Doctor Who - Series 8 Airdate/Trailer/Cast Picture/Finale Casting & Spoilers

You wait for ages for some new information on the upcoming eighth series of Doctor Who and then in the space of three days - you're hit with loads. Let's break it down, shall we?

First of all on Friday, BBC1 surprised everyone with a 15 second teaser for the new series with Capaldi's Doctor cryptically saying - "Clara, be my pal and tell me, am I good man?" with Clara overheard to be saying in another sequence "I don't think I know who the Doctor is anymore." The BBC also confirmed the exact airdate to when the upcoming series would air along with the title for the first episode - Deep Breath. The episode will also be feature length.

Elsewhere Michelle Gomez has been cast for the finale, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Tank Girl's Rachel Talalay (whose tweets have been nothing short of entertaining over the last few weeks). The actress known for her roles in Bad Education and Green Wing will play the character of the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere and her appearance in this finale also heralds a couple of familiar returns as well ....

Yep, both the Cybermen last seen in The Time Of The Doctor and UNIT - Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and Osgood (Ingrid Oliver), previously seen in The Day Of The Doctor are also back, though how big their actual roles in the episode are remains to be seen. I also find it interesting that there seems to be a Classic Series Cybermen head there along with some gun toting civilians as well. I don't know what this finale actually is about but it certainly looks like it's going to be a rather busy one though.

Meanwhile the writer for episode 10 has been confirmed as Frank Cottrell Boyce. The writer behind 24 Hour Party People and the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony will scribe the episode, which will be helmed by Sheree Folkson (Hit & Miss). The episode will also feature a series of child actors, including Harley Bird and Ashley Foster to name a few.

Series 8 Trailer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p021r78j
Latest News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho
8x10 News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Award-winning-childrens-novelist-and-screenwriter-Frank-Cottrell-Boyce-confirmed-as-Doctor-Who-writer

Series 8 of Doctor Who will air on BBC1 and BBCAmerica from August 23rd.

Comic-Con 2014 Approaches

It's that time of year again - San Diego Comic Con is approaching pretty fast and within the next month, we'll have plenty of our favourite shows appearing at the panels (except Doctor Who this year as we're getting a 12 country tour instead with Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman). So far though it does seem like the usual favourites are returning along with panels for upcoming series such as Gotham, Outlander and The Flash. A link for some of the show mentioned and dates are below ....

Comic Con 2014: http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/03/comic-con-2014-show-attendance-table.html

Comic-Con takes place between July 24th-27th.

Gotham - Character Posters/Villains Trailer/Cast Interviews

With filming for the first season due to start soon, some more stuff in relation to Gotham has been released, including eight new character posters, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, complete with description.

Det. James Gordon (Benjamin McKenzie): Idealistic new kid in town; a good cop saddled with a cynical partner who's determined to play by the rules in a city that doesn't have any.

Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor): The psychopathic umbrella-touting underling for crime boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), who is full of secret ambitions.

Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith): A new character to this world — an underworld gangster, club owner and boss of Cobblepot.

Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz): Newly orphaned with enormous wealth, a 12-year-old seeking a new purpose for his life after witnessing his parent’s murder.

Selina Kyle / Catwoman (Camren Bicondova): A dangerous teen orphan and agile master thief adept at navigating the labyrinthian city.

Ivy Pepper / Poison Ivy (Clare Foley): Not too much known about the Gotham version of her character yet. Likes plants though.

Edward Nygma / The Riddler (Cory Michael Smith): A brilliant young forensic scientist working at Gotham PD with a penchant for speaking in, um, cryptic language.

Det. Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue): Gordon’s pragmatic, cynical partner.

The character descriptions don't tell us much that we don't already know but they're nicely shot posters and I do like The Good. The Evil. The Beginning tagline quite a lot actually. Also over the last week we've had a Villains trailer focusing on Oswald, Selina and Fish, news of Angel/Supernatural scribe Ben Edlund joining the writing staff, reports from the CTV upfronts and some new cast and crew interviews along with rumours of possibly seeing Mr Freeze at some point in the series.

Villains Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzfIzgD26EE
CTV Upfronts: http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/06/gotham-full-footage-from-ctv-network.html
DC Entertainment Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysig4kpQ7oc

The first season of Gotham begins filming in July.

