(Obligatory reminder that Douglas Adams himself was channeling Robert Sheckley...)
Last Doctor Who Story you listened to?
- Thread starter Emperor-Tiberius
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My only question after that is, do you know where your towel is?
Invaders from Mars is still not a favorite. I guess the idea of using Orson Welles's War of the Worlds broadcast to fool real alien invaders is a bit clever, but the execution leaves something to be desired. Having the irredeemable villain be a flaming gay man is rather offensive. It has the usual errors in British attempts to get America right (like a character saying "stand for Congress" instead of "run for Congress"), and it erroneously describes the Brooklyn Bridge as a "metal structure" with "legs" that can be accessed on foot from Manhattan.
I know the anachronism about the CIA is explained later as part of a timeline change, but I think one or two other anachronisms slipped in too. For instance, a character references "flying discs," a term that wasn't coined until 9 years later.
The actor imitating Orson Welles did a pretty good job, though oddly, he pronounced Welles's name as "Orzon." Welles didn't actually pronounce it that way, did he?
I know the anachronism about the CIA is explained later as part of a timeline change, but I think one or two other anachronisms slipped in too. For instance, a character references "flying discs," a term that wasn't coined until 9 years later.
The actor imitating Orson Welles did a pretty good job, though oddly, he pronounced Welles's name as "Orzon." Welles didn't actually pronounce it that way, did he?
The Chimes of Midnight was pretty good, though in some ways it felt like a rehash of elements of Robert Shearman's previous audio The Holy Terror, with a group of stereotyped characters playing out stock roles in a repetitive cycle. For a while, I was convinced the Doctor and Charley had stumbled into a VR mystery game, or something with robots. It turned out to be something rather different, though I'm not entirely sure of the logic behind it. But it was effective at setting the mood and at telling an emotional story about Charley.
I can't wait to listen to Chimes again. I listen to it once every year, actually.
Its one of my top five DW's, along with Caves of Androzani, City of Death, Midnight and Holy Terror.
Its one of my top five DW's, along with Caves of Androzani, City of Death, Midnight and Holy Terror.
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Seasons of Fear was a good one, which is not something I ever thought I'd say about a storyline about the Nimon. "The Horns of Nimon" is one of the worst serials, so I'm surprised Paul Cornell was able to make something so effective out of its ideas, even granting that it was Paul Cornell.
It did have one major weakness, which is that the only evidence the Doctor has for the huge disruption to time he sets out to fix is one monologue from Grayle telling him it's happened. He doesn't try to corroborate it first, just blindly accepts it as true. I thought the whole thing was going to turn out to be a trap designed to get the Doctor to create the situation in trying to prevent it. Of course, that is more or less what happened, but not intentionally.
It did have one major weakness, which is that the only evidence the Doctor has for the huge disruption to time he sets out to fix is one monologue from Grayle telling him it's happened. He doesn't try to corroborate it first, just blindly accepts it as true. I thought the whole thing was going to turn out to be a trap designed to get the Doctor to create the situation in trying to prevent it. Of course, that is more or less what happened, but not intentionally.
By the way, I forget which one it was, but one of these last two had the Doctor and Charley refer to Benjamin Franklin as a US president. I hope that turns out to be one of the timeline glitches in the story arc, rather than a really big failure of research.
Not an oversight. If you recall, Invaders from Mars (which I just finished listening to) mentions the CIA in 1938, depite not having been created until after the war, and Orson Welles has no idea who Shakespeare is. There is something afoot, and it ties back to Charley.
^Yes, I'm already aware of those, which is why I said "one of the timeline glitches in the story arc." But the Franklin one stands out because the Doctor made the mistake too, whereas he remembered Shakespeare when others forgot him.
Forgot to comment this. I would suggest listening to his Seventh Doctor output, particularly Republica and Island of Lost Souls, which are not Big Finish, but from a company called BBV, which a number of audio plays, including a number of them featuring The Professor and Ace, since they couldn't use the Doctor or any actual copyright material from BBC's DW, but nevertheless, those audios are very much DW in plain view, lacking only minutia. And those two are some of its very best.
