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Fil5000 posted:Silent Running rules. Also you could totally drop the doctor into exactly that storyline and... Well it'd play out the same wouldn't it? Well, he might figure out that "oh yeah, plants need light to grow!" faster than the loving idiot botanist does. (It's OK apart from that though)
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Aug 15, 2015 22:29
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Wolfechu posted:Phil Hartnoll from Orbital on what he'd do with the theme tune: Nick Briggs: I also have an idea - let's put EVERYTHING into the opening theme. EVERY THING  I enjoy the 8th Doctor Adventures but the theme tune is terrible 
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Aug 15, 2015 22:51
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Jerusalem posted:Nick Briggs: I also have an idea - let's put EVERYTHING into the opening theme. EVERY THING Guitar screeching out of nowhere!
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Aug 15, 2015 23:08
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Jerusalem posted:Nick Briggs: I also have an idea - let's put EVERYTHING into the opening theme. EVERY THING In our house, the EDA theme is described as “playing all the openings at the same time." What were they thinking?
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Aug 15, 2015 23:15
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(Un)controversial opinion: there hasn't been a good Doctor Who theme since 1979, with the (possible) exception of the revival Series 1 theme. But even that's partnered with the ugliest logo of all time, so it loses points there.
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Aug 15, 2015 23:33
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The Series 5/6 theme was good, although it took me a while to get used to the new bit at the beginning. Edit: That idea Orbital had with the lead synth being a vocoded human voice would have been rad though, and should have been incorporated into the Series 8 theme instead of the really wimpy synth we got. Well Manicured Man fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Aug 15, 2015 |
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Aug 15, 2015 23:43
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The series 5/6 theme is terrible imo
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Aug 15, 2015 23:44
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I don't like what they did to the opening bassline for Series 5/6, but I really like when it gets to to main theme. They really picked the right synth for that. Just the right amount of echo and sci-fi goofiness.
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Aug 15, 2015 23:52
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I like the Keff McCulloch theme. You know, the one that goes with the swirly purple nebula. Generally less keen on his incidental music, but I enjoy that arrangement of the theme.
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Aug 16, 2015 00:40
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I still love the TVM theme. Is there any reason they took the middle eight out of the original theme in the 70s?
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Aug 16, 2015 03:31
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Maxwell Lord posted:Is there any reason they took the middle eight out of the original theme in the 70s? Probably because it would make the credits too long. It did appear in a few 70s episodes; in the later 70s it would usually appear on the final episode of a 6-part story when they had longer credits to include additional people who weren't credited on the other parts.
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Aug 16, 2015 05:19
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evenworse username posted:I think a lot of the creature effects (not all of them) in The Thing still look pretty good. yes yes yes E: All about Videodrome's effects too, they are still pretty horrifying. Cronenberg or Carpenter, I can never decide 
surc fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Aug 16, 2015 |
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Aug 16, 2015 05:57
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qntm posted:I definitely think it's time the Doctor Who theme got experimental and actively bizarre-sounding again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jla5ecXBXQ One of my favourite experimental versions.
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Aug 16, 2015 12:42
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 Short Synopsis: The Doctor is an art critic and Lucie puts on airs. Long Synopsis: The Doctor and Lucie go for a lovely train journey (and a bit of trainspotting for the Doctor) in 19th Century Sweden, where they run into a couple of old acquaintances. A collector of fine art piques the Doctor's interest and concern, Lucie gets to act the part of a lady, and they meet God. A relatively slow chase ends in a job offer, and the slow-to-wake night watchman loses his job. What's Good:
What's Not:
Final Thoughts: Grand Theft Cosmos is fun. A lot of fun. A comedic heist that contrasts the Doctor/Lucie relationship with a parallel partnership, it's a breath of fresh air that reinvigorates the rather sluggish season two to date. I wasn't a huge fan of Robson's first EDA story for Big Finish - Phobos - but Memory Lane was good, Human Resources was brilliant and this one is a story I greatly enjoyed. It seems his strength lies in comedy, and though I wouldn't want to pigeonhole him, I hope he kept that in mind and worked to produce something that takes the time to enjoy itself, where the actors seem to be having as much fun as the characters, and hopefully the listeners are too. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 13:18 on Aug 16, 2015 |
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Aug 16, 2015 13:10
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Doctor Spaceman posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jla5ecXBXQ Wow, didgeridoo really fits the Doctor Who theme.
