'Doctor Who: Destiny of the Daleks' (1979)

So, last night Hope and I settled down and watched 'Destiny of the Daleks' together. This isn't such a big deal as it sounds, as we've just come out of a phase where every mealtime had to be accompanied by this particular DVD, but I will always take repeated viewings of Dr Who over repeated viewings of Thumbelina so...
Watching Dr Who with Hope is always great as she provides her own running commentary. Last nights commentary included the gem, "woman pulled the man's arm off..." There's a little extra resonance, to watching this particular story with Hope, though as 'Destiny of the Daleks' was the first ever Dr Who story I saw, just over thirty years ago. I get to share it with my daughter and I also get to see how the story itself holds up after all this time. Quite well as it happens...

The Doctor and Romana have returned, quite by chance, to the Dalek home planet of Skaro; now a radioactive ruin. That hasn't stopped others visiting though. Who are the Movellans and why are the Daleks so intent on burrowing deep into their old city? The answer lies deep underground and when it wakes up... The Doctor is going to have to make a hard decision all over again.

The thing about old Dr Who (and I'm talking thirty three years old in this instant) is that when it inevitably starts to look dated... Well, it really starts to look dated... You have a Davros who can't control where he is going (I had to laugh when he rebounded off the wall...), Daleks with wobbly heads and it all taking place in that same quarry where all 'alien' adventures seemed to take place. Seriously; what was it with that quarry? Even the Doctor remarks that it all seems familiar (I'm putting that quip down to Douglas Adams being at the helm of the story). In this respect, I watched 'Destiny of the Daleks' and couldn't help but wince at the reality of a story that had taken on a different form, in my head, over the years.

Luckily though, there is still plenty to recommend this tale including a lot of stuff that I would never have picked up on the last time I saw 'Destiny'. Well, I was four years old at the time ;o)

The plot itself is interesting enough but ultimately limited. After all, when you have two races trapped in a logical impasse there's only so far you can take that (although the Daleks are intuitive enough to come to Skaro in the first place)... Having said that though, I did enjoy watching Doctor play 'Stone, Paper, Scissors' with the Movellans. I think this incarnation of the Doctor is a poor winner :o)

There are also some really dark elements to 'Destiny' that help you get past the dated production. The Daleks are as evil as ever, of course, but take things up a notch by exterminating prisoners during a standoff with the Doctor. The introduction of Dalek suicide bombers also gives you a real insight into their mindset as well as their creator Davros. The Daleks hate the rest of the galaxy so much that they are prepared to destroy themselves to give their comrades an edge. Davros is more than prepared to give the orders.

The Doctor also has his dark side either, more than prepared to kill his enemies (perhaps in order to make up for past decisions?) This is a side that you don't normally see (the Doctor being more of a pacifist usually) and this adds another edge to a tale that is edgier than it at first appears.

'Destiny of the Daleks' isn't the story that I first saw back in 1979; it's both more and less than that and all at the same time. I've had my say so I'll sign off with Hope's summing up of the story - "Daleks say exterminate, then they blow up!"

Doctor Who - 'Asylum of the Daleks'.

So I got there in the end, watching this episode about three weeks after I should have seen it at the BFI premiere. After going all out to get a ticket (it really helped that I was working in the BFI box office that day...) I then took Hope to the park, on the day of the premiere and totally forgot that I had somewhere else that I needed to be... I did get to go on a really cool slide but even so...


Like I said though, I got there in the end :o) Hope is fascinated by Daleks right now so we both watched most of the episode together (in a rites of passage kind of way, both for me and her) and, on the whole, it rocked. Wait, what am I talking about? It rocked the whole way through :o) If you didn't know already, I am a big fan of Doctor Who but (bias to one side) 'Asylum of the Daleks' was still a great way to kick off the new series

The Daleks may have been used a little too much in recent seasons (and 'Victory of the Daleks' really didn't work for me at all) but there is still something awe inspiring about seeing so many Daleks on screen for the 'Parliament' scenes. Same deal with the premise for the episode; there have been too many trailers floating about, for it to really surprise us, but there's something about that sudden change in dynamic (between two enemies) that really gets you into things and fast.

What I really enjoyed about 'Asylum' was the element of horror that was employed. You hear a lot of talk about kids being scared by the monsters but this was a genuinely scary episode in other ways too. There's a whole facility full of insane Daleks, even more insane than normal, what could be scarier than that (especially when Rory meets one for the first time)? Well, since you're asking, seeing what the Daleks do their human slaves is pretty horrifying all by itself, especially when it leads to zombies...

I'd have to wonder how 'Asylum' fits in with all the other stuff we know about Dalel history and I will say that I felt a little short changed about being promised that we'd see Daleks from all incarnations of the show. Blink and you will miss them (I did, it took a second viewing to see them)...

These are really small niggles though when you have a plot that rockets along and promises at least one intriguing development to come in the rest of the series. The end revelation is a little obvious but like I said, the implications should make for interesting viewing in the near future.

