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Post by omega on Feb 15, 2016 2:14:21 GMT
Some good thoughts there for Red dawn, a story ive never bought due to mixed reviews and that naff front cover. I do like a bit of sinister synth though so may give it a go. I'd highly recommend it, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Although, nowadays it might almost be a period piece! The criticisms I've seen are that the Ice Warriors take centre stage (deserved, though it hardly drags down the piece) and the main villain Webster being a snotty little brat (again deserved, but I think that was the intention of the author). Peter Davison's daughter puts in a decent performance. I've seen one person comment how they listened to this, watched the 2012 film Prometheus and saw many similarities between them! The events of the story are referred to in The Judgement of Isskar, so here it's a case of the Doctor having experienced a big event where we actually know what happened instead of it being an off-hand comment that's never expanded upon (his many mentions of Houdini and the first time we see or hear them meet is in the 2013 audio Smoke and Mirrors for example). |
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Post by relativetime on Feb 15, 2016 5:37:30 GMT
Let's see... I loved The Marian Conspiracy, The Fires of Vulcan is one of my favorite Seventh Doctor stories, and The Holy Terror is one of my favorite Doctor Who stories. The Fearmonger was alright and for some reason I just can't make myself sit through The Mutant Phase, though I intend to give it another shot sometime in the near future.
As for the rest of the first fifteen, I haven't really checked them out. I have listened to The Sirens of Time - that was the first audio drama from Big Finish I listened to - but I remember it being difficult to sit through, though not due to the performances. I do intend to pick up The Spectre of Lanyon Moor and The Apocalypse Element some time in the future to complete my Evelyn collection and maybe Whispers of Terror and Phantasmagoria. But I can't really say much about the rest.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2016 6:54:30 GMT
I subscribed to the first 36 when they came out but I think the problem was I listened to these first audios to death. I cancelled my sub after three years and stayed away from big finish for many years until a few months ago. Now, ironically, with my 1-100 listen through I've listened to some of these original ones that I was sick of again, and they're great.
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Post by kurumais on Feb 16, 2016 22:16:03 GMT
love phantasmagoria and the fires of vulcan the 5 and nyssa ones are decent. holy terror is a good script. the apocalypse element is interesting.
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Post by omega on Feb 17, 2016 3:43:09 GMT
There's a learning curve for sure while some of the writers more used to prose worked out how to write for audio. You've got to give the actors naturalistic dialogue that still gives some idea of what's happening in the scene without being to obvious about it. The quality of the scripts shows a clear turning point at #5 The Fearmonger, where the clunky expository dialogue is used far less. Writers new to audio today have the guidance and support of those more experienced in the medium, which wasn't available back in 1999/2000. Even Nick Briggs doesn't do as good a job with Sirens of Time as he might has done considering his experience with the Audio Visuals (perhaps since they weren't put under the same scrutiny as the Big Finish audios later would, he got more personal growth as a writer from Big Finish).
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Post by constonks on Feb 20, 2016 21:18:20 GMT
The only one I feel a bit ambivalent towards is Red Dawn. I'll also say that only about 1% of Spectre of Lanyon Moor exists in my memory but being the Brig and Evelyn, I have a vague recollection of liking it so I should given it a second listen.
EDIT: Since posting this two years ago I have listened to Spectre again and yes I liked it! It's not like a top 25 story or anything but it works well.
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Post by elkawho on Feb 20, 2016 22:41:07 GMT
I'm listening to The Genocide Machine. It's better than I remembered it to be. I remember not liking it very much and feeling as if it was very slow.
