The Big Finish News Thread - The War Doctor!

[SiHart]

It's a radical break from the past.

[Si Hunt]

They always have double-sided covers anyway, so the Scarf Wearing Whovian Fanatics can still have the usual font/logo, so I expect that won't change now.

Si.

[Stuart Wallis]

I realy like the cover and the synopsis!

You've always been taken in by an impressive synopsis, haven't you?

[SiHart]

It's true. if there's one thing I like it's...

[Stuart Wallis]

...turkey at Christmas, yes...

[SiHart]

Well of course

[Dirk Gently]

I like Turkey, in fact I like any well stuffed bird.

[Si Hunt]

I like a good stuffing.

Si.

[Stuart Wallis]

Ask nicely...

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Starting from yesterday over the next 12 days Big Finish are releasing a series of titles for sale on download only for just £2.99 each for a period of 48 hours.

Christmas day's offerings (still available until midnight tonight):

Day 1 - Lucie Miller and To the Death

Today's offering (available until the end of Thursday 27th):

Day 2 - Iris Wildthyme and the Claws of Santa

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Day 3 - Relative Dimensions (available until end of Friday 28th Dec)

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Day 4 - Death in Blackpool

Day 5 - Destination Nerva

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Day 6 - Stargate 1.1-1.3

Day 7 - Short Trips Volume 1

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Day 8 - Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles

Day 9 - The Judgement of Isskar

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Sorry been a bit slack with this but for until Midnight tonight (Sunday 6th January) the sale has been extended for a 13th and final day and for one last time all the items featured over the preceeding 12 days are available on download only for just £2.99 each.

Day 13 of the 12 days of Big Finish Sale

Doctor Who: Lucie Miller (Paul McGann - Eighth Doctor)
Doctor Who: To The Death (Paul McGann - Eighth Doctor)
Iris Wildthyme and the Claws of Santa (Katy Manning)
Doctor Who: Relative Dimensions (Paul McGann - Eighth Doctor)
Doctor Who: Death in Blackpool (Paul McGann - Eighth Doctor)
Doctor Who: Destination Nerva (Tom Baker - Fourth Doctor)
Stargate SG-1 1.1: Gift of the Gods
Stargate Atlantis 1.2: A Necessary Evil
Stargate SG1 1.3: Shell Game
Doctor Who: Short Trips volume 1 (eight new adventures)
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles
Doctor Who: The Judgement of Isskar (Peter Davison - Fifth Doctor)
Doctor Who: Cobwebs (Peter Davison - Fifth Doctor)
Dark Shadows: The Night Whispers (Jonathan Frid)
Doctor Who - Companion Chronicles: Find and Replace (Katy Manning - Jo Grant)
Doctor Who - Companion Chronicles: The Rocket Men (William Russell - Ian Chesterton)

[Nyder]

I know I've got a BF backlog, but I couldn't resist downloading Rocket Men for £2.99!

[SiHart]

This weekend has special offers galore!

Big Finish will be running a very special offer this weekend with the best Doctor Who releases of 2012 - as chosen by you! - being offered at half price.

We recently ran a poll on Facebook where we asked people to vote for their favourite Doctor Who release (single/double disc/story) of 2012. We said the most popular release would be discounted by 50% for 48 hours and that we would randomly choose one voter to receive five releases of their choice (single/double disc only) from the entire Big Finish range.

We are delighted to announce that Ian Tracy won the prize. He voted for The Curse of Davros and this was his comment, "I hadn't bought a Big Finish CD in years, and I got this one out of curiosity. It was brilliant and absolutely brought me back in as a fan of the audios in 2012. Not so great for my wallet, but TCOD was the start of an exceptional year for Big Finish I think." Congratulations Ian.

We had such fun with this poll and enjoyed reading all of the brilliant comments it just didn't feel good enough to offer 1 release...so we are offering the top release in each category. This means there will be a Main Range, Lost Story, Special, Companion Chronicle and Fourth Doctor release all on offer (download and CD).

The following 5 releases will available with 50% off this weekend (19th and 20th January 2013):

Special: Love and War (the overall winner with 12% of the overall vote)

"Because it's one of the best pieces of drama...Doctor Who or not...that I've heard in ages."

"Love and War showed what Big Finish does well, great stories well acted which capture the spirit of Doctor Who, just right. It has taken one of my all time favourite New Adventure books and has turned it into one of my all time favourite audios. Despite knowing the story so well, it had me gripped wanting to know how it ended."

"One of the most powerful and moving Doctor Who stories brought brilliantly to life by McCoy, Aldred, and Bowerman. It truly was a true "event" for the year and did not disappoint."

