Well, since we have a thread about Classic Who on TV, why not an accompanying thread for the audio stories? Mainly Big Finish's output, I presume, but not only. Lets start with what I listened to lately: Davros, a Sixth Doctor story. Chronologically speaking, his earlier by BF - its set before Timelash and Revolution of the Daleks. Still bloody brilliant. A lovely little story involving Davros and the Doctor, direct antagonists for a multimillionaire industrialist. Lovely flashes to Davros' early beginnings really help explore the character in a great degree, and its overall a really entertaining story to listen to.
I'm about halfway through Shadow Heart. 7th Doctor part of the Dreshani trilogy. So far so good. Though the sixth Doctor's outing started well and fell over in the final half.
Re: Last Doctor Who Audio Story you listened to? I'm bouncing all over the place right now. I've been working through both Destiny of the Doctors (most recently, Trouble in Paradise) and the first season of the Lost Stories (most recently, Point of Entry) as well the recently released The Fourth Doctor by Gareth Roberts boxset. Both stories in the boxset were fantastic and not just because it's so great to hear Tom and Lalla (and John!) working together. Roberts' novels as adapted by the always marvelous John Dorney really captures the positive aspects of the Graham Williams' years very nicely. I can't wait for The Well-Mannered War later this year and The Fourth Doctor/Romana II season next year. However, these two stories as well as the Lost Stories and Philip Hinchcliffe boxsets prove that The Fourth Doctor stories work so much better as four-part stories instead of the rigid two-part stories of the full seasons. Destiny of the Doctor run has been hit and miss and Trouble in Paradise was squarely in the miss category. From the obnoxious Christopher Columbus to the overly whiny Peri (doesn't help that I've been loving her more mature performances in the Lost Stories season) to the non-story of search for the omni-time, the story really didn't have much going for it. The Lost Stories season (i.e. the lost season plus others) is also hit and miss, but the last two stories have been quite good. I'm looking forward to the next story, The Song of Megaptera, if only because I'm a sucker for space whales. Incidentally, you should contact a moderator to change your thread title to include "Audio Play" because it otherwise looks redundant to the other thread.
What a co-incidence! I've also been listening to the Sixth Doctor's Lost Stories. I'm trying to go through Old Sixie's stories chronologically, but anyway. So, Nightmare Fair - Not bad, and the Celestial Toymaker is lovely in this, as is his origin story. That said, this felt largely visual, and didn't quite translate well to audio, I believe. Still, better to have this story exisiting like this than not at all. Good one. Mission to Magnus - Sil returns for the chronological second time (its before Mindwarp, naturally), as do the Ice Warriors. Lovely tale, fast paced and well told, one of the better ones. Loved it. Leviathan - Thus far, my fave. Intrigue and the Sentinels of the New Dawn - what are they? Lovely tale that might not have been as good if produced for telly. Loved it.
Hollows of Time - A Christopher H. Bidmead story, and as confusing as that entails. And boy is this confusing! I listened to it twice, and I'm still not sure what the heck is going on! Also, Stream still reminds me of the Master, so why couldn't they have altered the name at least? That said, I appreciate they didn't replicate the tried-and-failed fomrula of Master-dressing-up-pointlessly plot device. The rest of it directed well, and acted tremendoulsy, too. But.. damn, I just don't like this at all! Paradise 5 - Rather entertaining story, and exceptionally adapted, considering this was supposed to be in Terror of the Vervoids's place. And might I say, if it were, it'd have been a far better alternative. That said, I think it'd have been better if this were slightly retooled to be Mel's first adventure with the Sixth Doctor.
The last audio story I listened to was Doctor Who: Dark Journey, a fan audio production from Canada. It's five episodes, of roughly 15 minutes each, and it ends on a cliffhanger. I had a few problems with it (mainly Ripper-related), but overall I enjoyed it.
ISTR that the original story did feature the Master as the villain, but that the Cardiff production office asked them to change that for the CD version.
The Beautiful People, a Romana Companion Chronicle. Felt like an attempt to emulate Doglas Adams and probably hit that more than it missed. Comedic nonsense that would have suited Mel better.
I know. But why couldn't they develop the villain to be a uniquely new one? Change the name totally, and say why he does what he does. Hell, why not change him to Rani in the end of the day? Much missed opportunity there.
I listened to The Ninth Doctor entry of Destiny of the Doctor, Night of the Whisper and was very impressed by both the story and Nicholas Briggs' narration of the story. He does a very a good Ninth Doctor. The story itself is wonderfully pulpy with a lot of meat, and despite Briggs' great performance, my only complaint is that none of the principals returned (Eccleston, Piper or Barrowman). Or $5, apparently. I used it to fill in my few missing gaps of the First 100 and got the following for a mere $45 (as downloads): The Game Catch 1782 Red Year of the Pig Renaissance of the Daleks ID & Urgent Calls Exotron & Urban Myths Valhalla The Wishing Beast & The Vanity Box
Point of Entry - Ah, now here's a pseudo-historical, as nearly as historical as it can be, and quite a good one, too. There's a lovely variety of detail and color in this story, and the leads are excellent as usual. Very good. Song of Megaptera - Kinda cliched, but interesting story that would not possibly be translated in the olden days at all. Lovely story, but like a lot of OldWho, pads out. Macros - I've not heard a lot of good for this one, but I enjoyed it. Dealing with the Philadelphia Experiment in any way is always an interesting idea, so I was game. Very good.
The last few Destiny of the Doctor stories have been top-notch: Shockwave (Ace), Enemy Aliens (Charley), Night of the Whisper (Nick Briggs), and Death's Deal (Donna) have all encapsulated their particular eras very nicely with ripping yarn of adventures. I'm pretty excited about listening to the final entry, The Time Machine, with Clara, but it will have to wait: Big Finish just released Gallifrey: Intervention Earth (Romana III, Narvin, and Ace!). I can't wait to listen to it tomorrow, to and fro work.
I am powering through the early companion chronicles but think I will go to Jago and Litefoot for a change next.
I've finished Destiny of the Doctors, and aside from Trouble in Paradise, I thought it was very enjoyable. The Time Machine tied everything together in a nice, typical timey-wimey fashion (but I expected that it to happen).
The sad part is that, Matt Smith was supposed to have played the Eleventh Doctor himself throughout these, and even the Second Doctor's tale had the Second and Eleventh converse for a bit. Sad that it didn't happen.
The writer of the Second Doctor's part of the story said it was scheduling conflicts. At least, thats what he claimed in Doc Oho's interview with him.