Last Doctor Who Story you listened to?
- Thread starter Emperor-Tiberius
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Finished up Foe From the Future this morning, and I really enjoyed it.
Charlotte was a pretty good guest star, and even though I knew she couldn't stick around since the story was sandwiched between TV stories, I kind of wished she would become a full on companion by the end.
I didn't realize until I was listening the interview at the end that Jalnik was Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark. He was a pretty good villain.
Charlotte was a pretty good guest star, and even though I knew she couldn't stick around since the story was sandwiched between TV stories, I kind of wished she would become a full on companion by the end.
I didn't realize until I was listening the interview at the end that Jalnik was Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark. He was a pretty good villain.
Yesterday I listened to all four Time Lord Victorious audios from Big Finish. I'd listened to the first when it came out, never got around to the second and third, and with Echoes of Extinction coming out this month I decided to plug that gap, so to speak.
They're fine, but I'd really like some sort of follow-up to these because, as I said in the Time Lord Victorious thread, it's obvious this is the prelude to the Time War. Daleks attacking Gallfirey before the Time Lords were even Time Lords (which happens in Una McCormack's novel All Flesh Is Grass) is an Archduke Ferdinand/Pearl Harbor moment in the relations between the two powers. I'm curious about the counterstrike. Plus, the whole "these things don't belong in this universe" aspect to the first two audios isn't resolved.
There's an interesting implication to Echoes of Extinction...
I also wonder where Time Lord Victorious (and Echoes), from the tenth Doctor's perspective, takes place in relation to Lance Parkin's novel The Eyeless, but that's beyond the scope of this thread.
One other thing, about The Enemy of My Enemy...
I don't know if that was the intent, and it's developed a little differently in Star Trek, but given how much the Dalek Time Squad played like a Star Trek crew, albeit one filled with Daleks, and the story made me think immediately of that Star Trek element, I can't help but think that it was all intentional.[/SPOILER]
They're fine, but I'd really like some sort of follow-up to these because, as I said in the Time Lord Victorious thread, it's obvious this is the prelude to the Time War. Daleks attacking Gallfirey before the Time Lords were even Time Lords (which happens in Una McCormack's novel All Flesh Is Grass) is an Archduke Ferdinand/Pearl Harbor moment in the relations between the two powers. I'm curious about the counterstrike. Plus, the whole "these things don't belong in this universe" aspect to the first two audios isn't resolved.
There's an interesting implication to Echoes of Extinction...
The tenth Doctor appears to blame himself, that incarnation, personally, for the Time War. He gives a speech at the end of the tenth Doctor half and offers an unheard apology to the eighth Doctor for everything that is about to happen to him -- including the Time War. And if Time Lord Victorious is the story of the start of the Time War, then it came about because the tenth Doctor decided to go to the dawn of the universe and stop death itself, which fractured time, which freaked out the Daleks in the eighth Doctor's "present," and led the eighth Doctor and the Daleks to the dawn of the universe, where the Daleks attacked Gallifrey, thus triggering the Time War.
Now, personally, I think the tenth Doctor is blaming himself unnecessarily. The Time War was inevitable. And I'm not sure that he actually did anything to fracture time by destroying the Kotturuh in the distant past.
Now, personally, I think the tenth Doctor is blaming himself unnecessarily. The Time War was inevitable. And I'm not sure that he actually did anything to fracture time by destroying the Kotturuh in the distant past.
I also wonder where Time Lord Victorious (and Echoes), from the tenth Doctor's perspective, takes place in relation to Lance Parkin's novel The Eyeless, but that's beyond the scope of this thread.
One other thing, about The Enemy of My Enemy...
The Daleks get their hands on the Genesis Device! When the aliens kept talking about the "biodata matrix," I kept thinking of McCoy and Spock talking in Star Trek II about what would happen if Genesis were used on a life-bearing planet.
I don't know if that was the intent, and it's developed a little differently in Star Trek, but given how much the Dalek Time Squad played like a Star Trek crew, albeit one filled with Daleks, and the story made me think immediately of that Star Trek element, I can't help but think that it was all intentional.[/SPOILER]
I'm halfway into season 3 of Counter-Measures, and what surprises me about it is that the characters never mention their prior encounter with the Doctor and the Daleks, even though it was only 1-2 years before. It's implied that the teleportation technology the characters worked with in season 1 was inspired or informed by Rachel and Allison's experience with the Dalek transmat, and it's alluded that they have past experience dealing with aliens, but the only acknowledgment we get of the events of "Remembrance of the Daleks" is a passing reference or two to "the Shoreditch incident" in season 1. It's quite a contrast to Jago & Litefoot, which frequently references or directly includes the Doctor, Leela, and elements of "The Talons of Weng-Chiang."
