Wildcards

Merlin has had a mixed couple of weeks, especially with the last two episodes I've seen. Gwaine gave us a dashing knight who got exiled from Camelot, even after saving Arthur's life from two disgruntled thugs using magic to disguise themselves as knights but The Crystal Cave was an episode where a lot actually happened. Merlin tried to change the future but instead his interference caused it and Morgana herself became more incensed with rage when she learnt that Uther was her actual father and made a few more failed attempts to kill him. Somewhere in these last two episodes - Arthur, Gwen and Gaius had middling roles, the Dragon became irritated with Merlin's authority and Morgause was a surprising voice of reason with her volatile sister. The season is having a hit and miss quality but it's still better than mostly everything else that airs during the weekend.

Sky1 deserve a medal for bringing Thorne: Sleepyhead to the small screen. If the first episode alone is anything to go by, this is going to be a fantastic series. David Morrissey is brilliant in the leading role and the ongoing plot with the killer trying to get his victims into a state of locked in syndrone is just as creepy to watch as it was to read and I've read the book. The ending where Thorne got attacked in his own apartment by the killer desperate to connect with him totally took me by surprise. I can't wait to see where this further goes and the supporting cast as also brilliant.

There's been so much hype for Single Father over the last couple of weeks that I wasn't sure if I would end up liking it myself but you know what? I did and them some. David Tennant definitely is a masterful actor and his depiction of Dave's anguish over the death of his wife and trying to keep his family together is certainly a performance that's deserving of major awards within the next year. The writing's not particularly original but it's utterly believable and there's a brilliant cast here, especially Suranne Jones and the actors playing Dave's children are very good as well. I think the kiss between Dave and Sarah was a little rushed at the end of the episode (even if 10 weeks passed since Rita's death) but overall, this is another series I'm looking forward to for the next three weeks.

The Apprentice - well, I've been watching both the UK and Irish versions of the show and it just goes to show that both versions continue to entertain me. Last week's premiere of the UK one showed that Alan Sugar can still startle the bejesus of the show-offs vying for a position in his company. Dan Harris wasn't soon packing his bags after blundering in the first task and there's already a departure of another contestant for personal reasons as well. The Irish version in the last two weeks saw both Niamh Humphries and Kieran Walsh getting the boot through their own incompetence and misfortune. Still though, I'm actually surprised that scheming Tara survived Bill Cullen's wrath this week and then I remember that the argumentative madam makes for interesting TV. Well more interesting than Panos's all too familiar fear of power tools.

If I read more about Cheryl Cole being the most hated woman in Britain because of The X-Factor, I'll scream. I don't remember her generating this amount of hate when she beat the crap out of a toilet cleaner all those years ago, so it's interesting that not putting Gamu through has earned her such grief. Granted both Katie and Cher messed up and shouldn't have gone through but fans tends to go overboard with these sort of things. The use of wildcards was predictable though but the exits were interesting. How did Belle Amie and Katie Waissell fare better over Nicolo Festa and FYD? Oh well, I guess congratulations to Mary Byrne, whose version of It's A Man's Man World really did bring the house down. I always worry when I find myself agreeing with Louis Walsh but even I couldn't fault his hyperbole of the Tesco worker this week. Still think it'll be either Cheryl or Dannii who'll snag the victory this year though.

- Christopher J. Hanke is playing the guy that Scotty cheats on Kevin with in Brothers And Sisters. Richard Chamberlain is also guest starring as a love interest for Saul. Ryan Devlin is also playing a grad student who might interest Kitty.

- Glee's Rocky Horror Picture Show episode will air on FOX from October 26th.

- HBO have announced that William Hurt, Cynthia Nixon, Paul Giamatti, Topher Grace, Ed Asner and Billy Crudup will appear in upcoming adaptation of Andrew Ross Sarkin's best seller Too Big To Fail.

- Katerina Graham has admitted that Bonnie may be getting a love interest in the second season of The Vampire Diaries.

- Kristin Bell is being linked to NBC's upcoming remake of The Munsters.

Being Human US - First Cast Pictures

There might be a while before the UK version of Being Human is back on our screens but the US version is certainly gathering speed.

First things's first - instead of George, Mitchell and Annie, this cast comprises of Josh (Sam Huntington), Aidan (Sam Witwer) and Sally (Meaghan Rath) who are a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost living in a house together in Boston. So far, mostly faithful to the series by Toby Whithouse.

So far, the press releases for the series aren't releasing anything too spoilery but it can be assumed that the first series of the US Being Human will basically follow the same course as the UK one, even though SyFy have commissioned 13 episodes for it's debut season.

From a casting standpoint - they all look pretty damn good. Meaghan Rath looks a perfect Sally/Annie character, Sam Huntington might not be as muscular as Russell Tovey but he's definitely a nice looking Josh/George type and Sam Witwer is just perfect for a vampire as complicated and volatile as Aidan/Mitchell can be.

In terms of the Bishop role (Herrick to the rest of us), great casting with Mark Pellegrino there. I've liked him in Lost and Supernatural and I can't wait to see what he brings to the table here. In terms of quality, if this is good, this could be a nice competitor for the likes of The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. Also as to whether or not, I'll be reviewing this series, just watch this space.

The series will premiere on SyFy in January 2011. No UK broadcaster has been confirmed yet.

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x36: "Last Gleaming Part 1"

Written by Joss Whedon
Artwork by Georges Jeanty

Angel (re Spike): “It’s too convenient. Him showing up now? He’s got an agenda.”
Buffy: “Well, it’s likely to be a lot simpler than yours. And right now it’s useful.”

Ah, there’s the Buffy I love. One that’s happy to use Spike for her own end, rather than fawn over him for the sake of a few fanatics still obsessing over that particular relationship. And from here on it, I’ll keep most of my anti Buffy/Spike to a minimum.

Angel has a point though – it is too convenient that Spike has shown up but now we’re in a weird position of having four of Buffy’s former flames within proximity of her, even if this issue only chose to concentrate on two and to be honest, they’re not the most trustworthy of two either.

