tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74523032024-03-16T01:13:19.709+00:00HoweswhoWelcome to the homepage for author and publisher David J Howe. I'm the author and co-author of numerous books about the TV Show "Doctor Who", as well as being a freelance writer and Editorial Director of Telos Publishing Ltd.
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If you'd like to comment on any of my musings, then just click on the 'comments' word under the post, and then on the 'Post a Comment' line under the post on the next screen.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.comBlogger462125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-50696694830264253512024-02-16T09:54:00.008+00:002024-02-16T09:54:59.740+00:00New Doctor Who Vinyl for Record Store Day 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIsWoMrl_XVvsYbCnG_-0_OebWxFJJQBiDwFInCyZxkBhH2MQT5pbZCpH_iL05FsqEaEYrpauAnDDf58CXtPMGon_4Neiel6mwNCZoA_xosjJTQ2i8OE9nVCoAVpBBXz846rxrHUdly8dBg_lSSnBvxhe4t3Eb6hWWgtCfQ8btWy1j1VaaOBmLw/s2130/DEMREC1190_DoctorWho_TheEdgeOfDestruction_1LP_RSD_PictureDisc_3D_Front-and-Disc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1412" data-original-width="2130" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIsWoMrl_XVvsYbCnG_-0_OebWxFJJQBiDwFInCyZxkBhH2MQT5pbZCpH_iL05FsqEaEYrpauAnDDf58CXtPMGon_4Neiel6mwNCZoA_xosjJTQ2i8OE9nVCoAVpBBXz846rxrHUdly8dBg_lSSnBvxhe4t3Eb6hWWgtCfQ8btWy1j1VaaOBmLw/w400-h265/DEMREC1190_DoctorWho_TheEdgeOfDestruction_1LP_RSD_PictureDisc_3D_Front-and-Disc.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> “We are at the very beginning…”<p></p><p>Demon Records presents, exclusive to Record Store Day 2024, the complete narrated TV soundtrack of the <em>Doctor Who</em> story ‘The Edge Of Destruction’. This brand new audio presentation, making its debut in any format with this vinyl release, features unique linking narration by Carole Ann Ford. There’s also a bonus interview with Carole herself, in which she recalls playing Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter, in the original TV episodes.</p><p>The vinyl boasts a picture disc Side A, showing the Ship’s melting ormolu clock from a pivotal scene in the story, and an exclusive Zoetrope Side B, depicting the TARDIS swirling across space and time (best experienced using a smartphone running a third party stroboscope app). The 12” disc is presented in a stunning die cut artwork outer sleeve.</p><p><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-9034" height="570" src="https://sfwmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Edge.jpg" width="542" /></p><p>Escaping from their previous adventure, the Doctor, Susan, Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) are inside the TARDIS when it appears to be taken over by an outside force. 2024 is the 60th anniversary of this two episode story starring William Hartnell as the Doctor. First broadcast on 8 & 15 February 1964, it was only the third ever Doctor Who serial to be transmitted.</p><p><em> Doctor Who</em> returns to BBC TV and Disney+ in Spring 2024 with Ncuti Gatwa in his first full series as the Fifteenth Doctor.</p><p>Side A<br />The Edge Of Destruction</p><p>Side B<br />The Brink Of Disaster</p><p>CAT NO: DEMREC1190<br />RELEASE DATE: 20th April 2024<br />FORMAT: Zoetrope Picture Disc<br />BARCODE: 5014797910898</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-60217097122239307082024-02-09T14:14:00.001+00:002024-02-09T14:14:23.816+00:00REVIEW: NEW DOCTOR WHO TARGET BOOKS<p>At the end of 2023 we had the enjoyment of seeing four new <i>Doctor Who</i> adventures on telly ... three with the Doctor in the form of David Tennant (again) and one with the brand new Doctor in the form of Ncuti Gatwa ... and sure as salt, the novelisations of the adventures appeared. First on Kindle, and then in paperback and hardback (for the Gatwa one only).<br /><br />I have a long association with the Target <i>Doctor Who</i> novelisation line. First as a reader, then as a collector, then as a chronicler (researching and writing <i>The Target Book</i> (<a href="https://telos.co.uk/shop/other-non-fiction/literature/the-target-book-pb2/">www.telos.co.uk</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Target-Book-History-Doctor-Books/dp/1845831845" target="_blank">Amazon</a> where you live), and now penning the liner notes for the audio readings of the old novelisations. So turning my attention to some new fare was exciting indeed.<br /><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dDMPfU3jDK1sYhjETmIxX0oMGE8eLSAUz6Z1nNkKmNiH6AbP79mR-QjwCO6q7vHnNR6u4muZ_4muDzF3VPJLVjmIXKp7fWshYBkgwJZ6wCWMJ2kpG13xNxwfgkCRpsdfhuhhgsn0lgMAhRSNq-ilsW5lV-nowup7TMAqvWb-HY-g-4pQWcPiBA/s1500/Star%20Beast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="927" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dDMPfU3jDK1sYhjETmIxX0oMGE8eLSAUz6Z1nNkKmNiH6AbP79mR-QjwCO6q7vHnNR6u4muZ_4muDzF3VPJLVjmIXKp7fWshYBkgwJZ6wCWMJ2kpG13xNxwfgkCRpsdfhuhhgsn0lgMAhRSNq-ilsW5lV-nowup7TMAqvWb-HY-g-4pQWcPiBA/s320/Star%20Beast.jpg" width="198" /></a></i></b></div><b><i>The Star Beast </i>by Gary Russell</b><p></p><p>First off is <i>The Star Beast</i>. On TV this was a bit of a run-around with aliens and explosions and franticness as the Doctor and Donna become reacquainted, meet Beep the Meep, and figure out what's going on all in the space of an hour. The story is based on a comic adventure from way back, and Russell T Davies has reinvented it for the small screen. It seems that Gary Russell has then sort of backwards finessed it and included more from the original comic ...</p><p>But the book is a nice read, if a little unadventurous. The characters are all there, and, as in the CD liner notes I tend to look at what has been added/changed for each book, there's some nice new material about a character called Stew Ferguson which adds interest and humanity to the proceedings.</p><p>I also like to see how the Doctor is described ... and here we have 'a tall, thin guy in a long blue coat ... his brown hair blowing slightly in the breeze' which is an excellent thumbnail of the 14th Doctor.</p><p>Overall it's enjoyable and rattles through the breathless adventure with aplomb ... good job.</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_POyN67CEQpsOcTiFMEpTUUc138oj99M5bFFfrjk_5btb8agDalzAzaAugaK1E15ctk2m14_Sik0DXtuPTeyVbCxoGHcpXNsP1ikj_BXxCnJah27fnmCSfY_ZWnuRAOlXqCtUUz5hv8RjHzcSWE4JYHA-_FgFippdN9ZWnoeuoc6V8ffG23Krwg/s1500/Wild%20Blue%20Yonder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="927" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_POyN67CEQpsOcTiFMEpTUUc138oj99M5bFFfrjk_5btb8agDalzAzaAugaK1E15ctk2m14_Sik0DXtuPTeyVbCxoGHcpXNsP1ikj_BXxCnJah27fnmCSfY_ZWnuRAOlXqCtUUz5hv8RjHzcSWE4JYHA-_FgFippdN9ZWnoeuoc6V8ffG23Krwg/s320/Wild%20Blue%20Yonder.jpg" width="198" /></a></i></b></div><b><i>Wild Blue Yonder</i> by Mark Morris</b><p></p><p>The middle of the three 14th Doctor adventures, and a slight change of tone and pace as the Doctor and Donna find themselves on a vast spacecraft at the edge of the universe ... with a mystery to be solved.</p><p>Mark Morris follows the TV story pretty closely here (and I note he has mentioned online that this was indeed the brief) and he does a superb job of bringing this slightly atypical story to the page. There are only two characters in it (the Doctor and Donna), and they find themselves being mimicked by an alien entity/two entities while a stumpy robot walks, one step at a time, very slowly, down a long corridor ...</p><p>I enjoyed the prose here and there's some smashing descriptions which really bring the visuals to life. The prologue with Isaac Newton is included, and I still find it odd - not having anything to do with anything else in the story - but having more prose is not a problem!</p><p>I do feel that there's perhaps an element of foreshadowing missing, in that the final story, <i>The Giggle</i>, alludes back to actions taken here ... and it might have been nice to have teased a little ... but the story stands up nicely. I liked the idea of numbering the chapters using the alien words as well.</p><p>And the Doctor? We get 'a skinny man in an oddly patterned, tight fitting suit whose hair stuck up at odd angles.' Very nice.</p><p>Overall I found it more satisfying than <i>The Star Beast</i>. Mark Morris' writing flows and provides an enjoyable experience as we explore the mystery with the characters ... and not giving anything away must have been challenging to achieve in prose. </p><p><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9aNj9AidVumzCPaN-TBITGDq2Y5P7_qIjtHVrUhLzLH7EWwkC8dK4PpzJIwN7Es6QlhFhX9Z43Re3q5Hz1fVeTqWsiZ3TYh6e2sX0x9S-fNURwenzHjr7Anz387lNQzJfXzChURLx4XXrmr1DQffAHt1DwNHdbhvUzvi3KVV5Om_frqxZ6STMQ/s1500/The%20Giggle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="927" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9aNj9AidVumzCPaN-TBITGDq2Y5P7_qIjtHVrUhLzLH7EWwkC8dK4PpzJIwN7Es6QlhFhX9Z43Re3q5Hz1fVeTqWsiZ3TYh6e2sX0x9S-fNURwenzHjr7Anz387lNQzJfXzChURLx4XXrmr1DQffAHt1DwNHdbhvUzvi3KVV5Om_frqxZ6STMQ/s320/The%20Giggle.jpg" width="198" /></a></i></b></div><b><i>The Giggle</i> by James Goss</b><p></p><p>The final book of the 14th Doctor's stories is <i>The Giggle</i>, and this is in a different realm. What's perhaps most interesting is that Morris was apparently told he couldn't embellish the story over what was on TV, whereas Goss does nothing but. And the book is far better and richer for it.</p><p>So the third adventure sees the return of the Toymaker from a <i>Doctor Who</i> story from 1965, played by Neil Patrick Harris, and is another change of tone as the character is set on challenging the Doctor to more games to try and even the score ... and it's the Doctor's liberal use of salt at the end of the universe in <i>Wild Blue Yonder</i> which allowed this to happen.</p><p>The novelisation opens with a recap from the end of <i>Wild Blue Yonder</i> and it was interesting to see the slight variation of text between Morris and Goss in this regard, but from there we launch into the story as seen on TV ... the Toymaker with his cod Germanic accent, Stooky Bill, the chaos on Earth, UNIT Tower and so on ... but the text is peppered with odd phrases ... something is afoot. And that something is the Toymaker, who has actually invaded the book, and eventually he emerges to take over the tale himself ... and the book is crazed fun.</p><p>There are word puzzles and mazes along the way. On TV when Donna is separated from the Doctor in the corridors of doors, in the book it becomes a 'make your own adventure' with 'To try the first door, go to move xxx' or whatever (the text echoing the Doctor playing the Trilogic Game in the original sixties story) ... great fun. I read through the book consecutively, so arrived at the little piece which you don't get to if you play the game properly ... another nice conceit.</p><p>The section where the Toymaker dances in UNIT HQ to The Spice Girls singing 'Spice Up Your Life' is interesting ... rather than as on TV, we have here a discussion with a copyright lawyer as to why the lyrics cannot be used, followed by a manic sequence where the words are omitted and replaced with Las instead ... a neat way of getting around the vast expense of reproducing lyrics in print ...</p><p>Overall the book is joyous fun ... it oozes from every page ... and makes the most of the prose form to deliver the adventure to the reader. In the audio reading of the novelisation, Goss has changed it again, and the puzzles which work in the book in printed form are changed to audio equivalents ... clever and nicely done.</p><p>And the 14th Doctor: there's not much description at all. Skinny. Hair ready to run for the hills. But no general description.</p><p>For the 15th Doctor: He's young. Handsome. Dark skin. That's it. But then this is from the Toymaker's point of view, so maybe that accounts for it. (As on TV Mel thinks he's beautiful and Donna asks if he comes in a range of colours.)</p><p>Overall this is a great example of a book which takes the translation of a story into prose and runs with it. It's frantic, exciting and so much fun! Easily the best of the four novelisations.</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p72uIOBUBu3aYn6Olikh5vmR7O5QPmFcG6P-IxoCRG-7ttRIGmjRaanSEWjp-UoCxEy2G44XBd5zZZirg-eRecbPVCrGEf2nSATWGD_4Tat45ti4XO21gUqzYI2uFnuynfemZVLx2AOadH0N2uEjpm14ONbxX1HdCbxa8_lf2gNNfYU9PayPWg/s1500/Church%20on%20Ruby%20Road%20hb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="932" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p72uIOBUBu3aYn6Olikh5vmR7O5QPmFcG6P-IxoCRG-7ttRIGmjRaanSEWjp-UoCxEy2G44XBd5zZZirg-eRecbPVCrGEf2nSATWGD_4Tat45ti4XO21gUqzYI2uFnuynfemZVLx2AOadH0N2uEjpm14ONbxX1HdCbxa8_lf2gNNfYU9PayPWg/s320/Church%20on%20Ruby%20Road%20hb.jpg" width="199" /></a></i></b></div><b><i>The Church on Ruby Road</i> by Esme Jikiemi-Pearson</b><br /><p></p><p>And so to the last of the four, and the only one in hardback. While this says it's a Target book on the inside flap, there is no logo and no other indication that this is what it is ... maybe the eventual paperback will follow the more accepted format.</p><p>Anyway, this seems to be the second book from the author (this came out on Jan 25 whereas her 'debut' novel, <i>The Principal of Moments</i>, came out on Jan 18, but her PR suggests she's 'the <i>Sunday Times</i> Bestselling author of the <em>The Order of Legends</em> trilogy' ... which I can't find any reference to ... unless <i>Principal </i>is perhaps the first volume in this trilogy?) and it's good to see someone new writing for the <i>Doctor Who</i> range.</p><p>It's another novelisation which sticks close to the screenplay, but here the author has a lightness of touch to the prose which is very pleasing. By telling it (mostly) through the viewpoint of Ruby Sunday, we get a sense that she is a real person thrust into unreal situations, and it all works nicely, feeling warm and fluffy when you need it to. The descriptions are good, with some effective material around the goblin ship and its inhabitants, and although the book seems slight, it does cover all the ground. There's even a nice back-reference to <i>The Giggle</i> and the Toymaker to explain the goblins as being part of his legacy.</p><p>In terms of the Doctor ... well sadly it seems that Jikiemi-Pearson forgot to describe him. He has brown eyes, a long brown coat, 'a galaxy lived on his skin' (love this description by the way), strong arms ... but otherwise he's just 'the man' in the early parts before he's called the Doctor. I guess you could easily read the book with the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) in your mind if you wanted to and it wouldn't make much difference as the same 'teeth flashing white' note applies there as well.</p><p>Overall I enjoyed the book, but compared with <i>The Giggle</i>, it's not nearly as much fun (but then not much would be). As a proper introduction to the 15th Doctor it also falls a little flat as there's nothing really here to make him stand out. But the writing is eloquent, and there's a deftness to it all. Enjoyable.</p><p>And one more thing: the final words from the mysterious Mrs Flood (no clues here) are clearly spoken to herself and not to Abdul or the audience ...</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-74379098218207988932023-12-28T15:37:00.001+00:002023-12-28T15:37:25.533+00:00Review: Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiWaM6G9Utj95MMCLOxt12JyHvqaYqi8SfD6xPYswU9TyNHT84PmrgmzPsM7E2RzJH37paCM_IggllO_gQAb_wklpYJTHPxyqEdpQqMAY0r29k9_apSr9hFBXG9uqTnypQorLI_Nl2byGDqnASU2kk4ahV_abwCZYfzws40xICNbvHET67DULf8w/s2048/MV5BZDkxNGNmMTctZTk0Ny00MDJmLTllZTYtNmIzZGZkZTExODU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzQ0MzA0NTM@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiWaM6G9Utj95MMCLOxt12JyHvqaYqi8SfD6xPYswU9TyNHT84PmrgmzPsM7E2RzJH37paCM_IggllO_gQAb_wklpYJTHPxyqEdpQqMAY0r29k9_apSr9hFBXG9uqTnypQorLI_Nl2byGDqnASU2kk4ahV_abwCZYfzws40xICNbvHET67DULf8w/s320/MV5BZDkxNGNmMTctZTk0Ny00MDJmLTllZTYtNmIzZGZkZTExODU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzQ0MzA0NTM@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A Christmas Special! A new Doctor! A new Companion! And a new era for <i>Doctor Who</i>!<p></p><p>It can always be quite daunting when a new Doctor arrives, and in this case, it's probably more than usual as here we have a Doctor without any 'baggage', a new bi-generated Doctor, newly created, and having left all his angst, past, tiredness and issues with his previous self - allowing the Doctor as a whole to heal on Earth with a new 'family'. And here we have Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor ... in his first proper adventure since he split from his previous self. It's a great way to reboot the show for (another) new audience and to bring it all up to date for the rest of its 7th Decade.</p><p>There's a lot going on here of course, and a lot to enjoy and appreciate. And as it's a Christmas Special to boot, there's that element to try and include as well ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_q13H086mjKuxePYO3SXxJlSeVGMovOj6DqcqCifpxeRO7BRVJQJ6tO6AThlxhsX43o6gBfc2bsrlRHmr9NXx8qTpvkLcZaigAME3qeIqXE0s29jOcQJgaPPaFAS4COq3D0zO2aB-ssGEPg6DkZeLJ0Cws29H0PM4WE_11Dik3cI1srOh87lmvg/s1080/MV5BMDQ0Y2IwMDUtNmY1Mi00YzBiLTkzYWQtNTE5OTIxNmNiYzlhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTU2OTc0NDA@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_q13H086mjKuxePYO3SXxJlSeVGMovOj6DqcqCifpxeRO7BRVJQJ6tO6AThlxhsX43o6gBfc2bsrlRHmr9NXx8qTpvkLcZaigAME3qeIqXE0s29jOcQJgaPPaFAS4COq3D0zO2aB-ssGEPg6DkZeLJ0Cws29H0PM4WE_11Dik3cI1srOh87lmvg/s320/MV5BMDQ0Y2IwMDUtNmY1Mi00YzBiLTkzYWQtNTE5OTIxNmNiYzlhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTU2OTc0NDA@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The whole Christmas thing is perhaps of the least impart here: it happens to be new companion Ruby Sunday's birthday, and there's a church, and snow on the ground, and Christmas decorations all around of course ... but it has (or seems to have) no bearing on the actual plot.<p></p><p>The plot is fairly simple: Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) is now 18 years old, and she was discovered outside a church on Christmas Eve. She was taken in by a foster family and named Ruby (after the name of the street that the church was in). Now she's finding that she has hit a rash of bad luck as a load of time-bimbling goblins have decided to make her unlucky (and those she encounters) as prelude to taking another baby (called Lulu-Belle) on Christmas Eve in order to feed it to the Goblin King.</p><p>The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) has become aware of Ruby's bad luck and is trailing her ... popping up in a nightclub where she plays piano/synth on stage, and in a club where she's having a drink, as well as at her house. So when the goblins move in and kidnap the baby, he's ready for them, and he and Ruby head up a ladder to the goblin ship which is flying overhead, to rescue the baby and bring them back to Earth safely.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmNspYn5rFSUMrXAOQiL6hRwjcWOvTJEyY2SEMBeS00zlwc0qBf5b13eUs9g-2AMq-lqmgjh44XCjM1LKEdBMNE42etpqWU1LGm7pn88fmM9z1zm8Zuyglzjt5cgHHtYJYt5rX8GKe7pnTWMVDQwE5ZaxvLToV5MhRHBmKBCTfDrbrf4LIJyqhw/s686/hq720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="686" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmNspYn5rFSUMrXAOQiL6hRwjcWOvTJEyY2SEMBeS00zlwc0qBf5b13eUs9g-2AMq-lqmgjh44XCjM1LKEdBMNE42etpqWU1LGm7pn88fmM9z1zm8Zuyglzjt5cgHHtYJYt5rX8GKe7pnTWMVDQwE5ZaxvLToV5MhRHBmKBCTfDrbrf4LIJyqhw/s320/hq720.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>However, the goblins have other ideas, and bimble back 18 years and kidnap Ruby as a baby instead! This changes time, and in the present, suddenly only the Doctor remembers Ruby. So he heads back in time to rescue her from being eaten, and crashes their ship by pulling it down onto the spire of the church where it pierces (and presumably kills) the Goblin King.<p></p><p>Ruby reappears in the present day, everyone has their memories back and time is back on course, so the Doctor 'entices' Ruby to leave with him. But who is the mysterious Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson), the next door neighbour, who knows that the Doctor's ship is a TARDIS (but who seemed taken aback to see it materialise and dematerialise). Who is Ruby's real mother, and why did they leave her on the steps of the church 18 years ago. Why does Ruby's family have a working instant camera, complete with film? (they are quite expensive in 2023, as is the film for them ... how can the family afford that?) Why does no-one seem to have a mobile phone?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFVYwS7WhJILwsTMAl4Wi6_ryjE9QBAtJIXgzopOAQxPaHvi_i7R0b3IeHyJOAD_u0R6CVO4Ml8NzOiCLn-WVCIqmnmJ5Jm8voAf42-dH6yf7J7bLOgOFgEsvrbb85nIXm9QiUq39hZcYlqKNj3-tkfw646WDJY9yk_hMr7K5MyPPMq4qydlXVw/s480/TELEMMGLPICT000359210122_17031627676010_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFVYwS7WhJILwsTMAl4Wi6_ryjE9QBAtJIXgzopOAQxPaHvi_i7R0b3IeHyJOAD_u0R6CVO4Ml8NzOiCLn-WVCIqmnmJ5Jm8voAf42-dH6yf7J7bLOgOFgEsvrbb85nIXm9QiUq39hZcYlqKNj3-tkfw646WDJY9yk_hMr7K5MyPPMq4qydlXVw/s320/TELEMMGLPICT000359210122_17031627676010_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Another concern is that in this episode the Doctor does something that I'm not 100% sure he has ever done before - go back in time specifically to change history back again ... usually, as with Adric's death, or the bloody human sacrifice habit of the Aztecs, for example, he says he cannot do this. Maybe this is part of the new unbaggaged Doctor's make-up ... but then the 10th Doctor's attempt to correct history in 'Waters of Mars' was all part of the Doctor starting to go insane and believing he was some sort of unstoppable god! Here, though, the goblins had already changed it, and he was just changing it back again, so maybe that's okay then (as the Toymaker might say).<p></p><p>But it's a minor point and the episode is hugely enjoyable, due in no small part to the performances of Gatwa and Gibson ... very endearing and well cast, with the Doctor having bags of charisma and a smile to die for ... as well as the much needed gravitas (or should that be mavitas - I noticed that mavity was referenced again in the story) needed to bring the character to life.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgky-m7Wob9mM606fEqwN668GRvjINk5YKTXS2x2YUwv5nax_m_DBw4OprrjHPPsa6_FaksH81xMhaPwiAw_c1hojeZiSzpPXpzJUr6hyphenhyphenjOmOperyeGlkALNyENXskLMuIz2uFGC3fXKSO4f5zLqoFgV9KWQhUS8RKgDNYYpvWDjl3XmMqG_Z7VoQ/s2560/DW_XMAS_23_007_-EMBARGOED_21_00GMT_30.12.23-scaled.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgky-m7Wob9mM606fEqwN668GRvjINk5YKTXS2x2YUwv5nax_m_DBw4OprrjHPPsa6_FaksH81xMhaPwiAw_c1hojeZiSzpPXpzJUr6hyphenhyphenjOmOperyeGlkALNyENXskLMuIz2uFGC3fXKSO4f5zLqoFgV9KWQhUS8RKgDNYYpvWDjl3XmMqG_Z7VoQ/s320/DW_XMAS_23_007_-EMBARGOED_21_00GMT_30.12.23-scaled.webp" width="320" /></a></div>The goblins are interesting, and I liked that writer Russell T Davies gave them a scientific basis rather than just complete fantasy ... the idea that their technology is based around the science of luck and coincidence, as well as the language of ropes is fascinating and added a lot to the wonder of the tale. Their realisation is also very well done ... I originally thought they might have been all CGI, but no, they're actually twelve performers (including Rachelle Beinart who played Po in <i>Tellytubbies</i>!) with amazing prosthetics and make-up ... and then there's the Goblin King, an incredible giant animatronic monster ... simply brilliant!<p></p><p>One thing that's great about the current 'version' of <i>Doctor Who</i> is that when people pick on elements to criticise, you can usually find another example (or more) from earlier eras of the show. So if you didn't like the goblin sailing ship in the sky, then look to 'Enlightenment' with its space-bound schooners piloted by the Eternals; if the idea of the Doctor having gravity/mavity gloves worries you, then look to the Doctor using his sonic to calm Aggedor (in 'The Curse of Peladon'), or any number of other esoteric devices invented by the third Doctor; if Mrs Flood addressing the camera at the end was a problem, then look to several other instances of the Doctor and others doing the same - and of course the most famous line from the Doctor in 'The Feast of Steven' episode of 'The Daleks' Master Plan' where he broke away to wish a Happy Christmas to everyone at home! If you thought the Doctor bursting into song was strange ... well ... you may have a point. I quite liked the goblin song, though it keeps niggling me that I know the tune from something else. But the Doctor and Ruby also launching into a bit of song and dance seemed somewhat far fetched. But then again, the same thing happened way back in 'The Gunfighters' where the Doctor's companions had a bash at 'The Ballard of the Last Chance Saloon'. Even the Doctor's opening monologue harks back to stories like 'The Deadly Assassin'.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaXAfdX9IGa8tfhRC_zgVi8i1wo0a8zC98RHlLbWInRqhbIfMxjlD5uLZryQEWNVC0zTQG7mvqIatN6fyaCqf5JqzmlEfPVnhRuOCY7har1RvspXQ-COSsyu64nb1eY2fEel8Y46eaB-eFUxiPblcqjBlE99csZHW5UAAvW8f_2naTAQSXq9nNw/s1920/Church-Ruby-Road-Doctor-Who-ship-hey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaXAfdX9IGa8tfhRC_zgVi8i1wo0a8zC98RHlLbWInRqhbIfMxjlD5uLZryQEWNVC0zTQG7mvqIatN6fyaCqf5JqzmlEfPVnhRuOCY7har1RvspXQ-COSsyu64nb1eY2fEel8Y46eaB-eFUxiPblcqjBlE99csZHW5UAAvW8f_2naTAQSXq9nNw/s320/Church-Ruby-Road-Doctor-Who-ship-hey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So there's precedents for many elements which I have seen people talking about online. But then we have other things too: spearing the lead monster with the top of a church spire is very similar to the way the Great Vampire was despatched in 'State of Decay'; the 'family unit' and the way they are introduced and integrated realistically is very reminiscent of Rose and her family from 2005 (a speciality of Davies seems to be writing these characters as real and believable); and of course goblins stealing a baby is straight out of the film <i>Labyrinth</i>.