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MrL_JaKiri posted:The first two episodes of Seeds of Doom are a much better Thing/Alien hybrid than, say, the X-Files one The Thing with Boycie doesn't sound like it would make for a good story, but it does!
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Aug 29, 2015 07:07
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Fun Fact: PJ Hammond, creator of Sapphire & Steel, and writer for all the stories, bar one, has said he had no idea what the series was about.
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Aug 29, 2015 14:02
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"You appeared to Leda as a swan, you appear to me as an old beggar" The Myth Makers is pretty fun
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Aug 29, 2015 23:18
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Bidmead didn't put a monster in Logopolis or Castrovalva because he thought they were rubbish. In Frontios he was proven definitively correct
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Aug 30, 2015 01:37
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After The War posted:I saw this in an old Annual, it's a pity we never got to see anything else that distributed organs throughout the "body" rather than the "little blob guy driving a tank" approach. Of course, that's how they were in most actual episodes, but this was from the NA golden era of retconning, so... Finished Enemy of the World. I honestly did not know I had such a good Who story waiting for me. I figured I had gone through most of the wheat of the classic series but boy was I wrong. I love it when the Doctor has to go up against humans, makes the stories feel so much more grounded and exciting. Troughton was and remains the most talented man to ever grace that show (in my humble opinion).
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Aug 30, 2015 02:47
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Dr. Gene Dango MD posted:This is great, thanks for posting. I think this is cooler than the blob in a case, but who knows what the authors intended while the serials were being written. It's a cool design, but I think blob-in-a-tank is actually better. Considering they're not exactly big on fine manipulation with just a suction cup, I reckon it makes sense that the Dalek shell's as simple as plug-and-play rather than something fully-integrated.
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Aug 30, 2015 06:33
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MrL_JaKiri posted:"You appeared to Leda as a swan, you appear to me as an old beggar" If you like the Doctor in ancient Greece stuff then definitely check out The Time Monster. People tend to either love it or hate it. I liked it for the first few episodes, then they go back and time and it becomes fantastic. It's one of the goofier stories, but one that's being playful about it.
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Aug 30, 2015 13:11
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I'd put things like The Enemy of the World into a sister box to the pure historicals. "Future historicals"? They tend to be some of the best stories.Random Stranger posted:If you like the Doctor in ancient Greece stuff then definitely check out The Time Monster. People tend to either love it or hate it. I liked it for the first few episodes, then they go back and time and it becomes fantastic. It's one of the goofier stories, but one that's being playful about it. There are two completely useless episodes in The Time Monster, as you can cut out everything between the two instances of the Master shouting "COME, CHRONOS, COME" and still have the story make sense. (I've seen every original run Doctor Who story - well, as much as recons allow - I'm just rewatching them in a "random" order) MrL_JaKiri fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Aug 30, 2015 |
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Aug 30, 2015 13:12
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Dr. Gene Dango MD posted:Finished Enemy of the World. I honestly did not know I had such a good Who story waiting for me. I figured I had gone through most of the wheat of the classic series but boy was I wrong. I love it when the Doctor has to go up against humans, makes the stories feel so much more grounded and exciting. Troughton was and remains the most talented man to ever grace that show (in my humble opinion). Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. It was great seeing Troughton play a villain. I get the impression that the reconstructions didn't really do this one justice. It seems like it didn't get talked about as a good one until people were able to see the real thing.
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Aug 30, 2015 13:35
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Diabolik900 posted:Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. It was great seeing Troughton play a villain. I had the audio soundtrack, and it was one of my favorite stories. I was more excited about its return than Web of Fear.
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Aug 30, 2015 14:20
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Diabolik900 posted:Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. It was great seeing Troughton play a villain. Yeah, as far as reconstructed episodes go, Enemy was pretty far down on people's lists. It didn't have the distinction of having a classic monster, or feature a regeneration, a character didn't enter or leave the Tardis, and we couldn't really see Patrick Troughton's performance as Salamander. There was relatively little draw for most fans despite it being one of the better serials produced in the original series. It's kind of a shame that a great story like this can get overlooked so easily because it doesn't have Daleks or whatever.
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Aug 30, 2015 18:47
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Diabolik900 posted:Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. It was great seeing Troughton play a villain. To be honest, the only reconstructions that are more missing than existent that get any real kind of attention are Power and Evil of the Daleks, and that has a lot less to do with their quality (which is excellent) than it does with the word 'Daleks.'
