Doctor Who - The Hand of Peace!

[Dirk Gently]

Mr Tudor sounds very menacing at the end. Excellent work, Si.

[SiHart]

I'm sitting here with it playing on continuous loop and a stupid big grin on my face.

That's really made my day

Hooray! It's really wonderful the first time you hear what's been done with your words isn't it Jon?

That sounded awesome! Well done Si!

Si xx

[Martin Penny]

Very exciting trailer! Dave's sounding great in his non-Nick role!

[Paul Monk]

I love your avatar Martin.

[Si Hunt]

It IS a thing of wonder!

Si.

[Rob McCow]

Just listened to the trailer, it's great!

We sound far too professional now.

[Jon Masters]

Another hour - A WHOLE HOUR - to wait

[Si Hunt]

You'll survive it Jon!

Si.

[Si Hunt]

Episode 1 Now On-line: Right Click and 'Save Target As...' to save it!

Si.

[Jon Masters]

OK - Wiggins has poured me a large brandy, the fire is roaring and two young chambermaids are acting as footstools - lets see what happens

[Andrew Curnow]

I've just finished listening. I'll post more tomorrow, and I want to make quite sure not to spoil it for anyone - so I'll just say that the shocking reveal about three minutes before the end took me totally by surprise, and leads into a tremendous cliffhanger.

Actually, I will add a little bit more - I enjoyed Paul getting the opportunity to do some 'Timelord' stuff and also some computer hacking, and maybe it's just me but I also really liked the contrast between Ed's strand of the story (where he goes from UNIT to an undercover recce then jetsetting off to New York with the villain) and the Doctor's (where he goes to, erm, Somerset!!!).

Oh, and production wise I liked the way the opening theme suddenly cut out and the action began. Unusual move, but it made for a good strong start.

Now Jon, two chambermaids seems a bit excessive...

[Jon Masters]

Now Jon, two chambermaids seems a bit excessive...

Well I have got two feet

Stunning is the word - like Andrew, more to say tomorrow (I'm off for another listen straight away), but I'd like Dave Tudor to know - you nearly made me cry . Hats off to you Sir

[Andrew Curnow]

like Andrew

Aw shucks, I like you too Jon...

[cyberchris35]

I have just finished listening to part 1 and all I have to say is fantastic stuff. Brilliantly written acted and produced.

[SiHart]

I can't wait to hear this at lunchtime!

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

Great first episode, well written, well produced and good acting, particularly from Dave Tudor! Liked the news bits with Dave Taylor too, good framing device from Jon. Good choices of music by Si, I notice a lot of the TV Movie incidental music has been used in the last few episodes. The sound effects (slide projector, cameras snapping etc) made it seem very fresh.

A minor niggle - I thought it was a shame the audio quality of Kathy's lines were inferior to the rest of the recordings (especially after Blood Money sounded so professional). It took me out of the story for a moment, but I know it was the best that could be done and it's by no means a criticism of anyone involved!

[SiHart]

That was excellent! Best thing we've ever done (again!). Si your production is astounding on this- well judged music cues, wonderful sound design and there's a real sense of creeping menace throughout.

The cast were great too- but then I knew that when I was there recording their lines!

Si xx

[Martin Penny]

I thought that was excellent. It was nice that it felt more contemporary than any of the other stories we've done so far. Some very nice bits of writing, like the flitting back and forth between the Ed/Doctor strands of the story and the handy news reports.

Paul, I thought, was particularly good in this episode. I think his Doctor works well on these solo missions (like in 'Christmas Spirits'), and his 'child' Doctor voice was very good.

Dave was also excellent, sounding very different to Nick, and getting some rather emotional lines done in a very convincing way.

I love Jonno's peculiar voice as well, he sounds totally different than he normally does, and his portrayal and the writing keeps you guessing as to whether he is actually the villain or not.

[Rob McCow]

That was brilliant, I really enjoyed it! A really good build up to the big cliffhanger reveal of - Oh my word!

In general, I'm not in favour of using old stuff and having it as the main focus of the story. In this case however, it works really well. By using elements from the old series it gives it more of a feel and resonance with the TV show. Basically, it doesn't matter if it's a good story!

There were some quite shocking moments, especially the reveal about what had become of the Doctor's old friend. Dave as the Reverend is being quietly sinister too, he's bound to be up to something! I thought Jonno was great as Dr Jorgen, very villainous indeed, yet at the same time he didn't sound out of place in the press conference scene as an appealing-leader type.

Poor old Ed! He's always winding up in trouble. Tintin indeed!

[Si Hunt]

Thanks for your praise of the production Si, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I notice a lot of the TV Movie incidental music has been used in the last few episodes.