<p></p><p>The Doctor presumably killing all the goblins and their King though ... that's not very Doctor-like. I wonder if they were killed though, or whether they were banished back to whatever reality/time they had bimbled in from ... </p><p>Overall then, a good Christmas episode which bodes well for the future. <i>Doctor Who</i> is dead! Long live <i>Doctor Who</i>!</p><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-77301181282020444492023-12-10T15:36:00.006+00:002023-12-10T16:34:33.264+00:00Review: Doctor Who: The Giggle (2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Tl06ND_vBWC2-7Y7OGxK2iWHJHxEYSMmhnbvQdQpD2zaDfr6pBjwyTQxtqNJW-RcsBwUSPMOlXhJbbYui_95nOnjTcQ6vhXTwUNElEBz-sHBBCfI1rxmmcOYBrDRyZfHl4eZ92HebvLRdmuIq0BmO5DmKbcZmI80FqsgHMssusroPLnR77XgNQ/s1000/doctor_who_the_giggle.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Tl06ND_vBWC2-7Y7OGxK2iWHJHxEYSMmhnbvQdQpD2zaDfr6pBjwyTQxtqNJW-RcsBwUSPMOlXhJbbYui_95nOnjTcQ6vhXTwUNElEBz-sHBBCfI1rxmmcOYBrDRyZfHl4eZ92HebvLRdmuIq0BmO5DmKbcZmI80FqsgHMssusroPLnR77XgNQ/s320/doctor_who_the_giggle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Whoah! There's a lot to unpack here. The third and final of the David Tennant/14th Doctor Specials for this year, 'The Giggle' promised a rematch with the Toymaker, who first appeared way back in 1966 in the story 'The Celestial Toymaker'. He was played by Michael Gough then, as a suave, controlled presence ... a supremely powerful entity, bored, and existing to play games ... he existed in his own realm, and if you beat the Toymaker, then the realm was destroyed, but the Toymaker existed on ... creating another realm. If you played his games and lost, then you became one of his toys ... doomed to spend an eternity playing his games.<p></p><p>And we'll come to the Toymaker.</p><p>Let's look at the other aspects of the story first. I think there's so much going on that the show is in danger of imploding. Compare this with pretty much any story from the Jodie Whittaker era and the difference is marked. They were for the most part one-note moralistic pieces, designed to deliver a 'message' ... and on the whole they did that very well, though the adventure and incidentals were lacking. Here though we have multifaceted complex pieces, where the characters all spin around each other ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBobUBIYHVxd_o4Yy7QlfPHkHrpagReWjbcjbSS5Oh4s2rnwN7Mce50-TiW9WjKdFGNlpKXASs4jDer8Pw1njgHiKLrrEvQGHj0U8ulmtPg2ls9gjSf4RsYcMjOp4BD-c4kXVFt_yDoTCXZ8O_rH_Q8qyFjlJA4iiq_Tx0zmlVlKVRE_lwsd7oA/s445/4032.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="445" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBobUBIYHVxd_o4Yy7QlfPHkHrpagReWjbcjbSS5Oh4s2rnwN7Mce50-TiW9WjKdFGNlpKXASs4jDer8Pw1njgHiKLrrEvQGHj0U8ulmtPg2ls9gjSf4RsYcMjOp4BD-c4kXVFt_yDoTCXZ8O_rH_Q8qyFjlJA4iiq_Tx0zmlVlKVRE_lwsd7oA/s320/4032.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Take UNIT for example. Rather than being a secret organisation as in the seventies, here they are an up front and obvious military presence, with a base on top of a huge tower block in London. They have access to alien tech - the strange robot thing Vlinx - which actually added nothing to the story. Likewise the Doctor's old companion Mel is here ... but why? She adds nothing to the story. Take her away and the story is unchanged. They even get the little details wrong: Mel was not the first redhead to travel with the Doctor ... what about Turlough? Or even Vicki (the actress Maureen O'Brien seems to have had red hair in in her younger days) or even Liz Shaw? Then there's Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, still in charge, and still back-referencing her dad at every turn.<p></p><p>The devices they wore to ward off the effects of 'the giggle', this Zeedex thing ... In 1968's 'The Invasion', when the Cybermen invasion began, people avoided being impacted by the Cyber-control signal by wearing neuristers on the back of their necks, and UNIT took a supply of them to Russia and elsewhere to stop the people there being affected. So why couldn't UNIT ensure that at least the heads of government were supplied with and wore the Zeedex devices - despite the very familiar anti-news propaganda about them?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2z3W79izzZ-aGbXPIORUupzzzU1_Zbr2VsuaJgpT8mWXzxMXPQrpyntcgUtjfAjir2AvdquepTUiuN4H1ZKyZBv2unQVgbwbttGe_l3kOJ_HuZMwffQ7M2Wno-YS60Uqc6Idu_P2x0LybKuGyVFhVMPulUewPy5fQqirvpstkRKnmB62K8PUp8w/s1728/MV5BYTg0MGE0NDYtOWQ3ZS00NmQ0LThhMzYtZDkzZjNhYWRlNWI2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTUyNDUwOTI5._V1_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1728" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2z3W79izzZ-aGbXPIORUupzzzU1_Zbr2VsuaJgpT8mWXzxMXPQrpyntcgUtjfAjir2AvdquepTUiuN4H1ZKyZBv2unQVgbwbttGe_l3kOJ_HuZMwffQ7M2Wno-YS60Uqc6Idu_P2x0LybKuGyVFhVMPulUewPy5fQqirvpstkRKnmB62K8PUp8w/s320/MV5BYTg0MGE0NDYtOWQ3ZS00NmQ0LThhMzYtZDkzZjNhYWRlNWI2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTUyNDUwOTI5._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This was the very clever element of the episode: turning a spotlight on ourselves as fans, and asking the hard questions about society in the 2020s. They even addressed the fact that UNIT scientific adviser Shirley Bingman could stand, even though she used a wheelchair ... something that some quarters of fandom complained about as well after her appearance in 'The Star Beast'. Russell T Davies must have been silently cheering when fandom took against elements like this, when he had <i>already </i>covered/predicted it in the forthcoming episodes!!<p></p><p>And the idea that everyone thinks they're right. Acutely explaining the total lack of empathy that so called 'leaders' like Trump and Johnson have, and that their followers mindlessly exploit ... 'I am right and therefore you must be wrong' ... endlessly repeated through online posts, blogs, comments and texts without any come back or actually having to say the same to real people. Keyboard warriorism at its most toxic. And THIS is what <i>Doctor Who </i>has always done: held a mirror up to real life and asked 'What If'. Recently the series <i>Black Mirror </i>has become the primary touchstone for 'What If' storytelling, but in <i>Doctor Who</i> terms reference the threat from the rise of technology in 'The War Machines' and 'The Tenth Planet', world food shortages in 'The Seeds of Doom', global Ice Ages in 'The Ice Warriors', pollution in 'The Green Death', the Common Market in 'The Curse of Peladon' and the miners strikes in 'The Monster of Peladon'. Also soulless high rise buildings in 'Paradise Towers', happy happy Conservatism threat in 'The Happiness Patrol' and even the issues of diesel cars and air pollution in 'Gridlock' ... it's riddled through the history of <i>Doctor Who</i> and is nothing new.</p><p>These are all great elements ... and they make UNIT seem more cohesive, even if Mel and the unexplained alien robot thing are totally surplus to requirement ... But where is Torchwood in all this? They seem to have been conveniently forgotten.</p><p>And now ... to the Toymaker, as promised.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMc-JGvhKLZ91R_6nS1TC1WNfQEc0W8E4ilD8qSszM0mXncXddkkp5nIa8p18L7TA74p-TBRM_ytzgk9RJYULXketibVDx01LgD4Iv0SxWtMfe_DxzRrZ2b5YP7HMvenUNUS3Kxkx17QOw3lG1Qry2YH5DqwMwFb4TXbhw47iv32rcedWVenpafQ/s1350/FVJlQQsWAAIwEhC.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMc-JGvhKLZ91R_6nS1TC1WNfQEc0W8E4ilD8qSszM0mXncXddkkp5nIa8p18L7TA74p-TBRM_ytzgk9RJYULXketibVDx01LgD4Iv0SxWtMfe_DxzRrZ2b5YP7HMvenUNUS3Kxkx17QOw3lG1Qry2YH5DqwMwFb4TXbhw47iv32rcedWVenpafQ/s320/FVJlQQsWAAIwEhC.jpg" width="284" /></a></div>Bringing back old enemies has not been the forte of Nu-<i>Who</i>. They tend to screw them up and get them wrong at every turn, inventing new ideas and story for them, and often ignoring or forgetting what made them great and memorable in the first place. Cybermen became Cybus-Men, robot people created by Lumic in an alternative universe. Silurians lost their third eye and most of their culture (female reptiles with breasts?). Sontarans were reduced to comedy fodder. Ice Warriors were de-armoured, de-hissed and reduced to troops for a new queen (in all fairness this happened too with the Daleks once Davros was introduced) ... so there's not a good history with bringing old enemies back into the show. Even the Master came back as some lunatic madman rather than the quiet evil presence he had previously been.<p></p><p>And sadly the same happens here. Rather than the rather serene and noble Gough, a bored immortal entity getting his kicks from playing games, and almost quite enjoying when he lost, we have Neil Patrick Harris playing some batshit mad character. His cod Germanic accent was perhaps acceptable at the beginning, but he was MUCH more threatening when he dropped it to a flat English accent. Less is far more in this case.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SIoG1wjhYKmIUaqw_gkwiSGG5Mpv1Xd09_FWgz9zAuRA662kOeb2THaMlXHJGfqUwLXq94-vnfe2K8KSy6_yulPeNLcU2CAo28219pteebs06vMmDEOnNEufj3amy89DQt5eXFWzCAVO5UPCuDlAAkai0Eg8863FkHraYNbjcOqoR-YQiaFJDw/s600/doctorwho-thegiggle.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5SIoG1wjhYKmIUaqw_gkwiSGG5Mpv1Xd09_FWgz9zAuRA662kOeb2THaMlXHJGfqUwLXq94-vnfe2K8KSy6_yulPeNLcU2CAo28219pteebs06vMmDEOnNEufj3amy89DQt5eXFWzCAVO5UPCuDlAAkai0Eg8863FkHraYNbjcOqoR-YQiaFJDw/s320/doctorwho-thegiggle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Also, once the Doctor knew his identity, why bother continuing the charade of being a German Toymaker? There was no point ... he should have reverted to playing it straight and quiet. And being a calculating, amoral threat, looking for the next game, and the next, just to keep him from being bored.<p></p><p>I have been criticised in the past of reviewing based on what I think the show should have done rather than what it did do, so let me say I loved what it did do ... it's just that (and this is in common with so many of my reviews of Russell T Davies' episodes in the past), he misses a trick, doesn't do things which would - in my view - have been so much better and satisfying as a story.</p><p>The original Toymaker story had the companions playing a sequence of games to try and 'win' the TARDIS back against some of the Toymaker's trapped previous opponents. Whereas the Doctor had to win at the Trilogic Game (being made invisible for some of it to boot), with a final kicker, that when the Doctor made the final move, the Toymaker's world would be destroyed, and the Doctor along with it - but if the Doctor was not in the world, he couldn't make the move. A neat little final conundrum that the original story found a neat and satisfying way around.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtmSIeVTAh6cRiqXfdyUhFXgZnPSFYWBWP6t8tLMRb_8Ax5c-L9JQP1BgF_sd1dQv4UJXtZ-khMxFG4eKrcdY4i3A8Uk5O0lFjZ2PkhLgOxAPc7CSd6Az_qWeMneR6cuJ9ArW25fbBuoY8O1ABLqRCJxQBc3Xs0mgc0IxnsSTdLcqjZvF6dHfHw/s740/dw-giggle-8.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="740" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtmSIeVTAh6cRiqXfdyUhFXgZnPSFYWBWP6t8tLMRb_8Ax5c-L9JQP1BgF_sd1dQv4UJXtZ-khMxFG4eKrcdY4i3A8Uk5O0lFjZ2PkhLgOxAPc7CSd6Az_qWeMneR6cuJ9ArW25fbBuoY8O1ABLqRCJxQBc3Xs0mgc0IxnsSTdLcqjZvF6dHfHw/s320/dw-giggle-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Similarly, rather than the running around through corridors of doors with Donna (and them getting split up was just stupid - we shouted at the screen at that point!) we could have had a different puzzle/game in each room that they had to win to progress. But then the final game ended up as a game of catch. That for me was too simple. It should have been something designed by the Toymaker to be a win win for him, but which the Doctor (or two Doctors) finds a loophole and wins instead. That would have been far more satisfying a solution. But that's not what we got. It was replaced with the Toymaker dancing his way through UNIT HQ to the sound of the Spice Girls singing 'Spice Up Your Life' and turning bullets into flower petals, and then a game of catch ...<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGjWnFVZWPRAe0hjEPlsXivLj6Vp2w4xfhGypOr36UT0FSsJj6nGYgWxYsn65dieI6nKJi0xuIB2zJt9MU_X5Adem2bHvXJGOcgk0BhLdafmI82DwuSq-ng0b51Yxd1WGKqwMUTGZP2ioWnMPvhgvj9LQnvMvIZYTJnVAMAQXKu_0PPTBTTU9AA/s2304/Stooky-Bill-Toymaker-Giggle-Doctor-Who-60th.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="2304" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGjWnFVZWPRAe0hjEPlsXivLj6Vp2w4xfhGypOr36UT0FSsJj6nGYgWxYsn65dieI6nKJi0xuIB2zJt9MU_X5Adem2bHvXJGOcgk0BhLdafmI82DwuSq-ng0b51Yxd1WGKqwMUTGZP2ioWnMPvhgvj9LQnvMvIZYTJnVAMAQXKu_0PPTBTTU9AA/s320/Stooky-Bill-Toymaker-Giggle-Doctor-Who-60th.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We had all this explanation in the story as well: as to how and why Baird's assistant got turned into a puppet ... and indeed the implication that the Doctor was the Toymaker's puppet all along ... not sure how though. The idea that the Doctor sprinkling salt and evoking superstition at the universe's edge (in 'Wild Blue Yonder') somehow brought the Toymaker to Earth in 1925. But what was Stooky Sue and her bairns doing there? Were they people who had become trapped as well? And that scene was stolen straight from the film <i>Barbarella</i>, where Jane Fonda is attacked by an army of biting automated dolls.<p></p><p>After all this, the Toymaker is defeated. And the Doctor says he's banished 'from existence forever' which actually means he never existed, ever, so the battle/episode could never have taken place, and the Doctor never bigenerated. Be careful with your words Doctor as they have power! But I think the show takes this to mean that we'll fold him up, pop him back in his box, and keep the box somewhere forever. Hmmm.</p><p>Except of course for his gold tooth, in which the Master is apparently trapped. Then, in exactly the same way as with his ring in 'Last of the Time Lords', a mysterious female-presenting hand picks up the tooth at the end ... so are we building to another Master regeneration in the new series at some point? Might this be the character played by the drag artist Jinxx Monsoon? Time will tell!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDKNftJii5nMIoAr3eqEYM-kJwLSTurPQ3FgGkfHQixa9h-X2K-iVCKSAiogqn1pszxiU0xnc6YFdp7njdFraEuwlQasq799YGVeg2QGfLWFtCG-tcGwfj9bdMnmpM0I3aQPHyPHA18yHOBKHUUXX0BgQLAmQxtEGgGGOaWWumZjcgBNfZ-CDmQ/s583/doctorwho-thegiggle9.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="583" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDKNftJii5nMIoAr3eqEYM-kJwLSTurPQ3FgGkfHQixa9h-X2K-iVCKSAiogqn1pszxiU0xnc6YFdp7njdFraEuwlQasq799YGVeg2QGfLWFtCG-tcGwfj9bdMnmpM0I3aQPHyPHA18yHOBKHUUXX0BgQLAmQxtEGgGGOaWWumZjcgBNfZ-CDmQ/s320/doctorwho-thegiggle9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>And so this brings us on to the much-vaunted regeneration. And it's like nothing we've seen before. Here the Time Lord literally splits in two, leaving the 14th regeneration with all the angst and baggage and damage and pain and exhaustion of 60 years (show time, many billions of his own personal time) of constant running, and creating a 15th incarnation which is free of all that. Whole again. New. Renewed. Its a smashing idea and is really well handled by the script and the cast.<p></p><p>Ncuti Gatwa, from the second he appears on screen, owns it. He even overshadows David Tennant! But this is I feel a massive complement to Tennant's portrayal, that he can pull back the Doctor to a quiet, tired, exhausted Gallifreyan, and allow Gatwa to take full reign of the charisma and dynamism that the part demands.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fGfm7pD0k7raYHHy7N1mO_blsGtatpCVW7flKV1spNFdMDHNeijgy851TO8e7F9n3j6gLj8kYPaQwbYxliaYyEzswc8rmPmWsnc8k_rttWq_HC4ZZnDOU9TSMGJeUYq-lFJhOJ8Tx6iJ8JK1La6JKzEgiQUJaFB0D6lR7Z_pye0ucKurx7e0yg/s1200/tv-recap-review-doctor-who-the-giggle-6.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="1200" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fGfm7pD0k7raYHHy7N1mO_blsGtatpCVW7flKV1spNFdMDHNeijgy851TO8e7F9n3j6gLj8kYPaQwbYxliaYyEzswc8rmPmWsnc8k_rttWq_HC4ZZnDOU9TSMGJeUYq-lFJhOJ8Tx6iJ8JK1La6JKzEgiQUJaFB0D6lR7Z_pye0ucKurx7e0yg/s320/tv-recap-review-doctor-who-the-giggle-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Even Gatwa's smile lights up the screen. Who cares that he's wearing only half the Doctor's costume and wins out playing catch in his underpants! It's the sheer joy of seeing him which floods from the screen. What a superb choice of actor from Davies ... shrewd, clever, forward thinking, and with endless possibilities. I loved it!<p></p><p>In a coda we see that the 14th Doctor has decided (sort of) to settle down with his new family: basically Donna's family, with added Auntie Mel (still not sure why she was included. Great actress, dancer, singer though she is, they gave her nothing to do!). And the Doctor is still sneaking off to Mars with Rose, and New York with Mel ... so there are more adventures happening ... more perhaps to be seen. Do I detect a potential spin off working it's way in ... maybe. Is the cynic in me wondering that this might be an escape valve for if the Gatwa adventures don't work out ... that we can revert to Tennant again? Or is this Disney insisting on the development of a MCU-style approach to <i>Doctor Who</i>, with lots of spin off shows and potential avenues for exploration? Or maybe both or all or none. I have no inside knowledge.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiyhDmQaJiWoVnz9buKi_9CTcS3sBl9hDaU7gWaCJ4FyqqrBFg1WwHIwQ_lrkOMLa6UOFU1SyTx8dQQipwbYOohUbj_Ty5EvuxhSlh1gHlv1xtmy2xG_ueH4k_FYSFK5bt6Cp2QI_8RsfgrHLz9_MZI6zKZnPctJfURDCh2tgSWYKlm60hE9oDA/s600/The-Giggle-Toymaker-strings-Doctor-Who-60th-600x337.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiyhDmQaJiWoVnz9buKi_9CTcS3sBl9hDaU7gWaCJ4FyqqrBFg1WwHIwQ_lrkOMLa6UOFU1SyTx8dQQipwbYOohUbj_Ty5EvuxhSlh1gHlv1xtmy2xG_ueH4k_FYSFK5bt6Cp2QI_8RsfgrHLz9_MZI6zKZnPctJfURDCh2tgSWYKlm60hE9oDA/w400-h225/The-Giggle-Toymaker-strings-Doctor-Who-60th-600x337.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtn_oHd6GgfceIvBudvB2D4qFKDL9RFjY1FEEOWh5eiIEL2GeL5mg9Zsv4jcZmlL3M0fOA_2gGw71AhMEHvVN1XX2edU2ABEHqu7EcARkpOjiLIIXs_vf0UHHcRVHuWiBpHov7wEzxGABWv8fIC19Nzc9ragfL_atLJaroi6AfUqO6cEsnDgG1OQ/s980/doctor-who-ncuti-gatwa-328a281.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="980" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtn_oHd6GgfceIvBudvB2D4qFKDL9RFjY1FEEOWh5eiIEL2GeL5mg9Zsv4jcZmlL3M0fOA_2gGw71AhMEHvVN1XX2edU2ABEHqu7EcARkpOjiLIIXs_vf0UHHcRVHuWiBpHov7wEzxGABWv8fIC19Nzc9ragfL_atLJaroi6AfUqO6cEsnDgG1OQ/w400-h268/doctor-who-ncuti-gatwa-328a281.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a PS: I looked up Stookie Bill. It's the genuine name for a genuine vents doll that Baird used for his trial television transmissions. And yes, the story about it being too hot for humans, and the dummy head catching fire are also true! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In addition, 'Stookie' in Scots has various meanings ... here's what a page I found said (<a href="https://susantbraithwaite.com/2019/12/07/things-in-scots-7-stookie/" target="_blank">https://susantbraithwaite.com/2019/12/07/things-in-scots-7-stookie/</a>):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><h4 class="wp-block-heading">Other meanings for stookie/stooky:</h4>
<ul><li>A plaster statue</li><li>A slow-witted, dull person</li><li>Standing motionless</li><li>To hit hard</li><li>Headbutt (This isn’t in the <a aria-label="Dictionar o the Scots Leid (opens in a new tab)" href="https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/stookie" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Dictionar o the Scots Leid</a>, but it was a common meaning when I (the writer of the blog) was a kid.)</li><li>Stookies:
A game where you have to stand like a statue while others prod, pull,
and tease you into reacting. I (the writer of the blog) also remember a version where we ran
around until the person who was “it” told us to freeze, and the first to
move became “it.”</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-24519959837404202562023-12-03T16:48:00.001+00:002023-12-04T17:31:55.319+00:00Review: Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder (2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UlAOjAU88MfkwdQwQ8umc2P4TvOiRz2niFbukk7KXKK68vGHdwtcfq1n3gblZwDK9KIDLJhLlbg74pzUfHGWyHCuW_6T-JYjbK8hNCPvy71e7Fvc4X3UPaieG-seKJd1HZVXmCQQ-2oGqpNDE_2ISh_mfGWgizQ1678fyJIpxRJi8jtwUuiO2w/s2560/450728-scaled.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1845" data-original-width="2560" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UlAOjAU88MfkwdQwQ8umc2P4TvOiRz2niFbukk7KXKK68vGHdwtcfq1n3gblZwDK9KIDLJhLlbg74pzUfHGWyHCuW_6T-JYjbK8hNCPvy71e7Fvc4X3UPaieG-seKJd1HZVXmCQQ-2oGqpNDE_2ISh_mfGWgizQ1678fyJIpxRJi8jtwUuiO2w/s320/450728-scaled.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It's the second of the sixtieth Anniversary/Christmas <i>Doctor Who</i> specials for 2023, and already I'm feeling sad that we only (apparently) have three episodes/stories of the 14th Doctor and Donna to enjoy ... the pairing is so good, that you know that Gatwa and Gibson have very big boots to fill come Christmas Day.<p></p><p>A million years ago, I wrote a spin-off <i>Doctor Who</i> drama for Reeltime Pictures called <i>Daemos Rising </i>(available to buy here: <a href="https://timetraveltv.com/programme/480" target="_blank">https://timetraveltv.com/programme/480</a>) I also wrote a second which remains unproduced called <i>Face of the Fendahl</i>. In both cases because these were low, tiny, zero, micro budget productions, and we couldn't afford hoards of extras, or even too many main actors, we had to make do with what we had, and so I fashioned the storyline so that we could have our stars playing 'evil' doubles of themselves ... who could try and trick the lead characters into thinking they were the real deal and thus win the game. This is not a million miles distant from what happens in 'Wild Blue Yonder'.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqy4cJ5mxCA0mUx4akDqKyW01GVH6ZLEULK5XobXCdWY5m-HOzpUa1JA3iMbzzw-MXD6DcX2ai4G43w6C9dK7DOHrduz6ACEX774cQB6rys13pXMmSjsCQJBvlUcczHbjZtd7QfZbUgpLFWCtkKPAVKca_4PkfxYjxmiFNR0QXlaXotnY22in3mA/s980/david-tennant-doctor-who-special-wild-blue-yonder-656707e8503f2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="980" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqy4cJ5mxCA0mUx4akDqKyW01GVH6ZLEULK5XobXCdWY5m-HOzpUa1JA3iMbzzw-MXD6DcX2ai4G43w6C9dK7DOHrduz6ACEX774cQB6rys13pXMmSjsCQJBvlUcczHbjZtd7QfZbUgpLFWCtkKPAVKca_4PkfxYjxmiFNR0QXlaXotnY22in3mA/s320/david-tennant-doctor-who-special-wild-blue-yonder-656707e8503f2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>What's interesting is that for a 'special' episode the production team chose to take this approach. To forego lots of characters, for something which is very much a two-hander for the leads. In this way it is reflective of other low-cast episodes, like the opening episodes of 'The Mind Robber', 'The Ark in Space' and 'The Space Museum', or episode 3 of 'The Deadly Assassin' where the Doctor is up against Goth in the fantasy world of the Matrix. These episodes exist to explore the environment and the psyche of the lead characters as much as to entertain and set the scene.<p></p><p>The episode had no prepublicity at all ... zero ... not even any pictures. Apparently no advance screener copies were given to the news outlets as well ... all of which stoked up the anticipation as to what this episode might all be about ... and rumours were rife about cameos from old Doctors, the Master, the Daleks ... you name it ...</p><p>The Doctor and Donna arrive on a vast spaceship at some indeterminate point in time, hanging at the very edge of the known universe ... This place is huge, silent and empty. And very, very creepy.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyrRhN9Hb9wtPUnFSPdmHgR1lx3mAKCeNOR6lv3sVbet9qTmah2OSjfvwwvp0iw25bXoo0t_S73bFZoiLJpKXna0wvZcAOIe1s-NiQnf8Z_60TWiOHwoqWEHDuJpGMfNeksPF1_scMglh3W0izjl42whyA3fgyIXDxx69JgQQ2OgqHHPwHYMyuw/s768/Doctor-Who-Wild-Blue-Yonder-Tennant-Tate.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyrRhN9Hb9wtPUnFSPdmHgR1lx3mAKCeNOR6lv3sVbet9qTmah2OSjfvwwvp0iw25bXoo0t_S73bFZoiLJpKXna0wvZcAOIe1s-NiQnf8Z_60TWiOHwoqWEHDuJpGMfNeksPF1_scMglh3W0izjl42whyA3fgyIXDxx69JgQQ2OgqHHPwHYMyuw/s320/Doctor-Who-Wild-Blue-Yonder-Tennant-Tate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In order to up the ante, the Doctor has to put the TARDIS into repair mode, which he does by shoving the sonic screwdriver in the lock. At which point the TARDIS' HADS (Hostile Action Displacement System - first seen operating way back in 'The Krotons') kicks in, takes one look around, and promptly dematerialises the ship as it's not safe where it was. Sadly the Doctor and Donna were not in it, so they are now stranded on the vast alien ship.<p></p><p>They explore, and the camera seems to be watching them, perhaps stalking them ... they are being observed. but by what?</p><p>They find a vast open corridor full of sort of pistons and flashy lights. The floor extends away in both directions to darkness and the horizon. There's something way down away from them so they walk that way. A mechanical voice says 'Fenslaw' and the whole corridor shifts and moves, the panels and pistons going to a different configuration. Later it says 'Colliss' and the same thing happens.