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Peter Capaldi's gonna be the guest on Conan O'Brien tonight!
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Jul 11, 2015 23:34
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Do these go up online? Because I don't have TV.
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Jul 11, 2015 23:39
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Circular Time is a fun little experiment, the short running time is both a help and a hindrance though, the final 3 stories fit in okay with it but the first story feels like set-up for a standard length audio, and I'm not particularly pleased with the way it ended up. I'm still not entirely sure if those first three stories really happened or not, I suspect they're meant to, but the nature of the 4th story and the overarching theme of a concern with legacy did make me wonder if they were all different aspects of the Doctor's dying mind dealing with this incarnation's mortality - an exploration of his failure to stop a "villain", of being personally forgotten, or seeing things change and leave him behind/dying to achieve a perhaps meaningless goal etc. Of course if this is the case, it would be doing a disservice to the third story, and the lovely character development it gives to Nyssa (and a meaty role for Sarah Sutton). It's certainly well worth a listen, even if I don't think it quite holds together as a cohesive whole. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Jul 12, 2015 |
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Jul 12, 2015 00:02
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CobiWann posted:(yes Circular Time is the “did Nyssa just get laid” story, but it's all done off-screen and INCREDIBLY tastefully). Yeah, it's definitely handled well. Nyssa's would-be romance is a part of her entire process, and it's always more about her than the gentleman involved. And that's a good way to put the way Five faces Winter. It's not regretful or joyous, it's just sort of handled with quiet, weary dignity, with some unspoken fear. I guess I have to agree with Jeru that they don't come together as a decent whole, but it's worth it for the last two parts alone, and the other two aren't bad, they just don't feel as related conceptually.
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Jul 12, 2015 01:15
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Bicyclops posted:I guess I have to agree with Jeru that they don't come together as a decent whole, but it's worth it for the last two parts alone, and the other two aren't bad, they just don't feel as related conceptually. But Summer has David Warner!
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Jul 12, 2015 01:40
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Circular Time is probably my favorite 5 story. Not the best, but my favorite. Great story.
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Jul 12, 2015 02:13
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Jsor posted:Do these go up online? Because I don't have TV. Yep, Conan's Youtube channel puts up clips of every episode. And his website has full episodes, but I personally can't make the player work.
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Jul 12, 2015 03:00
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2house2fly posted:I was idly reading back through the 2013 Christmas special thread and found this post: Vitamin P on page 20 posted: I just found a sheet of paper in a drawer from a few years ago, when I was babysitting a mates kids, and we wrote down Doctor Who episode ideas because they were mad into it at the time. Most were kind of dull but You can't go up or down even stairs, The moon is an egg and All the egyptians *illegible*, could have legs. Vitamin P forgot to mention said babysitting occured in 1971... 
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Jul 12, 2015 15:36
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Jsor posted:Do these go up online? Because I don't have TV. Here's a link to the actual segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8GvTeMylg0
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Jul 12, 2015 18:51
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CobiWann posted:But Summer has David Warner! Yes, but he should have been in a real, proper four-parter historical, so he could really sink his Warnerian teeth into something! He does get a lot to do in the half hour, though, and he's, of course, spectacular. And the first one has Hugh Fraser! Circular Time is just a great listen.