I also would recommend the audio adaptation of Nightshade. But as far as Invaders from Mars goes, having relistened it recently, its definitely a weaker effort of his, and very much so in comparison to the three Seventh Doctor titles I mentioned above.
Embrace the Darkness was kind of a weird one conceptually, and the whispering aliens were hard to understand at times. And the obnoxiousness of the commander, Orllensa, was really overdone. I'm also not sure the story holds together. If both groups of aliens were the same species, then why was the other group coming to the planet in spaceships that took centuries to get there? And what were they doing for the centuries the sun was out? Just sitting there in space indefinitely? I mean, they returned instantly as soon as the artificial suns were lit.
The Time of the Daleks was pretty wild. Daleks quoting Shakespeare? 'Nuff said. It's kind of odd, though, that it used much the same mirror-based time travel technology as "The Evil of the Daleks," but the Doctor never alluded to that story.
Halfway through Neverland now. I was hoping to get through it in one night, but something else came up. And it's really long. I'm not convinced it needed to be so long, because it's really, really heavy on long-winded monologues that could easily have gotten the same ideas across in half the time, or less.
Halfway through Neverland now. I was hoping to get through it in one night, but something else came up. And it's really long. I'm not convinced it needed to be so long, because it's really, really heavy on long-winded monologues that could easily have gotten the same ideas across in half the time, or less.
I'm almost done with the first season of the EIghth Doctor (which to me comprises BF's two seasons, just one long journey from Storm Warning to Neverland) and I have to admit, its been more hit and miss than I remembered. A lot of it didn't stay, surprinslgy, and I go a sense of this season trying out sci-fi concepts of yesteryear. Indeed, the second half of Storm Warning and Embrace the Darkness feel like they're evoking the Hartnell era. But beyond that, I'd say it was rather... muted? Its never outright bad like it could be in Seven's era, especially that first season of McCoy's (I hate Delta and the Bannermen!). Of course, it does have a solid classic, and that is Chimes, a true masterpiece andthe serial that cemented this TARDIS team, too. Beyond that, the rest have had their highs and low, and the first half up to and including Gatiss' are distinct in their awful American accents and awfully jokey-sounding villains, and the second is a bit bolder in terms of exploring story and plot more extensively.
Time and the Daleks is the first real letdown, though. After the highlight Christopher mentioned above wears off, the serial never recovers. Its meandering, so plot-heavy that character moments are so very rare, I couldn't discern what happened for a few moments. Its too bad because I liked all the other Dalek Empire stories (this was the fourth one).
Really wonder what I'll think of Neverland. I remember I liked it, but it was way too long.
Time and the Daleks is the first real letdown, though. After the highlight Christopher mentioned above wears off, the serial never recovers. Its meandering, so plot-heavy that character moments are so very rare, I couldn't discern what happened for a few moments. Its too bad because I liked all the other Dalek Empire stories (this was the fourth one).
Really wonder what I'll think of Neverland. I remember I liked it, but it was way too long.
Embrace... reminded me more of a Troughton-era "base under siege" story in some ways, though I guess the "monsters turning out to be benevolent after all" has more of a Hartnell flavor to it.
Some of the Big Finish audio dramas are now available on Serial Box, a website specializing in serialized prose and audio stories. They've also features stories from Marvel, and are the exclusive home of the official Orphan Black continuation.
They have four collections available so far.
The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume One
The Tenth Doctor Chronicles
Destiny of the Doctor
Lady Christina
Judging by the free first episodes, it looks each one has the option to listen to it, or the read the script.
They have four collections available so far.
The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume One
The Tenth Doctor Chronicles
Destiny of the Doctor
Lady Christina
Judging by the free first episodes, it looks each one has the option to listen to it, or the read the script.