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Aug 16, 2015 14:29
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MikeJF posted:Not... really. They had massive trouble with the lights coming off the pearlescent paintjob on the Enterprise and they had to underlight the model and use an unconventional matte technique to compensate and it kinda shows. It's really washed out and low-contrast and there's still pretty heavy matte lines at times (look at the bit below where it's coming in front of earth, just before the sun flares). And they just weren't able to actually capture the effect in the end - it was meant to glimmer with colours as light played across the sheen. God, the Refit Enterprise really is the most beautiful sci fi ship ever made.
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Aug 16, 2015 14:31
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I am beyond giddy for the release of the CBaker final stories tomorrow.
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Aug 16, 2015 19:58
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Maera Sior posted:In our house, the EDA theme is described as “playing all the openings at the same time." What were they thinking? It made me wish for the return of the McGann main range theme.
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Aug 17, 2015 02:37
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Pinwiz11 posted:I am beyond giddy for the release of the CBaker final stories tomorrow. I'm terrified that it'll be bad  I've built up a "final story" for Six for so long in my head. Last words, last deeds... It won't be the same.
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Aug 17, 2015 03:51
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DoctorWhat posted:I'm terrified that it'll be bad Wait, they just mean the final chronological stories right, there'll still be more Ole Sixie in Big Finish right??
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Aug 17, 2015 06:29
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DoctorWhat posted:I'm terrified that it'll be bad It's here! edit: Just Chronologically last. I believe they said it will have the regeneration to 7th Doctor.
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Aug 17, 2015 06:46
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adhuin posted:edit: Just Chronologically last. I believe they said it will have the regeneration to 7th Doctor. Mel: Doctor, I was granted one final vision from the Space-Djinn, he says the next adversary we will face will be.... the Rani! Six: gently caress this, I'm gonna beat my head against the edge of the console till I regenerate 
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Aug 17, 2015 08:29
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Could be worse. Could be the Vervoids.
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Aug 17, 2015 09:35
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Espilae posted:Wait, they just mean the final chronological stories right, there'll still be more Ole Sixie in Big Finish right?? He's got a new trilogy starting next month. Where he gets a new companion, who we'll actually hear first in The Last Adventure.
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Aug 17, 2015 10:12
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CobiWann posted:Could be worse. Could be the Vervoids. Hey, at least with Big Finish you wouldn't have to look at them.
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Aug 17, 2015 11:13
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MikeJF posted:Hey, at least with Big Finish you wouldn't have to look at them. "Doctor! Your plant vagina monsters are coming towards us!"
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Aug 17, 2015 11:39
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The_Doctor posted:"Doctor! Your plant vagina monsters are coming towards us!" …which Doctor are we talking about here?
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Aug 17, 2015 11:46
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Davros1 posted:He's got a new trilogy starting next month. Where he gets a new companion, who we'll actually hear first in The Last Adventure. How very Mel of them...
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Aug 17, 2015 12:13
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The best version of the Doctor Who theme is of course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT44cUPZQ2oDoctor Spaceman posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jla5ecXBXQ This works really well.
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Aug 17, 2015 12:49
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I don't think I've ever bought any Big Finish audio on the release day (or even at full price, I think) other than The Light at the End, but it looks a lot like I'll have to cave in and get The Last Adventure. The physical release for Light was so pretty I'm really tempted to get this one as an actual tangible object as well, but since I guess I'll have to eat next month I'll probably have to make do with the more ephemeral version and save the rest of the money for some actual tangible bread instead. EDIT: Oh no sorry, I had preordered Dark Eyes as well. Please update your SA Forums Posters' BFA Buying Habits spreadsheet accordingly. Forktoss fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Aug 17, 2015 |
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Aug 17, 2015 15:01
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While we're on themechat, I just wanted to remind everyone that seventeen years after Delia Derbyshire rewrote his score for experimental synthesizer, Ron Grainer eventually recorded his original arrangement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SZs4xudf8
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Aug 17, 2015 16:23
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One Swell Foop posted:While we're on themechat, I just wanted to remind everyone that seventeen years after Delia Derbyshire rewrote his score for experimental synthesizer, Ron Grainer eventually recorded his original arrangement: Someone said last time they could imagine this being the Third Doctor's theme over a montage of him beating people up with Venusian aikido. I can totally see it.