Angel’s whole shenanigans as Twilight have caused more damage than good and after Whistler warning Angel in the previous issue that he had to fight against Buffy to save the world, this issue offered nothing new on that concept either. A spirit from another realm voicing itself through a variety of hosts would be fun if we actually learned something else.

In this issue we learnt nothing from Angel – stay away from Buffy to save the universe and now, Angel’s mostly determined to try and get Buffy to stay away from Spike as much as he possibly can. Much as I don’t condone Buffy/Spike, it did make sense for Buffy to send Angel away so she could work on Spike.

Thankfully where Angel failed to offer something new, Spike was actually a bit better on the information front. I probably could’ve done without his usual Angel insults but it would’ve been out of character if Spike hadn’t gotten a few in there and for the most part of this issue, he’s actually rather enjoyable. It’s almost enough to make me forget about his moments in Angel’s comic book season, which are referenced in this issue, appropriately.

The biggest reveal were the consequences of Buffy and Angel ditching the reality/universe that they created. All the giant monsters gunning for slayers aside, the source of it – the seed being looked after by the Master was a surprising turn. I’m not sure if resurrecting another villain (without explanation) is a good idea but for the time being, I’ll bite and there’s also the return of Sunnydale as well to contend with. However there needs to be a decent pay-off coming our way soon.

Also in “Last Gleaming Part 1”

Spike is given a solo cover to himself but the alternative cover has him, Buffy and Angel going all Edward/Bella/Jacob on us from “New Moon”

Spirit Dog (to Angel): “Yeah, that’s a hot button for you, even now. That goofy little cheerleader really spun you right round, didn’t she? What are we gonna do about that?”

For no apparent reason, there’s a moment in this issue where Angel saves an Oceanic airplane from crashing.

Spike: “Glorious leader to bug one ... what happened to the wankers?”
Bug One: “We’ve lost the wankers, your majesty. However I think we may have lost much more.”

Protest Girl: “You are for vampire rights, aren’t you? I think it’s dreadful what they’ve endured. I do so wish I could get bit.”
Spike: “Just keep talking.”

I did laugh when Spike immediately recognised Twilight as Angel from the online footage. It actually makes sense that he would.

Buffy: “You gave me perfection and you gave it up. Jesus, Angel, that’s not just the love of my life. That’s the guy I would live with.”
Angel: “You’re going to tell me to go.”

Buffy: “Can everyone just agree not to trust anybody and you to get to the frikkin’ point?”
Spike: “Been to any higher dimensions lately?”

Willow turned Angel into a frog briefly in this one, Dawn was grossed out by the bug minions in Spike’s spaceship and there’s a particularly horrid moment where Amy and Warren make out in front of everyone. Giles’s reaction pretty much captured mine during that one.

The Master: “Kids. They only visit when they need something.”

“Last Gleaming Part 2” was released on October 6th. I’ll review it soon, I promise.

Not a terrible start to the final arc but “Last Gleaming Part 1” still isn’t doing enough to amp up my excitement for this ending. Maybe the Master’s return will help, maybe the various plotlines will make eventual sense and maybe Joss Whedon will stop treating this comic series as sloppy fanfiction. I can only hope.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Oh For The Love Of Cheesus

Religion is a tricky topic on television and Glee certainly wasted zero time in getting their views across in last week's episode. I was happy that Burt Hummell was going to have more to do in the series but I wasn't expecting him to have heart problems and be the centre of a religious discussion. Here's my stance - I'm with the Kurt and Sue Sylvester's on the notion of religion and I found that people like Mercedes and Rachel, in spite of meaning well did force their opinions on Kurt too freely. Rachel herself also crossed a social line by singing Papa Can You Hear Me to a comatose Burt as well. In terms of the other song choices in this one - props for Kurt's rendition on I Wanna Hold Your Hand and the group's version of One Of Us but Finn's version of Losing My Religion left me cold as did his inane plot with a grilled cheesus sandwich. Some fans might not like the more topical of episodes on this show and while the religious arguments were pretty heavy handed, this was easily the strongest episode of the new season so far.

I like Modern Family and I pretty much dipped in and out of the first series, mostly enjoying it. Thursday saw the return of the series with the first two episodes airing back to back but it was the second episode that was the main highlight. It was the episode that the writers decided to tackle Mitchell's awkwardness with public displays of affection and finally give viewers an on-screen kiss with him and Cameron. Which the episode handled well but it wasn't the highlight of the first two episodes. I think the craziness with Claire's two daughters along with Gloria's insistence on her dead mother being in the room with them was somewhat more interesting. Overall, this remains a fun, feel-good series that for the most part doesn't try too hard to be too funny but still manages to get the right amount of laughs nonetheless.

There should be more episodes where Chloe and Tess have to spend time with each in Smallville. Tess might not be someone you'd trust with your life but her skills of deduction are certainly something that you'd wish would occassionally pass through both Clark and Oliver from time to time. We might not have needed Tess to point out how much Oliver is into Chloe but it certainly didn't harm the episode and their moments together were better than anything concerning Checkmate (Waller needs to get better) or Oliver's ham fisted attempts to take out Zod all by himself. Next time, Oliver, try to pay attention to the few times in which Clark is actually right about something. It helps, y'know.

That halfway point of The Vampire Diaries and whilst ITV2 viewers are enjoying the second season, I'm still with the first one. So, the last episode that I watched had Alaric staking Logan and Elena doing what every sensible girl would do when finding out that she resembled her beau's last girlfriend - fleeing. Every week, I keep getting surprised with this series and with Elena in dire straits at the end of the episode, I'm certainly looking to seeing her getting out of that one as well as learning more about the Glibert family tree.

Ugly Betty has been rather there for the last couple of weeks but because I've seen the episodes earlier in the year, I haven't been as anxious to rewatch them (that doesn't mean the series is bad, it's really not) but the Bahamas episode was a lot of fun. The Shakira appearance worked well in the show's favour and the varying hook-ups reminded me that this must've been a sweeps episode when it aired in the UK. Plus, it also brought the Wilhemina/Connor relationship to an end for now. Don't worry, folks, Grant Bowler will still appear later on in the series.