Batman: The Animated Series - Episodes 21-25 Reviews

An interesting selection of episodes with two debuts from the Rogues Gallery and a slew of fairly decent one-off villains.

21: Vendetta

Killer Croc. I have to admit, as a character he doesn't greatly excite me but for a debut, while we've had better ones for the Rogue Gallery folk, this was a solid one. Croc (Aron Kincaid) spent most of the episode framing and kidnapping those who've wronged him, including Bullock but he did manage to get outsmarted by Batman and visually, he did look pretty impressive as well. A strength of this episode however was seeing a slightly more likeable side to Bullock who showed a grudging respect to Batman towards the end of the episode. 7/10

22: Prophecy Of Doom

One of the episodes I strongly remember watching when I was younger, though I'm not really sure why as it's not the best one going. It's an okay story with a conman actor, putting on a persona called Nostromos (I wonder who that is based on) and scaremongering rich people into handing over loads of money to his cult, before eventually getting a taste of his own medicine by the Caped Crusader. Fans of Heather Locklear might spot her voicing the role of Lisa - daughter of foolhardy Ethan, the main target of Nostromos in this one. 6/10

23: The Forgotten

Something of an interesting episode with Bruce going undercover to try and find a bunch of missing men, only to end up into forced labour with a fat controller with a bout of temporary amnesia. I liked seeing Bruce actually disguise himself to help out some people. I also enjoyed the brief Joker cameo, the method in which Bruce regained his memory, the comeuppance of Biggins, Alfred trying to fly the Batwing and the guest characters were great too. Overall, an underrated little gem. 8/10

24: Mad As A Hatter

Ah, Jervis Tetch, aka the Mad Hatter (Roddy McDowall). I really loved this episode, even if it is little more than just a darkly sinister version of Alice In Wonderland where the Hatter recreated Lewis Carroll's strange world all to keep control of a woman, aptly named Alice. It's a wonderfully bonkers, surreal episode with Hatter being both a sinister and fairly sympathetic figure with a nifty way of controlling people. The opening scene where he manipulated some mice into having tea as well. 9/10

25: The Cape And The Cowl Conspiracy

Anyone else feel like this episode should've been the one to debut the Riddler? Because I certainly did. Wormwood's whole motif was just the Riddler and while his schemes (unaware that he was being duped by Batman) were entertaining, they were also the same type of ones that Edward Nygma could do in his sleep. I did like the double-bluffs in the episode and the last scene did make me laugh but something felt a little off as well or maybe I'm just being a bit too critical. 7/10

Next blog will cover Perchance To Dream, The Underdwellers, Night Of The Ninja, The Strange Secret Of Bruce Wayne and Tyger, Tyger.

Recap/Review: Penny Dreadful's 1x07: Possession

We're into the penultimate episode of this wonderful psychosexual horror series and if you enjoy Vanessa having great prominence in the fifth episode, you might enjoy this one as well.

Written by John Logan
Directed by James Hawes

The Virgin Doctor: The one thing this show proved is that Eva Green can do being possessed quite well and while there are a few moments where she did get a little too hammy, she's mostly on point here though. Possessed Vanessa might have spent her time going all Suarez on a random priest, being taunted by her demon, reminding Malcolm that he failed his family, but she also didn't hold back in taunting both Ethan and Victor over their sexual prowesses as well. What I did like though was no matter how much bile the demon possessing Vanessa spewed at them, both Ethan and Victor seemed more determined than Malcolm to save her for the right reasons. Kudos to them for that.

Killer Moment: During one of the rare moment where we actually got Vanessa being herself, she did actually ask Ethan to kill her if things got too far. The last five minutes of this episode did seem to suggest so and I did for a moment think that Ethan might have actually had to live up to his promise and bump off Vanessa. Then she returned to normal during the last minute with the demon seemingly either being drawn out of her or at least laying dormant. No doubt it'll surface again in time for the finale though.