Uh-oh, I've hit a snag. For some reason, the Hoopla app on my phone has suddenly malfunctioned and won't let me play any audiobooks. I was still able to finish listening to Neverland on my laptop, although it's been intermittent in its ability to handle audiobooks from Hoopla -- sometimes it plays them fine, others it plays for a few moments and then stutters or stops. Also, I can't listen on my earphones while doing the dishes or out on the balcony or wherever, so it's less convenient.
I contacted Hoopla tech support, but apparently my phone's software is too old for them to support. I tried rebooting and clearing the cache, with no luck.
As for the rest of Neverland, it wasn't as long-winded as the first part and went in kind of an interesting direction. I guess it was an okay finale to the "season" arc, although it ended on a big cliffhanger that won't be resolved until Zagreus. No telling when I'll get to that.
I contacted Hoopla tech support, but apparently my phone's software is too old for them to support. I tried rebooting and clearing the cache, with no luck.
As for the rest of Neverland, it wasn't as long-winded as the first part and went in kind of an interesting direction. I guess it was an okay finale to the "season" arc, although it ended on a big cliffhanger that won't be resolved until Zagreus. No telling when I'll get to that.
Zagreus is still ways away, anyway. You'll hopefully experience a lot of 5-7 up until then, the fiftieth release that was Zagreus.
Indeed, Zagreus is the last Main Range audio they have on Hoopla.
You're warned: Zagreus is long. Its basically a nearly four-hour play.
Still no luck fixing my Hoopla app on my phone, but I went ahead and listened to Spare Parts on my laptop. I miss having the freedom to listen on headphones while I do the dishes or chores or go out on my balcony, but I guess that shouldn't keep me from continuing.
So Spare Parts was okay, but I've heard it mentioned so much over the years as an important story that it was hard to live up to expectations. I didn't find it all that exceptional, really. And I find it silly that it took the "parallel Earth" idea to "Miri"-like extremes of having even the cultural details, names, accents, etc. be the same as Earth rather than just the geology and evolution. I guess the best part was when Nyssa confronted the Doctor over their unresolved issues regarding Adric's death. I wish that had been explored in more depth.
I found it rather contrived that the Doctor ended up being used as a template for the final Cyberman design. It's the same problem as the Moffat era, making it so that everything in the universe revolves around the Doctor, is caused by the Doctor, is a reaction to the Doctor, or the like. Plus it's a bit contrived to have him at the origin of the Daleks and the Cybermen (and since then he's been involved in two more Cyberman origin stories, and I gather there's one about the origin of the Sontarans too).
I'm glad I saw the reconstruction of The Tenth Planet before hearing this, or I would've been confused by the singsong voices of the Mondasian Cybermen and proto-Cybermen. I guess the Committee's Vocoder-created monotones were meant to sound like the Troughton-era Cybermen, but they sounded more like Cylons.
So Spare Parts was okay, but I've heard it mentioned so much over the years as an important story that it was hard to live up to expectations. I didn't find it all that exceptional, really. And I find it silly that it took the "parallel Earth" idea to "Miri"-like extremes of having even the cultural details, names, accents, etc. be the same as Earth rather than just the geology and evolution. I guess the best part was when Nyssa confronted the Doctor over their unresolved issues regarding Adric's death. I wish that had been explored in more depth.
I found it rather contrived that the Doctor ended up being used as a template for the final Cyberman design. It's the same problem as the Moffat era, making it so that everything in the universe revolves around the Doctor, is caused by the Doctor, is a reaction to the Doctor, or the like. Plus it's a bit contrived to have him at the origin of the Daleks and the Cybermen (and since then he's been involved in two more Cyberman origin stories, and I gather there's one about the origin of the Sontarans too).
I'm glad I saw the reconstruction of The Tenth Planet before hearing this, or I would've been confused by the singsong voices of the Mondasian Cybermen and proto-Cybermen. I guess the Committee's Vocoder-created monotones were meant to sound like the Troughton-era Cybermen, but they sounded more like Cylons.