Well, in 3x1, there was a cameo by a "Sir Keith" that the TARDIS Wiki says is Sir Keith Gold from "Inferno," and there's a passing reference to the Forge from some of the Main Range BF audios, but it's all stuff that's barely noticeable unless you know what's being referenced. If you didn't already know Counter-Measures was a Doctor Who spinoff, you might never guess from listening to it.
Well, in 3x1, there was a cameo by a "Sir Keith" that the TARDIS Wiki says is Sir Keith Gold from "Inferno," and there's a passing reference to the Forge from some of the Main Range BF audios, but it's all stuff that's barely noticeable unless you know what's being referenced. If you didn't already know Counter-Measures was a Doctor Who spinoff, you might never guess from listening to it.
One thing that the BF audios frequently niggle me to do is to actually go to the TARDIS wikia page. Just to confirm or even surprise me with the continuity references I either got or missed.
Well, I've reached the end of Jago & Litefoot series 8, which is the last one Hoopla has available. I went so far as to look at Big Finish's site to see how much the subsequent ones would cost, but 30 bucks a set is more of a luxury than I can afford right now. It looks like there are five more seasons and a few specials, including a team-up with Strax. Also, I see on the BF site that there is an upcoming 14th season; due to Trevor Baxter's passing, they've rewritten them as single-narrator audiobooks rather than full-cast dramas, which is less appealing.
Series 8 was unusual in that the first two stories were both standalones and only the last two had an arc. The first episode was a musical about a takeover by alien puppets that forced people to sing, and it turned out to be much better than that description sounds. The rest was fairly good, with some interesting twists on the format. Litefoot spent most of the second story in a symbiotic link with a disembodied alien lawman who shared his mind, forming a nice relationship with someone other than Jago for a change. The third story paired J&L with a homeless-woman bit character from "Talons" (played by a different actress, and the folks in the documentary implied she was just inspired by the original character, though the wiki insists they're the same person), and the fourth story has J&L coming under evil mind control and needing their sidekicks to save the day. So I guess the unifying theme is variations on the theme.
As for Counter-Measures, Hoopla only has seasons 1-3, leaving out the final season of the original '60s-based series as well as the sequel series set in the present. I'm okay with not getting to hear the rest of that, since CM's focus on conspiracies and political intrigue doesn't engage me as much as the usual Doctor Who stuff, and it barely even feels like it has any relation to Doctor Who most of the time.
The crossover The Worlds of Doctor Who was okay. They crafted a story about an immortal mind-controlling villain who had to be dealt with repeatedly by J&L, Counter-Measures, UNIT, and finally the Doctor and Romana, and it held together fairly well. I wish the wiki hadn't misled me by placing the CM portion after season 3, since it's actually more consistent with the season 1 status quo and doesn't work at all well after the massive cliffhanger that ends season 3. The UNIT entry was the weak link. It centered on Mike Yates and a couple of characters from The Companion Chronicles played by Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso. The story was okay, but Ashbrook and Tso gave very weak performances; more than anyone else in these audiobooks, they sounded like they were just reading words from a script. I guess British actors have more opportunities to develop a skill for convincing radio/audio acting than American or Canadian actors.
Of the remaining stuff on Hoopla, I still have a few Short Trips left, and there's a UNIT miniseries that seems worth checking out, though it looks like Hoopla is missing its pilot installment. Other than that, there are just a few Dalek and Cyberman-centric things, and I'm not sure how interested I am in those without the Doctor being involved. I might give them a try after I run out of other stuff, but I'm not sure.
Series 8 was unusual in that the first two stories were both standalones and only the last two had an arc. The first episode was a musical about a takeover by alien puppets that forced people to sing, and it turned out to be much better than that description sounds. The rest was fairly good, with some interesting twists on the format. Litefoot spent most of the second story in a symbiotic link with a disembodied alien lawman who shared his mind, forming a nice relationship with someone other than Jago for a change. The third story paired J&L with a homeless-woman bit character from "Talons" (played by a different actress, and the folks in the documentary implied she was just inspired by the original character, though the wiki insists they're the same person), and the fourth story has J&L coming under evil mind control and needing their sidekicks to save the day. So I guess the unifying theme is variations on the theme.