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Aug 30, 2015 21:05
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Rochallor posted:To be honest, the only reconstructions that are more missing than existent that get any real kind of attention are Power and Evil of the Daleks, and that has a lot less to do with their quality (which is excellent) than it does with the word 'Daleks.' I'm pretty drat sure that it has a LOT to do with their quality.
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Aug 30, 2015 22:00
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Yeah, even "just" listening to them they're pretty drat great stories. Though to be fair, there are people who said that Tomb of the Cybermen was a better story when only the audio survived. I think Tomb is pretty loving great visually as well, but I guess people's imaginations worked with the audio to create a pretty incredible story in their heads.
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Aug 30, 2015 22:56
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Jerusalem posted:I think Tomb is pretty loving great visually as well There are some parts that are great (the first appearance of a Cyberman, the Doctor flipping switches behind Klieg's back), and then there are parts like the Hitler moustache salutes and throwing Toberman woughly to the floor that should definitely be heard and not seen.
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Aug 30, 2015 23:22
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Good point, but the great moments just stand out to me so much more I guess. In particular, as great as the WE MUZZZZT SURVIVE desperation of the Cyber-Controller at the end is to hear, I think it's probably so much better with the visual of Toberman struggling to close the doors on it. That moment to me is pretty much iconic, and boils down to exactly what I think the Cybermen should always be - a desperate, buzzing insistence on survival for its own sake, an imperative they can't deny but don't understand, a danger to everybody else that doesn't even have the benefit of the Cybermen gaining any satisfaction from any eventual "success" they might have. Contrast that with Toberman's willingness to die to stop them, because he actually understands the value of life even at the expense of his own..... it's just really loving good television. drat, I wanna watch Tomb again now 
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Aug 30, 2015 23:32
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Jerusalem posted:drat, I wanna watch Tomb again now Diabolik900 posted:Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. It was great seeing Troughton play a villain. Dr. Gene Dango MD fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Aug 31, 2015 |
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Aug 31, 2015 00:24
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"They sleep in my mind" is such a beautiful phrase 
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Aug 31, 2015 01:22
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  The Doctor and Flip visit Victorian London, where investigators Jago and Litefoot explore theatrical performances that have echoes of the Doctor's past lives... Colin Baker is the Doctor in The Last Sixth Doctor Adventure – Stage Fright X X X X X Cast Colin Baker (The Doctor) Lisa Greenwood (Flip) Christopher Benjamin (Henry Jago) Trevor Baxter (George Litefoot) Lisa Bowerman (Ellie Higson) Michael Jayston (The Valeyard) Andree Bernard (Susie/Sylvie) Lizzie Roper (Bella) Written by: Matt Fitton Directed by: Nicholas Briggs (CD cover fanart by MrFuggleboppins and awesomep of the Big Finish forums) X X X X X Stage Fright sees the old school meet the new school, as memorable characters of the Fourth Doctor's era collide with a modern day companion of the Sixth Doctor, all under the scheming eyes of the Valeyard. The clash of cultures leads to a grand affair with solid performances aplenty and a haunting look into the final scheme of the Valeyard. The Sixth Doctor decides that his companion Flip needs to expand her cultural and historical horizons beyond those of her home era of 2010. A trip to 19th century London is in order, specifically a visit to the New Regency Theatre, whose proprietor is none other than Henry Gordon Jago, dear friend and sometimes companion to the Doctor. When the Doctor and Flip meet up with the patron of the arts, notoriously pence-pinching Jago is buying rounds for the gathered customers of the Red Tavern. It seems that the New Regency Theatre has been booked for a private show for the next few months and the rent payments are setting up Mr. Jago for life. However, Professor George Litefoot and barmaid Ellie Higson have their concerns about the man who has procured the theater – one Timothy Yardvale, whose private plays include a variety of death scenes, such as radiation poisoning, falling from a radio antenna, and spectrox toxameia... Stage Fright is steeped in nostalgia for the classic series, but with a hint of modern flair. Matt Fitton came on board with Big Finish after submitting a piece to Big Finish during a period of open submission. While his piece wasn't piece up, his work impressed the company to the point where they signed him on to write the 2011 story A Most Excellent Match. Fitton has been a prolific writer for Big Finish since that point, penning a full series for the Counter-Measures range, a handful