FDA Lost Stories- The Foe from the Future

[brandynigma]

The Foe from the Future

The Grange is haunted, so they say. This stately home in the depths of Devon has been the site of many an apparition. And now people are turning up dead. The ghosts are wild in the forest. But the Doctor doesn’t believe in ghosts.

The TARDIS follows a twist in the vortex to the village of Staffham in 1977 and discovers something is very wrong with time. But spectral highwaymen and cavaliers are the least of the Doctor’s worries.

For the Grange is owned by the sinister Jalnik, and Jalnik has a scheme two thousand years in the making. Only the Doctor and Leela stand between him and the destruction of history itself. It’s the biggest adventure of their lives – but do they have the time?

This story takes place between The Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

[SiHart]

I keep very good things about this story, so I'm very much looking forward to hearing it

[brandynigma]

*gloat, gloat, gloat, snerkle*

[SiHart]

*blows raspberry* :P

[brandynigma]

A-freaking-mazing.

I honestly cannot find a criticism to level at this script. It's clear to see why it couldn't be made in 1977, but it works perfectly on audio. It's a weird mix of The Avengers, Hinchcliffe Body Horror, Hammer- and surprisingly little of Talons. There's one character with a similarity (if you look VERY sideways), and the use of time travel, but that's about it.

Plus, DWM are offering a free download of Part One- which is a great start and the story starts moving immediately. If you in any doubt of whether to buy this, download the free opener and judge for yourself.

[SiHart]

Loved the first episode! A very convincing recreation of the era- Tom giving his all in a very different way to the BBC audios of the last few years and Louise magnificent as always. Very much looking forward to the rest of the story now.

[Rob McCow]

Bah! It won't be very good. I know! I can predict these things!

[Si Hunt]

Episode 1 is excellent, spooky and atmospheric with a clear plot and some lovely but not intrusive references to the Tom Baker era - check 'em off; Dame Nelly Melba, Ginger Pop and, cheekily, "Destination: Nerva" (Butler the Butler).

Just one question - here, the Doctor offers someone a wine gum! Maybe Bassett's have copyrighted Jelly Babies so they can't be mentioned?

Si.

[brandynigma]

Episode 1 is excellent, spooky and atmospheric with a clear plot and some lovely but not intrusive references to the Tom Baker era - check 'em off; Dame Nelly Melba, Ginger Pop and, cheekily, "Destination: Nerva" (Butler the Butler).

Just one question - here, the Doctor offers someone a wine gum! Maybe Bassett's have copyrighted Jelly Babies so they can't be mentioned?

Si.

The Doctor doesn't always carry jelly babies. He offers Sarah a humbug at one point, and uses a bag full of liquorice all-sorts in The Pirate Planet. Jelly babies were just the most common.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Really great stuff overall. Loved the fruity perfomance from Paul Freeman.

Oh and I think the Doctor having a different bag of sweets in each story might be deliberate but I haven't heard Valley of Death yet so can't comment.

[SiHart]

We're half way through and enjoying it immensely so far. Very good script and very well acted...

[Rob McCow]

It's all been rather entertaining! It seems to have that 70's ethos of adventure storytelling that I can't really remember Big Finish ever doing properly before.

[brandynigma]

Had the following conversation with John Dorney about a character from this play- spoilered for those who have not heard the end.

"I do hope you find a way to bring Charlotte from the Village back- maybe as a companion between Seasons 15 and 16."
"She was rather excellent. Mind you, we've already had a Charlotte... well, Charley..."
"Vicki, Victoria?"
"... Good point. And she was very good, wasn't she?"

[Lissa]

This is the first Lost Story I've actually been enjoying in its own right rather than just as a curiosity piece. Tom is very good indeed, the atmos is very mid to late 1970s and I'm really looking forward to hearing what happens in the second half.

[SiHart]

Superb! Ever so entertaining and the era was evoked very well. I was very impressed and have given it full marks for a faithful recreation of the era, for great performances and a really good plot. In some ways it was a very traditional 6 parter, which was just a little too long perhaps, but it just about held together. John Dorney did a good job with both the script and finishing off the story itself, which didn't have a synopsis written for pt 6.

[Rob McCow]

The first half was excellent, but I felt it kind of lost its way a bit in the second. Once the action moves to the future, things became a bit confused. I lost track of the characters, which I clearly wouldn't have done had it been a TV production. The opening sections in the village were absolutely superb, however.

It was a witty script with lots of action and generally good fun. There was far too much nasty violence for them to actually make it for TV as shown, so I should imagine it would have needed a lot of work.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Maybe it did seem a little on the long side but at the same time it was nice to give the story a chance to breathe. Having had some space maybe I actually slightly preferred The Valley of Death which whilst less sophisticated in some respects than TFftF is a lot of fun.

[Junkyard]

I recently got this set as a download and 'The Foe From The Future' is absolute magic! Robert Banks Stewart was on great form when he wrote this and the performances are universally great. I thoroughly endorse all positive comments on this thread.