Strong performances from the three leads (the 'intensive care' scene was pretty powerful stuff I thought) and more Daleks than you know what to do with. It doesn't get a lot better than that. Roll on the next episode (dinosaurs on a space ship!)

Before I hit 'Publish Post', have some more reviews that I found while googling an image for the post. Here's the Daily Telegraph review, Radio Times and one from Digital Spy.

‘Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric’ (1989)

You might see a few of these posts appear, over the next couple of days, due to a combination of my working round the corner from Forbidden Planet (money is made to be spent) and Sue & Hope being elsewhere for a couple of days. I get to watch some Doctor Who instead of ‘Happy Feet’ or ‘Peppa Pig’. It’s. Like. Heaven…

Anyway...

If you talk to people (of a certain age) about Doctor Who the conversation inevitably includes the phrase ‘hiding behind the sofa’. It just does. Having seen a couple of really old episodes I have no idea why people felt the urge to do this back in the day but there you go.
We certainly never hid behind the sofa in the eighties when I did the bulk of my ‘Doctor Who watching’. This was probably because our parents kept telling us it wasn’t real (although thinking about it, I imagine they were trying to convince themselves so they didn’t end up hiding behind the sofa again…)
I never hid behind the sofa, not once, but there was one story that scared me so much that, when I went to bed, I hid under my duvet and didn’t come out until the next day. That story was ‘The Curse of Fenric’ and I watched it again last night. A couple of Southern Comfort & cokes made the whole thing a little less scary but I still found myself locking the back door. There were noises out in the garden…

The Doctor and Ace find themselves at a secret military base, during the Second World War, where elements of the British army are about to lure their Russian allies into a deadly trap. A far deadlier trap is about to be sprung though as an ancient evil stirs beneath the waters of the bay and an old Viking Curse comes to fruition. Only those with faith will survive and, even then, they may not have much left afterwards…

I’m as guilty as the next person of thinking of the old Doctor Who series as slightly shoddy affairs with wobbly sets and guys dressed up as aliens who are always conveniently defeated at the very last second. ‘The Curse of Fenric’ is actually a really sly piece of horror that creeps up on you and delivers chills right when you least expect them. I’m talking clawed hands rising out of the sea to drag down soldiers and a church under siege by mouldy looking vampires that have risen from a watery grave (they do look suspiciously rubbery but no less scary for that). There are really nasty echoes of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ here and watching ‘The Curse of Fenric’ did have me wondering if that was where it all started for me and my love of zombies. Maybe…

It’s not all about the obvious horror though. The horror of war is examined in pretty close detail, for a show that was Saturday teatime viewing, and you get to see how this affects people’s faith in different ways. It all boils down to how much you believe in what you’re fighting for. When the curse of Fenric really takes hold this can mean the difference between life and death (yours)…

The story itself is very tightly plotted (with a couple of exceptions) and shows roots in previous stories. It all ties together very well although I had very little idea what Ace was talking about half the time (attempts at deep and meaningful falling flat here) and I did have to wonder how effective the big villain really was. I mean, would you kill off your troops when the battle was still being fought? No, me neither…

Sylvester McCoy makes up for a lot of this though with a dark, brooding performance that hints at a battle fought outside the confines of the TV show; a battle that I wouldn’t mind reading more about.

All in all then, ‘The Curse of Fenric’ is as unsettling now as it was back in 1989 and it stands up pretty well to the test of time. It’s not often that one of these DVDs has me looking for the book but I’m seriously tempted…

You probably knew this already but...

What? Everyone else is posting 'A Game of Thrones' videos, and so on, so I thought I'd have some of that action as well :o)
So, are you looking forward to Season 2 or are you like me and still need to get caught up on Season 1...? And no, I still haven't finished 'A Dance With Dragons'. Sometimes, in the cold and lonely depths of the night, I wonder if I will ever finish 'A Dance With Dragons'... :o(

‘Game of Thrones’ Episode One: ‘Winter is Coming’

What with one thing and another I never got round to watching the first season of ‘Game of Thrones’, I kind of figured that I’d read the books so wouldn’t be missing out on a huge lot… would I? On the other hand…The thing is, I’d always fancied checking out at least one episode; I’d really enjoyed the books and wanted to see how it all translated onto the small screen. Like that was ever going to happen though, I’d have to wait at least a couple of years for the box set price to drop and even then I’d still be way behind everyone else. Who knows, at that rate George might have even finished writing the series by the time I caught up with Season Three…(probably not but it’s not like I don’t have a heaving pile of books to get through in the meantime).

Then I saw this post and was off down to my local HMV in the time that it would normally take for Robert Baratheon to father another bastard child. I might still have to wait a little while for a cheap box set deal but the first episode should be enough to keep me going in the meantime.

