Big Finish Audio Dramas

[Flyboy]

What makes Bernice Summerfield such a legend? You guys are almost drooling over her.

She's just EPIC!

Basically, she's a full on action hero archeologist (the original) with a wonderful wit, but who actually grows as a character. Over the course of her timeline she even has kids. She is just AMAZING. She could quite honestly deserve her own TV show. She makes River Song look like a cheap immitation.

[rushy]

By wit, you don't mean smug smarta**, don't you? Because that ruined River for me. Mostly.

[Flyboy]

By wit, you don't mean smug smarta**, don't you? Because that ruined River for me. Mostly.

Nope.

[DigiFluid]

There's a laugh: yesterday my Gallifrey S1-3 CDs arrived--I had just finished those stories on Sunday

Fortunately S4-6 have digital downloads I can listen to while I wait for my discs to appear. I'm partway through series 4 now....was stunned speechless during my drive this morning, at the reference to Susan and the First Doctor. Wow!

I like to think that with the 'real' Gallifrey in such turmoil, all that's happened up to this point has been whilst the Eighth Doctor is off in the Divergent Universe, or at least before Charley leaves as companion. It seems to fit with some of the references and such that the Gallifrey stories have been making; and then there's also the manner of Lucie's arrival at the beginning of the NEDA stories, which to me seems to indicate that Gallifrey is back to normal at that point.

But I suppose time will tell, as I get further through the series!

[Flyboy]

There's a laugh: yesterday my Gallifrey S1-3 CDs arrived--I had just finished those stories on Sunday

Fortunately S4-6 have digital downloads I can listen to while I wait for my discs to appear. I'm partway through series 4 now....was stunned speechless during my drive this morning, at the reference to Susan and the First Doctor. Wow!

I like to think that with the 'real' Gallifrey in such turmoil, all that's happened up to this point has been whilst the Eighth Doctor is off in the Divergent Universe, or at least before Charley leaves as companion. It seems to fit with some of the references and such that the Gallifrey stories have been making; and then there's also the manner of Lucie's arrival at the beginning of the NEDA stories, which to me seems to indicate that Gallifrey is back to normal at that point.

But I suppose time will tell, as I get further through the series!

I KNOW RIGHT!? That simple couple of lines lends context to the ENTIRE Doctor Who saga....

I'd agree with you about the Doctor being in the Divergent universe... or at least before he parts with Charley, most of the initial days of Gallifrey seem to suggest he's gone. I wouldn't necessarily say Gallifrey is 'back to normal' by the NEDA range... but given the CIA's involvement, it has to have recovered an extent, especially as

Spoiler:

Narvin is in Dark Eyes 3, as well as Gallifrey: Intervention Earth(reportedly)

Now do you see why I ask where Ace is, after the events of S2 and 3?

[DigiFluid]

I KNOW RIGHT!? That simple couple of lines lends context to the ENTIRE Doctor Who saga....

!!!!!!

I'd agree with you about the Doctor being in the Divergent universe... or at least before he parts with Charley, most of the initial days of Gallifrey seem to suggest he's gone. I wouldn't necessarily say Gallifrey is 'back to normal' by the NEDA range... but given the CIA's involvement, it has to have recovered an extent, especially as

Spoiler:

Narvin is in Dark Eyes 3, as well as Gallifrey: Intervention Earth(reportedly)

Okay, "back to normal" was a poor choice of words on my part. Perhaps 'stabilized' would've been better, following

Spoiler:

the civil war and the Free Time virus crises ravaging the planet.

As you say: given the CIA's involvement with Lucie, that suggests to me that they've stabilized significantly from where things sit as of mid-Gallifrey IV (where I'm at right now).

Re: your spoiler tag, I'm very excited about that. I've come to quite like him, and I'll be glad to see how they make use of him in those stories!

Now do you see why I ask where Ace is, after the events of S2 and 3?

The trouble is....I do and I don't.

I understand where you're coming from, and that it's hard to think of those events without Ace being in the thick of things. But at the same time, I get the distinct impression that there were lots of off-worlders present during those events; so Ace may well have been involved (and significantly), but since we were seeing events unfold at the Presidential level, we didn't see what Ace was up to. Perhaps a story for a future Companion Chronicle?