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Jul 12, 2015 22:38
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 Human Resources is the saving grace of season one of the 8th Doctor Adventures, a 2 part story that rises so high in quality above the rest of the season that it makes those perfectly fine and reasonable stories look pretty bad by comparison. It's a story (and a 2-parter) that could easily translate over to the television format of the revival, which is made all the more remarkable when you consider how heavily it relies on classic series continuity references in the second half. The first half of the story is a funny, black comedy look at office life (admittedly, even at the time this story was made this was well-trodden ground) with the added benefit of the Doctor thrown in. Things get more sinister in the second half, the comedy mostly taking a back seat, but the first half has so firmly established the setting and the background that it allows the new situation to freely run wild within a world we now understand. I have no idea if this was written/produced etc before, after or during production on Blood of the Daleks, but this does feel like an end of season effort where Big Finish takes everything they learned in the previous stories and finally pull off what they were going for in this last story. At the end of the previous story, Lucie was finally captured by The Headhunter, who has been pursuing her across time and space since the start of the season. The Doctor is trapped and unable to come after her due to the Time Lord meddling that prevents the TARDIS from going anywhere without Lucie present. So the Time Lords reluctantly step in, gifting the Doctor a time ring (as seen in Tom Baker's first season) and setting him off after Lucie again. Where is she? Working an office job in Telford of course, a little confused and vaguely recalling something about a "Doctor", and not really entirely sure what her job is and if she is even qualified. She's in the typical office/cubicle situation that has been mined extensively for comedy over the years and decades, and in that regard it is nothing special - but they do a fine job with the characters: the overbearing "cool guy" boss, the pleasant and slightly neurotic co-worker, the hulking security guard, the smooth talking, unflappable and utterly immoral CEO. Throw the Doctor into the mix though and things really get cracking, as he casually infiltrates the bizarre location and quickly finds himself with a large office all to his own, having convinced everybody that he not only works there but in a very senior capacity. He attends planning meetings, seconds Lucie to be his P.A (and breaks the stupor that has her flummoxed) and quickly slips straight to the heart of the matter - the CEO's office, where he feigns being a prospective customer and learns far more about what is going on. Because by itself the office setting is only remarkable in its banality, but the planning meeting soon reveals a more sinister side of things. With exactly the same workplace jocularity as a group figuring out who will cater the staff do, the planning committee casually discusses their latest project - the wiping out of a race of beings located on the alien planet their "Telford Branch" is currently occupying. They have access to lasers, missiles, guns, ships, etc, and they talk about them like stationary, paper clips, staplers, facts and figures on a sheet. This is the CEO's secret, he has figured out that the best way to organize a genocide is to turn it into something that modern humans are very good at - a detached office job. All of the workers have been brainwashed, never quite questioning why they never seem to leave the office, or how mad it is that they have access to advanced weaponry. None of them ever look out the window and consider that their office building is actually a giant mechanical death machine scuttering about the surface of an alien planet. No, they're more concerned with who drank the last of the milk and didn't do the dishes in the staff kitchen, or with office romances. So they murder and kill without a thought, outside of happy celebrations over "getting the account" when they succeed in wiping out the victim's strongholds, or childish competition with competing branches of the company that don't share their success record. It's a fascinating look at how sometimes evil can be utterly banal or even unintended - people become so wrapped up in their own lives or the minutiae of their lives/office politics etc that they don't even notice they're part of a giant death machine. After all, at the risk of  , most of the Nazis probably weren't spending every day rubbing their hands together salivating over the thought of all those Jews they were killing - they were just living their lives and wrapped up in their own petty poo poo.It's a great concept explored well by the show, and helped by some great performances. McGann is excellent, smoothly playing the corporate role as he undermines everything in his revulsion. Sheridan Smith is more a fish out of water, but comes into her own in the second half of the story. The supporting actors are well cast, particularly Roy Marsden as Hulbert. His smooth, utterly blase CEO has a great voice and great delivery, everything is about the bottom line for him and the way he comments,"....yeah.... yeah I would" when asked if he is really willing to sell out Earth to save his own skin is chilling. He just sounds so.... indifferent about the idea, his only hesitation seeming to be taken momentarily by surprise at how easily and quickly that answer came to him. Hulbert is only concerned with himself, he's utterly selfish, and that works as a great contrast to the Doctor.... especially in the second part. And maaaaan that second part. Part one ends up with an incredible cliffhanger, as the Doctor finally chooses to expose himself by lowering all the security systems keeping Hulbert and his clients safe at the moment they seem on the cusp of victory. Immediately the victims of their assaults make their move.... which is when the Doctor realizes what a huge mistake he's just made. It's almost impossible to avoid spoiling yourself on what happens, but for the sake of those of you have, spoiler bars follow. In part 2, the Doctor has to find some way to fix the huge mistake he just made. Hulbert and his schemes are immoral and disgusting but that doesn't immediately make the other side moral and just. What we get are the Cybermen, and they're finally written and performed in the way I've been desperately wanting to see (or