Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, January 28 2006 @ 06:11 PM EST

On the AAC enhanced feeds, you should be able to skip to the next chapter. For the mp3 feed, the Cryptobiosis review is about 2m 48s in length in Podcast #21, and the Jubilee review is about 8m 40s in length in Podcast #22. I had tried not to reveal the biggest secrets in the Cryptobiosis review, and after you give it (the story) a listen, you can go back to the podcast and confirm that. The nature of Jubilee, and comparing it to the new series episode Dalek, some spoilers are inevitable. It is hard to choose how far to go in a review, to make it meaningful for a listener to chose whether they want to go ahead and experience the item being reviewed.

I think in the future, we can ask Louis and company to announce the length of any potentially spoiler-full reviews for those with the MP3 feed, or maybe put them towards the end of the podcast, as some other podcasts do, and possibly give a feel for the level of detail (for some stories it is inevitable, like the new series episode Dalek obviously deals with a Dalek).

Thanks for the suggestions.

Taras

Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, January 31 2006 @ 01:19 PM EST

Some thoughts:

It's clear that Taras is very earnest in his Big Finish segments, but I don't think it's entirely accurate to label these as "reviews". As pointed out earlier, they're more like straightforward synopses with a healthy dash of casting information and obvious information (yes, we know that Colin Baker plays the Sixth Doctor, and referring to Daleks as "pepperpots" has really passed its sell-by date and sounds forced no matter who says it). It may have also been helpful to quickly set up the story in context (i.e., a 40th Anniversary release, the post-Trial setting, who Evelyn is, etc.).

Also, it might help to give some balanced criticism as well - is the play really perfect, or are there elements that don't work? And was it absolutely necessary to reveal the nature of the first two cliffhangers? Unfortunately, the tendency of these reviews seems to focus more on a Cliff's Notes-style breakdown of the plot as opposed to a look at what works and what doesn't. By giving away the bulk of the story (i.e., the TARDIS' initial landing), you're not leaving much room for discovery.

I myself have listened to most of the Big Finish stuff, but I think it's important to remember that a lot of fans haven't been interested in them. Perhaps consider explaining (briefly!) the company's drive to revitalize the 6th Doctor by extending his continuity. You don't have to do this every time, but some laying down some basic groundwork and doing some tightening up would improve these segments immensely.

Again, it's clear that Taras is very enthusiastic. I think that energy could be put to good use with a little more focus on the actual content and consideration of the audience.

Good luck and keep it up!

Authored by: Louis on Thursday, February 02 2006 @ 09:42 PM EST

Thanks kemitix. I added your TARDIS sighting photo to our gallery this evening. Cool.

Cheers,
Louis

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"I'm a Time Lord... I'm not a human being; I walk in eternity..."