These can be purchased at the fest and still get the preorder price, correct?
Big Finish are not able to accept money orders, because of bank processing costs. However, the CDs will be on sale at the Dark Shadows Festival, where you could pay in cash.
Terry308, I'm with you there. Jonathan Frid still has such an elegant and expressive speaking voice. He'd sound great in these and might be able to record at a studio near his home so he wouldn't have to travel far. Hey, you never know, maybe if they do more of these he'll join in.
Does anyone know if Barnabas is going to be in these audio dramas? If not, how sad! :'(
What about credit cards?
Jonathan Frid was asked to participate in the new recordings but declined, wishing to remain retired.
Agreed, Rainey.
He's retired and moved on ... He gave us almost five years of Barnabas on the show, for which I'm grateful. He doesn't owe anyone anything. Sure, I'd have loved for him to participate in the audio dramas but I can certainly understand why he declined.
On a related note, I wonder how they'll explain where Barnabas is in these audio dramas? Would they DARE to *gasp* re-cast the role?!
While I am disappointed he declined, he totally deserves to enjoy his retirement. Imagine if you're in your 80s and have been happily retired for years, but then your old job calls you back in to ask you to work some more. Maybe for him, at this point, it wouldn't be fun anymore like it is for some of the younger actors involved. He went through a period of his life a few years back where it WAS fun to revisit DS and do one-man shows and plays, but maybe now it would just be hard for him to have fun doing this kind of thing in his 80s.
That being said, I still can't help but wish he'd do it even if it was just once because he still has such a great voice and created a cultural icon in the role of Barnabas- but I do respect his right to remain retired and not participate if he cooses not to.
On a related note, I wonder how they'll explain where Barnabas is in these audio dramas? Would they DARE to *gasp* re-cast the role?!
I'm almost positive they'd never recast. My concern is that they may feel compelled to refer to him, and what happened to him, at some point, and therefore they'll have to decide whether Barnabas is a human being who is physically in his eighties, or someone who somehow, yet again, managed to be turned into a vampire, staying the old Barnabas physically.  Both have problems.  The first strains credulity, and the second is, I don't know, sad.
Hey, I just thought of something. Are the audio dramas going to be official? What I mean is, if something happens to a character in one of the stories, say for instance Quentin, does that mean that's now part of the DS story line?
Hey, I just thought of something. Are the audio dramas going to be official? What I mean is, if something happens to a character in one of the stories, say for instance Quentin, does that mean that's now part of the DS story line?
I agree, no one can replace Jonathan as Barnabas!!! Jerry Lacey is a good actor, but he has too distinguished a voice as Trask to do Barnabas.
I hear a booming, overdone (in a great way) voice from Lacy and I think Trask.  Parallel 1970 Trask never qualified to me.  So if JL manages a good Barnabas voice, I could be won over.  Great acting for the character would win me over completely.
[spoiler]I only wish a PT Trask had appeared in 1841 PT. Flora & Julia had said there were Trasks there, they owned the bakery on Front Street![/spoiler]
A bakery?  Suddenly I am imagining a partnership with a lady barber who supplies him with all the pie fillings he needs, cheap.  They never did plagiaristic homage to Sweeney Todd... I wonder if it was on Dan Curtis's famous rip-off rolodex?
LOL Magnus! I actually saw Sweeney when I was in NY for the Fest, it was FABULOUS! I highly recommend everyone seeing it! Anyway, you're right, that would have been a great rip-off for DC, but somehow I think Standards & Practices at ABC would have put the kabosh on cannibalism, LOL! ;)
I actually saw Sweeney when I was in NY for the Fest, it was FABULOUS! I highly recommend everyone seeing it!They'd better move quickly. The last performance is tomorrow. ;D Supposedly, there will be a national tour of the show beginning next summer, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
A film version of Sondheim, or a film of the story that predates the musical?Of Sondheim. Depp has said in recent interviews that he will obviously have to take voice lessons for the role.