Main Range: Gods and Monsters (second overall with 10% of the vote)

"Because it's such an epic ending to a story spanning an almost uncountable number of years and features the return of one of the best villains ever devised."

"Gods and Monsters simply brilliant."

"I laughed, I gasped, I punched the air and I cried.... oh my word, how I cried. Absolutely stunning imagery throughout, a wonderful example of why Doctor Who is so perfect for the audio medium."

Companion Chronicle:The Last Post

"An absolutely stunning tribute to Caroline John, and her era on Doctor Who. That takes the cake for me, because it was such a stylistic and directorial triumph."

"It fully encapsulates what modern Big Finish brings to Doctor Who; a great cast, an amazing script, fabulous sound design, a perfectly pitched level of humour and just the right amount of truth to the source material (without being afraid to innovate though!)."

"A beautiful summation of Liz Shaw's era given extra poignancy by Caroline John's passing."

Fourth Doctor: Destination Nerva

"Not only was it most awesome having new Tom Baker stories to enjoy, but everything about this production, right down to the score, took me right back to my childhood!"

"Tom brought a new portrayal of the 4th Doctor to the audio which enhanced it. The script was well constructed and flowed beautifully. The cast were superb, the direction was stunning and the sound effects made you feel like you were in the story."

"Hearing the 4th Doctor with Leela again, I was transported back to 1977 and felt like a kid again. Thank you."

Lost Stories: The First Sontarans

"One of the first ones I listened to so helped propel my love of Big Finish and my favourite Doctor."

"A Lost Stories release that truly captured the feel for the era it was originally written for, yet seemed wholly up to date in the telling. A genuinely interesting take on an origin story for a favourite monster race that provided a well-told adventure in its own right."

"It finally gave the back-story to the infamous clone warrior race, it was like Genesis of the Daleks for the Daleks and Spare Parts to the Cybermen. I'm almost happy it wasn't made in the 80s so Big Finish could make it even more epic!"

The Top Ten best of Big Finish Doctor Who 2012 reads as follows:

1. Love and War
2. Gods and Monsters
3. The Curse of Davros
4. The Emerald Tiger
5.= Protect and Survive
5.= Destination Nerva
7. Voyage to Venus
8.= The First Sontarans
8.= The Wrath of the Iceni
10. The Butcher of Brisbane

[SiHart]

Oh my!

[Nyder]

This is one I'm really looking forward to!

[Si Hunt]

For anyone thinking of dipping into the half price offers:

1. Love and War
2. Gods and Monsters
3. The Curse of Davros
4. The Emerald Tiger
5.= Protect and Survive
5.= Destination Nerva
7. Voyage to Venus
8.= The First Sontarans
8.= The Wrath of the Iceni
10. The Butcher of Brisbane

Personally I found "Love And War" worthy but quite hard going as someone new to the story, but apparently if you've read the book it's great. "Gods and Monsters" is a rather confusing last third of a trilogy, so I wouldn't bother with it, although it is epic and you do get the return of Fenric. "The Emerald Tiger" is a really good Amazon style adventure for the Fifth Doctor and "Protect and Survive" is really good too; one of those "Chimes of Midnight" esque, oddball mystery stories.

"Destination Nerva" I found really dissapointing - if you're a fan of Nick Briggs and Nostalgia you'll probably be okay, but it's very unoriginal. Better is the Leela/Fourth Doctor historical "The Wrath of Iceni", and "The First Sontarans" is also very good. "Voyage to Venus" isn't bad, a Jago/Litefoot/Sixth Doctor story with a strong mystery to it, although you have to pay attention. "The Butcher of Brisbane" is a typically dense Marc Platt sequel to "The Talons Of Weng-Chiang", with lots to get your teeth into.

If it were me, I would go for "Protect and Survive", "Butcher of Brisbane" and either "The Emerald Tiger" or "The First Sontarans", possibly with "The Wrath of Iceni" or "Destination Nerva" chucked in if you fancy a Tom foray.

Some really good stories on offer here though.

Si.

[SiHart]

Steve has instructed me to buy Love and War.

I was surprised to see Destination: Nerva on the lost to be honest. All the other Toms from last year were better than that load of old drivel, although it did have good music.

[Si Hunt]

Did you subscribe back to December and get "Night of the Stormcrow" with your subscription Si? Now that one was good!

Si.

[SiHart]

No. I was going to but I realised that taking up that offer would leave me with 2/3 of the 1963 trilogy which I really wanted, so I got The Last Post as my freebie instead (which I hear is a good CC).

[Nyder]

I'll probably buy The First Sontarans in the sale. I'm glad I read Love & War shortly before buying the BF audio. I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much otherwise.

[Stuart Wallis]

Oh my!

Return of the Puppet Government...?