Less Than Noble Motives: While Ethan and Victor were more concerned for Vanessa's well being in this episode, another thing that struck me was both of them realising that Malcolm's reasons for wanting Vanessa to stay alive were less than selfless ones. I liked both of them challenging Malcolm and I also liked that Malcolm later seemed to be a bit more honest with Victor over a hit of cocaine as well (we also found out that the latter has a morphine dependency) but the fact that the episode ended with Vanessa admitted to knowing where Mina was (Malcolm's ongoing goal) can't end well for next week though.

Gunplay: One of the best things about this episode was the banter between Victor and Ethan. They might not have started the series as the best of friends and I'm sure there will be things they will continue to disagree over down the line but in this episode, they were mainly on the same page. Both were concerned about Vanessa's well being, both challenged Malcolm, both had a conversation that didn't concern the main plot (Ethan telling Victor about what happened to some Native Americans) and both of them clearly had a blast with some shooting bottles in the basement as well. Given the sheer intensity of this episode, we did need that little light moment.

Your Story: While this episode might have been a Brona/Dorian free zone (though possessed Vanessa did mention them) and Caliban was only seen briefly skulking in the snow outside Malcolm's house (I'm okay with Victor killing his firstborn now), this episode at least attempted to give a tiny bit of backstory to Sembene. When he wasn't knocking out Vanessa, he told Ethan cryptically about how him and Malcolm actually met, with Ethan picking up the rest himself and musing that everyone owes someone. It wasn't exactly much but still better than nothing and a lot more than what we previous knew of the character.

Next week, it's the finale and Malcolm's desire to be reunited with Mina could cost Vanessa while Brona's days look numbered.

My Review of True Blood's 7x01: "Jesus Gonna Be Here"

Written by Angela Robinson
Directed by Stephen Moyer

Lettie Mae: “They killed my Tara. They killed my baby girl.”

Tara Thornton. It’s been nice knowing you. You had your moments, both as a human and vampire and as for your true death – you deserved far better than what you got here.

Opening a final season with the death of a prominent character that has been around from the very start should’ve been a great way to get the ball rolling but why in this case did Tara’s death lack that? It’s simple – we don’t see it happen onscreen, it’s too rushed and despite her lack of touchy feely tendencies, even Pam didn’t notice it.

Killing off Tara should’ve made more of an impact in this opening episode than it actually did so the fact that it didn’t surprised me a lot with this opening episode to the show’s seventh year. The only person to genuine show any weight to Tara’s passing was Lettie Mae – first with the hysteria over hearing Tara’s voice and then secondly with the shunning of Sookie in the church the next day.

Which leads me to another thing – this blaming Sookie for vampires going all psycho is both annoying and massively contradicting. I know the folks of Bon Temps aren’t the brightest of sparks but even they can’t really justify placing all the blame on Sookie for what seems like an upcoming vampire apocalypse along with the mass kidnappings that also took place as well in this episode.

Sookie in a lot of ways did prove to be a far better person than I would be in this situation. Despite all the unjustified bile being aimed in her direction, she did offer to try and help resolve a situation that a) will take more than one person – supernatural or otherwise to fix and b) isn’t even her fault to begin with but whether or not the knee jerk townsfolk will actually accept her offer of help is another thing though. Personally I’d be more tempted to get the hell out of dodge myself and let them defend themselves.

I’m not entirely sure if this Walking Dead style Hep V infected vampire plot is the best way of seeing the show out, though I guess it is early days but without a Russell or Salome/Authority type of figurehead, it does run the risk of becoming very directionless very fast. Hopefully a visible baddie is on the horizon and fairly soon and I don’t mean that rival of Sam’s – Vince, who is little more than a humourless version of Burrell from last season.

As for the kidnapped folk of the episode – Arlene, Holly, Nicole and Jane Bodehouse are all being held hostage in Fangtasia with some random extras waiting to be picked off one by one from some hungry vampires. At a push, I think they might kill Jane but I have a feeling that the rest probably won’t meet their demises in their current captive state though I could be wrong.

One of the better aspects about this opener however was the pairing of certain characters. I liked that Bill put his neck on the line to save Andy from Vince’s band of vigilantes and I also liked that while Andy returned the favour, he wasn’t prepared to forgive Bill just yet either though.

However while Andy couldn’t forgive Bill, Adylin seemed to be able to forgive Jessica just in time to stop herself from getting eaten by a Hep V vampire and Jessica managed to even fight her urge to drink from Adylin as well. Rapport wise, those two were pretty great in their scenes together as were a newly recast James and Lafayette as we learned a bit more about the former while the latter found himself too numbed to grieve over his cousin’s death.

