Doctor Who - Audio Adventures

[purlieu]

Hornet's Nest: A Sting in the Tale.

The Doctor goes back to the year 1039 and finds the hornets in the bodies of wild dogs, and a pig that's been treated as a holy emissary by some nuns. As you do. It's alright, the second half heads into better territory as a sick, hallucinating Doctor is chased through his labyrinthine TARDIS, describing many of the surreal parts of the ship. Then it ends with a bootstrap paradox so obvious that the fact the Doctor doesn't guess it is slightly insulting to the character. All in all another ok tale, although I'm hardly champing at the bit for more of this (shame there are 11 more stories in the Nest Cottage series, then). Next time, Hornet's Nest reaches its mildly interesting conclusion in Hive of Horror.

[mjwilson]

Did we mention the second Doctor news?

The new stories are going to be post-War Games but don't sound like a particularly exciting development - at least, not based on the blurbs we have so far.

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/the-second-doctor-goes-beyond-war-games

[purlieu]

I'm always a little baffled by this obsession with the post-War Games gap. I know it's the only time we don't see a direct regeneration so there's potential for a whole new era, but it always seems to disrupt the flow for me. The Celestial Investigation Agency stuff that the novels brought in to allow for stories at that point is similarly bleh.

[purlieu]

Hornets' Nest: Hive of Horror by Paul Magrs.

Hornets' Nest comes to its electrifying conclusion, with the Doctor, Captain Yates and Mrs. Wibsy miniaturised and confronting the Queen Hornet inside a taxidermy zebra. I could say the same for this as the rest of the series: it's fine, but generally pretty forgettable. Tom is on top form, but it's not a series I'm ever going to revisit.

Up next: Demon Crest.

[purlieu]

Demon Quest by Paul Magrs.

The second five-part story in the Nest Cottage trilogy. Not going to review each episode individually because post-Covid brain fog, but on the whole I enjoyed this story a lot more than Hornets' Nest. A year after the events of that particular tale, the Doctor returns to Nest Cottage, only for Mrs. Wibbsey to trade part of his TARDIS for a bag of junk at a car boot sale. The junk, it turns out, features picture of the Doctor from throughout Earth's history and so he, Mrs. Wibbsey and, later on, Mike Yates, head off to find out just what's going on. Emperor Claudius has given up Roman life and is settling in an English village, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec has been framed for multiple murders, a German author of fairy tales has done a deal with a demon and an elderly actress's secretary becomes a superhero in 1970s New York. Each of the stories features a character who turns out to be the titular shape-shifting demon from another dimension, whose traps throughout time are aimed to capture the Doctor. Eventually, in the final story, it turns out the demon himself is working for the hornets of Hornets' Nest and helping in their plan to use the Doctor to create a four dimensional map of all time and space. The hornets are bested, the demon escapes, and all is well. Only a knock at the door of Nest Cottage is answered by Mrs. Wibbsey whose scream closes the tale on a cliffhanger.

It's fun. Nothing exceptional, but having several regular characters gives it a lot more dynamic than the first series, and the tales have more humour and pace. It still feels like an odd halfway house between a series of audiobooks and proper audio dramas, but on the whole I'm enjoying it. Also being bed bound and, frankly, pretty anxious at the minute, it's quite nice to have some classic Who to enjoy and act as company for an hour or so each afternoon.

Serpent Crest closes the trilogy next week.

[mjwilson]

Redacted in the Guardian (I still haven't got round to listening to it): https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/29/doctor-who-redacted-transgender-podcast

[purlieu]

Serpent Crest by Paul Magrs

Concluding the Nest Cottage trilogy is the series' most daring story yet. Serpent Crest strays from the previous two series' Earth history settings for an adventure across time and space, starting on a distant planet where a race of cyborgs are being used to incubate the egg of a planet-destroying serpent species called the Skishtari. The Robotovs and Skishtari then reappear, providing us with four further stories, ranging from a boy with sinister powers and a paper face in a 19th century rectory, to an encounter with Aladdin in which the Doctor's scarf becomes sentient (voiced by Andrew Sachs).
Eventually, the Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey return to Nest Cottage to find Mike Yates and a suspicious Second Doctor fighting off Skishtari invaders; the whole of Hexford is launched into space for the final confrontation.

It's a mixed bag. The setting makes it more dynamic, interesting and exciting than Hornets' Nest, but the radically different styles of storytelling make it feel less coherent than Demon Quest. Interestingly, the first part, Tsar Wars, is the only one of the 15 Nest Cottage stories to feature no narration, and thus feels more like a proper drama than an audiobook. It's much more engaging as a result.

