8th Doctor's audio adventures recommendation

[Cjohnson1701]

Hey guys, I was re-watching the "Night of the Doctor" starring Paul McGann, and it a got me thinking. This is some of the best 'Who', I have seen in a while. I have just discovered the loads of audio drama's he did and I was wondering.

Which one's I should watch and in what order?

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

You might just stick with the Eighth Doctor Adventures on Big Finish. He has stuff in the Main Range, but the Adventures is easier to get into, and the format is similar to NuWho, pace-wise.

After that, I'm sure it'll be easier to figure out in your own way.

 

[Guy Gardener]

There are 3 isolated continuities in audioland.

(the first two happened at the same time on top of one another.)

The monthly range of big finish, where he's with Charlotte Pollard, an Edwardian Adventuress to begin with, kept going for another 10 years. (3 or 4 stories per year plus specials sometimes.)

8 did 4 years with the adorable Sheridan Smith (30 stories) which was made by Big Finish for BBC7, which means that they were broadcast on the radio, and then sold as dvds.

Paul went on a break of sorts from the monthly releases (Tom Baker picked up his slack.) but has been releasing Large Boxsets for the last couple years called Dark Eyes which is almost the same volume as 4 monthly releases, but it's just the one ongoing epic story. Two Boxsets have been been released. They won some awards, so the next two were green lit immediately.

You might want to look at the UNIT Dominion BOX Set, because it introduces a new actor as the Master, who is a little cheeky, but that's the same Master squaring off again the 8th Doctor in the next Dark Eyes box set, and it's best to be prepared for these things.

Exactly how many thousands of dollars are you willing to spend on this curiosity?

Oh, Big Finish released a high profile 5 Doctor story (4, 5, 6,7 and 8.) last year called Light At The End which had the actor who played the Master in the Keeper of Traken as the big bad, who shows up from time to across the Big Finish Spectrum, and that got all timey whimey pretty fast.



Here's the order of almost everything big finish has made in the doctor Who range.

Daunting, but you can figure it out from there.

 

[Cjohnson1701]

There are 3 isolated continuities in audioland.

(the first two happened at the same time on top of one another.)

The monthly range of big finish, where he's with Charlotte Pollard, an Edwardian Adventuress to begin with, kept going for another 10 years. (3 or 4 stories per year plus specials sometimes.)

8 did 4 years with the adorable Sheridan Smith (30 stories) which was made by Big Finish for BBC7, which means that they were broadcast on the radio, and then sold as dvds.

Paul went on a break of sorts from the monthly releases (Tom Baker picked up his slack.) but has been releasing Large Boxsets for the last couple years called Dark Eyes which is almost the same volume as 4 monthly releases, but it's just the one ongoing epic story. Two Boxsets have been been released. They won some awards, so the next two were green lit immediately.

You might want to look at the UNIT Dominion BOX Set, because it introduces a new actor as the Master, who is a little cheeky, but that's the same Master squaring off again the 8th Doctor in the next Dark Eyes box set, and it's best to be prepared for these things.

Exactly how many thousands of dollars are you willing to spend on this curiosity?

Oh, Big Finish released a high profile 5 Doctor story (4, 5, 6,7 and 8.) last year called Light At The End which had the actor who played the Master in the Keeper of Traken as the big bad, who shows up from time to across the Big Finish Spectrum, and that got all timey whimey pretty fast.



Here's the order of almost everything big finish has made in the doctor Who range.

Daunting, but you can figure it out from there.

Guh, whaaaaaaaaa? I think i'm literally speachless, thousands of dollars you say? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

You might just stick with the Eighth Doctor Adventures on Big Finish. He has stuff in the Main Range, but the Adventures is easier to get into, and the format is similar to NuWho, pace-wise.

After that, I'm sure it'll be easier to figure out in your own way.

I'll start here, thanks!

 

[Guy Gardener]

And so begins your love affair with Lucy Miller.

 

[Sindatur]

There is an unfinished Classic Tom Baker Serial, called Shada. It was completed with a Narration by Tom Baker, but, never shown on TV, just released on Video.

So, they played with this unfinished State by Having McGann do an Audio version of it, where, he goes to Pick up Romana and K9 from Gallifrey, and tells her he feels like something was left undone (And the adventure pretty much unfolds from there, about the same as the Tom Baker Unfinished Serial). This Paul McGann version got Flash Animation to go along with the Audio performance, so, I really enjoy it, it's like a whole other new Paul McGann Serial (To go alongside the TV Movie, and the Webisode short we got for the 50th Anniversary), since it's got the Animation to go with it.