</p><div style="left: -99999px; position: absolute;"><br /> Read more at: https://tvshowtranscripts.ourboard.org/viewtopic.php?f=555&t=66814</div><p>Farther down the corridor is a frozen human-sized but alien-looking robot. It is immobile. But then it takes a step forward and stops again.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJPe4-qHvSanHVkyHMgXj3TcztuWQR8FdfX3qtCxzdHC2Q0G100jPshAw8Kk7cLOKbmDKHWEPy37mv4nU8W6UpE6oBFdKl2FgnYqWWk7hYvbvVzQ_pht_FlVpBk_FrOPQIXvw1P2MzTmYrdk_Fb_OsHasQGVogZG3SHE-5TodBv-8Wjtgox2EJQ/s2560/450884-scaled.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJPe4-qHvSanHVkyHMgXj3TcztuWQR8FdfX3qtCxzdHC2Q0G100jPshAw8Kk7cLOKbmDKHWEPy37mv4nU8W6UpE6oBFdKl2FgnYqWWk7hYvbvVzQ_pht_FlVpBk_FrOPQIXvw1P2MzTmYrdk_Fb_OsHasQGVogZG3SHE-5TodBv-8Wjtgox2EJQ/s320/450884-scaled.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The mystery deepens. The Doctor and Donna find a control room with a more or less human-sized chair. Empty. There is however an odd occasional clang from outside the ship. Either side of the control room are two other areas. One contains strange slime-dripping rectangular sheets, the other contains pipes full of a blue liquid. The Doctor asks Donna to move all the rectangle things to the compartment above where they are while he looks at the liquid and tries to do something with it ...<p></p><p>And now, after all the mystery and intrigue, the plot kicks up a gear with the arrival of a Donna who isn't Donna and a Doctor who isn't the Doctor ... they, and the viewer, slowly realise that these facsimiles are not the real thing ... but what are they? What do they want? They seem intelligent but also have the memories of the originals ... are they creatures from the void who want to use the ship to head into the universe? Or something else entirely?</p><p>So now we're into good old fashioned <i>Doctor Who</i> monster territory as the creatures give chase, losing all control over their forms and size in the process. The Doctor and Donna head for another exit from the corridor but the ship sounds another word, 'Brate', and the infrastructure reconfigures around them, separating them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1HPqXBMvKxDIYMN1ITcE-Rs5WvL26Gzr7muEXEqbcioFS4o6Mhn-m6_shndwfvyf43dIhYg481nT-eLaZ_qQSpCoAuNJH7B5RXb3pkRevri3yJSO4TedBDS2TftNx5R3pnEEY0GTz3jmv5q2T586iP1fJCGkKBmHC2aURVt6HWQdsUXLtFh0UQ/s620/doctor-who-wild-blue-yonder.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="620" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1HPqXBMvKxDIYMN1ITcE-Rs5WvL26Gzr7muEXEqbcioFS4o6Mhn-m6_shndwfvyf43dIhYg481nT-eLaZ_qQSpCoAuNJH7B5RXb3pkRevri3yJSO4TedBDS2TftNx5R3pnEEY0GTz3jmv5q2T586iP1fJCGkKBmHC2aURVt6HWQdsUXLtFh0UQ/s320/doctor-who-wild-blue-yonder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It's cracking good fun this one ... with more than a touch of films like <i>Alien </i>and <i>Event Horizon</i>, the ship is as much a character as the Doctor and Donna, and the threat is undefined, unknown, terrifying and utterly unimaginable. There's also a healthy dose of Russell T Davies' own television episode 'Midnight' here. In that story it was an unseen creature taking over the characters and repeating what they said until they overtook the victim and became them ... here we have physical and visible creatures which want to take over the Doctor and Donna ... but how are they doing it ... what is the secret?<p></p><p>I'm not going to give away the rest of the plot here as it is quite clever and benefits a viewer coming to it cold.</p><p>I loved the episode. It was riveting and nail-biting in all the right places. The Doctor and Donna cut off from the TARDIS and the Sonic Screwdriver and having to rely on the Doctor's wits to get them through ... with a new scary monster which can pretend to be you ... great stuff.</p><p>Finally, two other elements of the production: the opening, and the ending. The opening first. And it's an odd beast indeed. It reads like a sketch from some other show: the Doctor and Donna meet Isaac Newton (Nathanial Curtis), cause an apple to fall on his head and he then discovers gravity (except he calls it mavity). The writing of this sequence seems not as polished as the rest, and the tone is completely at odds with the actual episode. This leads me to surmise that it was perhaps added at the behest of some senior dignitary at Disney, who thought that the episode was not funny enough, and that it should really be about these silly skits in time where the Doctor meets historical characters and that all known history is because the Doctor interfered, either deliberately, or, as here, accidentally. It's a total mis-reading of what the show is actually all about of course, but I can't think of a better reason as to why it's here. There seems no point ... except to have a joke about gravity now being called mavity, and then Donna calling it that during the rest of the episode ... I dunno ... Maybe it's an alternate dimension version or something?</p><p>It could, as some have suggested, tie into the Toymaker episode next week ... and this is the Toymaker creating paradoxes and playing with the Doctor ... we shall find out in due time I suppose ... or this will remain perhaps the oddest and most unrelated opening to a <i>Doctor Who</i> episode ever.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xSgBERt-0SQXHiKgCbpOfklEd7dWpNSNjYX9D1U1Ndk4o7B-QGSjKJzCNIqc67lM_O1VF5H05AIqquKVu2E4lj1yAmvydmCyv1PYHIFbAXtUb-AHeuPLKrBjjE4gbxxxy2Jw1ffb3_qkFvNwRbKkgyfS2KiApwYCusEHxUrD4TNjeVoeXtbWIw/s980/wilf-doctor-who-45c8413.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="980" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xSgBERt-0SQXHiKgCbpOfklEd7dWpNSNjYX9D1U1Ndk4o7B-QGSjKJzCNIqc67lM_O1VF5H05AIqquKVu2E4lj1yAmvydmCyv1PYHIFbAXtUb-AHeuPLKrBjjE4gbxxxy2Jw1ffb3_qkFvNwRbKkgyfS2KiApwYCusEHxUrD4TNjeVoeXtbWIw/s320/wilf-doctor-who-45c8413.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The end of the episode sees the Doctor and Donna reunited with the TARDIS and returning to Camden Market on Earth, where Donna's grandfather, Wilf, is waiting for them. Good old Bernard Cribbins ... one of the best additions to the show back in the day ... and a legend to everyone who grew up in the sixties and seventies ... Sadly this short scene turned out to be his final work and he died shortly after. RIP Bernard ... we'll not see your like again! <p></p><p>But the ending leads into next week's episode ... people are going mad, attacking each other; a plane crashes ... the world's gone insane! What is happening!!!???</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2uuw4Mhkk8f4W8ecvRmeJwB9Ll1ZCzRVIUWvxbrrXaeADxEo0uuWpl6SHBifXV4EOl_cTz9z7vlFY6hmNsCvF51sNYB3Q1ohi58UmKJJp1I_lgbZGcHehqmpCgFrT4Sa9hRt8CIUKJm_zzMCGJiYLCwfaxiWK5xqlMe2C9dy5tget8FToTR5yg/s1080/407361719_878449743629969_3009363615872510006_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2uuw4Mhkk8f4W8ecvRmeJwB9Ll1ZCzRVIUWvxbrrXaeADxEo0uuWpl6SHBifXV4EOl_cTz9z7vlFY6hmNsCvF51sNYB3Q1ohi58UmKJJp1I_lgbZGcHehqmpCgFrT4Sa9hRt8CIUKJm_zzMCGJiYLCwfaxiWK5xqlMe2C9dy5tget8FToTR5yg/w640-h640/407361719_878449743629969_3009363615872510006_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-24697540188613565722023-12-03T12:37:00.000+00:002023-12-03T12:37:21.275+00:00Review: Doctor Who: The Star Beast (2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADBQ3ZgUgUuUtQF6UHgCXBT3h1iABECTrySc0bJDLYk9siiiWpqWznSSCNbroXykg5JoXvQYKxaX3QoVpb4TmYXhvc2GLFJfaxcgvWAIYFovCMJWqAbFTChTvbD4lAB4Ndxd1N_YlCBitkKR7MryC4zvENmPE1kPP3okUX7WBUNZiHi_5z2T25Q/s900/doctor-who-the-star-beast-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADBQ3ZgUgUuUtQF6UHgCXBT3h1iABECTrySc0bJDLYk9siiiWpqWznSSCNbroXykg5JoXvQYKxaX3QoVpb4TmYXhvc2GLFJfaxcgvWAIYFovCMJWqAbFTChTvbD4lAB4Ndxd1N_YlCBitkKR7MryC4zvENmPE1kPP3okUX7WBUNZiHi_5z2T25Q/s320/doctor-who-the-star-beast-poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It's back! With a blaze of promotion from BBC Studios, <i>Doctor Who</i> is back on our telly screens ... it's the sixtieth anniversary, and while there has not been perhaps quite as much visible celebration as the fiftieth anniversary, when Matt Smith was piloting the TARDIS, and Peter Capaldi was waiting in the wings (ten years ago ... goodness ...) there has been an awful lot of celebratory fare on BBC iPlayer (including making the entire back catalogue of <i>Doctor Who</i> available, for free, to anyone in the UK who has a TV license) and BBC Sounds (several great archive radio presentations and a pile of new documentaries and explorations of all things <i>Who</i>).<p></p><p>But all of this takes second fiddle to the actual show itself ... and here we are ... 2023 ... and the Doctor has regenerated ... into a past face ... why? This question is asked a couple of times in 'The Star Beast' so I assume it has some importance ... Jodie Whitaker as the 13th Doctor, has regenerated into David Tennant, previously the 10th Doctor, and also the Metacrisis Doctor, who is now the 14th Doctor. With an even more bouffant hairdo, and perhaps less manically introspective, Tennant makes a good fist of differentiating this version of the Doctor with the one that came before. It's subtle, but there are variances.</p><p>Which is just as well, as he's been teamed up again with Catherine Tate as Donna Noble (now technically Donna Temple as she married, but she still goes by the Noble name). Now poor Donna, the last time we met her, had taken the Doctor's regenerational energies inside herself and become a sort of hybrid Time Lord, the Doctor-Donna. The only way the Doctor could save her was to wipe her memory of ever having met the Doctor, and for her to live her life back on Earth as plain old Donna once more ... ah, but the Doctor also arranged for her to win the lottery so she had millions of pounds to keep her going as well ... it seems she gave all the money away ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibrneIl2n07SUy0LK1Ag0yuHTTtqH8fk3Oj0MD9yWGGegPZK1b0B0HcEFgJPI94KOj3aowkZk8KYiT7Ql-XTOJ5-birAm38YRWFBoq9vsT01M2v-sfLgN6bxgICdGwoshLNUOPNw24I1wxPkky9K2sYU8IEKB5qKpgO7KFI-XYl5LTqY2ZYom3zQ/s824/Starbeast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="824" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibrneIl2n07SUy0LK1Ag0yuHTTtqH8fk3Oj0MD9yWGGegPZK1b0B0HcEFgJPI94KOj3aowkZk8KYiT7Ql-XTOJ5-birAm38YRWFBoq9vsT01M2v-sfLgN6bxgICdGwoshLNUOPNw24I1wxPkky9K2sYU8IEKB5qKpgO7KFI-XYl5LTqY2ZYom3zQ/s320/Starbeast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>And that's where we sort of enter 'The Star Beast'. There's quite a lot to unpick here as the background is as interesting as the telling ... it all started back in 1979 in several issues of a newly launched <i>Doctor Who Magazine</i>, where a comic strip called 'The Star Beast', written by Pat Mills (and also credited to John Wagner, though Wagner didn't actually write this story) and drawn by Dave Gibbons, ran. This strip was very popular and it was later adapted as an audio by Big Finish ... and obviously Russell T Davies also remembered and liked it, as he got permission to adapt it as a television episode to launch the 14th Doctor's series of adventures.<p></p><p>The idea that Donna must never meet the Doctor again or she will die is laboured by the Doctor several times in the teleplay, and yet fate seems to keep bringing the Doctor into her orbit. First in Camden market where she is shopping with her daughter Rose (Yasmin Finney), 15 years old it seems but with the look and smarts of someone much older. Actress Finney does a great job with Rose though, making the character real and relatable. Then a spaceship crashes overhead and plunges to the ground at an old steelworks, but Donna is picking up her packages and misses it all (as usual).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BbrHmYNWEwhBVGsa8W4swLQfc-xctrQ1imWIvjJk8-xJEmK26kh_XiJ2wKwtPpZ3Z-4zCTIxhKvIstvYjfpVsu5hQ466gkGgoDtvCc4bq26kaj71_Yx962A_oP-JQYk8o6S_x3l9b2DYmlzqmcokuk2fbQc734dXi314Cadj_z_Zw4F7hbnCCQ/s1500/003610_1367281.jpeg.1500x1000_q95_crop-smart_upscale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BbrHmYNWEwhBVGsa8W4swLQfc-xctrQ1imWIvjJk8-xJEmK26kh_XiJ2wKwtPpZ3Z-4zCTIxhKvIstvYjfpVsu5hQ466gkGgoDtvCc4bq26kaj71_Yx962A_oP-JQYk8o6S_x3l9b2DYmlzqmcokuk2fbQc734dXi314Cadj_z_Zw4F7hbnCCQ/s320/003610_1367281.jpeg.1500x1000_q95_crop-smart_upscale.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Doctor gets a lift in Donna's husband's (Karl Collins) cab to the crash site where Shirley Anne Bingham (Ruth Madeley) is introduced as UNIT scientific adviser number 56 and the Doctor says that the Doctor was the first ... what was Liz Shaw then? I thought she was the first Scientific Adviser engaged by UNIT ... hmmm ... is this some timey wimey thing going on ...<p></p><p>It seems that Rose is being bullied by the kids at school, they taunt Rose with Rose's 'deadname' of Jason, and Donna's mum, Sylvia (Jacqueline King) has trouble getting her head around the fact that Rose is now presenting as a girl - all this came over as very realistic to me ... it's the sort of thing we see and hear day after day in 2023. But back to the plot, and it seems that the spaceship didn't crash, it landed, and it's pilot had ejected, the escape pod landing close to Rose's home, where Rose and her pal Fudge (Dara Lall) - a hangover from the comic strip. In the episode he barely does anything - go to investigate.</p><p>And so we meet the Meep (performed by Cecily Fay, voiced by Miriam Margolyes) ... a cute white fluffy alien creature looking like a rather large bush-baby. The Meep seems hurt and scared and so Rose takes the Meep in.</p><p>Meanwhile some UNIT soldiers are 'infected' by something from the ship and go all blue-glowey-eyed ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMdKyHgR82gjF4Zkw8ezvi2rPiXPMLuCHuMuAcbBvXDfl8DpD0A07YYASD5a7Z6lPzhFYIh-Kd4C8S59rn6HuA5cE6H9r0CzaZ6gidMgTdPHk5corw7dA3uIl1TCJb_5iC0KWHXZepxeAGMXVmsyKEhLM0MGsdH35LQy1-w06CX0JUlQMNS7yRQ/s853/Doctor-Who-The-Star-Beast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="853" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMdKyHgR82gjF4Zkw8ezvi2rPiXPMLuCHuMuAcbBvXDfl8DpD0A07YYASD5a7Z6lPzhFYIh-Kd4C8S59rn6HuA5cE6H9r0CzaZ6gidMgTdPHk5corw7dA3uIl1TCJb_5iC0KWHXZepxeAGMXVmsyKEhLM0MGsdH35LQy1-w06CX0JUlQMNS7yRQ/s320/Doctor-Who-The-Star-Beast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Before you can turn around, there are large insect-like things hunting the Meep (the Wrarth Warriors) and the infected soldiers are hunting the Wrarth Warriors, and they're all at Donna's house ... and so is the Doctor ... so how can Donna be kept apart from him ... OR SHE WILL DIE!!!<br /><br />Of course she can't be kept apart and the group escape from the war-like carnage of the battle by use of several new sonic screwdriver functions - handy that device - and head for an underground car park where the Doctor convenes a council of war ... just what IS going on here?<br /><p></p><p>Seems the Wrarth Warriors are not evil - they are using plasma and stun bolts - but the Meep is of course totally corrupt and evil and out to use Earth as the Meep's own larder. </p><p>A word on pronouns. There's an awkward scene were Rose has a go at the Doctor for mis-gendering the Meep ... The Meep it seems is always just The Meep, rather than he, she, they or, I suppose, it ... and this just doesn't work. It gets in the way of the action, and just isn't necessary. I guess they felt it was to tie into the whole Rose is trans vibe they wanted to go with, which up to this point was subtle and well handled. The Doctor comments that the Doctor too doesn't have pronouns and is just 'The Doctor' ... hmmm (again).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zNtGmc-428s1ps0Wfln6vyGfYAWunq1PpUhbKDn_5lAxkmSUwfBtO6FbIULVjyHFBHUkUZnAUB1pSYRC9tBIHJkeJ8H-jT0_WCqUpIY4MwyGi8GGX4fdfKYwb_km9yBTuktNsq5oF84LU68qv0x86bcP4Tj4fCfXq8l_W8Oakl2kHsmcCNb9rA/s1284/Doctor-Who-wrarth-warriors-ab4e417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1284" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zNtGmc-428s1ps0Wfln6vyGfYAWunq1PpUhbKDn_5lAxkmSUwfBtO6FbIULVjyHFBHUkUZnAUB1pSYRC9tBIHJkeJ8H-jT0_WCqUpIY4MwyGi8GGX4fdfKYwb_km9yBTuktNsq5oF84LU68qv0x86bcP4Tj4fCfXq8l_W8Oakl2kHsmcCNb9rA/s320/Doctor-Who-wrarth-warriors-ab4e417.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Anyway ... the Meep takes everyone prisoner and they are locked up in the ship until the Meep can decide which to eat first ... and so the Doctor takes matters into the Doctor's own hands, and ushers everyone else out so the Doctor can start flicking switches and the like ... but Donna, to whom realisation is coming, insists on staying behind to help ... so they both start flicking switches as a partition comes down between them (I'm not sure why this happens ... it seemed like a McGuffin to force Donna to full realisation before she could help the Doctor, but it also reminded me of the Doctor and Wilf when Wilf was trapped in the radiation machine and will die ...)<br /><br />So the Doctor and an 'awoken' Donna flick switches and turn off the spaceship which has been causing lava-filled fissures to open up across London. The fissures close up and everything is ok again. Shades of the attack by the giant Racnoss in 'The Runaway Bride' where the Thames is completely drained of water, and is then put back right again with no ill effects!<p></p><p>But Donna is again full of the metacrisis regeneration energy ... and SHE WILL DIE!!</p><p>Except ...<br /></p><p>Do I need a SPOILER TAG here? Not sure ... so if you've not yet seen the episode ... stop reading here.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-e8_B_Z0fWib5gQs19pOU-H-lVe4wl9zDTBoj1nseAMiIQafxEB1G4FjCQV1jLDa9blWKfRUy8A1JtqnN-pewLYMZSJHIBDVlYwCslobOe0VcIkJhPkSWVB0j2QT6uFxSXUIcsgVPPOpDVjafrnlfrOuFK9ENoqv_H9SsVLrztBcJQKGxw9vT8A/s1194/david-tennant-yasmin-finney-doctor-who-the-star-beast-65608d8177b24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1194" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-e8_B_Z0fWib5gQs19pOU-H-lVe4wl9zDTBoj1nseAMiIQafxEB1G4FjCQV1jLDa9blWKfRUy8A1JtqnN-pewLYMZSJHIBDVlYwCslobOe0VcIkJhPkSWVB0j2QT6uFxSXUIcsgVPPOpDVjafrnlfrOuFK9ENoqv_H9SsVLrztBcJQKGxw9vT8A/s320/david-tennant-yasmin-finney-doctor-who-the-star-beast-65608d8177b24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It's clever. Donna was GOING TO DIE!! from the metacrisis regeneration energy but she had a child ... and because of that, the energy could be shared with Rose ... and Rose can cope with this much better than Donna alone can do ... and so Donna and Rose ultimately don't die because they can LET IT GO ... something apparently a man cannot do ... a bit of cringe-worthy sexism thrown in because why not.<p></p><p>It's a good job that the episode as a whole is so enjoyable and visually rewarding. From the Meep, to the Wrarth Warriors, to the spaceship, to the battle of Donna's street, to the new TARDIS interior we see at the end (and that's interesting as the Doctor acts like the Doctor has not seen it before - the Doctor even mentions that it's changed - so what did it look like at the start of the episode - when the Doctor emerges from the TARDIS we don't see the inside ... maybe it was still like Jodie's? Ahhhh ... another mystery ...) everything looks amazing and moves at pace. You barely have a chance to take in all the detailing which is going on ...<br /></p><p>The jeers at Rose from the lads from her school is a blink and you miss it moment - if you happened to sip your tea at that point! I also liked among many other things here, that Rose was making toys based on <i>Doctor Who</i> monsters that Donna had met - proving their shared metacrisis-ism ... we had a Judoon, an Ood, a Dalek, a Cyberman ... stand by for merchandise overload! Also that the little shed which Rose uses as a workshop is also a TARDIS ... subtle but the clues are there.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8F3ebKqEylMJxU5IZj-Ce_J1Zr4q-6AglivJsZ5JtNn375XybuyFaR3ZtpQe0-KffG8d-c7-egH_YovxaPAtBma_atw0prRZuUMXU7Ue7gE4CAKwgVMdnF-DrCeUFzswZeujaX_oNuFeXG1jGA9SJgDWwAdraR24zHDDtAW01lFFq_kQJG3SWw/s1008/p0gtvs8f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1008" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8F3ebKqEylMJxU5IZj-Ce_J1Zr4q-6AglivJsZ5JtNn375XybuyFaR3ZtpQe0-KffG8d-c7-egH_YovxaPAtBma_atw0prRZuUMXU7Ue7gE4CAKwgVMdnF-DrCeUFzswZeujaX_oNuFeXG1jGA9SJgDWwAdraR24zHDDtAW01lFFq_kQJG3SWw/s320/p0gtvs8f.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It's something of an exhausting episode, doing many things simultaneously ... introducing the tenth Doctor and Donna, summarising their backstory, introducing Rose as Rose is important to the outcome, introducing UNIT as seemingly fully in control of the alien spaceship incursion - even if Shirley seems a little out of place in her wheelchair. I get that UNIT's scientific adviser may well be wheelchair-bound, but in that case, should she really be physically taken to the front line ... to a warehouse full of stairs and hazards that she might not be able to navigate ...? Wouldn't she have an assistant to help with that perhaps while she stays in a mobile HQ? Even the Brigadier didn't physically attend every UNIT activity! Having said that, she seems a mean hand with her augmented chair with integrated darts and rocket launcher, so who's to say that the chair can't also hover and allow her to go wherever she pleases ...<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvmJwwBPu5KZwvhquyXosqFvMHX6pxj_w4MoF-G4FDvPex83sAhWk8QckGKrdCegCxHh4ZtdNuheoawOnPPSB19N2n7lUjD335LutI2zbQoW0jxCyokphOqemcrW7tWN7yh0mzlRtGJF1dGbTfYECpr3mQ1Dx1osXd7UyBaexbeeGwtf2cJnAfQ/s450/IMG_1096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="450" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvmJwwBPu5KZwvhquyXosqFvMHX6pxj_w4MoF-G4FDvPex83sAhWk8QckGKrdCegCxHh4ZtdNuheoawOnPPSB19N2n7lUjD335LutI2zbQoW0jxCyokphOqemcrW7tWN7yh0mzlRtGJF1dGbTfYECpr3mQ1Dx1osXd7UyBaexbeeGwtf2cJnAfQ/s320/IMG_1096.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. It told a proper story, and was exciting and thrilling at all the right places. While I also really enjoyed Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi's episodes - and some of them I love to pieces! - with Jodie's stories there was always something missing, some spark, some depth ... and now we have Russell T Davies back at the helm, the spark seems to have returned in spades.<p></p><p>But we only have (allegedly) three episodes of this new 14th Doctor and Donna combination before it's all change again ... and next week ... well ... there wasn't a trailer at the end for 'Wild Blue Yonder', a story they have been keeping so tightly under wraps that one wonders if <i>anyone</i> has actually seen it at all ... including Davies! Only one week to wait ...</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-54660874567089849242023-12-03T10:45:00.001+00:002023-12-03T10:45:21.777+00:00Review: Rose : Illustrated Novelisation (2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolMIUxkLQd2k2SNzBNTee1bOtuk7VU5gVEfiZh9EVPo-4KnM4Y_81xbYPYM-HF5Y6xPbMAOvIAYpjbIXAv3CXHbQb8s13lJrON5k_EWN-Wh3n4J4mKJm5sYp2-eAvPZePOguvOtuAyQipsc_DFTKYgsh47RD7Ts_rqmRhStYWptUmmr0UBqMKtA/s2560/Rose%20Hardback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1990" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolMIUxkLQd2k2SNzBNTee1bOtuk7VU5gVEfiZh9EVPo-4KnM4Y_81xbYPYM-HF5Y6xPbMAOvIAYpjbIXAv3CXHbQb8s13lJrON5k_EWN-Wh3n4J4mKJm5sYp2-eAvPZePOguvOtuAyQipsc_DFTKYgsh47RD7Ts_rqmRhStYWptUmmr0UBqMKtA/s320/Rose%20Hardback.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>Following on from 2022's acclaimed illustrated novelisation of the first Dalek story, <i>Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure With the Daleks</i>, illustrated by artist Robert Hack, the same team have come together to present a new edition of Russell T Davies' novelisation of his script for the opening episode of the revived series in 2005.<p></p><p><i>Rose </i>follows the same pattern: an oversized hardback edition containing the original text of Davies' novelisation, but augmented with many new illustrations from Hack which complement and augment the story wonderfully. </p><p>Among the gems here are a selection of very creepy shop mannequins, gorgeous imagery from the show itself, and, possibly my favourite, two double page spreads showing, first, all the Doctors we know about, and second, all the ones we don't know about, or which might just be as a result of Clive misunderstanding or getting the wrong end of the stick (ie not Doctors at all).</p><p>Even the pages which don't have obvious imagery, have a colour wash to the pages, and sometimes there's a faint hidden image in the wash too ... it's all beautifully done and put together, and is a real treat on the eyes as well as the senses, with the smashing dust jacket, thick paper leaves, and general sense and feel of it being a quality item.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-OmDLASKmiaILQNce-8oAEzXa5VJZSUAIiaBh7ye1MDcmGLAPp0zmtskRRrhHL_5NMPHYP_nsfmSY6OP2GJmAPXlWYcMP4E_RPEEZmHjbbTqiS48vJ2OMM_hueVn1EnC8AotC5aNEwOSHcMBUE6VbcMQErIesp5PaodGgtwgVWAkb3r5-C1g_A/s2048/Rose%20Hardback%20int%20page.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-OmDLASKmiaILQNce-8oAEzXa5VJZSUAIiaBh7ye1MDcmGLAPp0zmtskRRrhHL_5NMPHYP_nsfmSY6OP2GJmAPXlWYcMP4E_RPEEZmHjbbTqiS48vJ2OMM_hueVn1EnC8AotC5aNEwOSHcMBUE6VbcMQErIesp5PaodGgtwgVWAkb3r5-C1g_A/w400-h225/Rose%20Hardback%20int%20page.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>After the massive disappointment of the new <i>Whotopia </i>book, it's right that the BBC have given <i>Rose </i>pride of place as the 60th anniversary publication, releasing it on the anniversary day itself. This is a publication which celebrates quality: a great story bringing <i>Doctor Who</i> to a whole new audience, a cracking adaptation by the original writer, and a quality publication from the BBC, containing some of the best modern art created for the show.