Big Finish: Neverland / Zagreus / Scherzo - Live Blogging
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/267258.html">Live Blogging Neverland, Zagreus & Scherzo by < lj user=persiflage_1>
I designated today 'Big Finish Day' in order to re-listen to Neverland, Zagreus & Scherzo, and I thought it might be useful to me to live blog the audios. I'll update this post as I finish each audio. Warning - spoilers follow:
Neverland
The story starts with a recitation of historical facts of Humanian Era from the crash of the R101 onwards, and then other voices reciting historical facts relating to Gallifrey.
It now seems odd hearing Charley with Eight, instead of Lucie (or hearing Charley with Six).
Eight: We, the dull men in the big collars have convened an enquiry into the matter of your involvement in the recent Nimon assault on planet Earth and expect you to submit evidence of your actions in detail so stultifyingly unnecessary it'll make your head bleed. - LOL
Eight: Don't worry Charley, it's perfectly... (Famous last words!)
Eight: It's the party to end all parties. And I happen to think the best assistant in the universe deserves the best party in the universe. - Aw, sweet...
Charley's 'Wendy grew up speech' ( here as typed up by amaresu). I wondered which other companions might have made that speech? I think Liz Shaw, Sarah Jane (even though she didn't choose to leave the Doctor), Romana, and Martha.
Eight calling Vansell 'Nose-bung' makes me giggle every time!
Levith patronising Charley - it's a wonder she didn't get a smack!
Don Warrington is excellent as Rassilon
Eight sees Romana as Imperiatrix (see the 'Gallifrey' audio series) in the Matrix.
Eight threatens Romana if anything happens to Charley.
Eight's piloting of the Time Station's no better than his piloting of his TARDIS!!
Vansell's really sarcastic about Eight's fondness for Charley.
Romana: The Doctor is full of surprises, Vansell. But his one abiding characteristic, whichever body he wears, whatever gibberish he speaks, however erractically he acts, is his unerring sense for what is right. I trust him absolutely. I always have.
Madam Icy-drawers - Charley's description of President Romana. LOL
Vansell's getting his ire on and ranting at Romana to justify what he plans to do.
Eight petting the TARDIS when the Neverpeople have returned it.
Eight and Romana talking gobbledygook to cover their conversation against the Neverpeople
Romana: Are you loyal? Come on quick! The whole of reality may hang on it.
Vansell: Madam, I will serve you until the stars decay and the cosmos is naught, but a dying ember in eternity's fire.
Romana: Well, the next five minutes will do.
Charley telling the Doctor that he must sacrifice her is incredibly painful - far more than Doomsday was.
Zagreus
Charley's mother accuses Charley of having a head full of turnips - before giving her a carrot and referring to her as a bunny!
Eight: Books! Fantastic! I love books. I prefer books to people on the whole. Masefield, Dickens, Kipling, Shelley, J M Barrie, Fleming
Charley's speech about knowing her own mind, and knowing whether or not she's ill is interesting & philosophical.
Yay for Nick Courtney! Charley met the Brig in the somewhat controversial 'Minuet in Hell'.
Eight: The answer must be here. Ship! It has to be. This is a library. Answers are always in a library. So why can't I find the answers?
The Brig: Memories, Miss Pollard. Clutching at straws, you see.
Charley: I'm not sure I follow.
Brig: You had a pet rabbit once.
Charley: Mopsy. As in Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter.
Brig: Memories are important Miss Pollard. Some say that we're little more than the product of a lifetime's memories. Time Lords even more so. - The Fifth Doctor, in 'The Five Doctors', says "A man is the sum of his memories you know, a Time Lord even more so."
Nana Saviltride - Evil TARDIS
Destroying universes is so passe! LOL
TARDIS!Brig tells Charley that he's losing bits of his consciousness.
Eight wandering around looking for Charley, begging her for her help. Until Zagreus takes him over.
Eight tells the TARDIS he hates people who write in books, and tells her not to let him do it again.
The big explosion made me jump!!
Peter Davison - Yays!
I love voice-spotting all the regular Who actors who're playing different roles.