Before we get started, is there anyone who hasn’t read the books? How about anyone who hasn’t seen the first episode of ‘Game of Thrones’? Really? I don’t believe that…;o)
Look, if you haven’t read the books or seen the show then you need to be aware that I’m not going to skirt round any spoilers; if I see one coming at the end of a paragraph then I’m just going full steam ahead. The season defining spoilers don’t come along until much later but even so, you’ve been warned.

The bottom line is that ‘Winter is Coming’ really worked for me, I’ve definitely got my eye on the box set now (even though I’ve read the books). Some of the CGI scenery is a little too obviously CGI (I thought the Direwolf pups looked fine myself) but when that’s the only thing wrong with the episode, well… you can’t complain really can you?

What we’ve got here is an episode that introduces us to the Seven Kingdoms, sets up all the players on the board and then has them jockeying for position while nasty stuff is starting to happen up North beyond the Wall. Those scenes in particular were superb as far as I was concerned, tense and shocking moments that held my attention straight away. The producers/directors (I can never tell the difference) are obviously not afraid to skimp on the blood and that is definitely in keeping with GRRM’s grim medieval world.

There’s only an hour to get all the initial stuff set up and so it’s inevitable that not everything will fit in. It seemed to me that events took precedence over characterisation although the main players do get a chance to shine. Peter Dinklage in particular shines as Tyrion Lannister.  When an actor replaces my own mental image of a character then I just know that they’ve done a good job. When I next read the books it will be Dinklage’s Tyrion that I see. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's Jaime Lannister was almost as impressive but looked a little too much like Prince Charming (‘Shrek 2’) for me to be totally convinced. Sorry, that’s just the way it goes sometimes. And just where is Rickon Stark? I couldn’t see him but that’s not saying that he wasn’t there. Help?

Like I said, all the main events (from the opening chapters of ‘A Game of Thrones’) are covered in enough detail that the viewer is left with a decent idea of who means what to whom and why certain events are still resonating down the years. You can see how certain events build up a good head of steam (poor Bran) that will carry things along nicely in terms of pacing. From what I could see of the scenery, Ireland looked like a good place to film Winterfell. Where were the Dothraki scenes filmed? That looked gorgeous as well.

Apart from a couple of ropey CGI moments, ‘Winter is Coming’ really kicked things off in fine style and promises good things for the rest of Season One. You probably all knew that already though ;o) Don’t expect to see me talking about the rest of Season One anytime soon as I’m waiting on that box set…

‘The Walking Dead’ (Part 1)

If you haven’t been reading the comics, or you’re even slower than I am at getting to watch the TV show, then there’s probably going to be a couple of spoilers lurking in here. You might want to consider that before diving in...

Still here? Good...

Robert Kirkman’s ‘The Walking Dead’ is quite frankly an awesome piece of comic book fiction, pulling no punches in showing us just what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a full on zombie apocalypse. There aren’t many books that make me gasp and go “Oh, f...!” ‘The Walking Dead’ does this frequently and that’s why I’ll be there until the bitter end.

When I heard that there was going to be a TV adaptation... Well, you should have seen the little dance I did up and down the stairs followed by the ‘zombie lurch’ to the kitchen. Normally I’d be a little concerned about my favourite books getting the TV treatment but not this time. Speaking as a fan, ‘The Walking Dead’ is so great that it would be practically impossible to screw up on the small screen. You would have thought, wouldn’t you...?

You thought right, the first episode was nothing short of enthralling and has me feeling that good things are assured for the rest of the episodes.

Sherriff’s Deputy Rick Grimes is shot in the line of duty and wakes up to find that a lot has changed while he was in hospital. Everyone else seems to have vanished for a start, apart from the half eaten corpse on the floor... It soon becomes apparent that the dead have returned to eat the living, all Rick is concerned about is finding his wife and son but is Atlanta really the place to find them or will he find something else waiting for him?

The first thing that struck me was how quiet this episode was. You can have as much wreckage strewing the landscape as you like but it’s the background noise that really lets you know what’s gone down; it’s really quiet because there’s no-one left. This almost complete absence of noise really sucked me in and when something did happen I jumped all the more. That’s not to say the producers didn’t do a good job with the landscape though with scenes like the outside of the hospital and all the abandoned cars heading out of the city really setting the right tone. Zombies are zombies wherever you go so there weren’t exactly any surprises in how they looked. They were used effectively though. As is the case in the book, it’s not so much about the zombies as it is the characters and how they deal with the zombies.

Andrew Lincoln does a great job as Rick, maybe a little darker than the ‘Rick in the book’ but it still works. There isn’t a lot for him to say (he’s on his own for large chunks of the episode) but you really get a sense of the determination that’s driving Rick on and how nothing’s going to stop him. The real star of the piece for me though was  Lennie James as Morgan Jones, the father who is hiding out in Rick’s neighbour’s place. The moment where he’s sat upstairs looking through the sight on his gun is heartbreaking...

The ending, in Atlanta, deviates from the book a little but the cliff hanger it leaves us more than makes up for that. You would not believe how much I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the next episode (even though I know how it’s going to go)!

