I will keep banging on about Eleven & Valarie until the cows come home. It is actively going into my Eleven TV run when my next rewatch happens. It’s a great season of the show. I think it’s the most consistently good thing BF have released.
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I need them to do a sale sometime soon! You guys have really persuaded me I need to listen to them
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There were rumours going round that - because Safiyya Ingar still wants to make more Valarie stories - BigFinish could potentially resurrect the Companion Chronicles for the modern era.
Hope the rumours are true, because it’s likely the only way we’ll get more 11 & Val outings and 11, Amy & Rory ones (with Darvill being well on board with the company).
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That would make me really happy. I hope it happens, but if not, we have a perfect series and a short trip. I don’t know what Matt Smiths take is on doing BF stuff, but it would be great to get them together to do some audio. But I do worry that the chemistry will be off compared to Dudman and Ingar.
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So I actually had the pleasure of meeting Arthur Darvill at a recent convention and got him to sign my copy of ‘The Lone Centurion’.
I mentioned how it would be great if himself, Matt and Karen got the band back together for some audio adventures and he responded with;
“Matt probably wont ever do these. It’s not his thing.”
So who knows.
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With House of the Dragon taking off, it’s very unlikely Big Finish can even afford him at this point in his career.
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It’s a shame but, eh well, never say never. Tom Baker has been prolific after years of saying no.
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True, though compared to someone like Tennant, a lot of Smith’s post Doctor Who series and films have basically curled up and died.
Anyone remember that atrocious Terminator film he did?
Don’t worry, I don’t think anyone does.
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Now, controversial opinion here, I genuinely think Tom Baker is one of the weakest performers - if we’re just looking at the BigFinish releases!
I feel like the directors indulge him far too much when they really need someone who can reel him in so we actually get some coherent stories.
If you want a perfect example of this;
Here you go! The performance is just a real crock of [REDACTED]!
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His earlier work on the 4DA is great for me, and I often find his domineering presence (and his renewed chemistry with Louise) has lifted some quite mediocre scripts.
I’m not surprised that as he gets older his work is getting more phoned in, and how much more phoned in could you get than recording the first draft of The Ark In Space and selling it for full price?
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I sincerely hope you’re not including the garbage first series of 4DAs in that.
Honestly, there is only one time I’ve found that range genuinely worth listening to - and that was Series 6.
About the only time Tom Baker’s audio performance has been consistently good throughout a series (though Series 3 comes pretty close).
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I disagree, but I’ve only heard maybe 10 stories from that range, and I’ve loved every one. But hey, opinions are like…
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Yeah, garbage is a pretty strong word. There’s some good stuff in the first 4DA, I’m thinking Wrath of the Iceni, the Master two parter is good fun too. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s a lovely 70s hug. Even Energy of the Daleks isn’t as bad as Nick can usually get with his scripts.
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I’m part way through and inclined to agree with you. It’s spectacularly good! Genuinely original in places, fantastic settings and stories with absolutely on-point characterisation. Phenomenal!
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Oh, you really really should! They are golden. 
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ritual to manifest an 11DC sale soon
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Obligatory link to the thread where we gush over the series.
Does have some spoilers.
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I listened to The Crystal of Cantus last night before sleep and gosh this one is bleak
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How has this absolute tour de force not come up?
The absolute horror that is the Cybermen shows up on full display. The slow creeping threat of the Cybermen taking over 1930s Berlin mirrors the creeping threat of fascism at that time and gives a dishearteningly prescient reminder that history repeats itself. The performances from the cast in the box are phenomenal. I am so glad we get one final memory of this unexpected and spectacular team next month.
It’s a dark, brutal listen that you very much need to be in the right headspace for, but it’s one of Big Finish’s all-time greatest works in the same ranks as Spare Parts, The Chimes of Midnight, Jubilee, Series 7V, the Charley arc with 8 and 6, Lucie Miller’s arc, and the Evelyn/Hex arc.
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Oh I absolutely agree. Tom is hugely indulged by the directors but I think BF managed to reign him in after whatever he was doing in the Nest Cottage audios which are the nadir of audio Tom for me.
Funnily enough there was a comment in a DWM review for an audio Tom is in (Morbius I think, but I might be wrong) where the reviewer basically says Tom is terrible but it’s Tom so we let him off. I’ve never chimed with the godhood Tom is granted by a chunk of fandom.
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