Apologies if this is getting a little too far off topic. :)
They'd better move quickly. The last performance is tomorrow. ;D
[spoiler]...i will say that mangus trask's fears came true as they did do a re-cast for barnabas.
that is so pointless and unecessary!i know that he is supposed to be the set piece character for this whole thing but if they couldn't get frid they should have omitted him as a character.with quentin and angelique on board they could have come up with an interesting story without him(although some reference was an inevitability).to me this re-cast did a tremendous discredit to the four original actors who participated.why not just say "you guys aren't good enough".i suppose this is just a set-up to this actor playing barnabas in the next three installments of this series.but like i said so unecessary.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]So who did they get to play Barnabas on the audio tapes?? I agree, rather against DS canon!![/spoiler]
[spoiler]I suggest that those of us who are mainly JF fans rather than of the show in general not buy the audio tapes[/spoiler]
--I myself am very picky about the DS stuff I will buy.....
I wasn't aware that they were able to get Cobert's music for the project. That certainly adds to the attractiveness of the recordings in my book.
news about an upcoming surprise on the CDs.
http://www.darkshadowsreborn.com has been updated with a special offer for the remaining two CDs in the series, plus news about an upcoming surprise on the CDs.The site says it is a cameo of a former cast member--perhaps JF? (hope hope hope...! :D)
The site says it is a cameo of a former cast member--perhaps JF? (hope hope hope...! :D)
yeah maybe he phoned it in! lol
yeah maybe he phoned it in! lolQuoteThe site says it is a cameo of a former cast member--perhaps JF? (hope hope hope...! :D)
The website says the secret scene was recorded at the Fest. I'm hoping the castmember is Nancy Barrett.Â
Big Finish Productions contacted me many months ago asking me to forward a proposal to JF about doing a cameo in the new audio dramas. I did. JF declined citing wanting to remain retired.Â
The website says the secret scene was recorded at the Fest. I'm hoping the castmember is Nancy Barrett.Or maybe Betsy as Vickie? Or even Donna as Sheenasma's favorite character (chortle!) Amanda Harris?! >:D
I hear in story three Doctor Who materializes in the Drawing Room.
Just trying to make trouble... (I've been listening to a Big Finish Who story.)
And Tom Baker has always been my favorite Doctor.
Welcome, Scott_H! [wavey] He wrote for the Dr. Who audio series, btw.
Btw - not sure if you were talking about me back then - but I'm afraid I've not written for the Doctor Who audios... not yet, anyway! Just Dark Shadows for me at the moment - sorry!
I was looking at (I thought) Dr. Who CD titles and came across a writer's cred in your name. Oops?You might be thinking of Scott Alan Woodard, who wrote the fourth DS CD, "The Rage Beneath"... He's contributed to the "Doctor Who" range.
You might be thinking of Scott Alan Woodard, who wrote the fourth DS CD, "The Rage Beneath"... He's contributed to the "Doctor Who" range.
Well, this isn't where I saw it before, but I do recognize the title ("Oracle Of Delphi")-- http://www.androzani.com/bfbscds.shtml
I just posted my review of 'The House of Despair' in 'Current Talk.' I am also going to post it over on my 'Shilling Shockers' message board.
The website says the secret scene was recorded at the Fest. I'm hoping the castmember is Nancy Barrett. A cameo from Carolyn would certainly fit the promise that it will toy with our emotions.
Just idle curiosity here - so feel free to ignore this - but dare I ask which one...? I'm ever so slightly intrigued!
Did anyone catch the cameo of the "Man on the Train"? I would never have caught it myself, but I got a clue at the Festival. I got confirmation from Stuart and Scott. I will respect their wishes and not reveal who it is, but thought I'd post the hint to spark some discussion.
Now you've got me wondering! I went back and listened to it and altho the voice sounds vaguely familliar, I can't tell who it is. My guess is that they did something to change the actor's voice?
Oh I'm dying to know.
That's his actual voice - no treatment at all... and I'm not saying who it is, even though it was openly revealed in the recent ShadowGram update! ;)
BUT it occurs to me that the person might be someone who was not at the Festival.Â
Welcome, The Doctor and K9!