hear) them for decades now. The voices are incredible, a lovely mix of their original sing-song voices and the later Classic era versions - but more important than that is in their characterization which was exactly the way I have always felt it should be. They are beings of pure but twisted logic, pursuing a goal that has ceased to have any meaning to them beyond being a state they must always blindly reach for. The Doctor asking WHY they muzzzzt survive and their,"Your question is meaningless" reaction was perfect, just spot on. Their complete lack of understanding of the "human factor" was handled so well, they're smart enough to realize there is something about the humans they are fighting that gives them an upper hand, but dumb enough to not understand that converting those humans will just turn them into identical Cybermen, and not gift the Cyber-Race with any new insight or abilities. Seeing the Doctor run up against the brick wall that is Cyberman "logic" is tremendous stuff, counterpointed wonderfully by Hulbert who refuses to accept that this isn't just another situation he can turn to his advantage. During one scene, the Doctor quietly offers this man he detests a chance to work with him to defeat the Cybermen, warning him that any attempt to ally himself with them will only end in death (literal and figurative, in that he is likely to be converted). When Hulbert scoffs at the idea, the Doctor offers condolences for Hulbert's inevitable death and from that point on treats Hulbert like the walking dead man he is, having made his play and no longer wasting any breath on him. As the Doctor struggles to get out from captivity, Lucie gets a chance to prove her own chops. Kicked out of the Telford Branch before all hell broke loose, she's discovered that she isn't the first to be "fired" from the company, and that some of those who were have managed to survive, shaking off the programming and realizing the enormity of their situation. Together with the fellow work buddy, the old office boss turned revolutionary, and the Head Hunter of all people, the three go on an infiltration mission at Lucie's insistence, as she takes control of the situation with her brash manner and convinces everybody to help, appealing not only to the greater good but (in the Head Hunter's case) their own self-interest. It's during this assault on the already under assault Telford Branch that she is reunited with the Doctor and the two meet up again with the Time Lord Straxus, who has run smack-dab into the middle of things with no idea how badly out of control things had gotten. It's here that we get both one of the story's great strengths as well as a great weakness - the reason for Lucie's enforced travels with the Doctor are finally revealed - she is the result of a Celestial Intervention Agency (God I hate that name) project to reorder the life of somebody who would have essentially become a dictator, turning the mighty Lucie Miller - Lord-Fuhrer of Great Britain - into Lucie Miller, unemployed 20-something loudmouth who'd far rather go out clubbing. Lucie's reaction to this horrific reveal that her entire life is part of a musing project by some dusty old aliens is pretty well realized, but it doesn't really go anywhere, and is undercut by the Doctor revealing a deeper truth to her that the Time Lords hosed up and got the wrong person, and her work-buddy Karen was actually the one who was destined to be some great evil dictator. I think it would have made a pretty good hook for season 2 if the Doctor and Lucie were trying to explore who she really was at the heart of everything, as well as exploring that old nature/nurture thing. On the weak side of things - and this is a personal issue - the Time Lords are portrayed as incompetent boobs, enormously powerful but with their heads so far up their own asses that they come across like idiots. I've never been particularly enamored of this approach to the Time Lords, though I appreciate the concept as it was explored via Robert Holmes. I can hardly blame Big Finish for leaping wholeheartedly into it though, after all for 95% of the Time Lords' appearances on Doctor Who, they HAVE been incompetent boobs. But the whole thing with the forced Doctor/Lucie pairing being the result of petty in-fighting between two bureaucratic functions left me a little cold. They also act as a kind of quasi Deus Ex Machina (and not in the good War Games/Time of the Doctor way), showing up to explain everything in a big exposition dump because we've reached the end of the season so it's time for explanations. That said, the way the Doctor turns the ultimate weapon (and the key to Telford Branch's implausible success record) on the attackers is perfectly done, a pure Doctor Who moment that McGann pulls off beautifully. Unfortunately things wrap up a trifle too fast, especially in regards to some of the important supporting characters who essentially get written out with a,"I think they died or something I dunno?" that does them a disservice. There is what appears to be a bit of a hook for a possible return of a couple of them, but for it to happen it required their "deaths" to be off-screen, and for the Doctor and Lucie to not really seem particularly bothered about it when they learned. Human Resources isn't a perfect story by any stretch but it is very, very, very good. Part One is a lot of fun with an amazing cliffhanger, and the continuity-porn in Part Two is handled very well in my opinion, with them absolutely nailing something that so frequently gets done poorly in Doctor Who. Part 2's Cybermen felt like they were written just for me, it was basically everything I've wanted from that kind of story all tied up in a neat little package with Paul McGann knocking his own performance out of the park. After a season of perfectly serviceable but unremarkable stories, they really finished with a bang - even if you listen to nothing else from season one, you should check out both parts of this story, they're just great. Edit: Just noticed they give away the big surprise with a little bit of text on the CD cover, edited it out because if you can go in clean, you should 
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 09:48 on Jul 13, 2015 |
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Jul 13, 2015 09:43
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The spoiler text makes me really really happy. I don't want to say more and risk spoilers, but it just sounds so drat wonderful that the writers manage to pull that off. And your line about "working in a soulless office is something humans are best at..." 
