The imagination is a strange thing.
I was 8 years old when I first listened to the Genesis of the Daleks and The Pescatons vinyl LPs after getting home from a trip to Blackpool and the DW Exhibition sometime in 1979. I can assure you that the pictures inside my head were nothing like the production values of 1979, although at that age, the production values on a modest TV budget tended to look just fine anyway as a young mind is less cynical and has the knack to 'fill in the gaps' from what they're experiencing. The Pescaton creatures were not Shrivenzale or Mandrell like, to me they were done just like any blockbuster budget monster.
At the time, it had been four years since I had watched Genesis but when the time came to listening to the cool, yet repulsive sounding Kaled Mutant squirming and wrapping its tentacles around the Doctor's neck and choking him, the images conjured up inside my head were just as I had remembered them back in 1975. Of course, once the pirate VHS tapes started to float around and I had teenage cash to spend, the reality of green coloured clingfilm with bits of string and held in place by an acting technique, sunk in.
I suppose in hindsight you could flick an imaginary switch to alternate 'production values' but why limit one's imagination by going against the grain? If anything it would stutter the flow of one's thought patterns, having to constantly remind your imagination that it's getting too good for the story?!
Yeah, I don't know why you'd want to do that. The special effects of the classic series don't bother me but personally when I read a PDA book, I imagine the events of the book with a unlimited production budget because it's closer to what it would look like if it was taking place in real life and, of course, there's no lack of budget to limit what you're able to see. To me, if you imagine it with classic series production values it takes away from the entire purpose of a audio drama or a book. You may as well stick a classic series DVD on.
So far I haven't got round to listening to any of the audio adventures but these upcoming one's could be what convinces me to do so.
It'll be interesting to see who the Weeping Angels story goes as their much more of a visual monster than the others.
Maybe they'll incorporate an app called Periscope (lets you see video feeds providing you have the link) at certain parts of the story involving the Weeping Angels?
I don't know. Letting Big Finish use new Who stuff seems akin to letting a clumsy kid play with your very best china. You know, for people that still have 'best china'.
Thing is, BF have done alright with old Who. albeit in a consistently workmanlike, generic story-telling fashion. But New Who is a whole different level of quality and I'm not overly keen on it being given the BF 'effect'.
And yes, before that inevitable cry of "Well, if you don't like it, don't listen to it!" comes along, you're right. And I won't. But even so, just the very existence of it is still something that causes a little... pause.
It's kinda like knowing that Justin Bieber had released an album of Queen cover tracks. Sure, you'd never listen to it, but even just knowing it's out there is bad enough.
I don't know. Letting Big Finish use new Who stuff seems akin to letting a clumsy kid play with your very best china. You know, for people that still have 'best china'.
Thing is, BF have done alright with old Who. albeit in a consistently workmanlike, generic story-telling fashion. But New Who is a whole different level of quality and I'm not overly keen on it being given the BF 'effect'.
And yes, before that inevitable cry of "Well, if you don't like it, don't listen to it!" comes along, you're right. And I won't. But even so, just the very existence of it is still something that causes a little... pause.
It's kinda like knowing that Justin Bieber had released an album of Queen cover tracks. Sure, you'd never listen to it, but even just knowing it's out there is bad enough.
Big Finish haven't just done 'alright' with Classic Who, though, have they?
Some even claim it to be better than the new series (not that I agree with them). Over the last ten years since Doctor Who has become the phenomenon it has become now, Big Finish have gained a strong reputation; they've even won awards for their work. So why shouldn't the BBC trust them with the new series now?
I don't know. Letting Big Finish use new Who stuff seems akin to letting a clumsy kid play with your very best china. You know, for people that still have 'best china'.
Funny that, because for me, it's the other way around. There's only really been one stand-out episode that did the original series villians justice in the new series and that was 'Dalek'.
Funny that, because for me, it's the other way around. There's only really been one stand-out episode that did the original series villians justice in the new series and that was 'Dalek'.
Yep the one NuWho nicked from Big Finish.
I'm not overly keen on BF getting the new Doctors but not for reasons of quality,tbh I've found some of the audio writing to be a lot better than the TV(though not in every case)
I wonder if they will use any Murray Gold instrumentals for these NuWho adventures? I haven't listened to many Big Finish audio's but the ones that I have heard seem to use instrumentals and sound effects from their particular eras of Who.
I wonder if they will use any Murray Gold instrumentals for these NuWho adventures? I haven't listened to many Big Finish audio's but the ones that I have heard seem to use instrumentals and sound effects from their particular eras of Who.
