Audio Drama/Comedy...

[Quatermass]

So, if I had to choose one Big Finish audio story for a newcomer to the series, one for each Doctor, which would it be?

Fourth Doctor: The Justice of Jalxar

A fun story involving the Fourth Doctor, Romana, Jago and Litefoot (from The Talons of Weng-Chiang), and a Victorian 'superhero'...

Fifth Doctor: Spare Parts

The tragic origins of the Cybermen, done wonderfully...

Sixth Doctor: Jubilee

The inspiration for the new series episode Dalek, it is a much more indepth work, discussing how alike the Daleks and humanity really are...

Seventh Doctor: Night Thoughts

Doctor Who does a cerebral slasher flick, and does it well...

Eighth Doctor: The Chimes of Midnight

A black comedy set in an Edwardian manor, with true tragedy mingled with time travel shenanigans...

 

[Quatermass]

Big Finish also does a series of enhanced audiobooks called the Companion Chronicles, which concentrate on the companions of Doctors who are sadly deceased. I just listened to one called The Scorchies, which is insane, weird, barmy, hilarious, and entertaining. Think Doctor Who versus evil Muppets.

 

[Jack Remillard]

I haven't yet listened to any of the Companion Chronicles, but they do sound good.

Or any of the 4th Doctor Big Finish stuff! I did enjoy The Talons Of Weng Chiang a lot, so that one you describe does sound tempting...

Night Thoughts is one of my favourite 7th Doctor audios (though I am a bit behind at this time...)

That would have made an interesting TV serial!

The only 4th Doctor audios I have listened to were the Hornet's Nest series (which were BBC Audiobooks not Big Finish!). They were a kind of mixture of a normal audiobooks and Big Finish style plays (with some scenes described and some performed by actors.

I remember some people in Doctor Who fandom didn't like that very much as they were used to Big Finish, but I quite liked it. It's the usual type of slightly surreal stuff that Paul Magrs writes.

At that time, Tom Baker was still refusing to join Big Finish...

 

[Quatermass]

I haven't yet listened to any of the Companion Chronicles, but they do sound good.

Well, The Scorchies is a very good example, though it's also a very bizarre one. It was certainly better than the Hornets' Nest and Demon Quest stories. The latter felt more like audiobooks written to satisfy Tom Baker's ego, and while moderately enjoyable, didn't quite reach the level of Big Finish. Whereas The Scorchies...well, it's bizarre, yes, but far more enjoyable.

I'm hoping that Paul Magrs' Big Finish stories are better overall than Hornets' Nest and Demon Quest were. I want to listen to The Boy that Time Forgot and The Wormery.

Or any of the 4th Doctor Big Finish stuff! I did enjoy The Talons Of Weng Chiang a lot, so that one you describe does sound tempting...

The story is rather thin (being a two-parter), but it's still fun, which is what matters. Jago and Litefoot have their own spinoff with Big Finish, as you may know, and actually travelled with the Sixth Doctor. There's a brief reference to this in The Justice of Jalxar.

If you want a story with a bit more meat, I'd recommend The Renaissance Man. Not quite as enjoyable as The Justice of Jalxar, but certainly a good story. Tom Baker versus Ian McNeice, 'nuff said.

They've also done two rather more substantial stories for the Lost Stories Fourth Doctor boxset: The Foe from the Future (6 parts) and The Valley of Death (4 parts). I hope to get this one soon when I get the money.

There's also a similar boxset coming out late next year, given the overall title Philip Hinchcliffe Presents, with stories commissioned by Philip Hinchcliffe himself, with Marc Platt writing.

 

[Quatermass]

Actually, I tell a lie, I actually have listened to a Big Finish story by Paul Magrs. It was a recent one, The Lady of Mercia. It was pretty good, to tell the truth, especially compared to the AudioGo stories.

 

[Jack Remillard]

I actually had a look after that to see what stories I'd listened to, and it was actually only one. I think I thought Valhalla was one of his...

The Big Finish play I actually listened to of his was The Wishing Beast. I remember it being absolutely barmy, but not much else. Something about a very unusual vacuum cleaner, I think!

 

[The Mad Collector]

Oh dear, I saw this and just had to order it

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2013/08/light-at-the-end-220813130008.html

 

[Quatermass]

Oh dear, I saw this and just had to order it

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2013/08/light-at-the-end-220813130008.html

I'm hoping to get the five-disc CD version as a Christmas present.

