Big Finish Audio Dramas

[DigiFluid]

Enjoy, Blen. I loved that one!

[DigiFluid]

Looks like no sale today?

[Flyboy]

Looks like no sale today?

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/big-...leases---day-5

BIG FINISH'S 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF DOCTOR WHO RELEASES - OFFER 5!

In the main Doctor Who range, 2003 saw us marking not only the 50th title in our main range, but also Doctor Who's 40th anniversary. At this point there was still no sign of the TV show returning, so we produced our own cake and candles in the form of three stories dedicated to the show's most powerful villains: Omega, Davros and the Master as well as the large, complex multi-Doctor story Zagreus. For today only, these stories are available on Download for £1 each.

And as Nick says below, 2003 saw a second series of the popular Dalek Empire range, this time entitled Dalek War. Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 can each be bought for £2.99 on CD and £1 on Download, or as a collected subscription on CD or Download.

See you in 48 hours for Offer 6!

[Blencathra]

I don't think I'll buy any of those today. (I do want Zagreus eventually but I want it on CD, so I'll buy that later). I'll save my money & see what their other offers they have in the days to come.

I've been listening to The Apocalypse Element & The Fires of Vulcan.

The Apocalypse Element - it was wonderful to hear Lalla Ward. Romana has long been one of my absolute favourite characters. I see that she is President of Gallifrey & that she has been prisoner of the Daleks though I'm not certain where that fits in with the Gallifrey stories. I do like Evelyn Smythe, she reminds me of an English teacher I had years ago. I see this story shows some of the opening salvos of the Last Great Time War. Great stuff!

The Fires of Vulcan - I wasn't really expecting to enjoy this much because of Mel (the screaming!), but to my surprise I enjoyed this one very much indeed. I love history and have a fascination for Pompeii, so I was thrilled to find the writer had used actual places and people in Pompeii, Eumachia, Valeria Hedone & Popidius Celsinus for example.

I was able to use this plan to follow the Doctor on his adventures. Valeria Hedone's bar is here and the Lupanare where Mel goes with Aglae to change her clothes is here. The Doctor meets the Gladiator Murranus here. Fascinating.

I was also very amused to think that the Seventh Doctor has no idea that the eruption is being caused by the Tenth Doctor & Donna. And presumably Jack Harkness is hanging around in a bar somewhere too BTW there really is some graffiti on the wall of Valeria Hedone's bar which reads "Handsome soldier, drink here for just one as; for two you can drink better, and for four have some really good Falernian wine." And indeed in the audio play that is how much she charges the Doctor for a drink.

My one small gripe with this story was the it finished a bit too quickly. One minute the Doctor & Mel are desperately trying to find the TARDIS and the next they are in it & talking about how they found it. I would have liked to have actually listened to their anxious search for it. In fact they found it somewhere near here.

[Flyboy]

I don't think I'll buy any of those today. (I do want Zagreus eventually but I want it on CD, so I'll buy that later). I'll save my money & see what their other offers they have in the days to come.

I'd reccommend Omega. But of the others... Zagreus NEEDS to be listened to following all of the preceeding Eighth Doctor audios. Otherwise it's awful. (It's not that great anyway...).

I've been listening to The Apocalypse Element & The Fires of Vulcan.

The Apocalypse Element - it was wonderful to hear Lalla Ward. Romana has long been one of my absolute favourite characters. I see that she is President of Gallifrey & that she has been prisoner of the Daleks though I'm not certain where that fits in with the Gallifrey stories. I do like Evelyn Smythe, she reminds me of an English teacher I had years ago. I see this story shows some of the opening salvos of the Last Great Time War. Great stuff!

Ah yes. Great story which sets the scene for The Dalek Empire and Gallifrey.

As for Romana, basically, her chronology goes - Apocalypse Element > Neverland > Zagreus > Gallifrey Series. And they're all important.

Also, did you catch the sneaky reference as to why the Eye of Harmony will only open for a Human Eye in Doctor Who the Movie?

The Fires of Vulcan - I wasn't really expecting to enjoy this much because of Mel (the screaming!), but to my surprise I enjoyed this one very much indeed. I love history and have a fascination for Pompeii, so I was thrilled to find the writer had used actual places and people in Pompeii, Eumachia, Valeria Hedone & Popidius Celsinus for example.



I was also very amused to think that the Seventh Doctor has no idea that the eruption is being caused by the Tenth Doctor & Donna. And presumably Jack Harkness is hanging around in a bar somewhere too BTW there really is some graffiti on the wall of Valeria Hedone's bar which reads "Handsome soldier, drink here for just one as; for two you can drink better, and for four have some really good Falernian wine." And indeed in the audio play that is how much she charges the Doctor for a drink.