It would be nice if they used the theme tune related to the eras the characters come from. So for example, the River Song Diaries and The Churchill Years with the Matt Smith Era 2010 theme and any 9 and 10th Doctor Era audios with the original new series theme tune.
Wow definitely up for 8 meets River,though I guess to get round the memory thing they might not actually meet in the story which would be a bit of a downer.
Its going to have to be written very carefully. For me, the whole point about River's meeting with the 10th Doctor in Silence of the Library is that heart breaking moment she realises he has no idea who she is. I'm not sure how its going to work if she's already met younger versions of the Doctor by the time she meets 10.
That said, if they can find a way of writing around it, I would love to have River interact with other Doctors too - particularly Colin Baker!
I can understand why Big Finish will use alien species from the new era it makes perfect business sense but from a personal creative point of view I wish they wouldn't.
As BF are in audio form they have the luxury of creating as many new aliens as they like without the need/worry of physically/cgi creating them, they are not limited by what they can afford to create so they can let their imaginations run wild and have amazing aliens that are twice the size of humans or whatever.
They should be expanding the universe not (as the main show is) making the universe feel small, i'd much rather have it be that the Doctor met the Judoon and Ood's and the Weeping Angels and whoever else around the times they were introduced, that it wasn't until later that the doc happened to run into these species in a universe thats vast and full of different life, if he's run into them all before in his earlier lives then have the newer doc's done anything new or are they just hanging out in the same places they've been before, not much of a traveller/explorer is he.
I can understand why Big Finish will use alien species from the new era it makes perfect business sense but from a personal creative point of view I wish they wouldn't.
As BF are in audio form they have the luxury of creating as many new aliens as they like without the need/worry of physically/cgi creating them, they are not limited by what they can afford to create so they can let their imaginations run wild and have amazing aliens that are twice the size of humans or whatever.
They should be expanding the universe not (as the main show is) making the universe feel small, i'd much rather have it be that the Doctor met the Judoon and Ood's and the Weeping Angels and whoever else around the times they were introduced, that it wasn't until later that the doc happened to run into these species in a universe thats vast and full of different life, if he's run into them all before in his earlier lives then have the newer doc's done anything new or are they just hanging out in the same places they've been before, not much of a traveller/explorer is he.
That's my gripe about it anyway.
I think it makes it feel more connected than smaller. It feels like it's bridging a gap. If the current doctor can meet villains that debuted about 4 to 5 decades earlier I certainly have no problems with doctors meeting villains that debuted with later doctors
I think it makes it feel more connected than smaller. It feels like it's bridging a gap. If the current doctor can meet villains that debuted about 4 to 5 decades earlier I certainly have no problems with doctors meeting villains that debuted with later doctors
Sometimes making things more connected does make them feel smaller. Although I don't think it does in this case. In our timeline, this isn't the first time the Doctor's met these monsters. The first time was in the Doctor's future.
I know that sounds a bit weird, but in a way, I see expanding the Doctor Who mythos as kind of having a transcendental timeline, in the order its produced and viewed, rather than the chronological order it takes place from the Doctor's point of view.
i'd much rather have it be that the Doctor met the Judoon and Ood's and the Weeping Angels and whoever else around the times they were introduced, that it wasn't until later that the doc happened to run into these species in a universe thats vast and full of different life, if he's run into them all before in his earlier lives then have the newer doc's done anything new or are they just hanging out in the same places they've been before, not much of a traveller/explorer is he.
Can't recall about the Ood but with the Judoon the Doctor knew who they were the moment he met them (just by seeing their spaceships infact) on the show so the idea that he had encountered them before isn't that far fetched.
He knew all about the Weeping Angels as well though that could be down to Time Lord Lore and the documents Sally gave him rather than a previous encounter I suppose.
Can't recall about the Ood but with the Judoon the Doctor knew who they were the moment he met them (just by seeing their spaceships infact) on the show so the idea that he had encountered them before isn't that far fetched.
He knew all about the Weeping Angels as well though that could be down to Time Lord Lore and the documents Sally gave him rather than a previous encounter I suppose.
Yeah you are right a lot of the aliens its seems he has met before (or at-least knows of them) but that's why I said around the time, as in he's met those aliens recently before we see them, so say he might of met the Judoon as the 8th/9th or maybe as the tenth on a un-eventful trip with rose on some alien planet.
But if he's met them as the 5th 6th 7th incarnation then I feel like it goes back to the point I raised. But this is just how I feel about it I can see why others would be excited by these species meeting the earlier docs.
