andy

Since I've been foolishly purchasing these CDs, I've been trying to stick to the one's that have a good reputation. Mark's opinions seem pretty much close to mine. Chimes of Midnight, Stones of Venice, , and Invaders from Mars, are the ones I enjoy the most. Terror Firma had a lot of interesting concepts but it all felt rushed and confusing in the audio format. The Natural History of Fear was the only one I was disappointed with as it felt too long and the twist at the end would have been just as effective if it had been a more concise two-parter.

I think I'm going to get Seasons of Fear next. It looks to be a more engaging effort.

Oh wait, nevermind....

OK. I'm sorry if this disappoints anybody but I think it's important to put the facts straight. The new series of Eighth Doctor adventures that will be broadcast on BBC7 and subsequently released on CD by Big Finish do NOT lead up to the Doctor's regeneration in to his Ninth incarnation. Christopher Eccleston will NOT be appearing. The Time War is NOT mentioned or featured in any of the eight episodes.

 

I can't explain the piece in the Radio Times but I suspect it wasn't intended to be taken quite so literally. For 'leading up to his regeneration...' read 'set prior to his regeneration...'.

 

Although we haven't categorically stated it anywhere, Big Finish are working on the assumption that these new adventures are set after the time the Eighth Doctor has spent with Charley and C'rizz. However, there are plans to record further adventures with Charley and C'rizz.

 

John Ainsworth

Big Finish Productions

www.bigfinish.com

"Posh Club level lounges"?

Lou is living large.

I had a feeling that the Cowboys wouln't be able to beat the Saints. If Romo can come back and win the next three games, then perhaps he will be as good as everyone says he is.

Since Paul McGann is currently my favorite Doctor, mostly because of the audios and books, I'd be a bit disappointed to learn how he regenerated into Eccleston. I think it should remain a mystery. What actually happened during the Time War and whether it was the 8th or 9th Doctor who fought in ti is one of those questions that should never be fully answered IMHO. I really don't want it revealed that the 8th Doctor regenerated because he was shot by a Cyberman or he fell down and hit his head.

While I'd love to see Dallas in the Super Bowl, I'm not sure they're capable of winning it all. It seems like they make a lot of stupid little mistakes penality wise. Then again Chicago is certainly beatable. Let's see how well the Cowboys play this week against the Saints.

I don't know what to think about the AFC. I suppose Indy will inveitablty get in one of these years. San Diego is kicking ass but Schottenheimer loses in the post-season as much as Dundgy does, so perhaps New England might sneak back in there?

I may be the only one here who likes the music in the new series. I think it gives the show a filmatic quality that it never had before (especially in the synth-happy 80s).

These sound like good reviews. I suppose I'll need to place that amazon.co.uk order soon.

I started The Razor's Edge today, and I'm only about forty pages in, but it's interesting so far. I like the way Maugham writes, and the characters are all pretty good so far.

I loved The Razor's Edge when I was 20-years-old but re-reading it again ten years later with perhaps a more cynical eye, I found Larry's voyage to enlightenment a bit too easy. I felt that a little self-doubt and struggle would have made the character somewhat more believable in my eyes.

I too never really liked Preacher that that much. It had its moments but I think I dropped the title three or four times during its run out of lack of interest. Despite the "mature" label on the covers, I never really found it to be that. It always kind of felt that none of the characters acted like real people and they all talked like Garth Ennis. I think it's popularity among young men springs from the fact that the title has that sort of adolescent idea of what would be considered shocking in a comic. Fucking animals, sadistic violence, and having God bite out someone's eye, etc. always felt like Ennis was attempting to shock the mommies and daddies of his worldview than they were actual interesting concepts.

Plus I always found Steve Dillon to be a boring artist.

If the show did dispense of Jesus DeSade, the Sex Detectives and the other one dimensional homosexual characters and not any of the other one dimensional Christian characters wouldn't that be HBO pandering to the "bigoted Homosexual agenda" or is it alright to be equally offensive to religious people, homosexuals, Irish alcoholics, vampires, art students, and those who have sex with Armadillos?

I think that's exactly the sort of thing most viewers would want to watch on telly on Christmas day after a big meal with the family. Presumably we can expect the Christmas epidose to be a bit more over the top and fun than the rest of the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW_Fz1JiopM

 

Four minute scene from the next Christmas Special.

Wow that looks pretty damn cool. To my knowledge a car chase with the TARDIS is something that's never been done before in the show's history.

The two teams currently playing with the most energy are probably the Cowboys and the Chargers, so perhaps that Super Bowl prediction isn't so far off. Although there are still many games yet to be played.

As long as we're YouTuben it,

It's all about the thrill of the game. I'll still like to see the Chargers do well. Same with the Cowboys, at least until the arrogance becomes too much.

What state are you moving to?

Denial?

Well sort of. I moved to my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico which I'm not thrilled about but I need to kind of slow down and pay off some bills and get healthier. It's not quite a cultural mecca but with any luck my general standard of living will improve somewhat.

In a few days I'll be moving out of California so that means I'll no longer be living within walking distance of the SDCC. It kind of sucks but frankly in the 4 and a half years I've lived in San Diego I've been struggling financially and the high cost of living here isn't worth it to me anymore. Hopefully this means I'll be able to start saving money again and will be able to do some more travelling in the near future.

What's a good McGann story?

I quite liked The Chimes of Midnight which is a well-regared 8th Doctor audio. It's somewhat creepy as well as containing quite a few funny lines. Invaders From Mars is also a good lighthearted story. I've stayed away from the whole divergent universe thing as it looks like it refrences other audios. The new McGann BBC7 audios being broadcast this coming holiday season look to be a good place to start.

There's an interesting interview with Denise Mina over at CBR in which she talks about her final Hellblazer arc as well as an upcoming project at Verigo.

Oh, and to Andy.... :icon_redface:

Yeah, I'll get right on that now. Sorry.

Actually that was Jason T who was asking your opinion of the Big Finish audios but I would be interested as well.

I'm a bit old fashioned (or stupid for not downloading them) and actually bought the following Doctor Who audios:

Spare Parts

Loups-Garoux

The Holy Terror

The Chimes of Midnight

The Stones of Venice

Invaders from Mars

Terror Firma

All of which I've enjoyed but I especially like the Paul McGann audios as he never got a chance to be the Doctor on screen and via these audios he's somehow become my favorite Doctor.

At least it looks good. I've seen much worse tats in terms of both ability and content.

The Chargers will be in the play-offs in some capacity. Although it seems that every week one of their players is getting arrested for one thing or another. Just as long as Tomlinson, Rivers, or Gates arn't revealed to be secret Al-Qaida members then the team should have a fairly good shot at winning at least one play-off game.

The Padres lost unsurprisingly to the Cardinals yesterday which blew my chance to have seen a World Series in person.

Dallas could have won that game in Philly if not for those interceptions Bledsoe threw. They're still in contention along with Philly, New Orleans, Seattle, and Chicago. Although I'm not going to hold my breath. At least the Cowboys are not in the AFC which looks even tougher. I couldn't even make a prediction who in the AFC will make it to the Super Bowl except that it probably won't be Pittsburg repeating.

Hard to say much from a quick trailer but it looks kind of generic sci-fi. Hopefully the writing will set it apart from the usual 'aliens on earth' sort of show. At least Cpt. Jack is a charismatic leading character and I hope he finally gets to show us his bum.