What is it with the CW and remakes nowadays? First there were 90210 and Melrose Place (which deservedly bombed) and now, Nikita? I've watched episodes of the original series and it was a wonderful precursor to Alias but this version, judging on the first episode alone is like the bastard child of Dollhouse and Battlestar Galactica. To say I was bored shitless would almost be a kind thing to say but Christ, this was certainly a wasted hour of my life. Maybe later episodes will be something interesting but overall, this was an incredibly dire start to a series that probably did not need resurrecting in the first place.

- Expect an infidelity plot with Kevin and Scotty in Brothers And Sisters as well as one of them briefly going missing. Sally Field is also an executive producer of the series now.

- Desperate Housewives Season 7 will air on Channel 4, Sundays at 10pm from October 17th.
- Modern Family actors, Jesse Tyler-Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet have appeared in a PSA in regards to teens being bullied. Mary Lynn Rajskub will also appear in an episode as a former girlfriend of Mitchell's.

- Glee will be tackling the nature of suicide in an upcoming episode as well as bullying. It's rumoured both stories will involve Kurt. Another episode will show us younger versions of Brittany and Santana.

- Christine Willes will be joining Smallville in the role of Granny Goodness. The character was briefly seen in the previous season but will have a bigger role this time around.

- Channel 4 have secured the rights to the new Camelot series for transmission in 2011. They'll also be airing The Event from October 22nd.

Doctor Who - Series 6 Goes American

It was going to happen at some point and here's the point - Series 6's opening two episodes of Doctor Who will be American based, specifically Utah for that matter.

The two parter by Steven Moffat and produced by BBC America will be a story set in the late 60's as the Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves summoned to deal with an alien threat. There have been rumours that the story could be based on the Terrence Dicks novel, Blood Harvest but nothing yet has seemed to confirm that theory. Actually from the press releases, it's looking clear that this will be something original, particularly with mentionings of Oval Office as well and possibly that Apollo 10.5 rumour from The Brilliant Book as well.

Also returning for this particular story will be River Song, played again by the lovely Alex Kingston and it'll be interesting to see if this will the one that reveals River's full identity or further teases towards it. Either way, this is definitely going to be a different way of opening up a season for the series, proving that Moffat will continue to make his own stamp on the show, regardless of naysayers.

Press Release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11510514

First Look: Thorne

The last thing we need on TV is another cop show and while Thorne might not sound like the most innovative of things, it's actually quite enjoyable - well, the source material certainly is at least. But I'm hoping by tomorrow I can say the same of the series too.

Mark Billingham has written at least 10 books at the point about the character of DI Tom Thorne and over the next six weeks, the series version will play out Billingham's first two books, Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat and as a reader, I cannot wait to see how it unfolds.

The victim of locked in syndrone is a creepy enough premise and certainly brings the foundations of Thorne going against his own team in order to try and catch the girl's assailant but what I liked about Thorne in the books I've read is how fleshed out he is as a person and I hope that translates with the series as well. Natasha McElhone is a great actress but her character - Anne Coburn was a little older in the book from what I recall and it should be interesting seeing Aidan Gillen as Phil Hendrix, the gay pathologist, given that he's one of the strongest characters in the books apart from Thorne.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnSjvIujN_s

Thorne airs Sundays at 9pm from October 10th.

Doctor Who - Series 5 DVD Full Details

A look at the cover of Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series above as the rest of the article details the imminent release.

With the release a month away, it's high time that the DVD extras for Doctor Who's fifth series were revealed and today that's exactly what we got. On November 8th, along with the 13 episodes from Series 5, you can expect a host of new stuff.

This stuff includes the Meanwhile In The TARDIS scenes (one set between The Eleventh Hour and The Beast Below and the other between Flesh And Stone and The Vampires Of Venice) with the Doctor and Amy, videos diaries from Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, four episodes of The Monster Files (covering the likes of Weeping Angels, Daleks and Silurians), 7 and a half minutes of Outtakes, but seemingly no deleted scenes, despite the 11th Doctor DWM special mentioning a lot of them, particularly ones concerning Rory.

Meanwhile the commentaries are as follow - The Eleventh Hour (Steven Moffat/Piers Wenger/Beth Willis), Victory Of The Daleks (Mark Gatiss/Barnaby Edwards/Nick Briggs), The Time Of Angels (Steven Moffat/Karen Gillan), The Vampires Of Venice (Toby Whithouse/Johnny Campbell/Alex Price), Cold Blood (Ashley Way/Alun Raglan/James Dehaviland) and The Big Bang (Karen Gillan/Arthur Darvill/Toby Haynes). Shame there are none from Matt Smith or Alex Kingston or a commentary for Amy's Choice but I intend to add this to my collection.

First Look: Lip Service

It was only a matter of time before someone realised that the success of a show like The L Word could be translated for a UK audience and lo and behold, we've got Lip Service. A six part drama based on the loves and losses of six twenty something lesbian females (and a few token straight males).

Created by Harriet Braun, the series sees Cat (Laura Fraser) unnerved by the return of her ex-girlfriend, Frankie (Ruta Gedmintas) while best mate Tess (Fiona Button) seems to have a bad taste in women.

Catching some of the trailers online, the comparisons to The L Word are inevitable and fair but this does look like an interesting show in it's own right and it's nice for some more drama on BBC3.

Lip Service airs Tuesdays at 10.30pm on BBC3 from October 12th.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnI2n9W5a34&feature=related

My Review of Dexter's 4x07: "Slack Tide"

Written by Scott Buck
Directed by Tim Hunter

Dexter (re himself/Trinity): “Okay, two serial killers going for a ride. Why do I get the feeling this joke only ends with one of them coming back?”

