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TARDIS Guide

Overview

Released

August 2013

Written by

Matt Fitton

Runtime

122 minutes

Time Travel

Future

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Q987

Synopsis

Sick of the same-old slaughter-appliances? In need of a killer new killing-machine? Then look no further than Garundel Galactic's secret arms auction. Blasters, tanks, missiles and bombs — no bang too big or micro-laser too small. If you've got the credits, Garundel's got the kill-sticks. (Cash buyers get preferential rates.)

In search of the key to a sinister alien technology, the Doctor, Klein and Will set their sights on an illicit intergalactic arms fair run by an old acquaintance — the slippery Urodelian crook, Garundel. But what are their chances of pulling off a particularly audacious heist from under the noses of Garundel and his alien clients, the ever-belligerent Sontarans...?

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2 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

I covered 'Will Arrowsmith is really annoying' in the last one, so I'll simply say it again now and move on. Starlight Robbery takes us from the dense, plodding plot of Persuasion and dumps us in a whirlwind story of theft and alien worlds. The Persuasion Machine has been stolen and is up for auction by the slimy conman Garundel, first introduced to us in Black and White.

I, however, have a poor memory, so it took me going to TARDIS Wiki to realise that actually, I did know who Garundel was. The story works fine without knowing him, but it was a fun callback once I realised what was going on. Indeed, the whole episode is quite fun. This kind of action space market subgenre isn't really my thing most of the time, but this was a story with big goals and mainly managed to be entertaining.

That said, though the episode was perfectly fine-to-good, I have to say, I am a little sad about Klein. Now she works for UNIT, it feels like all her interesting character traits have been filed off to make her into a generic 'good guy'. The most interesting thing about Klein before was the way she was aligned with the Nazis and had such vastly different ideals to the Doctor. Of course, I'm not saying I want her to be a Nazi, but her having a totally different set of ethics to the Doctor and fighting him over it made her a character of immense depth and intrigue. And without it? Well, we get some flashy stories where the good guys win. And I think to me, that's a shame.


sircarolyn

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This review contains spoilers!

Seguindo a segunda trilogia da Klein com o 7° Doutor temos Starlight Robbery como o segundo passo, esse é mais um daqueles áudios que se enquadra em curiosos casos de complementos de arco que pouco apresenta algo consideravelmente significativo para a continuidade. O que mais me causou estranheza foi sua mudança repetida de direção e rumo do enredo logo em sua primeira metade – Inicialmente a história envolve um leilão organizado (por algum motivo) pelo Garundel, vilão antes visto no áudio Black And White. O evento reúne várias espécies que historicamente possuem uma rivalidade mortal, uma delas é os Sontarans que por incrível que pareça, estão em seu modo sério não sendo aqueles soldados palhacinhos trapalhões bobocas. Garundel pretende leiloar inúmeros artefatos, peças e dispositivos considerados poderosos em todo o universo, um deles é a Máquina de Persuasão. Por já ter se deparado com Garundel antes, o Doutor envia Klein e Will como infiltrados disfarçados com objetivo de impedir que alguém tome posse do dispositivo. Bom, até esse ponto o enredo vinha sendo solido, interessante, instigante com um leve tom cômico gostoso de acompanhar. Mas por motivos desconhecidos e de uma forma muito estranha, Matt Fitton decide de uma hora para outra mudar completamente o rumo de sua história, onde tudo passa a ser voltado a uma perseguição entre naves com vários blocos dedicados a diálogos e conversas entre os personagens que na maioria dos casos não acrescenta muita coisa, deixando a trama sem conteúdo nenhum. Os personagens são divididos em três naves, Sontarans fazendo Klein de refém, Will e Ziv (assistente de Garundel) e por último o Doutor e Garundel – O desenrolar de toda essa corrida se ressume ao previsível juntamente a vários deslizes, personagens desperdiçados (Ziv), personagens que não tinham motivos de estar no evento (Garundel), o Doutor pregando peça em alguém e mais uma vez os Sontarans sendo feito de imbecis.  Com uma visão geral de todo o arco/trilogia, Starlight Robbery não acrescenta em nada nem mesmo ao mais importante que e a personagem da Klein, ela havia trazido ares misteriosos no primeiro áudio – Agora a grande questão é: Por que o Garundel teve que aparecer nesse arco???? Sério, mesmo não sendo um personagem original dos áudios, mas sim das HQs, as vezes parece que a BIG FINISH quer que engolimos esse vilão de qualquer jeito, eu sinceramente cheguei à conclusão que não gosto desse personagem, muitas vezes ele beira ao ridículo sem dizer que é irritante na maior parte do tempo, um Sapão empresário ganancioso que usa roupas elegantes... nhaa. Em resumo, não entendi o motivo desse ser o áudio melhor avaliado entre os três (de acordo com o Time Scales), Starlight Robbery é tão superficial, bobo e raso sem apresentar nada que acrescente ao arco geral.

Following the second trilogy of Klein with the 7th Doctor, we have Starlight Robbery as the second step; this is another one of those audios that falls into curious cases of arc supplements that present little that is significantly meaningful for the continuity. What struck me the most was its repeated change of direction and course of the plot right in its first half - Initially, the story involves an auction organized (for some reason) by Garundel, a villain previously seen in the audio Black And White. The event brings together various species that historically have a deadly rivalry, one of them is the Sontarans who, incredibly enough, are in their serious mode not being those clumsy clownish soldiers. Garundel intends to auction numerous artifacts, parts, and devices considered powerful throughout the universe, one of them is the Persuasion Machine. Having encountered Garundel before, the Doctor sends Klein and Will as infiltrators disguised with the objective of preventing anyone from taking possession of the device. Well, up to this point, the plot had been solid, interesting, intriguing with a light, enjoyable comic tone to follow. But for unknown reasons and in a very strange way, Matt Fitton decides all of a sudden to completely change the course of his story, where everything becomes focused on a chase between ships with several blocks dedicated to dialogues and conversations between the characters which, in most cases, do not add much, leaving the plot with no content at all. The characters are divided into three ships, Sontarans making Klein a hostage, Will and Ziv (Garundel's assistant) and lastly the Doctor and Garundel - The unfolding of this entire race boils down to the predictable along with several mistakes, wasted characters (Ziv), characters who had no reasons to be at the event (Garundel), the Doctor playing trick on someone and once again the Sontarans being made fools of.  With an overall view of the entire arc/trilogy, Starlight Robbery does not add anything not even to the most important that is the character of Klein, she had brought mysterious vibes in the first audio - Now the big question is: Why did Garundel have to appear in this arc???? Seriously, even though not being an original character from the audios, but from the comics, sometimes it seems that BIG FINISH wants us to swallow this villain in any way, I honestly came to the conclusion that I do not like this character, often he borders on the ridiculous not to mention that he is annoying most of the time, a greedy businessman frog who wears elegant clothes... nah. In summary, I did not understand the reason why this was the highest rated audio among the three (according to Time Scales), Starlight Robbery is so superficial, silly and shallow without presenting anything that adds to the overall arc.

(Translation generated by AI, so mistakes are possible).


KnuppMello

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