My one small gripe with this story was the it finished a bit too quickly. One minute the Doctor & Mel are desperately trying to find the TARDIS and the next they are in it & talking about how they found it. I would have liked to have actually listened to their anxious search for it. In fact they found it somewhere near here.

I didn't like this story, mostly due to Mel, but I did like the fact that Ten and Harkness were probably loitering

[DigiFluid]

I'd reccommend Omega. But of the others... Zagreus NEEDS to be listened to following all of the preceeding Eighth Doctor audios. Otherwise it's awful.

Agreed, Blen. Zagreus follows on and makes direct reference to several preceding Eight stories; hearing them first is pretty important for context.

And on the other side of the coin, Zagreus is the establishing story for the entire Divergent Universe story arc, so it's something you'll want to check out prior to hearing those.

As for Romana, basically, her chronology goes - Apocalypse Element > Neverland > Zagreus > Gallifrey Series.

*makes note*

Also, did you catch the sneaky reference as to why the Eye of Harmony will only open for a Human Eye in Doctor Who the Movie?

I remember there was a nod to that, but can't quite remember what it was....

[Flyboy]

I remember there was a nod to that, but can't quite remember what it was....

Spoiler:

Essentially, The Doctor changes the Gallifreyan retinal security scans to respond to a human eye (Evelyn's) rather than a Time Lord's in order to prevent the Daleks having city wide access by procuring a Time Lord eye. Clearly the settings weren't changed by the time of Doctor Who The Movie

On a separate note - I'm currently listening to, and enjoying, the Charlotte Pollard boxset.

I grew rather tired of her with the Eighth Doctor, but she redeemed herself a bit with Six.... on her own, she's actually rather good. And with all the references to events from the early BF days... well... this feels wonderfully like revisiting classic BF... Definitely recommend!

EDIT:

Gosh. Just finished it. What a simply marvelous boxset! Given I was expecting to not enjoy this very much, I'm remarkably surprised at just how GOOD it was. The Viyrans are, of course, a great antagonist... and by golly, Charley really does flourish when she's not mooning over the Doctor. Simply gold!

[Flyboy]

For Digi in particular,

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/big-...leases---day-6

Big Finish's Doctor Who at 15 - Offer 6


Today's offer takes you to Gallifrey, offering a discount code that will give 15% off any of the individual released titles in our Gallifrey range (pre-orders are sadly not included). Maybe you want to see how it all started with the (CD-only) volume Weapon of Choice? Or perhaps the fourth series, Gallifrey Reborn? Or maybe right up to date with most recent boxed set for Series Six? Subscriptions for the first three seasons (CD only) have been discounted too!

The code to enter into your purchase at checkout is: BIG15F2004

This offer lasts for 48 hours. See you tomorrow for the next offer!

(Anyone new to Big Finish might also like to check out our forum page The Listeners, which looks at a title discounted on Download to £2.99 for a month. This month it's Doctor Who: The Zygon Who Fell To Earth)

A Few Words About 2004

"Most of the 2004 plays, and certainly all of the first series of Gallifrey, were written in 2003 – and 2003 was one of those times, one of those moments, when there was only one subject, really; one overarching 'real world' thing that everyone *had* to write about. If you look at some of the most popular TV shows of that time – 24, The West Wing, Spooks – what that one thing was should be pretty obvious. Gallifrey I was heavily informed by those shows, and that theme. What's striking, and possibly a bit depressing, is how 2014 it all seems, all those years later.

On a similar note,

Gallifrey: Intervention Earth - Release Announced for March 2015!

Following her debut as a fresh incarnation of Romana in Gallifrey VI and Luna Romana last year, we are pleased to reveal that Juliet Landau is returning to the role for a brand-new adventure!

Gallifrey - Intervention: Earth takes place several years after the conclusion of Gallifrey VI, with Romana approaching the end of her Presidency. But times have changed: temporal powers are now preparing themselves for war, and a darker force from the dawn of Time Lord society has chosen now to make its return.

“This is very much a fresh start for the Gallifrey format,” explains producer Scott Handcock. “Gary Russell and I drew the previous series to a close, wrapped up all the loose ends, and brought that story to a definite close. Then line producer David Richardson contacted me one afternoon to ask whether I’d be up for developing a brand-new take on Gallifrey, with Juliet at the helm, and so with Gary’s blessing, I said yes!”

The result is a standalone, two-disc adventure - Gallifrey - Intervention: Earth - written by Scott Handcock and David Llewellyn, which delves into an age-old conspiracy at the heart of Gallifreyan society. “If the original Gallifrey series was conceived as Time Lords meets The West Wing, this is probably more akin to Time Lords meets 24,” Scott reveals. “It’s a proper rollercoaster ride that gives us an opportunity to delve a little deeper into the actions of the Celestial Intervention Agency and its agents.”