Of course for fans of a certain blond vampire, this episode must have been a disappointment. Pam might have spent time in Marrakesh playing vampire Russian roulette and turning down children to drink from but while she wasn’t sensing her progeny’s death, she also wasn’t making great progress in actually finding her maker either. Given that we already know that Eric is actually alive, I do hope the show doesn’t drag his disappearance out any longer than necessary.

Also in “Jesus Gonna Be Here”

Added to the cast this season are Adina Porter (Lettie Mae), Amelia Rose Blair (Willa), Karolina Wydra (Violet), Nathan Parsons (James), Bailey Noble (Adylin), Greg Daniel (Reverend Daniels), Aaron Christian Howles (Wade) and Noah Matthews (Rocky).

Bill (to Andy): “It’s not safe. Every human needs a vampire.”

Sookie and Alice argued in this episode and then had make up sex. It’s obvious that Bill is going to end up causing a bigger rift between the two of them.

Vampire: “What’s your name?”
Pam: “Go fuck yourself.”
Vampire: “The lady ‘go fuck yourself’.”

Adylin (to Jessica): “I should hate you but I don’t.”

It seems that all Jason needed to do to get Violet to have sex with him was to embrace his inner Neanderthal. She should’ve hooked up with him back in the show’s beginnings then.

Sookie (to Alcide): “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know because newsflash, I can read your fucking thoughts. Don’t you get it?”

James: “I like your place.”
Lafayette: “Yeah, it’s got a certain ghetto je ne sais quoi.”

Vince saw Sam turn back from a dog, only children have clean blood and James was beaten to death by the father of his dead best friend for being a draft dodger.

Pam (to contacts): “While your daughter looks delicious, I’ll pass.”

Standout music: Tom Waits “Jesus Gonna Be Here” at the end of the episode.

Jessica: “Stay inside. Do not invite me in.”
Adylin: “I trust you.”
Jessica: “You shouldn’t.”

Chronology: From where “Radioactive” left off.

For an opening episode to what needs to be one hell of a final season, “Jesus Gonna Be Here” was strangely off. It lacked the usual sparkle and craziness of previous season and while there were some nice character moments (Willa taking care of Lettie Mae/Reverend Daniels for example), this was something of an underwhelming hour. Hopefully the remaining nine won’t be though.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Over A Thousand Years Of Scorn

And here's a look at some of the recent shows I've been watching ...

24: Live Another Day: This show really stepped up a gear now. With Simone getting whacked by a bus and Jordan becoming a casualty too due to Navarro's underhanded tactics, the real shocker was Heller's sacrifice at Wembley stadium in order to get Margot to call off her terrorist plot. It's a shame to lose the character and a bigger shame that both Jack and Audrey (and even Mark) couldn't talk Heller out of his sacrifice but it certainly will be up there with some of the show's best and poignant deaths. Chloe and Kate were a little underused in the impressive episode but with four more to go, I'm sure they'll get some great moments.

Devious Maids: Entering the halfway point of this season and the whole Dahlia mystery is beginning to lose my interest. I'm getting close to the point of not really caring why she killed herself and the creepy hold that Opal seems to have on Nicholas, which is a shame because it should be interesting but it's not holding my attention. Thankfully some of the more interpersonal stuff is working better - like Rosie's plotline with Kenny and Lucinda, Carmen's involvement with Spencer's nephew and the whole Valentina/Remy/Ethan triangle a lot better now that we know a bit more about the latter and his antics earlier in the season and Zoila's new love interest seems decent enough. Marisol needs better material though.

Game Of Thrones: What a brilliant bunch of episodes. The attack on the Wall (complete with a mammoth) was a superb hour with the small cast going and even Ygritte's death managed to pack in a solid punch but the finale ended up being one of the best we've had. The mass body count, a general shift in gears with certain arcs all added to an incredible end for a season that certainly hasn't been lacking in discussion worthy moments. While it's a shame that a certain book plot wasn't used to end the final episode, I did like that instead of a Daenerys scene for once that we got an Arya one. Only another 10 months for the fifth season.

