The Big Finish Catch Up: October 2015

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues;

First up this month was the second and final disc of the story started last month featuring the 4th Doctor, Romana and K9. This later part of the story is more enjoyable than the first half as there's less padding and it looks like it may be setting up things for later in the season. On a production level it really sounds like 70's Doctor Who whilst on the acting front Mary Tamm and John Leeson are also able to recapture their performances with Tom being... well Tom! There is a good guest cast with David Warner and Hayley Atwell performing well but things are let down by the writing and length of the story - there's a decent one disc story in here but its spread to thin, plus Nick Briggs is what I call a 'plot' writer trying to do a camp story and not pulling it off. Disappointing 5/10.

We move on to the Eighth Doctor Range starring Paul McGanns 8th Doctor and Sheridan Smiths Lucie. Now this is a single disc story that could easily be a double disc release, utterly brilliant with guest star Nigel Havers putting in one of the best one off performances I've heard. What I enjoyed about this story is that it feels like we're coming in during the final five minutes of an adventure and then pushes on in a completely new direction. It also feels like some time has passed by since the previous story in this range. The Doctor and Lucie feel like a team that has hit its stride - which makes the end come as a bit of a shock. From a story that starts out all action this is one of the most personal stories I've heard which is mostly down to the characters of Rachel and Nick Zimmerman. This season continues to be brilliant 10/10.

The final story this month was Power Play from the Lost Story range starring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the 6th Doctor and Peri. I must point out that I managed to hear this without seeing a certain character on the cover and it was rather a nice surprise. I found this story to be something of a tale of two halves, the first half being very good and threatening to be a bolter of a joy ride. However when the characters enter the compound it gets a tad dull and the geography of the story stopped making sense. On the whole I recommend this story as for large sways of it theres a lot of fun to be had. One thing I will say is that one of the guest actors struggles but I think its due to trying to recapture the character as I've heard her do good things in a certain main range story that contains a number in its title 7/10.  

As this is the final story in the third season of 'The Lost Stories' I'll be listening to (The Masters of Luxor and The Rosemariners I may come to eventually) I feel I should say something on the season. I recommend this season highly and feel the Fifth Doctor stories are the stronger with 'The Elite' and 'The Children of Seth' actually being rather special, the Sixth Doctor stories are all good solid stories and the more consistent of the six stories. I recommend the season and in all likely hood I'll be getting 'Masters' at some point.

James Bond - My top 10 favourite films

Good evening ladies and gentle viewers, a quick blog for you today. As I saw the recent Bond film Spectre, the other day I've decided to list my personal top ten Bond films. So without further ado;

10. The Spy Who Loved Me, what makes this film so good is the pairing of Roger Moores Bond with Barbara Bachs Anya Amasova. They constantly play off and try to outdo each other throughout the film giving the viewer loads of fun. Stand out moments include the car submarine, Jaws regular attacking of the main characters and the best villainous lair in the series.

9. Thunderball - IE the one with the sharks. Emilio Largo played by Adolfo Celi is one of my favourite villains and this film contains my favourite collection of supporting Bond girls. It also has my favourite performance by Sean Connery who spits his lines out with venom.

8. Octopussy, Roger Moore with his final gasp of greatness in a camp classic. Maud Adams is one of my favourites and this is my favourite of her performances. Louis Jourdan brilliantly camps it up as the villain and theres a shed load of women in belly dance outfits. The escape through the jungle is brilliant farce and even though we're in the 80's this film retains the swagger of the 70's.

7. Casino Royal, its very brave to say 'we're going to do something different' and after the Brosnan era this is a bit of a shock. Is it a proper reboot? I don't know however theres something mind blowing about seeing Bond get his license to kill! I want to like this film more than I do - I'm quite fond of it but feel it should be getting more from me. Its about financing terrorism a far cry from robbing Fort Knox, the Parkour chase is one of the best action sequences in Bond. We actually have a sequence in the middle that is a proper game of poker - and I mean proper, who hasn't been rivered by a jack in their lifetime. A really good start to Daniel Craig's run.

6. Goldfinger, theres something about this film that when its on - be it on an obscure channel or a Sunday afternoon matinee showing I struggle not to watch it. Its virtually a flawless film, so many scenes and performance that stick in the memory. Also its not as flashy a film as some of the others on this list, theres a few famous set piece scenes lite the ejection seat but its mostly deceptively small scale. Of note are the villains Gert Frobe as the titular character and Oddjob the ultimate henchman. Also Honor Blackman plays a  character called PUSSY GALORE!

5. From Russia with Love, this is a wonderful film that is tightly constructed and one of the few films that could work if you took Bond out of it and made it a thriller.

4. Live and Let Die, we're firmly in the category of films I could watch endlessly on a loop as I like them so much. The villains henchman has a claw for a hand - if you don't like this film you have no joy in your soul! Later in life after enjoying this film as a child I find out it was Moores debut - which adds another later to the film especially when he finally delivers the "Bond, James Bond" line.

3. Moonraker, perhaps the first Bond film I ever saw and the one Bond film I know inside out and backwards. Roger Moore at height of his run is having loads of fun whilst Lois Maxwell might be my favourite Bond girl. The locations in this film are brilliant from Venice to the Amazon. Drax is a brilliant villain - Michael Lonsdale and Moore are clearly competing to steal every scene they're in.

2. GoldenEye, Bond returns after 6 years and the film makers poor everything into Pierce Brosnans debut. Sean Bean is one of my favourite villains and whilst Brosnan plays Bond as rather superficial over the course of the film things get personal and of course theres the tank chase which looked brilliant on the big screen.

1. The Living Daylights, I know I'm in the minority but this my Bond. The first Bond film I saw in the cinema, the first time Bond had felt so dangerous, a very good plot for a Bond film and countless set pieces. Timothy Dalton is the first Bond I saw in the cinema and as such he'll always be the Bond that springs to mind, when I've read some of the books Dalton is the Bond I think of. The action set pieces are brilliant - THERES A CHASE ON A CELLO!