h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It was really good!

Was this on BBC7 by any chance?

Should be available on "Listen Again" if it was...

Yes and yes, Zagreb. It is really good - a story about the inhabitants of a distressed planet foolishly accepting the Daleks' offer of 'help', despite the Doctor's warnings. It can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/sunday/ .

I'm really looking forward to the audio adventure scheduled for January 14: 'The Horror Of Glam Rock'. It's set on Earth in 1974, and concerns trying to control young people's minds by creating their own glitter-rock band as a rival to the likes of Slade and Sweet! For we Whovians of a certain age, that sounds like a real treat!

This sereis should cover the time war and the regeneration into Chris Eccleston shouldn't it...

I doubt if they'll cover the regeneration into Chris Eccleston, because that'd mean that they couldn't do any more audio episodes. Unless, of course, CE fancies a career in radio...

"I doubt if they'll cover the regeneration into Chris Eccleston, because that'd mean that they couldn't do any more audio episodes. Unless, of course, CE fancies a career in radio..."

I think we'd be very lucky to get CE playing the Doctor again at the moment, even on radio. I get the impression that he feels he did the role for one series and then left it behind him.

However, RTD has said that he thinks the eighth-ninth Doctor regeneration should be handled "in another medium" and this seems an obvious reference to putting it within the continuity of the eighth Doctor's audio adventures. Having the new BBC7 series tie into the regeneration doesn't mean no new eighth Doctor stories, it just means they'd have to take place before the series (as all new 5th, 6th and 7th Doctor stories take place before their respective regenerations). As for the ninth, well all you'd really need is an impressionist commenting on how "fantastic" he feels before deciding he needs to head to London, Earth in 2005 to deal with the Nestenes...

Listened to "Blood of the Daleks" this afternoon. I've only heard a few of the audio adventures on BBC7 and I have to say this one is the strongest so far.

I had a few issues, such as the Daleks not trying to disguise who they were in any way (it was established that this was unnecessary but you'd have thought such a cunning race would have taken precautions) and the "Massive Weapons of Destruction"-like moment of calling the Doctor a "terrorist" was a bit cringeworthy (although I did like the Daleks claiming a legitimate case against putting the Doctor on trial for "genocide") and the ideas thrown-up around the cliffhanger were very interesting. Also nice to see it done as two 50-minute episodes rather than four half-hour ones. That should make for less filler and more streamlined storytelling.

Good episode, looking forward to this Sundays conclusion and any further hints as to why he has a new companion forced upon him ....what happened to the existing companions too ?

>Good episode, looking forward to this Sundays conclusion and any further hints as to why he has a new companion forced upon him ....what happened to the existing companions too ?

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I'd assume that those storylines are considered unfinished story-threads which Big Finish will conclude in their own time so they can lead-into the new BBC7 series.

Interestingly, as far as a I know, Big Finish are simply licensed by the BBC (and, presumably, the estate of Terry Nation) to produce "Doctor Who" audio adventures and there are some issues regarding what can and can't be used. An interview with Gary Russell, one of the main bods behind the BF productions, with an online TV magazine a while ago revealed that Big Finish aren't allowed to use ideas and characters from the new series (such as the Slitheen and, presumably, the Time War) even though they wanted to. I've no idea how this affects the current BBC7 series since, as far as I know, it was produced by BF especially for the BBC itself. That might mean that new series characters and ideas can be incorporated. And it's probably best not to get into a debate about how this affects offical continuity (ie the "Doctor Who" canon).

Well I quite liked it. I liked the references to the Genesis of the Dalek conundrum and the general style is classic whosian.

Although saying that I think this series (and possibly the next) will fill in the style gap between the classic and 2005+ series even if there is no mention of the time war. The references and relatives to the classic series will continue all the while there will be RTDian unanswered questions and a series long backstory-ark that will only be truelly explained in the finale.

I did'nt like the pace of the episode. I did'nt think it was right to bring in a new companion in a Dalek-two parter. The first episode was slow and the second episode was rushed and the plot did'nt really thicken. Giant battles don't work well on radio.

Listened to pt.2 yesterday. Amazing. One of my freinds said it's the best Big Finish one yet!

I'm sure I read in the RT that this series covers up to the regeneration though...

I'll go home and check.

I quite liked it. Better than the other BF serials BBC7 aired in 2005 (with the exception of "The Chimes of Midnight" which I enjoyed). The daleks remain pretty good villains even with the restrictions of radio and I thought some of the ideas about a human-based breed of daleks and the desire of the original daleks to destroy them completely lest they become a rival was an interesting idea that chimed with earlier TV stories covering similar ground ("Revelation..." and "Rememberance...").

Good to hear "elevate!" too, you can tell these have been written post-2005.

On the negative side, Paul McGann has always sounded a bit "stagey" when playing the Doctor on radio, as if he's voicing-over an advert for soup or something which is a little off-putting. I'm also not too keen on the new companion who strikes me as a bit contrived, although that will probably change.

They'll probably get less hostile to each other as the series goes on...
What about this week though - The Horror of Glam Rock.
Sounds ... interesting