PS Audios Season 1: Ratings Thread!

[Si Hunt]

Wasn't he supposed to be dressed up or something?

Yes, we always remembered it as the Bongo Bongo's, so that was why I put that in!

Si.

[Si Hunt]

I must say I'm loving all this appreciation of the back catalogue, and it's spurring me onwards with production on the next adventure. It's my aim to have it completed by the time you get there with your reviews!

Si.

[SiHart]

Wasn't he supposed to be dressed up or something?

He was- he had a big coat and hat on according to the dialogue.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

He was- he had a big coat and hat on according to the dialogue.

Oops! I do try and pay close attention but I was trying to do some work at the same time as making occasional notes of the bits that really made me smile. Anyway that makes sense then.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I must say I'm loving all this appreciation of the back catalogue, and it's spurring me onwards with production on the next adventure. It's my aim to have it completed by the time you get there with your reviews!

Si.

Very soon we'll be ready for the scores on the doors for season one!

What I'd like to do if you two creatives don't object is work through all the Ed Bradley stories chronologically (finishing with Time Bees rather than Once Upon) and rate of all of those in a dedicated thread and then carry on with the remaining Rob and Nick Adventures from The Paradise Machine onwards (I'll do my beloved Baron of All Seasons immediately prior to Blood Money as they're effectively part of the same story).

[Si Hunt]

But what will you do if, hypothetically, we then do a new story featuring Edward Bradley?

Si.

[Martin Penny]

I loved "Keepsake". I don't think I've actually listened to it since it first came out, but I thought it worked really well as a bridge between two "epic" stories. Loved Ant as the Toymaker (his costume is great too!) and found this to be a far more entertaining use of the character than his only televised appearance.

Also remember laughing at the joke about the boring trilogic game.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

But what will you do if, hypothetically, we then do a new story featuring Edward Bradley?

Si.

I'll listen to it on release. Unless such a hypothetical new story appears within the next 2-3 weeks (as I'm hoping to speed up a bit with these reviews) the issue will purely be academic. Obviously it would be nice to get around to reviewing all the releases so far before 4.4 comes out but if I don't manage it I won't lose sleep about it.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I loved "Keepsake". I don't think I've actually listened to it since it first came out, but I thought it worked really well as a bridge between two "epic" stories. Loved Ant as the Toymaker (his costume is great too!) and found this to be a far more entertaining use of the character than his only televised appearance.

Also remember laughing at the joke about the boring trilogic game.

Again something I missed out. I really must've been tired last night, plus waiting a week between relistening and writing the review didn't help.
I have heard the audio version of the original TV story and it is boring so those references were very much appreciated.

[Paul Monk]

Keepsake was rubbish because I wasn't in it!


(I am of course kidding)

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Keepsake was rubbish because I wasn't in it!


(I am of course kidding)

Tell me about it. The first two parts of Magical History Tour were such a drag as well...