On the whole, I've quite enjoyed the Nest Cottage series. As with most Who, there's been a diverse range of stories and quality, with some being incredibly engaging and others fairly dull. It's been really nice reuniting with Tom's performance, though, which is superb throughout. Mrs. Wibbsey starts as a minor character but becomes a wonderful companion later on, a slightly grumpy old woman who has equal parts respect and disdain for the Doctor.

Speaking of Wibbsey, my next ports of call are the Paul Magrs audiobooks The Thing from the Sea and The Winged Coven.

[purlieu]

The Thing from the Sea by Paul Magrs.

Hmm. Not sure about that. Some nice ideas and a bit of a mid '70s Who vibe in places, but ultimately the cover and title are more enticing than the actual story, which is both dull and confusing. The Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey travel back to an 18th century Italian fishing village where they find the population have been extending their life through the consumption of a species of alien serpents who crash landed hundreds of years ago and now live in the sea. The final serpent is caught, and communicates with the Doctor telepathically, explaining that its kind have been hunted to extinction. So far, so good. Then there's a whole different plot involving a count and a magician and a possessed monkey corpse and a plan to steal the TARDIS and it just becomes a tedious mess.

[daf]

Fun Play School-style trailer for the Sixth Doctor's new 'Water Worlds' box set :
https://twitter.com/bigfinish/status/1526480139277803520?t=MSHsqSXaPcdkaGto9bA6zw&s=19

The Sixth Doctor returns, and he's thrown straight in at the deep end! Travelling the galaxy with Melanie Bush and their brand-new companion, marine biologist Hebe Harrison, there are wonders to see, dangers to face and plenty of peril beneath the waves.

1.1 The Rotting Deep by Jacqueline Rayner (2 parts)
A mysterious SOS summons the Doctor and Mel to an oil rig in the North Sea where a dwindling group of survivors awaits rescue from a lethal menace. One of their number is Hebe Harrison, a wheelchair-using marine biologist who is definitely more than she seems. Can our heroes escape the rig? And just what is killing off the rig's beleaguered crew?

1.2 The Tides of the Moon by Joshua Pruett (2 parts)
For Hebe's first trip in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Mel take her to the nearest available 'water world' – the Moon, two billion years in the past! Its advanced humanoid inhabitants, the Gilleans, are terrorised each night by their monstrous enemies, the Sheega. Even more worrying is that in a matter of hours, this ocean world will be laid waste by the gravitational interference of the blue-green planet next door...

1.3 Maelstrom by Jonathan Morris (2 parts)
The Doctor, Mel and Hebe visit the archipelago world of Veludia, only to discover a planet beset by electromagnetic storms where three survivors traverse the seas in a ramshackle township. These survivors are 'corps' - bodies used as hosts for minds stored in the vessel's 'mind-drive' - and the Doctor, Mel and Hebe are seen as welcome replacements. But there's something lurking in the waters below, something of rage and power that wishes to destroy them all: the Maelstrom!

[olliebean]

"Ready to swing?"

Hmm.

[Malcy]

Just seen that 'Hornet's Nest' has been released as a Tom Baker signed vinyl
boxset recently. £160!

[daf]

Too rich for my fudgeknocking blood!

Does look nice though!


https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/doctor-who-hornets-nest-limited-10lp-coloured-vinyl-box-set/

By comparison - the CD version (including Hornet's Nest PLUS Serpent's Crest and Demon's Quest) is a snip at £28.99 - and comes with an exclusive behind the scenes bonus disc.

[Malcy]

It works out a £16 per LP which isn't bad really but when i buy vinyl that's a bit pricey I like to think that I will at least get a good amount of plays out of it, which I wouldn't see happening with this. The Dalek's Masterplan set was down to £60 odd recently and wish I had bought it mind you.

[purlieu]

Yeah, sadly it's a fairly middling set of stories really and isn't remotely worth that price.

I sort of struggle to see the appeal of having these kinds of things on vinyl anyway.

[Malcy]

Yeah, sadly it's a fairly middling set of stories really and isn't remotely worth that price.

I sort of struggle to see the appeal of having these kinds of things on vinyl anyway.

Picked up an 8/Lucie Miller for a tenner last year. Still sat on the shelf. Max Warp I think and sure i had heard it before.

[daf]

Another fun Big Finish trailer - Out of Time 3 : Wink

Colin Baker stars alongside David Tennant in Doctor Who – Out of Time 3: Wink, a full-cast audio drama featuring the return of the terrifying Weeping Angels.