</p><p>You couldn't ask for anything else!</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-80783127635009202072023-11-24T14:26:00.006+00:002023-11-24T17:25:18.063+00:00Review: The Daleks: In Colour (2023)Being a <i>Doctor Who</i> fan can be an excitement of ups and downs ... some things sound amazing and you look forward to them ... but then others just seem strange ... and then you get some PR/Hype and they sound great ...<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY_EHDHA4dQIQx2sc-U7gUao6LEl1LTuEbf8e5LuxzmcKKgOtIKgRvrsUVfWYO1uaQSs31UuCJMIo7Jahr1MtvmNsk97ve_1c3tTRRdXUjUYsn1fht1rLL6_Bwww_RTLWElOwCjYN_3pWRnUTWzKKLVacW-lsNAqLsYKu15b7CXDRPFp2dlCmfaA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY_EHDHA4dQIQx2sc-U7gUao6LEl1LTuEbf8e5LuxzmcKKgOtIKgRvrsUVfWYO1uaQSs31UuCJMIo7Jahr1MtvmNsk97ve_1c3tTRRdXUjUYsn1fht1rLL6_Bwww_RTLWElOwCjYN_3pWRnUTWzKKLVacW-lsNAqLsYKu15b7CXDRPFp2dlCmfaA" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>This colourised version of the very first Dalek story, here called 'The Daleks' but actually titled 'The Mutants' by the production team at the time of transmission, sounded interesting. There's been a 'thing' about colourising black and white productions for some time, with everything from old scifi films of the 50s to episodes of old Laurel and Hardy comedies getting the treatment. Fans have been posting coloured clips from <i>Doctor Who</i> on YouTube for years with varying results, of course some episodes of <i>Doctor Who</i> which were originally in colour but for which only black and white prints existed have been colourised via a variety of clever means, and more recently AI has been used to apply colour to clips, again with varying degrees of success.</div><div><br /></div><div>Add to this people like Clayton Hickman who has been superbly colouring black and white photos, and you have a lot of talent out there who should be able to produce something passable - at least if the BBC is then going to show it to the public!</div><div><br /></div><div>So a colourised version of 'The Daleks' seemed like a good idea! But then we heard that it was also an edited version ... cut from seven 25 minute episodes (175 minutes) down to around 75 minutes ... so losing 100 minutes of runtime! Moreover, it was to have new dialogue from both David Graham, one of the original Dalek voices, and now 98 years old, and Nicholas Briggs, who has provided the voices for the modern Daleks ever since 2005. But there's more ... Mark Ayres, custodian of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's material and member of that amazing group of musicians, was to provide a new score ... Hmmm ... Now it starts to sound all a bit much.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGFue8Ibh9_ZxHJWtddENb2k8azk5Rv3zzF1zBK01urMxB-Xi-kbDT2cvTEjgvwnRVx7uQfBy62AfqvWPD7n9BzOKHIKSdP1lD2G-7D7AssI5tsNS1SYdr-8WxnkGLKPjXUzgMdG4zYYCl3Mo6FMcwzlxmTM1EJdb4vl2Mt2YEjdqEbTioj3Nj9A"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGFue8Ibh9_ZxHJWtddENb2k8azk5Rv3zzF1zBK01urMxB-Xi-kbDT2cvTEjgvwnRVx7uQfBy62AfqvWPD7n9BzOKHIKSdP1lD2G-7D7AssI5tsNS1SYdr-8WxnkGLKPjXUzgMdG4zYYCl3Mo6FMcwzlxmTM1EJdb4vl2Mt2YEjdqEbTioj3Nj9A=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>Then we have Exec Producer Russell T Davies, telling us that it's all to try and make these old black and white <i>Doctor Who</i>s accessible to the new generation who won't watch black and white stuff ... so it needed to be edited down, made snappier and faster, using modern techniques and so on ... which all sounded good. The edit was undertaken by Benjamin Cook, writer for probably 90% of <i>Doctor Who Magazine</i>'s Nu-Who content, and who also collaborated with Davies on his book of script development for the show. He's also done trailers for the BluRay collections and such for the series before ...</div><div><br /></div><div>So ... a new version of the iconic first appearance of the Daleks ... was it any good?</div><div><br /></div><div>It's always really hard to review items where friends have been involved, but as I am a reviewer/commentator on <i>Doctor Who</i>, and as I believe in not whitewashing things, I have to say what I think ...</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcyksUVbdUjf7Ti0pNcxCToHzPq4519pZ_EkqLAfniqUx_5IqRLy1kJ3Wv_mOlO98VshCqskvVrLAuPm2HJ8C3F8YwsnLHQbJDZQI2QyL4Adh-Dqx6gL4w8a_kx1qcN6UGYjWtj1AwUgFwHqqmWUFlOgf5aj51KE8fIgYpN6h39Ioc4DfsXEgqFg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcyksUVbdUjf7Ti0pNcxCToHzPq4519pZ_EkqLAfniqUx_5IqRLy1kJ3Wv_mOlO98VshCqskvVrLAuPm2HJ8C3F8YwsnLHQbJDZQI2QyL4Adh-Dqx6gL4w8a_kx1qcN6UGYjWtj1AwUgFwHqqmWUFlOgf5aj51KE8fIgYpN6h39Ioc4DfsXEgqFg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div><div>Overall: I enjoyed it. I think it manages to achieve what Davies wanted: to act as a new version of the story for new fans (or ones who just won't sit through 175 minutes of black and white television). But it is definitely a new take on the story. In the same way as the animated episodes take enormous liberties with the source material to present a totally different look and feel to the episodes (even though they have the same soundtrack), this version of 'The Daleks' takes the basic storyline and removes anything which is extra to that ... But it sort of works ... it's fast and furious and moves at pace.</div><div><br /></div><div>The colourisation is okay ... but there was always going to be conflict as to what colour things should be. Should they be the colour they were in the studio, as evidenced by colour photographs taken at the time? Or should they be the colour which perhaps they might have been otherwise? The issue is that in the black and white days, the designers coloured things so that the shade of grey they would then appear on screen would work with all the other shades of grey in the production. This is why the TARDIS control console was actually coloured a pale green, so that it looked a silver white on screen ...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjg3IBEZ7S9S-3rVlFQXesQI6CaWb4PHLWdGqiYnTd-pLSK66_QlgIlp-04nVI1rjzjoFV7k8cyjnVDxyFkYlapJ9k-hx-RiJ8W7Zs4EsgDJuzYAb8cNInUaq8gtCLav18gAQESNNmWV0vpKGGoMeAja5dhPlcv6iEmr49PgzsqWcBYfUR_UQF9fQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjg3IBEZ7S9S-3rVlFQXesQI6CaWb4PHLWdGqiYnTd-pLSK66_QlgIlp-04nVI1rjzjoFV7k8cyjnVDxyFkYlapJ9k-hx-RiJ8W7Zs4EsgDJuzYAb8cNInUaq8gtCLav18gAQESNNmWV0vpKGGoMeAja5dhPlcv6iEmr49PgzsqWcBYfUR_UQF9fQ" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>It seems that they've done a bit of a mixture ... the TARDIS console has been coloured a silvery white, so following the intention rather than the actuality ... but the TARDIS floor (and indeed the floor of the Dalek city are a blue - the colour of the actual set floors. The strangest colour decision comes with Barbara's top ... this is a bright pink ... and while the actual colour of the top she wears at the start of the story is unknown, the one she wears at the end was actually pale blue. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the original story, after the Thals are killed in the Daleks' ambush, the TARDIS team return to the ship in episode 4, and Barbara then changes her outfit. The original top, which was a sort of button-up-the-back blouse, is replaced with a shirt at this point, but she still wears her skirt. In episode 5, when they are on their way to the mountains through the swamps, she has now changed her skirt for a pair of black Thal trousers. In the edited version, Barbara's outfit changes as before ... but her shirt remains a bright pink ... Ian's jumper is also the wrong shade of brown - it's too light and should be darker, as should his trousers.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJ4ryzvre0P8sNQC2vLuWlmeUn2CLZmcBlmX1DJWRYE4CpJKEWsmwh4nEqGN8na17l2d82aClOI16_q_B1-Ne6GkrkD4XS5pMbAuDh0TULSTdnkkVVBStxZ9YBPm27-fnd7cFLJGAf7Ij2WresGiIHVDwVmHOeZqLpnyGUEqsvkSiXKktnaqxGEA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJ4ryzvre0P8sNQC2vLuWlmeUn2CLZmcBlmX1DJWRYE4CpJKEWsmwh4nEqGN8na17l2d82aClOI16_q_B1-Ne6GkrkD4XS5pMbAuDh0TULSTdnkkVVBStxZ9YBPm27-fnd7cFLJGAf7Ij2WresGiIHVDwVmHOeZqLpnyGUEqsvkSiXKktnaqxGEA" width="320" /></a></div><br />Overall though the colour choices are not bad and help to enhance the story. There's some lovely elements of coloured skies and the control panels in the Dalek city are smashing. Some of the darker shots suffer from a lack of clarity and black 'artefacts' appear around the edges of the black areas - especially noticeable in the scene immediately before the travellers meet the Daleks for the first time. At least on my big television they do!</div><div><br /></div><div>And the Daleks. Well they look amazing. Correct colour scheme, and as in studio too. I love the new extermination effect too. The main issue with them are the voices. Nicholas Briggs' modern more strident tones stand out a mile from the original, more subtle, voices. And it grates. Especially as the very first Dalek voice we now hear is new: 'Stay where you are!' rather than the original 'You will move ahead of us and follow my directions!' Whether this new voice is a new Graham or Briggs contribution, it really doesn't work.<br /><br />And this brings the next element of the production to the fore: the music. The original had a brilliantly futuristic and distinctive score by Tristram Cary, but here several key cues have been changed and new music written ... in the case of the first appearance of the Daleks, instead of a sort of long whistle as the camera pulls back, now we have more modern music added in to make it 'dramatic'. The music overall is OK, though I frowned when I heard that the opening title music had been tinkered with, but in places it is jarring - like the addition of a sort of disco beat as the travellers escape in the lift: this reminded me a little of the music in the two Dalek cinema films. There were more cues from Cary's work used also: it sounded to me like his scores for some of the other <i>Doctor Who</i> stories he did had been plundered (but then I have a feeling that the future scores were mostly reuses of the cues for 'The Daleks' anyway).<br /><br />Either way this doesn't really matter in my ear, as they're all from the same composer and match together. It's the more modern elements with drums and guitar sounds which seemed out of place in the story ... perhaps it's what the modern viewer needs: the music to 'tell' them what to feel at each point. If so it's a shame, and, for me, detracts from the drama that is unfolding. I often feel with music that less is more ... I dislike the 'wall to wall' music landscape of modern shows, much preferring the ambient and subtle approach to scoring a film or a show. There's an adage that if you notice it, then it hasn't worked. And here I noticed it big-time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the edit, and it's inevitable that there would be some sacrifices. I understand the need for shortcutting some of the storytelling, and using the Daleks watching on their rangerscopes was a nice way to speed the plot along. It is a shame that we lost the appearance of the first ever alien monster to appear on <i>Doctor Who</i>: the poor Magnadon. And the food machine sequence too. I guess you can't have everything. It was also an odd, but perhaps predictable decision to show the TARDIS arriving on Skaro, scenes never in the original story (the first time we saw the TARDIS materialise was in 'The Keys of Marinus'), and the new scene here looks very strange. I suspect it was achieved through CGI, and unfortunately it looks like it. Likewise they have replaced the shot of the TARDIS dematerialising at the end with a modern equivalent ... and again it jars. Why do they have the TARDIS sort of vanishing then reappearing, then vanishing, then reappearing in time with the sound effect? At the start of 'The Keys of Marinus', the TARDIS just silently and smoothly fades into view. It also silently and smoothly vanishes at the end of 'The Keys of Marinus', and smoothly appears at the start of 'The French Revolution'. In the original shot at the end of 'The Daleks' it also smoothly vanished ... so why this up/down visual approach? It's a strange decision to have made. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvSlAaXuY_4Lo786a3Ty-R7T8yMSvQ1Mj89Iy14DIDvb7XaG0bXMfRulX750DSK328npL6g7OAd6LfDoLbGAMyj_LCet2pjnVnXrAQXvpQ8BykTlgYjWgZvjMuSaLfrvHUmAedWmLROjpZ-oh6PjmJ59yU9SeG4cbUG7BDDaKcxw5hjzzaN7i4g/s4508/1B-RC-007.tif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3005" data-original-width="4508" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvSlAaXuY_4Lo786a3Ty-R7T8yMSvQ1Mj89Iy14DIDvb7XaG0bXMfRulX750DSK328npL6g7OAd6LfDoLbGAMyj_LCet2pjnVnXrAQXvpQ8BykTlgYjWgZvjMuSaLfrvHUmAedWmLROjpZ-oh6PjmJ59yU9SeG4cbUG7BDDaKcxw5hjzzaN7i4g/s320/1B-RC-007.tif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Magnadon. Yesterday.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Other anachronistic elements include the tolling of the Cloister Bell as the TARDIS has it's little hiccup at the start: this sound was not introduced until 'Logopolis' in 1980.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall then, a story from <i>Doctor Who</i>'s very beginning has been given a new life through a 2023 'makeover', with almost all elements of the production re-edited, scored, coloured and jigged to create a modern take on a certified classic. It's not perfect, but then I wonder if anything like this really could please everyone. Maybe a straight colourisation would be better ... but then you have an arguably stodgy sixties pace to try and deal with ... and there's still the question as to which colours to use - especially when some stories have little or no original colour material to work from.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like the animations, or indeed the two Dalek cinema films, this is best viewed as an alternative take on the story, with a tweaked plot, new music, and colours occasionally so bright they make your eyes bleed ... I think there is room in the world for both/all versions. It'll be interesting to see which one(s) are attempted next!</div><div><br /></div><div>THE DALEKS IN COLOUR can be seen on iPlayer in the UK: <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001snnz/doctor-who-19631996-season-1-the-daleks-in-colour">https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001snnz/doctor-who-19631996-season-1-the-daleks-in-colour</a></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-53063536415631046192023-11-21T14:33:00.003+00:002023-11-21T16:35:56.332+00:00Review: Whotopia: The Ultimate Guide to the Whoniverse<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBGK_oJd6q_MCEGANS6S7B5YtAVP_55Bfq_DQVTSbyEAmcF5t_tJbYWn4bLBfH5kcwqhZj25yGwK3PTzt3t19_5kOeHIN3EQqNsrQUzLbMHVkayrhb7yI5OIkBBVrl3poX0O7-u6_EKbV5juSUSTw8HGJ9M6qTPLqA4SbIRFp2x56j54v3ADmLQ/s1017/Whotopia.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="738" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBGK_oJd6q_MCEGANS6S7B5YtAVP_55Bfq_DQVTSbyEAmcF5t_tJbYWn4bLBfH5kcwqhZj25yGwK3PTzt3t19_5kOeHIN3EQqNsrQUzLbMHVkayrhb7yI5OIkBBVrl3poX0O7-u6_EKbV5juSUSTw8HGJ9M6qTPLqA4SbIRFp2x56j54v3ADmLQ/s320/Whotopia.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>Sixty years! That's a long time by any measure ... and it's how long <i>Doctor Who</i> has been running ... Sixty ... In that time we've had 14 Doctors, or more, depending on how you count and what you include ... many companions, monsters, villains ... lots and lots of excitement and adventure ... and merchandise too ... including books looking at every aspect of the show.<p></p><p>So what might be left to cover? BBC Studios/Ebury Books have released <i>Whotopia </i>as their offering as the 'big book' for the 60th anniversary ... and one might expect something special ... something different.</p><p>For the 20th Anniversary we had Peter Haining's <i>Doctor Who: A Celebration</i> ... for the 25th Anniversary it was <i>Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years</i> from the same author. The 30th anniversary brought <i>Timeframe</i>, a glorious full colour romp through the years via the mediums of Target book cover art and ephemera, by David J Howe (yes, that's me!).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjC2MUBFKeilSP8yxvpXyHwLq56tn00BdpkS05CUU4nqcebMVYbMb1xaz2JhqZ9iycAtCiB4UK3soYXoNDCsg_Hu-BboBpXuZQlSyUCJxTldc14ik1ETufO9XUl9MSTDFPWWMGkiEhPS4A-pD53nnfyg2rERHbNvHWuyVlqZPm-cRDp3e2annMnQ/s500/timeframe%20hb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="362" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjC2MUBFKeilSP8yxvpXyHwLq56tn00BdpkS05CUU4nqcebMVYbMb1xaz2JhqZ9iycAtCiB4UK3soYXoNDCsg_Hu-BboBpXuZQlSyUCJxTldc14ik1ETufO9XUl9MSTDFPWWMGkiEhPS4A-pD53nnfyg2rERHbNvHWuyVlqZPm-cRDp3e2annMnQ/s320/timeframe%20hb.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKZbqWuLxOUB4UJFcWTvzAQV_Qce7_dFl47MkC2BPiQpo1Wt73SX-wZ0dwmOZorb41CzhS9f6n5iPQZgh6aKesf3py1WUw7BDOKok_AEVKFSxIU_ad85DFLFUfsUnJYrrpnVfGuLc1hQm2qlLh_2cVbFymDW8gYJrg1y26l8cMX75SGofjJ0xwQ/s652/Vault.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="615" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKZbqWuLxOUB4UJFcWTvzAQV_Qce7_dFl47MkC2BPiQpo1Wt73SX-wZ0dwmOZorb41CzhS9f6n5iPQZgh6aKesf3py1WUw7BDOKok_AEVKFSxIU_ad85DFLFUfsUnJYrrpnVfGuLc1hQm2qlLh_2cVbFymDW8gYJrg1y26l8cMX75SGofjJ0xwQ/s320/Vault.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><br />For the 40th came <i>Doctor Who: The Legend</i> by Justin Richards, a full colour, over-designed but slight look at all the stories. This one was firmly based in the fiction of the series, and that, sadly, is where BBC Books/Ebury seem to have been mired ever since. For the 50th Anniversary there was Marcus Hearn's superlative <i>Doctor Who: The Vault</i>. A magnificent look at <i>Doctor Who</i> through the medium of props and paperwork and other ephemera - a really original way to explore the series. But there was also <i>The Doctor: His Lives and Times</i>, yet another in-universe look through the series.<div><br /></div><div>Pretty much everything they have published over the last twenty years has been about the fiction of <i>Doctor Who</i>. There have been endless books of lists, encyclopaedias of the worlds of <i>Doctor Who</i>, art books looking at the concepts, a dreadful atlas which documented all the fictional planets, endless picture books of monsters, aliens, planets, technology and so on ... all reusing the same in-universe information about everything that ever appeared or has been mentioned. What there haven't been are any BBC-Published books which explore the making-of or the backgrounds to the stories ... looking at the writing, the production, the artistic skills ... for some reason this sort of behind the scenes history has not been in favour.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXhgP9B3XPTetDMNFnHuag29Y8tOKt8SfUwQK887Uz82qR3q_VVcMLw0s-r07xKD6CdRQf96XRa6G4oatfokbae9xxWXrmCPSidMe6CIf2WCCeumd_6Rz6AjUGTkPQYLQEH3nNsxRe5uhAZDWH2uceaGDTv2m33TCu07QD1WBZ7_bi1R_PiCx3Hg/s500/Legend.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXhgP9B3XPTetDMNFnHuag29Y8tOKt8SfUwQK887Uz82qR3q_VVcMLw0s-r07xKD6CdRQf96XRa6G4oatfokbae9xxWXrmCPSidMe6CIf2WCCeumd_6Rz6AjUGTkPQYLQEH3nNsxRe5uhAZDWH2uceaGDTv2m33TCu07QD1WBZ7_bi1R_PiCx3Hg/s320/Legend.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Given that many of the books have been published by BBC Children's books may give a clue ... BBC Studios has increasingly seen its publishing aimed at young children - kids who probably have not got a clue what was happening in Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat's increasingly complex and 'Timey Wimey' television take on the show. From the annual <i>Annual</i>, to fan art collections, a history of the Time Lords, the companions companion and the Doctor's guide to whatever and whoever ... these books aimed at the younger market have proliferated ... and have also been augmented with novella-length fiction, again written for the younger reader ...<p></p><p>All of which brings us to the sixtieth anniversary ... and what could the BBC bring to the table?</p><p>Given that they potentially have unparalleled access to the show and its makers, something looking at the changing face of the show perhaps, exploring production techniques and methods through the years? No?</p><p>Or something interviewing the producers and actors, those who make the show what it is? No?</p><p>Or something exploring how the show has touched lives and inspired people? No?</p><p>In fact, many of these elements have been explored in publications, both licenced (rather than published) by the BBC and published independently (as no license was required) ...<br /><br />What the BBC have given us is <i>Whotopia</i>.</p><p>From a very plain cover: simple gold foil wording and circles on a dark blue background, the book is in full colour throughout, but the design is very flat and uninspiring. A flick through reveals more white space than colour and imagery ... So it's certainly not overdesigned.</p><p>What is it? Well ... it's a collection of articles, letters and other writings purportedly written by the Doctor, the companions, the monsters, the guest stars and so on. There are other smaller paragraphs written in standard third person on other more minor elements of the show. So, once again, it's an in-universe guidebook to the Doctors, monsters, companions, aliens ... and ... zzzzzzzzz</p><p>There's nothing here about any behind the scenes elements ... and stories and plots from the sixties rub shoulders with those from the recent Whittaker era ... which is nice. All the pics are in colour, with any originally black and white shots having been colourised.</p><p>But substance? Not really. It's an encyclopaedia by another name, with a handy index at the back so you can find what there is to say about Time Cabinets, Morgus, Atraxi and so on.</p><p>I can see the book being diverting perhaps for the <i>Who</i>-obsessed kid who, for whatever reason, hasn't managed to pick up any of the hundreds of other books published with basically the same content, and it might act as a stepping in point for said child to start exploring the worlds of <i>Doctor Who</i> as the episodes are all now present on iPlayer (all those that still exist anyway). Maybe this is the intention.</p><p>But what of the fans of all ages who have been diligently following and collecting the various books and DVDs over the years? A visit to any charity shop in the UK will usually turn up a variety of these publications, and eBay is chock full of them too, so they're not hard to find ... Then this book will feel very familiar and disposable.</p><p>The authors have done a good job of stepping through all the elements, and some of the writing is amusing ... Kahler-Jex explaining his back story (from 'A Town Called Mercy'), Sutekh repeating some of his utterances from the show (from 'Pyramids of Mars'), Rocco Colosanto musing on his home-share woes (from 'Turn Left') and so on. But overall, there is little substance beyond that which the source episodes contained and, as it's all in-universe, there's no context to when and where in the Doctor's travels these people and creatures appeared (aside from referencing the story titles).</p><p>As a celebration of sixty years of <i>Doctor Who </i>then, <i>Whotopia </i>sadly for this reviewer falls completely flat. It's a book which contains nothing new, and which presents no great insights into the show, or covers an area which has not been covered a thousand times before.</p><p>It's such a shame as BBC Books could and should be doing so much better. A wasted opportunity.</p><p><b><i>Whotopia</i><br />Published by BBC Books 16th November 2023<br />£30 hardback</b></p></div>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-83979325998866053442023-11-09T10:22:00.003+00:002023-11-09T10:22:34.807+00:00Review: The Evil of the Daleks Novelisation (2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R41hCHy6YDtDhz7IJ57iStNiGP6ExcoaJ7oFVdSGxqgKOBqBYeIJmrhw0roL49x45U-0FEuRUkmKqwyav1v_8rUDtL46w9xayn3byvkhMLXDUoY4r1YL5HakrXueTCsysjmOoX9xl8ImZ0L_opHONpTJeCZhJPj4lHdy_sPebXiDAyI5aROLrg/s640/DW_Evil_D_Oct_ROYAL_HB_RB_JACKET_S4v4%20-%20FINAL%20COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="416" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R41hCHy6YDtDhz7IJ57iStNiGP6ExcoaJ7oFVdSGxqgKOBqBYeIJmrhw0roL49x45U-0FEuRUkmKqwyav1v_8rUDtL46w9xayn3byvkhMLXDUoY4r1YL5HakrXueTCsysjmOoX9xl8ImZ0L_opHONpTJeCZhJPj4lHdy_sPebXiDAyI5aROLrg/s320/DW_Evil_D_Oct_ROYAL_HB_RB_JACKET_S4v4%20-%20FINAL%20COVER.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>Just when you thought there was nothing new in the novelisation arena, along comes Frazer Hines, the actor who played Jamie in the TV series, with a new book which adds a new twist to the novelisation idea ... novelising a repeat showing of a story ...<p></p><p>It's a nice conceit ... for the story 'The Evil of the Daleks' was repeated following transmission of 'The Wheel In Space', and before 'The Dominators', and the show even provided, at the end of 'The Wheel In Space', a little lead in to the repeat where the Doctor shows new companion Zoe the sort of thing she might face if she travels with them in the TARDIS.</p><p>Thus the book presents a straightforward and quite effective novelisation of the actual 'The Evil of the Daleks' episodes, and between each is a little piece from Jamie's perspective which shows the TARDIS trio's reactions to the events of the past story as it unfolds. It's all rather pleasant ... and a good read.