Proper review coming up.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Magical History Tour -
Initial overview- This is a really fun play but with some great moments of pathos as well. The choice of music to convey the various settings particularly during the 1967 sections adds a whole extra layer of enjoyment to the proceedings. The classical guitar arrangements of Here, There and Everywhere and Yesterday which become synonymous with Nick and Brian's relationship are particularly stunning.
Characters - Rob still manages to stay the right side of annoying, only being deliberately so when confronted with rather obvious envy from Brian. However I love his interplay with Emma in particular on which more later.
Speaking of whom Emma is a great character though I can't help wishing that rather than trying to tempt Rob away from more travels in the TARDIS she'd attempted to go with him. Like Ben in Keepsake this is a another character I'd love to hear more of thanks to a great performance by Kathy Riedtmann.
Nick really is at the heart of this story for me as if I'm honest the scenes set in 1967 are my favourite parts. The interplay between Dave Tudor and Si Hart's sensitive version of Brian Epstein is well balanced and so their inevitable farewell is genuinely heart rending.
When The Doctor finally appears with an almost slightly too long but still very well delivered opening gambit at the end of Part Two it is a very welcome return indeed. Paul's interaction with all the other characters is great.
Next up and oh dear it's that young man again, Anthony Williams gives another enjoyable performance as Ricky Bonham who makes the transition from misguided assistant to his equally misguided Dad to a sympathetic supporting role, in particular love the delivery of "It's Ricky" when Mrs McCow says there is a Dickie at the door.
And hooray for the return of Linda McCow after her brief cameo in Keepsake. Particularly love how she fails to react to virtually anything Rob tells her including admitting to touching up his girlfriend.
For me the star turn of this play is undoubtedly Andrew Clancy as Professor Bonham. He comes across very believably throughout and even manages a fairly convincing metamorphosis into Black Sam. The relationships with his children are also a real joy to listen to.
Harold and Hilda make another appearance proving that their time line is almost as complicated as that of River Song.
Lastly I must pay tribute to the trio of pirates Martin, Pip and Wayne whose array of at times great and at times hilarious accents are great fun to listen to. Props also to Martin for a very likeable Freddie Mercury.
Finally a special thanks to Si Hunt for arranging the "appearances" by Lulu and Cilla Black. Cilla's line about everyone loving her when she has just been shot is actually surprise, surprise-ingly moving.
General Remarks -
The opening scene in which the pirate accents are at their most OTT reminds me of G&S's The Pirates of Penzance.
Love the very effective nightmare sequence- for some reason Danny Ramsay's nightmare from episode 1 of Neighbours springs to mind.
Love the very effective slap (even despite now knowing how Si produced it).
I did find myself surprised at Emma telling her brother about Rob touching her boobydoo but the scene when Ricky confronts Rob about it and later tells his Dad are great pay offs from it.
Great to have the Doctor briefly appear in the flashback.
Love the first scene with Ticket to Ride on the Time Space Visualiser.
Love Rob's dialogue with his Mum referencing the events of Soap of Fatal Death and Keepsake and the Bongo Bongos getting another mention.
Note that during Nick's great dialogue with Brian we get the first proper mention of Nick's backstory of not knowing his own people and being raised by the Doctor.
Love Rob breaking the window and the climax to part one.
Love the psychadelic music during Nick's psychic attacks.
Not sure what to say about Steve's hilarious Yoko Ono impression.
We get a second reference to the Sparkle Tribe so hooray for that.
"OK Ricky do your Wicki!" - oh dear!
As for the Lulu quote after the end of the Part 3 - There's no answer to that!
Anthony Williams gets to save the day again!
Rob does a deliberately annoying "Doctorr!" - another trademark introduced.
Not sure about Nick referring to Emma as "The Mangy Dog"!
"Steal our wenches and rape our behinds!" Ohh-kay!
Love the Pirates being defeated by Celine Dion.
And so we get to the Doctor's confrontation with Nick over Rob previewed as a flash forward in Soap. It does have a slightly odd feeling to it so I'm glad the Doctor makes peace with Rob before the end.
Why does the phrase "Time gash" seem rude to me? Perhaps a Miracle Day hangover on my part.
"I'm washing my hair for the next 20 years!" - love it! (although I still think she should have gone with him and I'd love to know whatever happened to her and Ricky - and Ben from Keepsake and Rob's Mum)
Overall love the way the whole storyline pans out especially Bonham becoming Black Sam.

So that's definitely 9/10 from me but wait a minute...

After the final closing theme that sounds like Father Christmas and who's he talking to... Vera Jundrey!!! Can't Wait!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Consequences - Before we get to The Christmas Gnomes (which won't be tonight as I've not relistened yet) a few words about this little extra Meanwhile in the TARDIS scene which nicely resets the relationship between the Doctor and Nick after the emotional climax of Magical History Tour.
I think Paul and Dave really do give their all in this scene and the return of the musical motifs of Ticket to Ride and Yesterday from MHT really help recreate the emotional pathos. Particularly when the latter kicks in as Nick says "The bloody web of time."
Love the delivery of "I do still believe in you."
And as for Nick wanting to settle down one day... well that's for another time

8/10 (only losing marks because it should've really featured as part of Magical History Tour)

[SiHart]

I really struggled with the Doctor's dialogue at the end of part 2. It needed to be something pithy and off hand really, like he does this kind of things all the time and I'm still not entirely sure I got it completely right, but it just about works.

I loved the 1967 scenes immensely. They were heavily researched after I'd suggested the 60s setting to Si, as was the life of Brian, and while they were hugely fun to write. I very consciously gave Nick lots of 60s phrases in his dialogue after spending all those months there, and have tried to make sure that some of those carried on into the rest of his stories where possible.
Brian is the best character I've played. It's not a straight recreation of Mr Epstein, but I did watch as much film of him as I could just to get a general impression of him. When you have a scene as well written as the one Si gave me at the end with Nick, it's easy to play. It jumps off the page. Both me and Dave really went for it on the day we recorded it and it was all a bit emotional by the end!

As for Consequences, it was written just before Christmas Gnomes as a short story to go on the website. I felt we needed to sort things out between Nick and the Doctor before they go off and have a fun adventure again. It would have felt wrong not to. Si suggested we do it as a mini-play and adapted it from my story and I did the production on it for the first time. Paul and Dave really gave their all to it I think, but the production doesn't necessarily do them justice. Hey ho.

