@Senshi:
I've been listening to the Big Finish plays for the last month or so to get my Doctor Who fix while waiting for the new season. Most people here have already mentioned it, but Colin Baker's stories more than make up for his TV run. I also give the writers points for Evelyn Smythe, since it was a nice change to have an older woman as a companion.
I think so far, Paul Mcgann's stories are the best. I wasn't really expecting them to build that entire story arc with the consequences for saving Charley, but since I enjoy her character, it was a pleasant surprise. I've yet to listen to Zagreus to see where it goes. I especially love the stories centering around Gallifrey and the Time Lords. After watching the Deadly Assassin, I really started to get into the Time Lord lore which was never really explored in the show.
My favorite plays so far would have to be:
Spare Parts
Winter for the Adept
The One Doctor
The Holy Terror
Jubilee
Storm Warning
Neverland
Sisters of the Flame/Vengeance of Morbius
Awesome! Some of us here are into Big Finish as well, and if you want some solid 5th Doctor recommendations, ask CosmicDebris. As for me, I rather love Six. I'm glad that his character has gotten to the point where fans saying "he's improved in the audios" has become a cliché. Holy Terror is one of those that I recommend for my friends who are new to BF, and if you liked that than you should check out The Nowhere Place. And for some fun, Doctor Who and the Pirates is rated pretty highly among fans. I listened to that one on a flight not too long ago with my girlfriend and it was amazing. Talk about range of emotions!
And 100 is nowhere near as bad as some make it out to be. A little fan wanky in the last story, but not terrible.
And speaking of Six, I just finished listening to the most recent Six story, The Last Adventure. I'm not really going to spoil much except basic plot points that marketing has already covered (such as who the main villain is), but I'm hiding the stuff in case anyone just doesn't want a wall of bleh.
So, some quick thoughts on the boxset:
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Rating of the four stories:
End of the Line: 8.5/10
The Red House: 5/10
Stage Fright: 9/10
The Brink of Death: 8/10
End of the Line
Introduces a new companion without slowing down the story to explain who she is or where she's from, and works perfectly fine without it. Mysterious and creepy, there's some vibes of Chimes of Midnight in this one.
No timey-wimey gimmicks, but there's definitely something spacey-wacey going on. And there's a surprise appearance (sort of) that I didn't see coming!
The Red House Definitely the worst of the boxset. Charley's character is pretty awful in this. She simply forgets key information, and is unusually daft compared to how she normally is. It's evident that they pretty much made her loopy in order to make the Valeyard's plan more convenient for him.
It's kind of a shame since the story has a fun concept and offers a unique twist to the idea of werewolves, and then doesn't really do much with it after that. And then the ending is rushed, although how the crisis is solved is plausible and fair, it still feels like a cop out.
Stage Fright I've never listened to any of the newer stories featuring Flip, so I can honestly say this works as a solid introduction to her.
Oh, and Jago and Litefoot, the two dudes from Talons of Weng-Chiang, are in this. Never indulged in their spin off series, but they're pretty solid here, and fit with the setting and the plot. Flip gets some of the best development of the whole boxset, and it comes to a very satisfying conclusion at the climax. Couldn't help but feel proud of her and admire how her and Six develop as a duo. It's kind of a cheesy climax, but it fits within the theme of theatre.
The Valeyard's scheme is pretty darn clumsy and obvious, but it's explained very fairly and works. In fact, the premise of the story is kind of worrying, since it has a lot packed into it and had the potential of making too many nods to the fans (the stage reenactments of the Doctor's previous regenerations), but it all ties together and has a point.
The Brink of Death (minor spoilers below) I have some mixed feelings on this one, but I'm sticking with the thought that it was a good story with a good explanation for Six's regeneration.
The weird thing is that Mel is hardly featured in this story, and instead we're essentially given a new companion, who turns out to be pretty awesome, only to learn that it's possible she never existed at all, which really sucks since it feels cheap. However, Six believes that's not the case, and I lean towards that thought as well, although seeing her in any future release with Sixie is pretty unlikely given that she's only in his last story.
Six is pretty much at a disadvantage throughout the whole thing, but it's his effort that's admirable. It's not unlike The Caves of Androzani, but it is rather weird that he's doing his final action for his companion Mel, who we hardly get to see in the story.
The Valeyard and Doctor confrontation is good, but I don't know if I'm really happy with how it ended. It was handled well and appropriately, but got a little more clustered than it really needed to be, and it resolves on a bit of a cheap note before the Doctor has his final moments.
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All in all, it's a solid story for Six's last one. It doesn't really change his on screen regeneration, but gives a story that leads up to it. The story overall is great and it's better than the weird intro that we got for Time and the Rani, although topping that was never going to be a challenge to begin with.