Orange Is The New Black: The problem with this being a Netflix series is that you have 13 episodes available to watch so I've had to control myself and only watch a certain amount of episodes per week in order to space this series out/savour it. So far I've watched four episodes of the second season of this addictive prison drama and they've all been great. The flashbacks alone gave us insight into Piper's issues with telling the truth, Taystee's relationship with Vee (who seems to be the main antagonist this season), Suzanne's need for acceptance and Morello's stalking of a man. It's been a joy to watch and while it's a shame that Alex has a reduced role and the Larry/Polly scenes aren't interesting, pretty much everything else has been. Some of the new characters have been a little so-so (Brook, I'm looking at you) but focusing more on the other regulars has done wonders with the new season though.

Orphan Black: Okay, hats off to this show. In two seasons we've had Sarah, Cosima, Allison, Rachel, Helena and to a lesser extent the likes of Beth, Katya and Jennifer but introducing a trans clone with Tony was something both unexpected and quite an interesting move as well. For the most part, it also worked really well, though I'm not sure I want to see Felix/Tony hook up as they're technically related and while the latter does seem a little too similar to Sarah, I am going to hope that Tony will reappear next season as well. As for the rest of the episodes - it was interesting to see Rachel realise why she cannot bear children along with Donnie getting rid of Leekie, Michelle Forbes debuting as the rather sinister Marion, Paul buggering off and Ethan Duncan being delightfully off-kilter as well as Kira's growing resourcefulness as a character as well as any scene with Art and Mrs S of course.

The Vampire Diaries: Has there been a meme passed where actors jump from one supernatural show to the other? I ask because we know Jackson from The Originals will be on True Blood this season and Luna from the latter show now is on this one as scorned witch Qetsiyah/Tessa and I have to admit that her appearance has done some wonders in improving the Silas storyline, though I was a little disappointed to realise that Silas/Amara were just another Stefan/Elena and that Damon and Qetsiyah are just destined to be true love's occasional obstacles in the process. On the plus side though, this season so far has been fairly entertaining, though I'd like to know what Nadia's interest in Katherine is and fairly soon too.

- Gethin Anthony will play Charles Manson in upcoming NBC event series, Aquarius, also starring David Duchovny as an undercover police officer in Manson's cult.
- Mary Steenburgen has been cast as the mother of Pornstache for the third season of Orange Is The New Black while Laura Prepon will be back full time.
- Both Rosario Dawson and Vincent D'Onofrio have been cast in upcoming Netflix series, Daredevil as a Hell's Kitchen advocate and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin respectively.
- Louise Brealey will be appearing in the upcoming third season of Ripper Street.
- Zachary Quinto will be appearing in an episode of Girls fourth season.
- Sarah Paulson has revealed on Twitter that she will be playing a two headed characters Bette and Dot in American Horror Story: Freak Show.
- Meryl Streep will be playing Maria Callis for a biopic movie on HBO.
- Boardwalk Empire's fifth season will have a seven year jump when it returns later in the year.
- Jack Coleman will reprise his role as Noah Bennett in the upcoming Heroes: Reborn.
- Expect a time jump in an upcoming episode of 24: Live Another Day.

Batman: The Animated Series - Episodes 16-20 Reviews

Into the fourth batch of episodes and there's the debut of a certain Boy Wonder as well as the return of two of the rogues and the debut of two others as well in very different types of stories.

Episode 16: Eternal Youth

It's amazing that in the first 20 episodes of this series, we had some repeat offenders. The Joker managed to bag himself at least three episodes and now Poison Ivy appeared in her second outing under the guise of running the Eternal Youth health spa as a cover to get revenge on those who destroyed the environment. Unfortunately for Alfred and his girlfriend Maggie that meant becoming tree people for a while, even if it later generated a nickname for Ivy (Joan of Bark). As a second outing this one was actually better than the first episode and though I did find Ivy's helpers - Lily and Violet a bit annoying, I did like her and Batman comparing each other's tactics though. 9/10

