cannibals!
Man what I wouldn't pay to see Robert Holmes in a debate with the current writers of the Poison Ivy comics.
But to add injury to insult, Holmes then decides that the Doctor and Peri must become vegans like him at the end of the story.... You know the two characters who are not his creations and have no previously established reasons to adopt his personal belief systems.
Peri has since been retconed into having always been a vegetarian in the expanded universe, and that works okay as there's nothing in previous episodes to contradict it. It also nicely ties into her being revealed as a botanist in the next story.
But the Doctor not only has never held this practice before, the story makes a point to establish that he does enjoy eating meat and has him fishing for fun at the beginning.
So this is essentially the writer forcing his personal beliefs on to the main hero of a long established running series that he himself has only been a part of for a brief amount of time.
Trying to morph a character that isn't yours into just another version of yourself, ignoring anything that came before to do so, is bad writing. Plain and simple.
It's not only disrespectful to the character and their creator, it's also just flat out boring.
If you can't write anyone but yourself and can't present anyone else's view other than your own, then why the f*** are you even writing to begin with?
This a personal pet peeve of mine in professional media, writing characters that aren't yours out of character cause of ego, and I truly think it's a waste of everyone's time.
What else...
Oh the pacing is poor, the direction is flat, and I truly despise the scene where Oscar dies with the passion of a thousand suns!!!
It is the most tone deaf, poorly directed, poorly acted, poorly written scene in the entire story with perhaps the stupidest dialogue in the entirety of the classic era.
I hate it!
At least we can only go up from here.
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