PS Audios presents The Curse of Ratanapura - EPISODE 2 ONLINE!

[Dirk Gently]

We listened to this in bed last night, (both parts) & it was excellent! Part one seemed better the second time round, I'll have to listen to the whole thing again.
There were loads of bits I wanted to comment on but each subsequent scene drove the comments on the previous from my tiny mind. So you'll just have to accept that I think the production was great, the music moved along nicely, the ending was suitable bleak & everyone acted their socks off & were very good in their respective roles...except that over acting Butler, what a ham!

The Butler did it! Although well done to Andrew Curnow for spotting that it was the Butler all along.

[Wayne]

There were loads of bits I wanted to comment on but each subsequent scene drove the comments on the previous from my tiny mind.

I had the same experience!

[Antony Cox]

I forgot to mention all the great comedic moments!

[Pip Madeley]

Thank you all

Speaking of comedic moments, an example of a moment that came together out of nowhere was Rob's "Cluedo!" speech - I wrote the original line which was only fairly amusing, but then Steve marvellously ad-libbed the Cluedo bit and then in post-production it gave me the idea of adding the rather OTT but fitting "hurrah!" fanfare which I think worked great. So credit to Steve!

[Andrew Curnow]

It was really good, the second half flew by. I didn't guess that the Doctor was the ghost at all, but it was a very neat twist. The scene with the Doctor & Lady Rosalind was extremely good, with Paul getting the chance (and taking it!) to give a real edge to his Doctor. And conversely, the 'tea flashback' was so bizarrely camp it made me laugh like a loon! The last scene on the beach was nicely atmospheric as well, finishing the story off perfectly.

Well worth the wait, well done Pip, well done everyone!

[Wayne]

the 'tea flashback' was so bizarrely camp it made me laugh like a loon!

That was the only bit that i didn't like.

[Pip Madeley]

And conversely, the 'tea flashback' was so bizarrely camp it made me laugh like a loon!

Rather amusingly, the straight half of the writing team wrote that scene!

I can see why Wayne* might not have liked it, but the point of that scene was to contrast the Doctor and Rosalind's current relationship with the "good old days", but as the Doctor remembers them, so it's with rose-tinted spectacles, hence the upbeat music - which was amusingly titled "Gay Activity" - and rather cheesy laughter at the end.

*I nearly said Jon because of that Victor Meldrew picture

[Paul Monk]

Can anyone guess who the squeaky alien is?

[Antony Cox]

so it's with rose-tinted spectacles

Surely it was Rosalind-tinted spectacles?

[SiHart]

The Scooby-Do recapping of the plot with Nick and Rob in the Fred and Velma roles was brilliantly done and might just be one of my favourite PS Audios moments so far. That was the highlight of the much stronger part 2 for me.

Special mentions go to Ashley and Tim who were both in great form in this episode. Their roles were really well played I thought. They both really relished their villainy and double crossing everyone in sight. Well done guys.

And the ending was good too. Ali's last line seemed very poignant. And I do like the fact that Paul's Doctor doesn't forgive easily. He's got a steely side that doesn't get shown all the time, but it's great when we get a glimpse of that underneath his concern and his love of tea and the quiet life. Quite what has instilled that in him has yet to be seen, but hopefully one day someone will explore that. Paul's performances get ever more assured. It's great!

And it's been nice to have a story i had nothing to do with at all! I'm pleased to have had one that I know nothing about and I enjoyed the way the plot unravelled, and depsite the problems, Pip has come up trumps on the production, even if the jazz style music was a bit anachronistic for the turn of the 20th century! But well done!

Roll on The Crystal Eye tomorrow! I can't wait!

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I listened to this in full again today. I loved all of the performances and lots of the comedy lines and moments, trouble is I wrote a lot of them so it seems a bit vain to single them out! But hang it, regardless of who devised them, here are the bits I enjoyed most:

The best Rob scene was in the bedroom after the ghost has appeared: "Thank Crunchie!", that just made me laugh for some reason. Some of Pip's comedy lines were timed to perfection, including "I'm a fisherman (beat)" and the infamous sh***er moment (can't believe that stayed in!). Tim was very good in that he was inconspicuous in Episode 1 so he was a very well disguised villain! I loved the flashback to the cards game and the dramatic music. Some little references people might not have got - When Nick says "Maybe it's your imagination, playing tricks with your heart" he's quoting a lost Sinitta Eurovision entry! And "you should try my pork stuffed peppers" says the Doctor - pork stuffed peppers is a dish I've been making ever since I found the recipe on a packet of mince. I liked the Doctors line about him being the one who "wears the big white hat and the apron with the comedy boobies on". Also I liked it when the Fisherman needs the loo and the Doctor says "it's upstairs on the left. You'd better hurry - before it's too late... for all of us!". A bit of silliness there. I wouldn't have put the comedy cue on "stuffed bear I see" but for some reason it works and it's funny.

Best of all are the gentry making up the cast. Alex and Ash just sizzle with their enthusiasm in every scene, like they are making the most of every word ("Poor show! POOR SHOW!"). It's exactly as I'd hoped it would be - like an afternoon play with Christopher Benjamin and people like that in, proper wordy radio actors!

In fact I think it gets better with each listen - well done to everyone involved!

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Thank you all, it's nice to get feedback, makes it all worthwhile!

Just noticed the story clocked in at 55:27 - episode one was 27:55, episode two 27:32. Nice and even! I didn't have to cut much at all and I think the story worked okay without the missing Scene 3, which may be "published" online someday as part of Planet Skaro Audios reference hand-e-book!

[Alex]

I've just listened to this today, sorry for not doing so earlier but I wanted to be back to full health so I'd enjoy it properly! Anyway, I think this is one of the best yet, as much as I'd enjoyed the Doctor's trips to various planets, it was nice to have him back on Earth in a more traditional thriller.

I thought everyone was excellent, with Paul again turning in an brilliant performance, and in some ways I'm glad I listened to The Crystal Eye first as it shows just how good Ali's performance in this is. I thought Pip was excellent too (and didn't really spot the variance in accent until it was pointed out on here), and the ending was suitably fitting - it reminded me of David Tennant's "No Second Chances" speech in some ways and showed our Doctor in a different light to which we've seen him in before.

The production side of it was superb too, so kudos to Pip on that side of things, and for his superb script too.

And thanks for the compliments btw, I really love appearing in these and can't wait to do so again.