Episodes 17 & 18: Two Face

We've already met Harvey Dent (Richard Moll) in earlier episodes during the series, so having his transformation into Two-Face during the night of his re-election after Rupert Thorne decided to make the DA's life a misery certainly worked from a dramatic point of view as did the delving into Harvey's attempts of suppressing his anger and his relationships with both Bruce Wayne and girlfriend Grace as well. It's a solid two-parter (though the second half is the punchier of the two) but aside from robbing a few of Thorne's places, we don't get to see enough of Two Face at his worst though but as a debut story for the villain, it's great with a moment that would later be replicated on Batman Forever. 7/10

Episode 19: Fear Of Victory

Now this was a noteworthy episode. Like Poison Ivy a few episodes back, this was a second outing for the Scarecrow but more importantly, it was also the episode that debut Robin (Loren Lester) in a way that felt like he had always been there, even if we hadn't seen him in the previous episodes. Overall, this series depiction of Robin is one of the best for the Boy Wonder with him mostly being resourceful and handy in a crisis, though like Batman  in Nothing To Fear, Robin himself became infected with Scarecrow's fear toxin for a fair chunk of the episode. Also like with Poison Ivy, the second outing for the Scarecrow turned out to be better than his first one as his attacks this time targeted athletes instead of former employees. 9/10

Episode 20: I've Got Batman In My Basement

Another debut and this time around, it's the turn of the Penguin (Paul Williams) to show up in an episode that if this were a live series show, would probably be considered a bottle saving one. It largely revolved around Batman recuperating in a basement with some kids trying their hands to be junior crime fighters/detectives. It's not my favourite of episodes but it's oddly amusing to see a bunch of kids outwit both the Penguin and his goons, though it doesn't do much to cement the former as a dangerous antagonist - though later episodes do a better job with that. 6/10

Next blog will cover Vendetta, Prophecy Of Doom, The Forgotten, Mad As A Hatter and The Cape & Cowl Conspiracy.

Recap/Review: Penny Dreadful's 1x06: What Death Can Join Together

It might have been four days ago when Father's Day happened but when one show wasn't having a character murder their father on the latrine, this show had something else in mind during an episode where some crazy stuff went down.

Written by John Logan
Directed by Coky Giedroyc

Roleplay Time: This must be a thing with Dorian Gray - appear in an even episode and cop off with a main cast member. He did this with Brona in Seance, Ethan in Demimonde and now Vanessa in this episode with some interesting results. The results being that the demon inhabiting her body took over and gave Dorian quite a memorable night before scarpering into the night. This episode tapped into Dorian's unique abilities and certainly gave him a tiny bit more scope as a character but the lack of continuity between him and Ethan was something of a disappointment though. As for Vanessa - Malcolm really did pick the wrong time to finally come out and be honest with, didn't he?

A Long Uneasy Life: This episode so much as didn't have Van Helsing blurt this sentiment out to Victor but actually delivered on it too when Caliban decided to make good on his warning. I have to admit I'm a bit miffed that Van Helsing was taken out so quickly and not just because he was being a better mentor and father figure to Victor than Malcolm has been but because I thought he would've been instrumental when the Master eventually made himself known. Still, he did give Victor the heads up on vampires and we did learn the true circumstances behind Hannah's death but I can't help feeling that Van Helsing should've been at least spared until the finale though.

At Death's Door: Keeping with the theme of death here, Brona really does seem to be on her last legs here and while Billie Piper's Northern Irish accent hasn't greatly improved since her introduction in the second episode, I do at least still care about Brona as a character. I even kind of like her and Ethan together, with the latter vowing to stick by her side and lamenting over condition to Malcolm as well. With only two episodes left to go, either Brona will wind up being our first main casualty or she'll end up becoming Caliban's bride. The latter does seem the more likely at this rate.

Not A Rival: Bit of a dividing episode for Caliban. On the downside, his petulant and homicidal demands for Victor to make him a bride are not doing him any favours (did he really need to attack Van Helsing?) but on the other hand, I did enjoy his scene with Maude (Hannah Tointon) and it seemed like she had some genuine sympathy for his plight, even if she later dismissed the idea of having any romantic feelings for him to her soon to be husband though. Right now, I get the impression that either Maude or Brona will end up becoming Caliban's bride in the next two episodes and not by choice either.