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Aug 17, 2015 16:38
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DoctorWhat posted:I'm terrified that it'll be bad Of all the possible ways for the Sixth Doctor to regenerate, "fighting the Valeyard in a story by Nicolas Briggs" would be swimming near the bottom of the list. I would love this story to be not bad more than literally anything else Big Finish have done, but more or less every released detail about it makes it sound pretty awful if I'm being honest.
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Aug 17, 2015 17:11
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One Swell Foop posted:While we're on themechat, I just wanted to remind everyone that seventeen years after Delia Derbyshire rewrote his score for experimental synthesizer, Ron Grainer eventually recorded his original arrangement: If I ever make an Austin Powers style Doctor Who parody I know what I'm using for the theme.
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Aug 17, 2015 17:20
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qntm posted:The best version of the Doctor Who theme is of course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT44cUPZQ2o I've always been a fan of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GJSH5Aw3yk
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Aug 17, 2015 21:53
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It's clearly this
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Aug 17, 2015 22:09
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One Swell Foop posted:While we're on themechat, I just wanted to remind everyone that seventeen years after Delia Derbyshire rewrote his score for experimental synthesizer, Ron Grainer eventually recorded his original arrangement: Second doctor has the best theme and intro 
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Aug 17, 2015 22:21
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On the subject of music, which story(ies) do you think have the best incidental music? I like the stuff that Roger Limb did with Graeme Harper, namely Caves of Androzani and Revelation of the Daleks. His music sounds minimal but sinister. It is amazing the difference between those two stories and the work he did with other directors. I'm curiously fond of Jonathon Gibbs in Vengeance on Varos too, though I suspect that is more due to nostalgia than anything else. Controversially enough I even think that Keff McCulloch has a few good pieces. Most of his stuff is garbage but I like some of his work in Remembrance of the Daleks.
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Aug 17, 2015 22:36
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I remember liking the music from Terror of the Zygons, properly creepy horror music in places, making it very suitable for the story.
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Aug 17, 2015 23:02
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 What can it mean when the Doctor and Mel are drawn to an asteroid by a message from the strange, elderly Applewhite sisters? The travellers are promised that they will receive their dearest wishes when they enter the frozen forests of this benighted shard of a world. But the ghosts that haunt this place are desperate to warn the Doctor about the sisters' promises. Only the ghosts know the true nature of the legendary Wishing Beast. Colin Baker is the Doctor in The Wishing Beast(A Three-Part Story). X X X X X A strange beauty parlour has opened its doors for business in a dowdy Salford terrace circa 1965. Monsieur Coiffure is the talk of the street with his fabulous make-overs. When the Doctor arrives, however, he knows at once that there's been some unnatural titivation going on. Colin Baker is the Doctor in The Vanity Box (A One-Part Story). X X X X X Cast The Wishing Beast Colin Baker (The Doctor) Bonnie Langford (Mel) Jean Marsh(Maria) Geraldine Newman (Eliza) Sean Connolly (Ghost/Mildew) Toby Sawyer(Daniel/Ghost Brother) Toby Longworth (The Wishing Beast) Rachel Laurence(Female Ghost) The Vanity Box Colin Baker (The Doctor) Bonnie Langford (Mel) Diana Flacks(Nesta) Christine Moore (Winnie) Rachel Laurence (Bessy/Barmaid) Toby Longworth (Monsieur Coiffure) Written By: Paul Magrs Directed By: John Ainsworth Trailer - http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/popout/the-wishing-beast-263 X X X X X The Wishing Beast is a three-part fairy tale done in the style of Doctor Who – a house full of witches, ghosts in the forests, and a fantastic creature who can grant someone their heart's fondest desire. Sadly, the story suffers as it bounces back and forth between a “Disney” style fairy tale and a “Brothers Grimm” one, causing a tonal dissonance. Add to it some weak material given to Bonnie Langford, and even though the one-part story The Vanity Box actually serves as supplemental material to its parent story, both stories fail to truly