of Companion Chronicles and Lost Stories, two stories for the Charlotte Pollard series, several Main Range stories including The Wrong Doctors and Starlight Robbery, and several stories for Paul McGann in the Dark Eyes saga, including the grand finale Eye of Darkness. Fitton's script for Stage Fright is simply wonderful. He nails the voice of each character through dialogue, from the father-and-daughter dynamic of Six and Flip to the abundance of alliteration of Henry Jago to the thorough and thoughtful nature of Professor Litefoot to the working class stubbornness of Ellie to the purely diabolical villainy of the Valeyard. It takes good actors to make it all come together, but Witton's script provides them with all the tools they need to make it work. Where Witton's script also excels is how it deals with the past history of Doctor Who. The Valeyard is staging the five deaths of the Doctor in dramatic fashion (with slightly embellished dialogue for theatrical purposes) in order to soak in the negative life energy from those moments (via the deaths of the actors) using the psychic machine he stole during the events of The Red House. It would have been very easy to just harp on nostalgia and let it carry the day, but the young actors are...well, not good actors, and it shows in how often the Valeyard must keep casting new actors in newly updated death scenes. Fans of the old series will appreciate the callbacks (and Jago calling the events of Planet of the Spiders “a bit far fetched!”) and new fans will have enough information to know why these death scenes are so important. The collection of companions gathered to assist the Doctor in Stage Fright are nothing short of a revelation for those who don't know who they are and a delight for those who do. Veteran actors Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter play the theater own Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot, respectively. Their performances as temporary companions in the classic Fourth Doctor story The Talons of Wang-Chiang was amazing enough that the BBC considered a spin-off starring the two of them as Victorian detectives. Big Finish would follow through with the Companion Chronicle story The Mahogany Murders in May 2009 and then kicking off a full-fledged audio range in June 2010 with the Jago and Litefoot box set, which will see its TENTH box set released in October 2015. The pair are joined by Lisa Bowerman (aka Benny Summerfield), who both stars (as barmaid Ellie Higson) and serves as the primary director for their audio range. All three characters add a heaping of Victorian charm to Stage Fright. Benjamin keeps the boisterous end of things, overflowing with flowery language and flourishing dialogue even as he it takes him a while to see past Mr. Yardvale's coin to see his true colors, and not letting a little thing like almost dying stopping him from helping save the Doctor in his hour of need! Baxter is the calm and rational Professor Litefoot, who realizes the rash of young corpses must somehow be tied to Mr. Yardvale, and it's his focused demeanor that helps direct the Doctor in a very Watson kind of way. I don't care much for Benny Summerfield, but Lisa Bowerman does a great job as Ellie, the barmaid who gets mixed up in Jago and Litefoot's myriad adventures. Ellie adds the blue-collar, “man on the street” viewpoint as she fills in the details to confirm Litefoot and the Doctor's suspicions, as well as riling up the locals for the final showdown with Mr. Yardvale. The best praise I can give Benjamin, Baxter, and Bowerman for their performances is this – Stage Fright made me go to Big Finish and order a copy of The Mahogany Murders... From classic series companions to new audio ones – Lisa Greenwood as Phillipa “Flip” Jackson is very impressive in this outing. Flip would meet the Sixth Doctor in 2011's The Crimes of Thomas Brewster and go on to travel with the Sixth Doctor through seven audio adventures. Where Flip could have easily come off as the 'cool hip companion' that producers often introduce to shows to miserable effect, Greenwood plays Flip with a sense of enthusiasm and reality. Her relationship to Six is more of a father-and-daughter relationship, where Flip's modern day pop culture references either slip past the Doctor or simply cause him to sigh and carry on. Stage Fright is the first audio I've heard with Flip, and I highly enjoyed her presence. She provides the fish-of-out-water aspect of a companion by being overwhelmed and just a bit critical (in a good way) of the London of her past, provides the companion-in-distress portion when she finds herself involved in Mr. Yardvale's schemes playing Zoe during a recreation of the end of The War Games, and helps save the Doctor by overcoming one of her deepest fears – a case of, well, stage fright, in a moment that is absolutely wonderful and ranks as one of the most memorable scenes I've heard from Big Finish. Again, the highest praise I can give for Ms. Greenwood's performance is that I'm looking forward to getting to The Crimes of Thomas Brewster and Flip's introduction! From good to evil, and Michael Jayston flipping the switch from his charming and menacing performance in The Red House to being absolutely sinister and wicked in Stage Fright. So far, listeners have only gotten glimpses of the Valeyard's evil, and of his brilliance. Stage Fright not only sees the Valeyard begin his final machinations against the Sixth