Alongside Juliet’s incarnation of Romana, Seán Carlsen returns as the ever-popular CIA Coordinator Narvin, joined this time round by Time Lord-in-training and CIA operative Ace, played by Sophie Aldred. As the conspiracy develops, a pivotal figure from Time Lord society also makes his presence felt, with Stephen Thorne reprising his role as Omega for the first time since The Three Doctors in 1973!

The guest cast for Intervention: Earth also includes Daniel Brocklebank, Gyles Brandreth, Scott Arthur, Laura Doddington, Toby Longworth, Rachel Atkins and Andrew Pepper.

Gallifrey - Intervention: Earth will be released in March 2015 and is available to pre-order now on CD for £14.99 and Download for £12.99.

EXCITED!

[DigiFluid]

Oh dear...and I just bought the Gallifrey S1-3 bundle a few days ago too :McKay:

Well, on the plus side, I guess this makes S4-6 cheaper

[Blencathra]

I fairly recently bought the Gallifrey series 1-3 as well but I have loads to listen to first including Romana's timeline that you posted FB. I may not get round to it for a while.

Last night I listened to 4th Doctor/Leela adventure Energy of the Daleks, which was a lot of fun. Leela gets to meet the Daleks at last. There were some great laugh out loud moments and I loved the Doctor going to the National Gallery. I guess he had no idea it would take on such significance in his later life.

Now I'm taking a sideways detour into Blake's 7, Liberator Chronicles. Some back story for Jenna. Excellent.

[Flyboy]

Oh dear...and I just bought the Gallifrey S1-3 bundle a few days ago too :McKay:

Well, on the plus side, I guess this makes S4-6 cheaper

I fairly recently bought the Gallifrey series 1-3 as well but I have loads to listen to first including Romana's timeline that you posted FB. I may not get round to it for a while.

Last night I listened to 4th Doctor/Leela adventure Energy of the Daleks, which was a lot of fun. Leela gets to meet the Daleks at last. There were some great laugh out loud moments and I loved the Doctor going to the National Gallery. I guess he had no idea it would take on such significance in his later life.

Now I'm taking a sideways detour into Blake's 7, Liberator Chronicles. Some back story for Jenna. Excellent.

I am *so* excited that you're both going to listen to Gallifrey! I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

[DigiFluid]

This sale is killing me! So glad that a) I had some money sitting around already; and b) that it was also payday on Wednesday!

[Flyboy]

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/big-...leases---day-7

UNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D

Big Finish's Doctor Who at 15 - Offer 7


For the seventh day of our celebration of 15 years of Big Finish Doctor Who releases, it's the turn of the UNIT range to get some special offers. Listen to how it all started with UNIT: The Coup for free on Download. And for today only you can buy volumes 1 - Time Heals, 2 - Snake Head, 3 - The Longest Night and 4 - The Wasting of UNIT series 1 each for £1 on Download and £2.99 on CD, while fan favourite boxed set UNIT: Dominion is available for £15 on Download or £20 for the four-volume CD set.

As Simon and Mark both mention below, a certain David Tennant has appeared in a number of Big Finish titles. One of the less known was 2005's Luther Arkwright - a parallel universe adventure featuring David alongside Siri Neal, Paul Darrow and India Fisher - which today can be bought on CD for £5.

These special offers last 48 hours... But we'll say "hello" at the same time tomorrow for offer eight, and remember that offer six has but 24 hours left...

[Blencathra]

Oh for heaven's sake! I'm going on holiday in 10 days. I need clothes. I need suntan lotion. I need ice cream money. But instead I'm spending all my cash on Big Finish. Today I'm going to be firm & only allow myself to spend £2.

Edit - BTW Thank you Digi for putting your Guides in your sig. Makes it very handy to find & look at.

[Flyboy]

Oh for heaven's sake! I'm going on holiday in 10 days. I need clothes. I need suntan lotion. I need ice cream money. But instead I'm spending all my cash on Big Finish. Today I'm going to be firm & only allow myself to spend £2.

Edit - BTW Thank you Digi for putting your Guides in your sig. Makes it very handy to find & look at.

£2? Surely you mean £4 for each of the wonderful installments of UNIT Series 1? They really are SO worth it! And don't forget the FREE prologue; UNIT - The Coup. *wistful* I miss The Brig. A true hero of the Whoniverse, and Nicholas Courtney was a fine chap! May he rest in peace.

UNIT Dominion is superb btw - one of the best. However, it bares no resemblance to the preceeding UNIT 'Series 1'. Totally different cast, and a totally different style of adventure. I'd actually say it's *better*, but isn't really exclusively about UNIT as the Doctor is the lead. Additionally, I'd only reccommend Dominion if you've checked out the preceeding Klein audios....