</p><p>Having Hines also narrate the audio version is also effective, especially as the story presents Jamie in an excellent light - he even has an episode (5) pretty much to himself as he explores Maxtible's Victorian mansion in search of Victoria, meeting and befriending the Turk, Kemel, and avoiding the Daleks along the way ... all in the Daleks' pursuit of trying to discover what 'the Human Factor' is: what makes a human a human ... and Jamie presents all the right traits along the way.</p><p>Hines worked on the book with authors Mike Tucker and Steve Cole, and it's got a cracking cover from Lee Binding ...</p><p>If you want a signed copy, with a special bookplate from artist Adrian Salmon, then head to Frazer's own online store: <a href="http://www.frazerhines.co.uk" target="_blank">www.frazerhines.co.uk</a> ... otherwise the book is available from all the usual stockists.</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-25592775512339529412023-10-08T16:53:00.007+01:002023-10-08T17:08:36.972+01:00Review: The Daily Doctor<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GiGfPc69-Fdl0ANUkJ2T0eApp6FWXYy5ug6-nCpCM3f3AhA4zApNAwHH88myp4OC3m36pdJUtM61Q6zJE0pszJUQDJjQzMdvTdwCwlYL5pVYbMRlWwIaBZcmYgPKwc5JM7SGlMvpHQ7tIGIr9qUCdISEisgsARUaboak4v_Kq18ZMZjMjAdWYQ/s500/Daily%20Doctor%209781785947988-jacket-large.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GiGfPc69-Fdl0ANUkJ2T0eApp6FWXYy5ug6-nCpCM3f3AhA4zApNAwHH88myp4OC3m36pdJUtM61Q6zJE0pszJUQDJjQzMdvTdwCwlYL5pVYbMRlWwIaBZcmYgPKwc5JM7SGlMvpHQ7tIGIr9qUCdISEisgsARUaboak4v_Kq18ZMZjMjAdWYQ/s320/Daily%20Doctor%209781785947988-jacket-large.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Part of the BBC's book offerings for the sixtieth anniversary of <i>Doctor Who</i> comes <i>The Daily Doctor: 365¼ Whoniversal Meditations on Life and How to Live It</i> by Simon Guerrier and Peter Anghelides.<p></p><p>It's a tough book to review and I am friends with both the authors, and what I can say from the outset is that they set themselves a challenge and a half in doing this book ... and perhaps that is why Steve Tribe, originally announced as the author, dropped out ...</p><p>But that challenge is a double edged sword ... as while it is impressive to draw and spin life lessons off the slightest of mentions, dialogue, or happenings in the show ... some of them are a little too tenuous and seem clutching at straws to make up the numbers.</p><p>We have a lesson for every day of the year, and if there is a plan at foot here to match events/stories with dates then I can't see it ... it seems pretty random. At least Valentines day has a love-based one, even if it is about Susan leaving and 'letting love go' ... so not very happy.</p><p>I was considering how one might approach creating such a book ... probably thinking through each episode initially to find what 'lessons' there might be therein, but also searching through the transcript archive looking for keywords which might prompt a 'lesson' too ...</p><p>On the plus side, I enjoyed reading and dipping through it ... but on the negative, it's slight, and the text tends to tell you the plot of whichever story they have chosen the quote from (which of course I already know), with a skew towards whatever the 'lesson' is, and then give you the 'lesson' in the last sentence ... It's also all very serious, a step away from the flippant '365<i>¼</i>' in the title (I'm not sure what the <i>¼ </i>lesson is to be honest - we don't have one for 29th Feb, but there is an extra 'Saying Goodbye' one at the end - which, rather oddly, given the number of great 'goodbyes' there are in the show itself, comes from the audio story <i>The Pescatons</i>!)</p><p>The design is nice, the layout loose and friendly ... but it feels very much like a filler book. Why does this book exist? Did it need to be written/compiled? The answer is tricky ...</p><p>Perhaps for the fan who might like to read and be enlightened each day with some words of wisdom from the show ... a good stocking filler for the year ahead ...</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-5575198781226557182023-10-01T15:40:00.005+01:002023-10-01T15:40:55.617+01:00Review: Red 11 (2018)<div class="separator"><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZk1zP5D6nfhJQyfP9VEZ_MlbD_w7_Xraf6yBT5GczHahTMzIZti8fEpcXpkmnDsTfHaBDEd492IOFEefwPgS-BZjsdn1qqt1WnDoqKR-VanjpcRSYAIulGAhSN3qLdLKFztfOUFyL9QsEalTzPsyfCyaEtUMuCeeDT8T9LIN52d2sWdeYA624Xg/s1920/a76763d072178cdba164030bd41e70ba0c876bafef349dd7c33975e411cd88b5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZk1zP5D6nfhJQyfP9VEZ_MlbD_w7_Xraf6yBT5GczHahTMzIZti8fEpcXpkmnDsTfHaBDEd492IOFEefwPgS-BZjsdn1qqt1WnDoqKR-VanjpcRSYAIulGAhSN3qLdLKFztfOUFyL9QsEalTzPsyfCyaEtUMuCeeDT8T9LIN52d2sWdeYA624Xg/s320/a76763d072178cdba164030bd41e70ba0c876bafef349dd7c33975e411cd88b5.jpg" width="320" /></a></p></div><div class="separator">We stumbled across Red 11 on Prime ... at the time it had one 5 star review and we smiled and said, yeah, like that's from the director's mum! But then we looked closer and saw the director was one Robert Rodriguez, the man behind one of the greatest zombie films, Planet Terror ... and also the man who brought us From Dusk Till Dawn and Machete! So we thought ... nothing to lose!</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">It turns out that <i>Red 11</i> is something rather good. It's a sort of sci fi thriller set in a hospital where a chap volunteers to be part of a medical trial - earning $7k at the end for his trouble. The issue is that the trial seems very suspicious, with the various people taking part in different trials being given different coloured t-shirts - his is red, and he is number 11 in his trial, hence the title.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguaKydz8jQsAe_PToILRGxF6eU1EdfIHuOIRF-1bN7MGvysoFF5-xgH-i2BQiXmp3u9Jh5rexyS9D6ecVIg5AhWsNwVHk2cJgNxCgkHIShu0x7vsPH_Z4zhBEnMjVTlb71DiiHifoh-10AxNQAGqB4oq8Z-ee4WszgXBWffxgRXfIrFFKyE-wNRA/s1000/red-11-2019-002-two-guys-wired-up-on-bench-keyboard-tablet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1000" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguaKydz8jQsAe_PToILRGxF6eU1EdfIHuOIRF-1bN7MGvysoFF5-xgH-i2BQiXmp3u9Jh5rexyS9D6ecVIg5AhWsNwVHk2cJgNxCgkHIShu0x7vsPH_Z4zhBEnMjVTlb71DiiHifoh-10AxNQAGqB4oq8Z-ee4WszgXBWffxgRXfIrFFKyE-wNRA/s320/red-11-2019-002-two-guys-wired-up-on-bench-keyboard-tablet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>As we progress, so it starts to get wierd with some of the people starting to display telekenetic powers ... and what is it all about, who is running it ... and why ... and will Red 11 get out alive!</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Red 11 is an accomplished and enjoyable thriller, well made and directed and with some great moments. I loved the subverting of the 'wall' by the inclusion of a character called Score, who has a small keyboard and who actually provides the music for the film as it progresses ... with themes for the characters and action and so on ...</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">But there's more ... in a short intro to the film Rodriguez explains that he made the film himself, with only his son, for $7k ... all the actors, crew and so on presumably all worked for nothing, and he also wrote, directed, produced, edited, and did the music himself. There are no other credits, so presumably he also graded it and did the titles and ... and ... basically EVERYTHING.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Now that's impressive. Very impressive.</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">So if you're interested in the genre, and want to see how a low budget film could be put together for next to nothing ... give it a look!</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsnqKZrCnN_LAP3hWWiyc6sam-W2FIdQ-d6Nl7dMrZUXUhabJDsO50YbLdSY3WVYR2Ch3SWcwpegWc38qAGflUp-Bk9e3dua-vMREziRWvkHDhvmVAHu5HpgDcZ2Tszmx-18UA4ROZLzZ9qGhyphenhyphen2byMV4b0or7I1iTVvuKAGuVcRBYW26I9kx5aVg/s600/import_62011bef451d3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="600" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsnqKZrCnN_LAP3hWWiyc6sam-W2FIdQ-d6Nl7dMrZUXUhabJDsO50YbLdSY3WVYR2Ch3SWcwpegWc38qAGflUp-Bk9e3dua-vMREziRWvkHDhvmVAHu5HpgDcZ2Tszmx-18UA4ROZLzZ9qGhyphenhyphen2byMV4b0or7I1iTVvuKAGuVcRBYW26I9kx5aVg/w640-h482/import_62011bef451d3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator">There's also a series on Prime called <em><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en">Rebel Without a Crew</span></em> which breaks down his production process and shows just how the film was made ... again, excellent stuff for any would be film maker ...</div><p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpKk3-V4muw?si=h6Bxj-WTsIg62iRS" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-63595340362086787602023-09-29T17:36:00.004+01:002023-09-29T17:36:58.081+01:00Review: Doom's Day: Extraction Point<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji75uC6TntkO8NMd9RyodAruCxgXjqWYMGjmWkG02mAh5zRxCCd8kv_d9ft2Cg8dO-6i4Yuvw86inj1akYk-bqialgybpUzMuP0C47kvzbzuyqqC25c7aVJeB9v47IT3A2n_nGwDz63gZWxB1PxV7k8WYDB1mo0zePfXPum8BQYkiu9M39UzcMBg/s499/DoomsDay%20Extraction%20Point.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji75uC6TntkO8NMd9RyodAruCxgXjqWYMGjmWkG02mAh5zRxCCd8kv_d9ft2Cg8dO-6i4Yuvw86inj1akYk-bqialgybpUzMuP0C47kvzbzuyqqC25c7aVJeB9v47IT3A2n_nGwDz63gZWxB1PxV7k8WYDB1mo0zePfXPum8BQYkiu9M39UzcMBg/s320/DoomsDay%20Extraction%20Point.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>I'm really not a great fan of these <i>Doctor Who</i> multi-part multi-platform 'event' fiction things ... there's too much baggage to try and explain in a review ... and at the end of the day, I'm not sure who is engaged enough in the idea to want to try and seek out the various online, comic strip, graphic novel, CD, vinyl record, novel and, for all I know, Give A Show Projector slide and cardset given away with packets of tea bags ... it's all too much!<p></p><p>But this novel, <b><i>Doom's Day: Extraction Point</i></b> caught my eye, and so I thought I'd give it a whirl, and I'm actually glad I did as it's not bad as a novel.</p><p>It's not exactly stand-alone of course, and you need to have some understanding of what is happening beyond the events in the novel itself, which is a shame.</p><p>So there's this character called Doom, and she's apparently an assassin ... the Beeb released a video of her before this range started and, to be brutally honest, it was awful:</p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2i62oNmyEyw?si=x-Yv80wTqpc9NfS9" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><p></p><p>So I wasn't filled with confidence ...</p><p>The book covers four hours in Doom's life (fourteen through eleven). And each hour she has to kill someone. It's not clear at all why this is, or what would happen if she fails ... but there's a lot of agonising about it. She also seems to be looking for the Doctor ... but then, when she finds him - several times - she doesn't find out or ask why or how the Doctor is supposed to help her ...</p><p>Instead we're plunged into action as she tries to kill a chap on a snowy planet: it's all chair lifts and skis and fast moving action ... and then we discover that the planet isn't what it seems and the race behind it are an old enemy of the Doctor (who don't then appear again in the book!) </p><p>It's hard to review with no spoilers at all as, to be honest, the book is FULL of old enemies and old Doctors and most of them are pictured on the cover! But from a snowy wasteland we're taken to Satellite 5 from the 9th Doctor adventure 'The Long Game' where Doom has to kill a ghost and the whole plot riffs around the Jagrafess, Cathica, and game shows, just the same as the TV episodes did ...</p><p>Then we're off to an asteroid which seems infested with insects which aren't quite what they seem ... and then finally we're back to the real planet the fake one in the first adventure was based on, and Doom has to kill two of the people there ... except that the Family Slitheen are also in attendance ...</p><p>It's fast and frantic stuff and M G Harris has an engaging style which drags the reader through with little time to ponder on continuity or plot holes ... or just how Doom manages to keep going through hour after hour of frenetic running, climbing, falling, death defying escapes while working out who to kill and how as she goes ... I'm not sure she even stops to drink, eat or to attend to ... personal stuff ... in the course of her adventures.<br /></p><p>What's interesting though that all the <i>Doctor Who</i> continuity gubbins sort of makes this feel like a <i>Doctor Who</i> adventure, even though the Doctor is largely absent ... and when he does appear, it doesn't feel much more like <i>Doctor Who</i> at all ...</p><p>A final word on the title ... <i>Extraction Point </i>... I can't really see what this has to do with the story ... it just seems to be a nice title that the publisher decided to hang on it ...<br /></p><p>And of course, at the end, Doom is off to the tenth hour that she is counting down ... with no conclusion or answers to why she sees 'Death', all black cowl and scythe, in a cafe toilet on Earth in 2006 ... seems she might have seen it before ... but I've no idea.</p><p>There are, presumably, 24 of these 'hours' scattered throughout the various media and written, with various degrees of success, by different authors ... Here's a handy chart ...<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilf1EvjxEHkFEY45BHg0Ku58r_xBFkZGRWqTtrUxWYinD-AhoWrirzqCeScoa-gKlsahC4NMjlwbdedUh_Rt7pgRSucRclOYym2DPI9Ld-6ElR2YY5h502q91clvhYKqUe8GkpyHpCcSX4Qb6wIJ4jQNGLvAZOlVEpSCRnyNpyg1CjzUMZl5uDjA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="696" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilf1EvjxEHkFEY45BHg0Ku58r_xBFkZGRWqTtrUxWYinD-AhoWrirzqCeScoa-gKlsahC4NMjlwbdedUh_Rt7pgRSucRclOYym2DPI9Ld-6ElR2YY5h502q91clvhYKqUe8GkpyHpCcSX4Qb6wIJ4jQNGLvAZOlVEpSCRnyNpyg1CjzUMZl5uDjA=w640-h405" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>It's a bold idea to be sure ... but I do feel that the overall execution is shaky ... and as to whether any fans will stay the distance and experience all the adventures is anyone's guess, especially as some are in limited-time form like a separate comic supplement given away with <i>Doctor Who Magazine</i>, or two of the adventures as part of a computer game called <i>Lost In Time.</i></p><p>But as a rollicking adventure novel, full of action and adventure in the <i>Doctor Who</i> Universe ... it's not at all bad!</p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-85754083835631992462023-09-08T16:46:00.002+01:002023-09-08T16:46:54.929+01:00Review: More new Target Novelisations!<p> Here's some thoughts on the final two Target novelisations released by BBC Books in the 2023 batch!</p><p><b>THE ZYGON INVASION by Peter Harness</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00jXdXvYNv8jGcMbIIqDdUFv8mQOP4-5dUKmTpEfp0LllhJMsGMLu-xc4sq5PGRk0pf4vXF4_5pP-mr8usOdSYtkOfur8IYvSy6ginTJ7yjncUnYloAoC8DEgQiH9PQ2xSND-17DZ6OBI00LPjvOdJfei3mf6_pVebpVxf4vEHYZoAZhtWU3EVA/s2102/Zygon%20Invasion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00jXdXvYNv8jGcMbIIqDdUFv8mQOP4-5dUKmTpEfp0LllhJMsGMLu-xc4sq5PGRk0pf4vXF4_5pP-mr8usOdSYtkOfur8IYvSy6ginTJ7yjncUnYloAoC8DEgQiH9PQ2xSND-17DZ6OBI00LPjvOdJfei3mf6_pVebpVxf4vEHYZoAZhtWU3EVA/s320/Zygon%20Invasion.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>This book was delayed from the last batch as the author was hard at work on a new TV series. It combines two episodes into one book: 'The Zygon Invasion' and 'The Zygon Inversion' with a nod to 'The Day of the Doctor' as well ... and it's complicated stuff, as Steven Moffat's <i>Who </i>was wont to be.<p></p><p>Here we have the Doctor, Clara, and a Zygon calling herself 'Bonnie' pretending to be Clara, the UNIT <i>Doctor Who </i>fan Osgood, and a Zygon pretending to be Osgood ... Kate Lethbridge-Stuart running all over the world, planes being shot down, Zygons going underground, no-one being quite sure who anyone is ... and there's some real world allusions to terrorism and race hate and so on running through it all as well. It's strong and important and has lessons for humanity to impart!</p><p>But sadly the confusion extends to the book, wherein Harness really seems to have just adapted the scripts, with only cursory additions and deviations. However maybe there are more changes than I think as I've not compared them directly to the transmitted episodes. A similar sense of confusion came over me in watching the show ... struggling to keep up with who was who and who wasn't ...</p><p>I was surprised that Harness adopts the pronoun 'they' when talking about Osgood, as there wasn't, as far as I can tell, anything in the series to suggest this - indeed a quick scan of the <i>Doctor Who</i> Wiki article on the character never mentions or uses that pronoun. However the story arc of <i>The Zygon Invasion</i> is Osgood's, with 'the Osgood Box' being the ultimate deterrent to war between the races, and a cracking speech from the Doctor at the end - some of the very best writing that the show has presented.</p><p>Overall I was slightly disappointed with the novelisation. I think perhaps it is a story which doesn't really lend itself to prose form, being so rich in imagery and idea which was presented and realised so well on television. These days I think the novelisations have to work so much harder as the source material is easy to find and revisit.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>KERBLAM! by Pete McTighe</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BvW4q25OG5eb9wjQQFTvtc7c6-4jZO4L769ExCcQUrdpxApwDZY9k79OZUYXpRv_5xwYkLY_QnCaiHIsvu9biwKkJW4m5OZ_HFk6q0PMvJ_eFnc6HXAu5u4Lib0D3WsJSdUyD2M1O7lgu45jjdL2Wuf4CdnfDjqd9rmgCnMHpyhpqeBMou2TXw/s2102/Kerblam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BvW4q25OG5eb9wjQQFTvtc7c6-4jZO4L769ExCcQUrdpxApwDZY9k79OZUYXpRv_5xwYkLY_QnCaiHIsvu9biwKkJW4m5OZ_HFk6q0PMvJ_eFnc6HXAu5u4Lib0D3WsJSdUyD2M1O7lgu45jjdL2Wuf4CdnfDjqd9rmgCnMHpyhpqeBMou2TXw/s320/Kerblam.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>The final title released in this batch was a novelisation of a story which received a fair amount of comment when transmitted. The issue was that it's looking at an Amazon-like retail giant called Kerb!am, a company which exploits the human workers and brings in AI-style robots to monitor them - all very pertinent stuff for our time, and the sort of exploration of real world issues which <i>Doctor Who</i> has always done well.<p></p><p>Sadly here, in the endgame of the story on television, innocent people are killed, and the Doctor does nothing to try and change the status quo, leaving the retail giant free to carry on doing what they're doing with nary a word of reprimand from the Doctor.</p><p>In the novelisation, McTighe manages to rectify this slightly, and we have an ending where things have been changed for the better - humans are put in charge of the robots rather than vice versa. But we still have the rather horrible death of a sympathetic character to deal with, and we also lose the little cameo from Lee Mack - or rather the character is there, but devoid of Mack's appearance and performance, is very forgettable.</p><p>What's good here is the interplay between the Doctor, Yas, Ryan and Graham - more than enough characters to try and get a grip on - but McTighe manages it, and makes them all likable and the dynamic between them works on the page.</p><p>Overall a decent adaptation which adds some additional nuances and thought to the episode as seen on screen ... one wonders if some of this was in McTighe's original scripts and ideas but got lost along the way.</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-5902088202565076202023-08-22T09:29:00.004+01:002023-08-22T09:29:50.714+01:00Review: new 2023 Target DOCTOR WHO Editions<p>July 2023 and Ebury/BBC Books have issued five more novelisations under the Target banner ... Here's a review of three of them!!</p><p><b><u>WARRIORS' GATE AND BEYOND by Stephen Gallagher</u></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tCO9l7k2QxAkK6LXXB24cDWA4dpBicMouvZchTg2-yhKgRCwFa1c4BTixBWdw3tQkDkuC-xYijDd4AnBMVaBUscttJXC4NFu3OARAA4ZE0BSWiVZMbXSeVYfk18bIsvgNj5FyMBbxMBKUS0gPdStlkqa6e6hy11QroYT5WjpLPHX8K_vCgJwkg/s2102/Warriors%20Gate%20and%20Beyond.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tCO9l7k2QxAkK6LXXB24cDWA4dpBicMouvZchTg2-yhKgRCwFa1c4BTixBWdw3tQkDkuC-xYijDd4AnBMVaBUscttJXC4NFu3OARAA4ZE0BSWiVZMbXSeVYfk18bIsvgNj5FyMBbxMBKUS0gPdStlkqa6e6hy11QroYT5WjpLPHX8K_vCgJwkg/s320/Warriors%20Gate%20and%20Beyond.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>Stephen is an old pal of mine, and it's great to see one of his classic series stories getting a new novelisation. The history of this one is interesting: Stephen originally submitted the scripts to the <i>Doctor Who</i> Production Office, and then John Nathan-Turner, the producer at the time, wanted a hefty rewrite, so Stephen apparently took his scripts and cut them up, putting them back together again to create the story as transmitted. He then 'lost' the original version for many years until it turned up again, granting the opportunity for Stephen to return to the source material and to novelise that ...<br /><p></p><p>And so 'Warriors' Gate' gets a new outing. To be honest, it's not that much different from the story as on television, and it reads well. It's very like one of those novelisations by the original author where they have taken the opportunity to expand and develop the scenario and characters to a degree that the television version could not. We still have the Privateer exploiting Time Sensitive Tharils as navigators; there's still the Gateway; and the idea that the Tharils were once the enslavers, and the Gundan robots were created to battle them ... Romana still wants to leave ... K9 is still damaged and needs to stay with Romana, and Adric is still ... well ... Adric. Of all the cast he has the least to do! Not really surprising as he would most likely have been a late addition to the cast/scripts, joining the show just two stories earlier.</p><p>What is good is that in this novelisation, the focus is shifted more from Rorvic and his Privateer chums to the Tharils and their predicament. It's a good move. I also liked how one of the great shots from the TV episodes, of the coin spinning in the air and stopping, is used here with a greater explanation and development on how the randomness of tossing a coin can help navigate through the Gateway portals. </p><p>Overall it's a grand story, and as you would expect from a writer of Gallagher's calibre, very well written.</p><p>The book also contains a short story: 'The Kairos Ring', which was written as an audio for the BBC to release, and also an even shorter story 'The Little Book of Fate' in which the Doctor meets Romana again ... </p><p>Overall it's a smashing package and well worth a look. If you're wondering, then the original Target novelisation of 'Warriors' Gate' was as by John Lydecker, which was Stephen Gallagher under a pseudonym...</p><p><b><u>PLANET OF THE OOD by Keith Temple</u></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfV4KZJcTt81AEUHmYG_p6jcVSjW8ikmXwd-LwY4rxFNXVYH_t8WVjhOPWt9BhNVwZaVqbGbv8NAJjk6fsd8pjZg_Hv9Gw-IV736XiVJG_qAud70Y3sis_69YlclUxWUdGtNV1ODiDyEfYfgj-l_Cv3MTPu3_qeFKiPkyKTKiNKxoxtvPhY7ev0A/s2102/Planet%20of%20the%20Ood.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfV4KZJcTt81AEUHmYG_p6jcVSjW8ikmXwd-LwY4rxFNXVYH_t8WVjhOPWt9BhNVwZaVqbGbv8NAJjk6fsd8pjZg_Hv9Gw-IV736XiVJG_qAud70Y3sis_69YlclUxWUdGtNV1ODiDyEfYfgj-l_Cv3MTPu3_qeFKiPkyKTKiNKxoxtvPhY7ev0A/s320/Planet%20of%20the%20Ood.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>This novelisation is a revalaton! The TV story 'Planet of the Ood' was not one of the best ... hampered by a somewhat ridiculous CGI chase in the middle between the Doctor and a claw machine in a factory, and reintroducing the Ood from previous adventures, the story seemed a little disposable.<p></p><p>Here though, Temple writes with panache and delivers an excellent book that both expands on and explains much of what happens in the television story. Motivations are developed for all the characters, and Halperin comes over as just horrible and truly deserving of his fate! Though I have to say that the explanation for just how what happens to him happens to him is not forthcoming. It was a bit of a leap of believability on television, and remains so here.</p><p>But I really enjoyed revisiting the story through the lens of Temple's prose. It's excellently done, and I hope he gets to write some more!</p><p><b><u>THE WATERS OF MARS by Phil Ford</u></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpAR4u2XCC-2e5cqIYZTLs6O1QoXh-K6RxWTO6kSzBGWNYMWdzut_x4b7XRPdASCsVy8RwviDqZwdx8Q_VMRLpcDVv7tq6xumwsvtgzbnYp6zQq49aqFkaB80EjLEiqEtxN50KuE3cFN7YugppP072Z6q-ISl4-AjsgTjqv3gcDCUYRJQQgFojw/s2102/Waters%20of%20Mars.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpAR4u2XCC-2e5cqIYZTLs6O1QoXh-K6RxWTO6kSzBGWNYMWdzut_x4b7XRPdASCsVy8RwviDqZwdx8Q_VMRLpcDVv7tq6xumwsvtgzbnYp6zQq49aqFkaB80EjLEiqEtxN50KuE3cFN7YugppP072Z6q-ISl4-AjsgTjqv3gcDCUYRJQQgFojw/s320/Waters%20of%20Mars.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>In contrast to Temple's novelisation, Phil Ford's adaptation of his scripts for the story seems perfunctory. However there is still a great deal to enjoy about this story of a Mars mission which falls foul of an alien entity trapped under the ice beneath the planet's surface, and which seems to be formed of the water itself.<p></p><p>I found myself not really engaging with the Doctor - Temple manages to capture him nicely, but here he seems distant. Maybe it's because there's no companion character for him to bounce off ... but also in the televised story, we also have Graham Harper's assured direction to propel us along, the superb action and direction stopping us from thinking too hard about the story.