[Si Hunt]

Oh memories. Not listened to this for many years, and I'd forgotten most of that!

Not sure what to say about Steve's hilarious Yoko Ono impression.

That was always my favourite bit!

"OK Ricky do your Wicki!" - oh dear!

I'd love to know whatever happened to her and Ricky - and Ben from Keepsake and Rob's Mum

Oh do keep listening! You might find out...

Si.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

For me the star turn of this play is undoubtedly Andrew Clancy as Professor Bonham. He comes across very believably throughout and even manages a fairly convincing metamorphosis into Black Sam.

Thanks very much for that This was the first PS Audio where I attened the recording session in person and I was quite nervous.
I'm quite fond of Bohman too and I think I did an ok job with the voice. I think that with a bit more preparation on my part I could have done it even better (I learnt that day that its better if you actually read the script before turning up to a recording)!!!
I was very pleased with Bonham's laugh - I think I only recorded it a couple of times but it must have pleased Si as it appears much more often than that in the play!
As always the character is only as good as the script and character description etc - so really the two Si's need to take the credit for the prof.

One of my favourite memories of this was hearing parts 3 and 4 for the first time round Si Hart's house. The room errupted into laugher at the point where Cilla gets shot - I had totally forgotten what I had said at that point and it's so brillaintly edited together!!!

I'm not too sure about my Black Sam - I think by saying fairly convincing you my be doing me a favour!!!

Incidentaly the secret of Black Sam's identity was all there in the opening 3 words of the story for anyone who was able to tell it was me doing a terrible pirate impression. I was always worried that some people would recognise my voice and that the whole "Who is Black Sam?' thing would be ruined. Amazingly not even by best friend since my school days sussed out it was me!!!!

I still really like Magical History Tour. There are some great characters.
As for Bonham well I've played 3 or 4 large or largish characters in the PS audios so far (as well as a lot of cameos) and I think that the prof is probably my personal second favourite of the lot - my favourite one being an old American oaf by the name of Gene Bradley!

Loving these reviews Richard - do keep them coming. As many of you know I am very fond of these audios and often come on to PS to shamlessly gush about how great everyone is!!!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

It's a genuine pleasure Andrew.

I love the nostalgic feeling that these stories have garnered since their initial release (of course both Magical History Tour and Christmas Gnomes already came with a great big layer of nostalgia on top to begin with!), it makes them feel really special to listen to.

Anyway at some point this evening I will be writing up my review of Doctor Who and The Christmas Gnomes and then it will be time for my scores at the doors for season one!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Well, here we go again...

The Christmas Gnomes

Overall I really like this one. It is a definite contender for the most Christmassy story of all time whilst managing to still a proper adventure involving horrible murders, the after effects of war and family feuds during the festive season.
I particularly love the musical choices. Particularly the use of the Home Alone soundtrack and also the Cloud City theme from The Empire Stikes Back which fits really well. I also approve of Pip's use of the Batman Returns score during Part 3 before returning to Cloud City for the Christmas dinner scene at the end giving the play as a whole a nice circular feel.
I also really liked Mr Hunt's choice of a Christmassy opening title theme for Part 1 but (whilst acknowledging the creative differences between the three producers) was slightly disappointed that it wasn't reused for the closing theme of that episode or for any of the subsequent parts.
By the way have I ever mentioned how much I love the frequently used dadaa reveal moment bells cue. I'm sure you know which one I mean

Moving on swiftly to the characters:

Doctor Who - Paul is clearly enjoying being back in his stride after coming back from the dead in Magical History Tour. This is his most assured performance to date. I particularly enjoyed his early scenes when he completely distrusts Father Christmas' motives and thinks that they are in some kind of fantasy.

Rob is back to being very likeable in this play, his interaction with Craig being a particular highlight. "Easy Love" gets a mention on the McCow check list.

Nick is on great form, particularly in the scenes with the aptly named Vixen (a special acknowledgement due here to Jody Monk) and his genuine horror at the return of Scott.

Father Christmas -Dave Taylor is a wonderfully jovial Saint Nick (love that he tells Scott off for calling him Santa!) His interaction with his wife is very believable and yet lends itself to some great humour as well. I love how Dave plays so character so unrecognisably differently to his great down to earth performance as Ben in Keepsake (yes that is a hint).