Well, if Dexter had actually attention to Harry’s pretty constant insistence on killing Trinity, then their little ride would resulted in one serial killer coming back alive. Of course, there are many things that Dexter still needs to learn and it’s too early for Trinity to hit the big one just yet.

One of the things that Dexter had to learn this week was the art of getting Cody and Astor into hobbies so they wouldn’t keep pestering him every five minutes. This would have been a fantastic thing if Astor wasn’t so hard to please and if Cody’s hobby didn’t involve adult supervision but Dexter should’ve read the fine print in relation to getting Cody into sailing.

It was a risky thing for Dexter to sneak off during his sailing camp meeting with the kids and other parents to go and kill this week but at the same time, it still didn’t stop Dexter from deciding that Jonathan Farrow had to die there and then. Times like this, it would’ve a great thing if it had been a deterrent for Dexter.

Remember at the start of the previous season when Dexter bumped off Miguel’s brother? Back then, it was the first time that we had seen Dexter kill an ‘innocent’ person but this time around, Jonathan Farrow was even more of an innocent person in spite of the fact that it looked so obvious that he must’ve killed Estrella.

He was certainly sleazy enough when he was being interviewed by Angel and Deb and even prior to Dexter killing him, Jonathan didn’t seem overly sympathetic towards Estrella’s death or the deaths of the other girls that he photographed that had been killed as well.

The reveal of Farrow’s assistant being the murderer was definitely a dramatic kick in the teeth for Dexter. He really has gotten to a point this season where he’s become too distracted with his commitments that he’s making monumental mistakes and the worst part is that he’s also attracting Quinn’s attention in the worst way possible.

Quinn was already annoyed with the friction between him and Dexter but at the club when Dexter ditched him, Quinn did seem more suspicious than ever. It also doesn’t help that he’s openly questioning Dexter on the fact that he thinks Dexter has something to hide as well. If Dexter doesn’t watch himself, Quinn might get one over him.

One person Dexter should keep an eye out for as well is Deb. She might have backed off for now on researching Harry’s former CIs but I can’t see her giving up on tracking down Trinity anytime soon. She got Maria to start up an investigation and given how erratic Trinity was behaving in this episode, Deb could strike lucky and nail the guy if Dexter doesn’t get a move on and kill him already.

Trinity this week himself was definitely. Being openly snappish with Dexter aside, I found the fact that he was unable to kill a deer a really odd character moment. This is after all, a man who’s killed plenty of people for the last four decades without a problem so getting squeamish over Bambi is definitely one of those moments that stick in your head, plus I get the feeling that he’s aware of the fact that Dexter is trying to pull a fast one on him.

As for the less enjoyable parts of the episode – I’m not gonna complain about Angel and Maria or Christine being so bloody ever present but I am gonna complain about Rita. Seriously, writers give the girl something better to do outside of nagging Dexter all the time – that’s all I ask.

Also in “Slack Tide”

We got a nice family moment at the start of this episode with Dexter, Rita, Deb and the kids out on the boat.

Angel: “Let’s get a search here. Maybe we could find more body parts.”
Dexter: “A head would be nice.”

The actor who played the man who found Estrella’s arm in the alligator, he played Sam’s dad on True Blood as well.

Dexter: “Dear Abby, I’m a serial killer and I need advice on how to keep my kids from taking over my life.”

Quinn (re Maria/Angel): “You put two people in a room together and eventually they’re gonna fuck.”
Deb: “Wow, that’s romantic. You should have that tattooed across your fat head.”

In this episode, we were also treated to Elliot and his girlfriend fighting, prior to the two of them breaking up.

Harry: “You’re taking a risk here.”
Dexter: “Isn’t that what life is – a risk?”

Harry (to Dexter, re Trinity): “He spent his life killing innocent people but he can’t kill Bambi? This is your new role model, Dex?”

We saw Trinity making a coffin here and while I thought might have been for his next victim or Dexter; I’m beginning to wonder if it’s for himself.

Harry (to Dexter): “It’s every father’s nightmare – disappointing his children.”

Chronology: Eight months since, “Do You Take Dexter Morgan?”

Not a bad episode at all. “Slack Tide” however isn’t an episode that moves anything forward, so it’s not a favourite episode either. Still, here’s hoping after the Farrow blunder that Dexter takes the initiative to learn from his mistakes.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Sarah Jane/11th Doctor - Cast Picture - Spoilers, People

With less than a week to go, a picture of Matt Smith and Elisabeth Sladen posing together as the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith has surfaced, while DS has revealed some interesting hints about Death Of The Doctor - Jo's had quite a lot of children/grandchildren, the Shansheeth are using Sarah Jane and Jo in relation to the TARDIS, there's updates on the Brigadier and Liz Shaw, flashbacks to previous Doctors, something in regards to his regeneration cycle, the arrival of a Groske (not Graske) and Sarah Jane discovering some interesting things via google.

Season 4 airs Mondays/Tuesdays at 5.15pm on CBCC from October 11th and Wednesdays/Thursdays at 4.30pm on BBC1 from October 13th.

Trailer 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQmacbWXgXs&feature=related

Trailer 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCr3G4efRQY

Trailer 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dBYORbiRLQ

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's: "Riley: Commitment Through Distance, Virtue Through Sin"

Written by Jane Espenson
Artwork by Karl Moline

Angel/Twilight (re Sam): “Do you need her permission to be parted?”
Riley: “No, it’s okay. We’re together even when we’re not. And I’m in.”
Angel/Twilight: “Good. I just need a token of your faith.”

Riley Finn, eh? Of all the characters to give a spotlight issue to, I bet there weren’t many people who were expecting or wanting it to be the least popular of Buffy’s ex-lovers but you know what? This issue is actually the first one I’ve enjoyed in a while and it’s easily a lot better than previous unconnected but connected to Season Eight spotlight issues we’ve had as well to be frank.

Basically this issue completes the task of showing us the moment where Riley decided that he would pretend to go along with Twilight’s hair-brained machinations whilst secretly working for Buffy at the same time and the interesting part was that Sam was doing everything to encourage Riley to help his slayer ex-lover.