</p><p>Also, in terms of the series, this is the Doctor starting to go off the rails somewhat and to believe that he can do anything, anywhere, anytime and nothing can stop him ... it's the beginning of the end of the tenth Doctor in all honesty. These elements are all nicely explored, and the parallels between all the characters are well drawn. Even the annoying robot 'Gadget' seems to redeem itself.</p><p>It's a good, functional novelisation, but perhaps a little too 'by the numbers' in an age where readers are perhaps expecting more from their written-word <i>Who </i>... I rattled through it quite quickly, and I found myself nodding along to the beats of the original ... it's very much an effective novelisation of what was seen on screen in that regard.</p><p>***</p><p>As well as these three, also published are KERBLAM! by Pete McTighe and THE ZYGON INVASION by Peter Harness ... Well worth checking out!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaSpftiZQ3hNwooxp9cy0saGFxW2UU4ohlbLqY24kIJR6fI-ytuEWWQj-5c0rts9z6VuHUxOGQZZRg_4tK5YOZeCldrq4Xg8abXP-c20ABGEzGm-c1rjjA50ioRys8JUbaprLzQRl6c-3MHZUKEfNURDRNmkiWSzDhAwjqHsDm8vnbEtqnBP3Gw/s2102/Kerblam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaSpftiZQ3hNwooxp9cy0saGFxW2UU4ohlbLqY24kIJR6fI-ytuEWWQj-5c0rts9z6VuHUxOGQZZRg_4tK5YOZeCldrq4Xg8abXP-c20ABGEzGm-c1rjjA50ioRys8JUbaprLzQRl6c-3MHZUKEfNURDRNmkiWSzDhAwjqHsDm8vnbEtqnBP3Gw/s320/Kerblam.jpg" width="198" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kiVRi9xxOqY0Sl5jQDz7bb6WBiZBSDOggxoBjxXjoCJQ3x1H7CHpNQ4btjsse_-0mWnV6FKTX1wXbOHOfsCzoFUbMNjTObzm_fZZV-oyEG-mciBnxgfesED2JfyAx8ELzfpLdeqZ2SAii2O2m2nJ4Oxz4W2j3zBmEQLyyrzMT60MzLwyKJTC7g/s2102/Zygon%20Invasion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2102" data-original-width="1299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kiVRi9xxOqY0Sl5jQDz7bb6WBiZBSDOggxoBjxXjoCJQ3x1H7CHpNQ4btjsse_-0mWnV6FKTX1wXbOHOfsCzoFUbMNjTObzm_fZZV-oyEG-mciBnxgfesED2JfyAx8ELzfpLdeqZ2SAii2O2m2nJ4Oxz4W2j3zBmEQLyyrzMT60MzLwyKJTC7g/s320/Zygon%20Invasion.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-64297376654194101012023-07-28T13:58:00.005+01:002023-07-28T13:58:54.857+01:00Review: What Lies Below (2020)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d7wz-p4o-8VjnA4iQp2LIvAEW8rES-_glLRz7DI7UvPRJIlMG69vrFn_mcxMX39NpHVPiTeGFuRepX6mvtqOjLjbfB0cNN453NLHYbCUgdvQ6aRmNhunMRNpXJ-g5Cq0JdSiM02sa2_emdz-aATmN_CrFxySGMTTZHcj69z5Zd2WlK9_zeaj1A/s4096/MV5BOGQ4ZWM4NjctZDcwMS00OTJjLTljNmUtYWY4ODU3MjlkOGViXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODk4OTc3MTY@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4096" data-original-width="2764" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_d7wz-p4o-8VjnA4iQp2LIvAEW8rES-_glLRz7DI7UvPRJIlMG69vrFn_mcxMX39NpHVPiTeGFuRepX6mvtqOjLjbfB0cNN453NLHYbCUgdvQ6aRmNhunMRNpXJ-g5Cq0JdSiM02sa2_emdz-aATmN_CrFxySGMTTZHcj69z5Zd2WlK9_zeaj1A/s320/MV5BOGQ4ZWM4NjctZDcwMS00OTJjLTljNmUtYWY4ODU3MjlkOGViXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODk4OTc3MTY@._V1_.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>As an adjunct to my review of <em>The Commuter</em>, here's a film which pretty much delivers nothing of what is promised ...<p></p><p><em>What Lies Below</em> is touted as a cross between <em>Species</em> and <em>A Quiet Place</em> and is written and directed by Braden R Duemmle (remember my Red Flag that seeing the same name in both those roles tends to point to a lack lustre end result).</p><p>The plot follows a mother, Michelle (Mena Suvari), and her teenaged daughter Liberty (Ema Horvath). Liberty returns home to find that her mum has a new boyfriend, the seemingly perfect John Smith (Trey Tucker) ... but as the film unfolds, so John is seen to be creepy as heck, and possibly not even human!</p><p>The only nod to <em>Species</em> here is that John is looking to procreate (and in a couple of scenes he has freaky alien feet), and <em>A Quiet Place</em>? No idea where they got that one from. The film drags its length as it's fairly apparent that they had no budget for any effects, CGI or otherwise, and so you're waiting for things to happen, to be revealed and they never are ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzgOcoKyKME5U931Hq1Ma7yIYo2OcGn-bYQ9Gw_ou4s6K_NHuMCu24TgPF8JA2BgC8uFL1y6mfb-oKdi_UD42VckuLPGQt6p99UCSkiiEq-aHZeGmKDsf0rKjKkYy50RJf3FodQGeRsPK1GsgrlHlGIzxC8kLdL7oQRcIwndv45eqLi2rY0y_-YQ/s1920/MV5BY2YyODZhY2YtMjg4YS00NDUwLTgxMGMtMTQ1MGYzZjY2N2IxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE2NzA0Ng@@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzgOcoKyKME5U931Hq1Ma7yIYo2OcGn-bYQ9Gw_ou4s6K_NHuMCu24TgPF8JA2BgC8uFL1y6mfb-oKdi_UD42VckuLPGQt6p99UCSkiiEq-aHZeGmKDsf0rKjKkYy50RJf3FodQGeRsPK1GsgrlHlGIzxC8kLdL7oQRcIwndv45eqLi2rY0y_-YQ/s320/MV5BY2YyODZhY2YtMjg4YS00NDUwLTgxMGMtMTQ1MGYzZjY2N2IxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE2NzA0Ng@@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It's also a Red Flag when the various websites which offer 'explanations' of plot points and endings are all over a film, as it simply tends to mean that the film has done a poor job of explaining them in the narrative they are presenting. And sure enough, there are lots of sites explaining 'the boat scene' and the ending of this film.<p></p><p>The film looks nice, and the performances are okay, though everyone seems to be the wrong ages, and the scenes of John watching Liberty shower, and then later on the attempted impregnations are a little too far on the side of the voyeuristic and inappropriate. So watch it if you like a slow burn film ... some interesting ideas ... but don't expect it all to make total sense ...</p><p>And the title? What exactly does lie below? Are we talking about under the lake here, or is this a euphemism for what John keeps in his shorts ... we shall never know!</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-14274040181197260162023-07-28T12:53:00.003+01:002023-07-28T12:53:11.699+01:00Review: The Commuter (2018)<div class="separator"></div><div class="separator"></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88s_H8oU6xOBojadgVV2ifC-_16maZZ2dNp2HSQWzUKAn0EiCo4vsEq7Hsfjv5NETvgYi2oZq-t-5RGw2cNKemsrxBIUXso4Y4Ax98-VeD51wcuS5sNy4o9veILrWgZRVae6SoWLsFVMpslrE1F0RcN841DezzsYwyrTLX3nSjksBNNIQRUsY0A/s464/8057_5900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="464" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88s_H8oU6xOBojadgVV2ifC-_16maZZ2dNp2HSQWzUKAn0EiCo4vsEq7Hsfjv5NETvgYi2oZq-t-5RGw2cNKemsrxBIUXso4Y4Ax98-VeD51wcuS5sNy4o9veILrWgZRVae6SoWLsFVMpslrE1F0RcN841DezzsYwyrTLX3nSjksBNNIQRUsY0A/s320/8057_5900.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>There's so much substandard fare on Prime, that to come across a film which is actually exciting and interesting is worth shouting about ... <em>The Commuter</em> is one such film.<p></p><p>Over lockdown we have become used to seeing films with very limited casts and set in isolate locations. They're usually possession-type plots, or ghosts, as these are easiest to create on a budget, and many simply have no followable plot and disappointing endings - if you can even get there. You can usually tell this sort of film by the Red Flag that the writer, director, producer is all the same person (and sometimes they also do the make-up, costumes and probably make the tea as well!)</p><p><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></p><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-8391 alignleft" height="112" src="https://sfwmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MV5BMTc5NTAwNTAxM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTAzODI1MzI@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR047500281_.jpg" width="200" /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">The Commuter </span>however is just pre-lockdown and is written by Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi and Ryan Engle, and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who you might remember helmed the superb Blake Lively vehicle <i>The Shallows</i>. The film stars Liam Neeson and Vera Farmiga and has a simple premise. A cop, Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson), travels the same route to work every day, taking the same train. And so he recognises the same people on the train every day. Now hitting sixty, he is abruptly fired from his job, and travels home in some despair. But. On the train he meets a women, Joanna (Vera Farmiga), who asks him to locate 'Prynne', the alias of an unknown passenger on the train whom Joanna claims has a stolen item. Joanna tells Michael that he will find $25,000 in the bathroom and be paid a further $75,000 when his task is done. She leaves the train, and Michael finds the money in the bathroom ... it all seems genuine. But when he tries to leave the train he realises that his family is in danger, and that whoever Joanna works for is watching his every move.<p></p><p>The film then slowly escalates into a nightmare for Michael as he tries to track down the mysterious Prynne, with deaths and intrigue and a whole 'you cannot trust anyone' vibe. Very enjoyable indeed ... and the ending pays off what has come before.</p><p></p><p style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignright wp-image-8392 size-medium" height="200" src="https://sfwmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MV5BMjE1ODkxOTk4Ml5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMjMwNzk0NDM@._V1_-300x200.jpg" width="300" /></p>My main concern with the film was why, if they had all the resources and money to pay Michael, terrorise his family, cause people to be killed, and to watch his every move, why didn't they know who this Phrynn was, what they were carrying, and do their dirty work themselves? It all seemed a little contrived to set all this up just, it seemed, to torment Michael.<p></p><p>However Neeson gives a powerful performance of a man on the brink, and the acting from all the supporting characters is great (including Shazad Latif who you might recognise as Clem Fandango from the series <em>Toast</em>).</p><p>Well worth 105 minutes of your time!</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-60750828502930657382023-07-26T13:53:00.006+01:002023-07-26T13:53:50.901+01:00Review: Laurel & Chaplin: The Feud Stage Play<div class="separator"></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJsOwnmV3xeBQsK_2a08JxQlxrmbN9vQ-Yo6WAm2zVmfxNs1FsOxlEmZku0dv20KlGuJtte30GthcgCE0ICcEsszW2nwTMOI9xy1BASrcY5lx305b5jB0GsafVwWTixAOygmDg_YPig5NxClhVG06hb5EtC441U0JyzblYyBjtyjDk4y2p3ICC0Q/s843/363339925_10161110459485667_8557157144379227057_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="843" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJsOwnmV3xeBQsK_2a08JxQlxrmbN9vQ-Yo6WAm2zVmfxNs1FsOxlEmZku0dv20KlGuJtte30GthcgCE0ICcEsszW2nwTMOI9xy1BASrcY5lx305b5jB0GsafVwWTixAOygmDg_YPig5NxClhVG06hb5EtC441U0JyzblYyBjtyjDk4y2p3ICC0Q/s320/363339925_10161110459485667_8557157144379227057_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>From the outset you know that this play, <strong><em>Laurel & Chaplin: The Feud</em></strong>, is going to be something slightly different. In London's West End, it's showing at the Cambridge Theatre, but only on Monday nights ... the rest of the week the theatre is home to the stage production of <em>Matilda</em> ... and the theatre is done out with elements relating to that show: school desks, books on the walls and so on ...<p></p><p>But here, Jordan Conway, playing Chaplin, starts messing about in the seats before the show starts ... goofing with the people in the gallery ... before it all kicks into gear as the lights dim, and he introduces himself.</p><p>The play follows and documents the relationship between Charlie Chaplin, and Stan Laurel (Matt Knight) from when they first met in London (introduced to the stage by Chaplin's mother, a somewhat drink-addicted stage songbird) through to when Chaplin headed for Hollywood and beyond. The double act was indeed Chaplin and Laurel for a time as the two cavorted and performed and developed their schtick on stage: Chaplin 'the funny one' and Laurel 'the straight man' ... however nothing is that simple, and Laurel was the more talented of the two, and Chaplin developed a fear of being overshadowed, thus when Fred Karno (Richard Gauntlett) entices Chaplin to Hollywood, Laurel never hears from him again, and eventually teams up with Oliver Hardy to create the great comedy duo of early film.</p><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8378" height="160" src="https://sfwmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/tzoo.99843.0.1271346.TheFeud_cp.jpg" width="320" /></div><p></p><p>The show is fast and furious, with some superb and occasionally jaw-dropping performances from the cast, who do all their own stunts and prat falls, and indeed magic and displays of dexterity ... it's simply amazing and very, very entertaining.</p><p>There's a sequence at the start of act two, where Chaplin puts together a silent movie, and three people from the audience are dragged up on stage to play the parts, as Chaplin explains what they have to do, and then they do it ... all with no words at all. I have not laughed so hard for years! There's so many small elements which make it funny, and seeing non-actors going through the paces was superb!</p><p>If you have any interest in the subject matter, it's a story of friendship, but also pathos and sadness as Chaplin abandons his friend. But it's also a rollicking great stage experience ... fun and hilarious ... and of course, highly recommended.</p><p>A footnote: we saw the show on the opening night, and also present was Jon Conway, father to star Jordan, who produced, co-wrote (with Jordan) and co-directed, and also the other co-director, Michael Barrymore - yes, the TV personality and comedian - who gave a very humbling short speech at the conclusion. This show brings together all the delights of old-style music hall, with the acts, the music and the sheer variety of talent on offer ... Superb!</p><p>Where: THE CAMBRIDGE THEATRE, LONDON</p><p>When: Monday evenings (to 28th August 2023)</p><p>How to get tickets: <a href="https://jonconwayproductions.com/laurel-chaplin-the-feud/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://jonconwayproductions.com/laurel-chaplin-the-feud/</a></p><p>From 30 August - 2 September 2023 there are also four shows at the Blackpool Winter Gardens, also bookable at the above link</p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-65486214292748053662023-07-18T13:26:00.000+01:002023-07-18T13:26:02.690+01:00Review: Renfield (2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTvP298Bd9lBGAq_MEXwj6YktL5Leg_MVG0tXKUqZsOAnmGWGNU8_m2OIUTSOpS69zUsLqY-E6UqlMPv9hc0i5VkOpv3MXQRTkb5Qpt7HPm2sLO4Rcgs9TN6JH5YOheNP7lZZTs7Oc8SCvI5cS9DLeOGlmkBSL54xKP-oipnkshoRVgLGXwrGYg/s1584/MV5BNDIwYjVjMDMtOGYxMy00ZTRiLWE0YzktMjIwYmNhOGE4NGQ4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjY1MTg4Mzc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTvP298Bd9lBGAq_MEXwj6YktL5Leg_MVG0tXKUqZsOAnmGWGNU8_m2OIUTSOpS69zUsLqY-E6UqlMPv9hc0i5VkOpv3MXQRTkb5Qpt7HPm2sLO4Rcgs9TN6JH5YOheNP7lZZTs7Oc8SCvI5cS9DLeOGlmkBSL54xKP-oipnkshoRVgLGXwrGYg/s320/MV5BNDIwYjVjMDMtOGYxMy00ZTRiLWE0YzktMjIwYmNhOGE4NGQ4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjY1MTg4Mzc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>We had a sense ... a feeling that we were going to enjoy <i>Renfield</i>. Nothing you could put your finger on ... but we love vampire films, and we also love a good Nick Cage film ... and also with Nicholas Hoult in the cast (who was amazing in both <i>Warm Bodies</i> and <i>The Menu</i>) it looked a good bet.<p></p><p>We were not disappointed.</p><p>Within three minutes of the film starting, as they are recreating scenes from the original Universal <i>Dracula </i>with Cage as Dracula and Hoult as Renfield, both doing startlingly good impressions of Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye, we were beaming with joy!</p><p>From there we're straight into some fast and furious action as Dracula is cornered by vampire hunters and chased around a room, before he is captured in a circle and burned to a crisp ... just superb ... and the film has barely started.</p><p>In <i>Renfield</i>, the plot is broadly following the title character (Hoult) as he serves his master, Dracula (Cage). The difference is that eating bugs bestows Renfield with some of his master's power, so he becomes super strong, and can jump and leap around supernaturally ... Dracula's blood also heals him, so the various injuries he sustains from fighting down the bad guys in the drugs cartel are dealt with too ... So there's a bad guy with a cocaine smuggling ring, and Dracula and Renfield fall foul of them ... and we follow the threads to a crime boss (Shohreh Aghdashloo) who wants Dracula to help get rid of a rival gang ... There's also a policewoman (Awkwafina) who gets involved, and the whole thing rattles along at a good pace!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrUPDZwegAWmPGcXXeDddJMQuBlgMbKj8vnkWbKLnRQKBz6I7_5dDCQKtb15xp2nFh6RLuOHvfsqKdLUii7Ccj7SXTs_6qKPl6RoaXWNc1kA4hXD1s-oSZOdN-r0Q6-Bf_Qik0jOzTnl-yVhul62Yp9jcxJp79tqxGuxFI4l40G1t5algyX2n7A/s1508/MV5BMGFjOTQzNGQtNjA4My00ZWU0LWJjMmMtNWQ0ZjEwYmM0MDVkXkEyXkFqcGdeQWFybm8@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1508" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrUPDZwegAWmPGcXXeDddJMQuBlgMbKj8vnkWbKLnRQKBz6I7_5dDCQKtb15xp2nFh6RLuOHvfsqKdLUii7Ccj7SXTs_6qKPl6RoaXWNc1kA4hXD1s-oSZOdN-r0Q6-Bf_Qik0jOzTnl-yVhul62Yp9jcxJp79tqxGuxFI4l40G1t5algyX2n7A/s320/MV5BMGFjOTQzNGQtNjA4My00ZWU0LWJjMmMtNWQ0ZjEwYmM0MDVkXkEyXkFqcGdeQWFybm8@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We loved the film! The character of Dracula is superbly performed by Cage, the make-up and effects are brilliant, and Cage brings a lot of interest and pathos to the character, which is cast as a classic narcissist gaslighter, who dumps on poor Renfield at every turn, making him feel that everything is his fault. It's a great reading of the characters, and the script by Ryan Ridley does a good job of bringing it all to life.<p></p><p>Hoult, as expected, plays the downtrodden Renfield very well, and when he joins a kind of AA group for co-dependent abusive relationships, the smiles keep coming! </p><p>I've seen people hating the film, turning it off and so on ... but for my money, if you like vampire films, and appreciate the broad and rich history of them, then you should love this one! It's a romp, yes, and it doesn't take itself too seriously ... just serious enough for it to entertain without becoming a farce.</p><p>I'd give it probably eight or nine out of ten!!</p><p><br /></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6LmO6rmDW08" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-2989058275710267252023-06-26T13:32:00.008+01:002023-06-26T13:32:59.983+01:00Review: The Lunchbox (2013)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXYFs8Lteg7xLUNSfwOs4fFx-_8pu2vZDoyZoenvHm_fHoHqAPUB03vb3MVjGtybsu5O5WYq_Tp7gpEG64mqO-gYJTBJw348lBbM7JL8dcFk5MBwokiLeTSbsh68R83zsEGzZ5xTJWg4jy7bShvYpH77iLvS7MwIOm5Volnsl2uCBzZr1N6cNBvA/s445/71DDeblbTOL._AC_SY445_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXYFs8Lteg7xLUNSfwOs4fFx-_8pu2vZDoyZoenvHm_fHoHqAPUB03vb3MVjGtybsu5O5WYq_Tp7gpEG64mqO-gYJTBJw348lBbM7JL8dcFk5MBwokiLeTSbsh68R83zsEGzZ5xTJWg4jy7bShvYpH77iLvS7MwIOm5Volnsl2uCBzZr1N6cNBvA/s320/71DDeblbTOL._AC_SY445_.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>Wait a moment ... why is David J Howe of this parish, reviewing a film which seems to have nothing to do with his usual fare of zombies, horrors, vampires, ghosts or <i>Doctor Who</i> ... or TV SciFi/Horror?<p></p><p>The answer is simple ... like some of the other non-genre films that I adore (say hello <i>The Holiday</i> and <i>Airplane! - </i>and of course <i>The Stranger in Our Bed</i> :)) it's a brilliant film, and very underrated and overlooked ... so I thought I'd try and share some love and get people seeking it out.</p><p>Released in 2013, and written and directed by Ritesh Batra, <i>The Lunchbox</i> contains a simple idea. In Mumbai, when the menfolk (and I assume womenfolk too) have all gone off to work in the city, their partners prepare their lunches at home. From what we see, these are usually some curries, vegetables, some chapati and so on. Similar lunches can also be ordered from companies who provide the service. Once they have been prepared, the lunchboxes are packed and then collected by a small army of people called <i>dabbawalla </i>... these folk cycle and collect the boxes, then consolidate them all to go into crates on the trains, to be taken into the city, and then, using some arcane system of knowledge, get distributed to the offices and onto the desks of the workers, so they have a hot, freshly prepared dinner at lunchtime.</p><p>It's a superb idea, and the film does well in showing the process at work ... in a crowded Mumbai, people everywhere, somehow these boxes reach their intended recipients ... well ... all except one.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBrqIKRLJxza-TnmbQsdy6rw2wWlGWgJCI4EmTRXGGpo5Kq9C7JtTRwm7z1F8FyZNMR_-mZdEh_Y0IqIrkTAfnTRdmgOIG6szNsfH71FKHm7a1hRg5LIouATR75Rp-SqfgLENvsKtVqpLnIiPT8WkwUiUVKsAaFRhc7ectsE3_dRFFiPitdSLhA/s500/MV5BMjY2ZjViZDMtNGViZS00YjYzLWE0NzItZmFjMWZjNjNlOWQxXkEyXkFqcGdeQW1yb3NzZXI@._V1_QL75_UY281_CR88,0,500,281_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBrqIKRLJxza-TnmbQsdy6rw2wWlGWgJCI4EmTRXGGpo5Kq9C7JtTRwm7z1F8FyZNMR_-mZdEh_Y0IqIrkTAfnTRdmgOIG6szNsfH71FKHm7a1hRg5LIouATR75Rp-SqfgLENvsKtVqpLnIiPT8WkwUiUVKsAaFRhc7ectsE3_dRFFiPitdSLhA/s320/MV5BMjY2ZjViZDMtNGViZS00YjYzLWE0NzItZmFjMWZjNjNlOWQxXkEyXkFqcGdeQW1yb3NzZXI@._V1_QL75_UY281_CR88,0,500,281_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The film is about two people: at home is Ila (Nimrat Kaur) who dutifully prepares lunch for her absent husband. She is aided by her unseen Auntie (Bharati Achrekar) and the two have a great banter as Ila prepares the food ... getting advice and help from her upstairs friend. The prepared lunchbox however doesn't get delivered to Ila's husband, instead it arrives with grumpy and about to retire Saajan (Irrfan Khan), who is surprised to receive such delicious food. The next day, realising the mistake, Ila pops a note in with the food, apologising. Saajan replies ... and so it begins.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXGOutnVl345xB0UQ99ic7rm2HvbFspqMMVIFvexf39pt-786oQAlvnbQE9KsitcDw64kiffcEYIzlILAa1nQ4IFUEcVoyvaLOc93pCjpxLg6rFAUUY0PkmyeOF1La9J8jMMjn5EUYmtzJK7Uv1n-y4RQQjVvTJsCwGLrw2msP_JTSKZ8WofrAA/s2048/MV5BODAxNjM5NTU3M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDAyNjg4MDE@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXGOutnVl345xB0UQ99ic7rm2HvbFspqMMVIFvexf39pt-786oQAlvnbQE9KsitcDw64kiffcEYIzlILAa1nQ4IFUEcVoyvaLOc93pCjpxLg6rFAUUY0PkmyeOF1La9J8jMMjn5EUYmtzJK7Uv1n-y4RQQjVvTJsCwGLrw2msP_JTSKZ8WofrAA/s320/MV5BODAxNjM5NTU3M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDAyNjg4MDE@._V1_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The two begin a relationship of sorts through these notes and the food that Ila makes ... and it's beautiful. Ila is sad and lonely, and Saajan is a widower ... so the two share their stories and their lives and slowly it changes them ...<p></p><p>I love the film. It was recommended to me by a friend at work, and I managed to find a copy ... It manages to pull at all the right strings in presenting a very human story through the most unlikely of circumstances ... Ila's 'Auntie' is a brilliant creation. Never seen, but always there with advice and help and consolation. The scenes of Mumbai are brilliantly shot, and the offices and the people are as real a depiction of the culture and the people as I have ever seen.</p><p>The film is in Hindi, but has subtitles in English, but with such a good film this doesn't matter as the performances and the story pull you through. I'm not going to reveal how it ends or the twists it takes as it's worth seeking it out yourself!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXl7sIN-a6xwKUEDRr6QUhiijS2rQnIDttn5kqBwl-FNQQdC2uKLz18ytJxhzP1gUDI_s-7UYuYihHd0Y3xwLvsN5myda-8XHVYBQmqJq1uUcnBk3IniOA2NZd58kK96xkknZM8y2nsA9ylfXUc8fVDxaQPS_weZm4X0ntaAOIfgidUdO3gWD_A/s1472/MV5BMTUwMzc1NjIzMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODUyMTIxMTE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXl7sIN-a6xwKUEDRr6QUhiijS2rQnIDttn5kqBwl-FNQQdC2uKLz18ytJxhzP1gUDI_s-7UYuYihHd0Y3xwLvsN5myda-8XHVYBQmqJq1uUcnBk3IniOA2NZd58kK96xkknZM8y2nsA9ylfXUc8fVDxaQPS_weZm4X0ntaAOIfgidUdO3gWD_A/s320/MV5BMTUwMzc1NjIzMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODUyMTIxMTE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>If you like a good romantic film, and don't mind subtitles, then please check it out! There are DVD copies on the big A if you look ... and it's available on Prime if you want to stream it.<p></p><p>But don't take my word for it ... according to the Wiki, the film won the 'Critics Week Viewers Choice Award' also known as the 'Grand Rail d'Or'. It was a box-office success and received unanimous critical acclaim. <i>The Lunchbox</i> was also nominated for 'Best Film Not in the English Language' at the 2015 British Academy Film Awards.</p><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-47700494059589881252023-06-20T09:13:00.007+01:002023-06-20T09:13:45.021+01:00Review: Black Mirror Season 6<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6YZCbw862HZyp-76I8XWO4aqs2qpkTcuKsncNkNVFz3V5AhROxpvE-huwXlsAYTdz-Y_psTqftW0T2-MCzO-qKALQhmDyqSu9uq3BX91Q913XRO4vqjeqzDMQMu2Ikg1SsSI12hs8EJE-aKIPV4_vj3QRlicDlDFcT80zKgSEkApS3PxFgNjyQ/s1350/S6E1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6YZCbw862HZyp-76I8XWO4aqs2qpkTcuKsncNkNVFz3V5AhROxpvE-huwXlsAYTdz-Y_psTqftW0T2-MCzO-qKALQhmDyqSu9uq3BX91Q913XRO4vqjeqzDMQMu2Ikg1SsSI12hs8EJE-aKIPV4_vj3QRlicDlDFcT80zKgSEkApS3PxFgNjyQ/s320/S6E1.