Vera and Scott - It was a no-brainer that these two would one day return after they stole the show in Echoes of the Protii. To have them back for a Christmas story is a double-stroke of genius. Vera is wonderful as ever despite her singing (ouch! who just threw a coconut at the back of my head!)
and I particularly love her interaction with the Doctor and Father Christmas. It was a slight shame that she and Scott, having worked so well as a double-act in Echoes didn't really get to appear together in this one. Although I appreciate that due to the family plot he has been supplanted by Vera's real grandson Craig (on whom more shortly).

As for Scott, he seems more pervier than ever and Mr Williams plays it wonderfully ("...and half unwrapped I see.") In hindsight (and I am writing with my tongue in cheek knowing that a lot has happened in 4 years since this play was recorded) it seems a shame that Scott escapes at the end as it would've been nice to have had him go out in a blaze of glory.

Rudolph - I really like Tim's nasal lisping voice for the head reindeer. I also really liked the other reindeer (especially Vixen as already mentioned) and I've made a note that Comet (Ant Cox) was another particular favourite and Ashley as Prancer for his "mention ye not" lines.

Kestero - an intriguing character who I'd forgotten until I relistened this afternoon escaped with Scott at the end. There's definitely a sense of unfinished business here and I'd certainly love to hear Jonno reprise this character at some point.

Craig- I think Pip manages to pull this one off very well considering how young he's meant to be. Love his initial scenes in the cell with Nick and Rob and especially love the later scenes where he calls Vera an old cow.

The Christmas Gnome voices were all really great as well and a final special mention must go to Si Hunt as The Transforming Fridge (great use of sound effect as well!).

Some more general comments on thinks I particularly liked / found interesting:

Love Father Christmas always calling him "Doctor Who" and Rob and Nick using this as a joke at the end. Lucky they weren't on the fields of Trenzalor.
Love the idea of the rooms containing different Christmasses especially the Home Alone one.
Love the Doctor's horrified reaction to seeing Vera and her improvised line about him running into her life again and again and again.
Loved Vera revealing that Admiral Fisk from Echoes & Nightmare of Eden was gay.
Loved Nick's dream about Vixen.
Loved Vera's scream at the Part One cliffhanger - very Terror of the Vervoids
Loved Father Christmas' outraged "No you jolly well can't dear" when Vera asks the Doctor for a kiss.
Great choice of foghorn for the comedy nose blow.
Love the way Vera says Doc-tor (rather reminiscent of Rob on occasion).
Love the music cue on "It's Scott!"
"Kneel" "No I'm not doing that again" - Sorry, what happened? (mouth agape!)
Love Rob refereeing during the Christmas family row.
As Scott put's it "The Gnomes are rather stupid" but very funny and I like that they appear to have Dalek guns.
Notice a mention of Kalrexia and Kalrexian colonies. That name rings a bell, do I sense an arc coming?
And finally predictably love "And incidentally..." and especially the pithy response "Who are you talking to?"

8.5/10

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

So my scores for Season One are as follows:

Echoes of the Protii - 7/10
Soap of Fatal Death - 8/10
Keepsake - 8/10
Magical History Tour - 9/10 (1st Place)
Consequences - 8/10
The Christmas Gnomes - 8.5/10 (2nd Place)

Three stories are tied for third place but if forced to choose I would pick... Keepsake

[Si Hunt]

Yay! I'm glad "Keepsake" is a favourite as it was the first one I wrote alone. There'd be lots I'd do differently today of course - it was literally sketched out in a day as I'm sure I'm always saying, so there would be more meat on the bones today. But, slender, fluffy little thing that it is, I've always been rather fond of it.

"Christmas Spirits" is a big glittery patchwork quilt of a story, one of very few (only one?) to have different people do the production on different episodes. I hope you've taken a look at the cover on the website and enjoy that too, since I made it myself in a weekend of glue, fake snow and painting.

Si.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I rely on the website pages to help me keep track of the whole cast so I don't favouritise too much.
Just went back for another look and I do prefer the model cover to the Planet in Space one. I like the fact that it had to be transported lock stock and barrel to your parents' house to be photographed, I think I'd read that bit before but I'd not taken on board how big the model was. Very impressive

[Rob McCow]

*blushes*

To have them back for a Christmas story is a double-stroke of genius.

*more blushes*

I'll write a fuller reply later, such an upbeat review deserves one!

[SiHart]

As for Scott, he seems more pervier than ever and Mr Williams plays it wonderfully ("...and half unwrapped I see.")

That is possibly my favourite PS scene of all time (that I didn't write anyway!). It's wonderfully slutty and Ant and Dave really spark off each other, with poor old Steve relegated to playing second fiddle. Absolutely wonderful stuff and the music is fabulous!