Maggie Stables (aka Evelyn Smythe) as the Great Mother: Oh do belt up, Cassandra!! - LOL
Woot! Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as Provost Tepesh and Ouida!!
Oh blimey! Colin Baker smarming over Nicola Bryant - that's scary!
Tepesh: Pish and Tosh! - LOL
Charley: The Universe needs the Doctor. The Universe doesn't really need Charlotte Elspeth Pollard.
Charley introduces the idea of regeneration. Oops!!
Ace is a duck! :D
The Jabberwocky scene with not!Five, not!Six and not!Seven is hilarious!!
TARDIS!Brig asks the Doctor what his idea of friendship is, then explains what it means to the TARDIS. Berates the
Doctor for not asking the TARDIS' permission to destroy her when he materialised her around the Time Station. Then
rants about how the Doctor couldn't let Charley die but happily destroyed the TARDIS. The Doctor's surprised by the TARDIS' jealousy of Charley.
The Hairdryer of Rassilon? The Hoover of Rassilon? The Patent Rassilon Trouser Press? - LOL
Rassilon: One doesn't make history in a shed at the bottom of the garden. - Er, yes you can!
Eight: You can summon her like that?
Rassilon: Like snapping my fingers. - Moffat?
Charley: You can't take him [the Doctor] to parties - namedrop hell! :D
Brig!TARDIS complaining about girls leaving dirty underwear on her floors, spending hours in her bathrooms, crying and sulking in her bedrooms. - So jealous.
Leela: The wound is mortal. Tell the Doctor I died bravely.
Romana: Stuff and nonsense, the bullet winged you that's all. Elegaic music dies dramatically.
Leela: You are sure?
Romana: Quite sure.
Leela: Then why are we wasting time? [They move off] Tell the Doctor about this and I shall burst your eyeballs with my thumbs
Romana: Not a word, *brave* hunter. . - and thus begins a beautiful friendship! LOL
Charley's very hurt when Eight is telling her that there's nowhere for them to go, that he can't stay in her universe because of the anti-Time that fills him still.
Leela: Everywhere you go, they tell tales of the Doctor. There are galaxies far away from here where children sleep more soundly knowing he's out there fighting off the demons. And the demons twist and turn in fear, knowing that their enemy awaits. So long as the stories are told, he's never really gone. - I particularly love this speech of Leela's.
Scherzo
The Doctor feels that he and the TARDIS are redundant because the Divergent Universe has no Time.
The Doctor's a bit ruthless with Charley after they leave the TARDIS. He calls her 'a silly girl' when she says that he has her in this universe. He says he wanted to die alone - that it was his decision to do so, and he's angry that she's betrayed his sacrifice by remaining with him.
When Eight asks Charley why she stowed away on the TARDIS she says it is because she loves him. He loves her too, which is why he sacrificed himself, but does not know if he can ever forgive her for her betrayal.
The Doctor: "So you love me."
Charley: "Yes. Yes I do."
The Doctor: "And is that it?"
Charley: "Isn't that enough? If you knew how hard it was for me to say that..."
The Doctor: "Not half as hard as it was to listen to." - this conversation's very painful.
The Doctor, having told Charley in Neverland that he loved her, denies his love, which angers her, although it's not entirely clear whether or not he actually means what he's saying or if he's just uncertain. Early on in this play he tells Charley that his declaration of love in Neverland was made simply because she was about to die, which seems very cruel (and very Tenth Doctor-ish too).
The Time Lords believe the Doctor's companions are 'momento mori' - reminders of death - because they're short-lived humans and Time Lords are long-lived...
This audio's very intense and thought-provoking. It's particularly interesting to compare Eight and Charley's relationship with that of Ten and Rose (if you're so inclined) because of the things the Doctor does and doesn't say to each companion. You may remember Ten tossed off a "quite right too" in response to Rose's "I love you" in 'Doomsday' (he also couldn't bring himself to ask Ida Scott to tell Rose he loved her in 'The Satan Pit', even though he doesn't really believe he's going to survive his trip down into the planet's core). Yet Eight says 'I love you' quite easily to Charley in 'Neverland'.