click as a cohesive whole. The Doctor and Mel land on an uninhabitable asteroid soaked in radiation to investigate a strange message. The message welcome visitors to the asteroid, saying that they've been expecting visitors for a very long time...and as the message concludes, the TARDIS' instruments show that the asteroid is now free of radiation with a breathable atmosphere! The Doctor and Mel find their way through a dark, twisting forest towards a small cottage inhabited by two old women – the Applewhite sisters. Both women are eager to welcome their guests, gushing about how long they've waited to meet them. But hospitality is not the only thing the sisters have to offer. Deep in the forest, past a village of ghostly spirits, is a fantastic creature who is able and willing to grant an individual's dearest wish. And this creature has been waiting a very long time to grant the wish of the famous traveler of time and space...Melanie Bush! Paul Magrs – writer, lecturer, creator of the renegade Time Lord Iris Wildthyme, writer of the Big Finish audios The Stones of Venice (eh...), Excelis Dawns (um...), The Boy That Time Forgot (oh, dear...) and The Wormery (Well I liked it!). The Wishing Beast attempts to channel the best parts of The Stones of Venice in terms of a wonderful setting with all kinds of familiar trappings, eschewing the romantic aspects of the Venice for those of a fairy tale. On one hand, we have the creepy aspects of a traditional fairy tale – ghosts in the woods, witches in the kitchen, and a beast who ensures wishes are best left unspoken. But on the other hand, there is the silly, scenery chewing, over-the-top performances of the Applewhite Sister – Jean Marsh (best known to Who fans as Morgaine from the Seventh Doctor story Battleground and as quasi-companion of the First Doctor Sara Kingdom in The Dalek's Master Plan) and Geraldine Newman. They bounce back and forth from being creepy and sinister to silly and laughable, but in the process fail to come off as either, especially when their biggest threat is to gleefully and menacingly wield a ghost-sucking vacuum cleaner. And the ghosts themselves are the positively charged remnants of souls (providing a scientific explanation to a “supernatural” concern, as per everything else in Doctor Who) that have dealt at one time or the other with the Wishing Beast. The concept of “half-ghosts” is unnerving and the Applewhite Sisters coming for tribute is geninuely disturbing stuff, until the vacuum cleaner comes out, and no matter how scary you want it to be, having a character say they're switching the cleaner from “suck to blow” will always be funny, and in this case ruin the tension of the moment. Magrs' script can't decide if it wants to be a comedic story with a few creepy moments or a intensely unsettling story with moments of tension breaking laughter, and it truly suffers for it. It's only during the climax, where the truth of the Wishing Beast is unveiled and the Doctor make a sudden sacrifice that the story firmly commits to the “tense and creepy” side of fairy tales thanks to a solid performance by veteran Big Finish actor Toby Longworth who channels the helplessness of the Wishing Beast into his own personal desires. But by then it's a bit too little and a bit too late...especially with the Doctor's decision, once the Wishing Beast has been conquered and the Applewhite Sisters given their just desserts, the Doctor's final decision with regards to the Wishing Beast is to...just leave it on the asteroid, where no one will ever find it since no one would ever have the need to land on the asteroid without the Applewhite Sister's message. It's a very weak and passive ending, especially since the events of The Vanity Box take place immediately after... I've been a fan of Bonnie Langford's time with Big Finish as Melanie Bush. The programmer from Pease Pottage has had a variety of layers added to her character through ten audios alongside both the Sixth and Seventh Doctors. The Wishing Beast would be Langford's last audio with Big Finish for five-and-a-half years, until the superb The Wrong Doctors. And I'm bummed that this would be the story Mel would “go out” on. Langford does a great job with the material she's given...but much like The Juggernauts, the material she's given in this case is just not worth her best efforts. Put simply, in The Wishing Beast Mel holds the proverbial Idiot Ball for most of the story's runtime. She suspects the Applewhite Sisters are up to something, but never ACTS like it, merrily going along with them into the woods without a care into the world and then acting SHOCKED when things go sideways. I hate using this phrase to describe any character in a story, but Mel is completely worthless save to be the MacGuffin that drives the story forward towards the confrontation with the Wishing Beast. And once the Doctor has confronted the Wishing Beast, Mel...steps into the background and does nothing