Graeme's Retro Classics! ‘Galactica 1980’

Over the last week, or so, we’ve been watching the final series of the original ‘Battlestar Galactica’; one day I might even get round to watching the more recent series (although I’ve been saying that for a long time now)...
After ‘Battlestar Galactica’ was first cancelled, at the back end of the seventies, fan pressure resulted in the series being bought back for another shot. I’ll bet all those fans, writing their ‘please bring Galactica back’ letters, never thought that the end result would be as... awkward... as this though.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a lot of fun watching ‘Galactica 1980’ and some of the reasons we had so much fun were good ones. It’s been a little while since I’ve watched any ‘old school Galactica’ and it was pretty cool to see the Colonial Vipers going up against the Cylons again as well as seeing a few familiar faces. It was at these moments though that I started to wonder... Why is it that Cylons always fly to the left when trying to avoid laser fire? The Galactica gunners pick them off every time, it’s almost like they either know in advance or the same piece of film is being repeated over and over again to save some money. I did tell myself off for being cynical until a few more episodes in when I realised that no matter where Colonial Warriors Troy and Dillon were, if they took off on their flying bikes then they would always end up flying over LA... Oh well, the stories stand up to viewing fairly well (Galactica’s attempts to protect an Earth unable to protect themselves against the Cylons whilst looking after their own needs as well) so I guess you can forgive a few, not so subtle, repeats of footage here and there. It’s all good fun in a ‘I remember this when it first came out kind of way’ :o)



The ‘awkwardness’ comes from the fact that nobody really seemed to know where they wanted this particular series to go. The series starts out with a time travel theme and abruptly dumps it with no explanation, leaving things in a bit of a mess to be blunt. One of the main characters is played by two different actors (again, with no explanation) and the series was cancelled halfway through a storyline featuring the return of a major character. Honestly, if you’re not going to do things properly then don’t do them at all!

On the flip side though, you do get things like the Cylons landing in New York (on Halloween) and flying motorbikes so it’s not all bad. I guess the one thing I took away from it all is that ‘Galactica 1980’ is a fun way to spend a few hours, just as long as you don’t think about what you’re watching too much...

What did Graeme watch over Christmas?

Funnily enough, after a good few months of looking forward to it, I never got round to watching the Christmas or New Year’s Day episodes of ‘Doctor Who’. Other things got in the way (that’s the way Christmas goes!) and although I wish I’d watched it I never found myself missing either episode at the time. Did you watch it? If so, what did you think?
There was plenty to keep me occupied whilst eating chocolate and drinking beer though. My Christmas viewing went a little something like this…



‘Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus’

And I thought that ‘Hard Rock Zombies’ was the worst film of all time… This ‘stocking filler’ sure proved me wrong! This DVD was fun to watch but very much in a ‘we all had a good laugh at how rotten it was’. The title promised much but what it delivered was the same shot of the giant shark used over and over again and a ship set that gave new meaning to recycling. If that wasn’t bad enough, the director seemed to think that having scientists nodding meaningfully over test tubes was a great way of showing experiments happening; I was left wondering why he missed Debbie Gibson clearly not spending enough time getting her make up done… We did get to see the ‘Mega Shark’ tear up the Golden Gate Bridge but by the time it got round to fighting the octopus the film was practically over! Like I said, it’s a fun film to watch but if you’re anything like me you’ll come away thinking that you could make a better version in your kitchen sink…

‘The Day of the Triffids’

This was more like it! I may not agree with the TV licence but I’ll happily watch TV at someone else’s place :o) ‘Day of the Triffids’ was well worth watching although I wondered if the slightly adjusted ending was really all that necessary. You can’t adapt everything that’s in a book but some things don’t need changing at all (I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoilers…)
Apart from that one small thing though, it was all good and a real ‘no holds barred’ look into the post apocalypse and how people adapt to their new circumstances. Eddie Izzard made a surprisingly good Torrance, Dougray Scott’s ‘Bill Masen’ took a while to get going but once he got into his stride Scott gave us a lead character that drove the plot nicely. Any TV adaptation that makes me want to read the original book again has to be doing something right! I’ve got vague memories of seeing the other BBC adaptation back in 1981 but haven’t seen it since. Anyone here have any preferences between the two?