I designated today 'Big Finish Day' in order to re-listen to Neverland, Zagreus & Scherzo, and I thought it might be useful to me to live blog the audios. I'll update this post as I finish each audio. Warning - spoilers follow:
Neverland
The story starts with a recitation of historical facts of Humanian Era from the crash of the R101 onwards, and then other voices reciting historical facts relating to Gallifrey.
It now seems odd hearing Charley with Eight, instead of Lucie (or hearing Charley with Six).
Eight: We, the dull men in the big collars have convened an enquiry into the matter of your involvement in the recent Nimon assault on planet Earth and expect you to submit evidence of your actions in detail so stultifyingly unnecessary it'll make your head bleed. - LOL
Eight: Don't worry Charley, it's perfectly... (Famous last words!)
Eight: It's the party to end all parties. And I happen to think the best assistant in the universe deserves the best party in the universe. - Aw, sweet...
Charley's 'Wendy grew up speech' ( here as typed up by amaresu). I wondered which other companions might have made that speech? I think Liz Shaw, Sarah Jane (even though she didn't choose to leave the Doctor), Romana, and Martha.
Eight calling Vansell 'Nose-bung' makes me giggle every time!
Levith patronising Charley - it's a wonder she didn't get a smack!
Don Warrington is excellent as Rassilon
Eight sees Romana as Imperiatrix (see the 'Gallifrey' audio series) in the Matrix.
Eight threatens Romana if anything happens to Charley.
Eight's piloting of the Time Station's no better than his piloting of his TARDIS!!
Vansell's really sarcastic about Eight's fondness for Charley.
Romana: The Doctor is full of surprises, Vansell. But his one abiding characteristic, whichever body he wears, whatever gibberish he speaks, however erractically he acts, is his unerring sense for what is right. I trust him absolutely. I always have.
Madam Icy-drawers - Charley's description of President Romana. LOL
Vansell's getting his ire on and ranting at Romana to justify what he plans to do.
Eight petting the TARDIS when the Neverpeople have returned it.
Eight and Romana talking gobbledygook to cover their conversation against the Neverpeople
Romana: Are you loyal? Come on quick! The whole of reality may hang on it.
Vansell: Madam, I will serve you until the stars decay and the cosmos is naught, but a dying ember in eternity's fire.
Romana: Well, the next five minutes will do.
Charley telling the Doctor that he must sacrifice her is incredibly painful - far more than Doomsday was.
Zagreus
Charley's mother accuses Charley of having a head full of turnips - before giving her a carrot and referring to her as a bunny!
Eight: Books! Fantastic! I love books. I prefer books to people on the whole. Masefield, Dickens, Kipling, Shelley, J M Barrie, Fleming
Charley's speech about knowing her own mind, and knowing whether or not she's ill is interesting & philosophical.
Yay for Nick Courtney! Charley met the Brig in the somewhat controversial 'Minuet in Hell'.
Eight: The answer must be here. Ship! It has to be. This is a library. Answers are always in a library. So why can't I find the answers?
The Brig: Memories, Miss Pollard. Clutching at straws, you see.
Charley: I'm not sure I follow.
Brig: You had a pet rabbit once.
Charley: Mopsy. As in Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter.
Brig: Memories are important Miss Pollard. Some say that we're little more than the product of a lifetime's memories. Time Lords even more so. - The Fifth Doctor, in 'The Five Doctors', says "A man is the sum of his memories you know, a Time Lord even more so."
Nana Saviltride - Evil TARDIS
Destroying universes is so passe! LOL
TARDIS!Brig tells Charley that he's losing bits of his consciousness.
Eight wandering around looking for Charley, begging her for her help. Until Zagreus takes him over.
Eight tells the TARDIS he hates people who write in books, and tells her not to let him do it again.
The big explosion made me jump!!
Peter Davison - Yays!
I love voice-spotting all the regular Who actors who're playing different roles.