As for Counter-Measures, Hoopla only has seasons 1-3, leaving out the final season of the original '60s-based series as well as the sequel series set in the present. I'm okay with not getting to hear the rest of that, since CM's focus on conspiracies and political intrigue doesn't engage me as much as the usual Doctor Who stuff, and it barely even feels like it has any relation to Doctor Who most of the time.
The crossover The Worlds of Doctor Who was okay. They crafted a story about an immortal mind-controlling villain who had to be dealt with repeatedly by J&L, Counter-Measures, UNIT, and finally the Doctor and Romana, and it held together fairly well. I wish the wiki hadn't misled me by placing the CM portion after season 3, since it's actually more consistent with the season 1 status quo and doesn't work at all well after the massive cliffhanger that ends season 3. The UNIT entry was the weak link. It centered on Mike Yates and a couple of characters from The Companion Chronicles played by Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso. The story was okay, but Ashbrook and Tso gave very weak performances; more than anyone else in these audiobooks, they sounded like they were just reading words from a script. I guess British actors have more opportunities to develop a skill for convincing radio/audio acting than American or Canadian actors.
Of the remaining stuff on Hoopla, I still have a few Short Trips left, and there's a UNIT miniseries that seems worth checking out, though it looks like Hoopla is missing its pilot installment. Other than that, there are just a few Dalek and Cyberman-centric things, and I'm not sure how interested I am in those without the Doctor being involved. I might give them a try after I run out of other stuff, but I'm not sure.
I love how immersed Christopher is getting with BF. I've not listened to Short Trips or Counter-Measures at all yet, yet he plowed through them. Great stuff.
Also, the season 14 that's coming out is of scripts that were written when Baxter was still alive, and its just a means to realize them and, I assume, end that dangling plot thread that's left hanging from season 13, the last Baxter performed audio set (though they did Clouseau him into a last story called Jago & Litefoot Forever).
Also, the season 14 that's coming out is of scripts that were written when Baxter was still alive, and its just a means to realize them and, I assume, end that dangling plot thread that's left hanging from season 13, the last Baxter performed audio set (though they did Clouseau him into a last story called Jago & Litefoot Forever).
I'm indebted to Hoopla for giving me so much to occupy myself with during the pandemic. (Well, not literally indebted, since it's all free.)
Incidentally, now that I'm vaccinated and feel safe going to the library physically again, I've finally gotten my hands on the latest Jodie Whittaker season on DVD. I just finished the Tesla episode, which was a lot of fun, and that means the big reveal that I'm already spoiled on is next.
I hope you will consider getting some stuff that's not on Hoopla from now on. Stuff like Sixie's The Last Adventure or indeed J&L's latter seasons. They're not consistently great, but there's a uniform love for the material and the Whoniverse that is frankly infectuous. In some ways, they're my Doctor Who, moreso than the show.
No comment.
Well, other than good for you on the vaccination!
That's not contingent on my willingness, but on my income going forward. I'm still not in a position where I have the luxury of spending much on recreation.
Well, I just listened to the first couple of installments in the UNIT audio series, including the "pilot" of sorts that's free on SoundCloud. I don't like them much. There's much less of Lethbridge-Stewart in them than I'd hoped, the characters and stories don't appeal to me much, and the music is dreadful. I'm hesitant to continue, but there are only three left and they're followed by a Seventh Doctor team-up that Hoopla does have, so I guess I'll see it through -- maybe not right away, though.
I found a handful of other Big Finish audios available for free on SoundCloud. They seem to be short specials and one-parters, mostly free magazine insert stories, plus a couple of Main Range side stories that appear to constitute the first two parts of a three-part story arc whose conclusion is not included. There's also one Bernice Summerfield story, a Sherlock Holmes story, and a few other non-Who releases -- and a Short Trips story that I've already heard on one of the box sets.
I found a handful of other Big Finish audios available for free on SoundCloud. They seem to be short specials and one-parters, mostly free magazine insert stories, plus a couple of Main Range side stories that appear to constitute the first two parts of a three-part story arc whose conclusion is not included. There's also one Bernice Summerfield story, a Sherlock Holmes story, and a few other non-Who releases -- and a Short Trips story that I've already heard on one of the box sets.
I feel obligated to review the Ninth Doctor set that just came out, given that I've been this forum's most vocal Ninth Doctor fan and all. But there's really not much to say, other than that I'll probably have more concise thoughts when I relisten to it later in the week.
But basically, Nicholas Briggs is tapped out. This was so needlessly complicated, it reeks of desperation of a writer who actually has very little to say. I just wasn't engaged almost at all with the material. And that's a shame given the monumental occassion of this new on-audio Doctor to behold. Its such a royal waste of the actor, I would've rather waited for the next series if I knew we'd get so very little of things, were I not a colossal Ninth Doctor fan.