‘Pterodactyl’

If things had gone our way I’d be writing about having seen ‘Sherlock Holmes’ right now. It wasn’t to be though (stupid not being able to get a parking space…) so we ended up flicking through the TV channels until we came across this little gem. I say ‘little gem’ in the loosest possible way…
‘Pterodactyl’ sees a group of scientists teaming up with a special ops unit (as you do) to escape from a flock of Pterodactyls that have somehow hatched in a dormant volcano. Now I don’t know about you but what I’d do is stay under the trees and keep moving, not run across the same meadow (filmed from different angles) and get swooped on. Having said that, if you’re in a special ops unit with Coolio as your commanding officer then you can kind of understand people wanting to offer themselves up to prehistoric flying reptiles! You know what though? Despite all that (and some rather obvious CGI work) I ended up really getting into this one. ‘Pterodactyl’ knows exactly what it is and makes no apologies for it, preferring instead to get on with the business of throwing loads of Pterodactyls at stupid people who ought to know a lot better. It’s not demanding at all but it is a whole lot of fun :o)

I also picked up a few odds and ends while flicking through the channels… ‘Ice Spiders’ looked like it could be fun until I saw the actual spiders. Films like that leave me wondering why people bother making them when they obviously don’t have the budget to do it justice… ‘Audition’ is a film that I’ve always meant to watch and this Christmas I learnt that it’s very obviously a film that you can’t come in half way through and just pick it up. What I did see was bloody good though!
Talking of ‘bloody’, I can’t remember the name of the horror show on the Bravo Channel (‘House of Horror’ or something like that…) but what I will remember is watching a plastic surgeon skin his mistress alive in order to give her skin to his badly burnt wife. There isn’t a lot that makes me retch but this one did it! What a thing to see at four in the morning…

Edit: It was 'Masters of Horror' :o)

What I watched this weekend...

For one reason and another, this weekend was more about watching films on DVD than it was about reading books (although books have been read and reviews will be going up later this week...) This weekend was also about surprises, particularly when my father-in-law asked me if I had any horror films worth watching. Talk about things you never expect to hear...
Anyway, I had a couple of DVDs that I hadn’t got round to watching so I thought we could give them a try. One of them worked but the other one didn’t go down quite so well. See if you can work out which is which...



‘Outpost’
Nazi Zombies! They’re always good in a horror film. Except these aren’t so much Nazi Zombies as they are ‘Nazi Super Zombies rendered indestructible by Cosmic Rays’ which has to be even better! And it is. ‘Outpost’ recounts the tale of an ill fated mission to loot the contents of an underground SS bunker and what happens once the sun goes down. These days you have to ask yourself why teams of battle hardened mercenaries insist on raiding places where military experiments have taken place. Haven’t they figured out what’s likely to happen when they go into these places? Luckily for the father-in-law and I, DC’s team of mercenaries thought this was just going to be an ‘in and out job’; how wrong they were... ‘Outpost’ hasn’t got the best script in the world but a solid concept coupled with a fine line in tension being drawn out (to some particularly gory ends) makes this a film that’s worth a look if you like horror, zombies or both at the same time. And it looks good too; gunfights between mercenaries and Nazi Zombies are always welcome in this house! IMDB has mention of a sequel and I’ll definitely be checking that out when it arrives.



‘Black Sheep’
Here’s one that I’d picked up weeks ago and then completely forgotten about... until last night. ‘Outpost’ had gone down a treat so I thought we could give this one a go too. After watching ‘Black Sheep’ the question on my mind was how much can you laugh at a film before you’re laughing at it for all the wrong reasons? ‘Black Sheep’ (genetic modification breeds killer sheep on a New Zealand farm) was a lot of fun but I was laughing a lot more than I normally would. Was it the appallingly bad ‘lamb puppet’ that tore off a guy’s ear? Was it the actors deciding that the best way to deal with the script was to take a run at it and yell lots? Possibly ‘yes’ to both of those questions... Having said that though jokes about sheep farts never stop being funny, at least in this film anyway. ‘Black Sheep’ is a lot of fun but don’t even try and take it seriously, you might hurt yourself.



‘Dead Set’
Just over a year since it was on television and I finally get round to watching this tale of zombies attacking the Big Brother House (something I’ve often thought about!) I am so bad at keeping up to date with what’s on television...
I’ve been meaning to get round to this one for a while now and it was well worth the wait. I prefer zombies that shamble rather than run but I was willing to let that one go as the episodic nature of ‘Dead Set’ (I watched this one at various points over the weekend) meant that things had to move quickly. And they certainly moved quickly! The action did not let up for a second and even when things quietened down we still got an in depth look at how the survivors were coping with the zombie threat. Fraught and tense are the words of the day here! As always, the zombies don’t need to stir up the survivors as our band of Big Brother contestants and production crew are more than capable of fragmenting all by themselves. While I could see how things would deteriorate I wasn’t entirely convinced by the manner in which the zombies finally stormed the TV studios. I don’t want to give too much away (even though I’m possibly the last person to have seen ‘Dead Set’ for the first time!) but I couldn’t see why one particular character did what he did...
Despite this though, ‘Dead Set’ made for some superb viewing (and the nods to the original ‘Dawn of the Dead’, and the remake, were a nice touch as well) All good things come to a Graeme who waits :o)

Back to book reviews tomorrow...

What did I watch over Christmas?

Not a lot actually, this holiday was more about what I read but more on that another day...