Enjoyable review. [thumbleft] A spoiler box was added to the mention of a particular (tense) scene.
It's one of Big Finish's upcoming "Bernice Summerfield" CDs, which I guess is a sort of "Doctor Who" spin-off range... So, um, yeah: that's me!
I"m especially looking forward to the DAVROS miniseries! One thing I like about Big Finish is their willingness to dig deeply into characters like Davros, the creator of the Daleks. If Book of Temptation is any indiction of your writing ability, I'm sure I'll love the Davros CDs. I'll get to the Benny story eventually. I bought Seasons 1-4 during the summer sale. I'm currently in the middle of Season 4.
its not all coberts music but there is plenty of it. one mistake i noticed, they were playing blue whale music in maggies coffee shop? i guess maggie jazzed up the place and installed a juke box and loaded it with the same popular tunes that the blue whale had!
CDs 3 and 4 have fallen foul of some unexpected production delays, outside of our control,Thanks for the explanation! I'm eagerly waiting for the next CDs--you are doing a wonderful job! [santa_thumb]
Oh I don't know about that- I mean, the next story is a Christmas story and they can't get it ready in time for Xmas 2006?? Maybe there should be a change in management.........
I really think that there must be a valid reason for the delay. I am very disappointed, of course, but Big Finish has always been a reputable company. I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
BTW Nancy, with all of your aforementioned experience, why don't YOU take over??
Rest assured that Big Finish is commited to Dark Shadows and I can confirm that, based on the sales of the initial CDs, the company will be producing a second series of four plays, which will be released from Summer 2007.
Okay, but I feel you should've sent individual e-mails to all the subscribers explaining the delay. I only found out about the delay ON THIS BOARD, and feel that the situation could've been handled better.
Stuart, this is great news! I'm glad the sales on the first CDs have been good. I'm looking foward to any and all future installments!
Would I have liked to be informed? Sure. But I'm not pist about it.
Oh I'm not pissed, I didn't even order them because frankly they don't interest me. But being one who has worked off and on in the retail biz for 20 plus years, it's just bad customer service to not tell people whose money you already have that what they bought from you is delayed.
[santa_wink]
And in other areas, I don't really care that the CDs are going to be late. Would I have liked to be informed? Sure. But I'm not pist about it. After all, at least it was mentioned HERE, rather than NOT AT ALL. So kudos to the person who originally brought up the CDs being late.
On another related topic, I've avoided posting about plot issues because I have not figrued out how to get that spoiler box around plot details. Any help would be appreciated.
I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out some of the controls here. In my last post, I basically quoted myself. I was trying to fix a problem I had with a previous post. I clicked the "reply modify" button.
I wanted to make the word FANTASTIC bold and italicized.
[b][i][u]FANTASTIC[/u][/i][/b] or-- [i][b][u]FANTASTIC[/u][/b][/i] The text goes inside the opening and closing tags, the tag with the slash always comes at the end (never the beginning), and note that the order of the opening and closing tags is so that they are mirror images of each other.In the previous post I tried to qote another poster, but did not get the quote box around it.
On another related topic, I've avoided posting about plot issues because I have not figrued out how to get that spoiler box around plot details. Any help would be appreciated.
[spoiler]spoiler-y text goes here[/spoiler]I apologize for any annoyance with regard to the duplicate posting.
Supposedly there are boxes you can click, but I've never seen them, so I type the word...
The spoiler feature is my own addition to the system and, unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the time yet to create an icon for it that displays along with SMF's other BCC features. :( For now people need to type the two spoiler tags in their posts on their own
Hopefully this explanation isn't TOO confusing, LOL! <santa_grin>
P.S. You don't have to bold or underline the words SPOILER, nor change their color or font size! <santa_wink>
There was no delay in taking my money.
when money is paid up front for said product, in this case MONTHS in advance
Well, I FINALLY got an e-mail from Big Finish, but it seems too late in retrospect. I only hope they learned from their errors....
Well, I FINALLY got an e-mail from Big Finish, but it seems too late in retrospect. I only hope they learned from their errors....