I wonder if BF ever approached Chris Eccleston? Reprising the role on audio might have been different enough for him to consider doing.
To be fair it's probably own thread worthy but I thought it best left to someone who was more of a fan of the two as while I didn't mind them I think it ran its course. Still. Massive news for many. And a coup for Big Finish.
Comments
It'll be interesting to see who the Weeping Angels story goes as their much more of a visual monster than the others.
Maybe they'll incorporate an app called Periscope (lets you see video feeds providing you have the link) at certain parts of the story involving the Weeping Angels?
Thing is, BF have done alright with old Who. albeit in a consistently workmanlike, generic story-telling fashion. But New Who is a whole different level of quality and I'm not overly keen on it being given the BF 'effect'.
And yes, before that inevitable cry of "Well, if you don't like it, don't listen to it!" comes along, you're right. And I won't. But even so, just the very existence of it is still something that causes a little... pause.
It's kinda like knowing that Justin Bieber had released an album of Queen cover tracks. Sure, you'd never listen to it, but even just knowing it's out there is bad enough.
Big Finish haven't just done 'alright' with Classic Who, though, have they?
Some even claim it to be better than the new series (not that I agree with them). Over the last ten years since Doctor Who has become the phenomenon it has become now, Big Finish have gained a strong reputation; they've even won awards for their work. So why shouldn't the BBC trust them with the new series now?
They've proved themselves. This is their reward.
Funny that, because for me, it's the other way around. There's only really been one stand-out episode that did the original series villians justice in the new series and that was 'Dalek'.
Yep the one NuWho nicked from Big Finish.
I'm not overly keen on BF getting the new Doctors but not for reasons of quality,tbh I've found some of the audio writing to be a lot better than the TV(though not in every case)
It would be nice if they used the theme tune related to the eras the characters come from. So for example, the River Song Diaries and The Churchill Years with the Matt Smith Era 2010 theme and any 9 and 10th Doctor Era audios with the original new series theme tune.
Its going to have to be written very carefully. For me, the whole point about River's meeting with the 10th Doctor in Silence of the Library is that heart breaking moment she realises he has no idea who she is. I'm not sure how its going to work if she's already met younger versions of the Doctor by the time she meets 10.
That said, if they can find a way of writing around it, I would love to have River interact with other Doctors too - particularly Colin Baker!
Not only is it random but dont you think it just seems perfecrt? id cant wait to listen to them
As BF are in audio form they have the luxury of creating as many new aliens as they like without the need/worry of physically/cgi creating them, they are not limited by what they can afford to create so they can let their imaginations run wild and have amazing aliens that are twice the size of humans or whatever.
They should be expanding the universe not (as the main show is) making the universe feel small, i'd much rather have it be that the Doctor met the Judoon and Ood's and the Weeping Angels and whoever else around the times they were introduced, that it wasn't until later that the doc happened to run into these species in a universe thats vast and full of different life, if he's run into them all before in his earlier lives then have the newer doc's done anything new or are they just hanging out in the same places they've been before, not much of a traveller/explorer is he.
That's my gripe about it anyway.
Constant spam attacks is the reason why
I think it makes it feel more connected than smaller. It feels like it's bridging a gap. If the current doctor can meet villains that debuted about 4 to 5 decades earlier I certainly have no problems with doctors meeting villains that debuted with later doctors
I know that sounds a bit weird, but in a way, I see expanding the Doctor Who mythos as kind of having a transcendental timeline, in the order its produced and viewed, rather than the chronological order it takes place from the Doctor's point of view.
Can't recall about the Ood but with the Judoon the Doctor knew who they were the moment he met them (just by seeing their spaceships infact) on the show so the idea that he had encountered them before isn't that far fetched.
He knew all about the Weeping Angels as well though that could be down to Time Lord Lore and the documents Sally gave him rather than a previous encounter I suppose.
Yeah you are right a lot of the aliens its seems he has met before (or at-least knows of them) but that's why I said around the time, as in he's met those aliens recently before we see them, so say he might of met the Judoon as the 8th/9th or maybe as the tenth on a un-eventful trip with rose on some alien planet.
But if he's met them as the 5th 6th 7th incarnation then I feel like it goes back to the point I raised. But this is just how I feel about it I can see why others would be excited by these species meeting the earlier docs.
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I wonder if BF ever approached Chris Eccleston? Reprising the role on audio might have been different enough for him to consider doing.
To be fair it's probably own thread worthy but I thought it best left to someone who was more of a fan of the two as while I didn't mind them I think it ran its course. Still. Massive news for many. And a coup for Big Finish.