My Christmas TV watching began with my Mother In Law's copy of 'Mama Mia' on DVD, not my normal cup of tea but I do like to watch different stuff every now and again (I'm not just all about sci-fi and fantasy you know!) Five minutes in and I found myself secretly hoping for an invasion of aliens sworn to seek out and destroy all puny human life forms who insist on butchering Abba songs. Ten minutes in, and with no aliens in sight, I decided to read one of my zombie comics instead (which turned out to be a very good choice indeed!)

Next up was 'Stardust', a film that I later remembered that I had already reviewed over Here. For that reason I won't go into too much detail suffice it to say that I thought that the film was even better second time round. Even Ricky Gervais' appearance was tolerable this time...



For the last few years, Christmas Day has been all about watching the latest Dr. Who Christmas Special and this Christmas was no different with the Doctor meeting Cybermen and his possible future self in Victorian London... Doctor Who is always great fun to watch and the Christmas Special was no exception with twists and turns to the plot along with a gigantic Cyberman trampling London. I couldn't help thinking though that the producers missed a trick when they opted to go one way, rather than another, with their revelation over the identity of the 'other Doctor'. Instead of lots of interesting foreshadowing etc, we got... well, I don't want to spoil it for anyone but I think there was potential for this concept to have been spread out over the forthcoming 'one hour specials' that the BBC are going to show next year... Never mind eh?

Doctor Who is back!

And I missed it... I wouldn't normally swap a day's holiday for sci-fi TV but I've just spent an afternoon in the rain and I'm all wet and miserable...
This is where you guys come in ;o) Did you watch Doctor Who last night? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Did it leave you feeling cold and empty inside? Leave a comment and let me know what I missed...

Cheers!

‘Dr Who – Genesis of the Daleks’ (1975)

The sticker on the DVD case proudly proclaims this to be the ‘Number One Dr. Who Story Ever’. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Dr. Who a lot but when a sticker starts giving out a whole load of attitude, and making grandiose claims, my initial reaction is to say, “we’ll see about that!” And I did, purchasing said DVD and taking it home for an evening of classic Dalek action. It’s a good job I’ve got the house to myself as I was guilty of saying, “how cool was that?” a lot and pretending to be a Dalek. Yep, I loved it.
The Time Lords have foreseen a time when the Dalek’s rule of the universe is absolute. Instead of taking care of it themselves they persuade the Doctor to help them out, transporting him to the Dalek home world (Skaro) to either destroy the Daleks before they are created or to sabotage their development and give the rest of the universe a head start.
If you’re a fan of Dr, Who (or even if you’ve only heard of the TV show) then you’ll know what a big deal the Daleks to the series and how often they appear. You’d be forgiven then for wondering what the point of ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ actually is. After all, it’s so obvious what’s going to happen just based on how often the Daleks appear in future episodes, right? Well, this is true but this sense of inevitability also works in a positive way as it serves to accentuate the already dark nature of the story. The war on Skaro has been going on for hundreds of years, at least, and the Doctor (plus companions) arrives at a time of attrition, stalemate and a feeling of hopelessness. Things get darker still with the introduction of Davros, evil scientist and creator of the Daleks. Here’s a man with no morals at all, just ambition and the desire to live on through his creations. It’s great fun watching Davros manipulate everyone around him so that he can achieve his goals, you know how it’s going to turn out but the fun lies in getting there not the destination itself.
The Doctor (played by Tom Baker) is the other big personality on the screen and having watched him in ‘Genesis’ I’d have to say that he does the Doctor better than David Tennant (the current Doctor). Here’s an actor who gets so into the character that it made me wonder if he was ever able to get out, Tom Baker is currently the longest serving Doctor (was in the show for seven years) so he had to be doing something right! Watching the Dr and Davros argue over morality is actually really gripping stuff, not so much because of what they’re saying but because of the sheer strength of personality behind each of them.
‘Genesis of the Daleks’ is one of those stories that makes it really easy for you to forget that the props are really shoddy and the ‘outside bits’ are all shot in the same quarry but from different angles. The story itself was fast paced and completely held my interest all the way through (even though I knew how it had to turn out). Best Dr. Who story ever? Certainly the best one I’ve seen.

Ten out of Ten

Lexx Season Two - 'Lyekka'

Zev is now a bowl of orange goo and this isn't good news for anyone looking for any kind of dialogue on board the Lexx (Kai having to spend most of his time in cryo-stasis and 790 going through the grieving process, I never thought I would write that about a disembodied robot head...) The best way to solve this problem is to introduce another crew member and there's no wierder way to spice things up than for this new crew member to be a carnivorous plant woman with a strange liking for Stan and an appetite for orange goo...
An alien spore takes root in the Lexx and Lyekka is born. At the same time, a team of hick astronauts from the planet Potatoho are about to make first contact of a particularly wierd (and fatal) kind...
I love this episode, a sense of unease at Lyekka's presence is coupled with some laugh out loud moments (Stan accidentally blows up the Potatoho shuttle while showing off what the Lexx can do) and makes for one of the more watchable episodes of season two. Without giving too much away it's obvious what's going to happen to the astronauts but it's fun watching the show push the boundaries of surrealness while this is happening. The ending runs the risk of being too sugary (and you're not quite sure why it's happening) but by this point you're enjoying it too much to care. And all the while, the main story arc is gathering pace in a growing swarm of drone arms...
It's been years since I last saw 'Lyekka' and all I can really say is a big 'thank you' to whoever it was who came up with the idea of internet DVD rental!

