Big Finish Sale - up to 60% off

[Frankymole]

I have to agree with your recommendation. I'm ten episodes in (listening in original broadcast order) and am very glad I picked up the five sets which I didn't yet have, I only bought the first two way back when they originally came out and didn't get round to listening to anything after episode 2. I had missed out on some incredible sound design, stories and acting! Thank goodness I'm catching up now. I had dipped in and out of Doctor Who from Big Finish in its earliest years, from 1999, but never caught up and only have a few disks really. I don't dislike them but don't get the time to do them justice. After this I may risk some Jago & Litefoot stories, if they're done as well as The Avengers they'll be well worth a listen.

The music is, as you rightly point out, superb. I'm enjoying the musical interludes and atmosphere pieces as much as the voices, and the dramatic jabs and stings are perfectly placed and judged. It forms a cohesive whole of the "noir era" early Avengers. The intimacy of sound, with the actors so clear and the "new" (to me) stories so involving is going to make it hard to go back to TV! It's also great to have such a lively version of John Dankworth's theme, and in stereo.

The three leads play off each other so well that I actively look forward to hearing any two or three of them together exchanging witty repartee. Like you say, we've no option, we're going to miss the originals but this is the next best thing and the only possible solution if we want to enjoy the stories as well-made dramas. Steed's rather acerbic bosses work much better on audio than on TV, I find. And the guest casts are extremely talented.

The stories which don't exist as full scripts have been very cleverly plotted and the dialogue is totally in the style of the existing scripts. I really loved what they did with Crescent Moon, and Nightmare especially. Some of the solutions to plot problems in (or due to information missed out from) the synopses of Diamond Cut Diamond were ingenious and must, I'm sure, be close to the original logistical tricks and story developments. If nothing else it was great to hear Keels' reaction to being told to hide in a cupboard by Steed and his sarcastic remark later to the ambushed villain about them being "surprisingly roomy".

All in all, a total winner from the BF sale. If they come up again, I'd tell any fans of the videotape era to grab them. The CD "hard copies" will become increasingly tricky to get hold of since BF want to reduce warehouse stock and concentrate more on downloads for most of their work in future.

[mousemeat]

I have to agree with your recommendation. I'm ten episodes in (listening in original broadcast order) and am very glad I picked up the five sets which I didn't yet have, I only bought the first two way back when they originally came out and didn't get round to listening to anything after episode 2. I had missed out on some incredible sound design, stories and acting! Thank goodness I'm catching up now. I had dipped in and out of Doctor Who from Big Finish in its earliest years, from 1999, but never caught up and only have a few disks really. I don't dislike them but don't get the time to do them justice. After this I may risk some Jago & Litefoot stories, if they're done as well as The Avengers they'll be well worth a listen.

The music is, as you rightly point out, superb. I'm enjoying the musical interludes and atmosphere pieces as much as the voices, and the dramatic jabs and stings are perfectly placed and judged. It forms a cohesive whole of the "noir era" early Avengers. The intimacy of sound, with the actors so clear and the "new" (to me) stories so involving is going to make it hard to go back to TV! It's also great to have such a lively version of John Dankworth's theme, and in stereo.

The three leads play off each other so well that I actively look forward to hearing any two or three of them together exchanging witty repartee. Like you say, we've no option, we're going to miss the originals but this is the next best thing and the only possible solution if we want to enjoy the stories as well-made dramas. Steed's rather acerbic bosses work much better on audio than on TV, I find. And the guest casts are extremely talented.

The stories which don't exist as full scripts have been very cleverly plotted and the dialogue is totally in the style of the existing scripts. I really loved what they did with Crescent Moon, and Nightmare especially. Some of the solutions to plot problems in (or due to information missed out from) the synopses of Diamond Cut Diamond were ingenious and must, I'm sure, be close to the original logistical tricks and story developments. If nothing else it was great to hear Keels' reaction to being told to hide in a cupboard by Steed and his sarcastic remark later to the ambushed villain about them being "surprisingly roomy".