other than refuse to let the Applewhites into the TARDIS and freaking out when one of the sisters goes all Scott Summers with her eyes on a ghost. It's a good performance with bad material, and as I said it's a shame that this is Langford's last story for a good long while. She deserved much better. One of the standard pieces of advice told to writers is “show don't tell.” Magrs' script and dialogue consistently tells the listener that the Doctor is freaked out about everything that's happening to him. But Colin Baker's performance is jaunty and lighthearted! It's not a case of “brave heart, Sixie” either. The Nowhere Place was a great example of a Sixth Doctor freaked right the [BLEEP] out, where the story and Colin's performance just got more and more unnerving as the story went on. The Wishing Beast sees the Doctor confident in his decisions and bravely walking through the woods with only a bit of enhanced speed brought on by the spooky nature of the forest. Towards the end once the Doctor confronts the Wishing Beast and the Applewhite Sisters for all their sins we get the “I was scared but now I'm PISSED” Sixth Doctor we all know and love, but there wasn't any sense of “I was scared” to help set that moment up. This is John Ainsworth's last directing job for the Big Finish main range, and while The Wishing Beast moved along quickly enough there was still a sense that it could have moved even faster. A few minutes could have been cut here and there to either make the story more/less creepy or more/less humorous. He definitely could have also fine-tuned Baker and Langford's performances to better match the tone. The sound work was pretty solid as well; the listener could easily feel like they were in a haunted forest or a cozy little cottage, mixed with the haunting voices of the lost souls or the roars of the Wishing Beast. The Vanity Box ties into the events of The Wishing Beast as the Doctor and Mel take a trip to 1960's England to recover from their encounter with the Applewhite sisters. There's a new salon in Salford, where older women are walking out looking YEARS younger. It turns out, no surprise, that the source that powered the Wishing Beast is the same thing that peels away the years like a parasite, sucking up memories and life energy. But the “Wishing Beast” hasn't met the Doctor before... It turns out the Doctor, when disposing of the energy source by throwing it into the Time Vortex, throws it along the TARDIS' flight path, which puts the box on the asteroid where the Applewhite sisters will eventually find it, thus creating a predestination paradox – the Doctor has to put the Vanity Box on that asteroid “by accident” in order for the Wishing Beast to come to life and devour countless souls until the Doctor defeats it. Well that's a bit of a freakin' downer, ain't it? I wish The Vanity Box had somehow tied directly into The Wishing Beast. Instead, it comes off as “deleted material” in a way, a mini-episode that was put on a DVD to flesh the story out. There are a few humorous moments such as Toby Longworth as a beautician who bounces back and forth between a Northern accent and a French one and the Sixth Doctor trying to pass as a 1960's housewife (seriously, the Doctor in drag...that's just brilliant! Why hasn't it been done before?!?), and as a one-parter the story works very well. But as part of the overall story of The Wishing Beast it would have been better had the Doctor been dealing with the Applewhite and Mel investigating the ins and outs of the Vanity Box! Although then we wouldn't have gotten the Doctor in drag... The problems with The Wishing Beast mainly come from the script failing to decide what type of story it wanted to be. Add to it a supplemental tale that would have been better served rolled into the main portion and some poor direction and dialogue given to Bonnie Langford and Colin Baker, it's a shame that The Wishing Beast turned out how it was. It could have been a very neat fairy tale from Paul Magrs that could have improved upon The Stones of Venice but instead turns out to be a story forgotten once the pages are turned. Pros + That's one hell of a CD cover + Toby Longworth is great in both stories + Colin Baker in drag! Cons - Mel firmly holds the Idiot Ball - The Doctor keeps saying he's scared, but Colin Baker's performance says otherwise - The story can't decide whether to be “Disney” or “Brothers Grimm” - The Vanity Box should have been better integrated into The Wishing Beast  Cobi's synopsis – Blame it on the script and some poor character direction, as The Wishing Beast is a fairy tale barely worth skimming over. Next up - Something else lies in wait in this awful place, something from an era before humankind set foot on the continent's cold soil. A menace frozen in time. Sylvester McCoy is the Doctor in...Frozen Time.
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Aug 18, 2015 03:12
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