 

[Stevil2001]

For my money (and I have a lot of opinions on this, as Paul McGann is my Doctor), the two original Charley seasons are still the best of McGann's adventures:
Storm Warning
Sword of Orion
The Stones of Venice
Minuet in Hell
Invaders from Mars
The Chimes of Midnight
Seasons of Fear
Embrace the Darkness
The Time of the Daleks
Neverland

Not every story is great, but it is one of the most consistent, inventive, diverse group of stories ever devised by Big Finish in particular, or for Doctor Who in general. No story returns to "contemporary" Earth (something the audios do a bizarre amount now), there's a diverse range of genres and styles, and the emotional and character stakes are high-- Russell T Davies was a fan, and I think you can see how it's a straight line from Neverland to "Doomsday."

The New Eighth Doctor Adventures are good, too, but you can clearly see that the series has gone from trailblazer to trailfollower, and that they don't quite know how to make the 45-minute format work as well as the TV show.

Read my essay on Tor.com!: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/01/his-humanity-proven

 

[OmahaStar]

Hey guys, I was re-watching the "Night of the Doctor" starring Paul McGann, and it a got me thinking. This is some of the best 'Who', I have seen in a while. I have just discovered the loads of audio drama's he did and I was wondering.

Which one's I should watch and in what order?

They are audios, not videos. Despite what Guy said, they are on CDs, not DVDs. Just making sure we're clear on this.

Paul started out doing the main range with Charlotte Pollard. Those early stories will be your most affordable. I'll explain. Each monthly release is about US $25. They can be downloaded as .mp3 for around half that price.

By this time next year, there will have been more than 200 of those monthly range releases so far. They alternate between 5, 6, 7, and 8. If you would have bought each one at full price as it was released, those alone would have set you back five grand.

But ...

The first 50 have been discounted. You can pick up the CDs for about 8 bucks (if they are still in print). All of the first 50 are available as downloads for three dollars each. It will be much more affordable to pick up his early releases, because of the huge discount. The idea is, there is only so much room in the Big Finish warehouse. When each title sells out, they are not reprinting them, and will instead be available as download-only.

With very little exception, each monthly release is two cds for the price. The one exception I can think of is three cds, for the same price. That's #50, Zagreus.

My suggestion would be to grab the downloads for 16 (Storm Warning) and 17 (Sword of Orion). This will give you a decent introduction to not only the 8th Doctor on audio, but also his companion Charlotte, aka Charley. If you're enjoying them, there are a total of 11 8th Doctor stories in those first 50, you can download them all cheaply.

www.bigfinish.com

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I suggest The New Eighth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish Audio.

It starts with Blood of the Daleks (2007) and runs (presently) to Dark Eyes 2 (2014).

Read more here.
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Finish_Doctor_Who_audio_stories#The_New_Eighth_Doctor_Adventures

 

[Guy Gardener]

I honestly forgot that CDs existed.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

There is an unfinished Classic Tom Baker Serial, called Shada. It was completed with a Narration by Tom Baker, but, never shown on TV, just released on Video.

So, they played with this unfinished State by Having McGann do an Audio version of it, where, he goes to Pick up Romana and K9 from Gallifrey, and tells her he feels like something was left undone (And the adventure pretty much unfolds from there, about the same as the Tom Baker Unfinished Serial). This Paul McGann version got Flash Animation to go along with the Audio performance, so, I really enjoy it, it's like a whole other new Paul McGann Serial (To go alongside the TV Movie, and the Webisode short we got for the 50th Anniversary), since it's got the Animation to go with it.

I've seen it, but honestly, its the one Eighth Doctor audio story that I don't count. Because I simply prefer the recently bootlegged, Ian Levine's Shada. Its more like what it would've been, and then some. The Fourth Doctor just fits that story better, IMO.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Really?

I liked it best when Doug recycled %99 of the script into one of his Dirk Gently Novels.

 

[StCoop]

There are 3 isolated continuities in audioland.

Don't forget the ones where Mary Shelly (yes, that one) is his companion.

I'd start with Dark Eyes, since all you need to know is that some Very Bad Things have just happened to the Doctor. (It's also interesting seeing how close BF can get to the start of the Time War before they hit the boundries of their rights.)

Then splurge on the Lucie era and avoid ALL spoilers. Seriously there's some massive surprises along the way, including one that only works because of the audio format.

And while the original 8th Doctor and Charlie run has a lot of high points in it, the quality is much more variable overall, so I'd leave that till last. (Plus if you do like it you'll wind up with a bunch on non-8th Doctor stories to buy too...)