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>Thank goodness for <i>Black Mirror</i>. Just when you thought there might be nothing left to watch on Netflix, along come some more episodes of the best science fiction/drama/horror/fantasy series going!<p></p><p>Season five was some four years ago, so writer and creator Charlie Brooker has a lot of material to play with, and the opening episode is in many ways a typical <i>Black Mirror</i> scenario, concerned with technology, it's rapid rise, and where this might all eventually lead. It's one of the big strengths of the series that a simple 'what if' can launch you into some full blown horror scenario which still seems completely believable.</p><p>In 'Joan is Awful' we follow the character of Joan (Annie Murphy) who, with her distinctive white streaks in her hair is head of something or other at a large tech company. She has a bad day: she has to sack a colleague, sings in the car going to work, drops a cigarette on said colleague as they leave the building ... just a general, normal bad day ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc_0-NHm756BXUsUAhaxvVF6md6D7tfRyy7NcvZekn3K9lSL9FgRYf8pS3V25J9HHW8WSbReGXnykQtES_jeAQxIf1BCj-n3Tbaio2g9BXwUXeQt8EfIiQZU0kyGjPtKzR-A5EgAAOon4in2DzcpTSEXiKDMnUFmD1y2n46Sxam4Li-UERJsXiw/s1676/black-mirror-season-six-official-trailer-64774c2c86d28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1676" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc_0-NHm756BXUsUAhaxvVF6md6D7tfRyy7NcvZekn3K9lSL9FgRYf8pS3V25J9HHW8WSbReGXnykQtES_jeAQxIf1BCj-n3Tbaio2g9BXwUXeQt8EfIiQZU0kyGjPtKzR-A5EgAAOon4in2DzcpTSEXiKDMnUFmD1y2n46Sxam4Li-UERJsXiw/s320/black-mirror-season-six-official-trailer-64774c2c86d28.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>But when she gets home, she discovers that the streaming company Streamberry (a direct swipe of Netflix, even down to the onscreen visuals and sounds) has a new series on called <i>Joan is Awful</i>, and this follows the life of a lady called Joan, played by Salma Hyack, who looks exactly like Joan, and whose day unfolds in exactly the same way ... even down to secret text from an ex-boyfriend ...<p></p><p>As a result her current boyfriend (or husband, it's not important) walks out on her, she loses her job, and her life becomes more and more a living hell ... and of course the TV show matches this all beat for beat.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASQwxaGDGoFVRmyWkvlmXEeMOafS-ri4MskVaIv2NTm_wjJfTvfRaWF1ZYZg1WWDHpn0iXak34ce2wHXDXCDNhj3Lwwn_u1ftocvlUEdSeNfGybxCflzz2N5Fa64hyJtV0D1c_srcNWVsG6eR0U9_2CNL7yib9HnL9u_rgsGYzGwTuxc2f4BayA/s480/TELEMMGLPICT000338323934_16866712832300_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqDiDrV97xgDFjc_F6AHtCzf4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="480" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASQwxaGDGoFVRmyWkvlmXEeMOafS-ri4MskVaIv2NTm_wjJfTvfRaWF1ZYZg1WWDHpn0iXak34ce2wHXDXCDNhj3Lwwn_u1ftocvlUEdSeNfGybxCflzz2N5Fa64hyJtV0D1c_srcNWVsG6eR0U9_2CNL7yib9HnL9u_rgsGYzGwTuxc2f4BayA/s320/TELEMMGLPICT000338323934_16866712832300_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqDiDrV97xgDFjc_F6AHtCzf4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It transpires that, when Joan signed up for Streamberry, she ticked the box that said she had read and accepted the terms and conditions, and as a result, Streamberry was allowed to stalk her and to use her life as the basis for a TV show! Shades here of the <i>South Park</i> episode 'Human CentiPad' where one of the children, Kyle, is stalked by Apple as a result of not reading the Terms and Conditions when agreeing to download the latest iTunes update, and as a result he has actually agreed to be part of a horrendous medical experiment!<p></p><p>Anyway, Joan takes her complaints to Streamberry, but meets a frosty reception as this is all part of their global plans. Salma Hyack is also displeased as they are using her likeness via an AI to make the episodes - and she has no say and gets no fees ... so she and Joan join forces to try and take Streamberry down!</p><p>The episode is a brilliant reflection on modern life where we're expected to read many-page terms and conditions online in order to access services, and in reality have little idea as to what we are signing up to. Plus the ruthlessness and cold-heartedness of Streamberry is notable, moreso as Netflix are airing the series, and this seems to not reflect well on them at all ... I guess someone there has a sense of irony or humour after all. I do wish they would agree to pay the writers fairly though :(</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SE7aIHjlHoU_oZMtHtGEcm9_scu2UDrmFWcH0VNBbfVVDMhyOkuCmInSQvTPJXvNLWyy7nvYzS1mzoiahzIu6dhIN-9oK5KAuvoG-BszvrszX6GpNlwZ5AY45eVUFYYaXzDS9qhmMjBT3DEK7V00VkmIsERQt6XYNp_tcAYGZZ37rxMNxf1ufA/s900/loch-henry-ending-explained-what-happened-to-pia-in-black-mirror-season-648bea6d45d7c46361006-900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="900" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SE7aIHjlHoU_oZMtHtGEcm9_scu2UDrmFWcH0VNBbfVVDMhyOkuCmInSQvTPJXvNLWyy7nvYzS1mzoiahzIu6dhIN-9oK5KAuvoG-BszvrszX6GpNlwZ5AY45eVUFYYaXzDS9qhmMjBT3DEK7V00VkmIsERQt6XYNp_tcAYGZZ37rxMNxf1ufA/s320/loch-henry-ending-explained-what-happened-to-pia-in-black-mirror-season-648bea6d45d7c46361006-900.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The second episode is called 'Loch Henry' and is a complete change of mood and style. Here we're with a young couple Davis (Samuel Blenkin) and Pia (Myha'la Herrold) who arrive at Davis' family home by the Loch, looking to make a documentary about a couple who went missing there years ago. There's various likely suspects, and we soon realise that this time we're in murder-mystery territory as the culprits are revealed ...<p></p><p>I don't want to say too much here as the pleasure in this episode is watching it unravel before you, and realising who and how the murders happened. It's a sad tale, and the ending isn't all happy ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNWdi7u4dU9ipQ1b3Zzy7iIOr5MT_h10jzFX0U7pGMr_YaYX9H8UAHl5HmxGziqVE8-jJT7MPKXUO-W_trT4pRQ-CKRYV1oNeGiualNvFeRVbhtPl6NemzvesCA-HBWYUNEJkXnaBP_l18HGuG18vo4b2h_lru3f0gYIjA7Szu4Vm4tHAgvV_0AQ/s900/black-mirror-beyond-the-sea-ending-explained-648c06772597d95993290-900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="900" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNWdi7u4dU9ipQ1b3Zzy7iIOr5MT_h10jzFX0U7pGMr_YaYX9H8UAHl5HmxGziqVE8-jJT7MPKXUO-W_trT4pRQ-CKRYV1oNeGiualNvFeRVbhtPl6NemzvesCA-HBWYUNEJkXnaBP_l18HGuG18vo4b2h_lru3f0gYIjA7Szu4Vm4tHAgvV_0AQ/s320/black-mirror-beyond-the-sea-ending-explained-648c06772597d95993290-900.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>'Beyond the Sea' is a strange title for a character piece about two astronauts, Cliff Stanfield (Aaron Paul) and David Ross (Josh Hartnett) on a six year deep space mission.<p></p><p>What puzzled me a little about this episode was the time it was set in - apparently 1969 on Earth, but we're in some sort of alternate universe as the two astronauts are in a space station-like craft, and take it in turns to 'connect' their minds with a robotic body back on Earth, who looks and acts just like them, and which, when their mind is in it, carries on their life as though they had never left.</p><p>The robotic 'self' seems to be made from some quasi-organic material and 'bleeds' a silver liquid when cut. So when the men visit their wives and family, they can interact and carry on as normal.</p><p>This is, until a crazed Manson-like gang infiltrate David's home and viciously kill his family in front of him, objecting to his 'non-human' form.</p><p>David slips into depression, as he is now unable to take the breaks he would have done from the tedium of the space craft. But then Cliff has an idea, why doesn't David take Cliff's robot body for some periods ... to give him relief and to try and keep him sane. Thus David does this, and meets Cliff's wife Lana (Kate Mara) and son. David can paint, which Cliff cannot, and so David persuades him to allow him to continue to visit in order to complete a painting of the house ...</p><p>As this is a <i>Black Mirror</i> episode, perhaps you shouldn't expect happy endings, and here where the story goes and how it ends is maybe the darkest the series has delved so far. Ostensibly a science fiction episode, it's actually a very dark treatise on loneliness, death, and the human condition ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUkS9v6n5ONcSAmzDNfJwYqqWDF8ObOMsO8drv7O7VUhHgyFdhLQmEXY5u_JuAnrETkv6aXiB7CnqCMPl0Cjb2W6PuOxMl6C-eknytocS2AwBkR1rKm9SYLu1RuW29STxAGJ8thTMtf7jAjuS-5AUwqPX9YrPJ1j-4j65HkCIm_h7bNb4oDcCcw/s1350/S6E4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUkS9v6n5ONcSAmzDNfJwYqqWDF8ObOMsO8drv7O7VUhHgyFdhLQmEXY5u_JuAnrETkv6aXiB7CnqCMPl0Cjb2W6PuOxMl6C-eknytocS2AwBkR1rKm9SYLu1RuW29STxAGJ8thTMtf7jAjuS-5AUwqPX9YrPJ1j-4j65HkCIm_h7bNb4oDcCcw/s320/S6E4.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>'Mazey Day' follows the life of a papparazo photographer, Bo (Zazie Beetz), who picks up a lead on a celebrity Mazey Day (Clara Rugaard) who has not been seen for two weeks after she left a film set. Bo has been recently disenfranchised by her chosen career when one of her 'subjects' commits suicide ... But the Mazey Day pictures are worth a lot of money, and so she sets out to try and find her, tracing her to a rehabilitation centre. She and some fellow 'togs' break in, and find that she seems to be being held captive there ... but why?<p></p><p>As always, I'm not going to give the game away, but this is a great horror-based episode, with a neat twist that we certainly didn't see coming ... It's television firing on all cylinders, and giving us science fiction, horror, thriller, drama and everything in between ...</p><p>Finally in Season 6 comes 'Demon79', and Brooker's penchant for humour comes right to the fore (the episode is co-written with Bisha K Ali). Nida (Anjana Vasan) is a mild manner worker selling shoes in a department store, and she experiences imagined flashes of extreme violence against some who cross her. She is forced to eat her lunch in the basement, because others have complained of the smell of her spicy food, and one day she finds a talisman, cuts her finger, and accidentally summons a demon Gaap (Paapa Essiedu). Initially appearing as a very horrific vision, the demon realises that if he is going to get anywhere, he needs to look acceptable so pulls an image from her mind as to who to look like. And he chooses Bobby from the band Boney M in the video for their single 'Rasputin'! Thus he tells Nida that she needs to kill three people in three days or the world will end ... but what will mild-mannered Nida do? Surely there's some out there who deserve to die!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQahSYKMUlXsMN5btLooc9UZp30nuFpyqJgwNbxxq_kO5oBmDycrbkjVDIlRyOEEp2WhS-vkbFTUyQFXZxLs_bqKGYFvf1TBPcHTTNMOUbLiUGEIi-OqT10mecKBm6MgJY33AGTbAVprc7MVPbHjF_lLJOwM_S8B52eUTr86Ibh7rCwLAvXT6iA/s1350/S6E5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQahSYKMUlXsMN5btLooc9UZp30nuFpyqJgwNbxxq_kO5oBmDycrbkjVDIlRyOEEp2WhS-vkbFTUyQFXZxLs_bqKGYFvf1TBPcHTTNMOUbLiUGEIi-OqT10mecKBm6MgJY33AGTbAVprc7MVPbHjF_lLJOwM_S8B52eUTr86Ibh7rCwLAvXT6iA/s320/S6E5.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>Thus the stage is set for a very entertaining episode, levened with humour and great characters, and with all the little touches that make <i>Black Mirror</i> so great. I loved Nida watching <i>Sapphire and Steel</i> one evening ... and the use of Bobby off the Boney M video is inspired.<p></p><p>I have loved this season of <i>Black Mirror</i> which again proves that it's one of the best shows on streaming. Every episode presents something new and different and we veer from science fiction to horror to comedy to thriller to drama and back again, and often all of them all at once. It's inspired and accomplished writing, supported by great performances and direction. A note too for the design, which manages to make the settings look like the years they're supposed to be - 1979 here in 'Demon79'.</p><p>Do yourself a favour and dive in. If you're not keen on a certain episode (we found the very first one in season 1 - about the politician and the pig - to be not to our taste) then go to another as there are sure to be some things here which will inspire and move you. For me, the best episode remains 'San Junipero', a superior treatise on love and death ... but others may love other episodes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEJ368U9GZtEmsxRYd_nlJ9Dy3vNMrPodqdWHdFDFMUGiHfjBIW8Aog8N0tRvp_E5UxjTGpiz0c3pjVc0zTAC3zPEcALzUmRRinsWN_wzXyBn7VcU242cyENmU_P3eDhiTUTodtXuKU6h2Z3VDj690P5GYu1Pyuyr6M8WD1O7o-Ke6qa4yqbw4A/s1200/paapa-essiedu-black-mirror-6-644948ba82816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEJ368U9GZtEmsxRYd_nlJ9Dy3vNMrPodqdWHdFDFMUGiHfjBIW8Aog8N0tRvp_E5UxjTGpiz0c3pjVc0zTAC3zPEcALzUmRRinsWN_wzXyBn7VcU242cyENmU_P3eDhiTUTodtXuKU6h2Z3VDj690P5GYu1Pyuyr6M8WD1O7o-Ke6qa4yqbw4A/w400-h225/paapa-essiedu-black-mirror-6-644948ba82816.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-29746049809044425652023-06-01T16:24:00.007+01:002023-06-01T16:24:43.767+01:00Review: Run Sweetheart Run (2020)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1X6eoa5dhlCyoDVg5eF-qVbZBNr6OIAmthNFLA2L4R0ZimbMqlBp0TvhmT9zWB6lFyHMdUovLSdwjTZQaXXKdUQDI0BeKgyD8o7NkEqMY61KHb0Xn2ZQ8Qbr6dke9x_FERMP7rcrC0i_6_nAS_RTe_qA3AMK92idLhmkvA3NAE-vDB0RLW4Y/s1481/Run%20Sweetheart%20Run%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1481" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1X6eoa5dhlCyoDVg5eF-qVbZBNr6OIAmthNFLA2L4R0ZimbMqlBp0TvhmT9zWB6lFyHMdUovLSdwjTZQaXXKdUQDI0BeKgyD8o7NkEqMY61KHb0Xn2ZQ8Qbr6dke9x_FERMP7rcrC0i_6_nAS_RTe_qA3AMK92idLhmkvA3NAE-vDB0RLW4Y/s320/Run%20Sweetheart%20Run%20Poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>We found this thriller on Prime, and decided to give it a go ... and were very pleasantly surprised. It's an effective 'chase' thriller wherein Cherie (Ella Balinska), a young mother, agrees to go on a date with a client of the law firm she works for ... as she is preparing though, her period starts, and she is out of tampons, so has to extemporise.<p></p><p>Initially, this focus on her period and the blood seemed out of place and, well, icky ... but it actually has a lot to do with the action that follows. The man Cherie meets is Ethan (Pilou Asbæk), and while he seems kind and nice and fun to be with, he's actually something of an unpredictable maniac who dogs hate ... Cherie runs from him, not realise that he's actually some sort of supernatural demon who has scented her blood and so can find her wherever she goes.</p><p>Thus she runs ... and the film occasionally puts up a large red RUN on the screen each time she needs to get out of there ... shades of the Werewolf Break in <em>The Beast Must Die</em>! But each time, Ethan turns up to slaughter whoever might be with or helping Cherie! It's a great action concept and the film handles it really well. You never quite know when he might appear or who might get killed ...</p><p>Eventually she finds some help, but I'm not going to go there as it's worth enjoying the film for yourself.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SaGtR06thTKHqAq1dMrIjFZxu-fyx5jwvIMLNc4aigq8EDfBRqdfTMG_kO7XzWu7NoQFcNmXsH7C2xHkJfF4usw-QC9i57pJG26kVMv_bL6gpoDGxupTkc11N_j4lKr5TxMIyEpxI4EXV4dbdwtiUbawDkAUYfjR2Sz46CJxnHSdYF1TLoc/s696/Run-Sweetheart-Run-Review-Featured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="696" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SaGtR06thTKHqAq1dMrIjFZxu-fyx5jwvIMLNc4aigq8EDfBRqdfTMG_kO7XzWu7NoQFcNmXsH7C2xHkJfF4usw-QC9i57pJG26kVMv_bL6gpoDGxupTkc11N_j4lKr5TxMIyEpxI4EXV4dbdwtiUbawDkAUYfjR2Sz46CJxnHSdYF1TLoc/s320/Run-Sweetheart-Run-Review-Featured.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The blood and gore is well done, and the sense of threat and terror is ratcheted up as the film progresses. Cherie is a good heroine, strong and capable, but she finds herself being tried by the supernaturally strong and unkillable Ethan. At times he reminded me of 'the Shape' in John Carpenter's <em>Halloween</em> and subsequent films ... a strong, mostly silent, stalker who is out to get you!<p></p><p><em>Run Sweetheart Run </em>was directed by Shana Feste from a screenplay by Feste, Keith Josef Adkins and Kellee Terrell, and is another great slice of horror from Blumhouse Studios, who seem to be cornering the market these days in great horror thrillers. Well worth checking out.</p><p> <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d_M03y151yw" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br /> </p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-74977758337339116952023-05-07T10:33:00.006+01:002023-05-07T10:39:44.693+01:00Review: Freaky (2020)<p><em></em></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAGE0UO8m3AE6KCPYC1Z25-WavsTCuBCKTL776cyBC7IOMifVUV_1j--cDjNoJl-EkxfhGOfksZ-ytvnMgGlkRuRlBTEVJ86amurnQ-gfyc-6k3MtCn5HyEYKyiiuDL7ljyJDREDauzm0rstDRL1cFZ6LIr4ovwZlhqRMTIDdWoj4hKSpeEY/s348/Freaky_(film)_poster.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAGE0UO8m3AE6KCPYC1Z25-WavsTCuBCKTL776cyBC7IOMifVUV_1j--cDjNoJl-EkxfhGOfksZ-ytvnMgGlkRuRlBTEVJ86amurnQ-gfyc-6k3MtCn5HyEYKyiiuDL7ljyJDREDauzm0rstDRL1cFZ6LIr4ovwZlhqRMTIDdWoj4hKSpeEY/s320/Freaky_(film)_poster.jpeg" width="202" /></a></em></div><em>Freaky</em>, is, probably because filmmakers have no imagination, a riff on the <em>Freaky Friday</em> film - ie it's a bodyswap. But this is a little more imaginative in that here, the teenaged victim swaps with the serial killer!<p></p><p>It all kicks off in a <em>very</em> familiar style, no real surprise as it's a Blumhouse film, and they tend to know their horror. So there's a killer, the Butcher, who targets teens at a prom, who comes back every so often to kill again ... and we're stalking a girl, killing her boyfriend ... it even has the <em>Halloween</em> style masked killer who cocks his head to the side to inspect a kill ...</p><p>But then we leap forward, and it's the turn of another group of teens to try and escape the killings ... but the killer uses an ancient sacrificial blade called la Dola and this causes his victim, Millie (Kathryn Newton) to swap with the Butcher (Vince Vaughn) ... The bulk of the film then follows 'Millie' as the Butcher reinvents her as a hot chick, out to find kids to kill, and 'The Butcher' as Millie tries to come to terms with what has happened and to recruit her friends to help her stop the killings!</p><p>There are some neat gore effects, but nothing too nasty or dwelt upon which I appreciated ... however the murder methods are quite nasty - cut in half on a wood saw, a meat hook in the eye ... The performances too are excellent, with kudos especially to Newton and Vaughn who seem to be having a great time, and who manage to make the <em>volte face</em> idea work.</p><p>The love of horror continues into the character names. Millie's boyfriend is called Booker Strode (no doubt after Laurie Strode from <em>Halloween</em>), and Millie's second name is Kessler (taken from David in <em>An American Werewolf in London</em>?). The film was inspired by the writer, Michael Kennedy, seeing <em>Happy Death Day</em> and liking the mix of slasher film with <em>Groundhog Day</em> (and that film and it's sequel are <em>Highly</em> recommended!). Thus <em>Freaky</em> is directed by the same man: Christopher Landon.</p><p>Well worth 90 minutes of your time, if you like horror with an 80s vibe but which manages to do something new and interesting, then this should be right up your street.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADGmAx4L56R9yKiq6OQIcdTwoqDTEIJUcY4g9d5U_ZJO00lDu2XAq-_bFWtiVJpzUZDIuQd7l9RjsVLpsvY3EBguENEHTESb9L2KNw7LnXtk0yBQNB5mpilPKvzoenymy0vKE9x6Ub4sbqfQWc83INBe8jCd7bsF52o89_9enIrmuAwkeFdc/s1400/MV5BNTdmNjlmZTEtYmFmOC00ODQzLTk5MDYtNjQyYzQxOWExM2U3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA3MDk2NDg2._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="990" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADGmAx4L56R9yKiq6OQIcdTwoqDTEIJUcY4g9d5U_ZJO00lDu2XAq-_bFWtiVJpzUZDIuQd7l9RjsVLpsvY3EBguENEHTESb9L2KNw7LnXtk0yBQNB5mpilPKvzoenymy0vKE9x6Ub4sbqfQWc83INBe8jCd7bsF52o89_9enIrmuAwkeFdc/w453-h640/MV5BNTdmNjlmZTEtYmFmOC00ODQzLTk5MDYtNjQyYzQxOWExM2U3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA3MDk2NDg2._V1_.jpg" width="453" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-4235725765764916722023-05-05T14:55:00.003+01:002023-05-05T14:55:12.698+01:00Review: Bloodshot (2020)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxV7Kz0kRGwTru9BUsjYL1mtu2XQa2e58brlTz6PAjA_tJzYc-8TyyUA8vKkk0Zes9OArHiBrtqgyk0ifs4l1tvRSJNU7tL9KsjT8kzxs0O-GMMIx_2s5eJFhVf18C1MipHmI4OCXrDxgSYX-sKHBEA_Ig9yV8wHqsUK5kSlvuc2Jno_i6_38/s316/Bloodshot_-_official_film_poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="220" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxV7Kz0kRGwTru9BUsjYL1mtu2XQa2e58brlTz6PAjA_tJzYc-8TyyUA8vKkk0Zes9OArHiBrtqgyk0ifs4l1tvRSJNU7tL9KsjT8kzxs0O-GMMIx_2s5eJFhVf18C1MipHmI4OCXrDxgSYX-sKHBEA_Ig9yV8wHqsUK5kSlvuc2Jno_i6_38/s1600/Bloodshot_-_official_film_poster.jpeg" width="220" /></a></div>This Vin Diesel film is new on Prime and new to me ... it's a science fiction tale, but starts as though it's a straight thriller.<p></p><p>Diesel plays a soldier, Ray Garrison, out in combat, and he ends up kidnapped by the bad guy, who then kills his wife in order to try and make him talk ... but Diesel knows nothing so gets shot in the head for his trouble ...</p><p>But then, we discover that Diesel's body has been taken for scientific research and he's been given a hefty dose of nanobots which have repaired his body, and which make him superstrong and almost unstoppable ...</p><p>So what does he do? He heads off to find the guy who killed his wife to extract his revenge ...</p><p>To say more would be to spoil the film and to give away some of the twists ... needless to say it's not straighforward! It is, however, a hugely enjoyable action thriller of the type that Diesel does really well ... if you remember him in the excellent <em>Pitch Black</em> and <em>XXX </em>then this is more of the same!</p><p>The film also stars Talulah Riley as his wife Gina, and Eiza González as KT. The main protagonist is Guy Pierce as Dr Emil Harting, but there are strong performances from Sam Heughan and Lamorne Morris as well.</p><p>A very enjoyable evening's entertainment! Recommended!</p><p><br /></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vOUVVDWdXbo" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452303.post-74091984103040655692023-03-01T13:23:00.006+00:002024-02-16T10:00:35.222+00:00Review: Doctor Who LPs from Demon<p>Demon Music Group started out as Demon Records, a British record label, founded in 1980 by former United Artists A&R executive Andrew Lauder and Jake Riviera (aka Andrew Jakeman), and also, possibly, Elvis Costello! In 1998, Demon was acquired by Crimson Productions and the record label was merged with its Westside Records operation. The date that BBC Studios acquired Demon Records/Crimson Records and their subsidiaries and labels is not recorded. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Fkc8kJFSZ7BW6LdULNwA_fRu9RN7026IpNC6eyPyuPm2lIyQdAK4e3HfKzhs5ltlsVFf5cMUXBmAfFLF6H8yRs5C27yPI1POTzi9NzChlIOoJfXl8Dhgvf_Fl1rKIlvxY9fm4CvRjMqvPLSOggk__uWHQyu12zebkXBjswooCs76LIussEQ/s500/Genesis%20of%20the%20Daleks.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="500" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Fkc8kJFSZ7BW6LdULNwA_fRu9RN7026IpNC6eyPyuPm2lIyQdAK4e3HfKzhs5ltlsVFf5cMUXBmAfFLF6H8yRs5C27yPI1POTzi9NzChlIOoJfXl8Dhgvf_Fl1rKIlvxY9fm4CvRjMqvPLSOggk__uWHQyu12zebkXBjswooCs76LIussEQ/s320/Genesis%20of%20the%20Daleks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>As well as <i>Doctor Who</i> they also release many other items and specialise in the reissues of catalogue titles, with a focus on the various Record Store Days each year where many rare items are re-issued on vinyl specifically for sale at participating stores.<p></p><div class="head"></div>
<p>The Demon Records/BBC <i>Doctor Who</i> initiative came from Ben Stanley, Product Manager at Demon Records; their first <i>Doctor Who</i> release came in 2016 when they produced a new vinyl edition of the 'Genesis of the Daleks' adaptation (first issued in October 1979) for the April Record Store Day that year. They also put out 'The Tomb of the Cybermen' and 'City of Death' before Oink Creative and Michael Stevens came on board in 2019 to create a revamped look for 'The Daleks’ Master Plan' soundtrack release. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg207ot-KAKXduYbRv49-dnPaM0A--xP0TIZ4oYjRL6HVZ2j9Z4HQkq4Kdq7wId5DZSTLaxkF8o45t4fVxe_he33DnAxjb8RLf3XPx-Pv0kGbTu0SXSPGQ2xxnTeihYHrTj8bUycXHEqK-8WEwO8usVGRaOSOsPaM2s-johdVzZyzPFatUMlOo/s548/City%20of%20Death%202018.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="548" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg207ot-KAKXduYbRv49-dnPaM0A--xP0TIZ4oYjRL6HVZ2j9Z4HQkq4Kdq7wId5DZSTLaxkF8o45t4fVxe_he33DnAxjb8RLf3XPx-Pv0kGbTu0SXSPGQ2xxnTeihYHrTj8bUycXHEqK-8WEwO8usVGRaOSOsPaM2s-johdVzZyzPFatUMlOo/s320/City%20of%20Death%202018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>As the years have gone by, the <i>Doctor Who</i> releases have become more elaborate and complex. From initial reissues of some of the single- and double-LP historic <i>Doctor Who</i> recordings, they moved into releasing LPs of the <i>Doctor Who</i> soundtracks in 2018 ... and have since augmented the range with some reissues of Big Finish's <i>Doctor Who</i> audios on LP as exclusives to certain retail stores.<p></p><p>The disks themselves are very nicely produced and packaged, and as the range has expanded, so various variants have been introduced. The