Some 'temporal observations' I've noted so far through Gallifrey (spoilers up till mid-series 4):

Spoiler:

1.4 A Blind Eye
- specifically references the events of Zagreus

2.1 Lies
- specifically stated to be 6 1/2 weeks after 1.4
- specifically references the events of Neverland
- Leela believes that the Doctor is "gone forever" (to the Divergent Universe)

3.5 Panacea
- Braxatiel forsees a great war coming (speculation: seems to be a nod to the Last Great Time War). Romana refers back to this again, in episode 4.3

4.2 Disassembled
- given that timeline counterparts cause paradoxes in the Axis, and Lord Burner is stated not to cause any self-paradox, I would suggest that that's because the 'real' Doctor is not in our universe
- Benny makes a wee little cameo here! But we have no idea what universe she's from

In case you're at all curious how I blow through things this fast -- at an hour-ish long, they're perfect for my commute to and from work every day. When something really grabs me (like Gallifrey!), I tend to do one in the morning on my way to work, one on the drive home from work, and then one more laying in bed at night before I go to sleep. Makes it easy to just fly through these series

[Flyboy]

!!!!!!


Okay, "back to normal" was a poor choice of words on my part. Perhaps 'stabilized' would've been better, following

Spoiler:

the civil war and the Free Time virus crises ravaging the planet.

As you say: given the CIA's involvement with Lucie, that suggests to me that they've stabilized significantly from where things sit as of mid-Gallifrey IV (where I'm at right now).

Re: your spoiler tag, I'm very excited about that. I've come to quite like him, and I'll be glad to see how they make use of him in those stories!


The trouble is....I do and I don't.

I understand where you're coming from, and that it's hard to think of those events without Ace being in the thick of things. But at the same time, I get the distinct impression that there were lots of off-worlders present during those events; so Ace may well have been involved (and significantly), but since we were seeing events unfold at the Presidential level, we didn't see what Ace was up to. Perhaps a story for a future Companion Chronicle?



Some 'temporal observations' I've noted so far through Gallifrey (spoilers up till mid-series 4):

Spoiler:

1.4 A Blind Eye
- specifically references the events of Zagreus

2.1 Lies
- specifically stated to be 6 1/2 weeks after 1.4
- specifically references the events of Neverland
- Leela believes that the Doctor is "gone forever" (to the Divergent Universe)

3.5 Panacea
- Braxatiel forsees a great war coming (speculation: seems to be a nod to the Last Great Time War). Romana refers back to this again, in episode 4.3

4.2 Disassembled
- given that timeline counterparts cause paradoxes in the Axis, and Lord Burner is stated not to cause any self-paradox, I would suggest that that's because the 'real' Doctor is not in our universe
- Benny makes a wee little cameo here! But we have no idea what universe she's from

In case you're at all curious how I blow through things this fast -- at an hour-ish long, they're perfect for my commute to and from work every day. When something really grabs me (like Gallifrey!), I tend to do one in the morning on my way to work, one on the drive home from work, and then one more laying in bed at night before I go to sleep. Makes it easy to just fly through these series

Good observations! I like and agree on all counts, and can accept your argument ref Ace.

I also love Narvin! ^_^

How are you progressing? Onto S5 yet?

[DigiFluid]

I am, yes

I started it this morning, and did 5.2 on my way home from work this afternoon. I'm finding that I'm not quite as jazzed about this set of stories as the first four series.... S1-3 had a consistent narrative, and four's timeline hopping was a lot of fun. But, at least to me, S5 suffers a bit for the narrative choice they made. For me it kind of echoes of the timeline reboot that they did in Eureka: fun for a while, but can we hurry up and get back on track?

That said, 5.2 was kind of intriguing in how

Spoiler:

we kind of get to see the trial-and-error approach to temporal mechanics, which evokes thoughts of 'maybe Rassilon suffered similar frustrations.'

I also didn't even realize till after I'd finished the episode and looked it up on the Tardis Wiki, that Maris was played by Anjli Mohindra! So, nice that she's still getting Whoniverse work since the end of SJA.

Some timey observations:

Spoiler:

Unless i missed something, 5.1 "Emancipation" doesn't actually say how long it's been since the end of series 4. BUT come 5.2, when grilling Janaius (sp?), Narvin says that he left his lab of horrors during the slave rebellion/emancipation, which happened in the S4 finale, "nearly a year ago."

I don't think we know how long a Gallifreyan year lasts, but it would seem that as of 5.2, our heroes have spent a good deal of time on this version of Gallifrey.

I've been thinking recently that I'd really enjoy doing a run through all of Eight's timeline sometime soon. Dark Eyes 3 is supposed to be out in November, so that might work out nicely if I can time it right

[Flyboy]

I am, yes

I started it this morning, and did 5.2 on my way home from work this afternoon. I'm finding that I'm not quite as jazzed about this set of stories as the first four series.... S1-3 had a consistent narrative, and four's timeline hopping was a lot of fun. But, at least to me, S5 suffers a bit for the narrative choice they made. For me it kind of echoes of the timeline reboot that they did in Eureka: fun for a while, but can we hurry up and get back on track?

That said, 5.2 was kind of intriguing in how

Spoiler:

we kind of get to see the trial-and-error approach to temporal mechanics, which evokes thoughts of 'maybe Rassilon suffered similar frustrations.'