All in all, a total winner from the BF sale. If they come up again, I'd tell any fans of the videotape era to grab them. The CD "hard copies" will become increasingly tricky to get hold of since BF want to reduce warehouse stock and concentrate more on downloads for most of their work in future.

that is a common problem...as the CD era is fast coming to a close...and over in my neck of the woods, CD players for the home, let alone for the car/truck, are getting harder to find..Eventually, DVD's will go that route...but I recently wanted to replace a CD player for my art studio...and it darn near took me a while to locate one...as Downloads, MP3 etc...seems to be the norm..

[Frankymole]

I suppose one day in the future there may be specialist companies to convert our outdated formats to something we can actually watch or listen to. It may get expensive with copyright fees to be paid!

[mousemeat]

I suppose one day in the future there may be specialist companies to convert our outdated formats to something we can actually watch or listen to. It may get expensive with copyright fees to be paid!

that day is here...sooner than you think.....

[Frankymole]

I love the fact that the add breaks are still there.

The three-act structure is fairly integral to the first 3 series (Dennis Spooner's famous "dramatic W"), so it's good that they preserved it (or recreated it, in the ones that didn't have scripts).

[Frankymole]

I'm feeling sad now. Only 6 episodes left to listen to (and watch the Tele-Snap reconstructions), then there will be nothing of the original 1960s Avengers which I won't have experienced. Sob!

I will carry on into the Cathy Gale era, so at least some of the interviews and extras will be new to me, even if I've done every episode 1961-77.

[mousemeat]

I'm feeling sad now. Only 6 episodes left to listen to (and watch the Tele-Snap reconstructions), then there will be nothing of the original 1960s Avengers which I won't have experienced. Sob!

I will carry on into the Cathy Gale era, so at least some of the interviews and extras will be new to me, even if I've done every episode 1961-77.

but you can always experience the joy of re listening...myself, I never get tired of watching / listening to favorites...at times, it drives my wife batty..lol!

[Macfly77]

After this I may risk some Jago & Litefoot stories, if they're done as well as The Avengers they'll be well worth a listen.

While I discovered Big Finish through their first class Avengers adaptations back in 2014, Jago and Litefoot is IMHO the jewel in their audio crown.
With superb stories, excellent sound design and fantastic acting, they are a delight to listen to and I cannot recommend them high enough.
You might also enjoy their fantastic releases of Callan and Adam Adamant Lives... and Counter Measures... and...
I love Big Finish, can you tell?

[Frankymole]

Thanks for the recommendation. I always Christopher Benjamin, in everything. I also loved Adam Adamant Lives! last time I watched it. I wonder if the Sapphire and Steels are good.

[mousemeat]

Yes, I know from the McGinlay/Hayes books that Macnee and Hendry did a hell of a lot of work sequestered together whenever they got a new script, bashing together ideas for how Keel and Steed would bring their personalities to it; so much so that Macnee reckoned Hendry was a co-writer of the scripts. That wouldn't be obvious in an initial, unamended rehearsal script. A lot of what the videotaped era Steed was (and which the Emma/Tara/TNA film series Steed grew from) was Hendry's (re) writing as well as Macnee's inputs.

The episode would've developed throughout the days and weeks until the final camera script. We can't have that with all the audios, they've got to be their own thing really. Like a theatre play from a known book but with a new cast. That's no bad thing, and I'm glad the two audio stars work. There is a quality in the stories which isn't apparent in much other 'pulp' thriller serial stuff from the early 60s or earlier. It was made with great love by a young production

team and did start to change the way TV drama, and the 1960s in Britain, felt.

I couldn't have stated it..any clearer...early on, there was a chemistry between Ian and Patrick...I often wondered how the relationship, let alone the series would have evolved..if Ian would have stayed a 2nd or 3rd season..before moving on...