soundtrack LP covers have been created by various artists at Oink Creative, including
(but not limited to) Tom Fournier, Sam Goddard, John Conlon and Louise
Barden. The packaging design is by Oink, based on art
direction by Michael Stevens; Michael gives the team a detailed brief on each release and
supplies photo assets, story detail, sleeve text and suggestions for key
elements to illustrate. Michael and Oink decide the vinyl colours and effects between
them and he then gives each one a story-appropriate
name. </p><p>
</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkH4loYHlpUpByZmOIkGp5qF58q6NnpMvmYm5raLHZ-O0nTzjkbIW10DLQZNnCDNiTUJH6PSjFWbuin1vsri4bCJJaURaNnyx78t4RmUh_etUmM1ScGuA2shTkdNxlQqHO2RfEGeQMd7Jr_kj_ZWF64pNUFkMISns0LpvdzlcdX-hd6YDdpM/s1600/Web%20Planet%201%20std.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkH4loYHlpUpByZmOIkGp5qF58q6NnpMvmYm5raLHZ-O0nTzjkbIW10DLQZNnCDNiTUJH6PSjFWbuin1vsri4bCJJaURaNnyx78t4RmUh_etUmM1ScGuA2shTkdNxlQqHO2RfEGeQMd7Jr_kj_ZWF64pNUFkMISns0LpvdzlcdX-hd6YDdpM/s320/Web%20Planet%201%20std.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The pressing plant they use for the LPs is a dab hand at creating all manner of different effects on the disks, which Michael names with suitably 'Who-ish' descriptions for the releases: 'Skaro swirl', 'Tibetan blizzard' and 'Animus splatter' among them ... and these are usually special releases exclusive to the online retailer Amazon.<p></p><p>Most of the <i>Doctor Who</i> soundtrack releases are re-issues of audio previously released on CD, with an overlaid narration from one of the actors from the show, but the release of 'The Web Planet' had not been previously made available and featured an all new narration from Maureen O'Brien. A CD release was subsequently made available the following year.</p><p>Looking at the most recent releases, and we have two soundtracks. One is a boxed set of three LPs covering 'The Sensorites', and the other is a two LP release covering 'The Celestial Toymaker'. Each 25 minute episode of the original show takes one LP side, so the number of LPs is dictated by the number of episodes. And the packaging too, to some extent, though the releases have settled into something of a 'format'. There is a box or gatefold case with stunning new artwork on the front, and then each LP has it's own slipcase with a standard design on one side (colour themed to whatever the colour palette of the release is), and the other containing the cast and credits details for that episode. The outer sleeves within the box sets also have imagery on each side which, when placed together, makes up a larger picture.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGMFRY-73nRyK2naHBWdx93yMqtg2PViiCJDaZVtV6atNUUGNP9bNvUXr3wZzOcs1BvbalQ3wELJc9zhQpRFveGdn6A1HcAvypaCRpilOnPpCD-4-gWhgRhhKAgCC2KXgzb5knPaNrOddki_NQ0BxjOO0k6Bq0lP9QKqL6SEDBwpWSSu1ELQ/s1500/DrWho_TheSensorites.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGMFRY-73nRyK2naHBWdx93yMqtg2PViiCJDaZVtV6atNUUGNP9bNvUXr3wZzOcs1BvbalQ3wELJc9zhQpRFveGdn6A1HcAvypaCRpilOnPpCD-4-gWhgRhhKAgCC2KXgzb5knPaNrOddki_NQ0BxjOO0k6Bq0lP9QKqL6SEDBwpWSSu1ELQ/s320/DrWho_TheSensorites.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>'The Sensorites' also comes with an embossed, frameable art print of the cover artwork and the Sense-Sphere blue marble vinyl LPs are presented in individual pockets which, when placed in order, reveal a
double-sided composite illustration, again of the cover artwork. An accompanying booklet supplies
cast and credits, and inner bags feature complete episode billings. It's an impressive package!<p></p><p>'The Celestial Toymaker' comes on red (king) and blue (queen) coloured LPs and is in a more simple gatefold packaging with inner bags.</p><p>If it's sheer luxury you want though, then the two LP boxed set releases of two of Paul Magrs' audio series for AudioGo really push the boat out.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJ_VfomHFwJmxk8GzsWRiwAMvVOjpIhZHQjh-sMRv_GOOc-1fa0P7oGiYKA99RO8FtstFraV54Z99THW-SB7BmSqmE9l-dIDslrdqRNgOSHqVJVJ9hfLYqNBX-BBOENOsMXGajX0wdxz12fCnBab47JA0lZoP8bPfyuLHd6nq-jIAbxeCE3E/s1000/Celestial%20Toymaker.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJ_VfomHFwJmxk8GzsWRiwAMvVOjpIhZHQjh-sMRv_GOOc-1fa0P7oGiYKA99RO8FtstFraV54Z99THW-SB7BmSqmE9l-dIDslrdqRNgOSHqVJVJ9hfLYqNBX-BBOENOsMXGajX0wdxz12fCnBab47JA0lZoP8bPfyuLHd6nq-jIAbxeCE3E/s320/Celestial%20Toymaker.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Hornet's Nest</i> and <i>Demon Quest</i> were two 2009 and 2010 five-part audio releases featuring Tom Baker as the Doctor, but strangely having adventures in England while living in a cottage with his housekeeper, Mrs Wibbsey. There is a third series of adventures called <i>Serpent Crest</i>, coming on 23 May 2023! The stories were typically <i>Doctor Who</i>, and Baker effortlessly fell back into his classic portrayal ... but here even more eccentric if that's possible!<p></p><p>For these special LP releases Demon Records have really gone the extra mile! </p><p>For <i>Hornet's Nest</i>, the set comes with an exclusive, frameable portrait of the Fourth Doctor - every copy of
which has been individually signed by Tom Baker himself. There's an impressive, die-cut removable outer sleeve housing a hornet-adorned
lidded box, inside which are ten individual, alternating yellow and black vinyl LPs, within exquisitely illustrated LP
sleeves featuring full cast and credits for each story. Also included is <em>The Doctor’s Journal</em>, a large 16-page full colour booklet detailing the Time Lord’s notes and illustrations from his battles against the hornets.</p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8bTLdCxxeMJ_wR8uUeR78rnSvmI08lJHfVpqmtasTJGvRDatWF7f3wBudKx2i8gMN9RF_LO8oY0GurFfujAw6GnrW056Qlx6rHAZjoPck5b_Qoi0u2IWUgIB9pfos78Zu6mkswUnM3LAFYO0gqrMSz6ieZMPRhWxIWBP1cuCBR_3V_hVFk0/s640/Demon%20Quest%20LP%20Front.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8bTLdCxxeMJ_wR8uUeR78rnSvmI08lJHfVpqmtasTJGvRDatWF7f3wBudKx2i8gMN9RF_LO8oY0GurFfujAw6GnrW056Qlx6rHAZjoPck5b_Qoi0u2IWUgIB9pfos78Zu6mkswUnM3LAFYO0gqrMSz6ieZMPRhWxIWBP1cuCBR_3V_hVFk0/w265-h265/Demon%20Quest%20LP%20Front.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><i>Demon Quest </i>also has ten LP records, alternating red and black, each one containing one episode of the series. Every copy of the vinyl edition includes an exclusive, frameable
portrait of the Fourth Doctor, again hand signed by Tom Baker himself. There's an intricately die-cut, removable outer sleeve revealing a demonic
lidded box, inside which are ten individual illustrated LP sleeves
featuring full cast and credits for each of the five stories. The Time Lord’s encounters with the mysterious demon are detailed in
<i>The Doctor’s Journal</i>, a large 16-page full-colour booklet featuring
notes and illustrations from this epic pursuit through time.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivW_0xJfRkJuyDVfyN4AjqO_7H2pChs5voFuBwfTwOoWrZ_4CudOGBMnj3EfJQGgIQmrestMpH0YLM1KVrJqEAhCq0CbOJkE2JW2wXbOXTgeXXz6BQOHcHG8S9Wwr7heZSPbqZ6tdjdSUER-6RiWZ6DRDnniSHJWZiDk5Qpqe585eSZlOZ2Ws/s728/Hornet's%20Nest%20LP%201.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="728" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivW_0xJfRkJuyDVfyN4AjqO_7H2pChs5voFuBwfTwOoWrZ_4CudOGBMnj3EfJQGgIQmrestMpH0YLM1KVrJqEAhCq0CbOJkE2JW2wXbOXTgeXXz6BQOHcHG8S9Wwr7heZSPbqZ6tdjdSUER-6RiWZ6DRDnniSHJWZiDk5Qpqe585eSZlOZ2Ws/w265-h262/Hornet's%20Nest%20LP%201.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>Each are superbly produced and are in themselves true works of art. Sadly the cost reflects this - they're not cheap, each retailing for around £190 each! But some outlets have them discounted ... so shop around! As a very special present for the <i>Doctor Who</i> fan in your life, they're probably hard to beat!<p></p><p>Coming for Record Store Day 2023 (22 April) is another Demon release, this time of stories in part from <i>The Amazing Worlds of Doctor Who</i> hardback book, published in 1976 through a special promotion with TyPhoo teabags. The promotion included 12 collectible photo-cards given away with the boxes of tea, and a poster onto which they could be mounted.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXS1hTafrvq9RFvg3DedzAy1qSBec3olpyaHq2INj6xZ-o4gBNQtIQ6m8cwhLPEy9Hd-_3XMs2693rmo9ttLoM6XmpzGjPKEnSN9dWsfmE8WkbJCiHeI9OwuWcGhz2F4wkL_nB2n2sBbAsGYjfTNBaJ0-9BMwZGH7QQFp-PE8_RkphhPV7KM/s554/doctor-who-the-amazing-world-of-doctor-who%20LP.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="554" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXS1hTafrvq9RFvg3DedzAy1qSBec3olpyaHq2INj6xZ-o4gBNQtIQ6m8cwhLPEy9Hd-_3XMs2693rmo9ttLoM6XmpzGjPKEnSN9dWsfmE8WkbJCiHeI9OwuWcGhz2F4wkL_nB2n2sBbAsGYjfTNBaJ0-9BMwZGH7QQFp-PE8_RkphhPV7KM/s320/doctor-who-the-amazing-world-of-doctor-who%20LP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This 2023 audio edition includes 'The
Sinister Sponge' (also in <i>The Doctor Who Annual </i>1976, previously released on CD on <i>The Sinister Sponge and Other Stories</i> (2019)), 'The Vampires Of Crellium' (original to <i>The Amazing World of Doctor Who</i>), 'On The Slippery Trail' (original to <i>The Amazing World of Doctor Who</i>) and 'The Mission' (also in <i>The Doctor Who Annual </i>1976). There are two stories not contained in the book <i>The Amazing World of Doctor Who</i>: 'A New Life' (from <i>The Doctor Who Annual </i>1978) and 'Avast There' (from <i>The Doctor Who Annual </i>1976). The release also contains audio adaptations of two comic stories: 'The Psychic Jungle' and 'Neuronic Nightmare' (both also in <i>The Doctor Who Annual </i>1976). <p></p><p>Dan Starkey (Strax),
Louise Jameson (Leela) and Geoffrey Beevers (The Master) read these weird and wacky stories. Published in <i>Doctor Who</i>'s 60th anniversary year,
the 140g clear vinyl LPs are presented in a gatefold sleeve with
illustrated inner bags. Chris Achilleos' iconic artwork for the
original book provides a stunning front and back cover to the LP release.</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXbccWpap26zqC7WAzlGEFjY-JX6kSTiMdWRnpIUTZ3kUeQb8rNwfcG9erWOG56-4UNugB_fy0-cFrkifOnRguF5FtFsTFzaI8xMn_7ry-A2nfWyeLj-5mi8btRdRHQOLH7xZpKUwgNMRQaOFB7bu897gutRfivFsMG0refRVbbQQkGkTl40/s282/Demon%20Quest%204.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="282" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXbccWpap26zqC7WAzlGEFjY-JX6kSTiMdWRnpIUTZ3kUeQb8rNwfcG9erWOG56-4UNugB_fy0-cFrkifOnRguF5FtFsTFzaI8xMn_7ry-A2nfWyeLj-5mi8btRdRHQOLH7xZpKUwgNMRQaOFB7bu897gutRfivFsMG0refRVbbQQkGkTl40/w400-h299/Demon%20Quest%204.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Baker signs copies of the <i>Demon Quest </i>print</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqjljN7k8HpgOYuNYjFKFy88x8oc3Dfp0V0XWCI80b04ahadr4dCotXujZ7MBZ5J00sOKLXFVkTjPpiQHx10XtiuspcazlqVGEDxDqYd6V_ymkduUxAi0rg_isCIa5uq3mPQw6HUwlsIPRqUp6ZK1_myoFkW5wSnLkldE-h7seuIGp1dmfG4/s1417/Hornet's%20Nest%20LP%202a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1417" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqjljN7k8HpgOYuNYjFKFy88x8oc3Dfp0V0XWCI80b04ahadr4dCotXujZ7MBZ5J00sOKLXFVkTjPpiQHx10XtiuspcazlqVGEDxDqYd6V_ymkduUxAi0rg_isCIa5uq3mPQw6HUwlsIPRqUp6ZK1_myoFkW5wSnLkldE-h7seuIGp1dmfG4/w400-h336/Hornet's%20Nest%20LP%202a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div>The May 2023 <i>Serpent Crest </i>release follows the pattern of the two earlier box sets. This time the colour theme is green and black, and there's the usual quality booklet, art print personally signed by Tom Baker, ten LP records (alternating black and green) and artwork adorning the whole package. This time the slipcase has 'serpent scale' cutouts in the outer box and the whole package just screams 'luxury'.</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6m945k2uXDALf-LJHFNuxS09ckNrdhLrXLildxJ-MkRQUyrl5ja6sE9uz4CwZlNDZ3goX22AFMjZVHVoqnsvNlFXdYgnZisEJHj7ipfTUNHMvt7XccpJfoBi8T8bC_tIV8kcBVqf9HJ7o4iVCvcGuhL2wSeNTltYlR14eio6GEPQb7NAZHYY/s1500/Serpent%20Crest%20b.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1499" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6m945k2uXDALf-LJHFNuxS09ckNrdhLrXLildxJ-MkRQUyrl5ja6sE9uz4CwZlNDZ3goX22AFMjZVHVoqnsvNlFXdYgnZisEJHj7ipfTUNHMvt7XccpJfoBi8T8bC_tIV8kcBVqf9HJ7o4iVCvcGuhL2wSeNTltYlR14eio6GEPQb7NAZHYY/w400-h400/Serpent%20Crest%20b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-mWZTYoEIXwCPNvXBAEXlhwwhBijPd7p5hMZ_0iJKBm8a3GoGDSb_Bo2I-O_bTOEEANbGLRorBrweMUepZNsiAxksxKhGn9CL8STSuoouMDt_ZP5oPNvXyv65Paf7jckNXtZEDHv5JwR8WrtFfp-__nd50A0Xlvv2g4-v1mYRym6-PmLURU/s1372/Serpent%20Crest%20a.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1372" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-mWZTYoEIXwCPNvXBAEXlhwwhBijPd7p5hMZ_0iJKBm8a3GoGDSb_Bo2I-O_bTOEEANbGLRorBrweMUepZNsiAxksxKhGn9CL8STSuoouMDt_ZP5oPNvXyv65Paf7jckNXtZEDHv5JwR8WrtFfp-__nd50A0Xlvv2g4-v1mYRym6-PmLURU/w400-h328/Serpent%20Crest%20a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClMW6lrYEfj5YQKCjayz28opQHzok4TUoAexYC6XmxRatkt9oQHHXiACPWAtHDP6jplHVTkWU0dSqiutbvN4ZbAYCJvutSekIX4urJJT3c0_luKXa80q82fgOIcoD82e2ZldlMWB2jX8oGmOogdIlol6lmaGfRkEZCiTsx68XkMSieDcHXq8/s700/Serpent%20Crest%20d.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="526" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClMW6lrYEfj5YQKCjayz28opQHzok4TUoAexYC6XmxRatkt9oQHHXiACPWAtHDP6jplHVTkWU0dSqiutbvN4ZbAYCJvutSekIX4urJJT3c0_luKXa80q82fgOIcoD82e2ZldlMWB2jX8oGmOogdIlol6lmaGfRkEZCiTsx68XkMSieDcHXq8/w300-h400/Serpent%20Crest%20d.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Paul Magrs with his copy of the <i>Serpent Crest </i>LPs</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>15 September 2023 sees the release of a 4 LP set of stories featuring Tom Baker as the Doctor. <i>Genesis of the Daleks</i>, <i>Doctor Who and the Pescatons</i>, <i>Exploration Earth: The Time Machine</i> and <i>The State of Decay</i>. Limited to 600 copies, the set comes with a personally signed picture of Baker.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIN1P1CWODjIqTNBhIKB0dY2PmlOkt6g3V8pzbHAzE6e7hg8_rnFqWOUgEObhQtY8SP_IZbd4JcAorO6P4_iIOxcbRpVn_D1EiqZF06_HdlE7CZ-7WOxwpWoAXtBfSR4qFS6GOK7XiGYu9JgLze9uqwuSjbuodKWO1mahiT4W3NNkp6Xb8ZXSkw/s3772/DW_TheTomBakerCollection_LP_2DPackshot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3761" data-original-width="3772" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIN1P1CWODjIqTNBhIKB0dY2PmlOkt6g3V8pzbHAzE6e7hg8_rnFqWOUgEObhQtY8SP_IZbd4JcAorO6P4_iIOxcbRpVn_D1EiqZF06_HdlE7CZ-7WOxwpWoAXtBfSR4qFS6GOK7XiGYu9JgLze9uqwuSjbuodKWO1mahiT4W3NNkp6Xb8ZXSkw/s320/DW_TheTomBakerCollection_LP_2DPackshot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEKJUoiRlBTmywIhOLlIkr2Hxuq-MGMy-0UAavDyDX7E_QoAXNYujL0UAXQ5TDM9h1e2370S7-Z6KiwBa0f12kRRCfnQrD3v3rLyQ-gKhPC6jW7APg01r0I7fuKMse0MLEHMIlyKfnC5-VNvd3Ua3AULHztsYfBEcvKekr5Z5JIZLJ_dU-LQIBg/s4600/DW_TheTomBakerCollection_4LP_Exploded_Packshot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2319" data-original-width="4600" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEKJUoiRlBTmywIhOLlIkr2Hxuq-MGMy-0UAavDyDX7E_QoAXNYujL0UAXQ5TDM9h1e2370S7-Z6KiwBa0f12kRRCfnQrD3v3rLyQ-gKhPC6jW7APg01r0I7fuKMse0MLEHMIlyKfnC5-VNvd3Ua3AULHztsYfBEcvKekr5Z5JIZLJ_dU-LQIBg/s320/DW_TheTomBakerCollection_4LP_Exploded_Packshot.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tom Baker Record Collection</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Also an LP release in the DOOM'S DAY spin off series: <i>Four For Doom's Day</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XhGbtyUwcbRZskO3zh3VeWNIcweGpjawv9zNDVfz0s5giyl3GLpcA6W8bPWdQmAhpRm9ddJET8xeXBHdOWB6mIb7M1-s6S9THkmGWutYHzzgQH4ko2eWBWrmVNlUV3uy4wPWzIBTR_DO3AnjWz62NXYoFgNJexejVwRulJUaQVvPaDJ4SFzA0A/s2000/Doctor_Who_Four_From_Dooms_Day_2D.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1996" data-original-width="2000" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XhGbtyUwcbRZskO3zh3VeWNIcweGpjawv9zNDVfz0s5giyl3GLpcA6W8bPWdQmAhpRm9ddJET8xeXBHdOWB6mIb7M1-s6S9THkmGWutYHzzgQH4ko2eWBWrmVNlUV3uy4wPWzIBTR_DO3AnjWz62NXYoFgNJexejVwRulJUaQVvPaDJ4SFzA0A/s320/Doctor_Who_Four_From_Dooms_Day_2D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEuttt6S06dXD7378Owr0dft9_NdUldQt6oN2cEFZRZeaytmPS4OdEdkRpJptvo29XEa7wMMtSUKEWnZgOUDvKyQL1Ijn8xKwmoUfq-_pvG5YCQ5hdO0Vhby89pIdMK3kGHoq-G3gFyKPsvT0Wzon2iUbPCg9PJOSWokniPAzyd4qS9kTIVz55Q/s2000/Doctor_Who_Four_From_DoomsDay_Pack&Vinyl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1211" data-original-width="2000" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEuttt6S06dXD7378Owr0dft9_NdUldQt6oN2cEFZRZeaytmPS4OdEdkRpJptvo29XEa7wMMtSUKEWnZgOUDvKyQL1Ijn8xKwmoUfq-_pvG5YCQ5hdO0Vhby89pIdMK3kGHoq-G3gFyKPsvT0Wzon2iUbPCg9PJOSWokniPAzyd4qS9kTIVz55Q/s320/Doctor_Who_Four_From_DoomsDay_Pack&Vinyl.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For the twin story release Pest Control/The Forever Trap, the set of LPs had an illustrated lift off lid, and features 6 x
140g vinyl LPs three in transparent red and three in transparent yellow
each housed in a unique inner sleeve. A four page booklet features
sleeve notes by authors Peter Anghelides and Dan Abnett, who reflect on
the process of writing for the Tenth Doctor and Donna, and how they
regard the stories 17 years later.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSpsOdvf5uUKTY9BvM2V0vGMsTtCpgpQQjketfly1DhLtq2CpQFRvOUipecjDkSDVEviPvqmb5sQQmDODTxS2RF2ja03qP9UwF9l3qFsadSUnP5goULAQ9ZAKKJ4asSuDhB2ex6FOeHpSaTKD8xJDp6Men3S8EAT5cyTlC_AUHklIo6CjsqW0Ag/s3768/DrWho_Pest_Control_and_Forever_Trap_2D_Pack_STICKER.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3768" data-original-width="3768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSpsOdvf5uUKTY9BvM2V0vGMsTtCpgpQQjketfly1DhLtq2CpQFRvOUipecjDkSDVEviPvqmb5sQQmDODTxS2RF2ja03qP9UwF9l3qFsadSUnP5goULAQ9ZAKKJ4asSuDhB2ex6FOeHpSaTKD8xJDp6Men3S8EAT5cyTlC_AUHklIo6CjsqW0Ag/s320/DrWho_Pest_Control_and_Forever_Trap_2D_Pack_STICKER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZeXQInzhrfJYCwc8uGnJ9RDJuJCG37vDZiXuab4EnG5mdDsQemGoKgimTpnvQz94i628IBZKTRJdh98t3KwVGiJL9B9KN3zQtnCfvsrwJ87usZ_RhaR8DJhlSGrouSVUFwR_-HoKo58u7upBO4I7cJGq4spkWOZH4v9ai5C5d1BK8bPu5uwwEg/s1264/DrWho_Pest_Control_and_Forever_Trap_6LP_3D_Exploded_STICKER.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1264" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZeXQInzhrfJYCwc8uGnJ9RDJuJCG37vDZiXuab4EnG5mdDsQemGoKgimTpnvQz94i628IBZKTRJdh98t3KwVGiJL9B9KN3zQtnCfvsrwJ87usZ_RhaR8DJhlSGrouSVUFwR_-HoKo58u7upBO4I7cJGq4spkWOZH4v9ai5C5d1BK8bPu5uwwEg/s320/DrWho_Pest_Control_and_Forever_Trap_6LP_3D_Exploded_STICKER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>'The Edge of Destruction' features an impressive picture LP with the ormolu clock on one side and a TARDIS zoetrope on the other. The soundtrack, it's first audio release in any format, has narration from Carole Ann Ford, and also features an interview with Ford. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIsWoMrl_XVvsYbCnG_-0_OebWxFJJQBiDwFInCyZxkBhH2MQT5pbZCpH_iL05FsqEaEYrpauAnDDf58CXtPMGon_4Neiel6mwNCZoA_xosjJTQ2i8OE9nVCoAVpBBXz846rxrHUdly8dBg_lSSnBvxhe4t3Eb6hWWgtCfQ8btWy1j1VaaOBmLw/s2130/DEMREC1190_DoctorWho_TheEdgeOfDestruction_1LP_RSD_PictureDisc_3D_Front-and-Disc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1412" data-original-width="2130" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIsWoMrl_XVvsYbCnG_-0_OebWxFJJQBiDwFInCyZxkBhH2MQT5pbZCpH_iL05FsqEaEYrpauAnDDf58CXtPMGon_4Neiel6mwNCZoA_xosjJTQ2i8OE9nVCoAVpBBXz846rxrHUdly8dBg_lSSnBvxhe4t3Eb6hWWgtCfQ8btWy1j1VaaOBmLw/w400-h265/DEMREC1190_DoctorWho_TheEdgeOfDestruction_1LP_RSD_PictureDisc_3D_Front-and-Disc.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div>Here's a quick checklist of all the <i>Doctor Who</i> LPs that Demon Records have released so far ...</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks</i> 16/04/2016 DEMREC160</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who and the Pescatons</i> (Victor Pemberton) / <i>Doctor Who Sound Effects No 19</i> 22/04/2017 DEMREC202</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: City of Death</i> 21/04/2018 green vinyl DEMREC254</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen</i> 21/04/2018 silver vinyl DEMREC253</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Cold Vengeance</i> (Matt Fitton) 19/10/2018 DEMREC327</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Galaxy 4</i> 13/04/2019 2x180g splatter vinyl DEMWHOLP001</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Destiny of the Daleks</i> 13/04/2019 2x180g splatter vinyl DEMWHOLP002</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan</i> 15/02/2019 6x180g translucent blue vinyl. DEMWHOBOX001</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan</i> (Amazon) 15/02/2019 6x180g translucent 'splatter' vinyl. DEMWHOBOX001X</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>The Creeping Death</i> (Roy Gill) 24/05/2019 DEMREC433</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Wave of Destruction</i> (Justin Richards) 02/08/2019 'ocean swirl' vinyl. DEMREC453</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks</i> 19/07/2019 translucent red vinyl. DEMWHOBOX002</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks </i>(Amazon) 19/07/2019 'Skaro swirl' vinyl. DEMWHOBOX002X</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Death and the Queen</i> (James Goss) 06/09/2019 DEMREC370</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen</i> 27/09/2019 3x180g white vinyl DEMWHOBOX003</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen </i>(Amazon) 27/09/2019 3x180g 'Tibetan blizzard' vinyl DEMWHOBOX003X</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Max Warp</i> (Jonathan Morris) 15/11/2019 DEMREC554</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Web Planet</i> 13/12/2019 180g pink vinyl. DEMWHOBOX004</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Web Planet</i> (Amazon) 13/12/2019 180g 'Animus splatter' vinyl. DEMWHOBOX004X</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Paradise of Death</i> & <i>The Ghosts of N-Space</i> (Barry Letts) 28/02/2020 3x180g blue vinyl & 3x180g yellow vinyl DEMWHOBOX005</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Paradise of Death</i> & <i>The Ghosts of N-Space</i> (Barry Letts) (Amazon) 28/02/2020 3x180g space world splatter vinyl and 3x180g spectral splatter vinyl DEMWHOBOX005X</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Underwater Menace</i> 06/07/2020 180g 'volcanic eruption' vinyl. DEMWHOLP004X</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Massacre</i> 29/08/2020 'Parisian blaze' vinyl DEMWHOLP003</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: Marco Polo</i> 11/09/2020 sandstorm vinyl DEMWHOBOX006X</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Time Lord Victorious: The Minds of Magnox</i> (Darren Jones) 04/12/2020 DEMWHOLP005</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>The Edge of Time</i> (Richard Wilkinson) 22/01/2021 140g red and purple vinyl DEMREC713</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Horror of Fang Rock</i> 19/02/2021 140g Rutan blob green vinyl DEMWHOLP006</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Ice Warriors</i> 04/06/2021 molten ice vinyl DEMWHOBOX007</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Dalek Terror</i> 12/06/2021 2x140g 'extermination splatter' vinyl DEMWHOLP007</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>The Myth Makers</i> 27/08/2021 'Trojan sunset' vinyl DEMWHOLP008</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>The Pirate Planet </i>18/03/2022 'sky demon' splatter vinyl DEMWHOLP009</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: Dead Air </i>(James Goss) 23/04/2022 2x140g soundwave green vinyl. DEMWHOLP010</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Hornet's Nest: The Complete Series</i> 06/05/2022 10x140g alternating yellow and black vinyl DEMWHOBOX009</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Sensorites</i><strong> </strong>22/07/2022 3x140g Sense-Sphere blue marble vinyl. DEMWHOBOX008</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker</i> 30/09/2022 2x140g king and queen (red and blue) vinyl DEMWHOLP011</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><a name="11656255241"></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Demon Quest: The Complete Series</i> 02/12/2022 10x140g alternating red and black vinyl DEMWHOBOX010</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>The Amazing World of Doctor Who</i> 22/04/2023 2x140g red and orange vinyl REF: DEMWHOLP012</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: </i><i>Serpent Crest: The Complete Series</i> 26/05/2023 10x140g alternating green and black vinyl DEMWHOBOX011<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Tom Baker Record Collection</i> 15/09/2023 4x140g orange, green, red and blue vinyl DEMWHOBOX012 (the label on the front has DEMRECBOX012)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doom's Day: Four For Doom's Day</i> 15/09/2023 2x140g translucent purple and blue vinyl DEMWHOLP013</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: Pest Control / The Forever Trap</i> 24/05/2024 6x140g translucent red and yellow vinyl DEMWHOBOX013</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><i>Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction</i> 24/04/2024 1x140g Zoetrope Picture Disc vinyl DEMWHOREC1190</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers;"><br /></p>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13752147546933122889noreply@blogger.com0