I also didn't even realize till after I'd finished the episode and looked it up on the Tardis Wiki, that Maris was played by Anjli Mohindra! So, nice that she's still getting Whoniverse work since the end of SJA.

Some timey observations:

Spoiler:

Unless i missed something, 5.1 "Emancipation" doesn't actually say how long it's been since the end of series 4. BUT come 5.2, when grilling Janaius (sp?), Narvin says that he left his lab of horrors during the slave rebellion/emancipation, which happened in the S4 finale, "nearly a year ago."

I don't think we know how long a Gallifreyan year lasts, but it would seem that as of 5.2, our heroes have spent a good deal of time on this version of Gallifrey.

I've been thinking recently that I'd really enjoy doing a run through all of Eight's timeline sometime soon. Dark Eyes 3 is supposed to be out in November, so that might work out nicely if I can time it right

I completely agree. For me, 5 is the weakest Gallifrey offering by far. Never fear though, with 6 things get significantly back on track, it will be definitely worth your time!

I think you should definitely run through Eight - but remember to start with Company of Friends and then the Mary Saga before starting on the Pollard run! I made a comment on the Big Finish FB page... Dark Eyes 3 ismy most anticipated Who product this year, and that's INCLUDING Deep Breath....

[DigiFluid]

Yes...it was kind of difficult to go to sleep last night, the way series 5 ended

So naturally, I did 6.1 on my drive this morning. Looooooved it! I finished listening to it almost an hour and a half ago now, and I'm still stewing over the details and how they fit into the grand scheme of things

[Flyboy]

Yes...it was kind of difficult to go to sleep last night, the way series 5 ended

So naturally, I did 6.1 on my drive this morning. Looooooved it! I finished listening to it almost an hour and a half ago now, and I'm still stewing over the details and how they fit into the grand scheme of things

IKR!??!?!?! 6.1 is amazing....you just wait, it only gets better from here!

[DigiFluid]

Looking forward to it!

Ooh and my Dalek Empire stuff arrived in the mail today, woohoo! ...man I spent a lot on those BF sales

[Flyboy]

Looking forward to it!

Ooh and my Dalek Empire stuff arrived in the mail today, woohoo! ...man I spent a lot on those BF sales

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Gallifrey finale!!! I was on the edge of my proverbial seat listening to it! Even more so, I cannot wait till Gallifrey: Intervention Earth comes out!

[DigiFluid]

I listened to 6.3 last night! And there was enough that needed digesting that I listened to it again this morning!

Very, very good conclusion to the plot threads that have been weaved from the very beginning. I found that the previous episode had had a very lonely, desolate tone to it that really reminded me of the TV show Lexx. And, even though I enjoyed it of its own merits, I was thrilled at how much the nature of its story was changed by the revelations in 6.3. Good, good, good good stuff!

There was so much to like in these. Trey was an interesting character concept, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they use her in future stories... I'm glad that the start of 6.3 was not what the end of 6.2 led us to believe, and man do I ever love how completely exasperated Narvin sounds with the ladies

Spoilerific comments re: the entire series

Spoiler:

While the virus being the design of the Daleks seems like a bit of afterthought, storywise, I still thought it fit nicely into the plot they were weaving throughout all of this. And after their conquest and subsequent loss of Axis control, it was a very clever idea to use it and the Matrix as a way to sneak an infiltration/sabotage force onto prime Gallifrey itself.

I'm slightly confused by how long the group was away from our reality, because the dialogue comes across a bit contradictory. Series 4 doesn't seem to take very long at all, and lines spoken in Series 5 seem to indicate that it was roughly a year that they were on that particular version of Gallifrey. But then, the opening narration of 6.2 by Trey--an 'avatar' of sorts programmed by our travelling heroes--says that they were away for "many years."

Further to that, the time that's passed on the real Gallifrey seems to roughly corroborate the S5 dialogue; the team left when Matthias became President and the virus was at crisis point, while they were away he enacted the time-lock incarcerations and stepped down, and where 6.3 starts, the Council is just about to inaugurate a new Lord President. That doesn't seem like a "many years" sequence of events to me. But to be fair, I'm speculating here.

In the Series 6 opener, I was pleased to be hearing about the Daleks' coordinator operating on the Axis. I couldn't help but notice that its 'job description,' monitoring all timelines and coordinating Daleks within them, basically describes the function of the Dalek Time Controller--but yet, they very studiously avoided calling it the Dalek Time Controller. (And it was destroyed, besides). As always I could be reading it wrong, but I thought this was a really neat way of having something like a precursor to the Time Controller show up in this series. With the actual Time Controller turning up at the end of the NEDA range, I think this helps really drives home the idea that the Gallifrey series up to this point has been running alongside the Eighth Doctor's personal timeline.