And on the subject of cost, well, I've been buying their output since the begining and have all their Doctor Who and DW-related releases, plus a lot of their non-DW series and if I ever stopped to think about how much money I've spent in total over the past fifteen years I'd probably have a heart attack.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Wait a minute, isolated continuties? They're not isolated. They follow one another.

First is the Main Range stories, with 8 and Charley (and C'rizz along the way), then the three audio adventures with 8 and Mary Shelley, then the Eighth Doctor Adventures with 8 and Lucie Miller. Then, Dark Eyes 1, 2, and by next year 3 and 4.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Really?

I liked it best when Doug recycled %99 of the script into one of his Dirk Gently Novels.

I love it as the complete Fourth Doctor story that it is now. Its fun, imaginative, and funny. Its easily the second best story of the season it came from, and one my favorite of that Doctor, too. Baker's fantastic in all the scenes he's in, and the villain's great when he's animated. Good stuff.

I just never warmed to McGann's version. Luckily, its not widely referenced in his stories as an adventure he had, so its all OK.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Wait a minute, isolated continuties? They're not isolated. They follow one another.

First is the Main Range stories, with 8 and Charley (and C'rizz along the way), then the three audio adventures with 8 and Mary Shelley, then the Eighth Doctor Adventures with 8 and Lucie Miller. Then, Dark Eyes 1, 2, and by next year 3 and 4.

I only used the word isolated, because you're not totally sure which order these collections of stories went in, or which novels and comics are stuffed inbetween or on top of the audio work. So yes they are connected, but you're not sure how they're connected.

The BB7 stuff was recorded/aired simultaneously with the monthly range, so unless there was some point where he Doctor lamented his deep history about Lucy to Charlie, or Charlie to Lucy that I don't recall, and I'm guessing is unlikely since different people owned the rights to Lucy and Charlotte, it's a minor fudge to say which part of his life came first.

Meanwhile we just assume that Dark Eyes is after the other two, I'd say %99, but there's that nagging %1 that Dark Eyes might start a month after his regeneration throwing the whole system out of whack.

 

[OmahaStar]

Wait a minute, isolated continuties? They're not isolated. They follow one another.

First is the Main Range stories, with 8 and Charley (and C'rizz along the way), then the three audio adventures with 8 and Mary Shelley, then the Eighth Doctor Adventures with 8 and Lucie Miller. Then, Dark Eyes 1, 2, and by next year 3 and 4.

I only used the word isolated, because you're not totally sure which order these collections of stories went in, or which novels and comics are stuffed inbetween or on top of the audio work. So yes they are connected, but you're not sure how they're connected.

The BB7 stuff was recorded/aired simultaneously with the monthly range, so unless there was some point where he Doctor lamented his deep history about Lucy to Charlie, or Charlie to Lucy that I don't recall, and I'm guessing is unlikely since different people owned the rights to Lucy and Charlotte, it's a minor fudge to say which part of his life came first.

Meanwhile we just assume that Dark Eyes is after the other two, I'd say %99, but there's that nagging %1 that Dark Eyes might start a month after his regeneration throwing the whole system out of whack.

Dude, what the hell are you talking about? There is no "nagging %1" ... In the very first episode of Dark Eyes, he explicitly talks about Lucie (and other companions, whose names might be spoilers).

His known audio timeline for Companions is as follows:

1 - Mary (follows almost immediatley after the movie)
2 - Series of short-traveled companions, some of whom appeared in "The Company of Friends"
3 - Charlotte (and then with C'rizz)
4 - Lucie
5 - Tamsin
6 - Molly (as of Dark Eyes)

They were not released in chronological order. For example, we don't hear any adventures with Mary until long after he and Charley had parted ways, while adventures with Lucie were released at the same time his adventures with Charley were coming out.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Yeah, the whole placement of Mary is questionable. I'm ambivalent myself - I do think its placed before Charley, even though I just mentioned it could be after Charley.

In any case, I'm pretty sure Charley happened before Lucie, and indeed Dark Eyes mentions Lucie's whereabouts very, very explicitly.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Mary right at the front. Really?

Do you have any quotes or citations Omaha to back up your mostly perfectly logical and reasonable assumptions?

 

[Stevil2001]

There are a number of references in the Charley adventures (most notably in Neverland) that the Doctor has met Mary. Plus

Spoiler: Terror Firma

The Silver Turk is clear that the Doctor meets Mary while on a break from Samson and Gemma, which he travelled with immediately prior to Storm Warning according to Terror Firma.