In a way, this actually fits in nicely with the Sam we met back in “As You Were”. She wasn’t threatened by Buffy then and she doesn’t seem to be threatened by Buffy now (well, not that much anyways) and her confidence in Riley’s faithfulness towards their marriage is actually a rather endearing thing. Riley really did bag himself a great wife when he hooked up with Sam, didn’t he?

The other interesting thing was the notion of retirement. Riley seemed more eager than Sam to leave the military days behind him and look after his parents farm and Sam was more eager to get back into the field, which her enthusiasm for tending to an erratic missile with her husband seemed to display. Based on that alone, I can see why she has natural reservations at becoming a farm hand.

It’s also through this issue that Riley and Sam go through the motions of opting for a quieter life and helping Buffy. Throughout the issue, I was torn as to whom to side with because of them raised valid points but I’m going to side with Sam. I don’t think Riley really is ready to give up his soldier career despite spending much of this issue protesting that he would and Sam did point out the good he could help achieve by helping Buffy out.

In the end, I saw Riley actually accepting both Buffy and Twilight’s offers and felt a little bad for him when he was marked but overall, the one thing the comic didn’t show us was whether or not Riley had to do anything truly unforgiveable whilst pretending to be an acolyte of the duplicitous masked man.

And then there’s the issue of Twilight. We’ve long known that he’s Angel and while months have done little to actually improve or lessen the sheer disappointment of that particular revelation, this issue did try it’s damndest to satisfyingly write itself out of the hole that Angel being Twilight has put the comics in.

There was the rather unexpected return of Whistler advising Angel that donning a mask and pretending to be Buffy’s latest enemy was a good thing but no matter how much the doom card is thrown out there, it’s still rather hollow. The good thing should’ve been Angel coming to Buffy all those months and telling her about the latest danger to the world, rather than making her think that he was a part of it for the amount of time that he did.

Whistler might have raised a point about Angel having to choose a loyalty in the same that Twilight/Angel tried to do with Riley in regards to the world or Buffy Summers but it’s still not enough to disguise that this apocalypse doesn’t feel any more epic or disastrous as the ones we’ve all seen in the series.

Also in “Riley: Commitment Through Distance, Virtue Through Sin”

Love the look of Riley and Sam on the cover of this. Regardless of the way the comics are going, quality-wise, Jo Chen keeps excelling herself with these covers.

Riley: “And like, personally, Sam? Most wives – I mean, most wives -”
Sam: “-What – don’t push their husbands at their exes? That’s good, baby. I mean I’m secure. I know you’re mine.”

I laughed when I read the bit from Whistler about Angel flattening his hair, followed by the actual image itself.

Riley: “You’re scared of quitting. Quitting this, this excitement of being the operatives who get called when a missile acts up.”
Sam: “Oh, I thought you said something else.”
Riley: “What did you think I said?”
Sam: “I thought you said I was scared of quilting.”

Riley (re Twilight): “He’d want some kind of gesture – I’d have to shoot a witch in the head or something. I can’t do that.”
Sam: “For Buffy? Oh, you sell yourself short.”
Riley: “Don’t joke. You ready?”

There are some interesting pictures of some of the Buffy writers posing for the infamous NOH8 campaign in the letter section.

Whistler: “Is he gonna sign up?”
Angel: “Riley Finn? Maybe. He’s no fan of magic. Very ‘humans first’. I don’t get what she saw in him.”

Whistler (to Angel, re Buffy): “You have to decide where your loyalty lies ... with this girl or the world.”

Chronology: None is specified as to when Riley was recruited by Angel and “Last Gleaming Part 1” came out on September 1st.

Definitely an improvement on the previous bout of disappointing issues. A few missed moments with “Riley: Commitment Through Distance, Virtue Through Sin” but overall I liked this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

It's Brittany Bitches

And it came - the Britney Spears themed episode of Glee and despite the girl only popping up in three incredibly brief scenes (a good thing), the episode wasn't bad. The best ever - nah, but definitely fun. Having Brittany S. Pierce (yes, she has THAT surname) performing Me Against The Music with Santana and I'm A Slave 4 U were definitely stronger numbers as was Artie's take on Stronger, funnily enough. The group's rendition of Toxic, which sparked a sex riot was amusing but Rachel's Baby One More Time just didn't suit Lea Michele's vocals at all and The Only Exception from Paramore was tacked on at the end. In terms of actual plot with this episode - Beiste is still likeable, Sam/Sunshine aren't here, Emma works better with Carl than Will, Terri's appearance was a dead end, Sue getting injured when she pulled the fire alarm was amusing and anything involving Rachel and Finn was a snoozefest and the likes of Quinn, Puck, Mercedes and Kurt had naff all to do. Plus Jacob's level of perviness sky rocketed in this episode. Also the episode could've found a better reason for the Britney videos besides Carl's funky gas but overall, it was an enjoyable episode.

I do generally like lighter, comedic episodes of Merlin and after the rather darker two part opening to this season, I guess one was needed. The problem was that Goblin's Gold just didn't tickle my funny bones. I've watched the episode and I still didn't enjoy it. It was fun to see the goblin possess Gaius and it was refreshing that Arthur used his brain cells to realise that Merlin hadn't cursed everyone but overall, it was pretty much a disjointed and unengaging episode, though tonight's Gwen-centred episode does look promising.

Lois Lane popping out of a cake in a bunny costume? Haven't Smallville devised every excuse possible to get Erica Durance into skimpy attire? Probably but this was a mostly fun episode and it was interesting to see Lois give up the Blur for Clark as well, even if Clark did put her in danger by getting her to have a secret relationship with the Blur at the same time. Only two episodes and Season 9 is done on E4. Wonder if they'll speed up with Season 10.

