New Big Finish Dramas

[Brandon Collins]

I haven't heard much about these, so I'm wondering if anyone purchased them at the fest, and if so, what do you think of them? I'm interested in buying them but I'd like to hear some reviews first.

[Pansity]

I purchased a set for myself and was delegated to pick up a set for a friend  who couldn't make the fest.  Haven't gotten a chance to listen, much less review them yet.  Too busy playing catch up after (from what I see from my post dates) about a year and a half away from here.  Not to mention the timesink which is working on the Fest photos for posting.

I've  reviewed the earlier dramas and the reviews are posted to my selby review site; however, I think these will be going on the DS photos site. More appropriate, I think, even though it means the Big Finish stuff  will be split.  LOL at least that means (at least until I manage my totally anal ambition of reviewing EVERY book written by a DS actor)that the review and pictures of Lara Parker in Mrs.Scrooge aren't all by themselves on a site with nothing but Fest pictures....

Suffice to say that whenever I have the finished reviews up,  I'll give everyone here a heads up.

Jeannie

[Zahir]

I've listened to a few.  They are a bit limited in scope, IMHO because they've limited their characters to a few "old regulars", i.e. Willie, Barnabas, Quentin, Angelique and Maggie with just a couple of add-ons.  Individually, I think they all are doing fine acting jobs, although methinks the weaknesses of the original DS show up rather a lot.  For example, one has to wonder when Barnabas is ever going to feed?  And the character of Quentin kinda screams to give him something to do, otherwise he's just flirting with women and sucking down brandy.

The supernatural threats are genuinely interesting and different from those we've seen before.  The last (so far) chronologically ends with a plot hole that I think leaves plenty of room for a sequel...
[spoiler]Quentin and Barnabas are trapped aboard the burning Lorelei, but think about it.  Quentin cannot die.  Period.  And Barnabas could simply vanish and reappear elsewhere, even if he didn't turn into a bat.  So Maggie may think them dead, but what are the odds, really?[/spoiler]

[quentincollins]

I've really loved the Big Finish DS audios. I'm dying to find out more info about the next audiobooks, the narrarators, etc. I 've heard that the next season of full cast audios are going to have more ongoing storylines thru the seasons and the individual releases will tie more closely togather which suits the series imo. I've also read that more actors from the original series will be used. I hope that Nancy Barrett will join the cast as a full time cast member as Carolyn, I think her prescence would go a long way toward making the series feel more like DS should. The Collins family needs at least one "normal" non-supernatural family member.
I encourage every DS fan to check these audios out. New stories with the original cast revising their roles are a dream come true.

[Janet the Wicked]

I've listened to a few.  They are a bit limited in scope, IMHO because they've limited their characters to a few "old regulars", i.e. Willie, Barnabas, Quentin, Angelique and Maggie with just a couple of add-ons.  Individually, I think they all are doing fine acting jobs, although methinks the weaknesses of the original DS show up rather a lot.  For example, one has to wonder when Barnabas is ever going to feed?  And the character of Quentin kinda screams to give him something to do, otherwise he's just flirting with women and sucking down brandy.

I agree completely. I think the acting is wonderful, particularly John Karlen. He sounds as though Willie has never aged, and John really puts his heart and soul into these dramas. Selby, on the other hand, sounds as though he left his teeth by the bedside. I think the stories are weak and the actor that portrays Barnabas reminds me of that old LP that Famous Monsters put out in the 60's - Famous Monsters Speak, if you know what I'm saying, and those of you who are my age do, thank you very much.

[Miss_Winthrop]

I for one enjoyed them.  I'm looking forward to more being released.  The idea of ongoing storylines sounds nice. It would be extra nice to have Nancy Barrett join up as a regular.  I particularly liked the performance of KLS throughout although the others did a good job to.

[PennyDreadful]

I have enjoyed them thus far and look forward to future stories.  Some are better than others, but they all have their fun aspects, though some of them do have drawbacks such as the ones pointed out by Zahir.  I think I liked the first one by Stuart Manning the best, but they're all enjoyable.

~Penny~

[Brandon Collins]

Thanks for the reviews, guys. I already have the first four dramas released. I was looking more for opinions on the latest two featuring Maggie Evans that were premiered at the fest this year.

[quentincollins]

I really enjoyed both of the Maggie audiobooks. There will be spoilers here for the new audiobooks.

[spoiler]KLS is great of course as Maggie and Alec Newman does great supporting characters in each. KLS doing an early Julia in Clothes of Sand is great, a loving tribute to Grayson.
Clothes of Sand has Maggie recovering at Windcliff from being Brnabas's prisoner,and being tormented by a mysterious voice only she can hear. This story fills in the blanks as to Maggie's time at Windcliff and is a good story.
The second story has Maggie returning to Collinsport after her second release from Windcliff post 1971. The story does set the stage for where Maggie is in life at the new audio series. It's interesting that the story is set in Collinsport, not in Collinwood. The point of view is told from the little people, far away from the wealthy Collinses. Maggie steps up quite nicely as the heroine here, without Barnabas, Julia or Quentin to save the day. A mysterious stranger to town is offering people contact of sort with their lost loved ones, and shortly afterwards these people are dying gruesome deaths. Maggie sets out to save Collinsport even as her neighbors don't want her interference. I thought this one had a stronger story and gives Maggie a stronger role. It is nice how the two stories show Maggie at different points in her life, growth and change between the two stories are evident.[/spoiler]

[Gothick]

Thanks, Quentin, for those fascinating reviews.  The title Clothes of Sand is a poignant one for such a story, and must surely be taken from the song by the late Nick Drake:

Can you now return to from where you came
Try to burn your changing name
Or with silver spoons and coloured light
Will you worship moons in winter's night.

Clothes of sand have covered your face
Given you meaning but taken my place
So make your way on down to the sea
Something has taken you so far from me.

It is nice that Maggie was given her own story in the second one.  I was watching some of the PT 1970 episodes two evenings ago and more impressed by KLS' performance than I had remembered. 

Best, G.

[Stuart]

The title Clothes of Sand is a poignant one for such a story, and must surely be taken from the song by the late Nick Drake...

it certainly is!  I love Nick Drake's music, and that song is really something beautiful.

[Gothick]

Stuart, is the script for Clothes of Sand your work?  Congratulations, if so!  I'd heard you had written some of the earlier dramas... I have not been able to catch up with the CD series, unfortunately.

cheers!  Steve

[Stuart]

Sorry, this thread strictly speaking is long dead, but I don't get time to check in here very often these days...   But, thought I'd mention that I wrote a blog for the Big Finish website, that talks about the writing and production of these two stories - you can read it at http://www.bigfinish.com/blog.aspx

[Lydia]

I like seeing threads revived, and I like your blog, Stuart.

[Julianka7]

Thanks for posting the link Stuart.
Any idea when the new dramas will be out?