Its not bad, by any margin by the way. Its just relentlessly average. Nothing you've never listened to if you haven't heard of the Fourth Doctor Adventures or anything else Briggs ever wrote. I would suggest to wait for the next set, and buy them in a bundle.
But basically, Nicholas Briggs is tapped out. This was so needlessly complicated, it reeks of desperation of a writer who actually has very little to say. I just wasn't engaged almost at all with the material. And that's a shame given the monumental occassion of this new on-audio Doctor to behold. Its such a royal waste of the actor, I would've rather waited for the next series if I knew we'd get so very little of things, were I not a colossal Ninth Doctor fan.
Its not bad, by any margin by the way. Its just relentlessly average. Nothing you've never listened to if you haven't heard of the Fourth Doctor Adventures or anything else Briggs ever wrote. I would suggest to wait for the next set, and buy them in a bundle.
I finished the UNIT miniseries, which I didn't care for that much. It didn't feel like a UNIT series at all, more about real-world controversies and political intrigue and conspiracies than about contending with alien invasions and temporal anomalies and such -- and it featured a gratuitously, self-indulgently high death toll among the civilian population in three of the five stories, ending up in the tens of millions by the end of the series, making it feel far darker than it needed to. Nicholas Courtney was in it far less than I would've liked, appearing only in the free prologue and the first and last of the four main stories, and only being a central character in the prologue and the finale. Still, it was nice to hear him get a major role at last in the finale, basically stepping into a leadership void to save the day along with the series lead. The finale was also notable for featuring David Tennant in a key role, his last BF role before becoming the Doctor. I found it interesting how, when I listened to his performance, my brain effortlessly served up images of exactly which of Tennant's facial expressions would go with the things his voice did.
I've now listened to Part One to UNIT: Dominion, which is probably the last audiobook featuring the Doctor that I have access to through Hoopla. It's a single box set, but it has four 1-hour installments and an hourlong documentary after, making it about as long as the entire season of the previous UNIT series. The TARDIS Wiki treats it as a continuation of that series, which is why I slogged through the rest of that one, but it turns out to have absolutely no characters, story elements, or thematic elements in common beyond the institution of UNIT, so I was misled there. It features the Seventh Doctor and Raine Creevy, and introduces Alex Macqueen as a character who's supposedly a future Doctor, and yes, I know who he really is. He's fairly effective as "the Doctor," sort of like if Jeffrey Combs did a David Tennant impression. It also features Elizabeth Klein, who I'd forgotten was a villain in Colditz (another Tennant story), and apparently had a recurring role in subsequent Seventh Doctor audios, though this is after all that, a rebooted-timeline version of her who fortunately isn't a Nazi. Although given her association with the Macqueen "Doctor," I wonder if they're setting her up for a return to villainy. We'll see.
I've now listened to Part One to UNIT: Dominion, which is probably the last audiobook featuring the Doctor that I have access to through Hoopla. It's a single box set, but it has four 1-hour installments and an hourlong documentary after, making it about as long as the entire season of the previous UNIT series. The TARDIS Wiki treats it as a continuation of that series, which is why I slogged through the rest of that one, but it turns out to have absolutely no characters, story elements, or thematic elements in common beyond the institution of UNIT, so I was misled there. It features the Seventh Doctor and Raine Creevy, and introduces Alex Macqueen as a character who's supposedly a future Doctor, and yes, I know who he really is. He's fairly effective as "the Doctor," sort of like if Jeffrey Combs did a David Tennant impression. It also features Elizabeth Klein, who I'd forgotten was a villain in Colditz (another Tennant story), and apparently had a recurring role in subsequent Seventh Doctor audios, though this is after all that, a rebooted-timeline version of her who fortunately isn't a Nazi. Although given her association with the Macqueen "Doctor," I wonder if they're setting her up for a return to villainy. We'll see.
You can say MacQueen's the Master, everyone knows it by now. What'd you think of him as that?
As I said, I've only listened to Part One so far. That's why I'm playing along with the conceit that he's the Doctor for now. There's 5 hours of stuff there, after all, counting the documentary. I'm taking it one part at a time.
Sorry, then. Its a pratice I also used, I overstepped. Enjoy this, though, I love it to bits (which is a phrase I don't frequently use with Briggs).