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Post by aemiliapaula on Feb 21, 2016 0:13:41 GMT
I'm listening to The Genocide Machine. It's better than I remembered it to be. I remember not liking it very much and feeling as if it was very slow. I just listened to.it the first time this week. I liked it but the Dalek voices got on my nerves a bit. They didn't in the recent 6th and 7th doctor Dalek stories so maybe they're doing something different soundwise. I listened to.one episode at. Time. |
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Post by elkawho on Feb 21, 2016 2:24:35 GMT
I'm listening to The Genocide Machine. It's better than I remembered it to be. I remember not liking it very much and feeling as if it was very slow. I just listened to.it the first time this week. I liked it but the Dalek voices got on my nerves a bit. They didn't in the recent 6th and 7th doctor Dalek stories so maybe they're doing something different soundwise. I listened to.one episode at. Time. Yes, you can definitely tell that this is early BF. The Dalek voices are not quite right at times and the pacing at the beginning is not quite right. But it's a solid story anyway, and demonstrates just how much better the creative folks at BF have gotten over time. |
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Post by omega on Feb 21, 2016 3:04:19 GMT
I just listened to.it the first time this week. I liked it but the Dalek voices got on my nerves a bit. They didn't in the recent 6th and 7th doctor Dalek stories so maybe they're doing something different soundwise. I listened to.one episode at. Time. Yes, you can definitely tell that this is early BF. The Dalek voices are not quite right at times and the pacing at the beginning is not quite right. But it's a solid story anyway, and demonstrates just how much better the creative folks at BF have gotten over time. It was the first time BF were using the Daleks, so obviously Nick was experimenting with the modulator to find the right setting. |
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Post by elkawho on Feb 21, 2016 3:24:34 GMT
Yes, you can definitely tell that this is early BF. The Dalek voices are not quite right at times and the pacing at the beginning is not quite right. But it's a solid story anyway, and demonstrates just how much better the creative folks at BF have gotten over time. It was the first time BF were using the Daleks, so obviously Nick was experimenting with the modulator to find the right setting. Yes, you can tell. And I'm not knocking it. It was good, and he just got so much better with it. |
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Post by omega on Feb 21, 2016 5:18:21 GMT
It was the first time BF were using the Daleks, so obviously Nick was experimenting with the modulator to find the right setting. Yes, you can tell. And I'm not knocking it. It was good, and he just got so much better with it. It was also the first time they'd used a non-Doctor or Companion from the classic series, so I guess when other classic monsters were introduced to audio the trial and error in recreating them audibly was done before recording. The Ice Warriors in Red Dawn sounded pretty authentic and the Tenth Planet Cybermen were pitch perfect in Spare Parts. Even then there were lots of Daleks stories, but I suppose they were still trying to attract listeners and not much sounds more enticing than the Doctor vs Daleks, at least in the early days (now it's pretty much "what's the angle this time?"). Plus it couldn't hurt to drum up interest for Dalek Empire, which must have been Nick's passion project at the time. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2016 12:21:26 GMT
Yes, you can definitely tell that this is early BF. The Dalek voices are not quite right at times and the pacing at the beginning is not quite right. But it's a solid story anyway, and demonstrates just how much better the creative folks at BF have gotten over time. It was the first time BF were using the Daleks, so obviously Nick was experimenting with the modulator to find the right setting. I liked those early Big Finish Dalek voices, they were edgy. Although they did change a bit - especially during the first Dalek Empire series - but they changed in the various classic series Dalek stories too, so I wouldn't say any were right or wrong. Nick obviously was having fun with his modulator settings. Of course, once Doctor Who returned to the TV it made sense that we had consistency between Dalek voices at BF and on TV, as Nick Briggs was doing them all. I love The Genocide Machine though and back in 2000 it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck hearing that familiar throbbing hum again, and hearing Daleks in action once again was what got me in to Big Finish in the first place. Of the first 15 Main Range releases, none were bad, but looking back some do sound a bit basic compared to the stories that BF produce now. BF have got so much better at everything they do. I still look back on those early releases fondly though, especially the three Dalek stories. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2016 13:41:01 GMT
It was the first time BF were using the Daleks, so obviously Nick was experimenting with the modulator to find the right setting. I liked those early Big Finish Dalek voices, they were edgy. Although they did change a bit - especially during the first Dalek Empire series - but they changed in the various classic series Dalek stories too, so I wouldn't say any were right or wrong. Nick obviously was having fun with his modulator settings. Of course, once Doctor Who returned to the TV it made sense that we had consistency between Dalek voices at BF and on TV, as Nick Briggs was doing them all. I love The Genocide Machine though and back in 2000 it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck hearing that familiar throbbing hum again, and hearing Daleks in action once again was what got me in to Big Finish in the first place. Of the first 15 Main Range releases, none were bad, but looking back some do sound a bit basic compared to the stories that BF produce now. BF have got so much better at everything they do. I still look back on those early releases fondly though, especially the three Dalek stories. encapsulated their genocidal mania, The Mutant Phase their ruthless bloodthirsty nature and The Genocide Machine their duplicitous intellect. These were creatures that weren't to be ridiculed, they were sick, twisted murderers bent on making sure that everyone who wasn't like them was dead. Listening to them the first time, it was almost as if the Doctor's every encounter with them wasn't a victory, but merely a postponement of the inevitable. The Apocalypse Element was the first Big Finish story I got way back in 2008 and even today it still gives me that giddy, excited thrill that reawakens the marvelling kid in me. |
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