My experience may not be typical, but while I did preorder months ago-- at the Fest, actually-- the charge wasn't applied until the end of October (in anticipation of a November release, I'm assuming) and it appeared on my November bill, so no, I did not pay months in advance.
I did not know this. However, what about ppl who paid in cash? Or even checks? And still, they DID charge your card when they THOUGHT they'd be shipping out the product, so you have now pre-paid for something that is delayed. So an email to you wouldn't be out of line. ;)
Probably what they should do in the future, and really ALL company's should do this, is what Amazon does. Charge the credit card ONLY AFTER the product has actually been shipped.
I did receive an email. I only explained my experience with the pre-charge to dispute your claim that payment was made "months in advance." It seems that you're searching for some fault on which to hang your hat. The company attempted to notify its preorder customers, offered an apology, and provided a firm release date. If no one has anything new to offer regarding this issue, then it should be given a rest here, and personal complaints should go to the company.
I'm only agreeing w/what others here have said. Why am I getting raked across the coals for AGREEING w/other cousins comments?? I personally couldn't care less about the future of this company so have no reason to complain to them, especially since I'm NOT complaining! I'm merely AGREEING w/others when they say they should have been notified!
I have been given permission to put Frid's one man show material on DVDs and CDs but fan attitudes like yours have definitely made me think twice about it. Fans cry and carry on about wanting DS to carry on, sign petitions and the rest of it and then when someone does try to do that there's hysteria over a delay in production.Nancy, I can understand your reluctance to take on a major task like putting Jonathan's shows on DVD, but I have at least half a dozen friends who would scoop that up in a heartbeat, they are primarily fans of Jonathan and Lara like me, so would not want to buy most general DS merchandise, but certainly would those DVDs, as some of them did Lara's new novel---I also know some non DS/JF fans who loved seeing his show, and gave him a standing ovation...
Since I, like Buzz and a few others have mentioned here, am not really interested in buying these CDS at this point, could someone please satisfy what might be the curiousity of some of us not getting the CDs and answer how they explain [spoiler]the change in Barnabas' appearance in the Cds, an Adam-experiment, a spell by Angelique, or, or????Some interesting possibilities come to mind.[/spoiler]
Thanks a lot!!
[spoiler]I appreciated that the different voice is explained by a plot twist-- as Angelique says, Barnabas "walks in another's footsteps." So the different voice for him wasn't at all jarring to me when I first heard it.[/spoiler]because, quite honestly, I think it's unfair to give up a major plot revelation on a public forum, not in the course of discussion, but merely to satisfy someone's curiosity, especially when the CDs are so readily available.
I don't think there will ever be an "official" progression of the series beyond the original's end that all fans will accept, but these are a real fun way to revisit the series.
*sighs* I contacted a rep from Big Finish on the 12th and she said they should arrive any day since they were shipped on or shortly after the 25th of Jan. I'm wondering if just my copies fell off of Widows Hill....Hey RachelDrummand, any luck yet? Your saga is almost as intriguing as a DS storyline.
Hey RachelDrummand, any luck yet? Your saga is almost as intriguing as a DS storyline.
I am enjoying the 3rd & 4th CD's. Love to listen to them to and from work. Takes my mind of my hellacious day. Anyway, I would like to know what year these stories take place. If it is modern day, why haven't they changed the music in the juke at the Blue Whale?
Didn't Luciaphil write a hysterical story on the old Lighter Side BB about how Bob the Bartender was such a cheapskate at the Blue Whale, he refused to buy any new 45s for the jukebox and just let the same 3 songs play over and over again? I still crack up every time I think about that.
One thing that I'm curious about though... [spoiler]When did Barnabas die? Was it in Lara Parker's book?[/spoiler]
[spoiler]I think it took place sometime after Quentin left the house and before he returned, if I remember correctly the monster in The House of Despair killed him and took his soul when he fought against them.[/spoiler]Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.Oh! Thanks, Arashi! [bigok] I'm going to listen to "The House of Despair" cd again. I guess I missed it when I heard it before. [6184]
I'm just wondering when the new CD from Big Finish is coming out...you know, the one with the interviews and stuff. It said March, but now it's April. Was there a delay again?