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Jul 13, 2015 09:53
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I really must get around to listening to Part 2 of Human Resources. Part 1 finished at the end of my epic drive across Washington state (Seattle to Pullman, yo) and I never got to Part 2 on that trip. I should probably do Part 1 again too, just so I remember what's going on.
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Jul 13, 2015 10:19
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Roy Marsden really is a fantastic actor, he was wasted in the brief role he had in Smith & Jones. He is at his best as a character called Neil Burnside in a show called Sandbaggers, a realistic Cold War show you can see on Youtube
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Jul 13, 2015 11:48
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Sad King Billy posted:He is at his best as a character called Neil Burnside in a show called Sandbaggers, a realistic Cold War show you can see on Youtube Oh, is that the show about men in cheap suits dying in Prague? The Sandbaggers is an amazing show and one that I recommend for a real look at how intelligence agencies work. One of the best opening credits ever as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDYHuE2Gbbw
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Jul 13, 2015 12:01
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CobiWann posted:Oh, is that the show about men in cheap suits dying in Prague? It is, somehow makes arguing in offices about paperwork very watchable. Callan is another show from the same company (Thames) that is in a similar vein, though more about being at the sharp end. You'll see Doctor Who guest stars appear pretty often, Russell Hunter who played Uvanov in Robots of Death is a regular.
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Jul 13, 2015 12:09
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Ugh, fine just ignore Blinovitch.
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Jul 13, 2015 12:21
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Oh man, Sandbaggers sounds very much like my type of thing, thanks for the recommendation.The_Doctor posted:Ugh, fine just ignore Blinovitch. Sean: Jon Pertwee was my dad. Peter: Yeah I used to wish that too.  Sean: No he... I.... ahhh nevermind.
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Jul 13, 2015 12:37
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Jerusalem posted:Oh man, Sandbaggers sounds very much like my type of thing, thanks for the recommendation. Wait...a British show Jerusalem hasn’t seen and I have?!? Is this still our reality? Quick, who’s the Doctor? Who’s the showrunner? Am I on fire?!?
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Jul 13, 2015 12:51
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Jerusalem posted:Oh man, Sandbaggers sounds very much like my type of thing, thanks for the recommendation. Callan is great too if you have never seen it, Edward Woodward's best role.
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Jul 13, 2015 12:56
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CobiWann posted:Wait...a British show Jerusalem hasn’t seen and I have?!? Russell Brand is the Doctor, Keith Boak is the showrunner!
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Jul 13, 2015 12:57
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Jerusalem posted:Unfortunately things wrap up a trifle too fast, especially in regards to some of the important supporting characters who essentially get written out with a,"I think they died or something I dunno?" that does them a disservice. There is what appears to be a bit of a hook for a possible return of a couple of them, but for it to happen it required their "deaths" to be off-screen, and for the Doctor and Lucie to not really seem particularly bothered about it when they learned.  (To be sure, Lucie Miller says pretty much the same thing when someone does come back, which is a great moment)
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Jul 13, 2015 13:59
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Lucie Miller has really grown on me, and I was a little upset at the weird pseudo-departure she has at the beginning of season 4, long before her actual departure. It'll be awhile before I finish the season yet, but it was so reminiscent of the way that Charlie left that I think the Eighth Doctor is going to develop a complex.
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Jul 13, 2015 14:09
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Season nine plot leak: the Doctor hops back to Ancient Greece, picks up Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, hops them forward to Weimar Germany in 1930 to tell them it serves them right, then shoots them forward to 2015 where the Master has brought Richard Wagner out to tell them, "We got you in the long run." 
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Jul 13, 2015 17:36
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Re: The Sandbaggers If you like this series, and you should, then I recommend Greg Rucka's graphic novel series Queen and Country which is basically The Sandbaggers set in 2001. Alternatively, if you liked Queen and Country, go watch The Sandbaggers.
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Jul 13, 2015 19:45
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Bicyclops posted:Lucie Miller has really grown on me, and I was a little upset at the weird pseudo-departure she has at the beginning of season 4, long before her actual departure. It'll be awhile before I finish the season yet, but it was so reminiscent of the way that Charlie left that I think the Eighth Doctor is going to develop a complex. Oh, jeez, if you think that's gonna gently caress him up psychologically...