Oh Look There's Mina: This episode should've been one to have caused multiple shocks for Malcolm. Let's see - we had the end scene with a possessed Vanessa making herself known to the game hunter, we had Ethan standing up to him in a manner that was impressive for his character, Sembene managed to utter more than two words (mostly giving him a dire warning about Mina's fate) and then during a fairly impressive fight with vampires, we actually saw Mina. I thought they would've left that one for the last episode but I was pleasantly surprised they didn't though. Now it's time to see this Master and be done with. And sort out Vanessa's current possessed state too.

Next week a possessed Vanessa creeps everyone out and perhaps Sembene might get to say more. One can hope, right?

First Look: Outlander

I've been a bit late to the game but with another two months to go, I guess maybe now is the time to talk about this upcoming series from Starz.

Outlander - a 16 part television series based on the books by Diana Gabaldon and adapted for television by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) will tell the story of a nurse from 1945 named Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) who finds herself landing in 1743 Scotland where immediately she's forced to adapt to her current surroundings in order to survive while trying to find her way home. Sam Heughan is also cast in the role of Jamie Fraser, who from the trailers I am guessing will be the love interest for Claire, despite her having a lover back in her own time.

The lover in question being Frank Randall, with Tobias Menzies playing that role along with the 18th century equivalent, Jonathan as well. Other cast members for the series which takes in both a Scottish period setting and time travel include Laura Donnelly as Janet Fraser Murray/Jenny, Annette Badland as Mrs Fitzgibbons, Lottie Veerback as Geillis Duncan, Bill Patterson as Ned Gowan and Simon Callow as the Duke of Sandringham to name a few. Being pretty unaware of the books themselves, I'm going to approach this series without any preconceived notions but I do like the mashing up of certain genres as well and filming the show in Scotland certainly makes the show look rather lovely as well.

Season 1 Trailer/Cast Interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkizwJUiVjA

Outlander will air Saturdays at 9pm on Starz from August 9th.

Glee - Season 6 Rumours

Filming for the sixth and final season of FOX drama, Glee might not be for another few months but already some spoilers are leaking as to what people can expect. In no particular order, here they are ....

- The final season will air in 2015 and may be 13 episodes. This has not definitely been confirmed though.
- Rachel will be heading back to McKinley and effectively taking on Will's former role there. Odd, considering the TV show plot and the fact it looked like Sam was taking on Will's former role.
- Both Will and possibly Blaine will be at the helm with Vocal Adrenaline.
- Basically, McKinley will be a big plot point for the last season.
- Alex Newell may be returning as Unique for some episodes. It is unclear as to whether or not Marley, Kitty, Jake or Ryder will reappear in the final season.
- NeNe Leakes is in talks to reprise her role as swim coach, Roz.

I have to admit these rumours so far seem pretty decent. Perhaps bringing things back to McKinley might help the show and having less episodes for the final season might actually mean a sense of cohesion that the fifth season certainly lacked in parts. Only time will tell though.

Glee's sixth and final season will air on FOX in 2015.

Batman V Superman: Aquaman/Cyborg Cast

Continuing with the upcoming Justice League movie - sorry, I mean Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, we now have official casting for another hero added to the roster ...

Jason Momoa, best known for his roles in both Stargate Atlantis and Game Of Thrones will be taking on the role of Aquaman, though whether or not that actual name for the character will be used in the movie remains to be seen. However Momoa's role will not be a huge one in the upcoming movie though it seems to be confirmed that his character will not pleased about the World Engine and what it did to the Indian Ocean. Designs for the character are being finalised by director Zach Snyder so shooting can take place soon.

Another piece of casting I should've mentioned in a previous blog was the casting of Ray Fisher. The actor, best known for his theatre roles will be taking on the role of Victor Stone/Cyborg and like Momoa's Aquaman, Cyborg will have a tiny role in the upcoming movie. Other actors cast include Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey and Tao Okamoto, though their roles have not been specified just yet.

Official Website: http://batmanvsupermandawnofjustice.com/

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice is currently being filmed and will be released on May 6th 2016.

First Look: Finding Carter

I'm not the biggest watcher of MTV shows, with the exception of the odd episode of Teen Wolf or even Catfish from time to time but having looked at the trailer of upcoming series, Finding Carter, I might be tempted to give the station a little more attention. Might being the operative word there.