When the Sixth Doctor goes sight-seeing on Lucidus Silvara, he finds himself in a place where nothing is visible at all... only all-encompassing light! The Tenth Doctor is drawn in by a temporal anomaly, and the two Doctors meet a species with no sense of sight, living in a city surrounded by Weeping Angels. To save a civilisation, the Doctors must keep their eyes on the Angels. Don't blink. Don't even wink...

Writer Lisa McMullin said: "The Weeping Angels tap into childhood fears. You can't reason with them. The only way you can stop an attack is by looking at them or by getting them to look at each other. But what would happen if the Weeping Angels were dropped into a colony of people who don't have the sense of sight? That's where the Doctors come in."

David Tennant added: "It works very well to have the Weeping Angels on audio. I think the fact that it all happens when you're not looking is the scary thought — that, if you look away, things will change when you look back. It undermines everything we think we know about how the physical world manifests. To introduce a whole race that doesn't have the power of sight at all is very clever as, for them, the Angels are a concept that they have to come to terms with."

Colin Baker agreed: "I did wonder how the Weeping Angels would work on audio but it's all totally credible, real, and happening. Hats off to Lisa McMullin for making it work. I liked it — more please!" .

[Malcy]

I've pretty much given up on BF at this stage. I've been listening to the Eccleston series for months and haven't made it past episode 1 still. Listening at night when I'm knackered isn't great.

Tried to listen to it on a bus journey recently but I found the audio not very nice in my headphones. Dunno what was going on. I tanned Dimension Cannon on a train journey a couple of years ago and it was great but just found the 9th Doctor one unlistenable.

Maybe when they are all out I'll grab the vinyl as they are still available.

[daf]

Yes, finding the best way to listen to audios is a tricky thing - but when you get it right, it can feel like you're actually IN the story - and not just listening to it. *

Some of my early mistakes were :
1. Listening while browsing the internet or reading emails - found that I'd not taken anything in
2. Listening in bed - fell asleep after 20 minutes.

The best results for me tend to come when I'm listening while doing some mentally undemanding activity - like computer snowboarding, doodling pictures or darning my socks (#skinflint).

You want something that puts the old noodle into a slight trance - so with headphones on a train, (while staring out the window), sounds like it would be just the right environment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* (Playing it through some nice headphones or, best of all, big "room" Hi-Fi speakers will also help pull you right into the action.)

[mjwilson]

Another fun Big Finish trailer - Out of Time 3 : Wink

Wink seems to be getting quite good reviews.

[purlieu]

Ok, so, here we go. I have on my computer - I think - every Who-related Big Finish audio up to April 2021. All 1,500 of them. I'd arranged to do the first 25 or so between every couple of EDAs on my big book marathon, so the first Eighth Doctor story comes along just as those books end. But as my long covid is currently having a really rather nasty relapse, and watching things, reading or doing anything that uses my eyes for more than about 15 minutes is currently not on the cards, it seemed like a good time to start on these. I'll either give them a break down the line or, if these symptoms persist for a while, just say fuck it and find a way to cope with two concurrent Eighth Doctor storylines.


Oh No It Isn't! by Jacqueline Rayner adapted from the novel by Paul Cornell

Look at that, they've managed to combine the art of the early Benny books with the later logo. The use of the NA logo is nice, makes it feel like a genuine continuation of the book range (shame they gave up on it as soon as they started writing original stories). The history of the Benny audios is of course intrinsically tied to the history of Big Finish, and I find that quite interesting. It would have been not long after this story came out that the decision to discontinue the New Adventures was taken, and while this was clearly commissioned before then, it does feel a bit strange that as the book line effectively failed as part of an existing series due to lack of interest, a whole new company was formed with its sole product a continuation of said series. Two companies had had Doctor Who licenses turned down, so ended up stumping for Benny.
There's not a massive amount of information about the early years of Big Finish, so I can't find out the exact reasoning why the first series (ish - it's spread over a couple of years) is all adaptations of NAs rather than original stories. It does make attempting any kind of continuity pretty difficult. With this being a previous Benny book, the differences aren't too major really, meaning it does just play out as the same story. All the extraneous stuff is removed, including the entire subplot involving Menlove Stokes and without Benny, the bits involving the People and Knights of Jeneve, and indeed all the bits set on Dellah, as well as a few character name changes, which makes the entire story about Benny and her expedition accidentally ending up in pantoland for a couple of hours. Other than being the first Benny NA and thus a fitting opening story, it's also a great choice simply because the ludicrous pantomime stuff comes to life with real people playing it. It ends up being even more fun than the original book in that regard.
It's my first experience of Lisa Bowerman as Benny, and although I still think she looks wrong (in my head she looks like her picture on the Oh No It Isn't! and Dry Pilgrimage books, and that isn't just because I fancy that version), her voice and performance are absolutely how I imagined in all the books to date. Nicholas Courtney is superb as the sentient Wolsey, and Mark Gatiss does a very good LoG-style Vizier. The rest of the cast are fine if not tremendously memorable. Having only previously experienced the small number of original BBC audio dramas, my hopes weren't that high in terms of style, with some of the performances in the Nest Cottage series being very stilted, but everyone here feels like a Proper Actor. Bowerman in particular is utterly believable.

