Listened to The Blind Painter last night, was okay. RD did pretty good, though in the beginning he talked a little too fast at points and I really had to concentrate to listen to what he was saying.
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By the time Eloise showed up though, he had mellowed out his performance a little. The whole beginning half I was listening, I was getting frustrated about the bestower of Charles' gifts, but they ironed that out later. I must say that when Petofi finally did show up, the actor's performance went off the rails CRAZY and I was almost laughing at it. Petofi never sounded that manic. I did laugh though at the gypsies. Oh man, I hope whomever did that voice had listened to Grayson and Thayer to catch their speech patterns, because it was spot on. The end was a little.... yeah, okay.
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Interested in some of the ones being released this year, it seems #23 The House by the Sea doesn't feature any of the original or 90s cast. (But does feature Colin Baker of Dr. Who fame.) Could be an interesting way to branch out the series and characters, but also hangs on the fact that not having the actual cast of DS may make some people uninterested.
I must also say that I hope they fill in some of the missing years with Alec Newman because I totally love his performance.