I'm very, very stoked to see what they have lined up for DE3 and Intervention: Earth


One thing which fits well but I'm a little embarrassed to admit I hadn't thought of: Narvin's well-intentioned snafu in attempting to rescue Romana from the Matrix tying right into Genesis of the Daleks. It was daft of me, but I didn't even pause to think that, while Gallifreyans are incapable/barred from travelling along their homeworld's timeline, the homeworld does not face that same restriction when interfering with renegade Time Lords like the Doctor. I really should have thought of this sooner!

I'm still not sure what this means for the Dalek stories which are (for the Doctor) set between Genesis and Gallifrey VI, though.

[Flyboy]

I listened to 6.3 last night! And there was enough that needed digesting that I listened to it again this morning!

Very, very good conclusion to the plot threads that have been weaved from the very beginning. I found that the previous episode had had a very lonely, desolate tone to it that really reminded me of the TV show Lexx. And, even though I enjoyed it of its own merits, I was thrilled at how much the nature of its story was changed by the revelations in 6.3. Good, good, good good stuff!

There was so much to like in these. Trey was an interesting character concept, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they use her in future stories... I'm glad that the start of 6.3 was not what the end of 6.2 led us to believe, and man do I ever love how completely exasperated Narvin sounds with the ladies

Spoilerific comments re: the entire series

Spoiler:

While the virus being the design of the Daleks seems like a bit of afterthought, storywise, I still thought it fit nicely into the plot they were weaving throughout all of this. And after their conquest and subsequent loss of Axis control, it was a very clever idea to use it and the Matrix as a way to sneak an infiltration/sabotage force onto prime Gallifrey itself.

I'm slightly confused by how long the group was away from our reality, because the dialogue comes across a bit contradictory. Series 4 doesn't seem to take very long at all, and lines spoken in Series 5 seem to indicate that it was roughly a year that they were on that particular version of Gallifrey. But then, the opening narration of 6.2 by Trey--an 'avatar' of sorts programmed by our travelling heroes--says that they were away for "many years."

Further to that, the time that's passed on the real Gallifrey seems to roughly corroborate the S5 dialogue; the team left when Matthias became President and the virus was at crisis point, while they were away he enacted the time-lock incarcerations and stepped down, and where 6.3 starts, the Council is just about to inaugurate a new Lord President. That doesn't seem like a "many years" sequence of events to me. But to be fair, I'm speculating here.

In the Series 6 opener, I was pleased to be hearing about the Daleks' coordinator operating on the Axis. I couldn't help but notice that its 'job description,' monitoring all timelines and coordinating Daleks within them, basically describes the function of the Dalek Time Controller--but yet, they very studiously avoided calling it the Dalek Time Controller. (And it was destroyed, besides). As always I could be reading it wrong, but I thought this was a really neat way of having something like a precursor to the Time Controller show up in this series. With the actual Time Controller turning up at the end of the NEDA range, I think this helps really drives home the idea that the Gallifrey series up to this point has been running alongside the Eighth Doctor's personal timeline.

I'm very, very stoked to see what they have lined up for DE3 and Intervention: Earth


One thing which fits well but I'm a little embarrassed to admit I hadn't thought of: Narvin's well-intentioned snafu in attempting to rescue Romana from the Matrix tying right into Genesis of the Daleks. It was daft of me, but I didn't even pause to think that, while Gallifreyans are incapable/barred from travelling along their homeworld's timeline, the homeworld does not face that same restriction when interfering with renegade Time Lords like the Doctor. I really should have thought of this sooner!

I'm still not sure what this means for the Dalek stories which are (for the Doctor) set between Genesis and Gallifrey VI, though.

I am SO glad you enjoyed it!

Gallifrey 6 is just spectacular... given the serious foreshadowing of the Time War, I honestly hope that Gallifrey Intervention Earth takes it even further, in conjunction with Dark Eyes 3 and 4 there is so much scope to really build up to the Time War, even if we don't actually get to go INTO it... it would be marvelous to officially see it begin...

Maybe, with luck, Big Finish will secure a new contract and we'll get John Hurt dramas as well!

Spoiler:

I agree about Narvin's sheer exasperation! Brilliant!

I liked Trey... for one thing, I'm slightly attracted to her, she just SOUNDS hot... and given that she's played by the woman who portrayed Drucilla in Buffy.... well....!

You're definitely right about Gallifrey and Eight running in parallel. No doubt.

I'd also agree that they'd been away for ages....

Given that technically Gallifrey 6 was meant to be the end.... and now they're doing Gallifrey 7.... I really would love it if they pursue the time war angle even more... yes I know I'm repeating myself... but based on your earlier comments, I'd also ove to see the Dalek Time Controller officially brought into the mix. He's one of my favourite villains, and would definitely play a role in the Time War...