Maggie Stables (aka Evelyn Smythe) as the Great Mother: Oh do belt up, Cassandra!! - LOL
Woot! Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as Provost Tepesh and Ouida!!
Oh blimey! Colin Baker smarming over Nicola Bryant - that's scary!
Tepesh: Pish and Tosh! - LOL
Charley: The Universe needs the Doctor. The Universe doesn't really need Charlotte Elspeth Pollard.
Charley introduces the idea of regeneration. Oops!!
Ace is a duck! :D
The Jabberwocky scene with not!Five, not!Six and not!Seven is hilarious!!
TARDIS!Brig asks the Doctor what his idea of friendship is, then explains what it means to the TARDIS. Berates the
Doctor for not asking the TARDIS' permission to destroy her when he materialised her around the Time Station. Then
rants about how the Doctor couldn't let Charley die but happily destroyed the TARDIS. The Doctor's surprised by the TARDIS' jealousy of Charley.
The Hairdryer of Rassilon? The Hoover of Rassilon? The Patent Rassilon Trouser Press? - LOL
Rassilon: One doesn't make history in a shed at the bottom of the garden. - Er, yes you can!
Eight: You can summon her like that?
Rassilon: Like snapping my fingers. - Moffat?
Charley: You can't take him [the Doctor] to parties - namedrop hell! :D
Brig!TARDIS complaining about girls leaving dirty underwear on her floors, spending hours in her bathrooms, crying and sulking in her bedrooms. - So jealous.
Leela: The wound is mortal. Tell the Doctor I died bravely.
Romana: Stuff and nonsense, the bullet winged you that's all. Elegaic music dies dramatically.
Leela: You are sure?
Romana: Quite sure.
Leela: Then why are we wasting time? [They move off] Tell the Doctor about this and I shall burst your eyeballs with my thumbs
Romana: Not a word, *brave* hunter. . - and thus begins a beautiful friendship! LOL
Charley's very hurt when Eight is telling her that there's nowhere for them to go, that he can't stay in her universe because of the anti-Time that fills him still.
Leela: Everywhere you go, they tell tales of the Doctor. There are galaxies far away from here where children sleep more soundly knowing he's out there fighting off the demons. And the demons twist and turn in fear, knowing that their enemy awaits. So long as the stories are told, he's never really gone. - I particularly love this speech of Leela's.
Scherzo
The Doctor feels that he and the TARDIS are redundant because the Divergent Universe has no Time.
The Doctor's a bit ruthless with Charley after they leave the TARDIS. He calls her 'a silly girl' when she says that he has her in this universe. He says he wanted to die alone - that it was his decision to do so, and he's angry that she's betrayed his sacrifice by remaining with him.
When Eight asks Charley why she stowed away on the TARDIS she says it is because she loves him. He loves her too, which is why he sacrificed himself, but does not know if he can ever forgive her for her betrayal.
The Doctor: "So you love me."
Charley: "Yes. Yes I do."
The Doctor: "And is that it?"
Charley: "Isn't that enough? If you knew how hard it was for me to say that..."
The Doctor: "Not half as hard as it was to listen to." - this conversation's very painful.
The Doctor, having told Charley in Neverland that he loved her, denies his love, which angers her, although it's not entirely clear whether or not he actually means what he's saying or if he's just uncertain. Early on in this play he tells Charley that his declaration of love in Neverland was made simply because she was about to die, which seems very cruel (and very Tenth Doctor-ish too).
The Time Lords believe the Doctor's companions are 'momento mori' - reminders of death - because they're short-lived humans and Time Lords are long-lived...
This audio's very intense and thought-provoking. It's particularly interesting to compare Eight and Charley's relationship with that of Ten and Rose (if you're so inclined) because of the things the Doctor does and doesn't say to each companion. You may remember Ten tossed off a "quite right too" in response to Rose's "I love you" in 'Doomsday' (he also couldn't bring himself to ask Ida Scott to tell Rose he loved her in 'The Satan Pit', even though he doesn't really believe he's going to survive his trip down into the planet's core). Yet Eight says 'I love you' quite easily to Charley in 'Neverland'.