One of the most fascinating ranges BigFinish have ever put out, I think we can all agree that the Lost Stories have been on incredibly shakey ground as of late.
Imagine charging full retail price for what is essentially a two hour long interview and a slightly modified version of a timeless classic. I don’t know what Nick Briggs was drinking when he agreed that this mess should be released, but one can only assume it was neat absinthe!
Another name for this thread could be The Lost Stories: Hall of Shame, because this range has pumped out some genuinely dreadful outings.
Some scripts were passed over for good reason. It’s fine if BigFinish find a diamond in the rough, but they shouldn’t be making stuff just because they found a missing script.
Here’s a perfect example of this: ‘Prison in Space’.
I personally find ‘The Krotons’ to be one of the most mind-numbingly boring scripts ever written… but thank the lords we didn’t get lumbered with this sexist tripe! Of all the missing Second Doctor plays that could’ve been adapted… this one? Really?
I want to know if there are any examples of Lost Stories you think should’ve stayed missing in action?
I’m glad The Prison in Space got released because it was a fascinating piece of what could have been. Likewise the risible Mission to Magnus and The Hollows of Time (although some of that was due to Big Finish decisions such as casting a middle-aged woman as a young boy in Hollows).
Genesis of Terror was a huge misstep though and reeked of a cash grab. Apparently it wasn’t due to be a standalone release but was to be combined with The Ark.
Obviously they realised that anything to do with Genesis of the Daleks will get fans to part with their cash and I do think this was one of their more cynical moves.
But aside from that, I think all of the Lost Stories are valid releases because, even when they are bad stories, they are a window on the past of Doctor Who.
I don’t blame Big Finish for Prison in Space. It was an actual script that was written for Doctor Who. But OMG it might be the worst thing ever written for the show. It is OTT sexist, but not in a way that suggests it wants to lampoon and/or criticize sexism…it seems to actually fully embrace the idea.
I understand it was written in a different era, but I can’t excuse it even for that.
BTW - I have the first x number of Lost Stories releases from BF, the first couple of sets, I think, but I had no idea they were still coming up with releases under that banner. Are they doing stories now that are based on every passing thought that was ever voiced in a production office?
It’s getting a little bit like that, although they have said they won’t ever be doing stories like Yellow Fever or The Lost Legion where there is very very little written documentation. That said, the recently announced Death World is apparently working from fairly scant information.
Like any other series of releases, there are going to be ups and downs. To me, they are not different from any other range. I just treat them like any other Big Finish release.
I don’t particularly care if they are based on the doodles on BBC toilet walls, as long as the stories are good.
They’re doing more than that. They’ve included a “lost story” that was just fanfiction written by a DW celebrity in their spare time (RTD, for one; they dramatized a story he wrote as a child. Not sure if others like that have been done or are in the plans, but it sounds like they might be running low on content for some of the Doctors, reverting to searching the toilet walls for any additional stories lol).
…so then Eric turns to me and says, “What if we do one that takes place on some kind of world, and then there’s a death that takes place…could we do something like that?”
That’s as far as we got with that idea, but sure Big Finish, if you guys want to have a go at it…
Cant say I get the hate for Hollows of Time… its been a bit since I listened but i remember really enjoying the sleepy, dreamy atmosphere going on. gravity shrimp, a robot turtle, and getting stuck in a car in space…