Eight and a Half out of Ten

‘The Magicians Guild’ – Trudi Canavan

Every year, the Magician’s Guild carries out their ceremonial purge of the streets of Imardin. This year will be different though, a common girl will discover that she has power to rival the mightiest magician. While she goes into hiding to escape the magician’s wrath they must find her before her burgeoning powers become too much for her to control. Even if she is found, her problems will only just be beginning…
Trudi Canavan’s ‘Magician’ trilogy is being re-marketed for the young adult market and I think this is a pretty smart move on the part of Orbit Books. ‘The Magician’s Guild’ has a lot to offer the younger reader who has probably seen the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films but may find the books a little dry and heavy going. There’s a likeable heroine who comes from a poor background and is destined for great things, a bunch of ‘loveable rascals’ who make fools out of the city guard and a college full of squabbling wizards. The problem however is that there isn’t much more than this which means that anyone who has read a lot of fantasy won’t find anything new here. It’s an entertaining ride but it takes you down roads that you may have traveled far too often already.
Apart from this, the only real problem I had with this book was Canavan’s use of ‘made up fantasy speak’. Now, if you’re a fantasy author then you will not be able to escape using made-up words to decorate and illustrate your fantasy kingdoms. It really does come with the territory. The problem is, if you’re not careful then these words will either appear blatantly made up or you will make up a word that actually exists in real life. King Kalpol was an ancient king in Trudi Canavan’s world, ‘Calpol’ is a cough medicine where I come from. They’re both spelt ever so slightly differently but it was enough to make me lose the ‘feel’ of the story and I couldn’t get back into it after that.
Potentially a great book for younger readers but it didn’t quite do it for me.

Six out of Ten

Lexx Season Two – ‘Terminal’

No one really knew if ‘Lexx’ was ever going to make it past the four TV movies before it was eventually commissioned for a full series. In one of those weird ironic twists, by the time the production team got the green light Eva Habermann (Zev) had agreed to do TV work in her native Germany. ‘Terminal’ marks her final appearance in the show and she bows out in typical ‘Lexx’ style, being first transformed into a Cluster Lizard and then into a vat of orange goo (I know that could be a spoiler but sometimes the journey is more important than the destination…)
Stan mistakenly believes that just because he is the captain of the Lexx he knows how to operate some of its more complex machinery. A near fatal encounter with Kai proves his ineptitude and results in a mad dash for the MedSat hospital facility. The staff agrees to treat Stan but are casting avaricious looks at the Lexx in the meantime. Zev holds the key but her love slave programming means she is vulnerable to the attentions of the charismatic Doctor Kazzan…
This particular episode suffers unfavourably when compared with the longer TV movies, the fifty minute format means there’s only time to deal with one plot at a time (instead of several at once, done with great aplomb in ‘I worship His Shadow’) although the looming presence of Mantrid is slowly built upon. Because of Eva Habermann’s departure, the whole episode is geared towards Zev’s exit and because of this you see the ending coming a mile off.
It’s not all bad though; 790 comes up with some particularly acidic put downs for Stan while the inventive villainy of Dr Kazzan and his colleagues make for some tense climactic scenes. Zev’s departure is also quite touching.
Not the best episode of ‘Lexx’ that you will see but entertaining to watch none the less.

Six and a Half out of Ten

Lexx Season 2 - 'Mantrid'

The Divine Order has been destroyed and the crew of the Lexx are searching for a home in the Dark Zone. This doesn't last for long though. Kai suddenly demands that the Lexx return to the Light Universe to see if any dormant insect eggs survived the destruction of the Gigashadow, he needs more proto-blood and this can only be found in an insect. However, Kai is working to an agenda that even he is unaware of and the consequences of a 'trade off' between the crew and Mantrid (former Bio-Vizier to His Shadow) will spell trouble for the entire universe...
After the success of the four tv movies 'Lexx' was given the green light for a full season. The studio's confidence in the show is immediately apparent with the superior special effects on show. The Lexx isn't just made out of sheets of fabric and plywood anymore, it has a more organic feel. These changes are alluded to in the script, Stan asks the Lexx why the Bridge has changed and receives the answer "I'm still growing".
The new season of 'Lexx' immediately lays down the markers to be just as outrageous and nasty as it's predecessors. Sex is still very much on the agenda for the crew and when possibly one of the most evil men in the universe is only the bumblig sidekick to the main villain you just know that you are going to see truly nasty stuff happening... The only downside is the stagnant character of 790. His love for Zev is shown in some hilarious 'put downs' to Stan but there's no sign that he will ever develop. Maybe this is the whole point but it is starting to grate.
Events take place that mark the start of the main story arc for the season (and provide background history as well) and a gloomy gothic overtone makes it feel truly alien. Future episodes vary in quality but this is definitely one of the best.