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Jul 13, 2015 19:51
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CobiWann posted:Wait...a British show Jerusalem hasn’t seen and I have?!? There are still a ton of quality British shows I haven't had a chance to watch, unfortunately - the Brits are pretty drat good at this whole television thing. Speaking of which, I'm sure plenty of people have seen the film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which is very good, but it's not a patch on the amazing mini-series the BBC made in the 1970s starring Alec Guiness. The follow-up - Smiley's People - is even better, the episode where Smiley calmly interrogates an undercover Russian agent is absolutely incredible. Just make sure you watch the original version and not the cut-up/edited PBS version.
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Jul 13, 2015 22:48
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I've recently been really enjoying the vibe of 60s Who and the whole feel of that B&W Sci-Fi era. Can anyone recommend any other series, preferably British ones, that capture a similar vibe at all please?
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Jul 13, 2015 22:54
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Quatermass, Quatermass, Quatermass. You'd probably also dig the 1954 adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four, at the time so controversial that questions were asked in Parliament about it, with Peter Cushing as Winston Smith, Donald Pleasance as Syme, and Andre Morell as O'Brien. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 00:20 on Jul 14, 2015 |
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Jul 14, 2015 00:15
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Rat Flavoured Rats posted:I've recently been really enjoying the vibe of 60s Who and the whole feel of that B&W Sci-Fi era. Can anyone recommend any other series, preferably British ones, that capture a similar vibe at all please? Not black and white, but definitely off the wall British sci-fi, you should give Sapphire & Steel a try. As much ghost stories as they are science fiction, their long run-times and time-based shenanigans where they investigate aberrations in the fabric of the world should seem familiar. If you like, you can think of them as Time Lord operatives fixing errors in the time-space continuum.
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Jul 14, 2015 00:44
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Rat Flavoured Rats posted:I've recently been really enjoying the vibe of 60s Who and the whole feel of that B&W Sci-Fi era. Can anyone recommend any other series, preferably British ones, that capture a similar vibe at all please? Also not b&w, but here's your chance to watch The Prisoner before Big Finish starts their own take on it. Also, you should really watch The Prisoner. Especially if you enjoyed Hartnell at his wiliest. Watch the Prisoner.
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Jul 14, 2015 00:58
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After The War posted:Also not b&w, but here's your chance to watch The Prisoner before Big Finish starts their own take on it. (Not the one with Sir Ian McKellan and Jim Cavavaziviel)
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Jul 14, 2015 01:20
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CobiWann posted:Wait...a British show Jerusalem hasn’t seen and I have?!? Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and not yet I can't get these loving matches to strike.
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Jul 14, 2015 06:28
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CobiWann posted:Is this still our reality? Quick, who’s the Doctor? Who’s the showrunner? Am I on fire?!? Michael Bay James Franco Unfortunately, no. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
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Jul 14, 2015 06:41
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Rewatching S8 stuff. God I hope in S9 they bring back the up and down. I miss the up and down. The TARDIS doesn't feel right without it.
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Jul 14, 2015 08:03
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MikeJF posted:Rewatching S8 stuff. God I hope in S9 they bring back the up and down. I miss the up and down. The TARDIS doesn't feel right without it. It does! It's just very small and fairly unnoticeable amongst all the spinning lights. 
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Jul 14, 2015 09:11
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Just finished listening to Son of the Dragon, and while I appreciate the writer's efforts in ending the first two episodes on the words "Dracula" and "the bride of Dracula", I was disappointed to find the last two didn't end on someone shouting "the son of Dracula", "the house of Dracula", or even "Abbot and Costello meet Dracula". Poor show.
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Jul 14, 2015 09:39
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The_Doctor posted:It does! It's just very small and fairly unnoticeable amongst all the spinning lights. ... :bigtran:
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Jul 14, 2015 12:07
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The_Doctor posted:It does! It's just very small and fairly unnoticeable amongst all the spinning lights. Tip to tip
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Jul 14, 2015 13:16
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After The War posted:Also not b&w, but here's your chance to watch The Prisoner before Big Finish starts their own take on it. I'm still a little jealous of people who get to watch The Prisoner for the first time.
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Jul 14, 2015 15:51
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