On the downside, the music is fucking dreadful.

So, a good start.

Next time... the second Benny adaptation.

[crankshaft]

There's not a massive amount of information about the early years of Big Finish, so I can't find out the exact reasoning why the first series (ish - it's spread over a couple of years) is all adaptations of NAs rather than original stories. It does make attempting any kind of continuity pretty difficult.

Partly it was a practical thing - Virgin weren't going to give them a licence to compete with them by doing all-new stories. Big Finish licensed the stories from Virgin and the character of Benny from Paul Cornell. The deals that the authors had with Virgin had a clause about just this kind of adaption which said, very roughly, "we can sublicense this, and you'll get paid, but we don't need your approval - we'll send you a script of it but we can ignore your notes, should you have any". So doing adaptations tied in with the existing range and had a fixed cost, regardless of author, making it simpler to budget.

This starting getting complicated by the fact that, once the NAs were out of print, the authors began terminating their agreements with Virgin in order to get back the copyright on their books, with Lance Parkin being the first. So when it came to doing "Just War", Big Finish had to deal with Lance directly - Virgin had no stake in it, and thus a new contract had to be drawn up. BF could see this was going to be A Problem going forward. Authors who'd bought back their copyrights could say "I want more than the going rate" and fuck up the budgets. Sales weren't great as it was, and with the NAs already gone, Gary Russell could see that Benny could be cancelled, especially with Doctor Who on the horizon.

But Gary convinced Jason H-E that the Benny range could work with single disc original stories with small casts, and that the range could be used as a proving ground for new talent. They now had the license to do the books as well, and with the NAs over, competing with Virgin was no longer an issue. That's why they move to original stories in season 2.

[daf]

Oh No It Isn't! by Jacqueline Rayner adapted from the novel by Paul Cornell

Look at that, they've managed to combine the art of the early Benny books with the later logo. The use of the NA logo is nice, makes it feel like a genuine continuation of the book range (shame they gave up on it as soon as they started writing original stories).

The cover I have is a later one where they tweaked it a bit - changing the title and removing Benny -



GOOD FACT! (I love the Grell!)

[Fuck off and die, please]

Ok, so, here we go. I have on my computer - I think - every Who-related Big Finish audio up to April 2021. All 1,500 of them.

....fucking hell, HOW MANY??

At, say, a tenner a pop, that's 15, 000 english pounds! No wonder Nick Briggs is often glimpsed emerging from a gold-plated stretch limo at conventions...

And also, if you listen to one a day that's over four years worth of dodgy accents, horrible music and incomprehensible sound effects to get through.

Be honest: have you even tried to get a girl/boyfriend?

[Fuck off and die, please]

Sigh...

...one day I'll figure out how to use the quote function properly.

[jamiefairlie]

Slight aside but i heartily recommend the Sherlock Holmes BF series, a cut above their Dr Who stuff IMHO.

[Fuck off and die, please]

There's not a massive amount of information about the early years of Big Finish

There are two books that might be of interest:

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/bernice-summerfield-the-inside-story-175

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_New_Audio_Adventures:_The_Inside_Story

...but they're both out of print and go for about 40 quid each, used.

[purlieu]

Partly it was a practical thing

Cheers for that, very interesting!


Beyond the Sun by Matt Jones

The only one of the first series to be adapted by the book's author. Beyond the Sun wasn't one of my favourite Benny books, with scant humour and a fair bit of tedious philosophising, so I was disappointed to see it adapted in favour of, say, Ship of Fools. I suppose by cutting the length down, it becomes a more manageable story, although it also loses my favourite section, with Benny and friends gatecrashing a big event under the guise of entertainers. Otherwise, it's a decent adaptation.

Character-wise, Lisa is great as Benny again. It's a shame this is the only chance we'll get to hear Emile, as it's my least favourite of his stories, so it's hard to know what to think about him. I suppose the biggest turn up is Jason, whose portrayal by Stephen Fewell is quite at odds with the version in my head, being much more softly spoken and generally less in-your-face than he seems in the books. I'll have to see how he fares over time. Sophie Aldred and Anneke Wills are the two Who alumni this time, although neither makes as big an impression as Nicholas Courtney did last time.