I hate TG4 for airing The Vampire Diaries at an earlier time, especially on the same as another show I watch but I am getting more and more into the series. This week's episode was a gem for varying reasons - more screentime for Jenna, Logan's reappearance, the debut of Alaric and more importantly, Bonnie learning more about her ancestors, destroying a certain necklace and surviving being bitten by a rather incensed Damon. The only stuff that bogged down the episode was the Stefan and Elena but having Stefan and Damon taking the piss out of each other amended that for me. I'm starting to believe in them as brothers as this show progresses.

It's boot camp time at The X Factor and that only means one thing- the showe being on longer than it should be. There's only so much of this show that should be on and sometimes I do wonder if the increased amount of time is really a good thing. In terms of who wins the bloody thing, I still can't really decide. Cheryl Cole will probably bag it for a third year going.

By this time next week, I'll be talking about the UK and Irish versions of The Apprentice and it will be interesting to see which one is the better series as it'll be the first time that they've both been on at the same time. This week in the Irish had both Elev8 and Fusion having the unenviable tasks of trying to come up with an original diet menu for Unislim and when the lads lost, David predictably got the boot. I'm not liking the fact that so far, it's still male (with Ciara) versus females though. I think it's time the groups got mixed up now.

- Apparently Glee fans are pissed off that Gwyneth Paltrow will be appearing on the show. I know her site makes no sense and that she's a bit weird but I'm intrigued by her appearance.

- Sonia Braga has been cast to play Luc's mother in an upcoming episode of Brothers And Sisters. Her previous TV works have included Sex And The City and Alias.

- Mistresses actress Shelley Conn has landed a leading role in upcoming sci-fi series, Terra Nova.

- NBC have ordered a pilot from Jack Black and also are planning to do a remake of The Munsters.

- FX UK will be airing zombie series, The Walking Dead from November 5th.

- It's being heavily rumoured that Sky will be picking up Mad Men for next season while LivingTV will be airing the fourth season of Chuck from October 14th.

Buffy Comics Update

First off a picture of the former Buffy writing staff - Drew Goddard, David Fury, Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson, Steven DeKnight, Rebecca Sinclair (former Rand Kirshner) as well as Drew Z. Greenberg and Joss Whedon himself posing for NOH8, which I discovered in the Riley comic.

As for the update, well I have both Riley and Last Gleaming Part 1, so hopefully within the week, I will have both of them reviewed. Scanning through them, they're not great but there's an intriguing bunch of returns and one pretty gross scene I could've done without seeing to be perfectly honest.

BBC Winter Lineup - My Highlights

By tomorrow, it will be October and the BBC have finally shown us their winter lineup. There are a lot of interesting shows that I'll talk about more over the next few days but here are the four that I really want to see the most and yes, I'm a walking cliche

Accused: Christopher Eccleston was fantastic a couple of months ago as John Lennon in Lennon Naked and now he's back in this six part drama. Christopher appears in the first episode, playing a drug dealer awaiting to hear his fate in the dock. Later episodes will feature Mackenzie Crook, Peter Capaldi as well as Marc Warren, Juliet Stevenson and Andy Serkis. A date has yet to be confirmed.

Single Father: Expect the explosion of fangirls in the next few weeks because David Tennant is finally back on UK television in this four part series from Mick Ford. Tennant plays a photographer named Dave, whose life is turned upside down following the death of his wife in a road accident as he raises their four children and falls for his wife's friend, Sarah (Suranne Jones). Normally it wouldn't be my thing but I'll give it a go and it starts on October 10th 9pm for four Sundays on BBC1.

Christopher And His Kind: I'd be lying if I didn't say I was looking forward to this one. Matt Smith playing a gay writer - Christopher Isherwood certainly appeals to me the most of these other projects from actors who've played/currently play the Doctor and hopefully there'll be some pretty good guy on guy stuff to boot. BBC2 will be airing this one in late October.

Doctor Who - Christmas 2010 Special: I love that the Moff man isn't overly big on spoilers but I wish we would get an episode title for this one already. Both Michael Gambom and Katherine Jenkins look great and the clips in the BBC trailer seem to back up the fact that this special will be a take on A Christmas Carol. And there better be plenty of Amy and Rory as well as the Doctor playing Christmas ghosts.

BBC Autumn/Winter Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MokbmWgArN4

Nip/Tuck - Season 6 Review

US Airdate: October 14th 2009 – March 3rd 2010

As the show enters it’s final season, both Sean and Christian are forced to put business above friendship and as Liz prepares for motherhood, Matt hooks up with the last person who should be around kids and Kimber meets an unfortunate ending while Julia occasionally pops up here and there.

Final Cut: They always say that it’s best for a television show to know where exactly to end and I can’t help but wonder if Nip/Tuck’s last year adheres to that rule or if it became a series that perhaps outstayed its welcome. Unwisely spanning the fifth season throughout the space of three years wasn’t the brightest of ideas on Ryan Murphy’s part and there’s something in particular about this season that heightens feelings of fatigue to be perfectly honest.

Hitting on the recession has become such a popular theme with most TV shows at the minute that it’s not entertaining to watch and nor have we heard anything new so watching both the business and Sean’s financial struggles throughout the season doesn’t make the kind of emotional dent that it might have done maybe a season ago to be brutally honest.

Also I can’t help but think that perhaps Ryan Murphy’s reduced running of this series (along with the previous year) may also come into how the quality from this series is noticeably all over the place. While he was off getting Glee off the ground, it seems that the writers were going through a myriad of different storylines that all had differing potentials but never really reached them.

First of all, there’s Teddy. Rose MacGowen replacing Katee Sackhoff in the role was fine – she works well with Dylan Walsh and the character’s still interesting but she’s also too short lived. Only lasting five episodes and then being killed by a random serial killer might have some poetic justice to Teddy but it’s a disappointing way to bump off a character that at least could’ve lasted a bit longer, especially given that this season was lacking in interesting villains.

And there’s the arrival of Sean’s younger brother, Brendan. He’s no sooner on the show, then he leaves again because Christian managed to successfully widen the gap between Sean and his brother during his own little drug spiral, which is another plot that’s poorly developed as well this year. We wait six seasons to see someone from Sean’s family and we barely get time to know the guy – bad move, writers.