Finding Carter is an upcoming 12 episode US TV series, created by Emily Silver and starring Kathyrn Prescott, best known for her role as Emily Fitch on Skins. The series has the British actress playing the title role of Carter Stevens - a young girl leading a pretty ideal life until one day she learns that she was abducted when she was three years old and that her mother, Lori (Milena Govich) is actually her kidnapper.

With this particular revelation now known - Carter's birth parents, Elizabeth (Cynthia Watros - Lost) and David Wilson (Alexis Denisof - Angel) are reunited with their lost child as are Carter's previously unknown siblings, Taylor (Anna Jacoby-Heron) and Grant (Zac Pullam) and Meredith Baxter as Grandma Joan.

I've checked both the official trailer and the concept one and while the latter certainly sold the show a lot better, it does look fairly interesting as a series. Prescott's American accent might need some work and there are certainly moments that are a bit too cheesy for my liking but if this show ever gets a UK broadcaster, I might give it a go.

Season 1 Trailers:  http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/Finding%20Carter

Finding Carter will air Tuesdays at 10pm on MTV from July 8th for US viewers.

Batman: The Animated Series - Episodes 11-15 Reviews

Into the third batch of episodes from Batman: The Animated Series, two of them saw a certain someone reappearance while another debuted another villain while two others provided something of a departure for the series in a way.

Episode 11: Be A Clown

The second appearance for the Joker (in terms of transmission) and not only was this an episode that didn't feature Harley Quinn, but it was one of the few where the Clown Prince didn't have any minions at all helping him. Instead he decided to gatecrash the birthday party of Jordan Hill (the Mayor's son) and took the boy under his wing in another attempt to defeat Batman. Of course, it didn't really work but the idea of the Joker wanting his own protege would turn out to be some interesting foreshadowing for future events. It's not one of my favourites featuring the Clown Prince but it's passable enough though. 6/10

Episode 12: Appointment In Crime Alley

One of the better episodes from this batch, though it did start off rather mundane. Roland Daggett would continue to be one of the minor villains that would frequently escape justice in spite of some of his blatantly obvious crimes. Trying to decimate what was now known as 'Crime Alley' was another one of those obvious crimes (complete with Leslie Thompkins being trapped in one of the buildings) and then denying that his cronies Nitro and Crocker were on his payroll. However the episode works due to Batman's sense of justice in wanting to protect the innocent residents of Crime Alley and the last scene with him and Leslie where two roses are left on a certain spot give the episode a poignant finish. 8/10

Episode 13: P.O.V.

An interesting change of tack here. With this episode we had Bullock messing up a sting operation and this resulted in himself, Montoya and Wilkes being suspended by a rather overzealous Hackle (whose idiocy managed to make Bullock look smart for a change). I liked the episode showing the point of views that Bullock, Wilkes and Montoya had with the botched operation but the episode earned more points for actually having Montoya and Batman team up to resolve the main plot. Basically a great episode for Montoya as she got her badge back and credited both Wilkes and Bullock - the latter's grudging appreciation also being a tiny highlight. 7/10

Episode 14: The Clock King

I recently saw Robert Knepper's depiction of this character on Arrow and thoroughly enjoyed his performance and as a character, the Clock King might not be a big league in any way shape or form but as a minor threat, he's actually great. Nicely played by Alan Rachins - Temple Fugate became the villain simply after some well intentioned advice from Mayor Hill ended up going awry for him. The clock tower with the King and Batman easily turned out to be one of the best moments of the episode and I did like that his fate was left unknown at the end of the episode. However some of the clock puns (while appropriate) were a little silly too. 8/10

Episode 15: The Last Laugh

A much better episode for the Joker than his previous one. I loved that this one was set during April Fools and I certainly loved the robot clown as well, especially for the Joker's affronted reaction when Batman actually destroy the bloody thing. Setting most of the action on a garbage boat was an interesting move and the effects of the laughing gas (especially on Alfred) were pretty effective. Certainly an entertaining episode and I did like the opening joke of Alfred drawing Bruce a bath as well. Pretty fun overall. 7/10.

Next blog it will be Eternal Youth, Two-Face Parts 1 and 2, Fear Of Victory and I've Got Batman In My Basement.