I may be mistaken, because I forget where the music has come from, but I'm sure the only bits I used from he TVM was the peice in the trailer. I didn't think there was any John Debney in the actual story at all. Am I wrong?

A minor niggle - I thought it was a shame the audio quality of Kathy's lines were inferior to the rest of the recordings (especially after Blood Money sounded so professional).

Yes and you've no idea how annoying that's been for me. Not that, as you say, it's anyone's fault. Ironically, it's simply because Martin's bits, recorded using our brand new mic, are so clear that it shows up the 'old style' recordings and it just doesn't gel. But what's really irritated me is that it's virtually the first scene. We could have got away with it if it was buried somewhere in the middle, but it's just two bits towards the start and then Kathy's only in cutaway scenes obscured by weather and radio effects anyway. I even started to post an 'excuse' for that scene yesterday, but decided it was silly to start putting it down beforehand as people might not find it such a big deal. But it's irked me that the story starts in a less satisfactory way, then gets better. On the positive side, it means everything to come is of the best quality!

And on the subject of the stuff I DO like - we were very lucky that the seague between the Reverends explanations of Crystallography techniques blends into Jonno's so beautifully... I swear the words literally overlap. A bit of good luck there for a change, but lovely all the same.

And my current Favourite Bit Of All Time ever is the scene with Ed getting shot in the car. As Mary Whitehouse would say, I can see it in my mind's eye! Love Martin's delivery of "get in the car! Get in the car!" and you get it here with the better music (as it had a different score in the trailer), the techno feel that I was aiming for for the whole story. Anyway, I really really love that scene, and that bit of the story altogether, as it's intercut with the Doctors experiences in the "dark places".

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

I think there's some TV Movie music in the episode as well Si - can't for the life of me think where now, though, but I did recognise it.

I have to admit, rather shamefacedly, that I don't know everyone's voices well enough to know who was playing who in part 1 - I gather from posts above that Jonno was playing Dr Jorgen, and I agree wholeheartedly that it was a really good performance. Is he a villain, or a stooge, we can't be sure, and the portrayal helps the ambiguity, being neither out & out menacing but also not being all that friendly.

I have to say the sound difference with Kathy's UNIT character didn't really bother me, so I wouldn't worry over it too much. About the only niggle I did have (and this may be simply because this week I listened to the episode on earphones rather than just from the speakers, which may have accentuated it) was with the footsteps when Paul & Dave were walking down the corridor - I just thought it might have been more 'realistic' if the steps had faltered, or even stopped for a moment, when Dave's character tells the Doctor about his wife dying. It's something of nothing, and as I say because I was listening with earphones I was probably hearing the footsteps more prominently than I otherwise would have.

BTW, after having listened to the episode I notice that Paul in the cover pic has that distinctive 'pink teeth' look - I'm surprised none of us noticed it before!!

[Rob McCow]

There's no getting anything past Andrew!

we were very lucky that the seague between the Reverends explanations of Crystallography techniques blends into Jonno's so beautifully...

That was really good. Not something you can do all the time, but as a little trick it worked fantastically.

Best thing though was that it was all so intriguing. The Hand of Peace organisation comes across as really mysterious and interesting. So many questions! What's happened to K'anpo? Whose side are UNIT on? What are they up to? Are they working for XXXXX? It's great to have a strong driving force of mystery to propel the story onwards.

[Andrew Curnow]

Absolutely - and the final few minutes have moved the story into a different direction, so that it really will be a long week waiting for part 2!

[Jon Masters]

I've been listening to this on and off all day on my mp3, usually with a big grin on my face. Knowing what's happening, I can't really praise enough everyone who's taken part. Jonno, Ant and the Daves have hit the spots exactly as I imagined them which I think is remarkable given the tiny character sketches I gave. Sorry to Jonno for all the technobabble ! Martin makes me laugh every time with his Torchwood line and his Sean Connery, and Pip's Anyhoo. And Paul just makes it sound all so natural and Doctorly and brilliant.

I also want to big up Si for his magnificent production. I know how much trouble he went to to get what I'd asked for or what he wanted and it all pays off. I love the slideshow and all the bleepings and camera stuff, and the music sounds custom-composed, rather than from a huge variety of sources - there are some scenes now I can hear in my head which the music has now fused with the action permanently. And all your hard work on the vocal effects was more than worth it.

Thanks to those people who've picked up on the mystery side of things - with it only being a two parter I was determined that by the end of Ep 1 you still wouldn't know all the answers, or even who to trust or not to trust . It seems to have worked out quite well.

All I can add is

Stay Tuned !!

[Andrew Curnow]

I think the butler ought to press your Hawaiian shirt for you to put on, Jon!!