Sean and Christian’s relationship is another sour point of this season too. Through thick and thin, we’ve always been left to believe that the two of them would still have a friendship by the time this show would end but every season has seemingly chipped away at it that by the time they both come to their seperate ways in the last ever episode – the show’s 100th, it’s actually a relief. I’m pretty sure that’s not the emotion I should be feeling about their friendship eroding but the show certainly ended their once interesting dynamic on a sad note.

As for Liz, well divorcing Christian was never going to be easy and while she failed to finally find someone to love her, she did at least get a baby out of the deal with Sean as well as becoming a partner in the business, so overall, Liz is probably the only person to have really benefitted from this ending.

Other people who didn’t benefit included Julia being married off to some random English guy but at least she managed to stop both Sean and Christian in their tracks from pursuing her for the umpteenth time and that’s doing much better than either Kimber or Matt to be honest. Julia really isn’t that much of a big deal this season and that’s probably one of the better things about this year.

However, I’m still not sure who got the worst deal – Kimber for marrying Christian again, becoming miserable, having an affair with Sean that was impossible to care about and ending it all off-screen or Matt, who decided to sabotage a good thing with Ramona so that he could be Ava’s whipping boy until she tires of him. That coupled with his complete ease at using Jenna to get back with Ava and that mind numbingly stupid storyline at the start of the year of him being a mime robber were more than enough to make me realise that Matt is still one of the worst TV characters ever written and that this series has had it’s day.

The last episode of the series isn’t horrible and there are some nice emotional beats but after six seasons and 100 episodes, the show more or less came to a whimper of an ending, rather than the bang that it should’ve ended with. It’s not that I’m against the finale being somewhat more subdued compared to the outlandish stuff the series has mostly given us but still, the ending was a major letdown. I can only hope that this isn’t a fate that visits Ryan Murphy again with Glee.

DVD EXTRAS: This show’s never been awash with plentiful extras and for a final DVD set, don’t expect much here. Apart from deleted scenes and blooper, the only other offering seems to be a feature on the psychology of plastic surgery and that’s really your lot.

EPISODE RATINGS

6x01: Don Hoberman = 7/10, 6x02: Enigma = 7/10,
6x03: Briggitte Reinholt = 8/10, 6x04: Jenny Juggs = 8/10,
6x05: Abigail Sullivan = 6/10, 6x06: Alexis Stone = 8/10,
6x07: Alexis Stone 2 = 7/10, 6x08: Lola Wlodkowski = 9/10,
6x09: Benny Nilsson = 7/10, 6x10: Wesley Clovis = 7/10,
6x11: Dan Daly = 8/10, 6x12: Willow Banks = 7/10,
6x13: Joel Seabrook = 9/10, 6x14: Sheila Carlton = 8/10,
6x15: Virginia Hayes = 7/10, 6x16: Dr. Griffin = 7/10,
6x17: Christian Troy 2 = 8/10, 6x18: Walter And Edith Krieger = 7/10,
6x19: Hiro Yoshimura = 6/10.

Season 6 is currently available on DVD.

Now Are You Scared Of Dolls (DW Series 6 Spoilers)

Okay, there hasn't been a lot of new pictures of Series 6 filming of Doctor Who but some little gems have emerged though.

Like these creepy as hell looking dolls. If you were wondering what the menace was going to be from the Mark Gatiss, then it's this lot. Will this lot actually scare the crap out of me? I'll find out in another seven/eight months presumably.

Filming for the Neil Gaiman has now taken place and while no pictures have surfaced of Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill or guest star Suranne Jones (Idris) yet, this one does seem to suggest that we're getting an episode on the ruins of an alien planet for a change.

Tomorrow's release - The Brilliant Book has some intriguing hints for the sixth series and if you can read them here, then be intrigued. What the heck has Granny Grainger done to terrify Rory though and the ordinary block of flats has to tie into episode 4 of course.

How does the Doctor defeat the Sahara desert? Octavian wasn't lying about River not being trustworthy? And the Doctor will be on trial and get married - twice? Now, I'm worried. And the bones of the TARDIS just sound creepy as well.

SJA Series 4 New Photos/Spoilers/Trailer

So, we're about a fortnight away from the new series of The Sarah Jane Adventures and the promotional stuff is in full swing at this rate.

Above is a picture of the full cast in the first story, The Nightmare Man which sees Davros actor Julian Bleach playing the titular baddie as Luke suffers some pretty bad nightmares in this opening story. It's also noteworthy that this story will see Luke bow out of the series as well. Meanwhile the Androvax are back in the second story, The Vault Of Secrets and this time around, they mean business. Also expect some more links to last year's animated Doctor Who story, Dreamland in that story as well as Rani's mother join a group for people who've encountered alien life forms.

What can I tell you about Death Of The Doctor? Actually a damn lot. Both Sarah Jane and Jo Grant believe the Doctor is dead and the Shansheeth are the alien equivalent of undertakers - that's one thing. I can also tell you that Laila Rouss is playing UNIT lady Tia Karim, Jo has a grandson called Santiago and that some of the action also takes place in Mount Snowdon and will feature a Groske, which looks exactly like a Graske. I still have no idea as to how Amy and Rory are not in this story though.

Meanwhile The Empty Planet is an unique tale because it's one where both Clyde and Rani are the only people on Earth, so they've got to figure how to save the day without Sarah Jane and against some robot enemies as well. Originally this idea was going to become one of the specials for Doctor Who in 2009 but something tells me that it was an idea better left for this series instead. Elsewhere, Lost In Time puts Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani in three different time periods and also features the return of the Blathereen.

As for Luke, it's been rumoured that he might resurface in the finale, Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith. Written by both Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman, this promises to be one hell of an emotional ender for the season as Sarah Jane contemplates ageing and Julie Graham will play alien investigator, Ruby White. If none of the above isn't enough to sate your appetite for the new series, what will?

