As always very well written review! You articulate my thoughts exactly; only thing holding this back for me from being a 5* like part 6 is is the pacing and how much is going on in parts 1-5.
Soooo excited for the second set to see if it keeps up part 6’s momentum
Have to second this, I love a Coldstream review!
Thanks for reading and the feedback; it’s much appreciated!
Excited to hear what Tim has cooked up for us for the second set…
I WANT DRAGONS!!!
I think Tim Foley should write for TV, if the rumours are true and RTD is considering his successor please can he make it James Goss or someone
I would adore James Goss as showrunner. It’s vanishingly unlikely but I would absolutely love it.
I think the writer focused approach is definitely allowing for more creatively interestingly stories to come from Big Finish. I love all of Big Finish, but where they have allowed a writer to have control of a boxset does seem to be leading to very interesting releases!
Listened to this last night.
It’s some really good world building and a great story so far but I think everyone has really overblown the “reveal” in this.
I rushed to get it, a range I would never otherwise try, because of the huge amount of hype and people saying that the next box will spoil things so I must do it now.
This much hype always has me rather disappointed in the end but I was especially disappointed because of what it was. Spoilers:
People were saying “they’re gonna have to change the next cover!” so I knew it would be actor-related.
Honestly I thought it was going to be an introduction to a character we hadn’t seen before with Big Finish.
Maybe a companion or Doctor that had so far not been used.
But then I thought, this can’t be the way they add Matt Smith or anything, too secret, so maybe it’s a character we already have coming, they just did it early!?
My thoughts were going to the Thirteenth Doctor - that certainly would be hugely surprising, but doable, she is already on the books and coming out soon.
But it was Paul McGann.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Eighth Doctor, but he’s in so many things. He’s practically part of the Big Finish furniture.
They probably didn’t even need to get a special trip for this, he was probably in the studio recording something else and they just got him to come and say a few lines.
I guess it’s exciting if the next box set has some multi-Doctor stuff, and is this the first time since the Main Range that they’ve interacted?
But really. It was so much less than I was expecting with all the hype.
I must not let myself get swept away and imagine things in my head, it always ends badly for me lol.
Boy am I glad I ended up buying this.
Part six just had me going “What?” about as often as 10, and everything leading up to that point had been so good. I need Hooklight 2 now.
The hype isn’t just for 8. This isn’t just waiting 3 hours to hear 30 seconds of Paul McGann. Stating the obvious, his presence does not automatically imply quality. There are many stories with him in, that I don’t like for other reasons. This isn’t a boxset based on a twist, the whole story is the point
I, personally, was locked in and fully with the story by the end of episode 1. The reveal that the 8th Doctor is the Oracle comes alongside the reveal of what the Sword of Time really is, and what the Hooklight lamp actually is, and who the Nighguard really are. The fact that 8 is also there is just icing on an already incredible cake
Yeah, people are shocked at the end, but there’s the whole rest of the story too that it feels like you’re writing off as just some stuff that happens before the important bit
Obviously, I’m not saying you have to like it. I’m just clarifying why I (and probably other people) did
Oh no I wasn’t writing the whole story off. I said I enjoyed it. And I loved those other reveals.
I’m just saying I let myself get carried away with the hype everyone’s been saying and thought that was a bit of a disappointment!
I’m midway through a second listen to this, and just got to the part where the Doctor notes that the robot that pushed him through the time fissure has a scratch on its eye. In the post-credits scene, “The Oracle” is specifically noted as wearing an eye patch - could he be using it to see what the robot sees, perhaps…
I’m very curious how much we’re going to get from “The Oracle” in the second set - he is confirmed or implied to be involved in the original defeat of the Hooklight, the formation of the Dawnbrides, the overthrow of the Halcyon in the present, and he has some kind of master plan which has been going on with Davlin for millennia, and is somehow due to come to fruition before Adric arrives instead. That’s a lot of ground to cover, so I hope we get a good balance with 5 and his team - presumably this will be partially offset by pairing him up with Adric, which should make for an interesting dynamic as a fan of those two characters 
Loved it. My favourite TARDIS team in a High Fantasy epic. The world & all the supporting characters are well fleshed out & everything is so vividly realised by a combination of great writng, acting & sound design. Even though it shifts focus between different characters & locations quite often I never got lost. There was clarity in Foley’s script.
It was heavily influenced by Tolkien of course, in fact Hooklight itself is basically the corrupting ring 
seen in his epic. But its all so engaging & well plotted.
As for the ending, yes it may have been over-hyped - all it means is that now we have a multi-Doctor story & haven’t we seen a lot of that from BF? I would have preferred some other character as The Oracle; the Spymaster maybe? - but Hooklight is so much more than that final twist. I’m eager to see how this continues.
My only real gripe, I am sorry but no there is no possible way anyone could mistake Adric for the Doctor!
I think the ‘hype’ train is unfortunate for people listening once that begun. Before it came out we were just excited for a 12 part 5 epic so it was a huge shock!
True. Tbh I wasn’t really thinking about it as I listened, I was totally immersed in the story.
It’s been a while since I’ve wanted to listen again to a recent BF release. Even rarer with something as lengthy as this. But I want to dive into Hooklight again!
Same! I still have a stack of new (to me) BF audios to listen to, but I really just want to relisten to Hooklight again.
Trailer for part 2. Release date 15th May.
FYI this is a link to X (formerly known as Twitter)
Call it Twitter, don’t give into him! /srs
I call it Xitter. Mostly because it sounds a bit like s**tter, which is what is these days…
Great trailer! [Major Hooklight 1 spoilers] I’m glad that McGann isn’t in the trailer or on the cover at all!
I still find it very funny how the cover makes it look like Adric has one really big boxing glove on at a glance