Okay, I'm done with UNIT: Dominion. As for MacQueen as the Master, he was fairly good. He's in the more over-the-top, comical mode of modern Masters like Simm and Gomez, but not going as far in the goofy direction I dislike about those two -- bringing in a more Ainley-like smug arrogance, if Ainley's Master had had more of a sense of humor (evil cackling at others' suffering doesn't count).
Still, I might've liked MacQueen's Master better if I hadn't so recently seen the latest TV season and been so deeply impressed with Sacha Dhawan, who I think is now my favorite Master of all time. Dhawan's Master had some of the hyper, comic quality of the other modern Masters, but in a more subtle way that felt like genuine, dangerous instability rather than just Jim Carreyish mugging for the camera. And more than that, he balanced a genuine sense of menace with a surprising vulnerability and nuance. You could see the depth of his friendship for the Doctor that had soured into hate, and almost empathize with his inner torment. It was just a brilliant, layered performance.
So I'd say MacQueen's Master is certainly better than Simm or Gomez, but not on the level of Dhawan or Sir Derek Jacobi (I don't remember too much about his Master, but I've always loved Jacobi's acting). He captured the arrogance and malevolence well, and brought humor while avoiding the goofy excesses of Simm and Gomez, but he didn't delve into those deeper layers that made Dhawan's Master so compelling. The only real hint of his ambivalent feelings toward the Doctor was the suggestion at the end that he'd really enjoyed pretending to be the Doctor for a while. But he did make a pretty good "Doctor" while it lasted, so there's that.
As for the other aspects of the story, I enjoyed hearing Raine again (Beth Chalmers has a very sexy voice), but I didn't really connect to any of the UNIT characters this time out. It was just a couple of deliberately unlikeable commanding officers, that "Jordie" soldier, and the Klein character who was a Nazi in another life. Now, normally I'm a big believer in the possibility of redemption, and they did rewrite her whole timeline so she wasn't bad anymore, but after the events in the United States over the past few years, Nazis no longer feel like a remote historical menace to me, so that aspect made me uncomfortable.
It's also weird that they made no effort whatsoever to connect this to the previous UNIT series or any of its characters. I wonder, was it a flop that they decided to ignore or something?
Still, I might've liked MacQueen's Master better if I hadn't so recently seen the latest TV season and been so deeply impressed with Sacha Dhawan, who I think is now my favorite Master of all time. Dhawan's Master had some of the hyper, comic quality of the other modern Masters, but in a more subtle way that felt like genuine, dangerous instability rather than just Jim Carreyish mugging for the camera. And more than that, he balanced a genuine sense of menace with a surprising vulnerability and nuance. You could see the depth of his friendship for the Doctor that had soured into hate, and almost empathize with his inner torment. It was just a brilliant, layered performance.
So I'd say MacQueen's Master is certainly better than Simm or Gomez, but not on the level of Dhawan or Sir Derek Jacobi (I don't remember too much about his Master, but I've always loved Jacobi's acting). He captured the arrogance and malevolence well, and brought humor while avoiding the goofy excesses of Simm and Gomez, but he didn't delve into those deeper layers that made Dhawan's Master so compelling. The only real hint of his ambivalent feelings toward the Doctor was the suggestion at the end that he'd really enjoyed pretending to be the Doctor for a while. But he did make a pretty good "Doctor" while it lasted, so there's that.
As for the other aspects of the story, I enjoyed hearing Raine again (Beth Chalmers has a very sexy voice), but I didn't really connect to any of the UNIT characters this time out. It was just a couple of deliberately unlikeable commanding officers, that "Jordie" soldier, and the Klein character who was a Nazi in another life. Now, normally I'm a big believer in the possibility of redemption, and they did rewrite her whole timeline so she wasn't bad anymore, but after the events in the United States over the past few years, Nazis no longer feel like a remote historical menace to me, so that aspect made me uncomfortable.
It's also weird that they made no effort whatsoever to connect this to the previous UNIT series or any of its characters. I wonder, was it a flop that they decided to ignore or something?
You lost me there. I think he's by far the worst Master of all time.
EDIT: Sacha Dhawan, that is. I love MacQueen's Master.
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I remember hating Dominion, McCoy who I liked on TV is, for me, the weakest of the Doctor's that Big Finish work with. MacQueen was terrible, he is a major reason why Dark Eyes is my least favourite set of Eighth Doctor box sets, At least BF haven't used him much since as they have better options now with Jacobi and Gomez. Raine was too bland and yes that Geordie soldier may be their single worst character. Doesn't he go on about his wife and kid or something - felt like every 5 minutes.