Nine out of Ten

Sci-Fi TV! Lexx 1.4 – ‘Gigashadow’

“The Gigashadow is the end, and it is the beginning…”
Kai’s supply of proto-blood is running dangerously low so Zev persuades Stan to take the Lexx back through the fractal core (into the Light Universe) in an attempt to steal some more from the Cluster. What none of them realise is that the Cluster is now home to the re-awakened ‘Gigashadow’, the culmination of a millennia old scheme to finally crush humanity. While Stan exorcises some old demons, Kai and Zev must solve the mystery of the Gigashadow and ensure that the prophecy is fulfilled…
‘Gigashadow’ represents the end of ‘Lexx’s’ first season and ensures that all plot arcs end in style. The show still suffers from clunky CGI but this is made up for by the revelation of the Gigashadow and the way that we finally see the crew of the Lexx start to bond as a group. They still face the same issues that they always had but burgeoning friendship sees them through and helps them do what must be done. Kai’s character is slightly puzzling though, much has been made of how he is completely emotionless but all of a sudden he begins to exhibit feelings for no reason at all. It helps to advance the plot in important ways but the lack of an explanation does jar, for me anyway…
‘Gigashadow’ also sets things up for the second season of ‘Lexx’. The very last shot lets us know that things are far from over for our hapless crew and that we have only just begun to scratch the surface of the Dark and Light Universes…
This was by far the best of the four ‘TV-movies’ for me. I’ve said before that these films are out of print but you can find them in on-line DVD rental sites. Check them out for a refreshing (and darker) alternative to the more staid shows on at the moment, I reckon you’ll enjoy them.

Nine out of Ten

Sci-Fi TV! Lexx 1.3 - 'Eating Pattern'

The Lexx is hungry and, with Stan concentrating on his own stomach, eventually decides to take matters into it’s own hands. Landing on a seemingly deserted garbage planet the Lexx proceeds to eat its fill, leaving Zev and Stan to bury a freeze dried Kai and explore the planet. But something is laying in wait for them, something that is just as hungry as they are…
This is an odd episode in that it doesn’t quite fit into the overall arc of the first four episodes. While it’s an entertaining story in itself, there is no reason for the crew of the Lexx to be on the planet that has anything to do with the main plot involving His Shadow and the prophecy. It’s almost like the producers had decided to do four episodes no matter what! While ‘Eating Pattern’ is lacking in cohesion this is more than made up for by the exploration of hunger (both physical and emotional) as a theme. Hunger leads people to make snap judgments and rash decisions, Stan’s hunger for the ‘pattern’ drug renders him almost insane while Zev’s need to make some sense out of her new life is what lands them in trouble in the first place. The parasite’s hunger is truly alien in it’s intensity and its need to give birth (when it can’t remember it’s own origins) is somehow poignant.
There is of course more of the dark humour, violence and (not so subtle) references to sex that make ‘The Lexx’ stand out amongst other sci-fi shows. Any show where an actor can say the line ‘your worm is your friend’ and keep a straight face is a show that (on some level) you know you need to watch.

Seven out of Ten

Sci-Fi TV! Lexx 1.2 – ‘Supernova’

The Lexx has made it into the Dark Zone and the crew is searching for a new home. However, Zev is more concerned with solving the problem of Kai’s diminishing supply of proto-blood and the search for this answer takes the Lexx to Kai’s ancestral planet of Brunnis. Here the crew must contend with a psychotic hologram, a cannibal stowaway (who is aided by His Shadow’s Divine Predecessors) and the threat of a decaying sun that could go supernova at any time…
On one level I really enjoyed this episode; the viewer learns a little bit more about the backgrounds of Kai and Zev while Stanley Tweedle proves that there is the heart of a hero lurking underneath that cowardly exterior. 790’s sarcastic remarks, and hate/hate relationship with Stanley, provide the comic relief but the real star of the show (in this respect) is Tim Curry’s troubled hologram ‘Poetman’. Curry takes full advantage of ‘Lexx’s’ ability not to take itself too seriously and delivers a deliciously over the top performance that is outlandish enough to successfully convey that ‘alien feel’.
However, this particular episode nearly hamstrings itself with its need to push boundaries and promote itself as something truly original. A semi-naked shower scene is a blatant sign that the producers are trying too hard but what is truly unforgivable is the ‘song and dance musical number’ with Kai and Zev, a cringe worthy piece that almost kills the episode stone dead!
The episode is good enough to overcome ‘clunky’ experimentation but does suffer because of it, a lesson that perhaps producers should get their ideas straight before dumping the lot onto film.

Six out of Ten