I still haven't recieved my copy, and it's been nearly a month since they posted the announcement about the CD finally being released... I just don't know how long to wait for it to get here because usually I get it within two weeks of the announcement of it being sent out.
I spoke with Stuart briefly at the recent Con. He told me he had started gathering ideas and writing but nothing was really concrete yet.
Personally I can't wait to hear them!
can you buy these sets in stores? OR just on the website?
The audio dramas are a licensed continuation of the series but they are not officially "in continuity." Anything that happened or was mentioned in the 1966-1971 series is really the official DS canon. However, it's up to each individual fan to cobble together their own version of what's in "canon." These audio dramas, IMO, come closest to the "feel" of classic DS. The first one, in particular (IMO), really captures the feel of DS.
what's the difference? I mean i'm a bit confused. i want the entire story NOT just part of it. ya know?
what's the difference? I mean i'm a bit confused. i want the entire story NOT just part of it. ya know?
what? that's out of print? that like JUST came out NOT long ago! i NEVER saw it in ANY store when & i did look! [8311]
MPI may offer it on their website.
I just noticed that the DS Reborn website is down.
I wonder what the hold up is for the DS downloads---I'm also waiting for Sapphire and Steel! *getting impatiant*
it allows us to do some offbeat stuff, like getting Alec Newman onboard. Ever since Big Finish got the license to do Dark Shadows, I'd hoped we'd get Alec to do something for us, and he's utterly brilliant. I'm bound to say that, obviously, but really, he is.
also one quick question on the downloads for the DS audio plays which i found on another site someone had uploaded there. is it free to join? & do you have to buy something to download it? or is it free to join & free to download?
& as for which one is my favorite so far? the x-mas one. that's so far my favorite one. i can't wait until i listen to the next one. which i plan on doing within the next day or so.
also one quick question on the downloads for the DS audio plays which i found on another site someone had uploaded there. is it free to join? & do you have to buy something to download it? or is it free to join & free to download?
I haven't recieved any responce from BF on this, and the reply isn't in my spam folder either so I don't know what's going on. If you are able to forward the email or any info to me my address is slayer@junct.com
Does anyone know if there will be more DS dramas made after the Angelique story? [ghost_smiley]
The Dramatic Readings releases are a secondary range to keep Dark Shadows moving along for Big Finish between the full-cast seasons. Series two is currently being written, and will resolve the cliffhanger we left The Rage Beneath on, fear not.
David Warner I remember as a great Jack the Ripper in "Time After Time".
David Warner- now that's impressive!
i've skipped the audiodramas after the first one. the stories didn't captivate me after the novelty of hearing those "iconic' voices together again wore off.
but frid and karlen together again is a real temptation. i'll pick this up. [ghost_wink]
Blood Dance arrived today, and of course; I dropped everything and listened!
I've yet to be disappointed by any of the CDs. Blood Dance arrived today, and of course; I dropped everything and listened! As usual it did not disappoint. It was great to hear Lisa Richards again.
I love that the folks who make these CD's have gone to tremendous efforts to bring together the actors from the original show, but the writing stinks. Please look at what the fans are writing. There's a lot out there that is quite nicely done and true to our characters.
Prospective writers: If you're interested in writing for the Dark Shadows audio dramas, we now have a set of writing guidelines for listeners with story ideas. For more information, email webmaster@collinwood.net
This "real" writer will be happy to provide a complimentary clothespin for the nose of anyone who needs it. Just drop me a line.
I thought Echos of Insanity was horrible. Every track was redundant. Willie goes on and on about his past with Jason and sounds like a raving lunatic. And how is it that every bar in Singapore is equipped with Blue Whale jukebox music? Very sloppy, folks. Research, people.
I think I read that the intention was that Night Whispers takes place before season 1 of the audios.
i'm very surprised to hear that there are those unfamiliar with the series but are listening to these readings.
I could not figure out how to paste in the link.