Series 4 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQmacbWXgXs

Series 4 airs Mondays/Tuesdays on CBBC from October 11th at 5.15pm and is repeated on BBC1 on Wednesdays/Thursdays from October 13th at 4.30pm.

My Review of Dexter's 4x06: "If I Had A Hammer"

Written by Lauren Gussis
Directed by Romeo Tirone

Therapist (to Dexter/Rita): “See, what happens when you’re honest? You get what you need.”

So, if I’m super-super-super honest in one moment, I’ll give a lifetime supply of my favourites foods? I have a feeling the answer is probably no there. Honesty is the best policy and being handed a murder weapon can go both ways for Dexter if he’s not bloody careful.

Dexter and Trinity finally meeting was a long time coming and it was as satisfying as I had hoped it would be. Like Dexter, Trinity’s excellent at hiding in plain sight but unlike Dexter, he’s actually a lot better than him with doing so. If I didn’t notice better, there would be no way in hell that I would suspect a sweet community helping deacon of being a psycho killer.

I remember watching the latest incarnation of Sherlock a few weeks ago where there was the commentary on Moriarty’s ability of hiding in plain sight and if Dexter didn’t know who he was looking for, then Arthur Mitchell would’ve slid under the radar. Now Dexter’s made damn sure he’s with Arthur’s radar and that could go either way for him.

I thought it was a little premature for Dexter to be testing Arthur’s resolve and holding Vera’s ashes wasn’t the smartest of ideas for Dexter. Arthur just about managed to stop himself from properly lashing out on Dexter but even then, it’s a little suspect that Arthur would hold back on a complete stranger.

A couple of theories behind this could be that perhaps Arthur spots something of himself inside Dexter. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone’s really spotted Dexter’s dark passenger but if Dexter thinks that holding off killing Arthur is a good idea, then he’s wrong. There might be a lot from Arthur that Dexter can learn but there’s also a lot that can go wrong as well, especially when Arthur learns who his new friend is.

As for the depiction of Arthur’s family life – it’s a hard one to tell really. His son came across as someone rather conditioned to praise his father in an unusual manner and the scene where Arthur stepped into the bathtub with his wife gave me the creeps because I did actually think that he was going to kill her, even though he does appear to love her – something which didn’t escape Dexter’s attention either.

The one thing that Dexter did learn from Trinity/Arthur this week was the power of sharing. He helped on Arthur’s community based project and by opening up to Rita during their second therapy session, he managed to get himself a nice shed in their house in order for him to hide all his dark passenger stuff.

With any luck then, we can go through the rest of the season where Dexter and Rita aren’t arguing over secrets being kept and the like. It’s not that I don’t realise that Rita has a point but I just hate the way that she’s been largely reduced to a nag this season and this episode finally did seem to do us all a favour and snap her out of it.

Speaking of snapping, I keep waiting for the moment where Deb’s grief Lundy would result in her snapping at someone but I guess the closest that’s going to happen was with her little alone time incident with Nikki of all people. And even that wasn’t as disastrous as it could’ve been.

I personally don’t feel sorry for Nikki as a character, not even when Deb laid into her but at the same time, I was glad that Nikki’s words stopped Deb from behaving recklessly as did Quinn’s to a lesser extent. Now that Deb knows that Lundy’s tape were stolen, Trinity killed Lundy and who seemingly was sleeping with Harry, things are somewhat looking up for the character, even if Dexter isn’t particularly happy about Deb’s stellar police work.

Something I’m not happy with was the way that Maria and Angel had their hands forced into breaking up. I think that had been Mathews plan all along for whatever reasons he has (spite, lust for Maria?) and it sucks because while I might be in a minority, Maria and Angel are pretty good couple and better than another steamy session with Quinn and Christine any day of the week.

Quinn and Christine – the only weak link in an otherwise good episode. The more I see them together, the less I care. Eventually though, Christine is probably going to cross the type of line that really will put Quinn in a bad position at the station. Until then, I guess it’s just more mindless tedium between the pair of them. Ugh.

Also in “If I Had A Hammer”

You got to admire Arthur/Trinity’s confidence with the very public way he kept using the hammer in this episode. Now it’s Dexter’s problem.

Dexter: “I could go for a sandwich.”
Rita: “We’re out of bread.”
Dexter (to himself): “She has to forgive me for my apartment eventually, doesn’t she?”

In an attempt to win people over, Dexter got Astor a DVD player, Cody a DS, Harrison a baby grow and Rita a bread maker. Rita’s comments on that one were actually funny.

Dexter: “How do you know so much about hammers?”
Masuka: “There’s not a tool I haven’t played with my friend.”

Rita (re Dexter): “I hoped he would change.”
Therapist: “When you married your ex-husband, did you think he would change too?”

I noticed that the therapist was played by Nip/Tuck actress Roma Maffia in this episode. I wouldn’t mind seeing her again.

Deb (re phone call): “That wasn’t work, that was way personal.”
Angel: “Come on, for you, same difference.”

Nikki (to Deb, re Lundy): “No matter how many times you ask me, it’s not going to change. I didn’t shoot you, I didn’t kill that old man.”

Masuka was on fine form this episode by managing to figure out that the ashes left behind were female. Dexter even slipped up trying to conceal that from Masuka.

Rita: “A bread maker?”
Dexter: “We’re always running out of bread.”
Rita: “We’re always running out of milk, did you get me a cow too?”

Angel: “What do we do?”
Maria: “I don’t know. We’re supposed to decide what’s more important – our jobs or each other?”

We learned here that Trinity’s first kill relates to his sister, his second to his mother and his third to his father in this episode.

Dexter: “We both have skeletons, which means we both get a closet to keep them in. Arthur has a closet.”

Chronology: Two days after “Dirty Harry” and this was the first episode not to feature Harry in it this season.

I loved this one a lot. “If I Had A Hammer” definitely moved things along in a nice order and with Dexter and Trinity within proximity of each other, the next few weeks should be something of a rollercoaster ride. All I hope is that Deb doesn’t become a potential victim of Arthur’s at the same time.

Rating: 9 out of 10.