I actually asked Nick Briggs about The Light at the End earlier this year at Lords of Time. I asked him what the title meant. He claimed that listeners would find out within a few minutes of the story's start.

Actually, I don't know whether they're using clips from the old series, or new actors, for the old Doctors (1-3). But they definitely have each classic Doctor from Tom Baker to Paul McGann...

 

[The Mad Collector]

Actually, I don't know whether they're using clips from the old series, or new actors, for the old Doctors (1-3). But they definitely have each classic Doctor from Tom Baker to Paul McGann...

I know, that's why I had to go for it even at £99.99 which is a hell of a lot for 4 vinyl records

 

[Quatermass]

Actually, I don't know whether they're using clips from the old series, or new actors, for the old Doctors (1-3). But they definitely have each classic Doctor from Tom Baker to Paul McGann...

I know, that's why I had to go for it even at £99.99 which is a hell of a lot for 4 vinyl records

I'm amazed that they still make new LPs, but I guess to each their own.

Anyway, I've just listened to a two-part (well, five episodes split over two distinctly titled discs) story called The Sands of Life and War Against the Laan. Pretty good, to tell the truth. Simple story and characters, but morally ambiguous and you have David Warner as the villain.

I'm also getting a bunch of Big Finish audios on Saturday. A few Dalek ones, as well as one called Invaders from Mars, featuring Orson Welles. Not the actor, but as a character. And anyone knowing a smidgen of Orson Welles' life will understand why the title of the story is called Invaders from Mars...

 

[Jack Remillard]

Invaders From Mars is fun.

 

[Quatermass]

Invaders From Mars is fun.

I hope it is. Mark Gatiss' TV stories are very variable, ranging from the mediocre (Victory of the Daleks) to the excellent (The Crimson Horror). I'm hoping that Invaders from Mars is a good one.

You know that he played the Master in one Big Finish audio play? He was pretty damn good.

 

[Quatermass]

And would you believe that Big Finish has posted one of the Iris Wildthyme audio plays for free download?

 

[Jack Remillard]

The only one I've listened to with Iris Wildthyme is Excelis Dawns. I'll check it out.

As for Invaders From Mars, it's not in the same league of brilliance as The Crimson 'orror, but I remember enjoying it as much as any of the 8th Doctor stories. Which is to say that I quite enjoyed it. I though the premise was endearingly silly, and I remember laughing quite a few times and enjoying listening to (Americanized) Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. It's a long time since I heard it, but the punchline to a particular gag still sticks in my mind.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I'm probably easily pleased, so whether I did has little to do with whether you will.

 

[Quatermass]

I did. It was nowhere near perfect, and the awful American accents of the mobsters (including Simon Pegg) made it less enjoyable, but it was a fun romp. I both liked and didn't like how Mark Gatiss (who directed as well as wrote Invaders from Mars) put in the cues from 1930s radio dramas. It did get a bit too cheesy at times.

BTW, I listened to it earlier than I intended to because of a flaw on the first disc, which prompted me to listen to it now to make sure it was fine. Thankfully, it was. I also had a flaw on the first disc of my new copy of Jubilee, so I listened to that again to make sure it was fine. Thankfully, it was, but I saw something similar on the first disc for my copy of The Chimes of Midnight, and that had problems. However, I was able to copy The Chimes of Midnight to my computer, and the ripped files play fine.

Oh, and I've also listened to The Mutant Phase, which was better than I expected.

 

[Sister Jennifer]

I have a cd of Stephen Fry interviews to listen to, hopefully today. It'll be insightful & funny I'm sure.

 

[Jack Remillard]

I listened to John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme today for the first time, and it was really quite a lot of fun. Where else are you going to hear a love song about a porcupine sung by a balloon?

And there was a pedantic guy who kept picking on what he was hearing on the radio, only to discover that what the person had said was in fact completely accurate.

I'm describing it badly of course, but you get the kind of thing. It's by John Finnemore (as you might possibly have guessed), who is the writer of Cabin Pressure (and also plays Arthur).

 

[The Mad Collector]

I heard it as well, very funny as usual from Finnemore

 

[michelanCello]

I just listened to the last episode on BBC radio player, it is funny

 

[Quatermass]

I listened to the Doctor Who audio story The Holy Terror a couple of days ago. It was...disappointing, really. Not a bad story by any means, but nowhere near the level of excellence that other stories by the same author, Robert Shearman, got to.