Doctor, but shows just how much the darkest incarnation of the Doctor disregards human lives, casually throwing them away in an effort to keep himself going a little longer. There are hints of the Valeyard's charm, especially in his scenes with Jago and his “directing” of the various actors and actresses who fall under his sway, but Jayston holds nothing back when he takes their lives. The climatic showdown with the Doctor is a masterclass in cloak-swirling villainy against bombastic heroism as Jayston takes full advantage of the chance to play the Valeyard once again. His turn in Stage Fright easily belongs in Big Finish's Villains Hall of Fame! With all these performances, one would wonder if Colin Baker should keep up with everyone else. But if the Valeyard is the distillation of every negative and dark emotion the Doctor has ever had, then what would happen when he collides with the Sixth Doctor, who is full of nothing but emotion? Baker is, as usual, on the top of his game. Old Sixie is trying to show Flip some culture, but of course he's going to get involved in when Litefoot explains about the slew of deaths...and when he finds out that it's because the Valeyard is reliving the Doctor's many deaths, the gloves come off. This is the angriest and most vengeful we've ever seen the Doctor...which may or may not tie into the Valeyard's plans...but Baker gives off waves of righteous and justified indignation as he confronts the Valeyard on a stage so grand, we've one exit away from Suplex City. Where the Valeyard swirls his cape, the Doctor stands his ground, proudly proclaiming the one reason the Doctor will win and the Valeyard never will...the Doctor has friends. And before one rolls their eyes and proclaims just how cheesy that line is, here's the thing – Baker sells the HELL out of it. It's not melodrama, it's not over-the-top, it's over 50 years of Doctor Who condensed and distilled down into one simple concept – a Time Lord, who sees all of time and space, choose not to live above everyone else as their master, but instead to interact with them as colleagues, friends...and companions. It's just wonderful, and one of the reasons that (spoilers), I can Stage Fright is my favorite out of the four stories...and that's not a slight to the still-quality conclusion The Brink of Death. There is no other way to put it, and it's probably obviously from my glowing review – Stage Fright is an amazing story. If this had been a stand alone story, it still would have been one of the best audios Big Finish ever produced. As part of The Last Sixth Doctor Adventure, it's the Empire Strikes Back of the four stories – self-contained with an ending hook that leaves you wanting more. Witton's scripts mixes with some fantastic performances all around, as well as some quality soundwork that recreates 19th century London down to the last hoof on cobblestone. Stage Fright is simply wonderful and the perfect set-up for the final showdown between the Doctor and the Valeyard. Pros + A fantastic script... + ...mixes with some top performances + One of my favorite Big Finish lines ever from Colin Baker - “Oh look, my friends! And an angry mob!” + Flip's actions during the climax to help save the Doctor from the Valeyard's clutches Cons - Not one. Not a single one! Cobi's Synopsis – One of the best stories Big Finish has ever done, Stage Fright mixes classic series companions with new ones from the audios, all under the piercing eyes of two fantastic performances from Michael Jayston and Colin Baker as the pieces are put into place for the final showdown between the Doctor and the Valeyard. Next up - The Doctor and Mel face the final confrontation with the Valeyard - and the Doctor must make the ultimate sacrifice... Colin Baker is the Doctor in...The Last Sixth Doctor Adventure – The Brink of Death.
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Aug 31, 2015 01:23
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CobiWann posted:Suplex City. Ironic that Five died from A LETHAL DOSE. OF. POOOISSSOONNNNN then. 
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Aug 31, 2015 01:33
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TinTower posted:Ironic that Five died from A LETHAL DOSE. OF. POOOISSSOONNNNN then. I like this post. I like you.
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Aug 31, 2015 01:35
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CobiWann posted:The collection of companions gathered to assist the Doctor in Stage Fright are nothing short of a revelation for those who don't know who they are and a delight for those who do. I just started Jago & Litefoot Series 1 last week and it might already be my new favorite BF range. I could listen to those two all day long.
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Aug 31, 2015 04:37
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Tim Burns Effect posted:I just started Jago & Litefoot Series 1 last week and it might already be my new favorite BF range. I could listen to those two all day long. I just finished Mahogany Murders minutes ago, and it's true. It's all true... I'm going to ask if work can just send my paychecks to Big Finish. It's the kindest way.
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Aug 31, 2015 14:01
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Jago and Litefoot is fantastic, from start to finish. My favourite though is Series 5. I won't spoil why, but the soundtrack is AMAZING.