Overall, then... eh, it was alright.

Next time... one of my favourite Benny stories, although one that I suspect will have more changes than the previous two.

....fucking hell, HOW MANY??

At, say, a tenner a pop, that's 15, 000 english pounds! No wonder Nick Briggs is often glimpsed emerging from a gold-plated stretch limo at conventions...

And also, if you listen to one a day that's over four years worth of dodgy accents, horrible music and incomprehensible sound effects to get through.

Be honest: have you even tried to get a girl/boyfriend?

I've separated them out into individual stories, including short trips, so it's not 1,500 releases. But it's still a lot. I'm hoping to buy copies of any stories I rate 5/5, however many that may be.

I'm reserving the right to give up on certain titles and ranges as the terrible nature of them becomes apparent. It's unlikely I'll listen to everything, although I'm hoping to at least try and get through all the ones with Tom, Peter, Colin, Sylvester, Paul, Chris and David, as well as the Bennies.

My girlfriend will actually be joining my on the journey, albeit unintentionally. Thankfully we've been together for 13 years, so she's used to this kind of thing.

There are two books that might be of interest:

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/bernice-summerfield-the-inside-story-175

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_New_Audio_Adventures:_The_Inside_Story

...but they're both out of print and go for about 40 quid each, used.

Ooh, ta. I've found an ebook copy of the Benny one so that'll be something to read at some point!

[jamiefairlie]

Cheers for that, very interesting!


Beyond the Sun by Matt Jones

The only one of the first series to be adapted by the book's author. Beyond the Sun wasn't one of my favourite Benny books, with scant humour and a fair bit of tedious philosophising, so I was disappointed to see it adapted in favour of, say, Ship of Fools. I suppose by cutting the length down, it becomes a more manageable story, although it also loses my favourite section, with Benny and friends gatecrashing a big event under the guise of entertainers. Otherwise, it's a decent adaptation.

Character-wise, Lisa is great as Benny again. It's a shame this is the only chance we'll get to hear Emile, as it's my least favourite of his stories, so it's hard to know what to think about him. I suppose the biggest turn up is Jason, whose portrayal by Stephen Fewell is quite at odds with the version in my head, being much more softly spoken and generally less in-your-face than he seems in the books. I'll have to see how he fares over time. Sophie Aldred and Anneke Wills are the two Who alumni this time, although neither makes as big an impression as Nicholas Courtney did last time.

Overall, then... eh, it was alright.

Next time... one of my favourite Benny stories, although one that I suspect will have more changes than the previous two.
I've separated them out into individual stories, including short trips, so it's not 1,500 releases. But it's still a lot. I'm hoping to buy copies of any stories I rate 5/5, however many that may be.

I'm reserving the right to give up on certain titles and ranges as the terrible nature of them becomes apparent. It's unlikely I'll listen to everything, although I'm hoping to at least try and get through all the ones with Tom, Peter, Colin, Sylvester, Paul, Chris and David, as well as the Bennies.

Ooooh, can't call them that any more mate

[purlieu]

Walking to Babylon by Kate Orman adapted by Jacqueline Rayner

Three releases in and they're already messing about with the cover design.

I was surprised at just how close this play is to the original book. With its vivid descriptions of ancient Babylon and ties to the People and the Time Lords, I had a feeling it would have been one to receive a bit of an overhaul, but for the most part it's pretty much the same story with the same characters. A lovely excursion around Babylon and a threat to Earth's future from a nuclear bomb. Ok, so the People's names aren't pronounced using Ben Aaronovitch's guide from the start of The Also People, but I suppose that's to be expected. Lis Sladen is this story's Doctor Who guest star, and she's predictably excellent. The only real downside I could find was some of the sound effects were too loud to hear what was being said in a couple of scenes.

Next time... continuity takes a back seat as a Doctor Who New Adventure is adapted into a Benny Story.

[daf]

You'll have noticed that these early ones all have Who-related actors popping up in guest roles - as at this point Big Finish didn't have the rights to do any "proper" Doctor Who, so it was a way of hooking the fans in.

I think you've probably already got the worst one behind you with 'Beyond The Sun' - Matt Jones admitted that adapting his own book was a mistake :

"I wanted to have a go at writing a script. It was my first stab, I didn't really pull it off. It would have been much better for someone else to have done it. I didn't understand how you construct a script, so everyone talks the plot, and there's no subtext, because in the novel the subtext was the characters thoughts - but I didn't know how to make the dialogue indicate what was going on beneath the surface."

And yes, the sound design is all over the place with some of these early releases. Nick Briggs wanted to remix them a few years later. Not sure if they ever got round to doing that.