Tigers' Quest review (repost)

[The Supreme Dalek]

Since the board crash ate up all the reviews posted here, I'll repost mine. Thanks to Google's cache, it still exists. (Unfortunately, my review of Second Quest does not. I'll have to rewrite it.)


Review: Tigers' Quest

Most people on this board are probably more familiar with Everlasting Film's other production, Doctor Who. Now, that production is pretty good. In fact, if you listen to some of the older stories and compare them to the newer ones, you'll see light years of difference in terms of quality. But still, you just can't escape that "done by amateurs" feeling. So it wouldn't be surprising if you headed into Tigers' Quest with some trepedation. After all, other Doctor Who fans have branched out into the world of semi-professionalism with mixed results. BTR Productions, the apparently defunct FloorTen and their Humphry the Bag, even writer John S. Drew and his Dome series all retain that not-quite-ready-for-prime-time flavor. Does Everlasting Film's foray into serious, original drama also fall into this catagory of Nice Try But Not Yet There?

If your planning to spend good money on Tigers' Quest, rest assured that you will get your money's worth. Tigers' Quest is the best sounding production I have ever heard coming from a group that isn't found in a bookstore. It all just sounds so...so real!

Frist off, let me say that the talent pool is amazing. The acting outclasses anything we've heard in Doctor Who. And that says a lot as we have some top notch acting in there. But here they have outdone themselves. We haev actors who have done animation, a couple who have worked for the BBC themselves (including a nod to our friend Jeffrey Coburn there), and even some fresh talent who will leave you wondering where they have been hiding all this time.

The story, unlike most productions who revel in being multi-layered, is simplicity itself: Two tigers and their attempt to find a new home when Man comes to the jungle. Do not think, though, that a simple story is an uninteresting or boring one. Like Bambi (a simple story itself), it is amazing at how down to earth and real it is. There are no fights for kingdoms, unreal characters, or modern-day situations fashioned onto an animal world. It is gritty, it is dirty. What makes it even more interesting is that the animals are given no more intelligence than they would have in the real jungle. They simply can't comprehend the motivations of Man other than what they see. So it is no surprise (and rather fitting) that Man is referred to as a Killer.

Taking a cue from Disney movies, Tigers' Quest comes replete with a few songs. Laura Post had the voice of an angel, and her solo in Let It Fade is haunting. Coburn is quite passable in King of the Beasts, much to the suprise of anyone who has heard him in The Seventh Dungeon of Drakmoore. The only real letdown is the first song sung by Tiggra and Clairese, End of the Rainbow. Taken individually, both these singers are quite good. But they simply don't gel well together.

I like the approach Everlasting Films took when it came to the atmosphere of this story. Most productions are almost sledgehammer-like when it comes to sound effects. You hear paper rustle, footsteps walking across the room, pens set down; any sound effect they can throw in there, they use. While it is true that almost anything you do makes a sound, most of these sounds are ignored by us in real life. This is how sound effects are used in Tigers' Quest. Yes, we hear footsteps as well. But they are regulated so far into the background that they register more on the subconscious level than consciously. Just like in real life. Other sounds effects are missing altogether. That isn't to say that the soundscape is barren. Quite the contrary. You hear what you would normally here and what you wouldn't isn't there to distract you. That, my friends, is the touch of great directing!

This approach is also used when it comes to music. No production would be any good without music to set the atmosphere. The music here is wonderful, powerful. That dream...or should I say nightmare sequence is made all the more frightening by the underlying musical score. And nowhere in the production is it too loud or distracting. Another lesson learned by Everlasting Films during their years of doing Doctor Who.

All in all, Tigers' Quest is a Must Have for anyone who is interested in good audio drama in general and certainly for animals lovers of any kind. The ending will have you dying for a sequel, which seems to be currently under way. I know I can't wait.