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Aug 31, 2015 15:49
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Finished Dark Eyes 4 finally. It was a lot better than 3, though I'll be honest - as much as I love McGann and MacQueen, I'm happy that the series is finally over. Dark Eyes 1 is phenomenal and set the bar high for all my love of the Eighth Doctor audio stuff, but by the end I was itching for something new. All of Dark Eyes are good, but it was wearing on me a tad. I'm looking forward to Doom Coalition just for something new. They really need to keep bringing back MacQueen. I love his work, and while I know too much of the same enemy makes things to stale quickly, I want more of him and McGann playing against each other. Is UNIT: Dominion any good? I haven't listened to any of Seven's stuff - how hard would it be to drop into the story right there?
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Aug 31, 2015 19:58
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There's a lot to like about Fury from the Deep (it is, after all, excellent) but I think by far the "best" thing about it is that the only surviving footage is from the cuts from the Australian censors - meaning that any time the picture starts moving things will get disturbing
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Aug 31, 2015 21:36
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I'm rating them out of 5 (1: Abysmal, 2: Mediocre to poor, 3: Good, 4: Very good, 5: Classic) as I go, here's the current statscode:So if anyone wants to suggest a Hartnell, a Troughton and a Tom Baker to watch (the current 3 lowest %s) that would be very good indeed MrL_JaKiri fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Aug 31, 2015 |
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Aug 31, 2015 21:39
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Pertwee is scoring the highest. Good.
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Aug 31, 2015 21:41
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Burkion posted:Pertwee is scoring the highest. Agreed. Watch "The Ark." That's a decent Hartnell.
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Aug 31, 2015 21:44
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Burkion posted:Pertwee is scoring the highest. The Ambassadors of Death, Inferno, The Green Death. Not exactly an unbiased sample
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Aug 31, 2015 22:08
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I can't decide whether Fury is a 4 or a 5. For reference, the other 5's so far are Ambassadors of Death and Genesis!
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Aug 31, 2015 22:26
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MrL_JaKiri posted:So if anyone wants to suggest a Hartnell, a Troughton and a Tom Baker to watch (the current 3 lowest %s) that would be very good indeed Chiming in with The War Machines again for Hartnell, The Seeds of Death for Troughton, and The Brain of Morbius for Baker. Mortanis posted:Is UNIT: Dominion any good? I haven't listened to any of Seven's stuff - how hard would it be to drop into the story right there? Yes it's quite good - the biggest thing about it is something you're already fully aware of (MacQueen), but there is a lot more to recommend it on top of that, and MacQueen is very, very, very, very good in it. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Aug 31, 2015 |
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Aug 31, 2015 22:43
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Jerusalem posted:Chiming in with The War Machines Watching The Ark (Dodo being a moron: bad, presence of a monitor lizard: good), but I think I'm going to save my spreadsheet as "DoctorWhoIsRequired.xls"
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Aug 31, 2015 22:55
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It's the The Mahogany Murderers not The Mahogany Murders
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Aug 31, 2015 22:57
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Davros1 posted:It's the The Mahogany Murderers not The Mahogany Murders Well gently caress me gently with a chainsaw.
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Aug 31, 2015 23:13
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MrL_JaKiri posted:Watching The Ark (Dodo being a moron: bad, presence of a monitor lizard: good), but I think I'm going to save my spreadsheet as "DoctorWhoIsRequired.xls" The Ark is great (well maybe not the last episode so much) so good choice!
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Aug 31, 2015 23:20
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Jerusalem posted:The Ark is great (well maybe not the last episode so much) so good choice! Top 3 things about The Ark: 1. The Monitor Lizard 2. That they use time travel properly in a story for once and 3. Something that is completely lost to a modern audience - that stories weren't collected as "The Ark parts 1-4" back in the day, they just flowed between each other with individual episode titles. And so at the end of episode 2, all the audience is going "well, two part story. A bit light, I wonder what the monoids were there for. Oh well, world building I guess" - and then you get that incredible cliffhanger with the statue and holy poo poo!!!
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Aug 31, 2015 23:28
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Yeah, viewing it at the time the audience wouldn't have had any clue that they weren't getting anything other than an unusually short story. Even knowing that it's a 4-parter, the first time I watched it I was blown away by the 2nd episode cliffhanger so I can't imagine how much of a headtrip it must have been for people watching at the time... and they had to wait a week to find out what happened next!
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Aug 31, 2015 23:31
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I love the kind of insults the old school Who villains used. "You are reckless and stupid  "
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Aug 31, 2015 23:38
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 11:38 |
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Old school Who villains are so good. Tobias Vaughn from "The Invasion" just owns.
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Aug 31, 2015 23:42
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